PREFACE. 
Mucu of the matter contained in the following pages was written 
in the field and covers a period of some ten winters in Florida, a 
great deal of the time being passed in out-of-the-way localities while 
studying the fauna of the State. The illustrations are, with few 
exceptions, from photographs taken by myself; the principal ex- 
ceptions being the photographs of the tarpon, which were obtained 
through the kindness of Mr. George Mixter, of Boston. The picture 
of the manatee and the illustrations in the ‘‘ Key to the Water Birds ” 
are the work of Mr. Edward Knobel, of Boston. 
The nomenclature and classification used in the Key is that 
adopted by the American Ornithologists’ Union. 
I have aimed to make the ‘* Key to the Water Birds” one 
which would enable a person unfamiliar with birds to identify any 
Florida species without difficulty. Before using the key the reader 
should carefully read the ‘‘ Introduction to the Key” and make him- 
self familiar with the terms used in describing birds; the general 
rules for measurements, etc. 
With few exceptions, the species given have been taken or ob- 
served by myself during my various trips to Florida, but several are 
included on the authority of others, and I have freely availed myself 
of information obtained from the following works and papers : — 
‘« History of North American Birds,” by Baird, Brewer, and 
Ridgway; ‘‘ Manual of North American Birds,” by Robert Ridg- 
way; ‘* Key to North American Birds,” by Elliot Coues; ‘* Birds of 
Eastern North America,” by C. J. Maynard; ‘* Handbook of the Birds 
of Eastern North America,” by F. M. Chapman; ‘Notes on the 
Birds of the Caloosahatchee Region of Florida,” by W. E. D. Scott 
(Auk Vol. IX., pp. 209-218). 
