xu 



passed away, amongst whom I must especially name Lord Lilford, whose recent 

 death has been so great a loss to ornithologists in this country ; but many are still 

 with us, and, as before, I am especially indebted to Professor Newton, who has 

 kindly looked over most of the proofs for me. 



All the illustrations have been executed by Mr. J. G. Keulemans, but some are 

 copied from original drawings by Messrs. Joseph Wolf and A. Thorburn : thus 

 those of Phasianus persicus and Phasianus principalis are copied from paintings by 

 Mr. Thorburn, those of Emberiza saharce and Francolinus bicalcaratus are also 

 from sketches by Mr. Thorburn of specimens in the aviaries at Lilford Hall, and 

 that of Tetrao uralensis from sketches by Mr. Wolf, kindly lent to me for that 

 purpose. 



The lithographs were printed by Messrs. Mintern, Bros., with the exception 

 of one or two which were done by Messrs. M. & N. Hanhart, and the hand- 

 colouring was executed by Mr. H. PifFaretti, who coloured the Plates in my 

 ' Monograph of the Coraciidse.' The printing, as before, has been executed by 

 Messrs. Taylor and Francis. To all of these I beg to express my thanks for the 

 care and attention they have bestowed on their portions of the work. 



For the Index, I am indebted to Mr. W. F. Kirby, of the British Museum; 

 but beyond this I have had no assistance with the letterpress, and, as was the 

 case with my previous works, all has been done in the early morning and in 

 the evening, during the restricted time I could spare from a busy city life ; and 

 so accustomed have I now become to utilizing my spare hours in the study of 

 Natural History, that should my health permit I hope yet to do some (and I 

 trust not useless) work before old age overtakes me and I find myself compelled 

 to relinquish my work to younger and more vigorous workers. It has, however, 

 been my chief solace during many lonely hours, and when the time comes I shall 

 most unwillingly retire from the field. 



Topcliffe Grange, 



Farnborougli, Rent. 



9th November, 1896. 



