XVI PREFACE. 



This rapid summary of those contributions which are more parti- 

 cularly designed for future reference conveys a very imperfect idea of 

 the amusement and instruction contained in the volume ; but were I 

 to attempt to classify, or even enumerate, the lighter contributions, I 

 should extend my address beyond all reasonable bounds, without con- 

 ferring any corresponding benefit on my readers. 



A few w T ords as regards the future. Most earnestly do I solicit the 

 continued co-operation of my contributors. The earliest announce- 

 ment of the occurrence of a new or rare Quadruped, Bird, Reptile, 

 Fish, Mollusk, Crustaceous animal, or Insect, will be most thankfully 

 received : if new, I hope the announcement will always be accompa- 

 nied by a description, and, if practicable, by a figure; and if the ob- 

 ject should not be new, but have been previously described or figured 

 as British, then a figure or description should be referred to, and the 

 date, locality and other particulars given with scrupulous care and 

 accuracy. 



I have already ventured to suggest (Zool. 2295) an altered form for 

 the local lists of birds, and have referred — as an example of the mode 

 in which it may be carried out — to the Appendix of the lately-pub- 

 lished ' Letters of Rusticus,' a work which I presume is now generally 

 distributed among British ornithologists. I heartily wish that my or- 

 nithological correspondents would devote some time to the subject, 

 each, in his own neighbourhood, endeavouring to compile an exact 

 statistical account of the birds which reside in or visit it : in the pre- 

 paration of such statistics I consider it a matter of great importance 

 to ascertain with precision the presence or absence, at the various 

 seasons of the year, of those which are esteemed the commoner Bri- 

 tish birds. The occasional appearance of a North-American, or 

 African, or European species, is to be recorded of course ; likewise 

 the capture of sea-fowl in a midland county; but the legitimate object 

 of a local list is to exhibit, at one point of view, the species which 

 habitually and of choice frequent a given locality, and to indicate 

 whether their tarriance is constant or seasonal. Even among oc- 

 casional visitors there is much to be learned : it will be found that 



