INTRODUCTION. 



11 



the reproduction of particular tints. As having the high- 

 est reputation and perhaps the greatest merit, the colors 

 manufactured by Messrs. Winsor & Newton of London, 

 and Fr. Schoenfeld & Co. of Diisseldorf, have been chiefly 

 selected as the standards for this work. The colors 

 manufactured by these firms embrace so great a variety 

 that it has been found possible to identify with them a 

 large number of those named in descriptions, the mixture 

 of two or more being of course occasionally necessary. 



In regard to the external anatomy or " topography " of 

 a bird, a system as little complicated as possible is desir- 

 able. The one presented in this work, while substantially 

 the same as that usually adopted, and offering no innova- 

 tions, is considerably simplified, thereby greatly facilitating 

 the acquirement by the student of a knowledge of this 

 essential adjunct of descriptive ornithology. 



It is believed also that the figures representing the 

 typical forms of color-markings, and of egg-contours, and 

 the concordant scale of different standards of measurement, 

 will also be found of great practical utility. 



The author has in every case endeavored to give the 

 plainest possible definition of a term consistent with 

 accuracy. All expressions having reference solely to 

 internal characters, and which therefore seldom if ever 

 enter into ordinary descriptions of birds, have been ex- 

 cluded, though many anatomical and osteological terms 

 occasionally employed in diagnoses of the higher groups, 

 and others pertaining to the general treatment of the 

 subject, are considered and carefully defined. 



Acknowledgments are due from the author to several 

 friends for their generous assistance. Dr. Leonhard 

 Stejneger suggested and prepared the comparative scale 

 of standard measurements and the tables for the con- 

 version of English inches to millimetres, and vice versa, 



