INTRODUCTION. V 



for now the popular ornithological tide was setting 

 strongly towards the flood, and it has ever since 

 been rushing on and gathering recruits as it goes, 

 until the tidal wave of popular favor for orni- 

 thological pursuits has reached from shore to shore 

 across our great continent ; and where there were 

 once only a few solitary devotees to this grand 

 science, we can number thousands, and still they 

 come ; so that high-water mark is not yet reached, 

 while to all appearances this tidal-wave will agitate 

 the coming generation more strongly than it does 

 the present. 



Of all the vast numbers interested in the study 

 of bird life, there are few who do not gather speci- 

 mens. Years ago, in the beginning of the study, 

 when the solitary naturalist had no one to sympa- 

 thize with him in his pursuits, birds' skins were 

 usually made in what we would now consider a 

 shocking manner. Within the last fifteen years, 

 however, since ornithologists have become more 

 numerous, and the opportunities of comparison of 

 workmanship in preserving specimens has been 

 facilitated, great improvements are seen. Slovenly 

 prepared collections are now far from desirable ; in 

 fact, even rare specimens lose much of their value 

 when poorly made up. When there are enough 



