INTRODUCTION 



TO THE 



SECOND VOLUME; 



BY 



Dr. RICHARDSON. 



Science is indebted to the exertions of the Hudson's Bay Company 

 for almost all that is known of the Ornithology of the American Fur- 

 countries ; under which term we comprehend generally the whole 

 country north of the forty-eighth parallel of latitude. The French 

 Canadians were the first, indeed, who penetrated into the regions 

 beyond the Great Lakes in pursuit of peltry ; but the few journals 

 of their proceedings that have come down to us, though rich in per- 

 sonal adventure, contribute nothing to Natural History, beyond 

 incidental anecdotes of the animals that are objects of chase. In like 

 manner, the earlier English navigators, who, in exploring Hudson's 

 Bay and the Arctic Seas, aided in laying the foundation of the naval 

 glory of their country, limited their notes on Zoology to brief remarks 

 on the animals used for food, but seldom or never gave descriptions 

 sufficiently characteristic to identify the species. 



The first collections of Hudson's Bay birds of which I can find any 

 record, are those formed by Mr. Alexander Light, who was sent out, 

 ninety years ago, by the Hudson's Bay Company, on account of his 

 knowledge of Natural History ; and by Mr. Isham, who, during a 

 long residence, as Governor of various forts or trading-posts, employed 

 his leisure hours in preparing the skins of beasts, birds, and fishes. 

 These two gentlemen returning to England, about the year 1745, 

 fortunately for the advancement of Ornithology, entrusted their 



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