VI 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



celebrated Audubon, the best delineator of 

 birds who has hitherto appeared, has employed 

 Mr Kidd to execute oil paintings of all his 

 subjects, of the same size as the splendid origi- 

 nals, with appropriate back grounds, for the 

 purpose of forming a great National Gallery of 

 American Ornithology, the Editors hope this 

 fact will be considered a sufficient sanction for 

 the choice they have made. 



It is the intention of the Editors, in the 

 first instance, to give figures and descriptions 

 of all the larger groups of animals, and after- 

 wards to fill up the series by volumes containing 

 a variety of genera; their ultimate aim being, 

 to form a complete Natural History of the 

 Animal Kingdom. On the completion of the 

 several departments, an accurate systematic 

 view will be given, exhibiting the arrangement 

 of the classes, as regards their genera, sub- 

 genera, species, and varieties, accompanied by 

 complete Synonyms and Indices. 



In the specific descriptions of the different 

 objects, the Editors will use the ordinary lan- 

 guage of science, without which it is impossible 

 to convey an accurate idea of the different 

 parts. But to render this perfectly easy, at the 



