INTRODUCTION. 



9 



have each enumerated a few of our birds. But these, from the na- 

 ture of the publications in which they have been introduced, can be 

 considered only as catalogues of names, without the detail of spe- 

 cific particulars, or the figured and colored representations of the 

 birds themselves. This task, the hardest of all, has been reserved 

 for one of far inferior abilities, but not of less zeal. With the ex- 

 ample of many solitary individuals, in other countries, who have 

 succeeded in such an enterprise, he has cheerfully engaged in the 

 undertaking, trusting for encouragement solely to the fidelity with 

 which it will be conducted. 



D 



