PREFACE. xi 
made. In the United States tliere are seven hundred known and described species 
of birds ; more than five hundred recognized species of fish ; several hundred mam- 
malia, and reptiles, insects, moUusca, and protozoa without number. In South Amer- 
ica, Mexico, and Central America, there are three hundred kinds of Immming-birds, 
and according to Mr. Sclater, in the same regions there are nearly two Jmndred tana- 
gers, &c. In respect to other parts of the world the multiplicity of species is equally 
great. In choosing amid this multitudinous mass, I have endeavored to select for 
description the most remarkable species ; and as all could not be noticed, I have chosen 
those which are representatives of large classes of analogous genera. I may indicate 
the extent of particular descriptions by saying that I have noticed, with greater or less 
detail, all or nearly all the species of birds and cxuadrupeds in Audubon's great work on 
the Ornithology of l^ortli America ; in the admirable works of Wilson and JSTuttall ; 
in the excellent work of Audubon and Bachman on the quadrupeds of IsTorth Amer- 
ica ; in the able reports of De Kay, Storer, and Kirtland on the zoology of E'ew York, 
Massachusetts, and Ohio ; and in the more recent publication of Cassin on the birds 
of California, &c. — the only fault of which is its brevity. There is, therefore, I believe, 
no very important quadruped or bird, in the United States, not noticed here. It is true 
that there are some species which I have omitted, to be found in Baird's great and 
important national work on the Mammalia and Birds of IS'orth America, issued under 
the auspices of the government, to which I have already alluded ; but these are chiefly 
of the smaller kinds, and generally belong to the remote and unexplored regions of 
our continent. The recent acquisitions of Texas, 'New Mexico, California, and Utah 
have brought within the bounds of the United States a vast extent of territory, and 
thus have greatly enlarged the circle of our natianal fauna ; but all the important addi- 
tions, even within these new territories, have, I believe, a place in the following pages. 
In respect to other parts of the world, where the species are still more numerous and 
diversified, the scale of selection is more circumscribed ; but still I believe no species 
of particular interest among the higher orders of animals, either in Europe, Asia, 
Africa, or Oceanica, has been omitted. 
That these volumes, while being primarily designed for popular reading, should also 
be suited for general reference, is manifest ; and this necessity has not been disregarded. 
In the General Index, at the close of the second volume, references will be found, 
giving the popular and scientific names, and in most cases the form, size, color, and 
habitat of more than four thousand species, and these, it is hoped, will be a sufficient 
key to the whole field, however boundless, of the Animal Kingdom. 
ISTotwithstanding the multiplicity of species in the existing and living races of ani- 
mals, those which geology has unfolded to our view — the Dead Kingdom of I^ature, 
doubtless as populous as the living — could not be overlooked. It is a stupendous 
fact, that in all the bones of these extinct generations, the same plan of organization is 
visible as that which governed the structure of the living races ; thus showing that 
