PREFACE. 
N writing the following brief series of accounts of the most popular fancy 
Waterfowl, which have appeared in The Feathered World , I have endeavoured 
h to give such description and details as may enable anyone who becomes 
interested in these beautiful birds to recognise such species as he will see 
in collections on ornamental waters, like that in St. James’s Park, or find on 
sale with the dealers, and to treat them successfully if he decides to take up the 
Fancy on his own account. 
On the wise suggestion of Mrs. Comyns-Lewer, I have confined myself to 
well known species only, but it must always be understood that, with the duck 
family as with other birds, even the familiar Finches, numerous charming species 
exist which only await the enterprise of someone who will put them on the market, 
a fact which has much impressed itself upon me during my residence in India, where 
so many of these birds can be easily obtained during the winter months, when 
European travellers commonly visit the country. I hope, however, that what I have 
written may be of interest to those who are interested in ornamental waterfowl. 
F. FINN. 
May, 1900. 
