XVI 
PREFACE. 
HiJlgrianSj or they who draw for them^ would carefully ohferve thefe 
Rules j fome of them might perhaps produce Figures that would be deemed 
perfeEl by the htowing Naturalijls of thefe TimeSy and efcape their 
Cenfure'y then might theyy like the celebrated Statues of the antient 
Greeks and Romans, pafs down as Models to future AgcSy as things jujlly 
and trtily reprefenting Nature \ but thefe things are rather to be wifloed 
for than expeSied, 
It is time to fay fomethingy by way of Apology y for the following De- 
fcriptions of Birds I have been colleBing for more than Twenty YearSy 
and have been for a good part of the Yime employ d by maiiy curious 
Gentlemen in London to draw fuch rare foreign Birds as they were 
pojfefs'd ofy and never negleEied to take Draughts of them with their 
Permijftony for my own ColleBion ; and having flored up fome hundredsy 
I /hewed them frofn time to time to curious Gentlemen who favour d me 
with their V iftSy and in looking them over fever al of them have told mcy 
that there were many amongjl them that had not been figured or de- 
fcribed by any Authory a7id that it would be worth my while to publifo 
them \ but I was backward in refolving to do ity becaufe I knew not fo 
much of many of the Birdsy as to know from what Country they camcy 
which is very material in Natural Hijlory, Yhey anfwerdy that as I had 
take7i the Draughts from Naturcy a77d that it could be well attejledy 
a7id the like Birds might perhaps never be met with againy it was better 
to preferve the Figures without knowing their Countries than not at alL 
^ 1 have not had the Adva77tage of being m the Cotmtries out of Europe 
' where a7ty of the Birds I have defer ibed are foimdy as fo7Tte preje 7 tt 
W riters of Natural Hifory have ; but 1 have taken all the pams m 
77ty Power to make my Deferiptions as pe?feB as the 7tature of the thmg 
will ad7nit of I have beeti particularly carefd 7tever to fpeak m the Ajf}'- 
mativCy but where I was fully fatisfed I was in the right. The far greater 
part of thefe Deferiptions are fro7n Birds fiever before deferihed : There 
are indeed fotne few which have beeji deferibedy hut 7Wt figuredy and form 
that have bee7t very ill figured a7id deferihed before ; hut I have not 
draw?t or deferihed any thmg that was done before rn a7ty tolerable degree 
of PerfeEHon \ fo that thefe Draughts a7td Deferiptions 7nay be looked 
07t as new. I have 7tot tranferibed the Deferiptions out of other Authors 
without 
