INTRODUCTION. 
V 
for now the popular ornithological tide was setting 
strongly towards the flood, and it has ever since 
been rushing on and gathering recruits as it goes, 
until the tidal wave of popular favor for orni- 
thological pursuits has reached from shore to shore 
across our great continent ; and where there were 
once only a few solitary devotees to this grand 
science, we can number thousands, and still they 
come ; so that high-water mark is not yet reached, 
while to all appearances this tidal-wave will agitate 
the coming generation more strongly than it does 
the present. 
Of all the vast numbers interested in the study 
of bird life, there are few who do not gather speci- 
mens. Years ago, in the beginning of the study, 
when the solitary naturalist had no one to sympa- 
thize with him in his pursuits, birds 1 skins were 
usually made in what we would now consider a 
shocking manner. Within the last fifteen years, 
however, since ornithologists have become more 
numerous, and the opportunities of comparison of 
workmanship in preserving specimens has been 
facilitated, great improvements are seen. Slovenly 
prepared collections are now far from desirable ; in 
fact, even rare specimens lose much of their value 
when poorly made up. When there are enough 
