xciv 
INTRODUCTION. 
of flight, seasons of migration, favourite food, an^ 
numberless other minuti®, which can only 
obtained by frequent excursions in the woods an^ 
fields, along lakes, shores, and rivers, and requires i* 
degree of patience and perseverance which nothing 
but an enthusiastic fondness for the pursuit cofi 
inspire. 
The greatest'number of the descriptions in tW 
following work, particularly those of the nests, egg* 
and plumage, have been written in the woods, wil^ 
the subjects in view, leaving as little as possible 1'’ 
the lapse of recollection. As to what relates to tl>‘ 
manners, habits, &c. of the birds, the particulars 
these heads are the result of personal observatioJ’-' 
from memorandums taken on the spot ; if they diff®^' 
as they will on many points, from former account^' 
this at least can be said in their behalf, that ^ 
single fact has not been advanced which the writ*’* 
was not himself witness to, or received from tho®^ 
on whose judgment and veracity he believed 
ance could be placed. When his own stock *’ 
observations has been exhausted, and not till th^’’ 
he has had recourse to what others have said 
the same subject, and all the most respectftk' 
performances of a similar nature have been 
suited, to which access could be obtained; ^ 
neglecting the labours of his predecessors in 
