vm 
PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. 
Zoological Society of great service; and in consulting authorities I have received valuable assistance 
from Mr R B. Sharpe, the late librarian, whose long connexion with the Society has made him 
familiar with the bibliography of the subject. The excellent lists already pnblished by 
Mr. G. R. Gray and Dr. Otto Finsch had rendered this part of my task a comparatively light one ; 
but all the references have been carefully verified, and the chronology given for the first time ; 
while numerous synonyms have been added, and the whole of the nomenclature critically examined 
and revised. 
To my brethren of the British Ornithologists' Union I hereby tender my acknowledgments for 
the readiness with which they have at all times given me the benefit of their opinions and judgment 
on doubtful points, or lent me specimens for comparison. 
In conclusion I have only to state that, in consideration of the generous assistance accorded to 
me by the New-Zealand Government, I have presented the whole of my collection of Birds, on which 
the descriptive letterpress is chiefly founded, to the Colonial Museum at Wellington, where it will 
in future be accessible for purposes of reference. 
London, March 1873. 
