PREFACE. 
Vll 
to study the habits of birds with equal care and dili- 
gence, and it is to Wilson and Audubon and Nuttall 
that we are chiefly indebted even at this day for what 
we know of bird-life. I must not, however, be under- 
stood as implying that no additions have been made to 
this branch of knowledge, nor as undervaluing the im- 
portance of recent observations. But the field is large ; 
and in comparison with the work accomplished by the 
older writers, and with that which is still unknown, the 
recent acquisitions must be termed slight. 
It was suggested to me that the new might be com- 
bined with the old, — that an interesting and useful 
book might be prepared by taking Nuttall’s biographies 
and inserting brief notes relating the results of recent 
determinations in distribution and habits. That is what 
I have attempted in the present work. The Introduc- 
tion has been given exactly as it appeared in Nuttall’s 
second edition, and the text of the biographical matter 
has been changed but little. My notes follow each 
chapter in a smaller type, that they may be readily 
distinguished. I have also rewritten the descriptions of 
plumage, and have endeavored to phrase these in such 
well-known and untechnical terms that they may be 
understood by unskilled readers. To these I have 
added a description of the ne.st and eggs of each 
species. In short, an effort has been made to prepare 
a work that will be useful to young students, as well 
as entertaining to those who are merely interested in 
birds. 
The new matter has been selected with special re- 
gard for the needs of these classes of readers, for I 
