INTRODUCTION. 
11 
of that science, in which these gentlemen so much delighted, 
and for which they have done so much. 
From the writers of our own country the author has derived 
but little advantage. The first considerable list of our birds 
was published in 1787, by Mr. Jefferson, in his celebrated 
“ Notes on Virginia,” and contains the names of 109 species, 
with the designations of Linnaeus and Catesby, and references 
to Buffon. The next, and by far the most complete that has 
yet appeared, was published in 1791, by Mr. William Bartram, 
in his “ Travels through North and South Carolina,” &c. in 
which two hundred and fifteen different species are enumerated, 
and concise descriptions and characteristics of each added, in 
Latin and English. Dr. Barton, in his “Fragments of the Na- 
tural History of Pennsylvania,” has favoured us with a number 
of remarks on this subject; and Dr. Belknap, in his “ History 
of New Hampshire,” as well as Dr. Williams, in that of Ver- 
mont, have each enumerated a few of our birds. But these, 
from the nature of the publications in which they have been 
introduced, can be considered only as catalogues of names, 
without the detail of specific particulars, or the figured and co- 
loured representations of the birds themselves. This task, the 
hardest of all, has been reserved for one of far inferior abilities, 
but not of less zeal. With the example of many solitary indi- 
viduals, in other countries, who have succeeded in such an en- 
terprise, he has cheerfully engaged in the undertaking, trusting 
for encouragement solely to the fidelity with which it will be 
conducted. 
