6 
CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 
practical purposes and general use, the annexed will he found, 
on the whole, simple and satisfactory. Whatever may he 
their imperfections, we can at least vouch, from experience, 
for their tending very materially to facilitate a learner's 
progress; and as they are founded on the authority of some 
of our most esteemed naturalists, # even the more advanced 
may, it is to he hoped, refer to them with advantage.f 
* Chiefly from Cuvier and Dumeril. 
f The best tables of classification and reference we have seen are 
those now published in large sheets with figures, at a very moderate 
price, by M. Achille Comte, illustrating Cuvier’s B'egne Animal. 
