INTRODUCTION. 
vi 
to be fpent more innocently than thofe'of the rapacious kinds, 
all contribute their fervices to man, by clearing the earth of the 
feeds of noxious plants, as well as the trees of innumerable de- 
ilru<9:ive infe6ls, with which they feed their young, and claim 
for themfelves, meanwhile, but a fmall return of the produce of 
the fields and gardens, which too often is ungratefully begrudg- 
ed them. 
Nearly the whole of this amufing group appear to relieve each 
other, and are, in fucceffion, the conflant neighbours, or attend- 
ants on the habitations of men. They are the fubtenants of the 
cultivated world, and moil of them, efpecially thofe that are 
granivorous, may well be termed wild poultry, and are the va- 
lued property of the fportfman. Some of thefe alfo, uniting 
with others of the foft-billed tribe, form the hufbandman’s 
cheerful band of chorifters, whofe comings and goings proclaim 
the feafons ; while, by their notes poured forth from every tree, 
and vale, and woody glen, they enliven the face of nature. But 
having defcribed this divifion of birds in the former volume, we 
mufl now bid them adieu, with this teftimony of their ufeful- 
nefs — that they are the induftrious, regulating little meffengers 
of Providence, without whofe afliftance the plough and the fpade 
would often find their labours beftowed in vain ; and, weak as 
thefe inftruments may appear, without their aid, inflead of a land 
of overflowing plenty, adorned with flowers and fruits, and 
trees and woods, in rich luxuriance, and in all their varied beau- 
ty, where every grove is made vocal with refponfive praifes, we 
fhould too frequently meet with nothing but the barrennefs, and 
the filence, and the drearinefs of a defert. 
Leaving thofe denizens ^ of nature to enjoy their own na- 
tive woods, the fhcltering coppice, or extended plain, the tafic 
now afiigned us is to delineate the figures, and to defcribe the 
* “ Beheld the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they 
reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly father feedeth them,” 
—See MatL vi. s6. 
