PROSPECTUS 
THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA, 
BY 
JOHN GOULD, F.R.S., &c., 
AUTHOR OF THE “ BIRDS OF EUROPE,” “ CENTURY OF BIRDS FROM THE HIMALAYA 
MOUNTAINS,” “ MONOGRAPHS OF THE TOUCANS, TROGONS, KANGAROOS, 
PARTRIDGES OF AMERICA,” “ MAMMALS OF AUSTRALIA,” &C. &C. 
DEDICATED, BY PERMISSION, TO HER MAJESTY. 
It was not without a deep sense of the weight of the undertaking, 
that the Author announced a Work on the Ornithology of the Au- 
stralasian portion of the Globe ; nor, indeed, could he have ventured 
upon such a task, had he not possessed peculiar advantages which 
inspired him with confidence as to its successful issue. Aware, 
however, that much remained to be done in order to obtain a com- 
plete acquaintance with the birds of Australia, of which the forms 
are so singular and interesting, and whose habits, manners, and 
general economy were almost unknown, the Author was induced to 
visit those Colonies, and after devoting nearly two years to the obser- 
vation of the Birds in their native wilds, succeeded in gaining a rich 
harvest of knowledge, the fruit of personal experience, together with 
a number of new and highly interesting species. Their migrations, 
changes of plumage, food, manners and nidification, all that concerns 
their history, or guides the naturalist in the determinations of their 
affinities, has been accurately noted, and so far as the size of the 
