THE BIRDS OF NEWPORT. 
By WILLIAM C. RIVES, Jr., M. D.* 
Before we consider the birds of Newport in particular, a few 
general observations on the ornithology of our country may per¬ 
haps be of some interest. 
Until a comparatively recent time, the chief writings of import¬ 
ance on North American birds and their habits were those of 
Wilson and Nuttall, and the magnificent work of Audubon, who, 
from his constant familiarity with our birds in their native haunts, 
and his peculiar skill in representing them in life-like and char¬ 
acteristic attitudes, has produced a set of plates unrivalled, I be¬ 
lieve, for their beauty and truth to nature. For many years after 
the publication of these treatises, few works of importance ap¬ 
peared, but a gradual accumulation of facts was taking place, and 
many separate papers of more or less value were printed in the 
transactions of different societies, while much ornithological 
matter of great interest was, from time to time, contained in the 
reports of various government exploring parties. 
In its contributions to the knowledge of our birds, New England 
has always taken a prominent position, and the ‘ ‘ Birds of New Eng¬ 
land” by Edward A. Samuels, was perhaps, the first readily acces¬ 
sible volume on their life histories which has been published within 
the present half of this century. The purely technical descrip¬ 
tions contained in this book are taken from a very important 
account of the birds of North America, published in the ninth 
volume of Pacific Railroad Reports in 185S, by Professor Spencer 
F. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution, but which is confined 
merely to descriptions and does not deal with their habits. 
Another important work, limited to the same subject as Professor 
Baird’s, is the “ Key to North American Birds,” by Dr. Elliott 
Cones, which was first issued in 1S72. 
*Read before the Society, March 6th, 1SS4. 
