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PREFACE. 
resort to birds inhabiting the western territories, the greater part 
of which were first made known by Say, in the Account of Long’s 
Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, a work that has justly 
acquired a high degree of celebrity, and is no less creditable to 
the nation than to the individuals concerned in its production. 
The second volume will be devoted to water birds, some of 
which are common in the very city of Philadelphia. The third 
will contain birds of both sub-classes indiscriminately, and will 
chiefly consist of Mr. Peace’s gleanings in Florida. 
The classification and synonymes of Wilson were tolerably 
accurate for the time he wrote, but being far behind the present 
advanced state of science, correction is rendered indispensable. 
We shall therefore add a synopsis of all the species inhabiting the 
United States, arranged in orders, families, genera, and sub-genera, 
agreeably to the best authorities of our time, and our own impres¬ 
sions relative to natural affinities. In order that any one, who 
desires to gain a scientific acquaintance with American Ornithology, 
may require no other aid than what can be derived from Wilson’s 
and the present work alone, we shall subjoin a general disquisition 
on birds, and a glossary of ornithological terms, which, with the 
synopsis, have occupied the principal portion of the author’s care, 
and will constitute a complete work, to be published in a separate 
volume. 
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