X 
PREFACE 
that I realised for the first time how great a 
scientist MacGillivray was. 
To the officials of the Natural History Depart¬ 
ment of the British Museum—especially to Mr W. 
P. Pyecraft—I gratefully acknowledge my indebted¬ 
ness for the permission they gave, and the aid they 
so kindly contributed in enabling me to obtain 
reproductions of the eight of MacGillivray’s draw¬ 
ings of birds in the museum, which have been used 
as not the least attractive of the illustrations in this 
book. 
To the kindness of Mr J. A. Harvie Brown of 
Dunipace, I am indebted for the facsimile of the 
letter from MacGillivray to Audubon which forms 
one of the illustrations. It is an excellent example, 
slightly reduced, of the writer’s very neat and careful 
caligraphy, which never varies whatever the circum¬ 
stances in which it may have been written. 
To Mr John Murray, the publisher of my small 
book, it is a special pleasure to me to offer my 
warm acknowledgments for all his kind advice and 
guidance in connection with its publication. 
W. M. 
May 1910 . 
