Vili PREFACE 
from those of the mainland of New Zealand. I have 
also omitted stragglers and occasional visitors. 
I have been tempted to include more Shearwaters 
and other Petrels than are really necessary, owing 
to the splendid material supplied by Mr. R. Falla. 
Such birds as Dove Petrels, of which there are 
four species, I have included under one head, as 
being indistinguishable from each other on the wing. 
This book is primarily intended for the untrained 
bird-lover who rarely handles a bird, and only 
secondarily for the scientist. 
To those well acquainted with New Zealand birds 
the list of them arranged in their natural orders 
will probably commend itself. (See page 76.) Here 
all the birds of one order, 7.e. Gulls, Shags, Ducks, 
ete., can be compared with one another at a glance 
and distinguishing characteristics noted. 
Those wishing to identify an unknown bird should 
find pages 28 to 59 helpful, and also the list of birds 
erouped according to habitat. 
The size of the birds has been given as accurately 
as possible, but it should be remembered that 
individual birds in any species vary considerably, 
and in some the variation in size is greater than in 
others. 
It has been argued that any book which claims - 
to enable one to identify birds should be based on | 
the science of identification, namely, systematic 
ornithology, and that the names of the birds should 
be discovered by first mastering their classification. 
This argument, however, is not applicable to New 
Zealand birds, the classification of which is at 
present in a chaotic state. I have adopted Mathews 
and Iredale’s (1920) nomenclature as being most 
up-to-date, although by many their classification is 
not looked upon as final. 
For example, the number of species of such birds 
as the Kiwis, Woodhens, ete., is still under discus- 
