PREFACE. THE question may naturally suggest itself to some of my readers, what object I had in view in publishing a work on the Birds of Great Britain, when I had already completed a similar publication on the avifauna of Europe. My reasons are simply these :— Before the latter was completed the entire edition was all or nearly all sold; and very many persons interested in this department of science were disappointed in not being able to procure a copy of a work which they saw in the hands of so many others. Consequently, on the completion of my Birds of Australia,' at the solicitation of a large number of private friends and others, and influenced by the increased taste for natural history that had sprung up in the interim, I "returned to my old love" by publishing the British Birds, excluding those of the continent, thus complying with the wishes of those persons who have especially paid attention to our native ornithology. I also felt that there was an opportunity of greatly enriching the work by giving figures of the young of many of the species of various genera-a thing hitherto almost entirely neglected by authors; and I feel assured that this infantile age of bird-life will be of much interest for science, to my subscribers, and to readers generally. That my efforts to render this publication a standard work have been successful is evidenced by its sale being double that of any other work I have given to the public. Many of the numerous ornithologists who have arisen within the last few years have rendered me much valuable information-a kindness which I duly acknowledge, and trust that, although not specially mentioned in this short Preface, they will take it for granted they have not been forgotten, and that their names have been generally associated with the various subjects to which their communications have reference. Many of the public are quite unaware how the colouring of these large Plates is accomplished; and not a few believe that they are produced by some mechanical process or by chromo-lithography. This, however, is not the case; every sky with its varied tints and every feather of each bird were coloured by hand; and when it is considered that nearly two hundred and eighty thousand illustrations in the present work have been so treated, it will most likely cause some astonishment to those who give the subject a thought. I am truly and sincerely thankful for the blessing of health which has attended me during the course of my twelve years' labour on the present work; and it was only while the Introductory matter was going through the press that a severe blight fell upon me (the untimely death of my youngest son, Dr. Franklin Gould*), and cast a gloom over my future happiness. I should not have alluded to this painful subject here did I not feel it was only doing justice to his memory, inasmuch as he rendered me much assistance in the composition of the following Introduction, which, from his varied acquirements, he was well qualified to give. His loss has called forth the sympathy of many kind friends, which has in some measure assuaged the sad affliction which has befallen me. If I am spared it is my intention not to be idle; for although I do not entertain the idea of entering upon any new enterprise, I shall still pursue the subject with the same energy I have hitherto done,at one period of the year attending to the Birds of Asia, at another to the recent discoveries in the ornithology of Australia, pursuing the subject to New Guinea and the adjacent islands, the avifaunas of these latter countries being inseparable. It gives me great pleasure to state that my Secretary, Mr. Prince, after twelve months' of very severe illness, is again able to render me his assistance, that Mr. Wolf affords me the benefit of his talented pencil, and that Mr. Richter and Mr. Hart continue their services as heretofore. November 1, 1873. JOHN GOULD. * Dr. F. Gould died of fever on board the Steamship 'Behar' on the 19th of March last, during his passage from India to Suez, and was buried the same day in the Red Sea. INTRODUCTION. IN the olden time when the wolf and the wild boar roamed over the primitive forests of Great Britain, when the beaver held its own in our silent and undisturbed streams and lakes, when the red deer followed our mountain tracks in all the vigour of its pristine condition, when our marshes and great sedge-covered watery wastes were yearly visited by the Crane and the Spoonbill, the earliest dawn of natural history which was to herald the light of future ages had not yet broken upon the untutored Celt, who alone shared with those animals the possession of our islands. With the progress of civilization that obscurity has been gradually dispelled; and, happily for our country, from the time when Gilbert White wrote his charming account of Selborne, the study of natural history, more particularly with reference to our native birds, has gradually increased, until its pleasures have become widely known to both young and old. The talented Bewick rendered the subject still further attractive by his inimitable and truthful drawings; then followed in the same path Selby, Macgillivray, Thompson, and Yarrell, whose writings have made this branch of science so popular that it now engrosses the minds of thousands. Of the truth of this statement ample evidence is afforded by the numerous works (both great and small) which have been recently published, by the many local faunas which have lately appeared, and by the establishment of naturalists' clubs and associations in many parts of the country. Such has been the impetus given by these means to the study of natural history that it will scarcely be presumptuous in me to foretell that a period is not far distant when our native birds will be far more familiarly known to the people than they now are. For, although it may appear surprising to many of my readers, I assert that at the present time there are but few persons who could enumerate by name even a fourth part of the birds with which we are surrounded. Country people are familiar enough with the call of the Wryneck, the voice of the Cuckoo, and the crake of the Landrail; but few, very few, would recognize those birds if placed before them. Will it not, then, be well to encourage the formation of natural-history societies to the utmost, and doing so enlighten the minds of those who have hitherto been much in ignorance? With this spread of knowledge, mythical traditions such as that of the hibernation in caves or under water of such a bird as our common Swallow (traditions not confined, as might be presumed, to a remote country village, but which from time to time have found utterance in the lips of educated people) will happily cease to exist; while the timid rustic, gradually freeing himself from the countless superstitions connected with many of our birds, will no longer pause with bated breath when startled at night by the not very cheerful cry of the Screech-Owl. To be in the country and not to care to recognize or be able to discriminate between the musical notes of the Thrush, the plaintive song of the Blackbird, the carol of the Lark, or the exquisite lay of the B Nightingale, is to me surprising; yet that such people exist is but too well known. Shakespeare and our earlier poets duly appreciated, however, the varying melodies of our feathered songsters, and have never been slow to accord to each its well-earned tribute of praise : "It was the nightingale, and not the lark, Romeo and Juliet, act iii, scene 5. Again : "The busy larke, messager of daye, CHAUCER, Knightes Tale. Or : "Hark how the cheerefull birds do chaunt theyr laies, The merry larke hir mattins sings aloft, The thrush replyes, the mavis descant playes, So goodly all agree with sweet consent To this dayes merriment." SPENCER, Epithalamion, 1595. The study of natural history reveals to us a wide field, pregnant with interest and pleasure. The geologist, who, from the various aspects of nature, attempts to form a conception of how this planet has been formed, and the naturalist, whose senses are keenly alive to the beauty and importance of the manifold living objects which meet his gaze on every side, are pursuing a course calculated to lead to the highest and happiest results. Even the humble cottager who decorates his windows with flowers, and the artisan who keeps and encourages his little birds to sing and to solace him, are imbued with tastes of a superior order, which, if properly cultivated, cannot fail to induce a greater intellectual development, and consequently an increase in happiness. Granted that the antiquary in poring over some dusty relic of a by-gone age experiences a thrill of pleasure denied to others, or that the wealthy man filling his rooms with the finest efforts of the artist's pencil, and his cabinets with articles of rare and costly workmanship, thereby experiences a very high degree of gratification, or even that the man of pleasure, fulfilling the daily routine demanded by fashion, finds in it some irresistible attraction-yet what are these enjoyments compared with those daily and hourly offered to the student of nature! Does he not see in the growth of a blade of grass, or in the mechanism which enables the tiny gnat to effect the countless vibrations of its gauzy wings, or in the majestic ease of the soaring eagle, evidences of a power and skill immeasurably superior to those |