ü t t f l
PREFACE.
T h e question may naturally suggest itself to some of my readers, what object I had in view in publishing
a work on the Birds o f Great Britain, when I had already completed a similar publication on the
avifauna o f 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 o f a work which they saw in the hands o f so many others. Consequently,
on the completion o f my ‘ B irds o f Australia,’ a t the solicitation o f 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 o f the continent, thus complying with the
wishes o f 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 o f the young o f many o f the species of
various genera—a thing hitherto almost entirely neglected by authors ; and I feel assured that this infantile
age o f bird-life will be o f 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 o f any other work I have given to the public. Many o f 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 th at their names have been generally associated with the various
subjects to which their communications have reference.
Many o f the public are quite unaware how the colouring o f 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 o f 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.