VI PREFACE.
were first made known by Sàt, in the Account of Long’s Expedition
to the Rocky Mountains, a work that jhas 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, (|évoted; to water birds, some of which
are common in the very city of Philadelphia. The third will contain
birds of both sub-clashes indiscriminately, and will chiefly consist of
Mr. Prams’s gleanings in Florida. >
The classification and synonymes of Wilson, were tolerably accurate
for the time he wrote, but being far behind ffie present advanced
state pf. 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 impressions
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.