OF BRITISH ORNITHOLOGY. BY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY, Esq. FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH; FELLOW OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, &c. VOL. I. LAND BIRDS. EDINBURGH : PRINTED FOR THE PROPRIETOR, AND PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, GREEN AND LONGMAN, MDCCCXXXIII. TO THE WERNERIAN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH, THESE ILLUSTRATIONS (ON A BRANCH OF SCIENCE WHICH HAS BEEN EMINENTLY PROMOTED BY THE ZEAL AND ABILITY OF SEVERAL OF ITS MEMBERS) ARE INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. I CANNOT allow the present volume to meet the public eye, without offering a few remarks upon the design and execution of this work. The etchings do not pretend to any merit beyond that of fidelity of delineation, upon a scale hitherto unattempted, and to that spirit and character which will generally attend drawings made, as much as possible, from living specimens. With respect to the letter-press, I have not professed to give a complete history of British Birds, and have not, therefore, drawn together into one focus all that has been better said by other writers upon the subject; but have contented myself with referring, by occasional notes, to any anecdotes particularly interesting as to the species under consideration. The present work bears the title only of Illustrations, and, as such, I was chiefly anxious to clear the systematic arrangement of such discrepancies as still exist 4 |