In presenting this work to the public, the author deems it but reasonable that his patrons should be placed in full possession of the facts and circumstances which have induced him to undertake so presuming and (to him) so hazardous an enterprise. When the publication of the " Revised List of the Birds of Central New York" was an accomplished fact, many, into whose hands it was placed, suggested to him the propriety of describing and illustrating some, if not all of the birds contained therein. He felt that to truthfully and thoroughly execute the first proposition, was beyond his power except in a few minor instances, and much less assuring of a promising result than the latter suggestion. When, however, the horizon of a doubtful success had been considered, and the material in his possession consisting of the writings and assured observations of the ornithological students of the last decade had been carefully scanned, he felt a growing confidence that whenever his pen was blocked by a vacuitous doubt, he could find relief therefor in referring to such publications as the Xuttall Ornithological Bulletin, the Bulletins of the U. S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, and the writings of such authentic observers as Coues, Allen. Merriam, Brewster, Deane, and a host of other like authorities, as well as to the Natural History Columns .