PREFACE. SOME of the following chapters have already appeared in print in the shape of articles contributed to different periodicals. Others have never been previously published. They embody the resuIt of the Authors personal experience in a, pursuit to which, for many years, he has been devoted and hence no statement is made the accuracy of which has not been repeatedly tested. The descriptions and measurements of the birds have been taken from a very large series in the Authors private collection, and may therefore be relied upon as correct. With the view of imparting instruction to some, and amusement to others those who, like himself, have gone over the same ground with the same enthusiasm, the Author commends these Notes to the perusal of sportsmen and naturalists who have been much upon our coasts know that there are two different kinds of shores that which slopes down to the sea with a gentle declivity, and that which rises with a precipitate boldness...................