Excerpt from British Birds: Key List This attempt at a "Key List" of British Birds is not intended for scientific ornithologists, but for those who have only a slight knowledge of birds, so as to enable them to determine a species without having to search through bulky volumes. Of course, such a list must be, to a great extent (as all Natural History works are), a compilation; but the writer has examined and compared specimens of all the species. Every endeavour has been made to avoid technical and scientific terms and to be as concise as possible. American land-birds included in "British" lists have been omitted; others might with propriety be struck out - such as specimens escaped from captivity, or included without sufficient inquiry as to their authenticity. With slight modifications, the nomenclature and arrangement of the 'Ibis' List have been followed. Measurements of length are given, but only as an attempt to show the proportionate size of a species. In the writer's opinion measurements are not of much service, especially as hardly any two persons measure a bird in the same manner. Unless otherwise stated, the sexes are alike in plumage, and the remarks refer to adults in summer plumage. A species is called "resident" when it is found in the country throughout the year, but there is no doubt that even among residents there is a partial migration. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.