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Second Edition.
Edited by Eugene William GatesAuthor of "A Handbook to the Birds of British Burmah and of the Birdsin the Fauna of British India,"
With Four Portraits.
London
1889
[Illustration: ALLAN OCTAVIAN HUME]
[Illustration: ALERE FLAMMAM]
I have long regretted my inability to issue a revised edition of'Nests and Eggs.' For many years after the first Rough Draft appeared,I went on laboriously accumulating materials for a re-issue, butsubsequently circumstances prevented my undertaking the work. Now,fortunately, my friend Mr. Eugene Gates has taken the matter up, andmuch as I may personally regret having to hand over to another a task,the performance of which I should so much have enjoyed, it is someconsolation to feel that the readers, at any rate, of this work willhave no cause for regret, but rather of rejoicing that the work haspassed into younger and stronger hands.
One thing seems necessary to explain. The present Edition does notinclude quite all the materials I had accumulated for this work. Manyyears ago, during my absence from Simla, a servant broke into mymuseum and stole thence several cwts. of manuscript, which he soldas waste paper. This manuscript included more or less completelife-histories of some 700 species of birds, and also a certain numberof detailed accounts of nidification. All small notes on slips ofpaper were left, but almost every article written on full-sizedfoolscap sheets was abstracted. It was not for many months that thetheft was discovered, and then very little of the MSS. could berecovered.
It thus happens that in the cases of some of the most interestingspecies, of which I had worked up all the notes into a connectedwhole, nothing, or, as in the case of Argya subrufa, only a singleisolated note, appears in the text. It is to be greatly regretted, formy work was imperfect enough as it was; and this 'Selection from theRecords,' that my Philistine servant saw fit to permit himself, hasrendered it a great deal more imperfect still; but neither Mr. Oatesnor myself can be justly blamed for this.
In conclusion, I have only to say that if this compilation should findfavour in any man's sight he must thank Mr. Oates for it, since notonly has he undergone the labour of arranging my materials and seeingthe whole work through the press—not only has he, I believe, addedhimself considerably to those materials—but it is solely owing to himthat the work appears at all, as I know no one else to whom I couldhave entrusted the arduous and, I fear, thankless duty that he has sogenerously undertaken.
Rothney Castle, Simla,
October 19th, 1889.
Mr. Hume has sufficiently explained the circumstances under which thisedition of his popular work has been brought about. I have merely toadd that, as I was engaged on a work on the Birds of India, I thoughtit would be easier for me than for anyone else to assist Mr. Hume.I was also in England, and knew that my labour would be very muchlightened by passing the work