IN 1896 and the following years I wrote a series of articles. On Indian Ducks and their Allies in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. In 1908 these articles. Were brought up to date, corrected and added to and appeared in book form, and so well was this volume received by the public, especially by sportsmen in India, that the edition was soon exhausted.

The first edition appeared principally to meet a want which had long been felt by small-game shooters in India. That is to say a volume, reference to which would not only show how each duck could be identified, but would also give some idea of its habits and its scarcity or the reverse. Hume and Marshall's Game Birds of India, which was published in 1879 80, grand book as it was and is, was felt to be behind. The times, and much had since been recorded in various magazines and journals. But these records were scattered here, there and everywhere, and could not be consulted Without the greatest difficulty, and it was, indeed, quite impossible for anyone who had not access to a very complete library to say what had, and what had not, been recorded.

The first edition may be said not only to have served its purpose for the. Time being, but it served yet another and perhaps even more important one, for since its appearance a. Very large amount of information has been published to add to and correct its contents.

This second edition incorporates these additions and corrections, and adds a considerable amount of matter not obtainable by me when writing in India. Several species have been added to the Indian list, and the geographical distribution of certain others has been more correctly given.

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