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Variation of Birds in a State of Nature by Frank Russell, 1892

Variation of Birds in a State of Nature by Frank Russell, 1892, Page 3

Introductory
The unusually large series of bird skins contained in the museum, the attractiveness of philosophic-scientific research in a comparatively new field, and a love for systematic work, induced me to enter upon the study of the "Variation of Birds in a State of Nature." The study was interesting both because there hundreds of skins of each species and from the fact that they were obtained from localities where individual specimens combine the characters of two species commonly recognized as distinct. e.g. the common and western meadow lark where we see the change from one species to the other by almost imperceptible gradations. seven hundred and fifty skins being examined.
Seasonal changes of plumage are also recorded being especially noticeable in the fine series of nearly one hundred snowy owl skins.
The last pp. contain a comparison between the five species studied as regards the variation of migratory and non-migratory, the solitary and gregarious, and those having combinations of the characters.
The main object of the thesis, however, is to prove

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Introductory The unusually large series of bird skins contained in the museum, the attractiveness of philosophic-scientific research in a comparatively new field, and a love for systematic work, induced me to enter upon the study of the "Variation of Birds in a State of Nature." The study was interesting both because there hundreds of skins of each species and from the fact that they were obtained from localities where individual specimens combine the characters of two species commonly recognized as distinct. e.g. the common and western meadow lark where we see the change from one species to the other by almost imperceptible gradations. seven hundred and fifty skins being examined. Seasonal changes of plumage are also recorded being especially noticeable in the fine series of nearly one hundred snowy owl skins. The last pp. contain a comparison between the five species studied as regards the variation of migratory and non-migratory, the solitary and gregarious, and those having combinations of the characters. The main object of the thesis, however, is to prove