PREFACE.
How unusual it is to meet any one who can correctly name a dozen of our birds ! One may live in the country and still know only two or three of the one hundred and fifty or more kinds of birds that may be found during the year. Nevertheless, these gay, restless creatures, both by voice and action, constantly invite our attention, and they are far too interesting and beautiful to be ignored. No one to whom Nature appeals should be without some knowledge of these, the most attractive of her animate forms.
The scientific results to be derived from the study of birds are fully realized by the naturalist. But there are other results equally important. I would have every one know of them : results that add to our pleasure in field and wood, and give fresh interest to walks that before were eventless ; that quicken both ear and eye, making us hear and see where before we were deaf and blind. Then, to our surprise, we shall discover that the forests and pastures we have known all our lives are tenanted by countless feathered inhabitants whose companionship will prove a source of endless enjoyment.
I would enter a special plea for the study of birds in the schools ; for the more general introduction of ornithology in natural-history courses. Frogs and crayfish serve an excellent purpose, but we may not encounter either of them after leaving the laboratory ; whereas birds not only offer excellent opportunities for
