PREFACE, 



so much has been written upon the sub 

 ject of Amerk- ornithology, it becomes the 



author to state succinctly the reasons which have 



s 



prompted him to repeat observations on supposed 

 well-known species. The lack of anything like 

 satisfactory information upon the food and breed- 



ing habits of many of the birds of Eastern Penn- 



.^-> ^ 



sylvania, as we'll as the- desire; to reconcile if pos- 

 sible, the contradictory statements of many authors, 

 abundantly justify in his opinion, additional Jnvesli 

 nation. It is also \\ril to record these habits attain, 



.'~> c? 



because of the value of testimony to uniformity or 



of habits in bi; ds to qu< ;eta- 



phs sii I IK lue . kiie - ' 



lood to tlif developing -it of the law of natural 

 sd-, tion as v !l as \ riculturists, is sufBciently 

 obvious. 



The tacts contained in this work are the results 

 ot observations carried through a period of six 



..i .mci have been derived from observations 

 in the held, arid can iul .uicl elaborate \amina- 

 tions in the studio. Upwards of five hundred 



