To the Reader 



The author has received so many inquiries from his 

 young readers in all parts of the country as to how he be- 

 came acquainted with the birds and squirrels, that he has 

 deemed it wise to tell them in the introduction to this volume, 

 when and where his acquaintance with these little funed 

 and feathered friends began. 



His aim in so doing is to show them that he has had few 

 advantages for nature study that the average country girl or 

 boy does not enjoy, and his hope is that their interest may be 

 quickened so that they will begin at once, for themselves, that 

 sweet companionship with these shy little strangers; that 

 they will open their ears and eyes to the song in the thicket, 

 and the flash of fur and feathers in the tree-top, and, best of 

 all, their hearts to the glad life about them. 



If this, even in a slight measure, is accomplished, these 

 simple chronicles of the tree-folks will not have been re- 

 corded in vain. 



