BIRD LIFE IN A WESTERN VALLEY 



I FIND that as my quiet years occupied by an 

 unremitting study of wild life in one of the 

 most secluded districts of Britain have passed, 

 and ever and anon I have gained new ideas of 

 Nature's purposes, my methods of observation 

 have gradually changed. In studying certain 

 creatures as types, I had been apt to form a too 

 hasty opinion regarding the habits of various 

 members of the family to which they belonged. 

 Now, however, in each separate study of a 

 mamma], a bird, a fish, or an insect, I am led to 

 pursue that study to the farthest limit possible to 

 me, even though I had already observed with 

 care some creature nearly allied to the one 

 engaging my attention. 



But there are many creatures whose habits of 

 life are so peculiarly fascinating — ^the fox among 

 mammals, the owl among birds, the salmon 

 among fish, and the moss humble-bee among 

 insects may be instanced — ^that a preference for 

 these is well-nigh inevitable. Without the fox, 

 the life of the coverts and the upland fields 

 w<^uld seem incomplete : without the owl, the 



