WATER-BIRD WAIFS 



enthusiast's ability to get in touch with them. But no 

 one can see a thing which does not exist. Birds of this 

 class are large enough to be conspicuous, and some of 

 them are good to eat, and both these facts have served 

 to invite persecution from gunners. So it is a lament- 

 able fact that most of the wading or swimming birds, 

 certainly in inland localities, can seldom be seen. You 

 cannot walk out any day and say you will watch ducks, 

 herons, or shore-birds. Unless you know a spot where 

 some one pair or species breeds, you might go forth 

 dozens of times and not see one solitary water-bird. 

 Some time, we hope, there may be better conditions, 

 as public sentiment is being aroused against the wanton 

 extermination of our beautiful wild bird-life, and many 

 excellent laws are being enacted and enforced. 



It would make this book too large if I were to go 

 into full accounts of the wading and swimming birds, 

 so I must simply and briefly mention the birds of this 

 class which may be found in any typical inland country 

 town, and refer my readers to my other books where I 

 describe these birds and their ways, both in text and in 

 photographs. "Among the Water-Fowl" deals with 

 the swimming-birds, both of the ocean and of inland 

 waters. Additional studies of these are given in 

 *'Wild Wings" with extended accounts of the shore- 

 birds, besides other material. The system of classi- 

 fication now accepted begins with our lowest order of 

 birds, nearest to reptiles and fishes, the grebes, and 

 works up to the highest, the thrushes. In this book we 



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