THE BIRDS 



NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA, 



By Robert Ridgway, 



Ctirator, lyirhion of Birds. 



Ornithology ("'from opviH-^ crude form of opvig, a ))ird, and Aok/(T, 

 allied to Xoyog^ commonly Englished n discourse""')^ is '"the method- 

 ical study and consequent knowledge of birds, with all that relates 

 thereto."'' 



There are two essentially different kinds of ornithology: sy.stematic 

 or scientific^ and popular. The former deals with the structure and 

 classification of birds, their synon3'mies and technical descriptions. 

 The latter treats of their habits, songs, nesting, and other facts per- 

 taining to their life-histories. Although apparently distinct from one 

 another, these two branches of ornithology are in reality closel}* related 

 and to a degree interdependent. The systematist w^ho does not possess 

 an intimate knowledge of the habits of birds, their mode of nidifica- 

 tion, the character of their nests, eggs, and young, is poorly equipped 

 for the work he has in hand, while the popular Writer who is ignorant 

 of scientific ornithology and who neglects to keep in touch with its 

 progress is placed at an equal disadvantage — his writings may enter- 

 tain, Imt are far more apt to mislead, through erroneous statements, 

 than educate. Popular ornithology is the more entertaining, with its 

 savor of the wildwood, green fields, the riverside and seashore, bird 

 songs, and the manj' fascinating things connected with out-of-door 

 Nature. But systematic ornithology, being a component part of 

 biology — the science of life — is the more instructive and therefore 

 more important. Each advance in this serious study reveals just so 



1 Newton, Dictionary of Birds, 1894, p. 657. 

 ^Idein., introduction, p. 1. 

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