PREFACE. V 



ject of both cultivating and directing tlio student's 

 powers of observation. In order, however, to give 

 him some idea of the bird's place in Xature, the sub- 

 jects of relationships and classification have been 

 touched on brieflv- Then follow a series of objec- 

 tive, seasonal lessons which are the main feature of 

 the book. The advantages of studying birds under 

 seasonal groupings are two-fold. First, by elimi- 

 nating species which are absent, it greatly simplifies 

 the question of identification. Second, it is more 

 real. If the student can be told that a certain spe- 

 cies will doubtless arrive from the south the same 

 day on which he is reading about it, his interest in 

 the subject will be at once increased ; it becomes a 

 matter of contemporary history. Furthermore, by 

 studying the birds with the seasons, we learn in the 

 beginning to properly associate them with certain 

 accompanying natural phenomena, and their com- 

 ings and goings become significant events in our 

 calendar. 



As w^e become familiar with birds, and learn to 

 recognize them, the question of identity will no 

 longer remain a bar to our better acquaintance, and 

 our interest in them will deepen. ^Ye shall begin 

 to inquire into the questions of form and habit, 

 color, migration, song, nesting, etc. ; and as a guide 

 to observations of this character, there are given a 

 series of lessons treating of the philosophic or sub- 

 jective side of bird-study, the wide scope of which 

 will be readily appreciated. 



^ F.M.C. 



American Museum of Natural History, 

 November, 1898. 



