PKEFACE TO TEACHERS' MANUAL. 



TVniLE the time available for zoological studies in 

 our schools is too limited to permit of more than the 

 treatment in outline of most of the classes of ani- 

 mals, the fact is now recognized that birds possess 

 unusual claims to our attention. They are practi- 

 cally the only ones of the higher animals with which 

 we may come in contact daily. Our large mammals 

 have either been exterminated or driven from the 

 vicinity of our homes, while most of the smaller 

 species are nocturnal, and, therefore, rarely seen. 

 Reptiles and batrachians are difficult to observe and 

 are not popular; while fishes, from the nature of 

 their haunts, can be studied only under certain con- 

 ditions. Birds, however, are everywhere: in field 

 and wood and sky, in our orchards and gardens; 

 and some of them are with us at all seasons. 



But birds' merits do not consist merely in their 

 abundance. In beauty of plumage, grace of mo- 

 tion, and vocal ability they are without rivals; in 

 their migration, mating, and nesting habits they 

 not only display unusual intelligence, but exhibit 

 human traits of character that create within us a 

 feeling of kinship with them, and thus increase 

 our interest in and love for them. Furthermore, 

 as with increasing knowledge we begin to realize 

 their economic value, we are more than ever im- 



