FOREWORD 



No man or woman of the coming generation 

 can lay claim to a broad education who does not 

 have at least a speaking acquaintance with the 

 wild birds and animals of the country. Public 

 sentiment will demand this. 



We all know persons who are skilled in belles 

 lettres, who know the languages of various 

 peoples, and have wide familiarity with the 

 history of what man has done; persons who have 

 travelled much and acquired learning in the 

 various fine arts, but who have no knowledge of 

 the names or habits of any of the fourteen hun- 

 dred kinds of wild birds found in North America. 

 Their knowledge is replete as to the things man 

 has done,^ but regarding the works of Nature 

 they are ignorant. They know nothing of the 

 soil formation; of the history of the rocks over 

 which they walk. They cannot name the trees in 

 whose shade they stand, and their ears are deaf 

 to the songs of the birds that reach them from 

 the fields and roads. 



Such a person, if left alone in the country for 

 a day without human companionship, or a book 

 to read, is usually miserable until relief arrives. 

 The wild life of the open means nothing to him. 

 Today, in every State of the Union, thousands 

 of intelligent teachers are mingling with their 

 daily tasks some instruction regarding the habits 

 of wild birds and their value to mankind. 



