PREFACE. 



CO learn to call a bird by its right name is the first step in the 

 study of ornithology. We may propose to investigate the 

 structure, food, and habits of the birds of the world, or de- 

 sire merely a superficial knowledge of the species found in our garden, 

 but in either case we are at once confronted by this question of identi- 

 fication. 



From the scientific point of view there is but one satisfactory way to 

 identify a bird. A specimen of it should be in hand in order that its 

 form, color, and size may be accurately determined, when, with the 

 aid of analytical keys, with which most text-books are provided, it is 

 a simple matter to ascertain the bird's name. 



Wide experience has shown the writer, however, that where one 

 dead bird is identified, hundreds of attempts are made to name the 

 living bird in nature. This is to be expected. It is the natural out- 

 come of the. recent remarkable interest in the study of birds which, 

 fostered by Audubon Societies and nature study teachers, has assumed 

 an ethical and educational importance of the first magnitude. 



We cannot place a gun in the hands of these thousands of bird- 

 lovers whom we are yearly developing; indeed most of them 

 would refuse to use it. Specimens, therefore, are rarely available to 

 them and we should make some special effort to meet their peculiar 

 wants. The present volume has been prepared with this end in view. 

 Identification of the bird in the bush is its sole end; an end, however, 

 which we trust will prove but the beginning of a new and potent 



interest in nature. 



Frank M. Chapman. 



American Museum of Natural History , 

 New York City, 1903. 



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