iv PREFACE. 



indication of the amount of good and harm to be charged to the account 

 of each bird. 



The great importance of wild birds to the agriculturist may be readily 

 conceded. Nevertheless it seems very desirable, at this time, that we 

 should recognize the fact that all the wild things of our country, birds, 

 mammals, insects, plants, have a right to protection, preservation, recogni- 

 tion, entirely independent of their economic status, us'ng that worcl to 

 indicate merely the amount of good or harm in dollars and cents which 

 can be attributed to them. The fox, the crow, the kingfisher, the muskrat, 

 may or may not, in the long run, be "more beneficial than harmful," 

 yet each in its own way has a scientific, an ipsthetic, a human value, which 

 cannot be estimated in dollars and cents and which should forever protect 

 him from extreme persecution, and above all from final extinction. 



Aside from the slips and errors which are inevitable in such a book, 

 and for which the writer hopes but does not expect forgiveness, two points 

 might seem to call for apology; first, the absence of colored plates, and 

 second, the great length of some of the biographies. In explanation of 

 the first defect it is perhaps sufficient to say that it is not the writer's fault, 

 but merely a necessary economy. Such colored plates as can be obtained 

 cheaply are lamentably poor, and the preparation of new and really good 

 portraits, either from mounted specimens or from good paintings, involves 

 an expense Avhich at present is prohibitive. 



The writer alone is responsible for the length of biographies, such as 

 those of the Passenger Pigeon, the Crow, certain hawks, blackbirds, wood- 

 peckers, thrushes, etc The main excuse lies in the economic importance 

 of these species which seems to warrant somewhat extended discussion, 

 especially in the case of those which directly affect the farmei' and fruit 

 grower. And this perhaps may be still further justified by the fact that 

 for the past twenty-five years the writer has been a constant student of 

 the complex relations of birds, insects and crops, and was for many years 

 employed as a speciaHst in charge of such investigations under the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture. 



Work was begun upon the present volume about ten years ago, but 

 the constant pressure of college duties, increasing heavily from year to 

 year, made it impossible to give much time to the matter during the 

 academic year. Only those who have actually undertaken a similar task 

 as a side issue of regular professional work can appreciate the labor in- 

 volved, or understand the delays, disappointments and vexations ex- 

 perienced. The entire work was typewritten for publication in 1907, 

 but owing to circumstances beyond the writer's control its printing was 

 not authorized until the autumn of 1911. In the meantime it was largely 

 rewritten, and brought up to date. 



A comparison with Professor Cook's bulletin (second edition, 1893) will 

 show that his list contained 336 species or subspecies as against 326 in 

 the present work. This does not mean, however, that but ten species 

 have been dropped from the list. The present state list lacks thirty birds 

 included by Professor Cook, but contains twenty birds which that bulletin 

 did not mention. The following lists enumerate the subtractions and 

 additions respectively. The number in parentheses preceding each name 

 is the serial number borne by that species in the list as published. 



The species which were included in Cook's Birds of Michigan (1893), but 

 are not retained in the present list are: 



