xii TO THE GROWN-UP—LEND A HAND! 
The lesser beasts keep more aloof than do the birds. 
These still gather freely in our gardens, fields, and woods 
if we permit, and if we offer food and shelter, many quickly 
become responsive. 
Will not you who enjoy this friendship share it with 
others to whom it is perhaps entirely unknown and un- 
guessed, and to whom even the names of birds, beyond a 
familiar few such as Hawk, Owl, Robin, and Sparrow, 
are an unknown language ? 
The bird lectures are many, but there are those who 
cannot reach them. The bird protective societies are 
tireless, but the ground must be prepared for the message 
they send forth, and there is no better way for doing this 
than by the influence of a personality working quietly 
and unconsciously that infects all with whom it comes in 
contact with its wholesome enthusiasm. 
If you are a parent or teacher, well and good; your 
field is ready at hand. If not, you may still become the 
equivalent of both in your community even though 
you lack some of Gray Lady’s attributes and re- 
sources. 
If you have the right faculty and books at hand, you 
do not need my aid; but if the work of holding youth is as 
yet an untried experiment, tuck this little volume into 
the corner of your school desk, the magazine rack, or your 
work-basket at home, for rainy days or the between times 
when lack of occupation breeds mischief. 
Much that is told in the following pages was thought 
out, in another form, especially for the use of teachers of 
the rural schools of Connecticut, but it is applicable to 
the needs of children in any of the eastern states, and 
