OUTDOOR EXERCISE. ^ 



and do not merely loll and dream ; but I ex- 

 tend to you an earnest and cordial invitation to 

 cultivate the friendship of our happy feathered 

 commoners, believing that no branch of natural 

 history will afford you quite so much delight. 



But let me say first, last, and always, don't 

 carry a gun, don't rob nests, don't in any way 

 molest or injure the birds. Be true bird lovers, 

 not scientific brigands and butchers, and then 

 the birds will return your kindness with usury, 

 by letting you into many a pretty secret of 

 their glad lives. All the tools you need are a 

 good opera glass, a standard manual or key, an 

 alert mind, and a sharp eye. 



One of the indications, to my mind, of the 

 growing army of real bird lovers is the fact that 

 I receive scores of letters from young people 

 and their elders all over the country, from 

 Maine to California, asking for the titles and 

 prices of the best manuals on bird study. 

 These letters are always answered with pleas- 

 ure, my only regret being that more inquirers 

 do not make use of Uncle Sam's postal clever- 

 ness. Perhaps the readers of this volume would 

 be thankful for a little information on the sub- 

 ject of helps in bird study, although I can not 

 here give a bibliography of the subject. If you 

 are a beginner, you will want a key — that is, 



