IL—GETTING READY. 
CHARTER: f. 
THE STUDY OF WILD BIRDS. 
Popular view of birdsnesting—The true naturalist and the destroyer of life—The 
egg-dealer versus the birdsnester—Bird destruction versus egg-taking—A love 
of birds a matter of heredity—Keeping cage-birds—Training Hawks and 
Falcons—My first nests—First lessons in bird-watching—The training of a 
field naturalist—First go to Southern Spain—Meet Lord Lilford—and Colonel 
Irby—‘‘ The Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar ’’—Crown Prince 
Rudolf of Austria’s visit—Birdsnesting at Home and Foreign Stations—In 
Nile Expedition, 1885—In South African War, 1899—Literature dealing 
with Spanish bird-life—General arrangement of book. 
HANK Heaven, I’m not reduced to 
birdsnesting !” 
It is many years since these words 
fell on my ears. That they were 
uttered by an individual of no im- 
portance is immaterial; for me their 
interest and value lie in the fact that 
they express to perfection and in the 
briefest possible manner the attitude 
of the vast bulk of one’s friends to- 
wards the branch of ornithological 
study which I have pursued with 
unremitting determination ever since 
I was a very small lad. 
The immediate cause of this profound remark is not without 
interest and may perhaps serve to point a moral to those who 
I 
