A BOOK OF BIRDS 



CHAPTER I 



INTRODUCTORY 



The study of Birds, or, as some prefer to call it, the study of 

 Ornithology, began with the dawn of man's civilisation ; for, having 

 discerned that birds were good for food, a study of their habits and 

 movements became necessary to him, as his victims became more 

 and more wary. Soon however, no doubt, it was discovered that 

 some species, at any rate, were capable of domestication, whereby a 

 regular supply of food was easily and certainly secured : and with this 

 acquisition of '* livestock," probably, the ''civilisation " of man com- 

 menced. For there was nov/ but a step to the keeping of birds as pets, a 

 practice which was fraught with the profoundest results, since it is 

 believed that the keeping of domesticated animals, either for pleasure 

 or profit, proved one of the most important factors in transforming 

 what, till then, were but hordes of wandering savages into more or less 

 orderly communities, thereby laying the foundation for the complex 

 human societies of to-day. 



But the peculiar fascination which birds have always exercised 

 over the mind of man has been not a little to the hurt of the birds. 

 They soon found a place in his religious beliefs, and at the same time 

 in his superstitions. Thus, while some came to be held in high 

 honour, others were regarded as birds of ill-omen ; and to this day 

 many have not recovered from the infamy with which they were 



I 



