INTRODUCTORY. 17 
The sentimental view of the subject I leave to be 
treated by others. But I say that its practical side 
is a matter of supreme importance, that it is a ques- 
tion which will admit of neither evasion nor neglect, 
and that the greatest danger with which agriculture 
is, or ever has been, threatened lies in the wholesale 
destruction of birds now being carried on. Birds, 
from their very nature, are beings with whom the 
farmer is brought closely and constantly into con- 
tact ; their influence upon his avocations is so great 
that his failure or success must always to them in 
great measure be due. And as a loss to the farmers 
is equally, although indirectly, a loss to the entire 
community, we are all personally concerned in the 
settlement of a question the importance of which can 
scarcely be estimated too highly. 
In weighing the merits and demerits of any indi- 
vidual bird there is much to be considered, and the 
task is one which can only be satisfactorily accom- 
plished by the co-operation of a number of inde- 
pendent observers, every one of whom must be 
thoroughly competent, not only to observe, but also 
to form trustworthy deductions from the facts which 
come beneath his notice. 
To find out and bring together such men is by no 
means a light undertaking, more especially as they 
cannot, save in a few and exceptional instances, be 
drawn from the ranks of those who are chiefly in- 
terested in the results of their investigations, and to 
whom one would naturally turn for information upon 
(e &, 
