4 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS 
could tell by the shells of seeds and the hard 
parts of insects, and bones and hair of mice, etc., 
just what had been eaten. And the contents of 
every stomach was written down and preserved 
ina book. Thus, you see, they could tell what 
crows were in the habit of feeding upon. 
They did this with many other birds who are 
said to do harm, — hawks, owls, blackbirds, king- 
birds, and others. That is how we come to know 
what birds eat, and can tell whether they do harm 
or good. There can be no mistake in this way 
of knowing, and so what comes from this depart- 
ment may be relied upon as true. 
I want this little book to help the bird-lovers 
in the South and West of our big country, as 
well as in the East; and so, in each Family, I 
shall try to tell about a bird who may be seen 
in each part. A good many of our birds are 
found both East and West, with slight differ- 
ences, but some that are in one part are not 
in the other. 
