20 THE ALERT EYE. 



As far as the statements contained in this little 

 contribution to bird lore are concerned, I am 

 tempted to borrow a quotation from Sir Walter 

 Scott, who said, somewhat forcefully, though I 

 admit not very poetically : 



" Better had they ne'er been born, 

 Wlio read to doubt, or read to scorn." 



Of course, I do not mean to say that the couplet 

 has reference to the observations recorded in this 

 humble book. Still, I do go so far as to say that, 

 if I must err, I prefer to err on the side of faith 

 rather than on the side of unbelief. I am aware 

 that Shakespeare declares that " modest doubt is 

 called the beacon of the wise," but I am convinced 

 that he thought it was miscalled so. 



The foregoing has not been said to forefend criti- 

 cism, for that would be childish, especially when 

 criticism might prove an excellent mental and 

 moral discipline to the author ; but it is said to 

 ward off skepticism, which can profit neither the 

 reader nor the author, and might lead to an es- 

 trangement that the latter would regret exceed- 

 ingly. To be serious, the author has tried to 

 describe truthfully every observation he has made, 



