Our Common Birds and How to Know Them 
to await the coming of the owner of the nest. He is not long delayed, for he soon dis- 
covers that yonder little bird, flitting and chirping in the adjoining thicket with manifest 
uneasiness must be the one he seeks. After some time spent in watching, he departs, only 
to come next day and the next, until the eggs have given place to young birds ; and now 
he has attained such dexterity of approach that he is able to come near enough, himself 
undetected, to witness the parents as they feed their fledglings. One day he arrives when 
one or more of the young birds essay their first flight. But long before this he has found 
means to inform himself of the species of the birds he is studying, and he is well on the 
way to become a bird observer. Indeed it may be confidently asserted that he has not 
confined his interest to this single group. Led on by that pleasurabie initial experience, he 
has noticed many other birds and has to some degree studied their actions too. He has 
learned the songs of some kinds, he has seen them feeding, he begins to know in what 
places to look for certain varieties, and at last he discovers that his acquaintance not only 
with birds, but with insects, quadrupeds, plants and trees has become considerable, and he 
is forced to acknowledge that all nature has taken on a new aspect for him. Moreover, his 
daily enjoyment has enormously increased, in that his resources have been multiplied 
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