VIU PREFACE. 



No nail to fix ; no bodkin to insert ; 

 No glue to join ; liis little beak was all. 

 And yet how neatly finished ! what nice hand, 

 With every instrument and means of art, 

 And twenty years' apprenticesliip to boot, 

 Could make me such another ?" 



Yes, reader, I am in love with the birds. So you 

 need not wonder if I write like a lover, and if you 

 once in a while see hidden under some of my stories 

 a lurking wish that you, too, may become intimate 

 with these friends of mine, so as to love them as 

 fondly as I love them myself. 



In preparing this volume, I have gleaned from 

 various fiields besides those which I can properly call 

 my own. From "Wilson and Audubon, especially, I 

 have borrowed some of my best stories. I am much 

 indebted, also, to the contributions of several personal 

 friends. Nor must I forget to acknowledge, in this 

 place, the courtesy of the proprietor of the American 

 Museum in this city, who has given me free access to 

 his rich collection of foreign birds. 



THE AUTHOR. 



