INTRODUCTION. 13 



(and pleasantly, I hope) to that fag-end of feather- 

 dom, a dabchick. 



North American birds, taken as a whole, are not 

 brilliantly colored, but there is not one that is posi- 

 tively ugly, except, perhaps, one or more of those 

 that live on the water, and so hardly count. There 

 are scores that are plain as pikestaffs, like the pe- 

 wee or cat-bird; but this want of fine feathers is 

 always compensated for by a gentleness of manner, 

 sweetness of voice, or pert vivacity, that renders 

 these very birds more dear to us than the gaudy 

 cardinal or reclusive tanager. 



This subject of color should, perhaps, be treated 

 in a more serious way, for it is one that has great 

 bearing on philosophical zoology, but the reader 

 must refer to technical works for a detailed discus- 

 sion. Let me here say, however, that the most bril- 

 liant birds are not necessarily very conspicuous. In 

 summer, with dense foliage about them, they have a 

 knack of moving in and out among bushes and 

 flowers in such a way that very sharp eyes are re- 

 quired to see them ; and I have often been surprised 

 to find that our cardinal grosbeak, in winter, is not 

 so very showy, if there are a few yellow and brown 

 oak leaves scattered about. When perched upon a 

 bare twig extending from a snow-bank and whistling 

 like a cowboy, he attracts a deal of attention natu- 

 rally, but his wits are equal to the occasion, and 

 not often does the lively sparrow-hawk surprise him. 

 The cardinal can slide into a tangle of green brier 

 with a celerity that only an advanced mathematician 

 can calculate. 



2 



