xii THE HUMAN SIDE OF BIRDS 



If we approach the bird with the right attitude of 

 mind, a wonderful experience awaits us. John 

 Burroughs, the great American naturalist, says: 

 "If I name every bird in my walk, describe its col- 

 our and ways, . . . give a lot of facts and details 

 about the bird, it is doubtful if my reader is in- 

 terested. But if I relate the bird in some way to 

 human life, to my own life ; show what it is to me 

 and what it is in the landscape and season, then do 

 I give my reader a live bird and not a labelled 

 specimen." 



This is the secret of all worth-while nature study. 

 We must look upon a bird as we do upon a man 

 not merely to learn the Latin names of bones and 

 muscles, but to study its disposition, character, emo- 

 tions, and thought processes. In other words, we 

 must treat a bird as a friend and not as a scientific 

 specimen. 



There is no quality or occupation in the human 

 world which does not have a parallel in the bird 

 world. They fill all professions from fishermen to 

 street-cleaners. Woodpeckers are store-keepers; 

 yellow-hammers are owners of wine-cellars; wry- 

 necks are bakers of ant-cakes. Other birds raise 

 their own insects for provisions. Birds maintain 

 labour unions and military organisations. Their 

 best divers go to depths of four hundred feet, swal- 



