PEEFAOE. 



THIS is mainly a book about the Birds, or 

 more properly an invitation to the study of 

 Ornithology, and the purpose of the author 

 will be carried out in proportion as it awak- 

 ens and stimulates the interest of the reader 

 in this branch of Natural History. 



Though written less in the spirit of exact 

 science than with the freedom of love and 

 old acquaintance, yet I have in no instance 

 taken liberties with facts, or allowed my im- 

 agination to influence me to the extent of 

 giving a false impression or a wrong color- 

 ing. I have reaped my harvest more in the 

 woods than in the study ; what I offer, in 

 fact, is a careful and conscientious record of 

 actual observations and experiences, and is 

 true as it stands written, every word of it. 

 But what has interested me most in Orni- 

 thology is the pursuit, the chase, the discov- 



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