FOREWORD 



Since this book was first published, three years ago, 

 there has been a constantly increasing interest in bird- 

 life. Our Nation is becoming aroused and alarmed over 

 the decrease in birds and the disappearance of various 

 species, and means are being tried educational, eco- 

 nomic, and legislative to save the birds and restore 

 them to a normal abundance. In Connecticut, for ex- 

 ample, the author of this book has recently been ap- 

 pointed State Ornithologist. He is issuing informing 

 articles through the State press, preparing educational 

 material for the schools of the State, conducting experi- 

 ments in the artificial propagation of game birds, and 

 other scientific and educational work in reference to our 

 wild birds, further to interest and arouse the public. 

 Similar work is also being conducted or started in other 

 States. 



Radical changes are being brought about in the atti- 

 tude of sportsmen, caused by a feeling of real alarm 

 over the disappearance of game. Protective Associa- 

 tions are springing up everywhere, not to demand more 

 privileges, but frequently to curtail their own rights 

 through laws involving real personal sacrifice, and are 

 joining hands in such work as that of the Audubon So- 

 cieties, feeling that the aims and interests of all lovers 

 of wild birds are identical. Commercial greed organ- 

 ized to destroy bird-life, with selfish avarice, as repre- 

 sented by market hunting, cold storage, and millinery 

 interests, is waging a losing fight, and each year is re- 



