PREFACE. 



Since so much has been written upon the sub- 

 ject of American ornithology, it becomes the 

 author to state succinctly the reasons which have 

 prompted him to repeat observations on supposed 

 well-known species. The lack of anything like 

 satisfactory information upon the food and breed- 

 ing habits of many of the birds of Eastern Penn- 

 sylvania, as well as the desire to reconcile if pos- 

 sible, the contradictory statements of many authors, 

 abundantly justify in his opinion, additional investi- 

 gation. It is also well to record these habits again, 

 because of the Value* of testimony to uniformity or 

 change of habits in birds, to questions of meta- 

 physics. The' value of exact knowledge of 

 food to the development of the law of natural 

 selection, as well as to agriculturists, is sufficiently 

 obvious. 



The facts contained in this work are the results 

 of observations carried through a period of six 

 years, and have been derived from observations 

 in the field, and careful and elaborate examina- 

 tions in the studio. Upwards of five hundred 



