250 What Birds Have Done With Me 



"To the making of books there is no end," 

 said the wise man, before the invention of the 

 art of printing, and now, when they are being 

 scattered broad-cast like the leaves of Autumn, I 

 feel that a man should have some pretty valid 

 excuse for presuming to add another to an already 

 discouraging number. Now that my little craft 

 is on the ways preparatory to launching, I feel 

 that I must make this matter clear and give my 

 excuse for another bird book. It seems to me, 

 that so far, every writer on the subject has been 

 possessed to tell what he has done with birds, and 

 I approach the subject in an entirely opposite 

 direction, in an entirely opposite spirit; while I 

 admit the scientific side of bird study as valu- 

 able within stern limitations, I am dealing with 

 things alive, interesting, beautiful, wonderful, 

 with scarcely an exception, as a whole, valuable 

 beyond all computation, and individuals among 

 them ranking high among my most valued helpful 

 friends. Where it purports to be history, it is 

 real history and while I have been telling of what 

 birds have done for me, I have not dared to tell 

 how much they have done or how great their influ- 

 ence has been. I will fail utterly if I fail to give 

 the personal touch; leaving your hearts unmoved 

 by my portrayal of the adorable little ways of 

 some of my adorable little friends. The only 



