PREFACE 



PALEONTOLOGISTS tell us that thousands of 

 years ago man was an uncultured and unreason- 

 ing beast ; they tell us that the birds of our day 

 have, as their ancestors, creatures of reptilian 

 form. But we need not delve so far into the 

 past. Even within written history, botany, 

 mammalogy and the other natural sciences all 

 show the evolutionary trend from the most 

 simple to the most highly developed. This, 

 then, we may take as a law of nature. Again, not 

 many years ago, when a man wished to set out 

 upon a journey, he often had the utmost difficulty 

 in ascertaining exact knowledge of the country 

 thru which he must pass, and he underwent 

 many discomforts and endured constant delays 

 in travel. Today, thru perfection of system, 

 because of the advantages of newspapers, tele- 

 graphs and railroads, such an undertaking is of 

 slight moment. Why? Because human know- 

 ledge in this and in many other directions has 

 been carefully collected, sorted and catalogued, 

 and we know just where to look for exact 

 information. 



Yet have not many of those authors who 

 attempt to instill ornithological knowledge into 

 the minds of laymen lost sight of these two basic 



