INTRODUCTORY 



THE NEW ORNITHOLOGY 



Applied ornithology may be defined broadly as the ap- 

 plication of our knowledge of bird life to human welfare. 

 For our present purpose it may be regarded as the discovery 

 and explanation of practical methods for the increase 

 of wild birds, based upon a knowledge of their habits and 

 capabilities acquired by observation and experiment. It 

 will include also methods of bringing wild birds into closer 

 proximity with man, since the sight and observation of wild 

 life has become an important source of pleasure and educa- 

 tion. The topics to be considered in this Manual, therefore, 

 are the best practical methods for attracting, protecting, 

 propagating, and generally increasing wild bird life within 

 the limits of each reader's place and circumstances. 



Applied ornithology is directly in line with modern prog- 

 ress and with the spirit of the times. Although any science 

 or knowledge is worth while for its own sake, there is at 

 present a general feeling that mere learning should not 

 normally be considered the finality, but that it should lead 

 to some real benefit to mankind. Hence the phrase "ap- 

 plied science" has become familiar, and special usages of it 

 have already appeared "applied entomology," for example, 

 designating the service entomological science renders to ag- 

 riculture, forestry, etc. 



It was very natural, then, that the term "Applied Orni- 

 thology" should be given by T. Gilbert Pearson, the Secre- 

 tary of the National Association of Audubon Societies, to 



xvii 



