Beginning the Study 19 



I came to look upon it as a personal friend that cared 

 almost as much for me as I did for it. It pushed aside 

 thorny bushes and nettlesome weeds when I was looking 

 for nests, thus saving my hands many a painful wound. 

 And more than one serpent, including the rattlesnake, 

 has had his head crushed or his spine broken by sturdy 

 blows from my little wild-cherry cane. I should add 

 that it had a hooked handle, so that I could hang it on 

 the strap of my haversack when I needed both hands. 



In the beginning of your observations you will find the 

 work of identifying the birds a rare and exciting pleasure ; 

 then, after you have named all the species in your neigh- 

 borhood, it will be no less delightful to study their inter- 

 esting ways, or to extend your researches to other fields. 

 And if at any time you observe some odd bits of bird 

 behavior which you think will be news to the many 

 bird lovers the world over, why should you not report 

 them to one of the bird magazines, so that others may 

 share the pleasures of your discoveries? An admirer of 

 feathered folk should not be selfish ; indeed, I do not see 

 how he can be. 



It simply remains to be said that this volume is an 

 illustration of the method of bird study just indicated. 

 In the first place, I shall show, in a few chapters, how 

 the student goes about his work of identifying species 

 and making new bird friends; then will follow a number 

 of monographs indicating how much may be learned 

 about the life histories of several interesting species; 

 next there will be a miscellaneous collection of incidents 



