HAPPENINGS BY THE WAY 



IF one were to keep on writing monographs of all our 

 interesting avian species, the books that would result 

 would make a good-sized library. The few examples 

 that have been given will illustrate what can be done in 

 this direction with the help of the field glass and the 

 handbook. A few chapters will now be given on what 

 might be called "odds and ends of bird life," and these 

 are written not only for the information they may im- 

 part, but also for the purpose of showing how many inter- 

 esting facts can be gathered along the way by the method 

 of bird study commended in our opening chapter. 



The prince of American ornithologists, Dr. Elliott 

 Coues, has somewhere said that he would travel a long 

 distance to discover a new kind of bird, or even to ascer- 

 tain a new fact about a familiar species. I would applaud 

 and echo that sentiment, for by all means let us have 

 bird news that really is news, instead of revamping the 

 familiar facts again and again, as some amateurish 

 writers do. While I am not able to add any new species 

 to science, I have made note of many pleasing incidents 

 in the bird realm, and these, I venture to hope, may be 

 of not a little general interest. 



108 



