iv PREFACE, 
study, but are always about us, and even a slight famil- 
iarity with them will be of value long after school days 
are over. ; 
Popular interest must precede the desire for purely 
technical knowledge. The following pages are not ad- 
dressed to past masters in ornithology, but to those who 
desire a general knowledge of bird-life and some ac- 
quaintance with our commoner birds. The opening 
chapters of this book briefly define the bird, its place in 
Nature and its relation to man, and outline the leading 
- facts in its life-history. The concluding chapters pre- 
sent the portraits, names, and addresses of upward of one 
hundred familiar birds of eastern North America, with 
such information concerning their comings and goings 
‘ as will lead, I trust, to their being found at home. 
After this introduction the student may be left on 
the threshold, with the assurance that his entrance to the 
innermost circles of bird-life depends entirely on his own 
patience and enthusiasm. 
| Frank M. Cuapman. 
Amertcan Museum or Natura History, 
New York city, January, 1897 
