INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



THE object of this work being to furnish, the 

 young reader with some general facts of interest 

 with reference to our own native birds of various 

 classes, it is not intended to speak on the subject 

 of ornithology in general, but to confine ourselves 

 strictly to the feathered inhabitants of our islands. 

 There are many pleasing and instructive works on 

 ornithology which treat on the formation and 

 habits of birds, and this part of the study is full 

 of interest, and affords scope for much delightful 

 anecdote, illustrative of the instincts and manners 

 of birds. 



"The language and the ways" of the various 

 living creatures with which the earth and the air 

 are replenished must always be of chief interest 

 to those who lovingly and rationally study them. 

 Accordingly, those anecdotes which illustrate the 

 various faculties and passions of animals form the 

 chief attraction of books on natural history, at all 



