INTRODUCTORY 



PLAN OF THE WORK 



The plan on which this work was projected was outlined in 

 'Bird-Lore' for April, 1903 (pp. 61-63). Responding to frequent 

 and continued requests for a book treating especially of Warblers, 

 the writer, as editor of that magazine, asked ornithologists to assist 

 in the preparation of the proposed volume by contributing the results 

 of their observations of the habits of Warblers, and added: 



"Continued study of our birds emphasizes the absolute necessity 

 of many observers if we are to have anything approaching adequate 

 biographies of even a single species. Habits should be affirmed or 

 denied only on the basis of abundant data; again, what proves true 

 of a species in one part of its range may be incorrect in another; 

 and we need, therefore, not only many observations from one place, 

 but from many places throughout a bird's range before we can write 

 its life-history with an approach to thoroughness. Cooperation, there- 

 fore, is the watchword of the bird study of to-day. 



"The truth is, the best of bird biographies tell only the story of the 

 individual rather than the species. Life is too short for a single 

 student to acquire a thorough knowledge of more than a few species 

 of birds, and even then his experience is apt to be limited to a small 

 part of their range. In the writer's opinion, the bird biographies in 

 Bendire's 'Life Histories of North American Birds' are among the 

 best, if not the best of any which have been written. This is not 

 solely because of Major Bendire's wide field experience and powers 

 of observation, but also because he secured the cooperation of orni- 

 thologists throughout the country. It was not required that they 

 should be skilled in painting pen pictures of bird-life ; facts, not rhe- 

 torical flights, were wanted, and the result is one of the most satis- 

 factory books of reference of its kind. 



"There is an object-lesson for us here. In our enthusiastic appre- 

 ciation of the bird as a creature of rare grace and beauty, the final 

 touch giving life to woods and fields, let us not forget that as bird 

 students we are here more intimately concerned with the birds' habits 



