FOUNDATION WORK IN BIRD STUDY 249 



Antarctic, the huge and helpless emperor penguin will be 

 there to greet you. 



The greatest wonders of bird life are the immense variety 

 of its forms and the manner in which the members of the 

 various groups have been equipped to perform so many func- 

 tions in the economy of life. It seems as if Nature has under- 

 taken to furnish birds for every portion of the globe, and 

 provide food and shelter for each in its own place. This is 

 why different birds fly, wade, swim, dive, scratch, run and 

 climb. 



FOUNDATION WORK IN BIRD STUDY. To-day, in the pri- 

 mary schools, little children learn something of the wild birds 

 by which they are surrounded. These studies of Nature are 

 but contributions of bricks and mortar toward what must 

 be the complete building. It is now our purpose to lay the 

 foundation for a structure of bird knowledge which may be 

 built upon all through life, as elaborately as the builder may 

 choose. But even those who wish to build only one story 

 in height need just as correct a foundation as those who build 

 the highest. 



Our purpose now is to offer a general introduction to the 

 bird world of North America, and illustrate its groups by 

 about one hundred prominent types, all so typical and so 

 representative that every one should know them all. Herein 

 the reader is urged to pay special attention to the systematic 

 groups set forth. Once these are permanently fixed in the 

 mind, the detailed study of the different species of birds be- 

 comes a genuine joy. 



Learn well the various Orders of our birds, the prominent 



