AUTHOR'S PREFACE 



To the lover of the open, the woods, the 

 fields, and waterways and all of God's wild 

 things, this book is affectionately dedicated. 



To lead the boy and girl toward their 

 proper relationship with their feathered 

 friends of the air, and to instil the feeling of 

 protection toward our native birds, these 

 pages have been written and these designs 

 made. 



What is offered between the covers of this 

 little book is the results of study and observa- 

 tion of birds and their ways covering a period 

 of six years. 



Each drawing offered is of a proven house, 

 one that has served as a home for some of our 

 songsters and if the directions, here set down, 



are faithfully followed, equal success will 

 crown the builders' efforts. 



While the greater part of the text is the 

 result of knowledge which the writer has 

 gleaned at first hand, yet the author has sev- 

 eral times quoted from the text of the Farm- 

 ers' Bulletin No. 621, United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, and from a contribution 

 by Edwai'd Howe Forbush, in Bulletin No. 1, 

 published by The National Association of 

 Audubon Societies. Fig. 2, the photograph 

 showing a blue bird entering a box, is by S. 

 P. Brownell, East Barnet, Vt. 



LEON H. BAXTER. 



St. Johnsbury, Vt. 

 Feb. 2, 1920. 



