Our Common Birds and How to Know Them 



to await the coming of the owner of the nest. He is not long delayed, for he soon dis- 

 covers that yonder little bird, flitting and chirping in the adjoining thicket with manifest 

 uneasiness must be the one he seeks. After some time spent in watching, he departs, only 

 to come next day and the next, until the eggs have given place to young birds ; and now 

 he has attained such dexterity of approach that he is able to come near enough, himself 

 undetected, to witness the parents as they feed their fledglings. One day he arrives when 

 one or more of the young birds essay their first flight. But long before this he has found 

 means to inform himself of the species of the birds he is studying, and he is well on the 

 way to become a bird observer. Indeed it may be confidently asserted that he has not 

 confined his interest to this single group. Led on by that pleasurable initial experience, he 

 has noticed many other birds and has to some degree studied their actions too. He has 

 learned the songs of some kinds, he has seen them feeding, he begins to know in what 

 places to look for certain varieties, and at last he discovers that his acquaintance not only 

 with birds, but with insects, quadrupeds, plants and trees has become considerable, and he 

 is forced to acknowledge that all nature has taken on a new aspect for him. Moreover, his 

 daily enjoyment has enormously increased, in that his resources have been multiplied 



