rill.!., by Traiik M. C!i,-ij.i!inii 

 AN OVEN-BIRD LOOKING OUT OF HER NEST 



As an architect, the oven-bird is distinguished. Her unique nest is huilt on the ground 

 of coarse grasses, weed stalks, leaves, and rootlets, and is rooted over, the entrance heiuK 

 at one side. It thus resembles an old-fashioned Dutch oven, and its shape is the origin of 

 its builder's name. 



tive barrenness of their world, for they 

 live in ignorance of the great store of 

 enjoyment which might be theirs for the 

 asking. 



I count each day memorable that 

 brought me a new friend among the 

 birds. It was an event to be recorded 

 in detail. A creature which up to that 

 moment existed for me only as a name, 

 now became an inhabitant of my woods, 

 a part of my life. With what a new in- 

 terest I got down my books again, ea- 

 gerly reading every item concerning this 

 new friend — its travels, habits, and notes ; 

 comparing the observations of others 

 with what were now my own ! 



The study of birds is not restricted to 

 any special season. Some species are al- 



ways with us. Long after the leaves 

 have fallen and the fields are bare and 

 brown, when insect voices are hushed, 

 and even some mammals are sleejjing 

 their winter sleep, the cheery junc<is tlit 

 about our doorstep, the white-throats 

 twitter cozily from the evergreens, tree 

 sparrows chatter gayly over their break- 

 fast of seeds, and crows are calling from 

 the woods. Birds are the only living 

 creatures to be seen. What a sense of 

 companionship their presence gives; how 

 desolate the earth would seem withotU 

 them ! 



The ease with which we may bec(Mne 

 familiar with these feathered neighbors 

 of ours robs ignorance of all excuses. 

 Once aware of their existence, we shall 



State printer, large 8vo. pp. 434. plates 100. 

 The English Sparrow in North .\merica. espe- 

 cially in its Relation to Agriculture, prepared 

 under the direction of C. Hart Merriam, by 

 Walter B. Barrows; Bulletin No. I, Division 

 of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture, 

 1889. The Hawks and Owls of the United 

 States in their Relation to .Agriculture, pre- 

 pared under the direction of C. Hart Merriam. 

 by A. K. Fisher; Bulletin No. 3. ibid.. 1803. 

 The Common Crow of the United States, by 

 Walter B. Barrows and E. .\. Schwarz: Bul- 

 letin No. 6, ibid., 1895. Preliminary Report 

 on the Food of Woodpeckers, by F. E. L. 

 Beal; Bulletin No. 7, 'bid.. 1895. (See also 



many other papers on the fo(xl of birds in the 

 .\nnual Report and Yearbook of the United 

 States Department of .\griculture. ) I'.irds a.f. 

 Protectors of Orchards, by E. H. Forbush ; 

 Bulletin No. 3, Massachusetts State Board of 

 Agriculture, 1895, pp. 20-32. The Crow in 

 Massachusetts, by E. H. Forbush ; Bulletin 

 No. 4, ibid., 1896. How Birds .\ffect the Farm 

 and Garden, by Florence .\. Merriam ; re- 

 printed from "Forest and Stream," i8<)6, i6mo. 

 pp. 31. Price, 5 cents. Useful Birds and their 

 Protection, by E. H. Forbush ; Massachusetts 

 Board of .\griculturc. ifio7. and in the spirial 

 publications of the United States Biological 

 Survey. 



711 



