Pliolo l:iy Frank AT. Clia]nnan 

 AN 0\'EX-BIR1) LOUKIN'G OUT OF 11 !• K N]{ST 



As an architect, the oven-ljird is distinguished. Her unique nest is buiU on the ground 

 of coarse grasses, weed sialics, leaves, and rootlets, and is roofed o\-er, the entrance being 

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

 its liuilder's name. 



tWe jjarrenness of their world, for they 

 live in ignorance of the great store of 

 enio\'ment which might be theirs for the 

 asking. 



I ciiinit each dav memorable that 

 brought me a new friend among the 

 birds. It was an event to be recorded 

 in detail. .V creature which up to that 

 moment existed for me only as a name, 

 now became an inhabitant i:)f ni)- woods, 

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

 terest I got down my books again, ea- 

 gerly reading ever^' 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- 



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

 The English Sparrow in North America, espe- 

 cially in its Relation to Agriculture, prepared 

 under the direction of C. Hart Merriam, by 

 Walter B. Barrows; Bulletin No. 1, 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.. 1893. 

 The Common Crow of the United States, by 

 Walter B. Barrows and E. A. Schwarz ; Bul- 

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

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

 Beal; Bulletin No. 7, ibid.. 1805. (See also 



tt'aN's with us. Linig after the lea\'es 

 haii'c fallen and the fields are Ijare and 

 brown, wlien insect voices are hitshed, 

 and even some mammals are sleeping 

 their winter slee]>, the cheer}- jnncr)s ilit 

 about our doorstep, the white-throats 

 twitter cozily from the evergreens, tree 

 sparrows chatter gavh' over their break- 

 fast of seeds, and crows are calling from 

 the woods. Birds are the onlv liA'ing 

 creatures to be seen. What a sense of 

 companionship their presence gi^'es ; how- 

 desolate the earth would seem without 

 them ! 



The ease with which we maj' become 

 familiar with these feathered neighbors 

 of ours robs ignorance of all excuses. 

 ( jnce aware of their existence, we shall 



many other papers on the food of birds in the 

 .\nnual Report and Yearbook of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture.) Birds as 

 Protectors of Orchards, by E. H. Forbush ; 

 Bulletin No. 3, Massachusetts State Board of 

 Agriculture, 1895, pp. 20-3J. The Crow in 

 Massachusetts, by E. H. Forbush ; Bulletin 

 No. 4, ibid.. 1S96. How Birds Affect the Farm 

 and Garden, by Florence A. Merriam : re- 

 printed from "Forest and Stream," 1896, l6mo, 

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

 Protection, b\- E. H. Forbush; Massachusetts 

 Board of Agriculture, 1907, and in the special 

 publications of the United States Biological 

 Survey. 



