PREFACE 



This book has been written for the consideration of 

 that ever-increasing class of Americans who are in- 

 terested in acquiring a greater familiarity with the 

 habits and activities of wild birds. There are many 

 valuable publications treating more or less exhaustively 

 of the classification of birds, as well as of form, colour, 

 distribution, migration, songs, and foods. Here an at- 

 tempt is made to place before the reader a brief considera- 

 tion of these and many similar topics, and suggest lines 

 of action and thought that may perhaps stimulate a fuller 

 study of the subject. Attention is also given to the 

 relation of birds to mankind and the effect of civilisa- 

 tion on the bird-life of the country. The book is not in- 

 tended so much for the advanced student in ornithology, 

 as for the beginner. Its purpose is to answer many of 

 the questions that students in this charming field of out- 

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