FOUNDATION WORK IN BIRD STUDY 249 
Antarctic, the huge and helpless emperor penguin will be 
there to greet you. 
The greatest wonders of bird life are the immense variety 
of its forms and the manner in which the members of the 
various groups have been equipped to perform so many func- 
tions in the economy of life. It seems as if Nature has under- 
taken to furnish birds for every portion of the globe, and 
provide food and shelter for each in its own place. This is 
why different birds fly, wade, swim, dive, scratch, run and 
climb. 
Founpation Work IN Birp Srupy.—To-day, in the pri- 
mary schools, little children learn something of the wild birds 
by which they are surrounded. These studies of Nature are 
but contributions of bricks and mortar toward what must 
be the complete building. It is now our purpose to lay the 
foundation for a structure of bird knowledge which may be 
built upon all through life, as elaborately as the builder may 
choose. But even those who wish to build only one story 
in height need just as correct a foundation as those who build 
the highest. 
Our purpose now is to offer a general introduction to the 
bird world of North America, and illustrate its groups by 
about one hundred prominent types, all so typical and so 
representative that every one should know them all. Herein 
the reader is urged to pay special attention to the systematic 
groups set forth. Once these are permanently fixed in the 
mind, the detailed study of the different species of birds be- 
comes a genuine joy. 
Learn well the various Orders of our birds, the prominent 
