NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 455 



eggs are placed. The choice of a cabinet must depend largely upon 

 the collector's means, if not also upon his individual preference. 



I cannot dismiss this subject without a word on 



PROTECTING OUR BIRDS. 



The above directions for collecting and preserving nests and eggs, 

 and the whole contents of this work are intended to assist the true 

 naturalist in the delightful subject herein treated. For those who idly 

 roam the woodlands and pebbly shores, collecting everything in reach 

 with aimless intent, this book was never calculated. 



To every person who- loves to study in the great field of Nature ; 

 to those especially who are deeply interested in the habits of the feath- 

 ered tribe, the protection of bird life is of the utmost importance. 



Surely none of the readers of the foregoing pages are engaged in 

 the wholesale collecting of eggs for purely mercenary purposes, sacri- 

 ficing and depopulating our birds, and screening their fiendish acts 

 under the gauzy lace of science. 



No thoughtful and honorable natural history dealer will uphold 

 you in the utter destruction of whole rookeries and communities of 

 birds, and there is no need for it in making a study of their habits, and 

 adding a few specimens to a private cabinet. The true lover of the 

 study of Oology will do everything in his power to promote the inter- 

 ests of the birds, so that their varied domestic affairs will annually add 

 valuable notes to his pver-open note-book. 



