PREFACE. ix 
Mr. C. Allan Lyford has given valuable assistance in taking 
photographs illustrating bird feeding, nesting boxes, etc. 
The author is also greatly indebted to Messrs. C. A. and 
C. K. Reed for the use of half-tone plates from American 
Ornithology ; to Mr. Frank M. Chapman, the Massachusetts 
Commission on Fisheries and Game, Mr. A. C. Dike, and 
others, to whom credit is given in the text or captions, for 
the use of photographs, half-tone plates, or cuts; and to 
Messrs. William Brewster and Ralph Holman for the use of 
bird skins. Plates VI. and VII. are from E. A. Samuels. 
The credit for the publication of this volume rightly be- 
longs to the State Board of Agriculture, which, through its 
secretary, introduced and advocated the resolve providing 
for preparing and printing; to the Massachusetts Audubon 
Society, which supported the resolve before the Legislature ; 
to the various associations, officials, and friends who upheld 
the resolve ; and to those members of the House and Senate 
who were instrumental in securing the appropriation which 
made possible the production of the report. For its many 
shortcomings the author alone is responsible. 
