PREFACE. 
The last general work on Michigan birds was prepared by Professor 
A. J. Cook and published in 1893 as Bulletin 94 of the Michigan Agricultural 
Experiment Station. It professed to be little more than a list of the 
birds of the state, with some indication of distribution and abundance, 
but without descriptions of plumage and with only occasional reference 
to habits. Limited as was its scope it was a welcome contribution to 
our bird literature, and since the supply was exhausted, in 1900, requests 
for another bulletin have been received in ever increasing numbers. 
The present work has been prepared in response to a demand not only 
for an authoritative list of Michigan birds but for such additional infor- 
mation about each species as would be useful and interesting. Perhaps 
it is too much to hope that this demand will be fully satisfied by the present 
volume, but an examination of its pages will show that an attempt has 
been made to give the main facts in the life history of each bird found 
in the state, although in many cases the material has been so abundant 
that much was necessarily omitted, and the remainder closely condensed. 
The primary aim has been to put this information in such form as to make 
it readily intelligible to the average citizen; not too technical to be readily 
understood by the layman, nor so elementary as to suggest the nature- 
study primer. 
With the hope that the book might appeal to the student and teacher, 
as well as to the nature lover and general reader, careful descriptions of 
all species have been incorporated and artificial keys are provided so 
that any person with a freshly killed bird, or a prepared specimen in hand, 
may be able to trace it out and ‘‘classify”’ it just as some of us learned 
to name flowers in the days when such work was believed to be a necessary 
part of any course in botany. 
Most of these keys have been tested for several years with college classes, 
and while far from perfect they will be found “workable” in most cases. 
They differ from other similar keys in the greater use made of measure- 
ments, and the lesser dependence placed on mere color, which varies 
greatly in some species with age, season and sex. Those interested in 
the use of these keys will find suggestions and explanations on pages 12 
to 20 of the introduction. 
It seemed eminently proper in a book of this kind, originating in, and 
published by, an Agricultural College, that special attention should be 
given to those species which directly affect the farmer’s interests, which help 
in the struggle against insect enemies, or which at certain times and places 
may themselves levy tribute on his orchards and fields. No one section 
of the book has been given up to this subject but the facts have been 
stated in connection with the life history of each species treated, and the 
relative prominence given to the matter in any case thus serves as a rough 
