PREFACE 



Scattered through the fourteen volumes of Tho- 

 reau's published Journal are many interesting notes 

 on the natural history of New England, and a large 

 proportion of these relate to birds. In the belief that 

 readers and students would be glad to have these bird 

 notes arranged systematically in a single volume, this 

 book has been prepared. It will perhaps be a matter 

 of surprise to many readers to learn how much Tho- 

 reau wrote upon this one branch of natural history, 

 and how many species of birds he found something to 

 say about that was worth the saying. Thoreau was 

 seldom dull, even in mere records of commonplace 

 facts, and the reader of this book, though he may be 

 well acquainted with the author's picturesque style, 

 can hardly fail to be impressed anew with his power to 

 convey a vivid and interesting picture in a few words. 



It was, indeed, as a describer rather than as an ob- 

 server that Thoreau excelled. He never acquired much 

 skill in the diagnosis of birds seen in the field. He 

 never became in any respect an expert ornithologist, 

 and some of the reasons are not far to seek. He was 

 too intent on becoming an expert analogist, for one 

 thing. It better suited his genius to trace some analogy 

 between the soaring hawk and his own thoughts than 

 to make a scientific study of the bird. Moreover his 

 field, including as it did all nature, was too wide to 

 admit of specialization in a single branch. Then, too, 



