PREFACE 



Not to have so much as a bowing acquaintance with the birds 

 that nest in our gardens or under the very eaves of our houses; 

 that haunt our wood-piles; keep our fruit-trees free from slugs; 

 waken us with their songs, and enliven our walks along the road- 

 side and through the woods, seems to be, at lea;st, a breach of 

 etiquette toward some of our most kindly disposed neighbors. 



Birds of prey, game and water birds are not included in the 

 book. The following pages are intended to be nothing more than 

 a familiar introduction to the birds that live near us. Even in the 

 principal park of a great city like New York, i bird-lover has found 

 more than one hundred and thirty species; as many, probably^ 

 as could be discovered in the same sized territory anywhere. 



The plan of the book is not a scientific one, if the term scientific 

 is understood to mean technical and anatomical. The purpose 

 of the writer is to give, in a popular and accessible form, knowledge 

 which is accurate and reliable about the life of our common 

 birds. This knowledge has nof been collected from the stuffed 

 carcasses of birds in museums, but gleaned afield. In a word, 

 these short narrative descriptions treat of the bird's characteristics 

 of size, color, and flight; its peculiarities of instinct and tempera- 

 ment; its nest and home life; its choice of food; its songs; and of the 

 season in which we may expect it to play its part in the great 

 panorama Nature unfolds with faithful precision year after year. 

 They are an attempt to make the bird so live before the reader 

 that, when seen out of doors, its recognition shall be instant and 

 cordial, like that given to a friend. 



The coloring described in this book is sometimes more vivid 

 than that found in the works of some learned authorities whose 

 conflicting testimony is often sadly bewildering to the novice. 

 In different parts of the country, and at different seasons of the 

 year, the plumage of some birds undergoes many changes. The 

 reader must remember, therefore, that the specimens examined 

 and described were not, as before stated, the faded ones in our 

 museums, but live birds in their fresh, spring plumage, studied 

 afield. 



The birds have been classed into color groups, in the belief 

 that this method, more than any other will make identification 

 most easy. The color of the bird is the first, and often the only, 

 characteristic noticed. But they have also been classified ac- ; 

 cording to the localities for which they show decided preferences ! 



ix 



