PREFACE 
This book is not a scientific treatise, but merely the out- 
come of a personal desire, which I have long cherished, 
to give some permanent and orderly form to the odd 
notes, jottings, and recollections of some five-and- 
twenty years upon the birds inhabiting the district 
lying about my native town of Geelong. If my own 
satisfaction comes first, it can only be increased by 
the feeling that at the same time I am passing on to 
those who are already lovers of birds the fruits of 
my experience, scanty as these may be, and also that 
my little book may be the means of communicating 
to the general reader something of that enduring 
charm and delight which from childhood I have 
found in the observation of wild birds. 
I must confess that the argument that we should 
study and protect our native birds because of their 
economic utility leaves me rather cold. Without 
doubt most kinds of native birds, in obtaining the 
food which keeps them alive, do greatly help the 
farmer, orchardist, and gardener ; just as it is certain 
that five out of every six of the species introduced 
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