Birds of Western Canada 
INTRODUCTION 
OBJECT OF THE BOOK 
Of late years there has been a great awakening of interest in the 
subject of natural history. More and more people are beginning to realize 
the pleasure and profit that can be derived from observation of common 
natural objects. In this growing field of nature study, few subjects have 
attracted so much popular attention as birds, and few forms of life appeal so 
strongly to the aesthetic sense. They are beautiful; they arouse curiosity; 
their elusiveness piques the imagination; and by constantly presenting 
new aspects they escape becoming commonplace. 
The ornithological side is one from which the problems of nature may 
be successfully attacked from so many standpoints and in so many ways 
that there is interesting and valuable work for all to accomplish according 
to individual taste or opportunity. Those who incline towards systematic 
work may split their definitions as finely as human powers of observation 
permit. The animal psychologist can develop his problems as far as ingenu- 
ity can devise methods for experimentation. The ordinary nature lover 
can observe and note as painstakingly as opportunity permits; he may 
record information of scientific as well as popular interest, take pleasure 
in observing passing beauties, train his powers of observation, and acquire 
a knowledge that greatly increases his capacity for appreciation of nature. 
Even the unsentimental, practical man, who has little outward sympathy 
with abstract beauty, has his attention attracted by the evident economic 
value of birds. 
“Birds of Western Canada” has been written to awaken and 
stimulate an interest, both aesthetic and practical, in the study of Canadian 
birds; to suggest the sentimental, scientific, and economic value of 
that study; to assist in the identification of native species; to furnish 
the economist with a ready means of determining bird friend from bird 
foe so that he may act intelligently towards them and in the best interest of 
himself and the country at large; to present in a readily accessible form 
reliable data upon which measures of protective legislation may be based; 
to point out some of the pitfalls that have caught the inexperienced in the 
past; and to suggest methods for their future avoidance. 
SCOPE OF THE BOOK 
This work covers all the birds known to occur in Canada from the 
Ontario-Manitoba boundary line to the Pacific coast. It is complementary 
to “Birds of Eastern Canada ” 1 and with it forms a popular manual of the 
birds of the Dominion. Owing to the fact that there were a number of 
books describing eastern birds with considerable degree of detail and 
i Taverner, P, A. t “Birds of Eastern Canada”: Memoir 104, No. 3 Biological Series, Geological Survey, 
Department of Mines, Ottawa, Canada. 
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