XV111 EXTRACT FROM PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
not excepting tliose still inexperienced in bird-lore. He pleads, 
though, first of all, that his cabin shall not he measured by the rule 
of the learned, or that they should enter expecting to discover 
anything new: they will perceive at a distance that his house is only 
constructed with the cast-off stone from the great building, and that 
there are only few pieces which he has himself collected together. 
For this very reason, however, he trusts his guests will find them¬ 
selves at ease; and thus he respectfully opens his door. 
Dropping all metaphor, the Author of this book asks the forbear¬ 
ance also of the unlearned, with respect to the design, construction, 
and carrying out, of the details of the work. He has striven with 
the utmost honesty of purpose; has taken the results of Science as 
the groundwork of the whole; and has used these with the utmost 
conscientiousness: at the same time, he trusts that he has not 
encroached too much upon the realms of Science. Confined only by 
time and space,—for where he would have willingly gone into greater 
detail his knowledge has often been insufficient,—he therefore hopes 
for kind indulgence at the hands of all his readers. 
I have written this book from a genuine love of Nature; and 
would entreat my friends to remember my oft-expressed feeling 
against the reckless destruction of birds,—a feeling which, in their 
behalf, I would fain strengthen in others, by a detailed exposition of 
the instincts and habits of birds. 
Here, then, is my book;—may it win more and more friends 
for my darling pets ! 
The Author. 
