To know the birds intimately, to interpret their lives in all their
varied conditions, one must get close to them. For the purpose of
accomplishing this object the author of this volume has gone to their
haunts day after day and watched them persistently at not a little cost
of time, effort, and money. While the limits of a single volume do not
permit him to present all of his observations, it is hoped that those
here offered will be satisfactory as far as they go, and that the
reader will be able to glean from these pages some new as well as
interesting facts relative to bird life.
The writer has had another purpose in view in preparing this book: He
wishes to inspire others, especially the young, to use their eyes and
ears in the study of the enchanting volume of Nature. This object, he
believes, will be best accomplished by furnishing concrete examples of
what may be achieved by earnest research. For purposes of stimulus an
ounce of example is worth a pound of precept. If another sees you and
me doing a thing joyfully, earnestly, we need scarcely say to him, "Go
thou and do likewise."
There is not much in the book that is technical, yet it aims at
scientific accuracy in all of its statements, no bird being described
whose status in the avian system has not been determined. If strange
exploits are sometimes recited, the author has simply to say that he
has been veracious in all of his statements, and that all the stories
are "true bird stories." The author modestly believes that it will not
be found uninteresting to nature lovers in general.
Much of the material included in this volume has previously appeared in
various periodicals, to the publishers of which the writer would hereby
make grateful acknowledgment for their courtesy in waiving their
copyright privileges. A number of the journals are given due credit
elsewhere in the book.