Bird Biographies

								

Drag home the stingy harvest, and no more
The feathered gleaners follow to your door?

                               · · · · · · ·
"You call them thieves and pillagers; but know

    They are the winged wardens of your farms,
Who from the cornfields drive the insidious foe,

    And from your harvests keep a hundred harms."
During this past century, the period of scientific investigation, birds
have received a large share of attention. The immortal pioneers in
American Ornithology, Audubon, Wilson, and Nuttall have been followed by
a host of scientists who have done work of distinction along various
lines. They have described the birds of both fertile and arid regions,
as well as far distant lands, such as Alaska and the tundra of the
North. They have made complete and valuable collections, the most noted
of which are in the National Museum of Washington and the American
Museum of Natural History in New York. The latter contains famous
Habitat Groups with beautiful backgrounds, painted by distinguished
bird-artists.
Scientists have studied the anatomy of birds, their eggs, their nests,
and nestlings; an army of field-men have been recording observations on
migration, on the molt of birds, their songs and call-notes, their food
habits, especially with relation to their economic importance. The work
of the Biological Survey in the Department of Agriculture at Washington
has been of incalculable value; the examination of the contents of
birds' stomachs has given indisputable evidence of the relation the
different species bear to insect-life and thus to vegetation. The
bulletins published by the Department and the leaflets issued by the
National Association of Audubon Societies have been enormous factors in
the preservation of bird-life in the United States.
Dr. A. K. Fisher, Professor F. E. L. Beal, Dr. Sylvester D. Judd, Dr. C.
Hart Merriam, Dr. Henry W. Henshaw, Dr. E. W. Nelson, Dr. T. S. Palmer,
and Dr. Wells T. Cooke have done work of special distinction in the
Biological Survey, Mr. William Brewster and Mr. E. H. Forbush in
Massachusetts, and Dr. Frank Chapman in New York.
To Dr. Fisher I am especially indebted for the right to incorporate into
this book extracts from the bulletins of the Biological Survey, and to
Mr. Forbush for permission to quote from his admirable book "Useful
Birds and Their Protection."
It has been my purpose to give, not only a portrait and a description of
the birds I have chosen for this volume, but a summing up of the
beneficial and injurious habits of each, gained from the highest
authorities obtainable. The book is intended for beginners, or for those
who long to know birds intimately and intelligently, and wish to belong
to the great army of bird-students who are "doing their bit" to preserve
the bird-life of our country.

                                CONTENTS

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