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Not to have so much as a bowing acquaintance
with the birds that nestin our
gardens or under the very eaves of our houses;
that haunt our wood-piles;
keep
our fruit-trees free from slugs; waken us
with their songs, and enliven
our walks along the roadside and through
the woods, seems to be, at least,
a breach of etiquette toward some of our
most kindly disposed neighbors. Birds of prey, game and water birds are not
included in the book. The
following pages are intended to be nothing
more than a familiar introduction
to the birds that live near us. Even in the
principal park of a great
city
like New York, a bird-lover has found more
than one hundred and thirty
species; as many, probably, as could be discovered
in the same sized
territory
anywhere. The plan of the book is not a scientific
one, if the term scientific
is
understood to mean technical and anatomical.
The purpose of the writer
is to
give, in a popular and accessible form, knowledge
which is accurate
and
reliable about the life of our common birds.
This knowledge has not
been
collected from the stuffed carcasses of birds
in museums, but gleaned
afield.
In a word, these short narrative descriptions
treat of the bird's
characteristics of size, color, and flight;
its peculiarities of instinct
and
temperament; its nest and home life; its
choice of food; its songs;
and of the
season in which we may expect it to play
its part in the great panorama
Nature
unfolds with faithful precision year after
year. They are an attempt
to make
the bird so live before the reader that,
when seen out of doors, its
recognition shall be instant and cordial,
like that given to a friend. The coloring described in this book is sometimes
more vivid than that
found in
the works of some learned authorities whose
conflicting testimony is
often
sadly bewildering to the novice. In different
parts of the country,
and at
different seasons of the year, the plumage
of some birds undergoes many
changes. The reader must remember, therefore,
that the specimens examined
and
described were not, as before stated, the
faded ones in our museums,
but live
birds in their fresh, spring plumage, studied
afield. The birds have been classed into color groups,
in the belief that this
method,
more than any other will make identification
most easy. The color of
the bird
is the first, and often the only, characteristic
noticed. But they have
also
been classified according to the localities
for which they show decided
preferences and in which they are most likely
to be found. Again, they
have
been grouped according to the season when
they may be expected. In the
brief
paragraphs that deal with groups of birds
separated into the various
families
represented in the book, the characteristics
and traits of each clan
are
clearly emphasized. By these several aids
it is believed the merest
novice
will be able to quickly identify any bird
neighbor that is neither local
nor
rare. To the uninitiated or uninterested observer,
all small, dull-colored
birds are
"common sparrows." The closer scrutiny of
the trained eye quickly
differentiates, and picks out not only the
Song, the Canada, and the
Fox
Sparrows, but finds a dozen other familiar
friends where one who "has
eyes and
sees not" does not even suspect their presence.
Ruskin says: "The more
I think
of it, I find this conclusion more impressed
upon me, that the greatest
thing
a human soul ever does in this world is to
SEE something. Hundreds of
people
can talk for one who can think, but thousands
can think for one who
can see.
To see clearly is poetry, prophecy, and religion
-- all in one." While the author is indebted to all the time-honored
standard authorities,
and
to many ornithologists of the present day
-- too many for individual
mention
-- it is to Mr. John Burroughs her deepest
debt is due. To this clear-visioned
prophet, who has opened the blind eyes of
thousands to the delights
that
Nature holds within our easy reach, she would
gratefully acknowledge
many
obligations; first of all, for the plan on
which "Bird Neighbors" is
arranged;
next, for his patient kindness in reading
and annotating the manuscript
of the
book; and, not least, for the inspiration
of his perennially charming
writings
that are so largely responsible for the ready-made
audience now awaiting
writers on out-of-door topics. The author takes this opportunity to express
her appreciation of the work the National
Association of Audubon Societies has done
and is doing to prevent the slaughter of
birds in all parts of the United States,
to develop bird sanctuaries and inaugurate
protective legislation. Indeed to it, more
than to all other agencies combined, is due
the credit of eliminating so much of the
Prussianlike cruelty toward birds that once
characterized American treatment of them,
from the rising generation. -- NELTJE BLANCHAN |
