PREFACE. 
     
    
   
   
    
     IF this book had been written in the last century it might have 
     
     been entitled “ Ornithology made Simple, or How to Identify Birds 
     
     with Ease. Certainty, and Dispatch." It may be unworthy so com- 
     
     prehensivc a title, nevertheless I have made an honest endeavor to 
     
     write a book on birds so free from technicalities that it would be in- 
     
     telligible without reference to a glossary, and I have tried to do this 
     
     in a volume which could be taken afield in the pocket. 
     
    

    
     I have not addressed an imaginary audience, nor have I given my 
     
     prospective readers what, theoretically, I thought they ought to have, 
     
     but what personal experience with students of birds has led me to 
     
     believe would meet their wants. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The preparation of this work has firmly convinced me that the 
     
     poet would have been nearer the truth had he written “One touch of 
     
     nature makes the whole world kind.” In the succeeding pages I have 
     
     attempted to express my appreciation of the assistance which natural- 
     
     ist friends and associates have generously given me, but here I desire 
     
     to especially thank Miss Florence A. Merriam, Dr. J. A. Allen, and 
     
     Mr. Ernest E. Thompson for much valuable criticism and advice. 
     
    

    
     FRANK M. CHAPMAN. 
     
    
   
   
    
     AMERICAN MstUM or NATURAL HISTORY, 
     
     NEW Yonx CITY, January, 15:15.