Chapter II: Preface: v

CHAPTER

I. FIRST ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE BIRDS . . . . . . . . . . . 3

_Caution in Nest Hunting--Going Afield--Notebooks--Reporting
Blanks--Bird Books--Movements of Birds--Artificial
Cover in Hiding--The Umbrella Blind--Conclusion._

II. THE LIFE ABOUT THE NEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

_Nest Hunting--Behaviour when Nest Is Discovered--Lessons
to Be Learned--Character of Material Used--Nests in
Holes--Variety of Locations--Variation in Families--Meagre
Nests._

III. DOMESTIC LIFE OF THE BIRDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

_Parental Care of Young--Sharing the Labours--Length
of Mated Life--A Much-married Bluebird--The Faithful
Canada Geese--Unmated Birds--Polygamy Among
Birds--The Outcast._

IV. THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

_Moulting--Why Birds Migrate--The Gathering
Flocks--The Usual Movement--The Travelling Shore
Birds--The World's Migrating Champion--Perils of
Migration--Keeping Migration Records._

V. THE BIRDS IN WINTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

_A Good Time for Field Walks--The Downy's Winter
Quarters--Birds and the Night--The Food Question in
Winter--When the Food Supply Fails--Wild Fowl
Destroyed in the Oil Fields--Hunting Winter Birds._

VI. THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

_A Government Report--Plagues of Insects--Some
Useful Birds--The Question of the Weed Seeds--Dealing
with the Rodent Pests--The Terror That Flies by
Night--A Seldom Recognised Blessing._

VII. CIVILIZATION'S EFFECT ON THE BIRD SUPPLY . . . . . . . 120

_Number of Birds in the World--Number in the
Different States--Increase of Farm-land Species--Effect
of Forest Devastation--Commercializing Birds--Wild
Pigeon--Ivory-billed Woodpecker--Labrador
Duck--Great Auk--Eskimo Curlew._

VIII. THE TRAFFIC IN FEATHERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

_War on the Sea Swallows--What the Ladies Wore--The
Story of the Egrets--Amateur Feather
Hunters--Maribou--Pheasants--Numidie--Goura--Women's
Love for Feathers--Ostrich Feathers Are Desirable._

IX. BIRD-PROTECTIVE LAWS AND THEIR ENFORCEMENT . . . HOW
LAWS ARE MADE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

_Definition of Game--Audubon Laws--Game Law
Enforcement--Lacy Lava--Federal Migratory Bird
Law--History of Game Laws--The Theory of Shiras--Work
of the Bird Committee--Government Explanations--World's
Only Bird Treaty._

X. BIRD RESERVATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

_First Federal Bird Reservation--Congressional
Sanction--Florida Reservations--Distant
Reservations--President Taft a Bird
Protectionist--Audubon Society Reservations--The
Corkscrew Rookery--Wardens Shot by Plume Hunters._

XI. MAKING BIRD SANCTUARIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

_Natural Nesting Places Destroyed--Nesting Boxes for
Birds--Some Rules for Making and Erecting Bird
Boxes--Sites of Bird Boxes--Feeding Birds--Community
Sanctuaries--Birdcraft Sanctuary--Cemeteries as Bird
Sanctuaries--A Birdless Cemetery--Birds of a New York
Graveyard--Enemies to Be Eliminated--Berries and Fruit
for Birds._

XII. TEACHING BIRD STUDY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

_Teaching Children--Junior Audubon Societies--Correlated
Studies--Keeping Scrapbooks--Records of
Migrants--Essays--Sending Old Nests to City
Children--Audubon Prizes--Bird Day._

{xiii}

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Wood Thrush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece in color_

HALF-TONE CUTS

Facing Page

A ferocious young Eagle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Gannets nesting on the cliffs of Bonaventure
Island, Gulf of St. Lawrence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

A male Plumbeous Gnatcatcher feeding young . . . . . . . . . . 38

A mountain Bluebird family whose home has
been destroyed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Young Robins quarreling at their bath . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Feeding station for birds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Snowy Egret shot on its feeding grounds . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Farallone Cormorants and White Pelicans on
a Government Bird Reservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Window "Cafeteria" at home of Mrs. Granville Pike . . . . . . 128

A Christmas dinner for the birds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

An Egret, bearing "aigrettes," in attendance
on her young . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Egret brooding on a Florida island owned and
guarded by the Audubon Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

The Downy Woodpecker is fond of suet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Members of a Junior Audubon class at Fergus
Falls, Minnesota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

A California Hospital for injured birds . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Preparing for the coming of the birds . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

LINE CUTS IN TEXT

Page

The fox that followed the footsteps . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Heads and feet of various birds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Sample page of reporting-blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

The umbrella blind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Nest of the ruby-throated hummingbird . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Bald Eagle's eyrie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Grebe or "water witch" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Canada Geese decoys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

A greedy young Cowbird . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Migration routes of some North American birds . . . . . . . . 71

Lighthouses cause the death of many birds . . . . . . . . . . 76

Tired migrating birds often alight on ships . . . . . . . . . 79

Grouse "budding" in an apple tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Cuckoo raiding a tent of caterpillars . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Screech owl and its prey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Passenger Pigeons are now extinct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

The Great Auk, now extinct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Terns formerly sought by the feather trade . . . . . . . . . . 144

Crowned Pigeon that furnishes the "goura" of
the feather trade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Migrative birds are protected by the Government . . . . . . . 172

The grotesque Wood Ibis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Hungry young Egrets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Cemented holes shut out the Chickadee . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Gourds and boxes for Martins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

A bird bath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Coloring of birds upon outline drawings . . . . . . . . . . . 257

{3}

THE BIRD STUDY BOOK