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OUR BIRD COMRADES

By

LEANDER S. KEYSER

Author of "Birddom," "In Bird Land,"
and "Birds of the Rockies," etc.







[Frontispiece: American Sparrow-hawk]




Rand, McNally & Company
Chicago         New York         London

Copyright, 1907
by Rand, McNally & Co.

The Rand-McNally Press
Chicago




  _To

  ALL WHO LOVE THE BIRDS FOR THEIR
  OWN SAKES,

  who desire to cultivate comradeship with them in books
  and in the field, and who will study them
  with the glass and without the gun._




BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION


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.

THE AUTHOR.




_THE TABLE OF CONTENTS_


  THE PREFACE
  THE ILLUSTRATIONS
  BEGINNING THE STUDY
  MAKING NEW FRIENDS
  WILDWOOD MINSTRELS
  CHICKADEE WAYS
  THE NUTHATCH FAMILY
  A FEATHERED PARASITE
  A BLUE CANNIBAL
  A HANDSOME SCISSORSTAIL
  AN ALPINE ROSY FINCH
  HAPPENINGS BY THE WAY
  ODDS AND ENDS
  WAYSIDE OBSERVATIONS
  TROUBLE AMONG THE BIRDS
  A BIRD'S EDUCATION
  ARE BIRDS SINGERS OR WHISTLERS?
  BIRD FLIGHT
  A BIRD'S FOOT




_THE ILLUSTRATIONS_


AMERICAN SPARROW-HAWK......... _Frontispiece_

CHIPPING SPARROW

YELLOW WARBLER

CHICKADEE

NUTHATCH

BLUE JAY

PEWEE, OR PHOEBE

SONG SPARROW

CARDINAL

WHITE-EYED VIREO

BALTIMORE ORIOLE

BOB-WHITE, OR QUAIL

ROBIN

MEADOW LARK

BARN SWALLOW

SPOTTED SANDPIPER, OR "PEET-WEET"




BEGINNING THE STUDY

Why should not people ride natural history hobbies as well as other
kinds of hobbies?  Almost all persons become interested in some special
study, recreation, or pastime, and their choice is not always as
profitable as the selection of a specific branch of nature lore would