Part 2

BARN SWALLOW (colored) Frontispiece

FIRST BOOK

BALTIMORE ORIOLE AND NEST (colored) 10 REDSTARTS (FEMALE ON NEST) (colored) 14 RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD--MALE, FEMALE, AND NEST WITH YOUNG 18 YOUNG WOOD THRUSH 22 AMERICAN GOLDFINCH (colored) 26 BLUEBIRD (colored) 38 INDIGO-BIRD 46 AMERICAN ROBIN (colored) 60 CHEWINK 76 HOUSE WREN 80 FLICKER 86 WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH 96 LESSER YELLOWLEGS 106 BROWN THRASHER 112 BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER 120 CEDAR-BIRD (colored) 126 SCARLET TANAGER--MALE AND FEMALE 142

SECOND BOOK

HERMIT THRUSH 10 RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET 14 CHICKADEE 22 BROWN CREEPER (colored) 28 CATBIRD 36 AMERICAN DIPPER 42 SPRAGUE'S PIPIT 46 YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT (colored) 52 YELLOW-THROATED VIREO AND NEST 56 LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE 60 SCARLET TANAGER (colored) 76 ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK (colored) 86 CARDINAL 90 RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD 94 MEADOWLARK (colored) 100 BLUE JAY 122 AMERICAN MAGPIE (colored) 126 DESERT HORNED LARK 132 KINGBIRD (colored) 136 NIGHTHAWK 158 DOWNY WOODPECKER 166 BELTED KINGFISHER (colored) 170 YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO 174 SCREECH OWL 180 SPARROW HAWK 188 AMERICAN OSPREY, OR FISH HAWK (colored) 192

Eight of the sixteen colored plates are from drawings by Louis Agassiz Fuertes, and these are signed with his name. The other colored plates and the twenty-eight plain half-tones are from photographs of mounted specimens, many of which are in the collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and are reproduced by permission.

The First Book also contains twenty cuts in the text.

FIRST BOOK

THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS

WHAT YOU WANT TO KNOW

BIRDS seem to be the happiest creatures on earth, yet they have none of what we call the comforts of life.

They have no houses to live in, no beds to sleep on, no breakfast and dinner provided for them.

This book is to tell something about them; where they live and what they eat, where they sleep, how they get their beautiful dress, and many other things. But no one can tell all about their lives and habits, for no one knows all their ways.

Men who study dead birds can tell how they are made, how their bones are put together, and how many feathers there are in the wings and tail. Of course it is well to know these things. But to see how birds live is much more interesting than to look at dead ones.

It is pleasant to see how mother birds build their nests, and how they take care of their nestlings. It is charming to see the young ones when they begin to fly, and to know how they are taught to find their food, and to keep out of danger, and to sing, and everything young birds need to know.

Then when they are grown up, it is interesting to find out where they go in winter, and why they do not stay with us all the year round.

One who goes into the field to watch and study their ways will be surprised to find how much like people they act. And after studying living birds, he will never want to kill them. It will seem to him almost like murder.

WHEN THEY COME IN THE SPRING

IN the long, cold winter of the New England and Middle States, not many birds are usually seen. In the cities there is always the English sparrow, and in the country, now and then a chickadee, or a woodpecker, or a small flock of goldfinches.

But very early in the spring, long before grass is green, even while snow is on the ground, the birds begin to come.

Some morning a robin will appear, standing up very straight on a fence or tree, showing his bright red breast and black cap, flirting his tail, and looking as if he were glad to be back in his old home.

Then perhaps the same day will come the hoarse chack of a blackbird, and two or three will fly over and alight in a big bare tree, looking, it may be, for a good place to build a bird city.

Soon will be heard the sweet little song of the song sparrow or the bluebird, and then we shall know that summer is coming, for these are the first birds of spring.

Day after day, as the snow melts away and the sunshine grows hotter, more birds will come. One day a catbird or two, another day an oriole in black and gold, and another day a pert little wren. So it will go on, till by the time June comes in, all our birds will be back with us, very busy, hopping around in our bushes and trees, making their nests all about, and singing the whole day long.

Almost the first thing every bird thinks of, when he comes to us, is making the nest. For summer is the only time in his life that a bird has a home.

He does not need a house to live in. He cares nothing for a roof to cover him, because when the sun is hot, he has the broad green leaves on the trees to shade him. And when it rains his neat feather coat is like a waterproof that lets the drops run off, leaving him warm and dry under it.

He does not need a dining-room, because he eats wherever he finds his food, and he wants no kitchen, because he prefers his food raw.

He has no use for a bedroom, because he can sleep on any twig; the whole world is his bedroom.