Interest in bird life exercises the sympathies. The child reflects something of the joy of the oriole whose ecstasy of song from the elm on the lawn tells the whereabouts of a dangling "cup of felt" with its deeply hidden treasures. He takes to heart the tragedy of a robin's mud-plastered nest in the apple tree that was washed apart by a storm, and experiences something akin to remorse when he takes a mother bird from the jaws of his pet cat. He listens for the return of the bluebirds to the starch-box home he made for them on top of the grape arbour and is strangely excited and happy that bleak day in March when they re-appear. It is nature sympathy, the growth of the heart, not nature study, the training of the brain, that does most for us. Neltje Blanchan. _Mill Neck_, 1906. {ix} CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. Our Robin Goodfellow and His Relations 3 Robin, Bluebird, Wood Thrush, Wilson's Thrush. II. Some Neighbourly Acrobats 17 Chickadee, Nuthatches, Titmouse, Kinglets. III. A Group of Lively Singers 31 Mockingbird, Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Wrens. IV. The Warblers 51 Yellow Warbler, Black and White Creeping Warbler, Ovenbird, Maryland Yellow-throat, Yellow-breasted Chat. V. Another Strictly American Family 62 The Vireos. VI. Birds Not of a Feather 77 Butcherbirds, Cedar Waxwing, Tanagers. VII. The Swallows 91 Purple Martin, Barn Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Tree Swallow, Bank Swallow. VIII. The Sparrow Tribe 105 Purple Finch, English Sparrow, Goldfinch, Vesper Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Chippy, Field Sparrow, Junco, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Towhee, Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Snowflake. {x} IX. The Ill-assorted Blackbird Family 135 Bobolink, Cowbird, Red-wing, Meadowlark, Orioles, Blackbirds. X. Rascals We Must Admire 151 Crow, Blue Jay and Canada Jay. XI. The Flycatchers 159 Kingbird, Crested Flycatcher, Phoebe, Pewee, Least Flycatcher. XII. Some Queer Relations 173 Nighthawk, Whip-poor-will, Chimney Swift, Hummingbird. XIII. Non-union Carpenters 187 Our Five Common Woodpeckers. XIV. Cuckoo and Kingfisher 203 XV. Day and Night Allies of the Farmer 211 Buzzards, Hawks, and Owls. XVI. Whistler and Drummer 233 Bob-white and Ruffed Grouse. XVII. Birds of the Shore and Marshes 245