ove and solicitude. Most people, therefore, are interested in such
spring bird life as comes to their notice, the extent of this interest
depending {4} in part on their opportunity for observation, but more
especially, perhaps, on their individual taste and liking for things
out of doors.

It would seem safe to assume that there is hardly any one who does not
know by sight at least a few birds. Nearly every one in the eastern
United States and Canada knows the Robin, Crow, and English Sparrow; in
the South most people are acquainted with the Mockingbird and Turkey
Buzzard; in California the House Finch is abundant about the towns and
cities; and to the dwellers in the Prairie States the Meadowlark is
very familiar.

Taking such knowledge, however slight, as a basis, there is no reason
why any one, if he so desires, should not, with a little effort, get on
neighbourly terms with a large number of birds of the region, and
spring is a most favourable time to begin such an effort. One may
learn more about a bird's habits by closely observing its movements for
a few hours at this season than by watching it for a month later on.
The life that centres about the nest is most {5} absorbing. Few sights
are more stimulating to interest in outdoor life than spying on a pair
of wild birds engaged in nest building. Nest hunting, therefore, soon
becomes a part of the bird student's occupation, and I heartily
recommend such a course to beginners, _provided_ great care is
exercised not to injure the nests and their contents.

_Caution in Nest Hunting._--A thoughtful person will, of course, be
careful in approaching a wild bird's nest, otherwise much mischief may
be done in a very short time. I have known "dainty eggs" and "darling
baby-birds" to be literally visited to death by well-meaning people,
with the best of intentions. The parents become discouraged by
constantly recurring alarms and desert the nest, or a cat will follow
the path made through the weeds and leave nothing in the nest worth
observing. Even the bending of limbs, or the pushing aside of leaves,
will produce a change in the surroundings, which, however slight, may
be sufficient to draw the attention of some feathered enemy.

{6}

When one stumbles on the nest of a Quail, Meadowlark, or Oven-bird, it
is well not to approach it closely, because all over the country many
night-prowling animals have the habit of following by scent the
footsteps of any one wh