Excerpt from Bird-Life: Being a History of the Bird, Its Structure, and Habits It is by a true appreciation of the wonders of Nature that the mind becomes expanded, the perceptions quickened, and the heart refined and softened. A more intimate knowledge of the beauties Of Creation inevitably conduces to delicacy of ideas and tenderness Of feeling. If lovely flowers be seen in a cottage window, rest assured that beneath that roof there exists a gentler and more kindly life than under the next, where not a green leaf is to be seen. Where bees are kept, or pet birds are to be found, there is sure to be seen a glimpse, and a bright one, too, Of the tender and more loveable side of our nature. One, if not the greatest, enemy to cruelty and brutality is knowledge; hence let us Offer every inducement in our power to its acquirement in connection with the beauties by which we are surrounded. Though this work is Of little or no value to the scientific reader, and is, doubtless, open to a certain amount of adverse criticism, still, taken as a whole, the main proportion of information contained therein is correct; while the various anecdotes and the minute detail of Observation are, at the same time, useful and entertaining. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.