HINTS FOR FIELD WORK 



Any time of year is good to begin the study of birds, though 

 February is perhaps the best time. The number of species to 

 be found in winter is so limited that a beginner can become 

 familiar beforehand with the appearance and favorite haunts 

 of those he is likely to find, so that he will welcome by name 

 the first Golden-crowned Kinglet or Brown Creeper that he 

 sees. The latter part of August and the first half of Septem- 

 ber, except at the sea-shore, is perhaps the worst time of year 

 for students of birds. Birds are then silent and retiring ; one 

 sees few species, but must distinguish them from among a far 

 larger number of candidates than in winter. 



Morning, as every one knows, is the best time of day to 

 see and hear birds, but it is not necessary to rise at three or 

 four, unless one wishes to accomplish a great deal in a morn- 

 ing. If one starts before eight there will be, even in sum- 

 mer, two or three hours when birds are fairly active. Be- 

 tween five and seven in the afternoon there is a renewal of 

 song and activity. A high wind, or a steady northwest wind 

 in spring, makes a poor bird day ; birds are then silent and 

 retiring. A violent rain, of course, keeps them under cover, 

 but they delight in warm showers. 



The first impression a beginner gets on a spring morning 

 is of a confusion of sound, and if he attempts to find the 

 individual songsters, he is often discouraged by the brief 

 glimpses he gets of some distant and departing bird. An 

 experienced student has in the mean time noted the songs of 

 many species, and recognized old friends by a hint of color, 



