THE NEW STUDY OF BIRDS 



I might have sold my draught horse stud-farms 

 and invested heavily in Fords and taxicabs. The 

 Isness of facts is boring and futile — the Whyness is 

 the chief excuse for going on living. 



Admitting that we have increased interest by 

 limiting the field of work, let us consider still 

 another new phase. Take a small field surrounded 

 by woods. If we occupy some point of vantage 

 for a whole day our senses will record a multitude 

 of sights, sounds, and smells produced by living 

 creatures ranging, say, from crickets to skunks. 

 Now comes the exciting part, when we begin to 

 realize something more than facts contained in our 

 list of birds. Not only are there four robins within 

 this domain, but these birds hold very definite 

 positions and exert distinct influences. Take color 

 for example, and grade it from the extreme of dull- 

 ness to that of brilliancy in a scale of one to ten — a. 

 song sparrow at one end and a male scarlet tanager 

 at the other. With this in mind, your census list 

 becomes a pallid effect, and the most important 

 thing is the new idea of a temporary neglect of 

 names, substituting a thought of the birds as bits 

 of pigment. From this point of view, compare 

 them as a whole with the common butterflies of 

 this same field. Then do the same thing with 

 sound, and with subdivisions of sound — which 

 species ranks as ten in regard to loudness or per- 

 sistency or sweetness of tone.^* What insects or 

 amphibians equal or excel them? 



When you have learned the name of the indigo 



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