THE NEW STUDY OF BIRDS 



radiating sticks of a clothes' drying tree. I was 

 almost moved to tears as I had been some time 

 before when I saw a trio of sparrows assembled 

 in hopeless conclave about a pool of gasoline. 

 With such denatured provender the survival of 

 the fittest among these little immigrants has 

 indeed become a forlorn hope. 



Another thing about birds which is almost 

 unstudied is what we might call individuality ver- 

 sus species personality. This has held my interest 

 ever since I wrote about the spirit of the flock 

 long years ago in Mexico. We know that one twin 

 brother resembles the other in many characteristics 

 and that members of a family have certain things 

 in common. At a glance I have been able to dis- 

 tinguish between the members of two savage Dyak 

 tribes, without being able to specify the evanes- 

 cent clue of gait or gesture. Applying this to 

 birds, a correspondingly vast and fertile field lies 

 fallow. Color and pattern, song and general habits 

 aside, what exactly sets a wood thrush apart from a 

 robin or a veery.^ Such Whys and Whats make to 

 think! 



So closely have the lines of civilization been 

 drawn that fines or a jail sentence wait upon the 

 ornithologist who catches a native bird today and 

 keeps it in captivity. That avenue is closed, and 

 only at a zoological park may we watch native 

 birds close at hand. But we can evade the law in 

 many ways. Go to the bird stores and purchase 

 foreign sparrows or thrushes or weaver birds and 



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