Home Nature-Study Course. 401 



VI. Flight. 



1. Fast. (Direct; abrupt and zigzag; smooth and cir- 



cling.) 



2. Slow. (Flapping; sailing or soaring; flapping and sail- 



ing alternately.) 

 VII. Localities Frequented. (Gardens; orchards; roadside 

 fences; meadows; thickets; woods; rivers; lakes and 

 marshes.) 

 VIII. Food and Manner of Obtaining It. 

 ♦[X. Song. 



1. Manner and Time of Singing. (From perch; in the 



air.) 



2. Character of Song. (Plaintive; happy; long; short.) 



3. Call Notes. (Signal; warning; anger; fear; pain; 



protest.) 



Lesson. 



74. Describe the robin according to above outline. 



75. Describe the English sparrow, both sexes, according to the outline. 



HOW TO KNOW THE COMMON BIRDS. 



The best way to become acquainted with the birds of a locality is 

 to take up a group of closely allied species and learn to distinguish 

 them; then take another group, and so on until all of the sparrows, 

 all of the blackbirds, all of the thrushes, all of the woodpeckers, etc., 

 of a region are perfectly familiar. After two or three years of study 

 according to this plan, a knowledge of the common species of all the 

 bird families of a locality may be gained. 



The family which I have chosen for the Home Nature-Study class 

 beginning bird study this spring is that of the flycatchers. These 

 birds were chosen because four or five species are common almost 

 everywhere in New York State. Their appearance, attitudes and- 

 movements are very characteristic and the songs and nests of several 

 are well known; also, the flycatchers are of the greatest economic 

 importance. 



THE FLYCATCHERS AND HOW TO IDENTIFY THEM. 



The surest way first to identify a flycatcher is to note its method 

 of feeding. It sits on some dead branch, or on a fence, or on a tele- 

 graph wire, always in a place free from dead branches and other 

 obstructions. It sits erect, the tail drooped except that it is fre- 

 quently jerked up or down as if to help the bird keep its balance. 

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