HOW TO STUDY A BIRD. 205 



of certain groups of birds, as the flirting of the tail by the smaller fly- 

 catchers, the deliberate folding of the wings by the plovers upon alight- 

 ing, the teetering of the body by the smaller sandpipers when standing or 

 walking, and similar actions which will occur to your own mind. 



The special appearance of any bird is a great help in recognizing or 

 identifying it. It may assume some characteristic attitude that will 

 have a likeness to pictures we have seen or may see, and thus we are aided 

 in determining the name of the bird. Suppose we are collecting on the 

 shore of Daphnia pond. Among the rushes we see (though it will take 

 sharp eyes to see it) a slender, brownish bird of rather large size, with 

 elongated neck and head pointed upward in meditative attitude. We 

 remember that we have read of the bitterns assuming this posture, and 

 Ave form an idea which readily aids in identification,. 



In connection with the description and appearance of the bird we are 

 studying, we should learn to note its movements that seem to characterize 

 the species. The kingbird and other flycatchers will be seen to leave their 

 perch, fly outward and upward irregularly, try to capture a passing insect, 

 turn in air, and quickly alight upon the same or another convenient perch. 

 The sparrow hawk will often hover in air, maintain its place by continued 

 fluttering of the wings, and then swoop down upon its prey, or else con- 

 tinue its quartering flight. We notice a bird somewhat larger than the 

 robin, with enlarged head and noticeable crest. It flies over the water 

 with harsh rattling cry, hovers in mid-air to select a victim in the water 

 helow, and then dives head foremost. By these actions we have little 

 ■difficulty in recognizing the familiar kingfisher. A small bird, not so 

 large as the chipping sparrow, alights upon the trunk of a tree near us. 

 and begins to ascend the bole by a zig-zag course, inspecting the crevices 

 of the bark for lurking insect larvae. These movements aid us in 

 identifying the little brown creeper. 



Besides what we have mentioned of movements of the bird as one of 

 a species, it is especially interesting to note what may be called the in- 

 dividual actions of the bird. This constitutes a higher phase of bird 

 study than that mentioned in the preceding paragraph, but it is productive 

 of greater results. It separates the bird in question from its group, and 

 regards it as an individual, manifesting traits for which it alone is re- 

 sponsible. No other bird of the same species may go thi-ough exactly 

 the same performance, nor exhibit its impulses of love or hate, courage 

 or fear, anger or pleasure, in just the same manner. It is this phase 

 of bird study that marks such naturalists as Ernest Seton Thompson, 

 John Burroughs. Bradford Torrey, Florence Merriam Bailey, and a few 

 others. 



Early in the study of a bird the observer must become familiar with 

 its song, call-notes, or cries. Color is generally diflacult to distinguish 

 at any distance from which ordinary observation is made, hence the voice 

 of the bird is the means most useful to the observer in recognizing his 

 feathered friends. In the mating and early nesting season, the songs 

 of the birds are especially attractive, and at that time the music should 

 be so associated with identification that thereafter the song will suggest 

 the author. However, the song season is comparatively short, ending 



