FEATHERED TOURISTS 



shore birds. Once getting the full joy of this, I 

 shot no more birds during my whole stay. There 

 was no need — my telescope brought them all out 

 of the conventional bush and placed them in my 

 hand. 



The moment we take to ourselves a bird as a pet, 

 it becomes an individual and acquires a personality, 

 and only one who has had to do with the building 

 of a zoo can possibly appreciate the vast mental 

 and emotional gulfs separating two feathered crea- 

 tures which, to the eye, are absolutely identical. 



• In watching my wild birds I found that with 

 varying magnifications, I could pass through sev- 

 eral stages of optical intimacy. To the naked eye, 

 as I have said, the shore birds on the farther side of 

 the beach were only a group of wading birds, but 

 even with the lowest power glasses there began to 

 emerge what I like to call the species behavior, or 

 specific personality, quite apart from color and pat- 

 tern, and even size. For example, one eighth day of 

 September, when there were many kinds of waders 

 on the beach, I made the following action and 

 psychological key, which when given to members of 

 my staif to use, proved as effective for identification 

 as details of color and size revealed through much 

 higher magnifications. 



Spotted Sandpiper: Comparatively deliberate, 

 not at all wary, the rather stout body constantly 

 teetering. 



Semipalmated Sandpiper: Nervous but not 

 wary, moving in short, running spurts, pecking but 



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