WHAT BIRDS YOU WANT. 27 



caught by the early bh-d ; nevertheless I go shooting betimes in 

 the morning, and would walk all night to find a rare bird at day- 

 light, c. Weather. It rarely occurs in this country that either 

 heat or cold is unendurably severe ; but extremes of tempera- 

 ture are unfavorable, for two reasons : they both occasion great 

 personal discomfort ; and in one extreme only a few hardy birds 

 will be found, while in the other, most birds are languid, dis- 

 posed to seek shelter, and therefore less likely to be found. 

 A still, cloudy day of moderate temperature offers as a rule the 

 best chance ; among other reasons, there is no sun to blind the 

 eyes, as always occurs on a bright day in one direction, partic- 

 ularly when the sun is low. While a bright day has its good 

 influence in setting man}' birds astir, some others are most 

 easily approached in heavy or falling weather. Some kinds 

 are more likely to be secured during a light snowfall, or after 

 a storm. Singular as it may seem, a thoroughly wet day offers 

 some peculiar inducements to the collector. I cannot well 

 specify them, but I heartily endorse a remark John Cassin 

 once made to me : — " I li^vc," said he, " to go shooting in the 

 rain sometimes ; there are some curious things to be learned 

 about birds when the trees are dripping, things too that have 

 not yet found their way into the books." 



§17. How MANY BIRDS OF THE SAME KIND DO TOU WANT? 



— All you can get — with some reasonable limitations ; say fifty 

 or a hundred of any but the most abundant and widely diffused 

 species. You may often be provoked with j^our friend for 

 speaking of some bird he shot, but did not bring you, because, 

 he saj^s, "Why, you've got one like that!" This is just as 

 reasonable as to suppose that because you have got one dollar 

 you would not like to have another dollar. Birdskins are 

 capital ; capital unemploj^ed ma}^ be useless but can never be 

 worthless. Birdskins are a medium of exchange among orni- 

 thologists the world over ; they represent value — money value 

 and scientific value. If you have more of one kind than you 

 can use exchange with some one for species you lack ; both 

 parties to the transaction are equally benefited. Let me bring 



