The Birds' Calendar 



summary, wherein is outlined the entire prov- 

 ince of field ornithology. 



Acquaintance with a bird begins, of course, 

 in identifying its species ; and this requires 

 either verbal description, pictorial illustration, 

 or (which is best of all) access to a collection 

 of stuffed specimens.^ In either case there are 

 two ways of proceeding : either first to find the 

 living bird, notice its size and as many of the 

 details of coloration as possible, wdth all of its 

 habits that may be noted, and then from refer- 

 ence-book or stuffed collection determine what 

 it is. In some cases this method will be very 

 easy, as w^here the colors are simple, and a good 

 view is had of the specimen. In other cases, 

 with complicated markings, as in the warblers, 

 or when the bird is very small, or seen at a dis- 

 tance, it might be a long time before the spe- 

 cies can be determined. 



The second method is the reverse of the 

 other — first to learn the appearance of the 

 birds of any locality from either of the above 

 sources, and then find their counterparts in nat- 

 ure. This method is simplified by finding out 



" The illustrations in this book were prepared from 

 specimens kindly furnished by the directors of the Museum 

 of Natural History, in New York City. 



