WHERE TO FIND BIRDS 53 



apple orchard, particularly in its nesting-time late in 

 summer. Its companion in tardy breeding, the gold- 

 finch, while it may nest about the premises, is more 

 apt to come for thistle and sunflower seeds. If the 

 place be a farm, the barn and eave swallows are apt 

 to take up residence in the barn. 



During spring and fall migration, quite a number 

 of birds are likely to drop in while passing. In 

 spring the warblers make a most beautiful accession. 

 Some days in May the blossoming apple-trees are 

 alive with them and they are seen nearly everywhere. 

 The pretty white-throated sparrow is quite apt to 

 come in both the migrations, and sometimes the shy 

 thrushes, even the hermit and olive-backed, are liable 

 to favor us, though well back in the garden. 



It must be evident from the above that there are 

 a good many birds to study close at home, and if 

 people are willing to use their eyes a little, they can 

 learn a great deal with very little trouble. It is 

 interesting, while studying birds, to keep an inci- 

 dental record of all species seen on one's own prem- 

 ises. In my former home garden in Boston, during 

 a series of a dozen years, I noted about eighty-five 

 kinds of birds, and another observer, in a recent book, 

 records one hundred and ten seen on Boston Common 

 in a decade. Many happy odd minutes can profit- 

 ably be spent with the opera glass in one's own yard. 

 Indeed, almost any bird is at times liable to occur 

 in such surroundings. 



It would, however, seem rather indolent to wait 



