72 HOW TO IDENTIFY BIRDS. 



on its wings. Probably it exists only through your hasty 

 observation. 



Arm yourself with a field- or opera-glass, therefore, 

 without which you will be badly handicapped, and look 

 your bird over with enough care to get a general idea of 

 its size, form — particularly the form of the bill — color, 

 and markings. Then — and I can not emphasize this too 

 strongly — put what you have seen into your note-book 

 at once. For, as I have elsewhere said, "not only do 

 our memories sometimes deceive us, but we really 

 see nothing with exactness until we attempt to de- 

 scribe it." 



It is true that all the birds will not pose before your 

 glasses long enough for you to examine them at your 

 leisure, but many of them will, and in following the 

 others you will have all the excitement of the chase. 

 Who knows what rare species the stranger may prove 

 to be! 



From your description, and what added notes on voice 

 and actions you may obtain, the field key and illustra- 

 tions on the succeeding pages should make identification 

 a simple matter.* You should also take into considera- 

 tion the season of the year when a bird is present, and 

 not call a summer bird by a winter bird's name. The 

 dates of migration given in the following pages will be of 

 assistance here. They refer to the vicinity of I^ew York 

 city, where, in the spring, birds arrive about a week later 



* The publishers' liberality has resulted in securing bird portraits 

 of unusual excellence. Mr. Seton Thompson is an ornithologist as 

 well as an artist ; his subjects are personal friends. He has spared no 

 effort to make these pictures characteristic life sketches, and I ven- 

 ture to claim that, as a whole, they excel in truth and beauty any 

 bird-drawings ever published in this country. 



