A Book on Birds 



least representative, you will probably find 

 after continued effort during several sea- 

 sons, nearly ninety species nesting; while 

 many more may be added to that total 

 in the spring and autumn from birds 

 of passage. And of these an average 

 amateur, using good judgment, may get as 

 many as forty or fifty in a half-dozen trips. 



But never strive for mere numbers. 

 Rather take a single group at a time and 

 learn it thoroughly — so that you acquire 

 as quickly as possible an intimate, friendly 

 relationship with it, as it were; including 

 perhaps some awkward ability to whistle 

 the family language, and other woodland 

 accomplishments. 



And if, perchance, any reader should 

 feel moved by this initial chapter, and 

 have the impulse to ^^ start ouf at once, 

 suppose he begin with the Sparrow family. 



Not one in a score, even among those 

 of us who love the open air, knows this 

 charming company of songsters as he 

 should. Indeed, there have been cases 

 where the experts — the real naturalists 



[20] 



