INTRODUCTION. 



HOW TO LEARN A BIRD'S NAME. 



"How can I learn to know the birds?" is the first question of the 

 seeker after bird-lore. The scientist's reply, "By shooting them and 

 studying their structure and markings in detail," may do for the few 

 who, like himself, desire to know the birds scientifically; but it is em- 

 phatically not the answer to give the ninety and nine who, while they 

 desire to secure an intimate, accurate knowledge of birds, will not gain 

 it at the sacrifice of bird-life. 



In the present volume, therefore, an attempt has been made so to 

 group, figure, and describe our birds that any species may be named 

 which has been definitely seen. The birds are kept in their systematic 

 Orders, a natural arrangement, readily comprehend, but, further than 

 this, accepted classifications have been abandoned and the birds have 

 been grouped according to color and markings. 



A key to the Orders gives the more prominent characters on which 

 they are based; telling for example, the external differences between a 

 Duck and a Grebe. In comparatively few instances, however, will the 

 beginner have much difficuly in deciding to what Order a bird belongs. 

 Probably eight times out of ten the unknown bird will belong to the 

 Order Passeres, or Perching Birds, when one has only to select the 

 color section in which it should be placed, choose from among the 

 colored figures the bird whose identity is sought, and verify one's 

 selection by reading the description of the bird's characteristics and 

 the outline of its range. 



1 



