400 Bird - Lore 



man is different from that of a bird is too long to tell here; but, when you see 

 the shape and know the weight of the different bones which make up each, 

 and the ways in which they are put together, you will see much more clearly 

 why fishes are fitted to swim without legs, and horses to run and gallop on 

 four legs, and men to walk erect on two legs. If you will try from now on to 

 see things as they actually are, and to describe them correctly, instead of 

 giving a hasty glance at them and guessing at what you do not take time to 

 see, you will have gone a long way toward learning how to get at the truth 

 quickly and without great difficulty. 



Many people think the easiest way to learn to know birds, for instance, is 

 to take a few observations, and then run through a set of colored pictures until 

 one is found that seems to fit any particular bird seen. A far better way, it 

 seems, is to watch a bird as carefully and as long as it stays in sight, to see the 

 shape of its body, the length of its wings and tail, the size and length of its 

 bill, the colors and markings of its feathers, to notice how it flies, where it 

 seems to prefer to feed, whether it is alone or with other birds, what its song is 

 like, and whether it sings on the wing. Feathers alone do not make a bird, 

 however bright or variegated the colors; so, learn to look at other things, and 

 soon you can always recognize a Woodpecker by its flight, shape and actions, 

 a Flycatcher by its bill and peculiar motions, a Vireo by the shape of its head, 

 and so on. 



A teacher of biology once said to one of his pupils in college who refused to 

 try to draw the skull of a vertebrate because she didn't know how to draw 

 bones: "Yes, you can draw this skull just as well as anything else if you will 

 look at it until you really see it clearly, but you cannot draw it if you give 

 up after glancing at it after a few times." We can all learn birds or insects or 

 anything in nature if we simply follow this advice, and depend more upon our 

 own eyes and wits and less upon someone or something else. Teachers and 

 books and pictures can help us some, but we must learn to help ourselves, or 

 we shall never know much thoroughly. A bird's skeleton is a very excellent 

 thing to study because it makes one think and observe carefully. 



QUESTIONS 



1. Why cannot birds afiford to have teeth? 



2. Did birds ever have teeth? 



3. What serves birds in place of teeth? 



4. What vertebrate uses its tail to help it climb about? 



5. What animals have very long tails? very short ones? 



6. If a man had a thin membrane attached to his arms in the form of wings, do you 



think he could fly? 



7. What vertebrate has the warmest blood? Why? 



8. How far can a bird twist its neck around? a horse? an elephant? how far can 



you turn your head? 



9. Can any birds sit down? 



10. Do any birds have flat breastbones? If so, can such birds fly? 



1 1 . What birds fly the best? Describe the length and shape of their wings and bodies. 



12. Do all birds use their wings in the same way when flying? — A. H. W. 



