THE OVLOGIST. 



71 



not fly, and that Walter had chased it 

 for sometime. With a smile of inei-ed- 

 ulity he started to catch the bird, but 

 it dodged abont through the flock just 

 beyond his grasp, as it had previously 

 done with the boy. As the fowls be- 

 gan to scatter the bird seemed to real- 

 ize its danger and made for a pile of 

 old lumber, in which he thrust his head, 

 when it was easily c lught and its head 

 chojjped ofl", and being in good condi- 

 tion I at once prepared it for the pot. 

 The bird was undoubtedly a male, and 

 acted very much like a male pigeon in 

 j^airing time." 



How to Study Ornithology. 



BY V. M. FIROE. 



In running over the generic and 

 specific characteristics, describing min- 

 utely each bird by scientific ornitholo- 

 gy, the learner becomes bewildered in 

 the technicalities used in the full and 

 complete delineation, much of which 

 is descriptive samejiess. To avoid con ■ 

 fusion, it is advised to fix one peculiar 

 feature, and rely upon it to distinguish 

 each s])ecimen, until the student has 

 familiarized every bird wliich he can 

 examine, avoiding to care to study the 

 birds beyond his reach, although they 

 may belong to our vast (im-fauna. 

 When the student masters what he sees 

 around him, then, but not till then, 

 should he seek to know the distinguish- 

 ing features of other specimens. In 

 short, let the birds around engage his 

 first attention. The study of our 

 small birds is most difficult. I will 

 illustrate my advice to students in se- 

 lecting six sparrows inhabiting the 

 eastern side from the Mississipjji val- 

 ley. 



First, generic cliaracters refer to the 

 physiological anatomy of tlie bird ; 

 iSpecific description refers to the par- 

 ticidar bird described. We will take 

 of Sivzella (Bonap.), three, and Melo- 

 spiza (Baird), three. Tree sparrows 

 {ISpizell'i tnonticola, Baird). To know 



this sparrow, we need only examine the 

 bill, which is black above and yellow 

 below. In the Field sparrow ( Spizella 

 pusilla, Bonap.), we find the red bill. 

 No other sparrow in our section has 

 both mandibles red. The Chipping 

 sparrow {Spizella socialise Bonap.), has 

 the entire bill black, so it also may 

 readily be distingiiished by its beak. 

 Now we come to the other three, poss- 

 essing generic differences. I mention 

 a few — they are stouter, with wings 

 shorter and rounder : feet also stouter 

 than the first three mentioned. Of 

 these, I site the lovely Song Sparrow 

 {Melospizd nieiodia., Baird). For var- 

 iety sake,' let us seek to know them by 

 some peculiar coloring of the plum- 

 age. One sweet singer will be found 

 having a rufous crown with supercili- 

 ary and medium stripes of dull gray, 

 and with a whitish stripe, bordered 

 above and below by stripes of darker 

 rufous brown. Lincoln's Finch {Melo- 

 spiza iincohiii^ Baird). may be known 

 by the well defined band of brownish- 

 yellow acrijss the breast, running down 

 the sides. The last of our selections 

 is the Swamp .Sparrow {Melospiza pal- 

 ustris. Baird). Let us note its fore- 

 head as black, and its back as broadly 

 streaked with black. Of course, all 

 tliese sparrows have many other speci- 

 fic marks ; but my object is to recom- 

 mend to the beginner an easy way to 

 recognize a bird. When he becomes 

 more advanced in the delightful study 

 of Nature on the wing, he may famil- 

 iarize himself with all the peculiarities 

 of the specimens within his reach. 



Number Foue, Volume Five. — Any 

 of our readers having the above ntun- 

 ber, and not intending to bind them, 

 will (ionfer a favor by mailing them to 

 this office. 



We can still supply a few full sets 

 of volume four. 



Volumes one, two, three and five we 

 can no longer supply complete. 



