6 THE NATURALIST'S GUmE. 



that of mistaking the young of certain well-known birds 

 for a different species from the adult, from not being ac- 

 quainted with the immature stages. All birds should be 

 taken that exhibit any unusual characters, such as unusu- 

 ally large or small bills or feet ; or change of plumage, such 

 as very pale, or very bright, cases of albinism, etc. 



The gun used by a collector should have a small bore, 

 not larger than No. 14, for shooting small birds ; for Ducks, 

 and other large water-birds, one of larger calibre will be 

 found more effectual. The best shot to use for small birds 

 is "Dust shot," if it can be procured; if not, No. 12 will 

 answer. No. 8 will do for Ducks and large birds. For 

 Hawks and Eagles, Ealy's wire cartridges are the best. 



In shooting small birds, load as lightly as possible. Put 

 in no more shot than is required to kill the bird. As you 

 can approach very near most small birds, you will find, 

 by experiment, that you can kill them with very little shot. 

 If too much powder is used, it will impel the shot with 

 so much force as to send it completely through the bird, 

 thereby making two holes, when less powder, by causing 

 less force, would have made only one, and the bird would 

 have been killed just as effectually. When shot goes into 

 the body of a bird, it generally carries feathers with it, and 

 in a measure plugs the hole ; but when it is forced through 

 and comes out, it often carries away a small patch of feath- 

 ers and skin, leaving an open wound, from which the blood 

 flows freely. 



If the bird is not instantly killed by shooting, the 

 thumb and forefinger should be placed with a firm pres- 

 sure on each side of its body under the wings, when it will 

 soon die. This operation compresses the lungs and pre- 

 vents the bird's breathing. Besides mercifully ending its 

 suffering, its death causes the flow of blood in a great 

 measure to cease , for this reason it should be killed as 

 quickly as possible. 



