84 EVERYDAY BIRDS 
they say, “ Oh, it’s a sparrow,” and seek to know 
nothing more. 
The family of warblers — among the loveliest 
of all birds —are in a still worse case, and much 
the same may be said of swallows and blackbirds, 
thrushes and vireos. The number of species and 
their perplexing similarity, which are such an at- 
traction to the student, prove an effectual bar to 
those who have time and money for newspapers 
and novels, but can spare neither for a manual 
of local ornithology. 
I have named six birds which every one knows, 
or may know, but of course I do not mean that 
these are all. Why should not everybody know 
the goldfinch — a small, stout-billed, bright yel- 
low, canary-like bird, with black wings and tail 
and a black cap? And the flicker — or golden- 
winged woodpecker —a little larger than the 
robin, with gold-lined wings, a black crescent on 
the breast, a red patch on the back of the head, 
and a white rump, conspicuous as the bird takes 
wing? The hummingbird, too — our only one; 
I should say that everybody ought to recognize 
it, only that I have found some who confuse 
it with sphinx moths, and will hardly believe 
me when I tell them of their mistake. The 
cedar-bird, likewise, known also as the cherry- 
bird and the waxwing, is a bird by itself; re- 
