HOW TO NAME THE BIRDS. 



Read the Synopsis of Bird Families ^ to gain an idea of 

 tlieir groupings, and if you fail to locate your bird in this 

 Avay go through the Key- very slowly, not jumpiug hastily 

 at conclusions, but following every reasonable clue. It is im- 

 possible to make such a key absolutely trustworthy, when 

 it is necessarily based upon the more superficial qualities, 

 and is arranged to guide those who rely upon impressions 

 of colour gained from a bird, perhaps many feet distant. 



In condensing the attributes of each bird into a reference 

 table to precede its biography, its length in inches is given 

 as a means of comparison, especially in referring to the 

 illustrations ; for in adapting the bird portraits from many 

 sources it has been impossible to grade them according to a 

 mathematical scale. In these tables I have endeavoured to 

 give only such broad descriptions of plumage as shall be 

 recognizable with a field-glass, noting the difference in colour- 

 ing between male and female when it is at all marked, 

 and giving when possible the accentuated value of the song 

 and call notes in syllables. Not that any literal meaning 

 may be attributed to them, but that the sound of these 

 syllables, when repeated aloud, may aid in identifying the 

 song with the singer. Critics who do not imderstand the 

 motive of this syllabication, call it nonsense, and consider 

 it merely a sentimentalist's attempt to make the birds talk. 

 I only know that it has been a great help to me, and that 

 it has aided many people who depend even more upon the 

 ear than the eye in their study of birds. Thoreau and 

 Emerson understood it thoroughly, and Burroughs has 

 formulated miich of the language, so that it does not lack 

 champions. 



The seasons of bird migration, or residence, are in accord- 

 ance with records of this part of New England (southern 

 Connecticut), both from the notes of Rev. James Linsley, 

 Mr. C. K. Averill of Bridgeport, and others, and also from 

 my own diaries. Allowance must therefore be made by 

 those living further north or south, as in the spring migra- 

 tion birds Avill arrive in Delaware two weeks earlier than in 



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