138 HIS RELATIONS WITH US 
keep silent? fly straight, or go bounding in 
great waves through the air? All these things 
you must learn to see, and to note down the mo- 
ment you do so, so that you will not be uncer- 
tain or confused when you take your books to 
see who he is. 
Then you must take note of his size, and to 
do this —as it is hard to judge of inches — it is 
well to have in mind a sort of index of size 
to which you can compare him. Take the most 
common and best-known birds for standards, the 
robin, the English sparrow, and one smaller, — 
the wren, or the “chebek”’ (least flycatcher). 
When you see a bird, if he is as big as a robin, 
enter in your note: “ Size,, robin.” Should he 
be a little smaller, yet still larger than your 
measure, —the English  sparrow,— you can 
note it, “Size, robin —,” the minus sign mean- 
ing that it is less. If he were larger, you would 
put the plus sign: “Size, robin +.” 
Observe the shape, whether it is slim lke an 
oriole, or chunky like a chickadee; also any 
peculiarity of plumage, as a crest, specially long 
or strangely formed tail feathers; the end of 
the tail, whether square, rounded, pointed, or 
notched. 
Then the beak; its length compared to the 
head, its shape and color. If it is high and 
