Our Common Birds and How to Know Them 
the Fall he becomes streaked with different shades of brown. The American Goldfinch in 
Summer is bright yellow with a black crown ; in the Fall the black on his head disappears 
and the yellow of his body fades to a pale brown. And the Indigo-bird does not attain to 
his full brilliancy of plumage until he has been with us some time. The books, however, 
will apprise you of such changes and no serious trouble on this score need be apprehended. 
Prepare for yourself, therefore, a list somewhat similar to that which has here been 
given of easily distinguished birds which you may expect to meet, and seek and study 
them. When you see a brown, plainly marked bird, observe it indeed, and even transfer 
What you may of it to your note-book, but do not puzzle too long in the attempt to 
name it. Close your memoranda by writing ‘‘name unknown.” Rest assured that your 
knowledge will surely augment, and such entries will occur less and less frequently. 
It is interesting and oftentimes helpful to consult colored plates. But owing to the great 
expense of really good ones, not everybody can do this. An extremely good plan is to 
make an occasional visit to the institutions where stuffed specimens are kept, such as the 
various museums of natural history. Here it may easily happen that a glance will set at 
rest doubts that a long period of field or book study will fail to solve. 
