144 SCRAPING ACQUAINTANCE. 
is possible for some he if we are never to be 
allowed to call our gentle friends by name un- 
til in every case we have gone through the for- 
mality of a post-mortem examination. Practi- 
cally, and for every-day ends, we may know a 
robin, or a redstart, or even a hermit thrush, 
when we see him, without first turning the bird 
into a specimen. 
Probably there are none of our birds which 
afford more surprise and pleasure to a novice 
than the family of warblers. A _ well-known 
ornithologist has related how one day he wan- 
dered into the forest in an idle mood, and acci- 
dentally catching a gleam of bright color over- 
head, raised his gun and brought the bird to his 
feet ; and how excited and charmed he was with 
the wondrous beauty of his little trophy. Were 
there other birds in the woods as lovely as this ? 
He would see for himself. And that was the 
beginning of what bids fair to prove a life-long 
enthusiasm. 
Thirty-eight warblers are credited to New 
England ; but it would be safe to say that not 
more than three of them are known to the 
average New-Englander. How should he know 
them, indeed? They do not come about the 
flower-garden like the humming-bird, nor about 
the lawn like the robin; neither can they be 
hunted with a dog like the grouse and the 
