The Birds' Calendar 



needs go to Labrador or Mexico for his speci- 

 mens. Plants adhere to their own zone and 

 climate. But by the laws of migration, as ex- 

 plained hereafter, the avifauna of these and of 

 even more remote regions accommodatingly 

 comes to our own doors every spring and fall. 

 One can find in his front yard strange visitors 

 from tropic and arctic climes, if he is only up 

 betimes to greet them. This is what makes 

 locality a matter of so much less significance in or- 

 nithology than in any kindred pursuit. Orni- 

 thology might well be called the panoramic 

 science ; even more so in this latitude than 

 botany and entomology. A specimen that you 

 find at Washington in March may be singing 

 you a welcome to Canada in June. 



Field ornithology can no more be taught 

 than the art of writing poetry can be taught. 

 You must put yourself in the way of catch- 

 ing the fever, and then let the disease work. 

 The chief rule for studying a bird in its wild 

 state is, first find your bird. The only way 

 to success in this and the kindred sciences is 

 through patience and the art of observation. 

 The study will prove disciplinary as well as 

 pleasurable. 



An enjoyment incident to ornithology that 



