CHAPTER XII 



TERMS USED TO DENOTE THE 

 ABUNDANCE OR RARITY OF 

 BIRDS 



i 



WHEN reading lists of birds with 

 indications of their abundance or rarity, 

 it is often very difficult to tell just how 

 comparatively common or how rare each 

 bird is, for it is seldom that any two 

 people use the same scale, preferring to 

 write each term as it is needed regard- 

 less of the preceding and succeeding 

 ones, and consequently, without realiz- 

 ing it, they have a long, illogical list of 

 terms. Those most frequently adopted 

 are given below. I have limited myself 

 to eight, which are: abundant, common, 



frequent, uncommon, occasional, rare, 



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