INTRODUCTION 



other characteristics that can only be learned 

 by careful study of the birds in life in their 

 natural surroundings. Most of the species 

 can be reliably identified with a field glass by 

 one familiar with their appearance and 

 habits, and the idea that in order to become 

 proficient in the knowledge of them one must 

 shoot them and make a collection is alto- 

 gether wrong. Of course one will often get 

 only an unsatisfactory view of a bird, but if 

 careful notes are made of the features that 

 are seen, it will probably not be long before 

 the chance comes to get a better and closer 

 view. The land birds of the tropics are often 

 remarkably stationary in their habits; one 

 may go back to the same thicket or even the 

 same tree or bush after a long period and 

 find there the same species, perhaps the same 

 individual. Familiarity with the bird life of 

 a country cannot be gained in a day. Bird 

 study with a field glass requires patience and 

 persistence, but in a region where so much 

 collecting has been done as in the Canal Zone, 

 the collection that anyone could make with- 

 out devoting to it years of work, would avail 

 but little in identifying the species, for it 

 would consist chiefly of common or conspicu- 

 ously marked kinds easily recognizable at 

 sight. 



There is need, however, for a collection of 

 the Panama birds in some public museum or 

 other institution where it would be accessible 

 for study to those who are interested. There 

 is much greater need for such a collection 

 from this region than from the United States 

 or Europe, for there are numerous reasonably 



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