f8 HOW TO STUDY BIRDS 



methods which I shall describe. While it is true that 

 the science of ornithology could not have existed with- 

 out the collecting of specimens by naturalists, it does 

 not require killing by all or many who engage in it, 

 for otherwise women and girls would be largely de- 

 barred, and it would be wrong to popularize birds 

 as is now being done, for it would simply mean their 

 extermination. Let a few scientists attend to the 

 technical side of ornithology, and the museums pre- 

 pare the necessary specimens, while the great mass of 

 bird-lovers reap the fruit of their labors. 



To give an idea of how intense was the fascination 

 of birds over me in those early days, suggesting as 

 well how others feel, I will mention a few incidents of 

 that period. I recall one morning in May, rising 

 very early indeed and walking some five miles out 

 into the country, reaching my beloved haunts when it 

 was so dark that I sat on a fence waiting for the birds 

 to awaken and for light to make it possible to see 

 them. Another time I gave up my Thanksgiving 

 dinner to spend the whole day tramping the beaches 

 at Scituate, watching the sea-birds, particularly the 

 loons and marine ducks diving through the breakers. 

 My Thanksgiving feast consisted of two sandwiches, 

 and the birds. 



On another occasion, in early May, to watch the 

 migration of the shore-birds, being unable to secure 

 a companion, I betook myself to the Marshfield salt 

 marshes, and slept alone in a Humane Society shanty 

 back of the beach. I had no covering, and was so 



