IDENTIFYING BIRDS 43 



all helping to make up the harmless and exciting 

 game. Only persist, and you will be climbing by 

 leaps and bounds into intimacy with the birds, and 

 ere you know it you will be numbered among the ex- 

 pert and knowing. I know ladies who are very excel- 

 lent ornithologists, and can recognize birds accurately 

 as fast as they come into sight or hearing. Very 

 many ladies and girls are studying birds, and it is as 

 good for them as for men. 



In meeting and getting a good look at an unfa- 

 miliar bird, it is an excellent plan to write in the 

 field note-book at once a brief description of the main 

 characteristics of the bird so as to have accurate data 

 for looking it up at home. The memory cannot al- 

 ways be trusted, and it is surprising how much one 

 can forget or overlook. Unless things are written 

 down, there will almost surely be various points, in 

 referring to descriptions, about which one is hazy. 

 Moreover, the very effort of writing sharpens the 

 power of observation and makes the description the 

 more complete. With a good description in hand, 

 one will have data to follow out the arrangements in 

 the keys in the works on ornithology. Some keys 

 are based primarily on coloration, so the task will be 

 easier in cases where the bird has pronounced colors 

 or markings. 



Unfortunately not all birds are thus distinct. Es- 

 pecially in the cases of the young, some species are 

 very much alike. This is notably true of the spar- 

 rows. Even though the parents may have no mark- 



