96 HOW TO STUDY BIRDS 



long-billed marsh wrens, chickadee, yellow-throat, 

 black and white creeper, red-eyed vireo, chewink, pur- 

 ple finch, meadowlark, hummingbird, and scarlet tan- 

 ager. Probably there are others which do so occa- 

 sionally, or at any rate have late broods. 



The nesting-time gives great opportunity for learn- 

 ing very many things about the lives of even our com- 

 mon birds. Careful noting of all details of the 

 habits of birds is very interesting and rewarding, and 

 accurate record should be made of everything that is 

 observed. 



Avoid contracting the craze for collecting eggs. 

 It is contrary to law, except to the few to whom 

 permits are granted, and is unnecessary, in these days 

 of illustrated books and well-stored museums. Ex- 

 cept in the case of some few extreme rarities, science 

 has little more to learn from such collecting. In fact 

 it is often anti-scientific, and I know of cases where, 

 for the sake of a hoard, some of the rarest opportuni- 

 ties for the real advancement of science have been, 

 destroyed. The present need is for detailed, accu- 

 rate knowledge of living birds rather than dead ones, 

 and along this line there is a splendid field for re- 

 search. We may say of the scientific study of the 

 birds of North America that the nineteenth century 

 discovered and described them, and that it will be 

 the work of the twentieth century to advance our 

 knowledge of their habits and economic value. 



It is a fact that there are few birds, if any, even 

 the most common species, whose biographies have 



