INTRODUCTION 



HOW TO LEARN A BIRD'S NAME 



"How can I learn to know the birds?" is the first question of the seeker 

 after bird-lore. The scientist's reply, "By shooting them and studying their 

 structure and markings in detail/' may do for the few who, like himself, 

 desire to know the birds scientifically; but it is emphatically not the answer 

 to give the ninety and nine who, while they desire to secure an intimate, 

 accurate knowledge of birds, will not gain it at the sacrifice of bird-life. 



In the present volume, therefore, an attempt has been made so to group, 

 figure, and describe our birds that any species may be named which has been 

 definitely seen. The birds are kept in their systematic Orders, a natural 

 arrangement, readily comprehended, but, further than this, accepted classi- 

 fications have been abandoned and the birds have been grouped according to 

 color and markings. 



A key to the Orders gives the more prominent characters on which they 

 are based ; telling for example, the external differences between a Duck and 

 a Grebe. In comparatively few instances, however, will the beginner have 

 much difficulty in deciding to what Order a bird belongs. Probably eight 

 times, out of ten the unknown bird will belong to the Order PASSERES, or 

 Perching Birds, when one has only to select the color section in which it 

 should be placed, choose from among the colored figures the bird whose 

 identity is sought, and verify one's selection by reading the description of the 

 bird's characteristics and the outline of its range. 



