INTRODUCTION. 5 



oftener than the male, flies too soon, retire and return in a few- 

 minutes. Adopt the same plan for a bird, whom you have 

 flushed from the ground, and do not at once recognize. If you 

 fail to find the nest (granted that there be one there, and that 

 the bird was' not merely feeding 5 ), on returning, note the exact 

 spot from which she rises. If you think to recognize her, 

 make yourself positive of facts. If not, note with the utmost 

 accuracy her size, markings, and the shape of the bill, and 

 identify her as soon as possible. 6 To determine her size, re- 

 member that the Humming bird is about 3 inches long, the 

 Song Sparrow or Snow-bird 6 or more, the Robin about 9, and 

 the Crow nearly 20. Also observe the comparative length of 

 her tail. 



E. If you have an opportunity, study the works of Wilson 

 and Audubon. The former's figures are very life-like, and 

 their coloring generally true, though often too high-toned or 

 otherwise incorrect. It is still more worth your while to 

 examine the collection of the Boston Society of Natural His- 

 tory. 7 If this is inaccessible to you, another is probably more 

 worthy of your attention than descriptions, or even accurate 

 paintings. 



F. A nest containing sound eggs, but without the parent- 

 birds, generally indicates that all the eggs have not been laid, 

 or that the parents are temporarily absent. Should you find 



Many birds, when frightened from their nests on the ground, feign lameness or 

 the like. 



6 Shooting the parents when collecting for yourself is optional. See quoted 

 remarks in A. 



7 The building of this Society is on Berkeley street (near Boylston) in Boston. 

 It is at present open to the public on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 A. M. to 

 5 p. M. The birds of New England are not separated from those belonging to other 

 parts of the world. 



