250 FIELD ZOOLOGY. 



by the school, or it can be the property of some member of 

 the class, is an adjunct of the first order in studying birds. 

 The memory does not always serve one as to how a given 

 bird looked, or where it was found, what it was doing, 

 what kind of a nest it built, whether it was found social 

 or solitary, and whether the birds of the pair looked alike. 

 All these things the kodak will record faithfully, and it 

 will furnish them on demand for future reference. 



Pages 260 and 261 afford suggestions for the different 

 areas which may be studied. The locality where the study 

 is being undertaken, and the environing neighborhood must 

 also furnish many other suggestions. In large cities, some 

 of the shy passerine birds and picarian birds will occasion- 

 ally nest upon the roofs of tall buildings. About factories, 

 in spite of the noise and smoke and the presence of human 

 beings, there may occasionally be found members of the 

 sparrow tribe. In the communities less cosmopolitan, 

 the opportunities are more numerous for getting acquainted 

 with more sorts of birds than in the city. But in the 

 country town or the village, one finds the ideal conditions, 

 conditions which are usually well-nigh perfection for the 

 study of the feathered tribe. Especially is this true if the 

 outskirts of the village merge into the woodland, or lose 

 themselves in some river or marsh or stream with an under- 

 growth of bushes and tree thickets. Both city and 

 country conditions may be made to yield their secrets 

 of bird life, if one has eye and ear alert to perceive. When 

 you hear a bird-call, then is your time to seek a glimpse 

 of the bird. When about one's regular duties, it fre- 

 quently happens that from some unexpected source 

 there will come just the item of information which you 

 may have desired for days. In this, as in all things else, 

 what one heartily desires, that will one attain unto. 



