CHAPTEE VII. 



HOW TO IDENTIFY BIRDS. 



THE preceding outline of the events which may enter 

 into a bird's life-history has, I trust, given some idea of 

 the possibilities attending the study of birds in the field. 

 We come now to the practical question of identification. 

 How are we to find birds, and, having found them, how 

 are we to learn their names ? 



From April to August there is probably not a min- 

 ute of the day when in a favorable locality one can not 

 see or hear birds; and there is not a day in the year 

 when at least some birds can not be found. In the be- 

 ginning, therefore, the question of finding them is simply 

 a matter of looking and listening. Later will come the 

 delightful hunts for certain rarer species whose acquaint- 

 ance we may make only through a knowledge of their 

 haunts and habits. 



Having found your bird, there is one thing absolutely 

 necessary to its identification : you must see it definitely. 

 Do not describe a bird to an ornithologist as " brown, 

 with white spots on its wings," and then expect him to 

 tell you what it is. Would you think of trying to iden- 

 tify flowers of which you caught only a glimpse from a 

 car window in passing ? You did not see them definitely, 

 and at best you can only carry their image in your mind 

 until you have opportunity to see them in detail. 



So it is with birds. Do not be discouraged if the 

 books fail to show you the brown bird with white spots 



71 



