BIRD-STUDY 



Bird study in the field must be done alone or by pupils in very small 

 groups, for it is difficult for a large class to get close to birds. Go and sit 

 down quietly in some locality where birds are abundant and watch them as 

 they come near. Fix your attention on one bird and study it until, with 

 the aid of the attached key, you can .determine what it is. (Chapman's 

 Handbook of the Birds of Eastern United States and Canada for adult pupils 

 and Reed's Bird Books for grade pupils will be found invaluable as the study 

 progresses.) Do not be content merely to know the bird's name; watch 

 it to know its habits. 



Parts of bird. Copy on the opposite page from Chapman's Handbook 

 of the Birds the outline drawing of a bird, showing the location of the areas 

 where distinguishing colors and other marked characteristics are most 

 likely to be found. Study it to familiarize yourself with these. 



Field study. Take this notebook with you on your field trips and while 

 observing an unknown bird either check the term which describes the char- 

 acter or fill in the word indicating the color or other feature in so far as you 

 can observe such. The following are the most important color terms: 

 olive, rufous, buff, fuscous, scarlet, cardinal. (See Chapman's Handbook, 

 p. 38, for plate showing these colors and others that are already familiar.) 



Date Locality 1 Length of bird 



Bill: Color Length Slender or short; hooked; bristles at base. 



Color: Forehead Crown Crest 



Nape Back Rump Throat 



Breast Belly 



Eye Line over eye Lores 



Tail: Long or short; square at end, V-shaped, round, pointed. General 



color Cross bars or bands; marked by 



spots where their color 



Wings: Long, narrow; wing bars: none, one, or two. Color 



Color on bend of wing Outer primaries 



Legs: Very long, long, medium, short. Color 



Feet. Webbed. Color Toes: long, clawed. 



Name of bird Family 



1 Such as woods, borders of woods, in bushes, open fields, swamps, along stream or 

 pond margins, roadsides, garden, orchard. 



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