CHAPTER XXXI 



HOW TO GET ACQUAINTED WITH THE BIRDS HOW TO 

 LEARN SHORTHAND FOR BIRD TALK AND HOW TO 

 DRAW A BIRD SOME NEW BIRD NOTES 



NO boy or man can really enjoy himself in the coun- 

 try unless he has a speaking acquaintance with 

 the wild inhabitants of the copse and woods. He 

 should be able to tell the name of any one of the com- 

 mon frogs, turtles, snakes, salamanders, mammals, and 

 birds, and there is but one way to learn these, and that 

 is by observation and notes. 



The most popular wild inhabitants of the country are 

 the birds, and consequently there are more bird books 

 written than any other kind of Nature books. This 

 makes it an easy task to identify most of the little 

 songsters if you have properly taken notes. 



HOW TO KEEP A BIRD FIELD-BOOK 



Secure a cheap blank book with a stout cover and of a 

 size to fit your pocket. It should also have straps or 

 loops for holding a pencil. On the first leaf of the book 

 paste a tracing of Fig. i, with the explanation distinctly 

 written below the diagram. 



With this in the front of your field-book, you need 

 not write the names of the parts in your notes, but sim- 



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