THE INVITATION. 231 



Ornithology cannot be satisfactorily learned from 

 ihe books. The satisfaction is in learning it from 

 nature. One must have an original experience with 

 the birds. The books are only the guide, the invita- 

 tion. Though there remain not another new species 

 to describe, any young person with health and en- 

 thusiasm has open to him or her the whole field 

 anew, and is eligible to experience all the thrill and 

 delight of original discoverers. 



But let me say, in the same breath, that the books 

 can by no manner of means be dispensed with. A 

 copy of Wilson or Audubon, for reference and to 

 compare notes with, is invaluable. In lieu of these, 

 access to some large museum or collection would be 

 a great help. In the beginning, one finds it very 

 difficult to identify a bird from any verbal description. 

 Reference to a colored plate, or to a stuffed specimen, 

 at once settles the matter. This is the chief value of 

 the books ; they are charts to sail by ; the route is 

 mapped out, and much time and labor thereby saved. 

 First find your \>ird ; observe its ways, its song, its 

 calls, its flight, its haunts ; then shoot it (not ogle it 

 with a glass), and compare with Audubon. In this 

 v,*ay the feathered kingdom may soon be conquered. 



The ornithologists divide and subdivide the birds 

 into a great many families, orders, genera, species, 

 etc., which, at first sight, are apt to confuse and dis- 

 courage the reader. But any interested person can 

 acquaint himself with most of our song-birds, by 

 keeping in mind a few general divisions, and observ- 



