24 



the eastern meadowlark; Sturnella magna negleda, the western 

 race; and Sturnella magna argutula, the southern form. This is 

 a possibility, not a prediction. Who can say what systematists 

 may do? Already several additional forms of the meadowlark 

 have been described. By describing and recording each geo- 

 graphic race we may some day throw more light on the evo- 

 lution of species. 



What names, then, must the novice choose, who does not 

 care to collect birds and preserve their skins, but wishes only 

 to name the birds without a gun? He should use the ver- 

 nacular names given in the last edition of the Check List of 

 North American Birds, published by the American Ornitholo- 

 gists' Union. These names are now utilized by practically all 

 publishers of bird books in the United States, but only the most 

 recent editions are up to date. 



The student of .birds in the field will do well, at first, if he 

 is able to recognize the species, leaving the subspecific deter- 

 minations to a later period, when he will have the advantage 

 of longer study and experience. 



Field Glasses and Other Helps. 



To learn to identify birds readily the student needs keen eyes 

 and ears, an opera glass or field glass, a notebook and pencil, 

 a pocket key or a handbook with colored illustrations,^ and 

 some training in careful observation. It will be a great ad- 

 vantage if there is a museum accessible, where he can see 

 mounted specimens; or a library where he can find the more 

 pretentious works on ornithology that contain colored plates of 

 birds. A small, light-weight opera glass is all that is necessary 

 for viewing the smaller birds at close range. The expensive 

 prism binoculars, magnifying many times, are excellent for the 

 adept, but the beginner with them will have difficulty in finding 

 the bird at all. The 8-power binoculars are excellent to use in 

 the open, and on rather long-distance work, especially at the 

 seashore, and they have an arrangement for adjusting the eye- 

 pieces to all eyes; but where a bird is skipping about among the 



1 The novice should understand at the outset that most colored illustrations of birds are made 

 by the three-color process, and that the colors not only are inaccurate, but that the colors of the 

 same bird on individual plates may vary considerably; also that in many cases only the spring 

 plumages of the adult birds are shown, and that immature and autumn plumages are sometimes 

 very unlike those of the adults in spring. 



