BIRDS THROUGH AN OPERA-GLASS. 3 



catchers, thrushes, and vireos may be thought of 

 as the dull birds. 



When the crudest part of the work is done, and 

 your eye and ear naturally seize differences of size, 

 color, and sound, the interesting part begins. You 

 soon learn to associate the birds with fixed local- 

 ities, and once knowing their favorite haunts, 

 quickly find other clues to their ways of life. 



By going among the birds, watching them 

 closely, comparing them carefully, and writing 

 down, while in the field, all the characteristics of 

 every new bird seen, its locality, size, color, de- 

 tails of marking, song, food, flight, eggs, nest, 

 and habits, you will come easily and naturally 

 to know the birds that are living about you. The 

 first law of field work is exact observation, but 

 not only are you more likely to observe accurately 

 if what you see is put in black and white, but 

 you will find it much easier to identify the birds 

 from your notes than from memory. 



With these hints in mind, go to look for your 

 friends. Carry a pocket note-book, and above all, 

 take an opera or field glass with you. Its rapid 

 adjustment may be troublesome at first, but it 

 should be the " inseparable article " of a careful 

 observer. If you begin work in spring, don't 

 start out before seven o'clock, because the confu- 

 sion of the matins is discouraging there is too 

 much to see and hear. But go as soon as possi- 

 ble after breakfast, for the birds grow quiet and 



