HINTS ON IDENTIFYING STRANGE LIVE BIRDS. 269 



especially wooded ravines near water. There are no birds to 

 speak of in the wilderness and few in deep woods. One's 

 best resort will usually be near houses, though the beginner 

 never believes this. Go to the same places repeatedly rather 

 than to many at intervals ; you will see as much and will learn 

 more, after having learned to recognize thirty or forty birds, 

 than by wandering. 



How to see birds is an art not to be communicated. The first 

 step to it is patience ; learn to wait for them. But never lie or 

 sit upon the ground or on rocks until full summer time unless 

 you have a coat or wrap or are proof against rheumatism. 

 This is more important to observe than the birds. Learn 

 to take the same advantage of the sun that you would in 

 photographing. 



HINTS ON IDENTIFYING STRANGE LIVE BIRDS. 



Notice as many as you can of the following points : 



Size (in inches from the tip of the bill to the tip of the tail, remembering 



that the live bird is always longer than he appears to be) . 

 Color (if you can be sure of it, but at all events the color areas) : 

 wing bars, number and color, if present ; 

 stripes on head and how placed ; 

 white outer tail feathers, if present'; 

 rump, if differently colored from back and tail ; 

 under tail-coverts, if different from belly ; 

 flanks and sides, if brightly colored ; 



odd ornaments or patches of color, as collars, necklaces, breast- 

 spots, etc. 

 Shape : of body, slender, bulky ; 



of tail, long, short, square, forked, rounded ; 

 of wings, round, pointed (in flight); 



long or short, judged by the distance they measure off on the 

 tail (while sitting) ; 

 of bills, length, shape, color ; 

 of crest, if present, pointed, erectile, etc. 



