CHAPTER IV. 



PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR. 



THE popular names that have been given by 

 everybody which means no responsible body 

 to our common birds are about as contradictory 

 and misleading as are the sound and spelling of some 

 of our words. There is one prominent group in our 

 avi-fauna that is known collectively as "flycatchers," 

 and so might be supposed to be experts or profes- 

 sionals in that line ; yet we have catchers of flies 

 that are far more graceful when so engaged and 

 far more sure in their movements ; that do not miss 

 once where flycatchers fail many times. For in- 

 stance, there are the wood-pewee, the pewees of 

 our out-buildings and bridges, and the olive-sided 

 flycatcher that merely passes through the State and 

 summers in New England, all professionals, so to 

 speak. But what of the vireos, the swallows, and 

 the night-hawks? If we could but gather some 

 statistics we would stand on firmer ground, and in 

 this connection I dare venture one or more assertions 

 not now ; hereafter. 



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