CHAPTER H 



METHOD AND EQUIPMENT 



THERE is no one correct " method " in bird* 

 study, any more than there is in learning to 

 play the piano. Our object is to be able 

 to recognize the birds when we see them, to become 

 as familiar as possible with their habits, haunts, and 

 seasons, to find out what and how many species are 

 to be found in a region or locality, and perhaps take 

 photographs of them. So long as we are able to 

 accomplish these results, it makes little difference how 

 we do it ; there is no compulsory order or exact 

 program. Nevertheless there are things which 

 sooner or later must be done and must be learned 

 in some way. Suggestions will facilitate progress, 

 and, by avoiding waste of time and through secur- 

 ing greater efficiency from the first, the student will 

 advance more rapidly and avoid becoming dis- 

 couraged and abandoning the attempt to know the 

 birds. 



At the outset, in undertaking to study birds, it will 

 be of great help to have some intelligent idea of the 

 classes or types of birds with which we may become 

 acquainted. Most people know a sparrow, a hawk, 



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