Introduction 



Do not attempt, at the commencement, to identify any bird which presents puzzling 

 characteristics, or rather any which does not present some striking mark either of song or 

 plumage to serve as a sign for certain classification. 



If these rules are observed, discouragements will be avoided, and progress will be 

 realized more rapid than might at first thought be expected. 



Regarding the plates, it may be observed that these not only afford the writer his 

 principal hope of aiding the learner, but they serve as his chief excuse for this little volume. 

 Many books have been written about birds, and by those, too, far more learned upon the 

 subject than the present writer is. Reliable and handsome plates also have been published. 

 But the books have either been of a purely literary character, delightful indeed to read, 

 but conveying no detailed instruction to the beginner, or so voluminous and scientific 

 as to repel him who desires only a naming acquaintance with such birds as he con- 

 stantly sees. The plates thus far published have been in a form so bulky as to forbid 

 their being carried into the field for use, and so expensive as to prevent many from ever 

 owning them. 



The plates presented in this volume are photographs of specimens mounted by an 



