How to Study Birds 



BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN 

 FIRST PAPER 



INTRODUCTORY 



DURING the past three years Bird -Lore has published a series of 

 articles designed to be of permanent value to teachers and students 

 of birds, — articles which should not be merely of passing interest 

 but which should be of real assistance to our readers; articles to refer to as 

 one would to a text-book. In 1900, it may be remembered, we presented 

 a number of suggestive papers on methods in teaching ornithology, wherein 

 such well-known teachers as Olive Thorne Miller, Florence Merriam 

 Bailey, Lynds Jones and others explained their methods in the field, class- 

 room or lecture-hall. In 1901 we published a series of articles on ' Birds 

 and Seasons,' in which the bird-life of the vicinity of Boston, New York 

 city, Philadelphia, Oberlin, Ohio; Chicago, and Stockton, Cal., was dis- 

 cussed month by month, and seasonal lists of birds, suggestions for the sea- 

 son's study and season's reading were given. During the past year these 

 contributions have been followed by seven articles on the families of perch- 

 ing birds, treating the preliminary steps in a systematic study of birds. 

 Thus, it will be seen that in natural sequence we have considered (1) how 

 to teach birds, (2) when to find birds, and (3) how to name birds. It is 

 now proposed to follow these subjects by a number of articles on ' How to 

 Study Birds.' We have seen that identification, the naming of the bird, is, 

 as might be expected, the first object of the student; and to this end we 

 have told him when he may expect to find certain birds and how to make 

 their acquaintance. But naming birds is only the first step in their 

 study. Having learned to recognize a species, we should next begin to 

 inquire into its habits, its life-history. A study of bird migration is usually 

 the first subject in field ornithology which interests the student, once he has 

 acquired some familiarity with the birds themselves. Migration, from the 

 practical standpoint of dates, however, has been dealt with in our articles 

 on 'Birds and Seasons,' and the thereto appended suggestions for the 

 season's study contained numbers of hints to the student of this remarkable 

 phenomenon. Next to the fascination of observing and recording the 

 comings and goings of birds, the field student is probably most attracted by 

 their habits while nesting, and it is this interesting phase of bird -life which 

 we propose to study with Bird -Lore's readers during the coming year. 

 Mating, the selection of a nesting-site, nest-building, egg-laying, incuba- 

 tion, the care and habits of the young, — all these developments of the 

 nesting season will receive our attention, with the especial object of telling 

 the student what to look for and how to look at it. Hundreds of opportu- 



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