Bird Walks 



By CHARLES B. FLOYD, President of the Brookline Bird Club, Brookline, Mass. 



Among the most successful and popular activities of the Brookline Bird 

 AA Club are the frequent afternoon walks in the field. They were first 

 undertaken to interest the members and to teach them where to find 

 birds and how to study and identify them. During the spring, autumn, and 

 winter these walks have been conducted every Saturday afternoon, and during 

 the height of the migration in May, twice a week, for several years past. They 

 give an opportunity for the bird student, whether he knows much or little 

 about birds, to observe them in the open and to impart or to receive knowl- 

 edge of bird ways. 



Besides these afternoon walks, all-day trips are planned for holidays to 

 more distant places, as Ipswich, Mount Greylock, and Cape Ann. Members 

 of the Club who are interested in flowers, trees, ferns, mosses, or other branches 

 of nature study are sure to find congenial company on these excursions and 

 much to study besides birds. 



A small committee is appointed each year by the president to arrange a 

 schedule of walks. This committee selects the leaders and arranges all the 

 details relating to the meeting-points, transportation, probable expense, and 

 whether or not a supper shall be taken, and a printed notice covering these 

 details is sent each member every three months. In making up such a sched- 

 ule the committee considers the possibiHties of each location at the particular 

 time chosen and also what birds in all likelihood may be found and what the 

 walking conditions may be. If possible, the walk is so planned that if any of 

 the members wish to leave before the tramp is completed they will find them- 

 selves within reasonable distance of a car-line. 



A leader is selected who is thoroughly familiar with the territory over 

 which the walk is to extend and who has a good knowledge of the favorite 

 haunts where particular birds may be expected. While the leader cannot, of 

 course, guarantee the presence of any special bird at a certain time and place, 

 much of the success of the walk depends upon him, and he should have the 

 cooperation of all those who accompany him. The functions of the leader are 

 to select the exact ground to be covered, keep the party together, identify, if 

 possible, whatever is seen, and to make sure that everyone observes the birds 

 that are found during the trip. He should also keep a record of the birds seen 

 and of everything of interest in connection with their observation. 



People have various ways of searching for birds in the field. Some prefer 

 to select a likely spot and wait for whatever Fortune may send along. Others 

 walk along, quietly following up whatever birds are flushed or heard singing. 

 It requires some tact on the part of the leader to keep the trampers from advanc- 

 ing too fast while others are loitering needlessly, and he must be alert to restrain 

 any over-eagerness of this nature. All should have an opportunity to see the 



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