Part I. 



FIELD ORNITHOLOGY 



MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION FOR COLLECTING, PREPARING, 

 AND PRESERVING BIRDS. 



FIELD ORNITHOLOG-Y must lead the way to Systematic and Descriptive Ornithology. 

 The study of Birds in the iield is an indispensable prerequisite to their study in the 

 library and the museum. Directions for observing and collecting birds, for preparing and pre- 

 serving them as objects of natural history, will greatly help the student on his way to become 

 a successful Ornithologist, if he will faithfully and intelligently observe them. It is believed 

 that the practical Instructions which the author has to give will, if followed out, enable any 

 one who lias the least taste or aptitude for such pursuits to become proficient in the necessary 

 qualifications of the good working ornithologist. These instructions are derived from tlio 

 writer's own experience, reaching in time over twenty years, and extending in area over largo 

 portions of North America. Having made in the field the personal acquaintance of most 

 species of North American birds, and having shot and skinned with his own hands sevei'al 

 thousand specimens, he may reasonably venture to speak with confidence, if not also with 

 authority, respecting methods of study and manipulation. Feeling so much at liouic iu the 

 field, witli his gun for destroying birds, and his instruments for preserving their skins, he 

 wishes to put the most inexperienced student equally at ease ; and therefore begs to lay 

 formality aside, that he may address the reader familiarly, as if chatting with a friend on a 

 subject of mutual interest. 



§ 1. — IMPLEMENTS FOR COLLECTING, AND THEIR USE. 



The Double-barrelled Shot Gun is your main reliance. Under some circumstances 

 you may trap or snare birds, catch tliem with bird-lime, or use other devices ; but such cases 

 are exceptions to the rule that you will shoot birds, and for this purpose no weapon compares 

 with the one just mentioned. The soul of good advice respecting the selection of a gun is, 

 Get the best one you can afford to buy ; go the fall length of your purse in the matters of 

 material and workmanship. To say nothing of the prime requisite, safety, or of the next most 

 desirable quality, efficiency, the durability of a high-priced gun makes it cheapest in the end. 



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