THE BIRD STUDY BOOK 



on dandelions." Such secondary information, while 

 often a valuable aid to identification, would in it- 

 self hardly be sufficient to enable an ornithologist to 

 render the service desired. 



That a young correspondent of mine enter- 

 tained a contrary view was evident from a letter I 

 received a few weeks ago from an inexperienced 

 boy enthusiast, who was a member of a newly 

 formed nature-study class. Here is the exact word- 

 ing of the communication: " Dear Sir: 10 a. m. Wind 

 East. Cloudy. Small bird seen on ground in or- 

 chard. Please name. P. S. All the leaves have 

 fallen." 



Reporting Blanks. — A convenient booklet of re- 

 porting blanks and directions for using them is is- 

 sued by the National Association, of Audubon So- 

 cieties, New York City. This is very useful in record- 

 ing descriptions of birds. (See sample, page 13.) The 

 blanks may be sent to the office of the National 

 Association and the species described will be named. 



Bird Books. — There are a number of inexpensive 

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