FIRST ACQUAINTANCE WITH BIRDS 



student should, if possible, get a copy of his own 

 State bird book. Any reader who may wish to 

 learn if such a list of the birds of his neighbourhood 

 or State has been published is at liberty to address 

 the question to the author of this book. 



Movements of Birds. — One does not get very far 

 in the work of bird study without discovering that 

 certain movements are characteristic of various 

 families; and when the observer is able to recognize 

 this difference in manner a long step has been taken 

 in acquiring the power of identifying species. 



After watching for a time the actions of a Downy 

 Woodpecker as it clings to the side of a tree, or hops 

 along its bark, one is quick to recognize the Wood- 

 pecker manner when some other species of that 

 family is encountered. Recalling the ceaseless 

 activities of a Yellow Warbler the observer feels, 

 without quite knowing why, that he has discovered 

 another Warbler of some kind when a Redstart or 

 Chestnut-sided Warbler appears. Once identify a 

 Barn Swallow coursing through the air, and a long 

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