236 FIRST LESSONS IN ZOOLOGY 



therefore, the question of hncHng them is simply a matter 

 of looking and listening. Later will come the delightful 

 hunts for certain rarer species whose acquaintance we 

 may make only through a knowledge of their haunts and 

 habits. 



" Having found your bird, there is one thing absolutely 

 necessary to its identification ; you must see it definitely. 



¥[i,. 193. — Sickle-billed tlii-d>ln;r, //ur/^er/iyiu/ii/s rti/iz'ivus. (Photograph 

 from lifc by Eli/., anil Jos. Grinnell.) 



Do not describe a bird to an ornithologist as 'brown, 

 \\itli ^\•hitc spots on its wings,' and then expect him to 

 tell )'ou what it is. Would you think of tr)'ing to identify 



