INTRODUCTION 



As Curator of the Department of Birds of the Amer- 

 ican Museum of Natural History I have had exceptional 

 facilities for the arrangement of collections designed to 

 give students a comprehensive view of local bird-life with- 

 out confusing them with unnecessary details. 



Among other aids to this end a collection of 'Birds 

 Found within so Miles of New York' has been placed in a 

 special hall and so grouped that the visitor who wishes 

 to identify some bird seen within these limits may do so 

 with the least possible difficulty. In addition to the 

 'General Systematic Collection,' containing specimens of 

 the 3 so-odd species of birds which have been recorded 

 from the New York City region, there is also a 'Seasonal 

 Collection.' This Seasonal Collection contains only the 

 birds of the month. Its base is the 'Permanent Resident 

 Birds,' or those which, like the Crow, are with us through- 

 out the year. To these, the migratory species are added or 

 subtracted, as they come or go. The collection of migra- 

 tory species is therefore revised the first of each month. 

 Birds which are due to arrive during the month are added, 

 those which have left us are withdrawn The Seasonal 

 Collection thus give us, at a glance, a picture of the bird- 

 life of the month and correspondingly limits the field of 

 our inquiry when we go to it to learn the name of some 

 strange bird recently observed. In January, therefore, 

 we have not to consider the birds of June, nor need we be 

 concerned with winter birds in summer. The season of 

 occurrence thus gives us an important clue to a bird's 

 identity. 



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