WINGS AND FEET 
stones. The case of the Ipswich sparrow, a 
bird that breeds only at Sable Island and visits 
the sandy Atlantic shores in winter, is a striking 
illustration of the difference in the two methods. 
Formerly ornithologists made visits to the sea- 
shore dunes in late fall and early spring, and 
considered themselves fortunate if they flushed 
half a dozen of these birds at long range in a 
day’s tramp, and succeeded in shooting two 
or three on the wing. Now the student watches 
them within a few yards, and is able to note all 
the peculiarities of markings and habits. I 
have tried both methods and I know whereof 
I speak. In a comparatively unexplored 
region like Labrador, however, it is well to 
have two strings to one’s bow. 
Being burdened somewhat with a New Eng- 
land conscience, I am glad I began bird-study 
before the days of hand-books and Audubon 
societies, in the good old times when a gun was 
used for identification, for I think that course 
of study gives one a grounding that it is 
difficult to get otherwise. Nowadays there is 
no excuse for the beginner to use a gun, and 
there is no need of multiplying collections of 
bird-skins, but it should be impressed on all 
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