4 A GODE TO THE BIRDS 



'• What is the biid tiiat I have seen ? " The keys and the 

 illustrations hare been piepaied with this end in new. 

 There has been no attempt to give a complete de-oription of 

 the plumage, as it would look if the bird were held in the 

 hand, nor does the book contain anything like full biogra-- 

 phies of each species. Minute description^ of the plumage 

 and fuU accounts of the lives of the birds are to be found 

 in many excellent books, some one of which may well be 

 used to supplement this Guide. 



Xotes and songs hare been carefully described, and as far 

 as possible expressed in English syllables. The author is well 

 aware that another listener might express the same sounds 

 by very different syllables : he has not attempted to conTey 

 to any one rnifaniiliar with the song anything more than an 

 idea of its length and accent, and perhaps a suggestion of 

 the quality of its tone. It is hoped, however, that the songs 

 as transcribed will be useful in identifying doubtful species, 

 that any one comparing the transcripts in the book with 

 his own field-notes, or. better still, with the songs themselves, 

 will rect^nize their likened to that of one species and their 

 unlikeness to that of another. 



The descriptions given in this Guide of the nests and 

 eggs of those birds that breed in Xew York and Xew Eng- 

 land ate not intended to be full or detailed. If a nest and 

 e^s have been found, but no due to the parent birds has 

 been obtained, these descriptions will not »rve as a means 

 of identification ; in fact, even a large collection of nests and 

 eggs is sometimes of little use in such a case. The descrip- 

 tions are merely intended to guide the student in his search 

 for a nest by indicating where it is generally placed, or if the 

 student thinks he has diax)vered the nest and esss of a 

 certain species, they will tend to confirm or to .dispel his 

 belieL 



The book attempts to be a guide for only a restricted re- 

 gion, — eastern Xew Tork, northern Xew Jersey, and Xew 



