OSCAR BIRD WARREN. 85 



in some wooded dale in the companionship of the spirited 

 sweet-tongued songsters, than a day among lifeless skins, 

 searching for infinitesimal differences in size and plumage. 

 However, collections should be made, especially in a locality 

 whose avifauna is but little known ; yet these collections 

 should be as small as absolutely necessary, in the number of 

 skins and eggs of each species. The greatest care must 

 always be taken in the preparation of each specimen to make 

 it as perfect and durable as possible ; and every portion that 

 might serve for study should be preserved for future reference. 



Knowledge of the songs and notes is much more valuable 

 than remembrance of scientific terms and names. Nothing 

 is of more importance to the itinerant ornithologist than 

 thorough acquaintance with the notes of birds ; for, when 

 making observations in different parts of the country, he will 

 be able to record with certainty the occurrence of those species 

 with which he is familiar, if he but hears their songs or 

 peculiar chirping calls. Who would think it necessary to 

 see a Whip-poor-will singing in order to identify it? Indeed 

 there are many who could not distinguish it from the Night- 

 hawk unless they heard its song. The twittering of Swal- 

 lows, the chattering of Swifts, the drumming of the Grouse, 

 or the whistling of the Quail, are familiar sounds to any 

 country lad ; yet equally so to the careful observer, are the 

 notes of the woodland Warblers, the songs of the Sparrows, 

 and the piping of the Plovers. He is as certain of the 

 presence of these rarer birds as the farmer boy of his com- 

 monest feathered friends. 



It is during the seasons of migration that we listen with 

 the greatest eagerness for the first notes of the returning 

 birds. Perhaps we are out for a ramble some early spring 

 morning, when afar in the clouds of dawn we hear a faint 

 pure note. Nearer and clearer comes the sound, till from 

 the limitless expanse of blue down flutters a form of azure 

 touched by the ruddy gleams of the rising sun. Did we 

 need to see him first to know him 1 No, those first sweet 



