xiv 



BIRDS AND FLOWERS. 



majority of our song-birds, are called small. The 

 sparrows average six and a half inches, and the war- 

 blers five and one half inches. The thrushes, blue- 

 birds, wax-wings or cedar-birds and the orioles are 

 from seven to eight inches. The grosbeaks are eight 

 and a fraction and the catbirds are nearly nine inches. 

 Brown thrashers, jays, flickers and kingfishers range 

 from eleven and a half to thirteen inches. 



It is easy to study the robin in detail, because he 

 has a convenient habit of sitting on a fence-post sev- 

 eral minutes at a time, apparently lost in thought. 

 Look at him through the glass till you can see every 

 streak, spot and speck described in the books. Study 

 his coloring till you know the exact shade of his breast. 

 Notice the little white spots in the corners of his tail 

 when he flies, and wait till he shows you his white 

 eyelids. When there is nothing more to discover, you 

 will find that your eyes have been opened. All the 

 rest is a matter of detail. Each bird comes easier 

 than the last; and the veriest tyro who in the begin- 

 ning could hardly tell an owl from a peacock, ought 

 to accumulate from thirty to forty birds the first 

 season. 



If one has a musical gift, it is sometimes easier to 

 identify a bird by its song; but this method never 



