14 
FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. 
to be, aro so only because you are on the edge of their habitat, and are plentiful in more acces- 
sible regions. But, rare or not, it is always a point to determine the exact geographical 
distribution of a species ; and this is fixed best by having specimens to tell each its own tale, 
from as many different and widely separated localities as possible. This alone warrants pro- 
enring one or more specimens in every locality ; the commonest bird acquires a certain A^alue 
if it be captured away from its ordinary range. An Eastern bluebird {Sialia sialis) shot in 
California might be considered more valuable than the rarest" bird of that State, and would 
certainly be worth a hundred Massachusetts skins ; a varied thrush {Turdus ncevius) killed 
in Massachusetts is worth a like number from Oregon. But let all your justifiable destruction 
of birds be tempered with mercy ; your humanity will be continually shocked with the havoc 
you work, and should never permit you to take life wantonly. Kever shoot a bird you do not 
fully intend to preserve, or to utilize in some proper way. Bird-life is too beautiful a thing to 
destroy to no purpose; too sacred a thing, like all life, to be sacrificed, unless the tribute is hal- 
lowed by worthiness of motive. " Not a sparrow falleth to the ground without His notice." 
I should not neglect to speak particularly of the care to be taken to secure full suites of 
females. Most miscellaneous collections contain four or more males to every female, — a dis- 
proportion that should be as far reduced as possible. The occasion of the disparity is obvious : 
females are usually more shy and retiring in disposition, and consequently less frequently 
noticed, while their smaller size and plainer plumage, as a rule, further favor their eluding 
observation. The difference in coloring is greatest among those groups where the males are 
most richly clad, and the shyness of the mother birds is most marked during the breeding 
season, just when the males, full of song, and in their nuptial attire, become most conspicuous. 
It is often worth while to neglect the gay Benedicts, to trace out and secure the plainer but not 
less interesting females. This pursuit, moreover, often leads to discovery of the nests and 
eggs, — an important consideration. Although both sexes are generally found together when 
breeding, and mixing indiscriminately at other seasons, they often go in separate flocks, and 
often migrate independently of each other; in this case the males usually in advance. 
Towards the end of the passage of some warblers, for instance, we may get almost nothing 
but females, all our specimens of a few days before having been males. The notable excep- 
tions to the rule of smaller size of the female are among rapacious birds and many waders, 
though in these last the disparity is not so marked. I only recall one instance, among Amer- 
ican birds, of the female being more richly colored than the male — the phalaropes. When 
the sexes are notably difi'erent in adult life, the young of both sexes usually resemble the adult 
female, the young males gradually assuming their distinctive characters. When the adults 
of both sexes are alike, the young commonly differ from them. 
In the same connection I wish to urge a point, the importance of which is often over- 
looked ; it is our practical interpretation of the adage, a bird in the hand is worth two in the 
bush." Always keep the first specimen you secure of a species till you get another ; no matter 
how common the species, how poor the specimen, or how certain you may feel of getting other 
better ones, keep it. Your most reasonable calculations may come to naught, from a variety 
of circumstances, and any specimen is better than no specimen, on general principles. And in 
general, do not, if you can help it, discard any specimen in the field. No tyro can tell what 
will prove valuable and what not ; while even the expert may regret to find that a point comes 
up which a specimen he injudiciously discarded might have determined. Let a collection be 
" weeded out," if at all, only after deliberate and mature examination, when the scientific results 
it affords have been elaborated by a competent ornithologist ; and even then, the refuse (with 
certain limitations) had better be put where it will do some good, than be destroyed utterly. 
For instance, I myself once valued, and used, some Smithsonian "sweepings"; and I know 
very well what to do with specimens, notv, to which I would not give house-room in my own 
cabinet. If forced to reduce bulk, owing to limited facilities for transportation in the field 
