PART I 
CHAPTER I. 
COLLECTING AND PRESERVING BIRDS. 
Section I. How to collect. — Personal experience is a 
good, and in fact the only adequate, teacher we can have 
in learning any art. The need of such a teacher is felt by 
none more than by the naturalist who wishes to bring to- 
gether a complete collection of the birds of even his own 
immediate district. Hence I trust I shall not be accused 
of egotism, if, in this section, I endeavor to impart to the 
reader some things that experience has taught me. 
It is of first importance for the collector to gain as com- 
plete a knowledge as possible of the notes and habits of 
birds, and of the localities frequented by those he wishes 
to procure. This knowledge may be gained by carefully 
studying the writings of men who have paid particular 
attention to the subject. Too much dependence must not 
be placed on books, as the best of these contain error as 
well as truth ; besides, birds are very variable in their hab- 
its in different localities. The collector must then depend 
mainly upon himself. He must visit every locality, — the 
mountain-top and the dark swampy thicket, as well as the 
meadow, the plain, or the open forest, as in each of these 
localities he will find species that he may not meet else- 
where. A little patience will help any one through the 
worst of places. 
The quaking bog, where a misstep may plunge the adven- 
turer into the slimy ooze, is also an excellent locality for 
