JAN 21 1922 
By W 
Hamilton Gibson. 
That is but a superficial student 
of ornithology who is content to know 
his birds by the mere specific charac¬ 
ters of anatomy, plumage, and egg ; ' 
' who shoots his bird and names the 
dead body afterward, by the analytical 
key—a songless ornithology. Even though he shall name his speci¬ 
men at a glance—Latin tag and all—he may yet have less ornithology in his soul 
than his unlettered country cousin—the old miller, j)erhaps, who will tell us that 
“ the hang-bird has been there on such a morning, unravelling his bagging or 
stealing his tie string who Avill point out to us “ the teeter-bird that picks the 
water-bugs from the wet stones for his long-legged fuzzy young ’uns ; ” or the 
“ little brown chap with speckled breast that builds a nest jest like an oven, year 
after year, down yonder among the weeds below the mill, and calls ‘ queeche, 
qiieeche ’ every time I look out of the window.” Does he not know his birds, 
even though he might fail to identify their skins ? 
Even the amusing testimony of the savants of the French Academy who pre¬ 
sented to Cuvier for identification a description of a certain “ red fish that walked 
backward ” is not without its distinct value. “ Of course,” replied the naturalist 
instantly, “you mean a crab, though it is not a fish, neither is it red, nor does it 
walk backward.” The learned tyro would at least show his “fish” where he 
VoL. VIII.—4 
5 
