Rr see Ue) Be OoN «Babli Dele Myst ty N 33 
It’s not the easiest pasttime in the world. The expert bird watcher 
must have an encyclopedic knowledge, a memory like a small computer, 
eyesight like radar, and limitless energy, dedication and devotion. 
For example, the great white heron is common to Florida, but 
Virginia has three species of egrets that look much like him but aren’t 
quite as large. The main difference: the egrets have black legs, the heron, 
yellow legs—and it’s not always easy to tell the difference at 100 or 200 
yards, even with binoculars. 
And while most of us could spot a robin, a blue-jay, a sparrow, an 
owl, a turkey or chicken, we'd be hard pressed to identify a yellow- 
headed blackbird, a black-backed seagull or a marbled godwit. 
On a good day at a wildlife refuge, a ‘birder’ might spot from 80 
to 100 different species. Almost all the watchers keep what they call 
“life lists’’—noting all the species they’ve seen. This country has about 
600 and the best amateurs have about 500 on their lists. Very few can 
claim to have seen all. 
Many devotees take bird-watching vacations and go in groups to 
such strange places as Iceland, where they can add 30 or 40 varieties to 
their lists. One group plans to survey the arctic circle in Alaska next 
year, and look for more birds in Japan the year after. 
And so the search goes on—world-wide—for the long-billed cur- 
lew, the black and yellow troupial, and the sulphur-crested cockatoo. 
Bill Cullen. NBC Emphasis.”’ 
—Broadcast Nov. 27, 1967, on NBC’s Emphasis 
