Why should not people ride natural history hobbies as well as other
kinds of hobbies? Almost all persons become interested in some special
study, recreation, or pastime, and their choice is not always as
profitable as the selection of a specific branch of nature lore would
be. The writer confesses that he would rather pursue a bright, lilting
bird or butterfly than a bounding tennis-ball or football, and he finds
the chase every whit as exciting and the knowledge gained of more
permanent value; and he says this without in anywise intending to
discountenance healthful games and athletic exercises, but simply to
express a preference. What could be more fascinating, for instance,
than for a young person--or an older person, either, for that
matter--to spend his leisure in trying to identify every bird in his
neighborhood? As a result of such an attempt he would doubtless become
so interested in the study of his bird neighbors that he would resolve
to learn all he could about their charming habits.
How may one study the birds intelligently? That is a question every
beginner will want to have answered. When I began my bird studies I
spent much valuable time in simply trying to learn the _modus
operandi_, and while I do not consider the time thus spent entirely
wasted, still I am anxious to save my readers as much needless effort
as possible. This I shall do by showing them how they may begin at
once to form an acquaintance with the various families and species of
birds.
It goes without saying that, to become a successful nature student, one
must have good eyes, strong limbs, nimble feet, and, above all, an
alert mind. People who lack these qualities, especially the last, will
not be likely to pursue the noble science of ornithology. The stupid
sort will prefer to drowse in the shade, and the light-minded will care
only for the gay round of social pleasures. Any bright and earnest
person, however, can in good time become an expert student of the
feathered creation, provided only that he feels a genuine interest in
such pursuit. No one, let it be repeated, can study nature
successfully in a dull, perfunctory spirit. Here, as in religion, one
must have the baptism of fire, the temper of devotion.
In the study of birds it must be admitted that men and boys have some
advantage over their cousins of the gentler sex. Men folk may ramble
pretty much where they please without danger, whereas the freedom of
women folk in this respect is somewhat restricted. However, the
engaging works of Mrs. Olive Thorne Miller, of Mrs. Florence M. Bailey,
and of many others prove that women are not debarred from outdoor
studies, and that in some ways they may even have an advantage over
men; they are not so ambitious to cover a wide territory, to penetrate
to out-of-the-way haunts, or to roll up a long "list," and they are
therefore apt to make more intimate studies of the common species, thus
getting into the very heart of the bird's life. A man's observations
may embrace a wider range, and he may add more species to the science
of ornithology than his sister, but she will be likely to discover
facts about the commonest fowl that he will overlook. The study of
birds, therefore, offers a fascinating field for girls and women as
well as for their brothers.
What tools are needed for acquiring bird lore? To begin at the
beginning, let me ask: Who would expect to study the plants and flowers
without a botany? or the rocks and fossils and the general structure of
the earth without a reliable work on geology? or the planets and stars
without a treatise on astronomy? So, if you desire a knowledge of
ornithology, you will need what is known as a bird "key," or "manual,"
or "handbook"--that is, a scientific work that shows how the birds have
been classified, with accurate descriptions of all the families,
genera, species, subspecies, and varieties, together with the common
and scientific names of all the species and brief accounts of their
ranges and general habits. When you have found a plant or a flower
that is new to you, what is your first task? To "run it down" in a
botanical key. Just so, having found a feathered stranger, you should
note its markings, shape, size, etc., and then "run it down" with the
aid of a bird manual. It is much better to run a bird down in this way
than to shoot it down.
It is pertinent to say at this time that no one should disparage
scientific treatises, or the learned and painstaking people who gather
the material for them and prepare them. It is quite the fashion
nowadays, when a "popular" book on birds appears, for some reviewers to
compare it with the so-called "dry" scientific works of the
specialists, to the disparagement of the latter. This is as wrong as
it is gratuitous. The "popular" book, delightful as it may be, could
not have been written, or, if written, would have had little real
value, had it not been for the help obtained from the systematists,
who, with almost infinite toil, have made possible the scientific
classification of the numerous members of the bird tribe. Pioneer work
in ornithology, as elsewhere, may not be very enchanting to most
people, but it is necessary. The scientific spirit should be honored,
not disdained, for without it accuracy would be impossible. On the
other hand, the man who plods with scientific details should not look
with contempt upon the man who popularizes the results of technical
study by giving it an attractive literary setting. In short, the
scientific writer and the "popular" writer are alike worthy of
"honorable mention," for both of them are needful factors in the
dissemination of knowledge.
You will want to know where a first-rate bird manual can be obtained.
It affords me sincere pleasure to recommend two works of the kind that
cover the entire avian field for residents of the United States. They
are new, up-to-date, and convenient. To those who live east of the
Mississippi River I would commend Mr. Frank M. Chapman's "Handbook of
Birds of Eastern North America." The best praise I can bestow upon
this book is to assure you that it will give entire satisfaction as a
handbook. Happily another manual (Mrs. Florence M. Bailey's "Handbook
of Birds of the Western United States") was recently issued, treating
the avifauna west of the Mississippi just as thoroughly as Mr.
Chapman's work deals with that of the eastern part of our country.
Both books contain lavish illustrations by expert and accurate bird
artists--a feature that is invaluable in the work of identification.
They possess a further advantage in not being too large to be carried
with you in your excursions afield, enabling you to name each feathered
stranger on the spot.
Should you desire a single volume that will help you to identify any
bird you may meet on our continent, I would urge you to secure the
latest revised edition of Dr. Elliott Coues's "Key to North American
Birds." It is fully illustrated, thoroughly scientific and up-to-date
in the matter of classification, and yet not too technical for
practical use. This book is too bulky to be carried with you to the
haunts of the birds, but it may be used in this way: Note carefully the
markings and other peculiarities of each new bird you meet; then, as
soon as you return home, while all the circumstances are fresh in your
memory, consult your "key" and make sure, if possible, of the identity
of all your "finds."
Mr. Robert Ridgway, one of the foremost ornithologists of our country,
is now preparing a great work which is worthy of the highest praise.
It is entitled "The Birds of North and Middle America," and is the most
comprehensive work yet undertaken relative to the avifauna of the
entire North American Continent, giving a large amount of scientific
data respecting all the species. After its completion it will enable
the student to identify every bird known to science from the Isthmus of
Panama to the far North and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. At this
writing two volumes have been issued. They are published under
government auspices by the United States National Museum at Washington,
D. C., and may be procured perhaps without cost by writing to the
secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Of this the writer cannot be
absolutely sure, as the supply of printed copies may be limited.
Nothing more need be said about bird manuals, save to warn you against
spending your money for books which describe only a part of the
avifauna of a given region and yet are advertised as serviceable for
the identification of all birds. Unless you have plenty of money to
spend, when you buy a manual buy one that is scientifically accurate
and complete. Nothing is more trying to the student of birds, whether
tyro or expert, than to encounter a new bird and then fail to find it
described or even mentioned in the book that has been foisted upon him
as a manual. In saying this I do not mean to discourage the purchase
of the charming popular books written in a literary vein and describing
personal observations on bird life, such as the works of John
Burroughs, Bradford Torrey, Olive Thorne Miller, and many others.
These books, however, are not advertised as handbooks, and thus no one
is deceived in buying them.
Even with the best manual in hand, you must not expect to be able to
identify every new bird at the first attempt, for some species are
either exceedingly shy or obscurely marked, or probably both, while
quite a number are so much alike in markings and habits that it is hard
to distinguish them from one another. A few birds remained enigmas to
me for a number of years, in spite of the help of the field glass. At
intervals for several months you will often catch provoking glimpses of
some nymph-like bird before you succeed in determining its true place
in the avian system. But patience and persistence will some day
overcome the most stubborn difficulties.
Since the foregoing references to leading bird manuals were written, a
new work, which is unique in plan, has been published. I refer to the
book entitled "Color Key to North American Birds"; text by Frank M.
Chapman, pictures by Chester A. Reed. The range of the volume is from
the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean and from the southern boundary of the
United States to the far north. It contains a brief description of
every species and sub-species within the limits named; a key to all the
Orders and Families, with the common and scientific names of all the
birds; an introduction to every chief division; and last, and highly
important, colored pictures of all the species and many of the
geographical varieties. What more can the bird student desire for
purposes of identification? While the other manuals give fuller
descriptions of habits, songs, etc., and need not, therefore, be
superseded by this volume, yet frankness forces us to say that if the
student, and especially the beginner, cannot afford to buy more than
one bird book, the Chapman-Reed "Color Key" is the one to get. It is
of a convenient size for carrying afield, so that a feathered stranger
can be identified on the spot. It can be used anywhere in the United
States, in British America, and Alaska. Think of that, fellow
bird-lovers!
A good field glass is indispensable to successful bird study,
especially if you desire to name all the birds without killing any, as
I hope you do. Perhaps the older ornithologists, like Audubon and
Wilson, did not use helps of this kind, but they used guns, and
consequently had to study dead birds, while you and I want to study
living ones. Their killing of birds was, indeed, necessary, for
purposes of scientific classification; but now that such classifying
has, for the most part, been attained, the gun has largely gone out of
vogue, and the glass has taken its place. Let your alliterative motto
be: _With the glass, not the gun_.
I would advise you not to buy a flashily colored glass, for it will
dazzle your eyes on sunshiny days. Be sure to get one that is easily
focused, as you must be quick in studying such shy creatures as the
birds. At first the glass may strain and tire your eyes, but that
difficulty will pass in a short time. Expertness will soon be won in
the use of a binocular, so that you will be able, almost instantly, to
get the desired object within its field, even though the object be
quite tiny. An opera glass is a great deal better than no glass at
all; a field glass is better still, and a Bausch & Lomb binocular of
six to eight magnifying power is the best of all; being almost equal to
having the bird in hand. The observer must lose as little time as
possible in sighting a shy bird, or it may escape him altogether.
A book-bag or haversack, strapped around your shoulders, will also be a
convenience. In it you can stow your bird manual, and a luncheon in
case you expect to spend the whole day in the open, for a hungry
rambler is not likely to be an acute observer. A notebook and a lead
pencil, carried in handy pockets, should not be forgotten. Donning an
old suit of clothes, you can roam where you will, threading your way
through brier and bush, wading the bog or the shallow stream, dropping
upon your knees, even flinging yourself upon the ground, to spy upon a
wary bird flitting about in the copse.
In almost all kinds of weather I wear rubber boots in my excursions to
the haunts of the birds. The observer can never tell when he may have
to wade a stream or tramp through a boggy marsh. In wet and cold
weather the need of rubber boots can be seen readily, but even in dry
and warm weather they have one decided advantage--they do not become
slippery on the soles as one tramps through the leaf-strewn woods or
the grassy fields. Every pedestrian knows that sole-leather is apt to
become as smooth as glass, making it difficult to retain one's footing.
On the other hand, rubber seems to cling to the ground, no matter how
much it is worn. The only objection to rubbers is that they are
uncomfortably warm in hot weather; but that difficulty can be overcome
by frequently plunging into a cool stream and standing there for
several minutes.
Let me caution you, however, not to purchase a _heavy_ pair of rubber
boots. Insist on having a light pair or none at all. A good pair of
rubber boots are a real luxury, for with them you may tramp about in
all kinds of damp and boggy places without fear of wetting your feet,
though it goes without saying that you must be careful not to wade in
over the tops of your footgear.
Of great assistance to the pedestrian is a light cane. In climbing
Pikes Peak one evening after dark, I doubt whether I should have been
able to gain the summit had it not been for my tough little wild-cherry
cane, upon which I could lean when almost exhausted, which supported my
faltering steps, and which happily never grew weary. Two years later
it helped me to scale a number of snow-capped mountains, among them
Grays Peak and Peak Number Eight of the Ten Mile Range. Indeed, my
little cane was of so much service to me that I came to look upon it as
a personal friend that cared almost as much for me as I did for it. It
pushed aside thorny bushes and nettlesome weeds when I was looking for
nests, thus saving my hands many a painful wound. And more than one
serpent, including the rattlesnake, has had his head crushed or his
spine broken by sturdy blows from my little wild-cherry cane. I should
add that it had a hooked handle, so that I could hang it on the strap
of my haversack when I needed both hands.
In the beginning of your observations you will find the work of
identifying the birds a rare and exciting pleasure; then, after you
have named all the species in your neighborhood, it will be no less
delightful to study their interesting ways, or to extend your
researches to other fields. And if at any time you observe some odd
bits of bird behavior which you think will be news to the many bird
lovers the world over, why should you not report them to one of the
bird magazines, so that others may share the pleasures of your
discoveries? An admirer of feathered folk should not be selfish;
indeed, I do not see how he can be.
It simply remains to be said that this volume is an illustration of the
method of bird study just indicated. In the first place, I shall show,
in a few chapters, how the student goes about his work of identifying
species and making new bird friends; then will follow a number of
monographs indicating how much may be learned about the life histories
of several interesting species; next there will be a miscellaneous
collection of incidents of bird life, showing how many odds and ends
the industrious and observing rambler may gather by the way; and,
finally, the book will conclude with four somewhat technical chapters
on bird education, bird music, bird flight, and bird feet, which I hope
will prove interesting as well as instructive.