As you glance over the pages of this book you may say to yourself, “I
can never learn all of these birds.” This is a natural attitude of mind
upon the part of one to whom many bird-names are new and who feels that
he doesn’t know much about birds.
It may be reassuring to you to learn that most people know more about
birds than they realize. Already your mind is full of common bird-names.
You wouldn’t be reading this book had you not already learned a good
deal about some birds.
Here is a bit of good advice. Instead of taking this book to the field
with you in the hope that you may accurately identify every bird you
see, suppose you choose eight or ten birds which you do not know, but
about which you wish to learn, and concentrate upon these. You already
know the Bluebird, the Robin, the Crow. Suppose you try now the Wood
Thrush, the Towhee, the Meadowlark. Look these up in the book, find out
whether you may expect to see them at the time you are to make your trip
of discovery, learn where to look for them, what to look for when they
appear, something about what they will say as they call or sing—and
fasten these facts in your mind. If you adopt this procedure, you will
not be misled into identifying some bird of the deep woods as a
Meadowlark, or a bird of the open field as a Wood Thrush. Some birds
will puzzle you, of course, but as you continue your study these
problems will be solved.
As a serious bird student you will, first of all, want to be able to
describe a bird accurately, using some acceptable scientific terms. Some
of these will be new to you, but they will all become understandable in
a short time. On the next page is a chart showing the names of the
bird’s parts. You should become so familiar with these words that they
will not confuse you.
Many books give complete color keys which are to help the beginner. I do
not believe much in these, because I have always found them tedious and
difficult. I believe that good sketches obviate much of the need of such
keys.
[Illustration: Topography of a Bird]
In making your studies be careful not to expect to find birds during
seasons when they do not normally occur. On the other hand, if you
identify a bird at a time which is not indicated in this manual, special
note should be made, for pioneer records such as these are valuable to
the author who wants to gather together all data, and the last word has
not yet been said upon all the movements of even our commonest species.