Only a few ornithologists can have a complete collection of birds for
reference. Everyone can save feathers of birds, or old nests, however,
and when birds are found dead, they may be saved as specimens, if a
permit for holding them is requested from the State Game Commission.
When I was a lad I saved feathers which I found in the woods and had a
large collection of these. Some of them, I later found, were all that
were needed in authenticating a good record.
You will find it helpful to visit a good museum occasionally, so as to
have a close view of the birds you have been reading about, or studying
under difficulty, in the field. Here you will see clearly the color
patterns, the anatomical characteristics, and the actual size of the
birds that have puzzled you.