ies, New York City, sells a
popular one for five dollars. If you choose a more expensive,
high-powered binocular, it will be found of greater advantage when
watching birds at a distance, as on a lake or at the seashore.

_Notebooks._--The bird student should early acquire the custom of
making notes on such subjects as are of special interest. In listening
to the song or call of some unknown bird, the notes can usually be
written down in characters of human speech so that they may be recalled
later with sufficient accuracy to identify the singer. It is well to
keep a list of the species observed when on a trip. For many years in
my field excursions I have kept careful lists of the birds seen and
identified, and have found these notes to be of subsequent use and
pleasure. In college and summer-school work I {10} have always
insisted on pupils cultivating the notebook habit, and results have
well justified this course.

In making notes on a bird that you do not know it is well to state the
size by comparing it with some bird you know, as, for example, "smaller
than an English Sparrow," "about the size of a Robin," and so on. Try
to determine the true colours of the birds and record these. Also note
the shape and approximate length of the bill. This, for example, may
be short and conical like a Canary's, awl-shaped like the bill of a
Warbler, or very long and slender like that of a Snipe. By failing to
observe these simple rules the learner may be in despair when he tries
to find out the name of his strange bird by examining a bird book, or
may cause some kindly friend an equal amount of annoyance.

[Illustration: Heads and feet of various birds]

As a further aid to subsequent identification it is well to record the
place where the bird was seen, for example: "hopping up the side of a
tree," "wading in a marsh," "circling about in the air," or "feeding
{12} on dandelions." Such secondary information, while often a
valuable aid to identification, would in itself hardly be sufficient to
enable an ornithologist to render the service desired.

That a young correspondent of mine entertained a contrary view was
evident from a letter I received a few weeks ago from an inexperienced
boy enthusiast, who was a member of a newly formed nature-study class.
Here is the exact wording of the communication: "Dear Sir: 10 A. M.
Wind East. Cloudy. Small bird seen on ground in orchard. Please
name. _P. S._ All the leaves h