Identifier: birdlifeguidetos00chapman (find matches)
Title: Bird-life; a guide to the study of our common birds
Year: 1897 (1890s)
Authors: Chapman, Frank M. (Frank Michler), 1864-1945 Seton, Ernest Thompson, 1860-1946
Subjects: Birds
Publisher: New York : D. Appleton and company
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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ground, from a perch, inthe air, etc.; season of song). 8. Call-notes (of surprise, alarm, protest, warning, signaling, etc.). 9. Season (spring, fall, summer, winter, with times of ar- rival and departure, and variations in num-bers). 10. Food (berries, insects, seeds, etc.; how secured). 11. Mating (habits during courtship). 13. Nesting (choice of site, material, construction, eggs, incu- bation). 13. The Young (food and care of, time in the nest, notes, actionsflight). From observations of this kind, consisting of a simplestatement of facts, you may philosophize according toyour nature on the relation l^etween habit and structure,colors and haunts, and intelligent adaptation to new con-ditions. Beware, however, lest you be led to draw faultyconclusions from insufficient observation. Do not makethe individual stand for its species, or the species for itsfamily, and remember that one is warranted in theorizingonly when the facts in the case are facts indeed. V4: TOPOGRAPHY OF A BIRD.
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cc 2 o Oh « >. !■ o ^ ^ ^ P-,SJ q;) rt S i> be _s X o a. ;Lh r; O ;3a: i CHAPTER VIII.A FIELD KEY TO OUR COMMON LAND BIRDS. When you have seen a bird with sufficient definite-ness to describe its color, form, and actions, reference to the following key will often prove a shoit cut to itsidentity. This key is based only on adult males, who,because of their song, often brighter colors, and greateractivity, are far more frequently observed than thefemales. But, knowing the male, you will rarely, duringthe nesting season, be at loss to recognize his mate. In order to simplify the key, the water birds, Hawks,and Owls are omitted, in the belief that they will bemore readily identified by reference to the plates. The use of the key may be illustrated by the follow-ing example: Let us imagine that you see a ChippingSparrow (Plate XLV) feeding al)0ut your doorstep.You note his size, chestnut cap bordered by white, blackbill, brownish, streaked back, and grayish white, un-marked under p

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