What bird is that?

Transcriber's Note: Clicking on the diagrams and full color illustrations will show the reader a larger version of the illustration.


CURATOR OF BIRDS IN THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AND EDITOR OF BIRD-LORE
WITH 301 BIRDS IN COLOR BY EDMUND J. SAWYER D. APPLETON-CENTURY COMPANY INCORPORATED NEW YORK LONDON

Copyright, 1920, by D. APPLETON & COMPANY All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission of the publishers. PRINTED IN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

As Curator of the Department of Birds of the American Museum of Natural History I have had exceptional facilities for the arrangement of collections designed to give students a comprehensive view of local bird-life without confusing them with unnecessary details.
Among other aids to this end a collection of 'Birds Found within 50 Miles of New York' has been placed in a special hall and so grouped that the visitor who wishes to identify some bird seen within these limits may do so with the least possible difficulty. In addition to the 'General Systematic Collection,' containing specimens of the 350-odd species of birds which have been recorded from the New York City region, there is also a 'Seasonal Collection.' This Seasonal Collection contains only the birds of the month. Its base is the 'Permanent Resident Birds,' or those which, like the Crow, are with us throughout the year. To these, the migratory species are added or subtracted, as they come or go. The collection of migratory species is therefore revised the first of each month. Birds which are due to arrive during the month are added, those which have left us are withdrawn. The Seasonal Collection thus gives us, at a glance, a picture of the bird-life of the month and correspondingly limits the field of our inquiry when we go to it to learn the name of some strange bird recently observed. In January, therefore, we have not to consider the birds of June, nor need we be concerned with winter birds in summer. The season of occurrence thus gives us an important clue to a bird's identity.