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.
FIELD-GLASSES
A good binocular, preferably one which magnifies about six times, is a great aid to the amateur. The field of the glass, its illumination, ease of adjustment, and such points should be investigated before the purchase is made. A well-made glass with good lenses is probably the best in the long run, even though it be more expensive. Glasses should be handled carefully. They should have a good carrying-case, and should not be left lying in the sun nor exposed to the rain.
BOOKS
Many excellent standard works upon birds are available. When I was a youngster I wore out three volumes of Dr. Frank M. Chapman’s Bird-Life; I devoured the reading matter, cut up the pictures, and studied the technique of the artist who had painted them. By the time I had destroyed the third copy of this helpful volume, I knew the birds treated there pretty well. Chapman’s Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America is a desk-side companion today. The little pocket volumes called Bird Guides, by C. A. Reed, are helpful; but the color-plates in them have been used so many times that they are worn out, with the result that the colors are often very misleading. Dr. B. H. Warren’s volumes on the Birds of Pennsylvania, published in 1888 and 1890, contain much of value and interest, including a series of colored pictures which always elicit praise. These volumes, while interesting historically, do not meet the needs of the Pennsylvania bird student today, in the light of present knowledge. The excellent state publications Birds of New York (Eaton) and Birds of Massachusetts (Forbush), are magnificently illustrated and are well worth possessing; they treat of many of the species found in Pennsylvania. Books on general aspects of ornithology which you will find useful are: Wetmore’s The Migrations of Birds, Ball’s Bird Biographies, Blanchan’s Bird Neighbors and Birds That Hunt and Are Hunted, Chapman’s What Bird is That?, Coues’ Key to North American Birds, the National Geographic Society’s Book of Birds, and Forbush’s Useful Birds and Their Protection.
MAGAZINES
The proceedings of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Society, published under the title Cassinia, contain a wealth of material interesting to the Pennsylvania student. The Cardinal, journal of the Audubon Society of the Sewickley Valley, and a well-edited periodical, contains articles of interest chiefly to workers in western Pennsylvania; The Auk, The Wilson Bulletin, Bird-Lore, The Oologist, The Condor (western), and Nature Magazine, all are likely to contain articles of interest to Pennsylvania bird students.
BIRD HIKES
Early-morning hikes are good, but activity among birds is high, as a rule, until 10 o’clock A.M., or later, so you need not be in haste to get out at 4 o’clock, unless you have to go far. The trained bird student so comes to depend upon songs that he stays out as long as the birds are singing. Windy days are poor, because the birds are shy. In gentle rains, birds will often be very active and tame. Toward evening, birds often become active and vociferous again. Only a few of our birds sing during the heat of the midsummer noon.