If you cannot go birding alone take along as few friends as possible because birds are suspicious of human beings in flocks, especially when they talk much.
A pair of field or opera-glasses is an invaluable aid, although practice is necessary in learning to adjust them rapidly and to fix them instantly upon the bird. Do not feel obliged to use the glasses when you are near enough to see well without them.
Keep the sun at your back, otherwise colors will deceive you.
Remember that birds do not stay “indoors” on account of rain, clouds or unfavorable weather. Warm spring rains literally fill the parks with feathered travelers who often tarry but a day.
Particular Hints.
Note:—The following one hundred and fourteen birds are arranged in the order of their average first appearance in Lincoln Park, based upon observations made during the last seven years.
For the convenience of those desiring access to reliable sources of information, the scientific name of each bird is placed in parenthesis below its common name, followed by its number in the official list of the American Ornithologist’s Union.
Following the hints given about each bird are the names (in black faced type) of any bird or birds for which it might easily be mistaken.
1. BLUE JAY. 11-1/2 in.
(Cyanocitta cristata. 477.)