What Bird Is That?

Part 1

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WHAT BIRD IS THAT?

By FRANK M. CHAPMAN

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A BIRD-LOVER

HANDBOOK OF BIRDS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA

MY TROPICAL AIR CASTLE

BIRD-LIFE

CAMPS AND CRUISES OF AN ORNITHOLOGIST

COLOR KEY TO NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS

THE TRAVELS OF BIRDS

OUR WINTER BIRDS

WHAT BIRD IS THAT?

BIRD STUDIES WITH A CAMERA

LIFE IN AN AIR CASTLE

The student should learn to name the parts of a bird's plumage in order that he may write, as well as understand, descriptions of a bird's color and markings.

WHAT BIRD IS THAT?

A POCKET MUSEUM OF THE LAND BIRDS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES ARRANGED ACCORDING TO SEASON

FRANK M. CHAPMAN

CURATOR OF BIRDS IN THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AND EDITOR OF "BIRD-LORE"

WITH 301 BIRDS IN COLOR

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

INTRODUCTION

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.

Part 2

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 Birds which are due to arrive during the month are added, those which have left us are withdrawn.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.

For somewhat more than a quarter of a century this small collection has achieved its object so effectively that I have attempted to embody the idea it demonstrates in a series of drawings which have been admirably executed by Mr. Edmund Sawyer. As foundation plates or 'collections,' we have first two 'cases' of the winter land birds of the Northeastern States, or from about Maryland northward, containing the Permanent Residents, which form part of the bird-life of every month of the year, and the Winter Visitants, or those birds which come from the North in the fall to remain with us until the following spring.

Cases 3 and 4 contain the Permanent Resident and Winter Visitant land birds of the Southern States. Whether the student is in the North or in the South he has, therefore, a 'collection' of the land birds which he may expect to find during the winter months.

Cases 5 to 8 contain the migrants arranged according to the order of their arrival from the South in the vicinity of New York City. Since it is not practicable to have cases containing collections of migrants for other latitudes, data are given showing what changes in dates should be made to adapt the schedule presented to other localities, including Washington, D.C., Ossining, N.Y., Cambridge, Mass., northern Ohio, Glen Ellyn, near Chicago, and southeastern Minnesota. The records for these localities are quoted from the author's 'Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America' to which they were contributed respectively by Dr. C.W. Richmond, Dr. A.K. Fisher, William Brewster, Lynds Jones, B.T. Gault, and Dr. Thos. S. Roberts.

With these facts, the cases in a large measure tell their own story, just as does our Museum Seasonal Collection; but further to assist the student I have added what may be termed a 'label' for each of the 'specimens' they contain. These labels include comments on each bird's distinctive characters, a statement of its nesting and winter range, the notes on its status at various localities, to which I have just referred, and brief remarks on its habits.

It is the specimens, however, not the labels, which warrant the publication of this little volume, for I hope that, like their prototypes in the American Museum, they will be a means of acquainting us with "the most eloquent expressions of Nature's beauty, joy and freedom," and thereby add to our lives a resource of incalculable value.

While the birds in the cases are small, they are drawn and reproduced with such accuracy that no essential detail of color or form is lost. Above all, they have the rare merit of being all drawn to nearly the same scale. One will soon learn therefore to measure the proportions of unknown birds by comparison with those with which one is familiar, and since relative size is the most obvious character in naming birds in nature, this is a feature of the first importance.

The student is strongly urged first, to become thoroughly familiar with the 'map' of a bird given in the frontispiece: second, to use an opera- or field-glass when observing birds: third, to write descriptions of unknown birds while they are in view stating their length, shape, and as many details of their color and markings as can be seen: fourth, to remember that one is not likely to find birds except in their regular seasons: and, fifth, to take this book afield with him and make direct comparison of the living bird with its colored figure. The wide margins are designed for use in recording field-notes.

FRANK M. CHAPMAN.

American Museum of Natural History. New York City.

CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION vii

BIRDS AND SEASONS xi

ABBREVIATIONS xxvi

LAND BIRDS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES 1

THE POCKET MUSEUM

CASE FACING PAGE

NO. 1 PERMANENT RESIDENT LAND BIRDS OF THE NORTHERN UNITED STATES xviii

NO. 2 PERMANENT RESIDENTS (CONCLUDED) AND WINTER VISITANTS LAND BIRDS OF THE NORTHERN UNITED STATES xix

NO. 3 WINTER LAND BIRDS OF THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES xx

NO. 4 WINTER LAND BIRDS (CONCLUDED) xxi

NO. 5 EARLY SPRING MIGRANT LAND BIRDS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES xxii

NO. 6 EARLY SPRING MIGRANT LAND BIRDS (CONCLUDED) xxiii

NO. 7 LATE SPRING MIGRANT LAND BIRDS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES xxiv

NO. 8 LATE SPRING MIGRANT LAND BIRDS (CONCLUDED) xxv

BIRDS AND SEASONS

BEFORE a leaf unfolds or a flower spreads its petals, even before the buds swell, and while yet there is snow on the ground, the birds tell us that spring is at hand. The Song Sparrow sings "Spring, spring, spring, sunny days are here"; the Meadowlark blows his fife, the Downy rattles his drum, and company after company of Grackles in glistening black coats, and of Red-wings with scarlet epaulets, go trooping by. For the succeeding three months, in orderly array, the feathered army files by, each member of it at his appointed time whether he comes from the adjoining State or from below the equator.

Part 3

Besides the Blackbirds, March brings the Robin and Bluebird, Woodcock, Phoebe, Meadowlark, Cowbird, Kingfisher, Mourning Dove, Fox, Swamp, White-throated and Field Sparrows.

Near New York City the New Year of the birds has now passed its infancy and in April each day adds perceptibly to its strength. 'Pussy' willows "creep out along each bough," skunk cabbage rears its head in low, wet woods, and in sun-warmed places early wild flowers peep from beneath the sodden leaves. With swelling ranks the migratory army moves more steadily northward. Species which arrived late in March become more numerous, and to them are soon added the Vesper, Savannah, and Chipping Sparrows, and other seed-eaters; and when, with increasing warmth, insects appear, the pioneer Phoebe is followed by other insect-eating birds, like the Swallows, Pipit, Hermit Thrush, Myrtle and Palm Warblers, Louisiana Water-thrush and Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

The true bird student will now pass every available moment afield, eagerly watching for the return of old friends and more eagerly still for possible new ones. But enjoyment of this yearly miracle should not be left only to the initiated. We need not be ornithologists to be thrilled when the Robin's song in March awakes long silent echoes, or the Thrasher's solo rings loud and clear on an April morning. The Catbird singing from near his last year's home in the thickening shrubbery, the House Wren whose music bubbles over between bustling visits to an oft-used bird-box, the Chimney Swift twittering cheerily from an evening sky, may be heard without even the effort of listening and each one, with a hundred others, brings us a message if we will but accept it. And I make no fanciful statement when I say that it is a message we can ill afford to lose.

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