e 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 f