Excerpt from Bird Guide: Water Birds, Game Birds and Birds of Prey East of the Rockies The study of the birds included in this book, is much more difficult than that of the small land birds. Many of the birds are large; some are very rare; all are usually shy and have keen eyesight, trained to see at a distance, in fact, many of them have to depend upon their vigilance, for their very existence. Therefore, you will find that the majority of these birds will have to be studied at long range. Sometimes, by exercising care and forethought, you may be able to approach within a few feet of the bird you seek, or induce him to come to you. It is this pitting your wits against the cunning of the birds that furn ishes one-half of the interest in their suay. Remember that a quick motion will always cause a bird to y. If you seek a ock of plover on the shore, or a heron in the marsh, try to sneak up behind cover if possible; if not, walk very slowly, and with as little motion as possible, directly towards them, by so doing you often will get near, for a bird is a poor judge of distance, while a single step sideways, would cause him to y. Shore birds can usually best to be observed from a small blind, near the water's edge, where they feed. Your powers of observation will be increased about ten-fold if you are equipped with a good pair of field glasses; they are practically indispensable to the serious student and add greatly to the pleasures of anyone. Any good glass, that has a wide field of vision and magnifies three or four diameters, is suitable; we can recom mend the ones described in the back of this book. What TO make note of. - What is the nature of the locality whereseen; marsh, shore, woods, etc.? If in trees does it sit upright or horizontal? If on the ground, does it run or walk, easily or with difficulty? If in the water, can it swim well, can it dive, does it swim under water, can it y from the water easily, or does it have to patter over the surface before ying? What does it seem to be eating? Does it have any notes? Does it y rapidly; with rapid wing beats or not; in a straight line or otherwise? Does it sail, or soar? In ocks or singly? These and hundreds of other questions that may suggest themselves. Are of great interest and importance. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."