FOREWORD

More and more people are turning to the outdoors and the enjoymentof nature. Many great Americans have been students of wildbirds. This is not accidental, for few forms of outdoor recreationoffer so much pleasure.

The season of the year will in some cases determine what birdsare in your area. Color is important in identifying species. Look carefullyat the silhouette or shape; is it slender or chunky, is the tailshort or long? Compare its size with a bird with which you are morefamiliar. Habitat is important, too. One learns to look for Red-wingedBlackbirds in wet marshes; for a meadowlark in pastures and fields.Behavior is a clue. Does it walk or hop; does it soar, does it walkheadfirst down a tree, as is the habit of the nuthatch, or scratchamong leaves like the towhee? Listen to the bird’s song and callnote. With a little experience, distinctive songs may be identified.Each bird has its characteristic song.

Bird study can be pursued with as much effort as the watchercares to exert. Birds need food, water and protection from theirnatural enemies. You can provide these in your own yard. Somebirds will be attracted and you can study them at your leisure. Otherspecies, those which live in swamps, for example, must be searchedfor aggressively.

A bird guide is a splendid investment, considering the hours ofpleasure it will bring you. Binoculars are a help, too, in studying thesize, shape, beak, legs and color pattern.

Make written notes of what you see and hear, or a dated list ofspecies and numbers of each. Records will add to your own pleasureand add to the sum of knowledge on birds in general.

This is the first of two booklets on common birds of the UnitedStates published by Capper Publications, Inc. Each of the two volumesillustrates and describes 50 different species. Additional copies(specify whether volume I or II is desired) may be ordered for 25cents each as follows:

Bird Book Department 1-6

Capper Publications, Inc.

8th and Jackson Streets

Topeka, Kansas

Pied-billed Grebe
Podilymbus podiceps

It makes little difference to this bird whetheryou call him “Water-witch, Hell-diver, Dabchickor Pied-billed Grebe,” for these are only a few ofthe names by which he is known. His only concernis finding a pond, lake or other water, wellsupplied with crayfish, minnows or insects onwhich he feeds. Leeches are a favorite morsel.

The short, thick bill of this grebe is distinctive,even in winter when the black encirclingband from which it gets its name, is missing.General appearance is brown, being brownish-bla

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