Evening star., 1948-05-26
This and That
By Charles E. TrdceDeH

ARLINGTON, Va.
Dear Sir:
1--WE enjoy your column in The Star and
have been bird watchers since putting up a
feeding tray last summer.
1--WE do not have a bird book and want to
get one. I read in your column your recon-
mendation that every one have three or more
books. rather than just one. However, we
aren't ready to get so many at once.
will you please recommend bird book Cor
severaD that would be good for beginners? We
surely will appreciate your help.
Very truly yours, A. H."
We welcome this opportunity to expand on
former statement
Often fiat remark needs modifying
Under no circumstances would we recon-
ment that any one purchase three bird books
at once.
That is not the way to do 1t.
The ideal way when one is taking up bird
watching, Is to get one small volume, and use
it enough to really get familiar with It,
An excellent one is Chester Reeds BIRD
Guide-Land Birds East of the Rockies" 1t Is
very small, comes in slip cover, and fits the
pocket. published by Doubleday -Doran).
1t also fits the home table by the Window
The colored illustrations are simplified 50
that they show just about what the watcher
will see.
There are many other small books Of this
type, each with its own good points.
The beginner will discover that the small
book has some advantages, not the least of
which is that there is not too much detail
After all, the birds he will see in his own
garden will not be more than 70, more or less
He will not see all of these in any one year, but
spread over several years. The first 49, let us
say, he may identify his first year, but the re-
mainder come slower.
After he has used his one small book for a
time, he may feel the need for another, and may
be referred to the new Audubon Bird Guide. Z"
showing Eastern land birds, by Richard H.
Pough It is published by Doubleday & Co.
Or he may like Field Book of Eastern Birds"
by Leon Augustus Hausman, published by Put
nam.
These are larger works and each has its own
good points.
All three of these works, purchased at once,
would be rather difficult for the beginner to
digest.
He probably would get mixed up. rather than
be helped, because the seeker for information is
always a major part-sometimes disregarded-
of any such combination.
The way to acquire bird books is by easy
stages, as one grows in interest in the subject.
Our Public Library has many and the book
stores, too, so that any one genuinely interested
may find at such places fine display.
standard and classic work now sold as three
volumes in one is Birds of America" edited by
T. Gilbert Pearson.
1t will be discovered that these works all
supplement each other. The owner of them all,
along with other volumes, may pursue one bird
through many minds
He may see it as pictured and colored by many
artists. He may be amazed to fnd that two
equally skilled men can make the same bird
seem so different!
Bird Portraits in Color" issued before the
war by the University Of Minnesota Press is a
favorite with many
To build up small shelf of books about birds
in this slow way is an excellent thing. The
volumes become books one lives with, rather
than keeps safely on shelf.
The books may become stained with rain, dog
cared even have cracked backs and torn pages,
but in this case such disasters will not make so
much difference.
The bird is the thing and the book only sec
| ondary. 1t Is q good book If 1t helps, not SO
| good If 1t doesn't. But here as always, what is
| one mans meat Is another's poison. A reference
| book should be read, as well as referred to: 1t
| has much more to offer than occasional help
| And when one reads first, reference u made
| easier, surer and more pleasant.