Then you must try to answer the following questions: "How many inches long was he?
"What was his general color?
"Was his breast plain or speckled?
"What was he doing--feeding on the ground or in a tree?
"Did he walk with one foot after the other, or hop with both feet together?
"Did he sing or only call?
"At first you may only remember two or three of these questions, and they will probably be his size, color, and song, if he happens to be singing at the time.
"You may not think that a bird, who is hopping about in the grass or flitting among the branches of a tree, is doing anything in particular.
But really he may be either collecting material for his nest, or searching for food of some particular kind, in a way which will tell you to what guild of the Bird Brotherhood he belongs.
"Everything in the daily life of a bird is interesting.

You will find that every bird has its regular times for bathing, pluming, eating, sleeping, working, and playing, all in its own ways, just as you yourselves have.

And everything he does is done cheerfully and promptly.
"I know that you think this a very long sermon, and that you would rather see a bird than be told how to see it.

Only one word more.

I am going to give you, as we go along, a few facts about the color and size of each bird, that you may write in your books; so that if you forget whether this bird or that one was striped or spotted you can look at your 'bird table' (not multiplication table) and see which it was.