These birds are great favorites with collectors. Coming northward, as many species do in the months of April and May, when excursions to the woods are attended with such agreeable accompaniments, the short period of their stay is the most deeply interesting of the ornithological season, whether the object be to study birds in the fields and woods, or only to procure choice specimens for the cabinet. In either case, the observer or collector will find himself greatly tempted by these attractive little birds, to the exclusion, probably, of others, not so gay, perhaps, in plumage, but equally interesting in other respects. [Illustration: Plate 47 Kirtland’s Warbler Sylvicola Kirtlandii (_Baird_)] Bird-collecting is the ultimate refinement,—the _ne plus ultra_ of all the sports of the field. It is attended with all the excitement, and requires all the skill, of other shooting, with a much higher degree of theoretical information and consequent gratification in its exercise. Personal activity, not necessarily to be exerted over so great a space as in game-bird shooting, but in a much greater diversity of locality, coolness, steadiness of hand, quickness of eye and of ear, especially the latter;—in fact, all the accomplishments of a first-rate shot, will be of service; and some of them are indispensable to successful collecting. The main reliance is, however, on the ear, for the detection of birds by their notes, and involves a knowledge, the more accurate and discriminating the better, which can only be acquired by experience, and always characterizes the true woodsman, whether naturalist or hunter. This ability is of incomparable value to the collector. Whether in the tangled forest, the deep recesses of the swamp, on the sea-coast or in the clear woodlands, on the mountain or in the prairie, it advises him of whatever birds may be there, or affords him a higher gratification, announcing the presence of a bird that he does not know. We recognise no more exquisite pleasure than to hear a note that we are not acquainted with in the woods. It is in the latter case, too, that the cultivated quickness of eye of the experienced collector is especially important, and his coolness and steadiness of nerve is fully tested. It will not do to be flustered. But in fact all these qualities must be possessed for the acquirement of the smaller species of birds found in the woodlands. Some species of Warblers, for instance, are constantly in motion in the pursuit of insects, and are most frequently met with in the tops of trees, and are, moreover, only to be killed with the finest shot, or they are spoiled for specimens. The obtaining of these little birds often requires the most accurate and skilful shooting.