"When I began studying birds at age fourteen, I was fortunate in having 's Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America and 's Birds of Massachusetts and other New England States, the three volumes of which were then just coming out. I remember carrying Chapman's handbook with me into the woods and sitting on a stump to identify a beautiful bird I had seen—yellow on the belly with a black bib, and bright red on throat and crown—a ! I had made a discovery by myself. If I have carried my boyhood enthusiasm for learning about birds into old age, it is in part because by interest has never been dulled by too many classes, lectures, workshops, meetings, or other experiences that can kill initiative. It is better to learn ten birds on one's own than several hundred following a leader. Learning on one's own is especially important if you want to make discoveries. ... Watching birds and other animals for enjoyment should be something that makes us think."