How to use this book -- About birds -- Identifying birds -- Watching birds -- Bringing birds home -- Bird descriptions -- Long-legged waders -- Ducks and other swimming birds -- Birds of shore and sea -- Chickenlike birds -- Pigeons and doves -- Birds of prey -- Nightjars -- Swifts and hummingbirds -- Woodpeckers -- Flycatchers and other picky eaters -- Jays and crows -- Songbirds -- Sparrows and finches -- Blackbirds.