188 common and conspicuous birds of North America are illustrated and described. Peterson First Guides are the first books the beginning naturalist of all ages needs. Condensed versions of the famous Peterson Field Guides, the First Guides focus on the birds you are most likely to see. They make it fun to get into the field and easy to progress to the full-fledged Peterson Guides. The color plates use the Peterson Identification System, which uses arrows on the illustrations and italics in the descriptions to show you exactly what to look for.