About the Birds
More games to play with the cards

Ages 4 and up
2 or more players

1. Deal out 5 cards to each player. Players should not show each other their cards, but they can look at their own.
    
2. Put the rest of the cards in a stack in the center of the playing area (the tree).
    
3. Take the top three cards off the tree and scatter them face down in the shrubbery.
    
4. The youngest player starts. If a player has 2 matching birds in their hand at any time, they put them face up in front of them for points at the end of the game.
    
5. The player whose turn it is shows all the players a card in their hand and asks, “Has anyone seen this bird?” If any player has that bird in their hand, they must give it to the player who asked for it. If no one has it, everyone says, “Look in the tree or check in the shrubbery.” The player then draws one card from “the shrubbery” or “the tree.”
    
6. At the end of a turn, a player discards one card from their hand into the shrubbery face down. Do not reveal the discarded card.
    
7. Play passes to the next player. The game is over when a player has no more cards in her or his hand.
    
8. Count up the number of birds in front of you. The person with the most birds wins.

Adults: When everyone in the game knows how to ask for cards based on the colors of the cards everyone is holding, it’s time to add a twist to the game.

• The first twist is to let the person whose turn it is ask only one other player for a card.
   
• The second twist is to count the number of feathers in front of you instead of the number of birds. For example, the Blue Jay has 2 blue feathers on each card. That match is worth 2 points. Subtract the total number of feathers in your hand from your total and play more games until someone reaches 100.
   
• The third twist is to allow people to draw up to 2 cards. They still can only discard 1 into “the shrubbery.”
   
• The last twist is for players that can read. Instead of showing the bird you want, you can simply ask people for a particular bird by using its name instead. This will allow you to put a bird in “the shrubbery” and ask for it if you remember its name but you do not want to lose it.