iv Preface 



mage, and in all cases the mention of the transitional 

 plumage. With one or two exceptions the birds in- 

 cluded are to be found in Wellesley, most of them 

 in the college grounds. The times of arrival and 

 departure and of egg-laying are for the vicinity of 

 Boston ; but the notes on the time of song, especially 

 of fall song, have been drawn from Bicknell's A 

 Study of the Singing of Our Birds, and are for the 

 neighborhood of New York. The names em- 

 ployed are in general those authorized by the Amer- 

 ican Ornithological Union ; in some instances a 

 second popular name is given, but .this invariably 

 follows the A. O. U. popular name. In describing 

 the size of a bird, the " sparrow ' referred to is 

 always the English sparrow, although that fact has 

 been stated only when it seemed necessary to avoid 

 confusion. 



The key has been constructed purely to aid the 

 student in learning the popular names. For this 

 reason repetition has been freely employed. The 

 red-winged blackbird, for example, which is black 

 with a patch of red and yellow on each shoulder, 

 will be found under the headings "black," "red," 

 and " yellow ; ' the tree swallow, whose back is of 

 a bluish green, will be found under if green ' and 

 under "blue," and so on. So also birds in which 

 the spots on the breast are very obscure have been 



