80 FIELD KEY TO COMMON BIRDS. 



IV. Plumage conspicuously black, or black and white* 



1. Black and white birds. 

 A. Throat black. 



a. Length over 6 00 inches. 

 a». Entire under parts black ; nape buffy ; rump white ; a musical 

 dweller of fields and meadows ; frequently sings on the wing ; May 



to Sept Bobolink, page 134. 



a". Breast rose-red ; rest of the plumage black and white ; song 

 rapid, loud and musical; call-note, peek; a tree dweller in rather 

 open woodland ; May to Sept. 



Rose-breasted Grosbeak, page 150. 

 a'. Sides reddish brown; rest of the plumage black and white ; call- 

 note, chewinh or towhee ; inhabits the undergrowth ; often seen on 

 ground scratching among fallen leaves ; Apl. 25 to Oct. 



Towhee, page 151. 

 h. Length under 6*00 inches. 



J». Crown black ; cheeks white ; back ashy ; unstreaked ; call, chicTc- 

 a-dee, or a musical, double-noted whistle; a permanent resident. 



Chickadee, page 179. 

 £. Throat and other parts white or whitish. 

 a. Length 8*50 inches ; upper parts blackish slate-color ; tail tipped with 

 white ; a bird of the air, catching its insect food on the wing, and 

 occasionally sallying forth from its exposed perch in pursuit of a pass- 

 ing Crow ; note, an unmusical, steely chatter ; May to Sept. 



Kingbird, page 122. 



J. Length 6'90 inches ; upper parts washed with rusty ; generally seen 



in Hocks : terrestrial ; Nov. to Mch Snowflake, page 147. 



2, No white in the plumage. 



A. Length 19-00 inches ; jet black Air. Crow, page 128. 



B. Length 12-00 inches; black with metallic reflections ; iris yellowish; 

 migrates in flocks ; nests usually in colonies in coniferous trees ; voice 

 cracked and reedy; tail "keeled" in short flights; a walker; Mch. to 

 Nov Purple Grackle, page 133. 



C. Length 9-50 inches; shoulders red; haunts marshes; call, kong-quer- 

 ree\ Mch. to Oct Red-winged Blackbird, page 132. 



D. Length 7*90 inches ; head and neck coflee-brown ; frequently seen on 

 the ground near cattle ; Mch. to Nov Cowbird, page 137. 



V. Birds not included in the preceding sections (that is, 

 plumage without either yellow, orange, red, or blue; 

 not conspicuously black, or black and white). 



1. Under parts white or whitish, all one color, without streaks or spots. 

 A. Back without streaks or spots. 

 a. Back olive-green ; gleaners, exploring the foliage for food or flitting 

 about the outer branches. 



a^. Length 6-25 inches ; a white line over the eye bordered by a nar- 

 row black one ; cap gray ; iris red ; song, a rambling recitative : " You 

 see it — you know it — do you hear me ? " etc. ; May to Oct. 



Red-eyed Vireo, page 164. 



