80 FIELD KEY TO COMMON BIRDS. 



IV. Plumage conspicuously black, or black and white. 



1. Black and white birds. 



A. Throat bhiek. 



a. Lcn<jth over 6 00 inches, 



ai. Entire under parts black; nape bnflfy ; rump white; a musical 

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



to Sept Bobolink, page 170. 



a2. Breast rose-red ; rest of the plumage black and white ; song 

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

 open woodland ; May to Sept. 



RosE-BREASTED Grosbeak, page 202. 

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

 note, cheicink or towliee ; inhabits the undergrowth : often seen on 

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



TowHEE, page 204, 

 h. Length under 6'00 inches. 

 Ji. Crown black ; cheeks white ; back ashy ; unstreaked ; call, cliick- 

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



Chickadee, page 248. 



B. Throat and other parts white or whitish. 



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

 w'hite; 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 150. 



h. Length 6-00 inches ; upper parts waslicd with rusty ; generally seen 

 in tiocks: terrestrial ; Nov. to Mch Snowflake, page 196. 



2. Xo white in the plumage. 



.-i. Length 10-00 inches; jet black Am. Crow, page 161, 



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 168. 



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

 r?e\ Mch. to Oct Eed-winged Blackbird, page 166. 



J). Length 7-90 inches ; head and neck coftee-brown ; frequently seen on 

 the ground near cattle ; Mch. to Nov Cowbird, page 176. 



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, icithuut streaks or spots. 

 A. Back ivithout 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. 



Eed-eyed Vireo, page 221. 



