FIELD KEY TO COMMON BIRDS. 77 



2. Length 4-50 inches; buck gfray, cap black, a blackish streak through 



the face ; under parts reddish brown; note, high and thin, like the tone 



of a penny trumpet; Sept. to Apl. Red-breasted Nuthatch, page 181. 



S. Length 5'25 inches ; upper parts streaked black and white ; note, a thin 



wiry see -see- see-see ; Apl. 25 to Oct. 



Black and white Warbler, page 167. 

 II. Birds with stiffly pointed tail-feathers, that always climb upward. 



1. Length 5'65 inches; plumage dull brown and black; size small, bill 

 slender; an inconspicuous bird who winds his way up the trunks search- 

 ing for insects' eggs, etc. ; note, fine and squeaky ; Sept. 25 to Apl. 



Bkown Creeper, page 178. 



2. Plumage with more or less white, size larger, bill stouter, chisel-like, 

 often used in hammering. 



A. Length 9-"5 inches ; head red, back black ; flight showing a large 

 ■white patch in the wing . . . Ked-heaued VVoodpeckfr, page 116. 



B. Length 12-00 inches; crown gray; a red band on the nape; flight 

 showin'T a white patch on the lower back and yellow in the wings ; 

 often flushed from the ground ; note, ive-y«?' . . Flicker, page 116. 



C. Length 6-75 inches ; crown black ; back and wings black and white ; 

 note, a sharp /)««){; Downy Woodpecker, page 115. 



THIRD GROUP. 



BIRDS NOT INCLUDED IN THE PRECEDING GROUPS. 



{Blackbirds, Orioles, Sparrows, Vireos, Warblers, Thrushes, etc.) 



Section I. With yellow or orarge in the plumage. 



Section H. With red in the plumage. 



Section III. With blue in the plumage. 



Section IV. Plumage conspicuously black, or black and white. 



Section V. Birds not included in the preceding sections. 



I. With yellow or orange in the plumage. 



1. Thruat yellow. 

 A. Throat and breast pure yellow, without streaks or spots. 



a. Length 6"10 inches; cap, wings, and tail black ; back yellow; song 

 canarylike, sometimes utterod on the wing ; flight undulating, fre- 

 quently accompanied by the notes chie-o-ree, per-cldc-o-ree ; a per- 

 manent resident Am. GoLnriNCH, page 148. 



b. Length 5-lt.i inches; lower belly and wing-bars white; back oli%'e- 

 green ; frequents the upper branches, generally in woodland ; actions 

 deliberate ; song loud and musical, uttered slowly, often with pauses : 

 " See me ? I'm here ; where are you ? " ; May to Sept. 



Yellow-throated Vireo, page 165. 



c. Length 5-25 inches ; cheeks and forehead black, bordered by ashy ; 

 upper parts olive-green ; no wing-bars; haunts thickets and under- 

 growth: movements nervous and active; call-note pit or chack ; 

 song, a vigorous, rapid witch-e-wi>e-o, witch-e-w'fe-o ; May to Oct. 



Maryland Yellow-throat, page 171. 



