ARTIFICIAL KEY TO THE FAMILIES. 



233 



Page 

 — exposed; length — over 9 inches; color brown or blue . CORVID^ 414 



— 7-8 inches ; crested ; 6 glossy black Ampelid^ 325 

 — 4J-()i inches; bill distinctly hooked; tail soft, 



without black Vikeonid^ 329 

 — 4i-5i inches ; bill slender, curved, tail stifl", acute 



• CERTHlIUiE 272 



— Birds without these characters ; rictus — bristled 



TURDID^ 240 

 — unbristled 

 Troglodytid^ 273 



^k.) Tarsus — scutelliplantar; hind claw straight (Larks) Alaudid^ 280 



— laminiplantar ; bill — metagnathous, both mandibles falcate, their points crossed 



Fkingillid^ 339 



— paragnathous, tomia of up. mand. toothed or lobed near middle 



(Tanagers) Tanagkid^ 317 



— epignathous, notched and hooked at tip. Length 5^-6^ ViREONiD^ai 329 



— various. Quills — tipped with red horny appen<lages ; head 



crested Ampelid^ 326 

 — not appendaged ; bill — flssirostral (go to 1). 



— dentirostral or tenui- 

 rostral (go to in). 

 — conirostral (go to n). 

 (1.) Bill triangular-depressed, about as wide at base as long, gape twice as long as culmen, reaching 



about opposite eyes, tarsus not longer than outer toe and claw (Swallows) . . Hirundinid^ 319 

 (m.) Longest secondary nearly reaching end of primaries in closed wing; hind claw (usually) little 



curved, nearly twice as long as middle claw (Titlarks) Motacillid^ 283 



Longest secondary not nearly reaching en<l of primaries in closed wing; hind claw well curved, 

 not nearly twice as long as middle claw (Warblers, &c.) . CcEREBiDJi 317, or Sylvicolid.e 287 



(n.) Bill usually thick, stout, and with evident angulation of the commissure Icterid.e 399 



or' Fkingillid^ 339 



1 Note. — These two families cannot be concisely distinguished. Icterid^ contains the bhickbinls, orioles, 

 meadow starlings, bobolinks, and cowblrds. Frikgillidjs, our largest family, includes all kinds of grosbeaks, 

 buntings, linnets, finches, and sparrows. 





Fig. 112 ter. Diagram of fore limbs of man, bat, horse, and bird. The lines 1-9 are isotonics, cutting the limbs 

 into morphologically equal parts, or isomere*. 



