ORDER OF PERCHING BIRDS 



Order Passeres 



■^HE Perching Birds are the largest group of related birds, and include nearly 

 all of our familiar land birds and more than one-half of the entire number of 

 species. In this order bird life reaches its highest development : the nervous 

 system is acutely sensitive; the special senses, noticeably those of hearing 

 and sight, are keenly developed; the circulation and the respiration are rapid; 

 and the temperature of tlie body is the highest among animals. 



Usually the Perching Birds have four toes, which arc so arranged that 

 the bird can grasp a branch or other perch. The hind toe is never raised 

 above the level of the others. The vocal organ is well developed, and according 

 to this development the order is divided into the suborders Oscines, or Song 

 Birds, and Clamaions, or Songlcss Perching Birds (Screamers). Twenty-three families of 

 the order occur in the United States and Canada. 



The young of this order are bom weak, helpless, and nearly naked. They are brooded 

 and cared for by the parents for some time in the nest. After they are a few days old they 

 are covered with down, and later this is replaced with feathers — the juvenal plumage. 

 A more or less complete molt follows in the autumn. The adults also molt in the fall. Some 

 adults have an entire change of plumage in the spring, while others have Httle or none. 



TYRANT FLYCATCHERS 



Order Passeres; suborder Clamatorcs ; family Tyrannidce 



LYCATCHERS belong to the group of songless perching birds. This classifi- 

 cation seems a trifle inaccurate, as several of the members have very sweet 

 songs. But the real significance of this appellation is comparative rather 

 than positive; their vocal organs are less highly developed than are those of 

 other perching birds and consequently their singing ability is more limited. 

 The Tyrant Flycatchers are exclusively American birds. Superficially, 

 both in general appearance and in habits, they resemble the Flycatchers of 

 the eastern hemisphere, but the latter belong to a different family and are 

 more nearly related to our Thrushes. There are about four hundred species 

 and these are most numerously developed in the tropics. In the United 

 States there are thirty species and subspecies. Among this large number of 

 species there are few highly differentiated forms ; very much the greater number are birds 

 of dull coloration, with very slightly modified structural characters. The species grade 

 into one another almost imperceptil^ly. 



Some of the general family characteristics are: the shield-like scales that cover the 

 lower section of the short legs; feet small and weak; feathers in the tail numbering twelve; 

 primaries numbering ten, the first well developed and often the longest; wng-coverts more 

 than half the length of the secondaries; shoulders broad; neck short; head large; bill broad 

 and flattened, gradually tapering to a sharp point, abruptly bent downward near the tip, 

 and notched at the beginning of the bend; nostrils near the "base of the bill, small and round 

 and not ver\' well concealed by bristly feathers ; the gape large and the bristles at the corners 

 usually well developed, sometimes so excessively developed that they extend beyond the 

 tip of the bill when pressed forward. The period of incubation averages about twelve days. 



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