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 huffy; rump white; a musical 

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

 to Sept Bobolink, page 134. 



a 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 hrown; rest of the plumage black and white ; call- 

 note, chewink or towh'ee ; inhabits the undergrowth ; often seen on 

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



Towhee, page 151. 



b. Length under 6-00 inches. 



b 1 . Crown black; cheeks white; back ashy; unstreaked; call, chick- 

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



Chickadee, page 179. 



B. 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. 



b. Length 6-90 inches : upper parts washed with rusty ; generally seen 

 in flocks; terrestrial; Nov. to Mch Snowflake, page 147. 



2. No white in the plumage. 



A. Length 19-00 inches ; jet black Am. 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 cofl'ee-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 1 . 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 1G4. 



