ANALYTICAL KEYS 



BY 



LYNDS JONES, Ph. D. 



HOW TO USE THE KEYS. 



\'\'hile these ke3-s are made for the purpose of identifying any bird in the hand, they 

 are not intended to give more than the barest information about the bird. You should at 

 once turn to the description of the bird whose name you have found by means of the keys, 

 and read what may be found there before remaining content. Often an unsatisfactory 

 identification by the keys will give you the clue so that you can turn to the body of the 

 book and there make sure of your bird. The keys, then, are but a means to an end. 

 They are merely for rapid determination, not for any other particular information. 



There are three separate keys. First of all, a Key to the Orders; next a Key to the 

 Families under each order ; and lastly a Key to the Species under each family. You 

 should always begin with the Key to the Orders to get your bird in the right group. 

 Having found the order to which it belongs ttirn to the Key to the Families, find the order 

 there by the number which precedes it in the Key to the Orders, and determine to what 

 familv it belongs. In like manner turn to the Key to the Species given under each family 

 and there determine the species. The families are numbered in l, 2, 3, order under each 

 order, but the species are given the number which the}- bear in the body of the book. 

 While the orders are not serially arranged in the Key to the Orders, they are arranged 

 in I, 2, 3, order in the Key to the Families. Likewise, while the species are not serially 

 arranged in the Key to the Species they are so arranged in the body of the book. 



It is important that you should know how to use the keys unless you are already 

 familiar with most of the birds described in this book. At first sight thev may seem 

 confused, but after a little practice in the use of them they will prove very simple. Let 

 us suppose that you now have a bird in hand which you wish to identify. Suppose it is 

 an American Bittern. In the Key to the Orders, "I." calls for a bird with webbed or 

 lobed feet: your bird has neither webs nor lobes, so you must turn to the contrasting 

 character which will be under "11.." which so far describes your bird. Next is "A. Legs 

 and neck long and slender." That is true of your bird. Then the next is "i. Lores 

 (region between the eye and bill) bare." Your bird has bare lores, so it must be one 

 of the Herodiones, Order 9. Turn now to Order 9 in the Key to the Families. Here 

 the first is "I. Bill straight, sharply pointed." Tliat is right for your bird. Your bird 

 belongs to Family i, Ardeida;. Turn now to the Key to the Species and find Order 9, 

 and Family I under it. The first here is "I. Length about 45 inches": but your bird 

 measures about 30 inches, so you turn to "III. Length less than 35 inches." Your bird 

 is not pure white (A), but it is fB) "mottled and streaked with rustv and vellowish 

 brown." so you conclude that it is an American Bittern, number 247 in the liook. Turn 

 to that number (page 622) and verify your conclusion by the minute description there 

 given. Any other case would work out on the same principle. 



L'nless otherwise specified the length of a bird is the straight distance from the tip 

 of its bill to the end of its tail when it is laid upon its back with neck and bill extended. 

 The wing measurement is taken from the bend (the carpal joint) of the folded wing to 

 the tip of its longest primary. The bill measurement is the stright distance from the 

 edge of the feathers at the base of the bill on top to the tip of the upper mandible. This 

 distance is also sometimes referred to as the chord of the culmen. The tarsus is meas- 

 ured from the heel joint to the angle made bv the outer toe. 



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