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Bird- Lore 



or Owl, Parrot, Kiiij^fisher, Woodpecker, Nighthawk or Whippoorwill, 

 Hummingbird or Chimney Swift. Exclusive of the Perching Birds, then, 

 there are left only the Cuckoos. The two Cuckoos found north of Florida 

 are long, slender birds with long tails tipped with white, slightly curved 

 bills, two toes directed forward and two backward, and may be easily 

 distinguished from the birds of other families. 



MAST FI.-^CATCHER 

 Life size. !o show liet.iils of external structure 



Nine of the ten orders and fourteen of the thirty -two families of 

 land -birds are thus disposed of, leaving us only with the order, Passeres 

 or Perching Birds, and its eighteen families. 



Before outlining, however, the principal characteristics of these families 

 a word should be said on the 



Necessity of Careful, Definite Observation. — It may, perhaps, be con- 

 sidered unnecessary to insist on seeing a bird before attempting to name 

 it, but when one receives such descriptions as "a small rather brownish 



