64 Bird - Lore 



marked characteristics of color, however, are the best aid to the field 

 identification of the Blackbirds and Orioles. 



Appearance and Habits. — There is as wide variation in the actions of 

 Blackbirds and Orioles as there is in their form and color. The Orioles 

 are nervous, arboreal creatures, restlessly moving from limb to limb and 

 tree to tree; the Crackles, Cowbird, and Meadowlark are terrestrial and 

 walkers, the long tail, sometimes ''keeled," of the former, short tail and 

 white outer tail-feathers of the latter are good field characters. The 

 Red-winged Blackbird and Bobolink are birds of the open, inhabiting 

 fields or marshes. Orioles {Icterus) are sometimes found associated in 

 small numbers. All our other members of this family migrate and win- 

 ter in close flocks and some species, notably the Crackles, breed in col- 

 onies. 



Song. — The Orioles, Blackbirds, and Meadowlarks are whistlers of vary- 

 ing ability with voices ranging from the thin, long-drawn pipe of the 

 Cowbird, or harsh, grating notes of certain tropical species, to the rich, 

 sweet notes of the western Meadowlark. The Bobolink is a musical 

 genus with a song which alike defies imitation and description. 



Family 6. Finches (Sparrows, Grosbeaks, Siskins, Crossbills, Buntings, Towhees, etc.) 



Fringillida 



Range. — While more numerous in the northern than in the southern 

 hemisphere, the 550 or more species contained in this family are found in 

 all parts of the world except the Australian region. Of this number 92 

 species and 84 subspecies are North American. 



Season. — Finches are with us at all seasons. A large proportion of our 

 permanent resident and winter visitant Passeres being Finches, and while a 

 number of species are summer residents only, their migrations are less 

 extended than those of insectivorous birds. 



Color. — While there is a wide range of color in the plumage of the 

 members of this family, the variations are more or less closely related to the 

 nature of the birds' haunts. Thus the ground -inhabiting Sparrows are 

 largely streaked and lark-like in color, while the bush- or tree-haunting 

 Finches are generally brightly colored. 



External Structure. — The possession of a stout, short, cone-shaped bill 

 is the distinguishing characteristic of nearly all Finches, and is evidently 

 related to their seed -eating habits. By this member alone our Finches may 

 always be known from the members of other families of eastern North 

 American birds. 



Appearance and Habits. — Finches impress one as being short -necked, 

 thick-set, chunky birds. The ground-inhabiting Sparrows, like most 

 ground -feeding birds, are seen either flying as they rise before one, or 

 perching motionless with head well drawn in between the shoulders. The 



