SYNOPSIS OF BIRD FAMILIES. 



Family Ampelidae : Waxwings, etc. Page 124. 

 1 Species. 



Birds of six or seven inches in length, stout-bodied, head 

 with a conspicuous crest ; beautifully soft, quaker plumage, 

 tail tipped with yellow, red tvax-Uke tips to the wing coverts, 

 straight black bill. Sexes similar ; a resident bird. 



Family Hirundinidae : Swallows. Page 125. 

 5 Species. 



Birds of the air in the fullest sense. " Bill flat, broad, 

 triangular." Mouth opening to below the eyes ; long, strong 

 wings, small feet, which are seldom used ; broad head and 

 stout neck ; the tail more or less forked. Sexes similar ; 

 song, a pleasant, twittering warble. The plumage in some 

 species is dull, but in others beautifully iridescent above 

 and ruddy below. All insectivorous birds and summer 

 residents. 



Family Tanagridae : Tanagers. Page 131. 

 1 Species. 



A brilliantly coloured family undergoing great changes of 

 plumage during the year, the colours of the sexes being 

 wholly different, the males having much red about them. 

 Bill short, the long, pointed wings exceeding the tail in 

 length. 



Family Fringillidae : Finches, Sparrows, etc. Page 133. 

 28 Species. 

 The largest family of North American Birds, comprising 

 one-seventh of all our birds. These birds are true seed- 

 eaters, though they feed their young largely on an insectiv- 

 orous diet. 



"The bill approaches nearest the ideal cone, combining 

 strength to crush seeds with delicacy of touch to secure 

 minute objects." (Dr. Coues.) The family contains birds 

 of every size and colour, sexes either similar or unlike, — 

 Finches, Buntings, Linnets, Grosbeaks, Crossbills, and Spar- 

 rows, whose traits it is impossible to describe in general terms. 



46 



