INTRODUCTION. 



This mannal is intended to aid students in identifying: 

 birds in the field; hence external characters are chiefly used,, 

 and, as far as possible, those only which are conspicuous, 

 enough to be seen by the aid of a bird glass at a reasonable^ 

 distance ; while the author has endeavored to avoid using 

 any characters not absolutely necessary for identification. 



Characteristic habits and the manner of flight are men- 

 tioned; the song, and other notes and cries are also given. 



When birds belonging to certain groups have similar hab- 

 its these are given under group headings ; for an example,, 

 see page 5, under Grebes. 



Groups are indicated by letters in varying type, accord- 

 ing to the value of each group, followed by the common and 

 technical name of each. Following is a key to the lettering; 

 A, order; A, family; a, genus. Species are numbered, be- 

 ginning with 1 under each genus. Sub-species are indicated 

 by the same number as that of the nearest allied species fol- 

 lowed by an asterisk (*). 



The beginner in bird study should first consult the key 

 to the orders and families, to be found at the end of the book. 

 Having become satisfied that a bird in question belongs to a 

 certain order and family, the student should carefully read 

 the characters of those groups given in the body of the book ; 

 then study the generic characters, which on account of their 

 condensed contents are a key in themselves. The genus 

 once found, the species can easily be determined. 



The following is an example of the method of using the 

 book : A bird is seen upon a pond or river. It rides lightly 

 on the water, has a short body, and carries the head well 

 back. The bill is short and thick. It has no visible tail. It 

 is dark in color on all of the parts that can be seen above 



