ARTIFICIAL KEY TO THE FAMILIES. 233 
Page 
— exposed; length — over 9 inches; color brown or blue . CORVID# 414 
— 7-8 inches; crested; 4 glossy black AMPELID2Z 325 
—43-61 inches; bill distinctly hooked; tail soft, 
without black VIREONIDZ 329 
—44-5} inches; bill slender, curved, tail stiff, acute 
CERTHIID 272 
— Birds without these characters; rictus — bristled 
TURDIDZ 240 
— unbristled 
TROGLODYTID 2738 
(k.) Tarsus — scutelliplantar; hind claw straight (Larks) . .... - . . . . ALAUDIDZ 280 
—laminiplantar; bill — metagnathous, both mandibles falcate, their points crossed 
FRINGILLIDZ 339 
— paragnathous, tomia of up. mand. toothed or lobed near middle 
(Tanagers) TANAGRIDZ 317 
— epignathous, notched and hooked at tip. Length 51-6} VIREONID 329 
—various. Quills — tipped with red horny appendages; head 
crested AMPELIDA 325 
— not appendaged; bill — fissirostral (go to 1). 
—dentirostral or tenui- 
rostral (go to m). 
— conirostral (go to n). 
@.) Bill triangular-depressed, about as wide at base as long, gape twice as long as culmen, reaching 
about opposite eyes, tarsus not longer than outer toe and claw (Swallows) . . HIRUNDINIDZ 319 
(m.) Longest secondary nearly reaching end of primaries in closed wing; hind claw (usually) little 
curved, nearly twice as long as middle claw (Titlarks). . . . . . . .- . . MOTACILLID 283 
Longest secondary not nearly reaching end of primaries in closed wing; hind claw well curved, 
not nearly twice as long as middle claw (Warblers, &c.) . Ca:REBIDA® 317, or SYLVICOLID2 287 
(n.) Bill usually thick, stout, and with evident angulation of the commissure. . . . . IOCTERIDA 399 
or! FRINGILLIDZ 339 
1 Note. — These two families cannot be concisely distinguished. IcTERIDX contains the blackbirds, orioles, 
meadow starlings, bobolinks, and cowbirds. FRINGILLID#, our largest family, includes all kinds of grosbeaks, 
buntings, linnets, finches, and sparrows. 
5a oe a nr 238) 
pa a 
i 
Fig. 112 ter. Diagram of fore limbs of man, bat, horse, and bird. The lines 1-9 are isotomes, cutting the limbs 
into morphologically equal parts, or isomeres. 
