34 Biiris of Oirgon and WasJiington 



of course, not so long, and allowance must be 

 made. 



In measuring birds by the eye, it is well to 

 take for our standards the Robin and the English 

 Sparrow ; and say, for example, " Two-thirds the 

 size of the Robin," or a " little larger " or "a 

 little smaller than an English Sparrow," etc. 



Note 3. In order to assist beginners in the 

 identification of birds, there will be found at the 

 end of the book two " Keys," one for size, and 

 one for color for male birds only ; the females 

 must be recognized through their association 

 with the males. 



I give here an example of the manner of using 

 the Keys : Suppose you do not know the Audu- 

 bon's Warbler, which is small, length 5 ^ inches ; 

 soft gray above'; with yellow crown, yellow side- 

 patches on breast ; yellow throat and yellow 

 rump ; breast, black and white streaked. After 

 seeing it and writing down a description of the 

 bird, to help your memory, look at the " Size 

 Key " and find the birds that are smaller " than 

 the English Sparrow," for you know that the 

 bird must be in that list. That list will include 

 thirty-three names. Then look in the Key for 



