HOW TO NAME THE BIRDS 9 



specimen. In winter one often sees a flock of small 

 birds having the entire upper side of body and the breast 

 blackish ; all beneath, except breast, white. Turning 

 to the Key, the first direction is, to determine the 

 '' color-list " to which the bird belongs. Those birds 

 that show neither black, yellow, blue, nor red, are in 

 the '' neutral list; " those with black (with or without 

 red), but no yellow, are in the "black hst ; " those 

 with yellow, but no black, in the " yellow list; " those 

 with black and yellow, in the " black and yellow list; " 

 and those with blue or red (without black or yel- 

 low), in the "blue or red list." Our bird in ques- 

 tion is evidently in the " black hst," on page i6. 

 There are four of these black lists, belonging respectively 

 to the four seasonal groups — Summer, Migrant, Winter, 

 and Permanent, expressed by the first letter of each group, 

 (S) (M) (W) (P). In which of these shall we look for 

 our black and white specimen ? The directions at the 

 beginning of the Key tell us at once, where it says : "At 

 different seasons of the year consult the four (season) 

 groups contained in each (color) list, in the following or- 

 der, and the species sought will generally be found in 

 the first or second group of each series. ' ' We are sup- 

 posed to have found the bird in winter, and a little 

 farther on we find — "Nov. i to April i, Permanent, Win- 

 ter, Summer, Migrant." We are therefore likely to find 

 our specimen in the Permanent or in the Winter Group 

 under "Black Lists." Referring thereunder to (P), 

 we see that Nos. 231-242 comprise all that have black. 



