FIELD KEY TO COMMON BIRDS. 77 



2. Length 4-50 inches; back gray, cap bhick, a blackish streak through 

 the face ; under parts reddish brown; note, high and thin, like tlie tone 

 of a penny trumpet; Sept. to Aph Kkd-bkeasted Nuthatch, page 25. 



3. Length 5'25 inches ; upper parts strealied black and white ; note, a thin 

 wiry see-see-see-see ; Apl. 25 to Oct. 



Black and white Wahblep., page 22G. 

 II. Birds with stiffly pointed tail-feathers, that always climb upward. 



1. Length 5-U5 inches ; plumage dull brown and black ; size small, bill 

 slender; an inconspicuous bird who winds his way up the trunks search- 

 ing for insects' eggs, etc. ; note, tine and squeaky ; Sept. 25 to Apl. 



Bkown Ckeeper, page 24G. 



2. Plumage with more or less white, size larger, bill stouter, chisel-like, 

 often used in hammering. 



A. Length 9-75 inches ; head red, back black ; flight showing a large 



white patch in the wing . . . Keu-heaued Woodpeckeu, page 140. 

 £. Length 12-00 inches; crown gray; a i-ed band on the nape; fliglit 



showing a white patch on the lower back and yellow in the wings ; 



often flushed from the ground ; note, ^f«-y(!;" . . Flicker, page 138. 

 C. Length 6-75 inches ; crown black ; back and wings black and white ; 



note, a sharp /vct^- Downy Woodpecker, page 138. 



THIRD GROUP. 



BIRDS NOT INCLUDED IN THE PRF.CKDING GROUPS. 



{Blackbirds, Orioles, Sparrows, Vireos, Warblers, Thrushes, etc.) 



Section I. With yellow or orange in the plumage. 



Section II. With red in the plumage. 



Section III. With blue in the plumage. 



Section IV. Plumage conspicuously black, or black and white. 



Section V. Birds not included in the preceding sections. 



I. With yellow or orange in tbe plu^iage. 



1. Throat yellow. 

 A. Throat and breast pure yellow, without streaks or spots. 

 a. Length 5-10 inclies ; cap, wings, and tail black ; back yellow ; song 

 canarylike, sometimes uttered on the wing ; flight undulating, fre-. 

 quently accompanied by the notes chic-o-ree, per-chic-o-ree ; a per- 

 manent resident Am. Goldfinch, page 198. 



h. Length 5-95 inches; lower belly and wing-bars white; back olivc- 

 grcen ; frequents the upper branches, generally in woodland ; actions 

 deliberate ; song loud and nmsical, uttered slowly, often with i>auses : 

 " See me J Fni here ; where are you ? " ; May to Sept. 



Yellow-throated Vireo, page 222. 

 c. Length 5-25 inches ; cheeks and forehead black, bordered by ashy ; 

 upper parts olive-green ; no wing-bars ; haunts thickets and under- 

 growth : movements nervous and active; call-note je/^ or clinch; 

 song, a vigorous, rapid witch-e-w'ee-o, witch-e-ivee-o ; May to Oct. 



Maryland Yellow-throat, page 204. 



