8C) FIELD KEY TO COMMON BIRDS. 



IV. Plumage conspicuously black, or black and white. 



1. Black and white liirds. 



A. Throat black. 



a. Leno'th over 00 inches. 



fli. Entire under parts black ; nape buffy ; rump white ; a musical 

 dweller of tields and meadows ; frequently sings on the wing ; May 

 to Sept Bobolink, page 170. 



a^. Brea.^t rose-red; rest of the plumage black and white; song 

 rapid, loud and musical ; call-note, jjeck; a tree dweller in rather 

 open woodland; May to Sept. 



RosE-BREASTED Grosbeak, page 202. 



as. Sides reddish brown ; rest of the plumage black and white ; call- 

 note, cheu'iiik or towhee ; inhabits the undergrowth : often seen on 

 ground scratching among fallen leaves ; Apl. 25 to Oct. 



TowHEE, page 204. 



b. Length under 6'00 inches. 



J'. Crown black; cheeks white; back ashy; iinstreaked; caW, cMcJc- 

 a-dee^ or a musical, double-noted whistle; a permanent resident. 



Chickadee, page 248. 



B. Throat and other parts white or whitish. 



a. Length b-50 inches ; upper parts blackish slate-color ; tail tipped with 

 white; a bird of the air, catching its insect food on the wing, and 

 occasionally sallying forth from its exposed perch in pursuit of a jsass- 

 ing Crow ; note, an unmusical, steely chatter; May to Sept. 



Kingbird, page 150. 



h. Length C-90 inches; upper parts washed with rusty; generally seen 

 in flocks : terrestrial ; iSov. to Mch Snowflake, page 196. 



2. No white in the plumage. 



A. Length lO'OO inches ; jet black Am. Crow, page 161. 



B. Length 12-00 inches; black with metallic reflections ; iris yellowish; 

 migrates in flocks ; nests usually in colonies in coniferous trees ; voice 

 cracked and reedy ; tail ''keeled" in short flights; a walker; Mch. to 

 Nov PiRPLE Grackle, page 168. 



C. Length t)-50 inches; shoulders red; haunts marshes; call, kong-quer- 

 r~ee\ Mch. to Oct Eed-winged Blackbird, page 166. 



D. Length 7'90 inches ; head and neck coflee-brown ; frequently seen on 

 the ground near cattle ; Mch. to Nov Cowbird, page 176. 



Y. Birds not included in the preceding sections (that is, 

 plumage without either yellow, orange, red, or blue ; 

 not conspicuously black, or black and w^hite. 



1. Under parts white or whitish, all o)ie color, without streaks or spots. 

 A. Back without streaks or spots. 

 a. Back olive-green; gleaners, exploring the foliage for fiod or flitting 

 about the outer hi'auchcs. 



«'. Length G'25 inches; a white line over the eye bordered by a nar- 

 row black one ; cap gray ; iris red ; song, a rambling recitative: " You 

 see it — you know it — do you hear me ? " etc. ; May to Oct. 



Reu-eyed Vireo, page 221. 



