PREFACE. 



The present work is intended to meet the wants of a large number of persons, 

 especially sportsmen, who are interested in birds and would like to know their names, 

 but often find it no easy task to identify them by the " bird books." To all such I 

 offer this Key, in which the species are arranged in groups according to size, and 

 believe it will enable any one unfamiliar with birds to identify with comparative ease 

 any species of our North American Shore Birds. 



Birds vary so much in size that the length of any one specimen cannot be accepted 

 as a standard for others of the same species. The length measure is, nevertheless, 

 of value to enable us to form an approximate idea of the size of the bird. The length 

 of the iving is, however, much less variable, and is an important aid to the identifica- 

 tion of many species. In fact, the variation is so small and constant that, .allowing 

 for possible extremes, they may be arranged in groups according to length of wing. 

 The identification of any species then becomes a very simple matter, as usually the 

 birds contained in each group are so few in number that characteristic differences in 

 each species' are easily indicated. 



Let us assume, for example, we have before us a bird which we wish to identify. 

 We first measure the wing (see directions for measurements, illustrated, page 7). We 

 find the wing measures nine inches long. We now turn to the "Index to Key" 

 (page 12), and find that Group 6 contains birds having the wing measuring from nine 

 to twelve inches long, and is divided into three sections ; Sections 1 and 2 compris- 

 ing birds having four toes, and Section 3, birds with three toes. ' Our bird has four 

 toes, so we look for it under Section 1 or 2. We find that birds under Section 1 have 

 the bill curved downward, and birds under Section 2 have the bill curved upward, or 

 neai'ly straight. Our bird has the bill curved downward. We therefore look for it 

 under Section 1. We find but two birds included under Section 1 ; one with axillars 

 reddish brown, marked with black, and the other having the axillars banded with slat}' 



