140 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



ward as Massachusetts and even Connecticut. I have never 

 seen them, but I suppose their habits to be in every way like 

 those of the Cedar-birds. They are said to be shy and watch- 

 ful, but very affectionate. Having forgotten to do so before, 

 I may here remark that the Cedar-birds often show a fondness 

 for some one tree, to which they persistently return, even if 

 disturbed several times. One Sunday I remarked six in a bare 

 maple, and, again passing the place on the following Sunday, I 

 was surprised to observe them perched in the same tree, as if 

 they had not moved for a week. 



12. The Hirundinid.89, or swallows, may be distin- 

 guished from all our other birds by the following combined 

 features. Tail-feathers twelve ; primaries nine ; tarsi short 

 and scutellate ; bill broad, low, short, and with the culmen (or 

 upper outline) only half as long as the gape, which extends to 

 the longitude of the eye. They have remarkably long wings, 

 conformably to their mode of life and "constant aerial ac- 

 tivity." Most of our species have a highly metallic lustre (in 

 certain parts) , which, except in the martins, is similar in the 

 two sexes. This feature is not, so far as I know, observable 

 in any other family, unless among the ducks. 



Our insessorian birds may, in regard to color, be classified 

 as follows : 



(1). Partly metallic ; sexes alike. Certain swallows. 



(2). Partly metallic ; sexes unlike. Certain hummingbirds 

 (Troch.). 



(3). Partly metallic in male only. Certain pigeons. 



(4). Lustrous or brightly colored; sexes alike. Crows, 

 certain jays and warblers. 



(5). Lustrous or brightly colored; sexes unlike; females 

 duller, etc. Bluebirds, martins, certain warblers, finches, and 

 starlings ; also one flycatcher (S. W. of U. S. etc.) (and the 

 Blue Crow?) 



(6). No metallic tints; sexes much alike; male character- 

 ized by a color-patch, wanting or much restricted in the female. 

 "Wrens "or kinglets, nuthatches, woodpeckers, certain war- 

 blers (and finches?). 



