METHODS OF BIRD STUDY 



37 



birds have become differentiated to fit all sorts of environments, 

 air, water, marsh, prairie, and forest. Those of similar activi- 

 ties, like machines built and adjusted to their work, have come 

 to have similar structures, of body, wing, foot, and bill. 

 Discovery of these adjustments will add fresh interest at every 

 turn and increase respect for scientific bird study. Fig. 8 is 

 designed to fix in mind the fundamental relations of the dif- 

 ferent orders to environment. Common names often vary in 



Primaries 



fr*Z 



Primary Covert* 

 Greater Coverts 

 Middle Coverts^ 



Lesser Coverts* 



Alula or Spurious Wing** 



Crown* = \ /.- ;-y --.. \ =^-~vo C*^-?^ 



Median Li ^^^^f)\ ^<f^ 

 Mand ^^ 



Superciliary Line* L Breasf\*Nape 

 Ear Covert* or Auricular*' ^* Throat ^Side 



Tail Coverts 



Rump 



Back 



^ss- 



Scapulars 

 *Wing Bars 

 Shoulder 

 " Tibia 

 ' Tarsus 



FK;. 15. Topography of a bird 

 C. A. Reed 



different parts of the same country. Scientific names are the 

 same for all languages the world over, and this is the time to 

 learn them, if they are ever to be remembered. 



Again, in order to describe birds quickly and accurately - 

 and as a help to seeing them properly we must learn to 

 name the external parts, the so-called " topography " of a bird. 

 The terms in Fig. 15 are, in the main, self-explanatory. The 

 " primaries," " secondaries," and " tertials " are attached respec 

 tively to the hand, fore-arm, and upper-arm bones of the wing. 



The following list, suited to central New England, is given 

 merely by way of suggestion, as if the writer were a member 



