CHAPTER IV 



HOW TO USE THE KEY 



In the Appendix of this book you will find 

 what is termed a "Key" for the identification 

 of any bird you may meet. You will find 

 these keys for each family of birds in any good 

 bird book you read, and it will be of great aid 

 to know how to use them if you do not already 

 know. 



Take one of the birds you have already 

 learned as an example; let us say the Bluebird. 

 Turn to the Key and you will find at the left 

 edge of the paper an "a." At the same indenta- 

 tion you will later on observe an "aa," and still 

 further an "aaa." Read over the title of each 

 of these and see which suits the required bird. 

 Certainly your present species, the Bluebird, 

 is neither a Hawk, Owl, Vulture, or Eagle (aa), 

 nor is it an aquatic bird (aaa). Therefore turn 

 to "a." Under "a" you will find numerous 

 divisions at the next indentation, as "b," "bb," 

 "bbb," etc., but realize that they must all 

 be the same letter; that is, do not turn to "c" 

 until you have found which one of the "b " 's it 

 is under. By inspection it is found that since 

 the Bluebird has a chestnut breast and a white 

 belly, it must be found under "bbbbb." 

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