20 THE NATURALIST'S GUIDE. 



the rule. Kecord the number of inches upon a strip of 

 paper ; if there is a fractional part of an inch, measure it 

 with the dividers, and find how many hundredths it con- 

 tains upon the smaller rule, and record it. This is "the 

 length of the bird." 



Stretch the wings out to the full length, with the bird 

 still upon its back; measure these from tip to tip as "the 

 stretch of wing." Measure the wing from the tip to the 

 carpel joint, or bend, with the dividers (Plate X. d), for "the 

 length of the wing." The tail is to be measured also 

 with the dividers from the tip to the root for "the 

 length of the tail." Measure the tarsus (Plate VII. g) as 

 " the length of the tarsus." Measure the bill, from the tip 

 of the upper mandible to the base (if the base is not well 

 defined, as in the Ducks, measure to the feathers) ; this is 

 "the length of bill along the culmen" (Plate III. h). 

 Measure from the tip of the upper mandible to the gape 

 (e) for "the length from gape"; also from the tip of 

 the lower mandible to the angle of the gonys (s) for " the 

 length of gonys " (c). In the Hawks, measure to the 

 cere. 



The color of the eyes, feet, and bill is now observed 

 and recorded, also the date of collection and the locality in 

 which the bird was collected. If the bird is in worn plu- 

 mage, the fact should be recorded, as this will affect the 

 measurements; also if it is moulting or in perfect plu- 

 mage. As the records now made are only temporary, signs 



may be used to save time, such as X would denote an 



adult bird in perfect plumage, Y| would denote a 



young bird in worn plumage, YYJ 1 would denote a 



young bird not a year old and moulting, this stage in the 

 life of the bird is called the "young-of-t he-year." By 

 using some such signs as these much time will be saved. 

 When the collector becomes expert at measuring, he will 

 find that all small birds can be measured and recorded in 



