OBJECTIVE SEASONAL LESSONS. 
Identification (see Chapter VII).—As a prelimi- 
nary step to exercises in identification the student 
should learn to name the parts of a bird’s plumage 
as they are given in Figure 25. The teacher should 
then select a plate of a land-bird, and placing it at 
a distance of from twenty to thirty feet from the 
pupil, have him write a one-minute description of it. 
This description should include the bird’s approxi- 
mate length,* color of crown, back, tail, wings, 
throat, breast, and abdomen. It is well to have 
a blank prepared and ready to fill in with the 
descriptions of the parts named. To this may 
be added any particular characters of form (e. ¢., 
crests, long tail, etc.) or color (¢. g., face or rump 
marks, etc.). 
With this description in hand the student should 
then turn to the key on page 76. This is primarily 
designed to identify birds in Nature, and its major 
divisions are based on the most striking habits of the 
birds. This, however, would not be appreciable in 
the bird plate, and the teacher should, therefore, 
designate in which of the three principal groups the 
bird belongs. The pupil should then proceed with 
*A Robin is ten inches, an English or Tlouse Sparrow six and 
one-quarter inches, in length. Mental comparison with either of 
these familiar birds will .enable one to readily estimate the length 
of any of our Passeres, 
