BIRDS 



177 



KEY, OR TABLE, FOR CLASSIFYING BIRDS (Class Aves) 

 INTO ORDERS 



ORDERS 



Aj Wings not suited for flight, 2 or 3 toes RUNNERS 



A 2 Wings suited for flight (except the penguin) 

 Bj Toes united by a web for swimming, legs short 

 Cj Feet placed far back ; wings short, tip not DIVERS 



reaching to base of tail (Fig. 300) 

 C 2 Bill flattened, horny plates under margin BILL-STRAINERS 



of upper bill (Fig. 323) 



C 3 Wings long and pointed, bill slender SEA-FLIERS 



C 4 All four toes webbed, bare sac under GORGERS 



throat 

 B 2 Toes not united by web for swimming 



Cj Three front toes, neck and legs long, tibia WADERS 



(shin, or " drumstick ") partly bare 

 C, Three front toes, neck and legs not long 

 Dj Claws short and blunt (e, Fig. 300) 



Ej Feet and beak stout, young feathered, SCRATCHERS 



base of hind toe elevated 



E 2 Feet and beak weak, young naked MESSENGERS 



D 2 Claws long, curved and sharp, bill ROBBERS 



hooked and sharp 

 D 3 Claws long, slightly curved, bill nearly PERCHERS 



straight 

 C 3 Two front and two hind toes (Fig. 300) 



D, Bill straight, feet used for climbing FOOT-CLIMBERS 



D 1 Bill hooked, both bill and feet used for BILL-CLIMBERS 

 climbing 



The Food of Birds. Extracts from Bulletin No. 54 

 (United States Dept. of Agriculture), by F. E. L. Beal. 



The practical value of birds in controlling insect pests should 

 be more generally recognized. It may be an easy matter to 

 exterminate the birds in an orchard or grain field, but 'it is an 

 extremely difficult one to control the insect pests. It is certain, 

 too, that the value of our native sparrows as weed destroyers is 

 not appreciated. Weed seed forms an important item of the 

 winter food of many of these birds, and it is impossible to estimate 

 the immense numbers of noxious weeds which are thus annually 



