APPENDIX. 209 



they roost and nest. Bills small, mouths large, as in the 

 goatsuckers. 



HUMMING-BIRDS. 



Diminutive birds whose plumage shows brilliant metallic 

 lustre. Bills, slender and elongated for reaching insects 

 and nectar at bottom of flower tubes. Flight, rapid, darting. 



FLYCATCHERS. 



Dull, gray birds with big heads and shoulders. Males 

 and females similar in plumage. Bills, hooked at end. 

 Songless or with short song (wood pewee, three notes). 

 Habits, hunt by lying in wait for insects and then spring- 

 ing at them with nervous spasmodic movements. (Excep- 

 tion, kingbird.) Largely silent and motionless when not 

 watching for food. 



CROWS AND JAYS. 



Large conspicuous birds, with strong bill and claws. 

 Songless but clamorous. Active and boisterous espe- 

 cially the blue jay. 



BLACKBIRDS AND ORIOLES. 



Plumage, striking, black prominent. (Exception, meadow- 

 lark.) Females generally duller, and in some cases smaller 

 than males. Bills and claws, strong ; bills, long and conical. 

 (Exceptions, bobolink and cowbird, whose bills are short 

 and conical.) 



SPARROWS AND FINCHES. 



Fine songsters. Bills, short, stout, cone-shaped, for crack- 

 ing seeds. 



Sparrows. Comparatively small, dull-plumaged birds, 

 with striped backs ; much the color of the ground and 

 bushes on which they live males and females similar. 



Finches. Bright-plumaged birds, females duller than 

 males. 



