CHAPTEE I. 



EXPOSITION OF THE TECHNICAL TERMS USED BY ORNITHOLOGISTS. 



Without a cursory knowledge, at least, of the technical 

 terms employed by Ornithologists in their delineations of the 

 feathered race, we cannot expect all our readers to under- 

 stand or appreciate the scientific descriptions which we have 

 inserted of the Game Birds of our country ; it therefore appears 

 to us that we cannot do better than devote the first few 

 pages of this volume to the full elucidation of these terms, 

 which in fact are the A B C of Ornithology, the Alpha and 

 Omega of the branch. 



This information, so important to the intelligent Sportsman, 

 can be easily and quickly acquired by reference to the accom- 

 panying drawing, in connection with the explanations following 

 immediately after. 



1. Auriculars, the ear coverts. — The soft feathers that cover 

 the organs of hearing. 



2, 2, The bastard wing, consisting of three or five feathers, 

 resembling the quills of the true wing ; they are placed on a 



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