DESCRIPTIVE LIST 201 



underparts dusky, washed with greenish on the sides; tail forked. Ad. $. No ruby throat- 

 patch; bronzy green above, whitish below; tail nearly even, outer three feathers tipped with 

 white. Im. c? - Similar to 9 , but throat with dusky streaks, and, in older birds, with ruby- 

 colored feathers. L., 3.74; W., 1.54; T., 1.15; B., .67. (Chap., Birds of E. N. A.) 



Range. Canada to Florida and westward to the Great Plains; winters from extreme southern 

 United States to Central America. 



Range in North Carolina. Whole State in summer. 



The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is a common summer visitor throughout the 

 State, arriving usually about April 15 and departing early in October. 



This is possibly one of the best known of our birds, being a familiar object as 

 it hovers about flowers with its tiny wings beating so fast that they are rendered 

 almost invisible. With its long extensible tongue it sucks the nectar from the deep 

 recesses of blossoms, or catches small insects which inhabit them. 



The nest is a small, dainty, cup-shaped object, composed of soft vegetable down, 

 and covered artistically with lichens. Two elongated white eggs are laid at some 

 time between April 20 and July 5. The nests are usually saddled on the limb of 

 some good sized tree, but may be built among small twigs. We have seen them in 

 oaks, pines, apple trees, elms, maples, hickories, and dogwoods, at heights varying 

 from four to thirty-five feet. In pines they seem to be usually built on dead limbs, 

 but in other trees on living ones. 



Although so small, they frequently chase other birds away from the neighborhood 

 of their nests. 



XVI. ORDER PASSERES. THE PERCHING BIRDS. 



This order includes more than half of all the known birds, and about half of 

 those occurring in North Carolina. In it are enumerated nearly all the familiar 

 species of our orchards, groves, thickets, and farms. 



Its members are of small or medium size, the largest being the raven, and the 

 next largest the common crow; but the small ones far surpass in numbers those of 

 even medium size. 



These birds possess in common the following characters: feet four-toed, always 

 with three toes in front and one behind, the latter being on a level with the rest. 

 None of the toes are webbed or reversible. The tail-feathers are usually twelve 

 in number, and the primaries ten, the first primary being usually either small or 

 else rudimentary and apparently absent. 



All of our song-birds belong to this order. 



KEY TO FAMILIES 



1. Primaries ten, the first about as long as the second. Hind claw not long and straight. 

 Hinder edge of tarsus rounded. Bill depressed, broad at base, hooked at tip. The 

 Flycatchers, Tyrannidce. 



1. Developed primaries nine, or if ten, the first rarely half as long as second. See 2. 



2. Hinder edge of tarsus rounded. Hind claw long and straight. Developed primaries nine. 



Bill short, stoutish, not hooked at tip. The true Larks, Alaudidoe. 



2. Hinder edge of tarsus compressed, forming a sharp ridge behind. See 3. 



3. Developed primaries nine, the first one about as long as second. Bill not hooked at tip. 



See 4. 



3. Primaries ten, the first one short, rarely half the length of the second. (Some Vireos have 

 only nine developed primaries, but they have the bill slightly hooked at tip.) See 9. 



