METHODS OF BIRD STt'DY 



37 



birds have become differentiated to fit all sorts of environments, 

 air, water, marsh, prairie, and forest. Those of similar activi- 

 ties, like machines built and adjusted to their work, have come 

 to have similar structures, of bod)', wing, foot, and bill. 

 Discovery of these adjustments will add fresh interest at every 

 turn and increase respect for scientific bird study. Fig. 8 is 

 designed to fix in mind the fundamental relations of the dif- 

 feient orders to environment. Common names often vary in 



Primary Covert 

 Greater Coverti 



Middle Coverts 



Lesser Coverts < 



i ula or Spurious Wing^ 



Crown 

 Median Lin 



Tail Coverts 



Rump 



Back 



Lore 



Superciliary Line 

 Far Coverts or Auricular* 



Scapiilars 

 Wing Bars 

 Shoulder 

 Tibia 

 Tarsus 



Fi<;. 15. Topography of a bird 

 C. A. Ree.l 



different parts of the same country. Scientific names are the 

 same for all languages the world over, and this is the time to 

 learn them, if they are ever to be remembered. 



/Vgain, in order to describe birds quickly and accurately - 

 an-. I as a help to seeing them properly we must learn to 

 naiiie the external parts, the so-called "topography " of a bird. 

 Tl e terms in Fig. 1 5 are, in the main, self-explanatory. The 

 " primaries," " secondaries," and " tertials " are attached respec 

 tiv ely to the hand, fore-arm, and upper-arm bones of the wing. 



The following list, suited to central New England, is given 

 im-rely by way of suggestion, as if the writer were a member 



