66 



KEY TO THE GENERA. 



(0) Bill— strongly cpipiathoii3, toothed and notched near tip. Gray, wings and tail black, . COLLUnio 64 



— paragnathous. Not 7 in. long; b, nearly = hd., irg. much>tl., trB. not>3tcl., .... Sitta 16 



— barely or not I a.3 long a.s hd.— Crested, . . LopnornANES 12 



— Not crested, (c') 

 (c=) Head yelloiy; bend of wing chestnut, .... AuniPARUS 15 



— not 3'ell.; crown and throat blk. or dark Paeus 13 



— crown ashy or light bro^vn, . PsALTRErARUS 14 



— Over 7 long. Crested. 2!h{C, with black bars on wings and tail, . Ctanurus 100 



No crest. Iridescent i*?/;. and w/tif.; wgs. much<tl., . . Pica 99 



— Uniform glossy ti/c-.; wgB. much>tl., . . Coryl:,s 95 



— Graj/; blk. wgs.>blk. and wht. tail, PicicoEVUS flO 



— ernj/; no blue; wge. about = tail, . Perisokeus 103 



— Jiliie, &c., no green or yellow, . . Aphelocoma 101 



— Blue, black, (/reen and j/e(to!P, . . . Xanthoura 103 

 (d) Length over 14 inches; co^or (?rtrZ: &?'ozt')i; rounded tail not < wings, Psiloriiinus 98 



— 10 — 12 inches; cotoraZi iiiiie, square tail < wings Gyjisokitta 97 



— 7 — 8 inches; (/iossy i)Zaci(9 brown) with large white wing patch. Crested, . Ph^nopepla 51 



— 41 — 5^ inches; brown, streaked, below white, tail feathers r/jfirf, rtatminaic, . . . Ceethia 17 



— 4 — 5 inclies; (liiusft (/raj/, \instreaked, below wht., fai27 so/i, blk. and white, . . Polioptila 10 



— 4 — 5 in.; olive-green, below yellowish, tail like back, bill not hooked, . . Piiyllopneubte 8 

 _4|_C.\; grecnisli or grayish olive, wht'sh or yell'sh below, bill distinctly hooked at tip, Vireo 53 



(d) Birds presenting no one of the foregoing combinations of characters. (d=) 



(d^) Eietus bristled; inucrtoecleftto base; wg.not<tail; b.little<head, .... Oreoscoptes 2 



— <tail; bill much<head, Minus 3 



— little<,=, or>hd., Haeporhtnciiu.s 4 



— unbristled; breast — with distinct round black spots; b.<hd., .... Cajipylorhysciius 18 



— unspotted; back — uniform in color; wg.=or<t.ail; b.<head, . TnRYOTIIORU.S 21 



— speckled; throat pure white; b. nearly = hd., . . . Catherpes 20 



— streaked; b. much <hd., . . . Salpixctes 19 



— barred crosswi.5e; tail nearly = wg.; Troglodytes 22 



— much<wg., Akortiiura 23 



— streaked lengthwise; bill about | as long as head, Telmatodytes 24 



— hardly or not i = hd., . Clstotiiorus 25 



(e) Bill metagnathous ; both mandibles falcate, their points crossed, Curvirostea 5!) 



(e) Tarsus scutellate icMnrf.- hind claw s<TO.t(77j<,' nostrils concealed; little ear tulte, . . . EREJiorinLA 28 

 (e) Quills (usually) tipped with i-«(/to™i/ oppendai/es; tail tipped with yellow. Crested, . . . Ampelis 50 

 (e) Tomia of up. mand. tooi/ierf or ioted near middle. Bright i-ed, or greenish and yellow, . . Py'RANGA 43 

 (e) Gi-eenish or grayish-olive, ^eZowf7oZd(^7i 7/e;Zow7, belly white, lores ZfZrtcA;. Length 7-8 inches, . Icteria 39 

 (e) Greenish or grayish-olive, below white or yellow; bill notched tmd hooked at tip. Length 54 — 64, ViEEO 53 



(e) Birds with no one of these special characters. — Commissure* straight or gently curved, (f ) 



— Commissure * abruptly angulated. (i) 



(f ) Bill triangular-depressed, about as wide at base as long, gape twice as long as culmen, reaching 

 to about opposite eyes, trs. not> outer lateral toe .and claw; 1st primary =or>2d. (g) 



{f ) Bill not nearly so wide as long, gape not twice as long as culmen ; trs. > lateral toes, (li) 



(g) Outer web of 1st primary saw-like, with a series of minute recurved hooks, . . . Stelgidoptery'X 

 (g) A little feathery tuft at base of hind toe. Plain gray, below white, breast like back, . . . Cotyle 

 (g) Xo hooks nor tuft. Tail deeply forked, outer feathers .attenuate, or with white spots, . . Hieundo 



— forked. Below, pjtre white; above, lustrous or velvety. . . Tachycineta 



— forked. Uniform lustrous blue-black, or partly white below, . . Feogne 



— barely or not forked. Rump not colored like back, . . . Petrochelidon 

 (h.) Longest secondary nearly = primaries iu closed wing ; hind claw slightly curved, twice as long 



as middle claw.— Tail not < wing. No spots or streaks below, Budytes 



— < wing; trs. :> hind toe and claw. Breast spotted Anttius 



— not > ltd. Back and breast spotted, .... Neocorys 

 (h) Longest secondary much < primaries in closed wing; hind claw well curved, not nearly twice 

 as long as middle claw, (li') 

 (h^) Rictus with many conspicuous bristles reaching decidedly beyond nostrils, (h') 

 (li^) Rictus with no evident bristles or a few short ones reaching little if any beyond nostrils, (h') 

 (h") Bill barely or not twice as long as wide at base ; tail blk. and orange, or brn. and yell., Setopiiaga 



(h'') Bill fully twice as long as wide; tail unmarked, or with wliito blotches Myiodioctes 



(h^) Trs. <, or about = 3tcl. ; hind toe much>its claw. Entirely blk. and wht., streaked, Mniotilta 



— little > its claw; breast and rump yellow, . . . Certhiola 

 (li') Tr3.>3tcl.; tl. not< wgs. Olive, with yell, below, hd. of tf with blk. or ashy, . . Geotiilypis 



— <wgs.; tail feathers yellow on inner webs, dusky on outer webs, Dexdroeca 



— all unmarked, same color on both webs, (h^) 



— (some or all) marked with white blotches, (h") 



iS 

 47 

 44 

 45 

 49 

 46 



27 

 28 

 29 



41 

 40 

 30 

 42 

 38 

 35 



* As tills Important distinction may not be perfectly plain to the student in some dried (ospccinlly if distorted) speci- 

 Iniens, it may help him to be liere told, tliat (/; will take him to the swallows and tlie great warbler group of little insec- 

 tivorous birds; while (i) will carry him to the blackbirds, orioles, meadow starlings, cowbirds, and boboIlnliS, and the 

 great conirostral grauivorons/['«^A fiunlly. Including grosbeaks, linnets, huntings, fiuclies, and all the sparrows. 



