- KEY TO THE BIRDS. 



12. Dark brown above, minutely barred with blackish, tinder parts 



gray, with brownish wash and faint bandings. Fairly long 

 tail. Bill black above, lower mandible light ; feet brown. 



House Wren. See page 83. 



13. Colour similar to last species, except the under parts, which are 



rusty and dimly, but finely, barred with dark. Tail and bill 

 short ; the latter dark and slender. 



Winter Wren. See page 84. 



14. Above brown. Crown and part of back streaked with black and 



white. White beneath, washed with rusty across breast and 

 along sides. Wings and tail barred. Very short bill. 



Short-billed Marsh Wren. See page 85. 



16. Above clear brown, whitish line over eye, neck and back streaked 

 sparingly with white. Wings and tail brown ; the latter 

 barred. Bill nearly as long as head. 



Long-billed Marsh Wren. See page 86. 



*** Sparrow-like birds, ■with stout bills. General plumage 

 brown, gray, or rusty, much streaked and spotted, and 

 occasionally washed with reddish purple. One species 

 has a white throat and one a white crown. 



Finch Family. See page 133. 



**** Birds with soft, Quaker-coloured plumage of browns and 

 drabs ; not barred, striped, or spotted. 



a. Crested; short, blunt, broad, black bill. 



16. Black frontlet. Crest, breast, throat, wings, and tail purplish ash. 



Secondary wing quills tipped with waxy red points. Tail 



feathers banded with yellow, and sometimes tipped with red, 



like the wings. 



Cedar Waxwing. See page 184. 



b. Not crested; head about the same length as long curving bill. 



Tail long. 



17. Powerful bill ; lower mandible yellow. Above olive, with gray 



and metallic tints. Two middle tail feathers olive, outer 

 quills black, with conspicuous white spots. Wings washed 

 with bright cinnamon. Under parts grayish white. 



Yellow-billed Cuckoo. See page 202. 



18. Above general colouring same as last species. Black bill, red 



eyelids. White spots on tail inconspicuous. 



Black-billed Cuckoo. See page 203. 

 291 



