-34 



FIRST LFSSONS IN ZOOLOGY 



L;iving the descriptions of all or most of the species of the 

 region, with tables and keys for tracing out tlie different 

 forms. The best general manual is Coues' " Key to the 

 Birds of North America," which includes not only keys 

 for tracing and descriptions of all the known species of 

 birds on this continent, but also accounts of the distribu- 

 tion, of the nesting and eggs, and of the plumage of the 

 )-oung birds, besides a thorough introduction to the anat- 



Fjg. 191. — RubSct-liackL^il tlinish, T/fr<//fs iisln/nlus, (Photoi^raph from 

 lite hy Eliz. ;iii(l Jn^ ( iriiiiicll.) 



om)- and ph)'siology rjf birds, and directions for collecting 

 and preserving them. Jordan's "Manual of Verte- 

 brates " gives kc)'s and compact but clcai" descriptions of 

 the Ijirds found east of the Missouri Ivix'er ; Chapman's 

 "Handbook of the Iiirds nf I'Lastern North America," 

 and Florence ]iailc\''s " Piirtls of the Western States," are 

 excellent. To use these manuals effecti\'el)' it is neces- 

 sary to have the bird's body in hand; and that means 



