PART II 



KEY, CLASSIFICATION, AND DESCRIPTION OF 

 THE SPECIES 



METHOD OF USING THE KEY 



Caution. — In using the Key, never read any statements 

 exce]Dt those to which you are directed by the letters in paren- 

 thesis. 



Rule. — First read all the statements following the stars (*) 

 at the beginning of the Key ; decide which one of these best 

 agrees with the specimen you have. At the end of the chosen 

 one you will find a letter in parenthesis ( ). Somewhere be- 

 low, this letter is used two or more times. Read carefully all 

 the statements following this letter; at the end of the one 

 which most nearly states the facts about your specimen, you 

 will again be directed by a letter to another part of the Key. 

 Continue this process until instead of a letter there is a number 

 and a name. The name is that of the Family to ^^■hich your bird 

 belongs. Turn to the descriptive part of the book where this 

 family number, in regular order, is found. The headlines 

 on the right-hand pages will show you which way to turn for 

 the family sought. Under all Families of more than three 

 species, another Key will enable you to determine the species. 



The illustrations are as accurate as they could be made in 

 black and white, but too much reliance must not be placed 

 upon them. The student must remember that there are sea- 

 sonal sexual, local, and even individual differences as well as 



39 



