80 FIELD KEY TO COMMON BIRDS. 



IV. Plumage conspicuously black, or black and white. 



1. Black and vvltitc birdy. 

 A. Throat black. 



a. Length ovur 00 inches. 

 aK Entire under parts black; nape buffy ; rump white; a musical 

 dweller of fields and laeadows; frequently sin-i^s on the wing ; May 



to Sept Bobolink, page 170. 



a2. Breast rose-rod; rest of tlie plumage Idack and white; song 

 rapid, loud and musical ; (.-all-note, jjeck^ a tree dweller in rather 

 open woodland; May to Sept. 



KosE-BREASTEi) Grosbeak, page 202. 

 a-. Sides reddish brown ; rest of the plumage black and white ; call- 

 note, chewiiih or towhee ; inhabits the undergrowth ; often seen on 

 ground scratching among fallen leaves ; Apl. 25 to Oct. 



Towhee, page 204. 

 h. Length under G'OO inches. 

 h^. Crown black; cheeks white; back ashy; unstreaked; QsW^chick- 

 a-dee^ or a musical, double-noted whistle; a permanent resident. 



Chickadee, page 248. 

 Jj. Throat and otiier parts white or whitish. 

 a. Length 8-50 inches ; upper parts blackish slate-color; tail tipped with 

 white; a bird of the air, catching its insect food on the wing, and 

 occasionally sallying forth from its e.\posed pci'ch in pursuit of a pass- 

 ing Crow ; note, an unmusical, steely chatter ; May to Sept. 



Kingbird, page 150. 



h. Length n-QO inches; upper parts washed with rusty; generally seen 



in liocks : terrestrial; ]\ov. to Mch Snowflake, page 196. 



2. No white in the plumage. 



A. Length 19'00 inches ; jet black Am. Crow, page 161. 



B. Length 12-00 inches; black with metallic reflections ; iris yellowiah; 

 migrates in liocks ; nests usually in colonies in coniferous trees ; voice 

 cracked and reedy; tail 'Mceeled " in short tlights ; a walker; Mch. to 

 Nov Purple Grackle, page liiS. 



C. Length '.I'HO inelics; shoulders red; haunts marshes; call, kong-quer- 

 r?e; Mch. to (^ct Red-wixgei) Blackbird, page 16(3. 



D. Length 7'90 inches; head and neck eoft'ee-brown ; frequently seen on 

 the ground near cattle ; Mch. to Nov Cowbird, page 176. 



■?. Birds not included in the preceding sections ithat is, 

 plumage without either yellow^, orange, red, or blue; 

 no^ conspicuously black, or black and w^hite). 



1. Undur parts white or whitish, all o/te color, without streaks ur spots. 

 A. Back wit/wilt streaks or spots. 

 a. Back olive-green ; gleaners, exploring the foliage for food or flitting 

 about the outer branches. 



a^. Length 6*25 inches; a white line over the eye bordered by a nar- 

 row black one; cap gray ; iris red; song, a rambling recitative : "You 

 see it — you know it — do you hear meV etc. ; May to Oct. 



Eed-eyed Vibeo, page 221. 



