80 FIELD KEY TO COMMON BIEDS. 



IV. Plumage conspicuously black, or black and 'white. 



1. Black and white birds. 

 A. Throat black. 



a. Length over 6 00 inches. 



a'. Entire under parts black ; nape buffy ; rump white ; a musical 

 dweller of fields and meadows ; frequently sings on the wing ; May 

 to Sept Bobolink, page 170. 



a". Breast rose-rod ; rest of the plumage black and white ; song 

 rapid, loud and musical ; call-note, peek ; a tree dweller in rather 

 open woodland ; May to Sept. 



EosE-BEEASTED Gbosbeak, page 202. 



<»'. Sides reddish brown ; rest of the plumage black and white ; call- 

 note, chewinh or tow/iee ; inhabits the undergrowth : often seen on 

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



TowHEE, page 204. 



b. Length under 6'00 inches. 



S'. Crown black ; cheeks white ; back ashy ; unstreaked ; call, cMei:- 

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



Chickadee, page 248. 

 £. Throat and other 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 exposed perch in pursuit of a pass- 

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



' KiHGBiED, page 150. 



b. Length 6-90 inches : upper parts washed with rusty ; generally seen 

 in flocks; terrestrial; Nov. to Mch Snowflake, page 196. 



2. No white in the plumage. 



A. Length ID'OO inches ; jet black Am. Cjbow, page 161. 



JB. Length 12-00 inches ; black with metallic reflections ; iris yellowish ; 

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

 cracked and reedy; tail " keeled " in short flights; a walker; Mch. to 

 Nov PuBPLE Gbackle, page 168. 



0. Length 9'50 inches ; shoulders red ; haunts marshes ; call, kong-quer- 

 ree\ Mch. to Oct Eed-winged Blackbird, page 166. 



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

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



T. Birds not included in the preceding sections (that is, 

 plumage -without either yello-w, orange, red, or blue; 

 not conspicuously black, or black and -white). 



1. Under parts white or whitish, all one ao\oT,wit}wut streaks or spots. 

 A. Back without streaks or spots. 

 14. 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 me ? " etc. ; May to Oct. 



Eed-eted Vibeo, page 221. 



