44 



IDENTIFICATION. 



We have 1 5 sub-families left. These we can sort out on the com- 

 parative length of the first primary, which is always narrow among 

 the Passerines. In some of our group this first primary, which rnust 

 not be mistaken for the remicle, is absent altogether, in others it is 

 just apparent, in others it is almost half as long as the second primary, 

 in others it is more than half as long as the second primary. We can 

 thus, for the purposes of identification, separate the birds we have left 

 into three divisions : — 



1. Having the first primary quite half as long as the second. 



2. Having the first primary obsolete or minute. 



3. Having the first primary less than half as long as the second. 



Of the first division we had a capital example in our typical wing 

 on page 31. There are only two Passeiine sub-families which have 

 wings like that. One is the Corvina, comprising the Raven, the Crow, 

 the Jackdaw, Magpie, Jay, and Nutcracker ; and the other is the 

 Troglodytijtce, which has as its only representative the well-known 

 Jenny Wren. Now, no one is likely to mistake the diminutive Wren, 

 which is one of the smallest birds we have, for one of the CorvincE. 

 If the size were not enough to prevent the mistake, the long soft 

 plumage, the erect little tail, and the con- 

 cave wings, compared to the flat wings of 

 the larger birds, would at once remove 

 all difficulty in recognition. 



Our 15 sub -families have thus be- 

 come 13, and these we can separate into 

 six of one and seven of the other. Let 

 us take the six first. Here is the typical 

 wing of this group. It is that of a Skylark. 

 See how small the first primary is to what 

 it was in the wing of the Rook. In some of 

 the Finches, as we shall see immediately, 

 this feather is absent altogether ; and in 

 none of our six is it a quarter as long as 

 the second. The six are : — 

 Fringiltina: (the Finches). Sturninse (the Starlings). 



EmberizinjE (the Buntings). Hirundininae (the Swallows). 



MotaciUinm (the Wagtails). Alaudinse (the Larks). 



Let us consider these in order. Does our bird belong to the 

 FritigillincE ? Is he like a Sparrow, Passer himself — whence the 

 Passerines etymologically — is he like a Canary ; a Goldfinch ; a 

 Bullfinch ; a Greenfinch ; a Chaffinch ; a Linnet ; a Crossbill .? Has he 

 that peculiar beak, hard, short, and conical.' No. Then he is not 

 one of the Fringillinas. We need not have looked at his wing in this 

 case ; the beak alone would have been enough. 



Is he a Bunting? But how can you tell a Bunting from a Finch ? 

 Look at the gape line. Look at the head side- 

 ways, and see the sharp angle with which the 

 upper mandible shuts on the lower. In the 

 Finches, as in all the sub-families that follow, 

 as you can see by their heads, this line is 

 straight. But there is another distinction 

 between the Finches and the Buntings, and 



