BIRDS OF THE BAHAMA ISLANDS. 
39 
MEASUREMENT OF SPECIMENS. 
Writers often differ in their style of measuring a specimen, 
and for that reason I include below the usual rules for measure- 
ment, which are followed in the present work. 
Length. — Distance, in a straight line , from the end of the bill to 
the tip of the longest tail-feather. Sometimes one or two 
feathers are much longer than the others, as in the Tropic 
bird. 
Wing. — Distance, in a straight line, from the carpus (bend of the 
wing) to the tip of the longest primary. 
Tail. — Distance from the body to the end of the longest feather. 
Bill. — Distance, in a straight line (not taking the curve of the 
bill), from the tip to where it joins skin or feathers on the 
forehead. (Exception, birds having frontal plate.) 
Tarsus. — Distance, in front , from the knee-joint to the root of 
the middle toe. 
All measurements are given in inches, unless otherwise stated. 
