80 FIELD KEY TO COMMON BIRDS.

IV. Plumage conspicuously black, or black and white. 1. Black and white birds. A. Throat black.

a. Lenj. 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 134. a'. Breast rose-red; rest of tlie plumage black and white; song rapid, loud and musical ; call-note, peek ; a tree dweller in rather open woodland ; May to Sept. RosE-BREASTED Grosbeak, page 150. as. Sides reddish brown; rest of the plumage black and white ; call- note, chewink or towhee ; inhabits the undergrowth : often seen on ground scratching among fallen leaves ; Apl. 25 to Oct. Towhee, page 151. b. Length under 6-00 inches. Ji. Crown black ; cheeks white ; back ashy ; unstreaked ; call, chicTc- a-dee, or a musical, double-noted whistle ; a permanent resident. Chickadee, page 179. B. 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. Kingbird, page 122. h. Length 6-90 inches : upper parts washed with rusty ; generally seen in flocks : terrestrial ; Nov. to Mch Snowflake, page 147. 2. No white in the plumage. .i. Length 19-00 inches; jet black Am. Crow, page 128. B. 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 Purple Grackle, page 133. C. Length 9-50 inches ; shoulders red ; haunts marshes ; call, kong-quer- ree Mch. to Oct Eed-winged Blackbird, page 132. D. Length 7-90 inches ; head and neck coftee-brown ; frequently seen on the ground near cattle ; Mch. to Nov Cowbird, page 137. T. Birds not included in the preceding sections that is, plumage Avithout either yellow, orange, red, or blue; not conspicuously black, or black and white). 1. Under parts white or whitish, all one color, without streaks or spots. A. Back ivithoxit streaks or spots. a. Back olive-green ; gleaners, exploring the foliage for food or flitting about the outer branches. ai. 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 Vireo, page 164.