36 USE OF THE KEYS. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Now let us take a somewhat less simple ease—a male English Spar- 
     
     row. This bird, you will doubtless remember, has a black patch on 
     
     the throat and breast, a slate-colored crown. chestnut marks on the 
     
     sides of the head, and a streaked back. Turning to the key to the 
     
     family IV'I't'ngz'llidw, or Finches. Sparrows. etc., we read first the head— 
     
     ings to the, main divisions which. in the larger families. are placed at 
     
     the beginning of the key in order that they may be more readily com- 
     
     pared. 
     
    

    
     “ 1. Under parts with red. 
     
    

    
     “ 11. Under parts with no red. and without distinct streaks; throat 
     
     or breast sometimes with a patch or spot. 
     
    

    
     “ 111. Under parts without red. and with numerous streaks.” 
     
    

    
     Our bird undoubtedly belongs in Section II. Under this section 
     
     we read first: " 1. Tail with white spots. bars. or patches.~y Our bird 
     
     has no white in the tail, so we go to " 2 " and read: " Without large 
     
     white spots or patches in the tail.” There is no number 3, so we have 
     
     no hesitation in placing our bird in Section "2.” The first subsection 
     
     here is “A. Back without distinct streaks.“ Our bird is unquestion- 
     
     ably streaked. and we therefore go to “ B. Back distinctly streaked.” 
     
     There is no Section C, and it follows that our bird belongs in “B.” 
     
     Under B we have “(1. Bend of the wing yellow " and “0. Bend of 
     
     the wing not yellow.” Our bird has no yellow on the wing. and we 
     
     therefore place it in subsection 11. This subsection is subdivided 
     
     into "N. Crown bright reddish brown." etc.. “0‘. Crown streaked or 
     
     spotted.” etc., and “ (11. Crown mixed grit ish brown and rufous, ashy, 
     
     0r slate-color. without black streaks." Evidently our bird belongs in 
     
     the group headed (11. which we find includes four species. ([9. ([3, rl‘, 
     
     and (15. After reading: the characters assigned to each of these. we, 
     
     have no hesitation in deciding: that those under (I4 apply to our bird, 
     
     and we prove our identification by turning‘ to the description of 1)(IS,\‘(‘I‘ 
     
     domestir'us. 
     
    

    
     I have purposely taken a comparatively complicated case. If I 
     
     have made it clear. you will have no further difficulty in using iho 
     
     keys. so far as their construction goes. It might, be supposed, {run 
     
     this somewhat lengthy description. that the process required much 
     
     time; but as you become familiar with the use, of the keys it should 
     
     never take, you more than five minutes to identify a bird with then. 
     
    

    
     1):}.w-rr'plz‘mm of 1’!Hnm{/w.-—'l‘he descriptions. with quoted exc-p- 
     
     tions. are from specimens in the American Museum of Nata 'al lEis- 
     
     tory, and my thanks are due the authorities of that mstitlttltm for 
     
     permission to use its 'aluable collections. 1 have tried to make tlem 
     
     as concise and simple and. at the same time. as detailed as seemed 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     necessary for the purpose of identification.