Color Key to North American Birds / with bibliographical appendix

The North American members of the Order PASSERES are placed in two Suborders, the Clamatores, or so-called Songless Perching Birds, which includes all the Flycatchers, and the Suborder Oscines, or Singing Perching Birds, which includes all our remaining Perching Birds. While the Flycatchers are therefore technically classed as songless birds, it does not follow that they have no songs. Sing they do, but because of the less developed condition of their voice-producing organ, they cannot give utterance to the longer and more musical songs of the Oscines, which are supplied with a better musical instrument.

The Flycatchers, (Family Tyrannidæ) number somewhat over three hundred and fifty species, and are found only in America, where they are most abundant in the tropics. Feeding almost exclusively on insects, those species which visit the United States are of necessity migratory, not more than half a dozen of the thirty species which nest with us, remaining in the United States during the winter, and these are found only on our southern borders.

Flycatchers as a rule, capture their prey on the wing. When perching, their pose is usually erect and hawk-like. They often raise their crown feathers, which in many species are somewhat lengthened, a habit giving them a certain big-headed appearance.

Flycatchers are most useful birds. The food of the Kingbird, for example, a species which is erroneously believed to destroy honey bees, has been found to consist of 90 per cent. insects, mostly injurious species, while only fourteen out of two hundred and eighty-one stomachs contained the remains of honey bees; forty of the fifty bees found being drones.

The true Larks, (Family Alaudidæ) are chiefly Old World birds, the Skylark being the best known member of the Family. In America we have only the Horned or Shore Larks, one species of which shows so much climatic variation in color throughout its wide range, that no less than thirteen subspecies or geographical races of it are recognized in the United States.

The Horned Lark is a bird of the plains and prairies and is less common in the Atlantic States than westward. Like the Skylark it sings in the air, but its vocal powers are limited and not to be compared with those of its famous relative.

The Crows and Jays, (Family Corvidæ) number about two hundred species of which some twenty-five inhabit the western hemisphere. To this family belong the Raven, Rook, Magpie and Jackdaw, all birds of marked intelligence; and our Crows and Jays are fully worthy of being classed with these widely known and distinguished members of their family.

The Crows and Jays, by varying their food with the season, are rarely at loss for supplies of one kind or another and most species are represented throughout their ranges at all times of the year. In the more northern parts of their homes, however, some of these birds are migratory, and Crows, as is well known, gather in great flocks during the winter, returning each night to a roost frequented, in some instances, by two or three hundred thousand Crows.

While the Crows and Jays are technically 'Song Birds' their voices are far from musical. Nevertheless they possess much range of expression and several species learn to enunciate words with more or less ease.

The Starlings, (Family Sturnidæ) are Old World birds represented in America only by the European Starling which was introduced into Central Park, New York City, in 1890 and is now common in the surrounding country.

The Blackbirds, Orioles, and Meadowlarks, (Family Icteridæ) number about one hundred and fifty species and are found only in the New World. The Blackbirds are most numerous in North America, where, migrating in vast armies and often living in large colonies, they become among the most characteristic and conspicuous of our birds.

The Orioles are most numerous in the tropics, where some thirty species are known. Apparently all of them are remarkable as nest builders, the large Cassiques, nearly related, great yellow and black birds, weaving pouches three and four feet long, several dozen of which, all occupied, may be seen swinging from the branches of a single tree.

The Finches, Sparrows, Grosbeaks, etc., (Family Fringillidæ) number nearly six hundred species, a greater number than is contained in any other family of birds. They are distributed throughout the world, except in the Australian region, some ninety odd species inhabiting North America.

Varying widely in color, the Fringillidæ all agree in possessing stout, conical bills, which are of service to them in crushing the seeds on which they feed so largely.

The streaked, brownish Sparrows, often so difficult of identification, are usually inhabitants of plains, fields, or marshes, where they are rendered inconspicuous by their dull colors. The more gayly attired Grosbeaks, Buntings, Cardinals etc., frequent trees or bushy growths, where their plumage either harmonizes with their surroundings or where they have the protection afforded by the vegetation.

Most of the members of this family are good singers, some of them indeed being noted for their powers of song. They are less migratory than insect-eating birds and some species are with us at all seasons. Their abundance, musical gifts, and constant presence render them, from the field student's point of view, highly important members of the great class Aves.

From an economic standpoint the Fringillidæ are no less deserving of our esteem. Some species are of incalculable value as destroyers of the seeds of noxious weeds. Fifteen hundred seeds have been found in the stomach of one Snowflake or Snowbunting, and it has been estimated by Professor Beal, of the Biological Survey of the United States Department of Agriculture, that during the winter season, in the single State of Iowa, where his studies were made, Tree Sparrows devour no less than 875 tons of weed seeds, chiefly of the ragweed.

The Tanagers, (Family Tanagridæ) are found only in the New World, where they are most numerously represented in the tropics. As a family they are remarkable for the brilliancy of their colors; the common, but mistaken idea that most tropical birds are brightly clad being in no small part due to the abundance of Tanagers and beauty of their plumage.

Only five of the some three hundred and fifty known species reach the United States and these are migratory, coming to us in the spring and returning to the tropics in the fall. Tanagers, as a rule, are not possessed of much vocal ability, our species ranking high in their family as songsters, the notes of many species being far less musical.

Like most gaily costumed birds the plumages of many Tanagers undergo striking changes in color with age and season. The male of our Scarlet Tanager, for example, is olive-green with black wing-coverts during his first winter, the scarlet plumage not being acquired until the following spring. It is worn, however, only during the nesting season after which the less conspicuous olive-green dress is again acquired, the wings and tail, however, remaining black.

Swallows, (Family Hirundinidæ) are of world-wide distribution, and as might be expected in birds possessing such remarkable powers of flight, many of the species have unusually extended ranges. Our Barn Swallow, for example, is found throughout North America in summer, and in the winter it migrates as far south as southern Brazil.

Birds of the air, the aërial habits of Swallows are reflected in their long wings and small, weak feet; while their small bills and broad, widely opening mouths indicate their manner of feeding.

In spite of their poor equipment of tools, Swallows take high rank as nest builders, and it is interesting to observe that although the birds are structurally much alike, their nests often differ widely in character. Compare for instance, the mud-made dwellings of the Barn and Cliff Swallows with the tunneled hole of the Bank Swallow and one realizes how little the character of a bird's home may depend on the structure of it's builder.

The food of Swallows, remarks Professor Beal, "consists of many small species of beetles which are much on the wing, many species of diptera (mosquitoes and their allies), with large quantities of flying ants and a few insects of similar kinds. Most of them are either injurious or annoying, and the numbers destroyed by Swallows are not only beyond calculation, but almost beyond imagination."

The true Waxwings, (Family Ampelidæ) number only three species with representatives in the northern parts of both hemispheres. Their notes, as a rule are limited to a few unmusical calls, which, with our Cedar Waxwing, are usually uttered when the bird is about to fly.

Waxwings are found in small flocks during the greater part of the year and roam about the country as though they were quite as much at home in one place as in another, provided food be plenty. Small fruits, chiefly wild ones, constitute their usual fare, but they also feed on insects, the injurious elm beetle being among their victims.

The Shrikes, (Family Laniidæ) are represented in America by only two species, the remaining two hundred or more members of this family being found in the Old World. Shrikes are noted for their singular habit of impaling their prey on thorns or similarly sharp-pointed growths, or occasionally they may hang it in the crotch of a limb. This proceeding enables them to tear it to pieces more readily, for it will be observed that while Shrikes have a hawk-like bill, their feet are comparatively weak and sparrow-like and evidently of no assistance to them in dissecting their food.

Our Northern Shrike, or Butcherbird, feeds chiefly on small birds and mice, while the southern species, or Loggerhead, is a great destroyer of grasshoppers and he also eats lizards and small snakes.

The Vireos, (Family Vireonidæ) number fifty species, all American. They search the foliage carefully for leaf-eating insects and their eggs, and examine the crevices in the bark for eggs of the injurious wood-boring insects. They are therefore unusually beneficial birds.

Bearing a general resemblance in size and color to many of the Warblers, Vireos are sometimes confused with members of that family. They are, however, as a rule, more deliberate in their motions and not such active flutterers as are many of the Warblers. They are also more musical, all the Vireos having characteristic songs, which if not always highly musical, are generally noticeable, pronounced and unmistakable.

The nests of all our Vireos are pendant, deeply cup-shaped structures usually hung between the forks of a crotch, to the arms of which they are most skilfully woven.

The Warblers, (Family Mniotiltidæ) like the Vireos are distinctly American birds, indeed they may be called characteristic North American birds since most of the one hundred odd species are found north of Mexico. Between thirty and forty species of these active, beautiful little creatures may be found in the course of a year at a single locality in the Eastern States and they therefore constitute an exceedingly important element in our bird-life. Most of them come in May at the height of the spring migration; when the woods often swarm with them as they flit from limb to limb in pursuit of their insect food. The larger number of them pass onward to their northern homes and in September they return to us in increased numbers.

The beauty of their plumage, the briefness but regularity of their visits, the rarity of certain species, combine to make the Warblers especially attractive to the field student and their charms are heightened by the difficulty with which many of them are identified. Study them as we may there are still species which have escaped us.

By far the larger number of Warblers may be described as flutterers that feed agilely about the terminal branches, (genera Dendroica and Helminthophila); others are true flycatchers, so far as feeding habit is concerned, (genera Setophaga and Wilsonia,) while others still feed in the undergrowth or on the ground, (genera Geothlypis and Seiurus). Insects constitute almost their entire fare and they are among our most beneficial birds.

Most of the Wagtails (Family Motacillidæ), are inhabitants of the Old World, only three of the sixty odd species being found in this country. Our Pipit or Titlark is our best known, most widely distributed species.

Like other members of its family it has the habit of wagging or tipping its tail both when walking (for it should be noted that these birds are ground-inhabiting and walkers) and at rest.

The Dippers (Family Cinclidæ) though numbering only twelve species are distributed throughout the larger part of the world from the Andes of South America to the mountains of Alaska, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Everywhere they are haunters of streams, usually dashing mountain torrents, over and under which they seem equally at home. Darting into the rushing waters they fly beneath the surface or feed on the bottom with perfect ease, their thick, dense plumage evidently forming a water-proof covering. Their nests are great balls of moss often placed so near some boiling cascade as to receive frequent showers of spray. The opening, however, is at the side, and the eggs and young are well protected by an effective roof.

The Wrens, Thrashers, and Mockingbirds, (Family Troglodytidæ) form two well defined subfamilies. The Wrens, (Subfamily Troglodytinæ) number about one hundred and fifty species all but a dozen of which are confined to America. The Thrashers and Mockingbirds, (Subfamily Miminæ) number some fifty species, all of which are confined to America.

As their dull, neutral colors would lead us to suppose, both Wrens and Thrashers are inhabitants of the lower growth rather than of the tree-tops, and while they may seek an elevated perch whence to deliver their song, their food is secured and their time consequently largely passed near or on the ground.

Few families of birds contain so many noted musicians, nearly every member of this family being a singer of more than usual ability.

The Creepers, (Family Certhiidæ) number twelve species, only one of which is found in America. This, however has a wide range and, presenting more or less climatic variation in color, is recognized under several subspecific names. Its habits, nevertheless, are much the same everywhere. It climbs the trees of the mountains of Mexico or of California with the same ceaseless energy it shows in Maine.

The sharply-pointed, stiffened tail-feathers of the Creeper are of evident use to it as it ascends trees and pauses here and there to pick out an insect's egg from the bark. The same type of tail feather is shown by Woodpeckers, an excellent illustration of similar structure accompanying similar habits in birds not at all closely related.

The Nuthatches and Titmice, (Family Paridæ), like the Wrens and Thrashers, belong in two well marked Subfamilies; The Nuthatches, (Subfamily Sittinæ) number about twenty species, only four of which inhabit America; the Titmice, (Subfamily Parinæ) number some seventy-five species, of which thirteen are American.

Nuthatches are tree-creepers, but climbing up or down with equal ease, their tail is not employed as a prop, and consequently shows no special development of pointed or stiffened feathers. Their toes, however, are long, and their nails large and strong, evidently giving them a firm grip on the bark of trees.

The Chickadees are generally resident birds and, as a rule, whatever species we find in a given locality are apt to be there throughout the year. We therefore become better acquainted with some of these lairds than with others which are with us only a short season. This is especially true of our eastern Black-capped Chickadee, which comes familiarly about our homes in winter to partake of the feast of nuts and suet which we spread for him at that season.

Feeding largely on the eggs or larvæ of insects particularly injurious to trees, the Nuthatches and Titmice are of great value to man.

The Kinglets, Gnatcatchers, and Old World Warblers, (Family Sylviidæ) number about one hundred and twenty-five species, which are divided among the following well-defined subfamilies: The Kinglets, (Subfamily Regulinæ) seven species, three of which are American; the Gnatcatchers, (Subfamily Polioptilinæ) some fifteen species, all American; the Old World Warblers, (Subfamily Sylviinæ) about one hundred species, all Old World except one which inhabits the Bering Sea coast of Alaska.

The Kinglets are small, olive green birds which may be mistaken for Warblers but, aside from structural differences not evident in the field, they may be known by their smaller size, greater tameness, and habit of nervously flitting their wings at frequent intervals. One of our species, the Ruby-crown, possesses a remarkably loud, clear, and musical song, a surprising performance for so tiny a songster. Kinglets build large nests of moss and feathers and lay as many as ten eggs.

The Gnatcatchers are small, slender, grayish birds which once well seen will not be confused with other species. The Gnatcatchers, like the Kinglets, are architects of more than usual ability, building a nest beautifully covered with lichens.

The Thrushes, (Family Turdidæ) are variously classified by different ornithologists, but under the ruling of the American Ornithologists' Union they are grouped in the same family with the Bluebird, Solitaires, and Stonechats. This family numbers about three hundred species, of which about one-half are true Thrushes (Subfamily Turdinæ). The members of this subfamily are, as a rule, fine singers, many of them being among the best known song birds, and from a musical point of view the group, as a whole, is usually given the first place among birds. If, however, all the fifteen known species of Solitaires sing as well as the four species it has been my privilege to hear, I am assured that no one would dispute their claim to the highest rank which can be awarded singing birds.

In the succeeding pages, the five hundred and fifty odd species and subspecies included in the preceding families of the Order Passeres are grouped according to some obvious color character in order to facilitate their identification in life. A satisfactory arrangement of this kind is out of the question. Lines sharply separating the groups proposed do not exist and some species appear to fit in one section as well as in another. Nevertheless, it is hoped that in most instances, the system will be found to serve the purpose intended. Under its ruling our Perching Birds are grouped as follows:

1. With red markings.
2. With blue markings.
3. With orange or yellow markings.
4. With reddish brown or chestnut markings, chiefly in the form of patches or uniformly colored areas.
5. Brownish, generally streaked birds.
6. Dull, inconspicuously colored birds, without prominent markings.
7. Gray, black, or black and white birds.

While the first object of the bird student is to learn to name birds I would again urge him to acquaint himself with at least the arrangement of the Orders and Families of our birds and their leading structural characters. (see page 2.)

Having identified a bird, its family may always be determined by referring to its number in the systematic list of birds at the end of the book; and the more important characters of its Order and Family will be found in the synopsis of Orders and Families beginning on page 9.