or Owl, Parrot, Kiiij^fisher, Woodpecker, Nighthawk or Whippoorwill, Hummingbird or Chimney Swift. Exclusive of the Perching Birds, then, there are left only the Cuckoos. The two Cuckoos found north of Florida are long, slender birds with long tails tipped with white, slightly curved bills, two toes directed forward and two backward, and may be easily distinguished from the birds of other families. MAST FI.-^CATCHER Life size. !o show liet.iils of external structure Nine of the ten orders and fourteen of the thirty -two families of land -birds are thus disposed of, leaving us only with the order, Passeres or Perching Birds, and its eighteen families. Before outlining, however, the principal characteristics of these families a word should be said on the Necessity of Careful, Definite Observation. — It may, perhaps, be con- sidered unnecessary to insist on seeing a bird before attempting to name it, but when one receives such descriptions as "a small rather brownish
