6. The Robins, going on into the minor warblers, and the Wrens; the essential character of a Robin being that it should have some front red in its dress somewhere; and the Cross-bills being included in the class, partly because they have red in their dress, and partly because I don't know where else to put them.
7. The Creepers and Tits—separated chiefly on the ground of their minuteness, and subtle little tricks and graces of movement.
8. The Sparrows, going on into Buntings and Finches.
9. The Pheasants (substituting this specific name for that of Scratchers).
10. The Herons; for the most part wading and fishing creatures, but leading up to the Stork, and including any long-legged birds that run well, such as the Plovers.
11. The Dabchicks—the subject of our present chapter.
12. The Swans and Geese.
13. The Ducks.
14. The Gulls.
Of these, I take the Dabchicks first, for three sufficient reasons;—that they give us least trouble,—that they best show what I mean by broad principles of grouping,—and that they are the effective clasp, if not center, of all the series; since they are the true link between land and water birds. We will look at one or two of their leading examples, before saying more of their position in bird-society. I shall give for the heading of each article, the name which I propose for the bird in English children's schools—Dame-schools if possible; a perfectly simple Latin one, and a familiar English one. The varieties of existing nomenclature will be given in the Appendix, so far as I think them necessary to be known or remembered.