THOMAS STEVENSON BRADLEE.

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

1C

Plate

long -"billed Marsh Wren .

Blue, yellow; I a deed Warbler

Maryland y allow Thr o at . -

'

THE

BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND,

BY

EDWARD A. SAMUELS,

BOSTON:
NOTES, HOLMES, AND COMPANY,

117, WASHINGTON STREET.
1870.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by

EDWARD A. SAMUELS,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

CAMBRIDGE :

STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY
JOHN WILSON AND SON.

k-
Sig

i la

PREFACE.

IN presenting this volume to the public, I would say that
my chief aim in its preparation has been to supply the great
demand for some work that might be accessible to all, both
in consequence of its moderate price and its plain, untech-
nical language.

The want of such a volume is keenly appreciated by our
students in this interesting branch of natural history ; and,
as all the editions of the valuable and popular works of
"Wilson and Nuttall are out of print, it has long been
almost entirely unsupplied.

I have been able, from my own observations, to correct
some important errors that have been . published as to
the breeding habits of different species, and have added,
probably, a few new facts to our knowledge respecting
those of others ; but I must apologize for being obliged, in
a great many cases, to use the observations of others for
facts which I have had no opportunity of ascertaining
myself.

I am greatly indebted to Professor Spencer !P. Bairft, of
Washington, for his generous permission to use the descrip-
tions of the birds given by him in the ninth volume of

[iii]

M366911

IV PREFACE.

the Pacific Railroad Reports, and for some valuable speci
mens with which he furnished me for descriptions and
figures. I also take this occasion to return my thanks to
Hon. James S. Grennell, of Washington, and J. P. Norris,
of Philadelphia, for the use of many valuable cuts of birds ;
and to George A. Boardman, Esq., of Milltown, Me., John
Krider, of Philadelphia, Thure Kumlien, of Albion, Wis.,
J. A. Allen, of Springfield, Mass., William Couper, of
Quebec, Lower Canada, Henry A. Purdie, of Boston, and
J. G-. Rich, of Upton, Me., for many interesting specimens,
and much valuable information.

Great credit is due Messrs. M. M. Tidd and Nathan
Brown, of Boston, for the careful and accurate manner
in which they have illustrated the eggs ; subjects, as is
well known, exceedingly difficult to figure, particularly on
wood.

To Messrs. John Wilson & Son, of Cambridge, Mass., my
grateful acknowledgments are made for their indefatigable
efforts to secure an elegant and perfect typographical exe-
cution.

The imperfections and shortcomings in the present work
are too apparent ; but they are, in most cases, unavoidable,
because of the very meagre knowledge that we have of
the habits of many of our birds, and the confusion that
exists in the nomenclature, in descriptions, and observations
concerning them in the works of many authors.

E. A. s.

BOSTON, March 25, 1867.

CONTENTS.

CHAHACTERISTTCS OF ORDERS

ORDER I.— RAPTORES, ROBBERS.

PAGE

4

Family Falconidae, Falcons ....... ......

Sub-Family Falconinae, Falcons proper ..... ....

Accipitrinae, Hawks . • ..........

Buteoninse, Buzzard-Hawks ......... 34:

'Aquilinae, Eagles ......... .... 49

Family Strigidse, Owls ...............

Sub-Family Buboninse, Horned Owls .......... 60

Syrninse, Gray Owls ........... 71

Nycteininse, Day Owls ........... 77

ORDER H. — SCAKSORES, CLIMBERS.

QO

Family Cuculidae, Cuckoos

Picidae, Woodpeckers 87

ORDER HI.— INSESSORES, PERCHERS.

Sub-Order Strisores U|

Family Trochilidas, Humming-Birds

Cypselidae, Swifts . . . Hf

Caprimulgidae, Goat-Suckers

Sub-Order Clamatores, Screamers 125

Family Alcedinidae, Kingfishers 12'

Colopteridae, Flycatchers 128

Sub-Family Tyranninae, Tyrant Flycatchers 128

Sub-Order Oscines, Singers

Family Turdidae, Thrushes , • • • • 14J

Sub-Family Miminae, Mocking-Birds 163

Family Saxicolidae, Rock-Inhabiters 175

VI CONTENTS.

PAOB

Family Sylviidae, Wood-Inhabiters 178

Paridae, Titmice 182

Sub-Family Sittinae, Nuthatches 186

Family Certhiadas, Creepers .190

Troglodytidae, Wrens 192

Sylvicolida3, Warblers 199

Sub-Family Motacillinae, Wagtails 199

Sylvicolinaj, Wood- Warblers 201

Tanagrinae, Tanagers 250

Family Hirundinidae, Swallows 254

Bombycillidae, Chatterers 264

Laniidaj, Shrikes 268

Sub-Family LaniinaB, Shrikes proper 268

Vireoninae, Vireos 270

Family Alaudidae, Skylarks 280

Fringillidae, Seed-Eaters 283

Sub-Family Coccothraustinae, Finches 283

Spizellinae, Sparrows 301

Passerellinae, Buntings . . . 325

Family Icteridse 335

Sub-Family Agelaeinae, Starlings 335

Icterinae, Orioles 346

Quiscalinae, Blackbirds 350

Family Corvidae, Crows 355

Sub-Family Corvinae, Crows proper 355

Garrulinae, Jays , 364

ORDER IV. — RASORES, SCRATCHERS.

Sub-Order Columbae 373

Family Columbidae, Doves 373

Sub-Order Gallinae, Game-Birds 378

Family Tetraonidae, Grouse 378

Perdicidse, Partridges 393

ORDER V. — GRALLATORES, WADERS.

Sub-Order Herodiones 398

Family Ardeidas, Herons 398

Sub-Order Grallae, Shore-Birds 412

Family Charadridas, Plovers 413

HsematopodidaB, Oyster-Catchers 424

Recurvirostridae, Avosets . 428

CONTENTS. Vll

PAGE

Family Phalaropodidae, Phalaropes 430

Scolopacidae, Snipes *..... 432

Sub-family Tringinae, Sandpipers 440

Sub-Family Totaninse, Stilts 451

Family Paludicolse. Swamp Inhabiters 470

Sub-Family Rallinae, Rails 470

ORDER VI.— NATATORES, SWIMMERS.

Sub-Order Anseres 480

Family Anatidae 480

Sub-Family Cygninae, Swans . 480

Anserinse, Geese 481

Anatinas, River-Ducks 487

Fuligulinse, Sea-Ducks 503

Merginae, Sheldrakes 525

Family Sulidae, Gannets 532

Graculidae, Cormorants 534

Laridae, Gulls 537

Sub-Family Lestridinae, Skua-Gulls 537

Larinas, Gulls proper 539

Sterninae, Terns 545

Sub-Order Gaviae 532

Family Procellaridae, Petrels 552

Colymbidas, Divers 555

Sub-Family Colymbinae, Loons 555

Podicipinae, Grebes 558

Family Alcidae 564

Sub-Family Alcinae, Auks 564

ITrinae, Guillemots 667

APPENDIX 575

INDEX OF COMMON NAMES 585

INDEX OF SCIENTIFIC NAMES 589

ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

INTRODUCTION.

AS I have generally adopted, in the present volume, the
system of classification, and the nomenclature, &c.,
presented by Professor Baird in his report on the Birds of
North America, I will state here, that I have given, so far
as possible, his own remarks in the explanations of the
characteristics of the different orders, families, genera, &c.,
because they are expressed in the most concise and com-
prehensive language possible. I have also given the same
descriptions of the species as those contained in the above-
mentioned report, because, being made from a much greater
number of specimens than I could possibly have access
to, they are certainly better than I could present from
my own observations. The descriptions of the character-
istics of the Raptores, the Grrallce, and the Alcidce, are by
John Cassin, of Philadelphia; those of the Longipennes
Totipalmes and Colymbidce were written by Mr. George N.
Lawrence, of New York ; those of the other birds were
prepared by Professor Spencer F. Baird, of the Smithsonian
Institute.

In order that the descriptions of the birds in the follow-

[1]

INTRODUCTION,

ing pages may be perfectly understood, I give the subjoined
cuts, illustrating and explaining them : —

H a

F E D C B

A represents the primary quills, usually called primaries.

B represents the secondary quills, usually called secondaries.

C spurious wing.

D wing coverts.

E tertiary quills, usually called tertiaries.

F represents the throat.

G is the upper part of the throat, called the jugulum.

H is the bill or beak : this is divided into two parts, called the upper

and lower mandibles.
I is the frons, or forehead : feathers at this point are called frontal

feathers.

J is the crown : feathers here are called coronal feathers, and occipital.
K represents the scapular feathers.

L is the back : feathers here are sometimes called interscapular.
M represents the tarsus : called shank or leg sometimes.
N is the abdomen.
O is the rump.

P shows the upper tail coverts.
Q indicates the position of the lower tail coverts.

u

INTRODUCTION.

R shows on the bill the culmen, or crown, of the

upper mandible.
S is the naked skin at the base of the bill,

called the cere.
T shows the position of the lores between the

eye and bill.
U indicates the gape, the angle at the junction of the upper and lower

mandibles : the feathers in this locality are called rictal.
Y is the commissure, or the folding edges of the mandibles.

In addition to these parts, there are the flanks or sides
of the bird ; the pectus, or breast ; the flexure, or bend of
the wing ; the iris, or irides, the colored circle which sur-
rounds the pupil of the eye ; and the toes and tibia : the
former are sometimes palmated, as with the swimmers, or
natatores ; and the latter is that portion next above the
tarsus on the leg.

SYNOPSIS

CHARACTERISTICS OF NORTH-AMERICAN BIRDS.

THE following synopsis of the orders of birds, taken
partly from Keyserling and Blasius, will serve to illus-
trate the characteristics of the higher groups in American
Ornithology : —

A. — HIND TOE ON THE SAME LEVEL WITH THE ANTERIOR

ONES.

a. Posterior face or the sides of the tarsus more or less reticu-
lated, granulated, or with scales more numerous or smaller than
in front ; sometimes naked. Anterior face of the tarsus never in
one unbroken plate. Larynx without complex vocal muscles.

Order I. RAPTORES. — Base of the upper mandible with a
soft skin or cere. Upper mandible compressed ; its point curving
down over that of the lower, forming a strong, sharp hook. Claws
generally retractile. Toes, never two behind. Birds usually of
large size and of powerful frame, embracing the so-called birds
of prey.

Order II. SCANSORES. — Toes in pairs ; two hi front and two
behind : the outer anterior being usually directed backwards ; the
inner, in Trogonidce. Tail-feathers eight to twelve.

Order III. STRISORES. — Toes either three anterior and one
behind (or lateral), or four anterior: the hinder one is, however,
usually versatile, or capable of direction more or less laterally for-
ward. Tail-feathers never more than ten. Primaries always ten ;
the first, long.

SYNOPSIS OF THE 5

Order IV. CLAMATORES. — Toes, three anterior and one pos-
terior (not versatile). Primaries always ten; the first nearly as
long as the second. Tail-feathers usually twelve.

b. Anterior face of the tarsus in one continuous plate, or divided
transversely into large quadrate scales. Plates on either the pos-
terior surface of the tarsus or the sides, without subdivisions, never
both divided together: when divided, the divisions correspond
with the anterior ones. Larynx with peculiar complex singing
muscles.

Order V. OSCINES. — Toes, three anterior, one posterior.
Primaries, either nine only ; or, if ten, the first usually short or
spurious.

B. — HIND TOE RAISED ABOVE THE LEVEL OP THE EEST.

Order VI. RASORES. — Nostrils arched over by an incumbent
thick, fleshy valve. Bill not longer than the head, obtuse anteri-
orly. Nails broad, obtusely rounded.

Order VII. GRALLATORES. — Legs lengthened, adapted for
walking, naked above the knee. Nostrils naked. Thighs usually
quite free from the body. Toes not connected by a membrane, or
for a short distance only ; sometimes with a lobed margin.

Order VIII. NATATORES. — Adapted for swimming. Legs
generally short. Toes united by a continuous membrane. Thighs
mostly buried in the muscles of the body.

CHARACTERISTICS OF NORTH-AMERICAN BIRDS.

ORDER I. — RAPTORES. ROBBERS.

The peculiarities already given of the order Raptores aie
sufficient to define it among the others mentioned, although
many additional features might be named. The order em-
braces three families, which are characterized by Keyserling
and Blasius as follows : — -

A. — DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY.

Eyes lateral, with lashes, surrounded by a naked or woolly orbi-
tal circle ; the feathers above, below, and behind the eyes directed
backwards, as on the rest of the head ; anterior to the eye, the lore
imperfectly clothed with a radiating star of bristles, or with scale-
like feathers. The inner toe without the nail, shorter, or as long
as the outer. Nostrils opening in the cere.

VULTURID^E. — Bill contracted or indented on the anterior
border of the cere, so that the culmen is bow-shaped, or ascending
anterior to it. Eyes lying on a level with the sides of the head.
Head sparsely covered with downy feathers only, or partially
naked. Claws weak, rather slender, and only moderately curved ;
the tarsi and bases of the toes reticulated.

FALCONID^E. — The bill not contracted, nor the culmen ascend-
ing anterior to the cere. Eyes sunken. The head completely
covered with compact, perfect feathers. Claws strong.

B. — NOCTURNAL BIRDS OF PREY.

STRIGIDJE. — Eyes directed forwards ; more or less completely
surrounded by a crown of radiating bristly feathers. Lores and
base of bill densely covered with bristly feathers directed forwards.
The nostrils opening on the anterior edge of the cere. The inner
toe without its claw longer than the outer, which is versatile. A
crown of peculiarly formed feathers on the side of the head and
above the throat. Head fully feathered. Plumage very soft
and downy.

GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 7

FAMILY FALCONID^.

Sub-Family FALCONING. THE FALCONS.

FALCO, LINN.EUS.

Falco, LINN.EUS, Syst. Nat. 1. 124 (1766).

General form robust and compact. Bill short, curved strongly from the base to
the point, which is very sharp, and near which is a distinct and generally prominent
tooth; nostrils circular, with a central tubercle; wings long, pointed, formed for
vigorous, rapid, and long-continued flight; tail rather long and wide; tarsi short,
robust, covered with circular or hexagonal scales; middle toe long; claws large,
strong, curved, and very sharp.

FALCO ANATUM. — Bonaparte.
The Duck Hawk ; Great-Footed Hawk.

Falco anatum, Bonap. Comp. List, p. 4 (1838).

" Falco peregrinus," Wilson, Audubon, and other authors.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Frontal band white; entire upper parts bluish-cinereous, with trans-
verse bands of brownish-black, lighter on the rump ; under parts yellowish-white,
with cordate and circular spots of black on the breast and abdomen, and transverse
bands of black on the sides, under tail coverts, and tibise ; quills and tail brownish-
black, the latter with transverse bars of pale cinereous; cheeks with a patch of
black ; bill light-blue ; tarsi and toes yellow Sexes alike.

Younger. — Entire upper parts brownish-black; frontal spot obscure; large
space on the cheeks black; under parts dull yellowish-white, darker than in adult,
and with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black; tarsi and toes bluish-lead color,
iris hazel.

Total length, eighteen to twenty inches; wing, fourteen to fifteen; tail, seven
to eight inches.1

THE Duck Hawk, which by the name of Peregine Falcon
is known to my readers as one of the most rapacious of
our birds of prey, is not uncommon in many portions of
New England. It is nearly identical with the European
species, and its habits and destructiveness are equally great
with that bird. In its habitat, it is oftener found in the
neighborhood of the sea-coast than in the interior. It is a
powerful bird, of rapid flight and great boldness and cour-

1 See Introduction.

8 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

age, and is the terror of the water-fowl, which constitute the
greater portion of its prey. The breeding season of this
species is very early. It commences building the nest
usually on an inaccessible cliff, by the first of April. This
is constructed of twigs, grasses, and sometimes seaweeds.
The eggs are from two to four in number: their form is
almost spherical, and their color is of a reddish-brown,
covered with numerous minute spots and blotches of a
darker shade. The dimensions of the only two specimens
accessible to me at present are 1.90 inch in length by 1.75
in breadth, and 1.85 inch in length by 1.72 inch in breadth.
The following extracts from the writings of different
authors comprise the most interesting observations made
of this species : —

" The flight of this bird is of astonishing rapidity. It is scarcely
ever seen sailing, unless after being disappointed in its attempt to
secure the prey which it had been pursuing ; and even at such
times it merely rises, with a broad spiral circuit, to attain a suffi-
cient elevation to enable it to reconnoitre a certain space below. It
then emits a cry much resembling that of the sparrow-hawk, but
greatly louder, like that of the European kestrel, and flies off
swiftly in quest of plunder. The search is often performed with a
flight resembling that of the tame pigeon, until, perceiving an object,
it redoubles its flappings, and pursues the fugitive with a rapidity
scarcely to be conceived. Its turnings, windings, and cuttings
through the air, are now surprising. It follows and nears the
timorous quarry at every turn and back-cutting which the latter
attempts. Arrived within a few feet of the prey, the Falcon is
seen protruding his powerful legs and talons to their full stretch.
His wings are, for a moment, almost closed ; the next instant, he
grapples the prize, which, if too weighty to be carried off directly,
he forces obliquely toward the ground, sometimes a hundred yards
from where it was seized, to kill it, and devour it on the spot.
Should this happen over a large extent of water, the Falcon drops
his prey, and sets off in quest of another. On the contrary, should
it not prove too heavy, the exulting bird carries it off to a seques-
tered and secure place. He pursues the smaller ducks, water-hens,

GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 9

and other swimming birds ; and, if they are not quick in diving,
seizes them, and rises with them from the water. I have seen this
hawk come at the report of a gun, and carry off a teal, not thirty
steps distant from the sportsman who had killed it, with a daring
assurance as surprising as unexpected. This conduct has been
observed by many individuals, and is a characteristic trait of the
species. The largest bird that I have seen this hawk attack and
grapple with on the wing is the Mallard.

"The Great-footed Hawk does not, however, content himself
with waterfowl. He is generally seen following the flocks of
pigeons, and even blackbirds, causing great terror in their ranks,
and forcing them to perform aerial evolutions to escape the grasp
of his dreaded talons. For several days, I watched one of them
that had taken a particular fancy to some tame pigeons, to secure
which it went so far as to enter their house at one of the holes,
seize a bird, and issue by another hole in an instant, causing such
terror among the rest as to render me fearful that they would
abandon the place. However, I fortunately shot the depredator.

" They occasionally feed on dead fish, that have floated to the
shores or sand-bars. I saw several of them thus occupied, while
descending the Mississippi on a journey undertaken expressly for
the purpose of observing and procuring different specimens of
birds, and which lasted four months, as I followed the windings
of that great river, floating down it only a few miles daily. During
that period, I and my companion counted upwards of fifty of these
hawks, and killed several ; one of which was found to contain in its
stomach bones of birds, a few downy feathers, the gizzard of a teal,
and the eyes and many scales of a fish.

" Whilst in quest of food, the Great-footed Hawk will frequently
alight on the highest dead branch of a tree, in the immediate neigh-
borhood of such wet or marshy ground as the common snipe resorts
to by preference. His head is seen moving in short starts, as if he
were counting every little space below ; and, while so engaged, the
moment he espies a snipe, down he darts like an arrow, making a
rustling noise with his wings, that may be heard several hundred
yards off, seizes the snipe, and flies away to some near wood to
devour it.

" It is a cleanly bird, in respect to feeding. No sooner is the
prey dead, than the Falcon turns it belly upwards, and begins to

10 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

pluck it with his bill, which he does very expertly, holding it mean-
time quite fast in his talons ; and, as soon as a portion is cleared of
feathers, tears the flesh in large pieces, and swallows it with great
avidity.

" If it is a large bird, he leaves the refuse parts ; but, if small,
swallows the whole in pieces. Should he be approached by an
enemy, he rises with it, and flies off into the interior of the woods ;
or, if he happens to be in a meadow, to some considerable distance,
he being more wary at such times than when he has alighted on a
tree." — AUDUBON.

The following very complete description of the breeding
habits of the Great-footed Hawk is from the pen of J. A.
Allen, of Springfield, Mass., one of our most enthusiastic
students, published in the " Proceedings of the Essex Insti-
tute," vol. IY. :—

" All accounts agree that the nest is placed on almost inaccessible
cliffs ; and often it can only be approached by a person being let
down by a rope from above. The old birds are represented as bold
in the defence of their nest, approaching so near as generally to be
easily shot. They arrive early at their nesting-place ; and, though
they often bestow no labor in the construction of a nest, beyond the
scraping of a slight hollow in the ground, they defend their chosen
eyrie for weeks before the eggs are laid, and are known to return
for several years to the same site. Incubation commences very
early, the young having been found in the nest at Mount Tom, May
30, nearly fledged,1 and on Talcott Mountain, in the same condi-
tion, June 1 ; so that the laying of the eggs must occur by the last
of March, or very early in April. The number of eggs has been
known in several instances to be four.

" Mountains Tom and Holyoke, in Massachusetts, afford several
localities favorable for the nidification of the Duck Hawk ; and
sometimes several pairs, and probably usually more than one, breed
about these mountains.2 About the last of May, 1863, Mr. Bennett

1 According to R. B. Hildreth, Esq., of Springfield, who visited this nest May
30, 1861, and noted the fact. The nest on Talcott Mountain, Conn., was found the
same season, and first visited only a few days later, — about June 1, 1861.

2 Since the above was written, I have been informed by Mr. Bennett, that a
pair of these hawks actually raised their young on Mount Tom in the summer of
1864, notwithstanding one pair was broken up the same season.

GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 11

saw five adult birds of this species about Mount Tom. Dr. W.
Wood, of East-Windsor Hill, Conn., informs me, that two pairs of
Duck Hawks were evidently breeding on Talcott Mountain in the
summer of 1863.

" Discovery of the Eggs on Mount Tom. — Although the Duck
Hawk has been long known to breed at the localities in Massachu-
setts mentioned above, those conversant with the fact were not
aware that any special interest was attached to it, or that its eggs
and breeding habits were but very little known to ornithologists ;
and so, until very recently, no particular efforts have been made to
obtain the eggs. Mr. Bennett, becoming aware of this, resolved
to procure the eggs. He accordingly visited Mount Tom for this
purpose, April 7, of the present year, when he searched the whole
ridge of the mountain, discovered the old birds, and the particular
part they most frequented, and also the site of a nest where young
had been raised. The old birds were continually near this spot,
and manifested much solicitude when it was approached, often
flying within six or eight rods ; and once the female came within
three, screaming and thrusting out her talons with an expression of
great rage and fierceness. The birds did not appear at all shy,
being easily approached quite near to ; though, in walking, the crack-
ing of sticks and the clinking of the splinters of trap-rock made no
little noise. One of the birds appeared to keep close to the eyrie ;
and both would approach whenever it was visited, screaming at and
menacing the intruder, notwithstanding that at that time there were
no eggs, as was afterwards proved. Mr. Bennett, suspecting that
incubation had already commenced, visited the locality again on the
9th, but only saw the old nest ; the birds behaving as before. On
April 19, ten days later, he made another visit; and creeping
carefully to the summit of the cliff, at a point near the eyrie
already spoken of, he saw the female, on looking over the cliff,
sitting on the nest, and but five or six yards distant. She eyed him
fiercely for an instant, and then, scrambling from the nest to the
edge of the narrow shelf supporting it, launched into the air : in a
twinkMng, Mr. Bennett's unerring aim sent her tumbling dead at
the foot of the precipice, several hundred feet below. The nest
contained four eggs, which were soon safely secured, and the body
of the female was obtained from the foot of the cliff. The male,
soon coming about, was shot at ; but he was too shy to come within

12 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

range, except once, while the gun was being reloaded. The eggs
were all laid after Mr. Bennett's visit, April 9 ; and their contents
showed, April 19, that they had been incubated but a day or two.
Incubation seems, in this case, to have commenced several weeks
later than usual, which may be owing to the late snows and unusual
coldness of the weather this year, during the first half of April.

" Location and Description of the Eyrie. — The situation of the
eyrie was near the highest part of the mountain, about one-third of
the length of the mountain from the south end, on a narrow shelf
in the rock, eight or ten feet from the top of a nearly perpendicular
cliff, one hundred and fifty or two hundred feet in height, and was
inaccessible except to a bold climber, and at one particular point.
The nest was merely a slight excavation, sufficient to contain the
eggs : no accessory material had been added. The site had been
previously occupied, and probably for several years ; and, for weeks
before the eggs were laid, was carefully guarded by the bold and
watchful birds.

" Description of the Eggs. — The eggs, four in number, as already
stated, differ greatly both in shape and coloring ; the extremes in
either being widely diverse. They are described in detail, and
probably in the same order as laid.

" No. 1. Longer diameter, 2.18 inches ; shorter diameter, 1.71
inches : the shorter diameter is .885 the longer. The form is
somewhat ovoid, one end being slightly larger than the other ; but
neither end is very pointed: the point of greatest transverse
diameter is .645 the length of the egg from the smallest end. In
form, this egg is very nearly like the egg from Greenland, figured
by Dr. Brewer in the ' North- American Oology ' (pt. I. plate II.
fig. 11). The general color is chocolate-brown, darker and more
dense and uniform about the ends, the part about the middle being
lighter, varied with small irregular blotches and specks of a darker
tint than the ground-color. The color of the smaller end is nearly
a uniform dull-red ochre. There is also an irregular belt of scat-
tered and apparently very superficial blotches of very dark brown,
or nearly black. Something similar is often noticed on the eggs
of many birds that lay brown or speckled eggs.

" No. 2. Longer diameter, 2.21 inches ; shorter diameter, 1.67
inches : shorter diameter, .755 the longer. Form, nearly an ellip-
soid, the point of greatest transverse diameter being scarcely to

GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 13

one side of the middle (.54 the length of the egg from the smaller
end) ; ends very nearly equal, and not very pointed. The distri-
bution of the color in this is nearest of any of the four eggs
before me to that figured by Dr. Brewer, and only differs from it
in tint. One end (the smaller ?) is very light reddish, or reddish-
white, becoming lighter from the middle towards this end, about
which it is the lightest, and thinly marked with irregular mottlings
of -dark reddish chocolate, which present a very superficial grayish
tinge that is very characteristic ; 'the other end (the larger ?) is of
a uniform dark ferruginous-brown or dull-red ochre, varied towards
the middle by the appearance of the light ground-color between
the there scarcely confluent blotches of dark-brown that give the
uniform deep tint towards and about this end.

" No. 3. Longer diameter, 2.32 inches ; shorter diameter, 1.70
inches : shorter diameter, .733 the longer. Form ovoid, the
smaller end elongated and much pointed. This egg is the longest,
and much larger in proportion to its diameter than either of the
others. The point of greatest diameter is .656 the length of
the egg from the smaller end. In this specimen, the contrast
between the ground-color and the markings becomes very strong :
the ground-color, which is seen chiefly in a broad band about the
middle of the egg, being white or reddish-white ; and the markings
very dark reddish-brown, nearly approaching purple, and are quite
uniformly distributed in blotches of various sizes, the largest being
near the larger end of the egg : the sub-markings are of a lighter
reddish-brown, and are more blended.

"No. 4. Longer diameter, 2.16 inches; shorter diameter, 1.65
inches: shorter diameter, .765 the longer. Form regular ovoid,
the smaller end rather more pointed than the same in No. 1 ; point
of greatest transverse diameter .60 the length of the egg from the
smaller end. In this specimen, the contrast of the ground-color
with the markings is very striking, especially when compared with
specimens No. 1 and No. 2 ; and the most peculiar part is, that the
greater end of the egg, which in the eggs of most birds is the end
usually most subject to markings and to the greatest depth of color,
is white, sprinkled sparingly with reddish specks, while the smaller
end is deep, bright brick-red, here and there relieved by small
specks and patches of white ground-color. About the middle of
the egg, the colors are in more equal proportions ; the white patches

14

ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

becoming larger on the smaller end towards the middle, and the
red patches on the larger end increase towards the same point,
where the colors meet and become mixed in irregular patches of
various sizes, from mere dots to blotches. The smaller end has a
few streaks and blotches of dark-purple overlying apparently the
other colors, as in specimen No. 1.

" These specimens are very interesting, as indicating the great
amount of variation to which the American Peregrine's eggs are
subject ; and especially so since they are all the product of one pair
of birds, laid in one set, and identified as such beyond question.
In coloration, a transition can be traced between the extreme in the
order they are numbered, which is undoubtedly the order in which
they were laid, as indicated by the thickness of the shell as well as
by the depth of color.

TABLE OF COMPARATIVE MEASUREMENTS.

Prop, of breadth Point of greatest transverse

ITo !••••••«

Length.

2.18 in.

Breadth.

1.71 in.

to length. diameter from small end.

0.785 in. 0.640 length of the egg.

No. 2

2.21 ..

1.67

0.756 0 540

No 3 . . .

M

2 32

J..UI ,,

1 70

*v » "*v »»

0.732 ft RKR

" " "

No 4

tt,0it ,,

2.16 „

A.IVJ ,,

1.65

0.765

0.600

" " "

2.22 „

J..UU ,,

1.68 „

0.759

0.609 „

" " "

Greater extreme . . .

2.32 „

1.71 „

0.785

0.656 „

!!

Lesser extreme . . .

2.16 „

1.65 „

0.732

0.540

„ „ „

Amount of variation .

0.16 „

0.06 „

0.053 „ 0.116 „

„ ,, „

Dr. Brewer's specimen .

2.00 „

1.56 „

0.780 „

" From the above table, it will be seen that the range of varia-
tion in the four specimens in length is .16 of an inch, or nearly
seven and a half per cent of the average length; in breadth, .06
of an inch, or about three and a half per cent of the average
breadth : in the proportion of breadth to length, about fifteen per
cent of the length, or nearly twenty per cent of the average pro-
portion. The variation in the position of the point of greatest
transverse diameter is about eleven and a half per cent of the
whole length of the egg ; the form of the eggs varying from an
ellipsoid in No. 2 to an ovoid, which, in No. 3, has the smaller end
considerably elongated. It will be observed that the egg meas-
ured by Dr. Brewer is considerably smaller than my smallest
specimen, and that the proportion of breadth to length scarcely
differs from the same proportion in No. 1.

GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 15

"In comparing the eggs of the American and the European
Peregrine Falcons, Dr. Brewer observes: 'It [the American]
closely resembles a variety of the eggs of the European species,
but seems to present differences sufficiently well marked to be
regarded as specific. . . . The ground-colors of both American and
European are a reddish-yellow ; and both are thickly covered with
fine dottings of chocolate and ferruginous brown, diffused over the
whole egg in nearly equal degree, and to such an extent as nearly
to conceal the ground. The length of the American egg is slightly
less ; but it is of equal or greater capacity, and varies in its mark-
ings from all the European specimens that I have ever met with.
These variations, though readily traceable by the eye, are not so
easily described. The shades of coloring in both are closely alike :
the variation consists more in the distribution of these markings. In
the European specimens, the fine markings of chocolate are distri-
buted with nearly exact uniformity. In the American, the secondary
colorings are now more thickly and now more thinly diffused, — here
leaving the ground-color nearly unchanged ; there becoming con-
fluent, and blending into waving lines, blotches, and bold dashes.
The egg, in consequence, presents a more varied appearance. These
markings are also in greater proportion around the larger end of the
egg, and the blotches are of a deeper shade ; so there is a variation
in the shading between the smaller and larger extremities not no-
ticeable in any European egg that I have met with.'

" The amount of variation presented by the eggs of the Duck
Hawk, described above, shows that but little dependence can be
placed on the eggs in deciding specific differences. The eggs men-
tioned by Dr. Brewer are not much different from those of the
true European Peregrine. One or two of the specimens before
me considerably resemble Dr. Brewer's, and likewise eggs of the
European species, as figured and described by authors, while
the others are very different, one being remarkably so.

"The eggs of the different species of this group of Falcons
seem to resemble each other greatly, and to be subject to consider-
able variation in the same species. In the manner of laying the
eggs, there is also a similarity, as might be expected among closely
allied species ; the same species sometimes laying them on the bare
rocks, and again in a bulky nest of sticks and other coarse materi-
als. The nest of this species visited on Talcott Mountain, Conn.,

16 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

was of the latter kind ; while on Mount Holyoke the eggs were
laid on the bare earth.

" Audubon thus describes the nest and eggs of the Duck Hawk,
as observed by him at Labrador : —

" ' I have nowhere seen it so abundant as along the high, rocky shores of
Labrador and Newfoundland, where I procured several adult individuals
of both sexes, as well as some eggs and young. The nests were placed on
the shelves of rocks, a few feet from the top, and were flat, and rudely con-
structed of sticks and moss. In some were found four eggs, in others only
two, and in one five. In one nest only a single young bird was found. The
eggs vary considerably in color and size, which, I think, is owing to a differ-
ence of age in the females ; the eggs of young birds being smaller. The
average length of four was two inches, their breadth one and five-eighths.
They are somewhat rounded, though larger at one end than the other ; their
general and most common color is a reddish or rusty yellowish-brown,
spotted and confusedly marked with darker tints of the same, here and there
intermixed with lighter. The young are at first thickly covered with soft
white down. ... In several instances, we found these falcons breeding on
the same ledge with cormorants, Phalacrocorax carbo.' " l

" Audubon adds that he is perfectly convinced that the Great-
footed Falcon, or Duck Hawk of the later ornithologists, is not
different from the Peregrine Falcon of Europe. i Since my first
acquaintance with this species,' he says, ' I have observed nothing
in its habits, form, or marking on one continent that is different
from what is found on the other.' Since the difference in breeding
habits supposed 'to exist when Bonaparte separated them in 1838,
and which influenced his judgment in the matter, has been found
to be not real, there seems to be nothing whatever in the breeding
habits or in the appearance of the eggs to indicate specific differ-
ence between the American and European birds."

HTPOTRIORCHIS COLUMBARIUS. — Gray.

The Pigeon Hawk.

Falco columbarius, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. 128 (1766).
Falco intermixtus, Daudin. Traite d'Orn., II. 141 (1800).
Falco temerarius, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. 381 (1831).
Falco Audvboni. Blackwall, Eesearches, Zob'l., 1834.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult Male. — Entire upper parts bluish-slate color, every feather with a black
longitudinal line ; forehead and throat white ; other under parts pale yellowish or

l Orn. Biog., vol. V. p. 366.

THE PIGEON HAWK. 17

reddish white ; every feather with a longitudinal line of brownish-black ; tibiae light
ferruginous, with lines of black ; quills black, tipped with ashy white ; tail light-bluish
ashy, tipped with white and with a wide subterminal band of black, and with
several other transverse narrower bands of black; inner webs nearly white; cere
and legs yellow; bill blue.

Younger. — Entire upper plumage dusky-brown, quite light in some specimens,
and with a tinge of ashy ; head above, with narrow stripes of dark brown and ferru-
ginous, and in some specimens many irregular spots and edgings of the latter color
on the other upper parts; forehead and entire under parts dull-white, the latter
with longitudinal stripes of light-brown ; sides and flanks light-brown, with pairs of
circular spots of white ; tibia? dull white, with dashes of brown ; tail pale-brown,
with about six transverse bands of white ; cere and legs greenish-yellow.

Young. — Upper plumage brownish-black, white of the forehead and under parts
more deeply tinged with reddish-yellow; dark stripes wider than the preceding;
sides and flanks with wide transverse bands of brownish-black, and with circular
spots of yellowish-white ; quills black ; tail brownish-black, tipped with white, and
•with about four bands of white; cere and feet greenish-yellow; iris dark-hazel.

Total length, female twelve to fourteen inches ; wing, eight to nine inches ; tail,
five to five and a half inches. Male, total length, ten to eleven inches ; wing, seven
and a half to eight inches ; tail, five inches.

This species is a pretty common spring and fall visitor in
all the New-England States, and is sometimes a resident
in the southern sections of these States through the winter ;
specimens being occasionally taken as late as January, in
mild seasons. This bird is one of the most destructive of
our rapacia : he kills all the smaller birds, robins, black-
birds, sparrows in great numbers, and even attacks the
wild pigeon and dove, which he is almost always able to
overtake and capture, as he is possessed of very great
rapidity of flight. I have seen one of these hawks make a
pounce at a sparrow that was singing on a low bush ; and
the bird happily eluding his clutch, as quick as a flash of
light, he turned, and pursued and captured a robin that had
taken flight at his first appearance, and was already quite a
considerable distance off: as the robin is well known to
have great speed of flight, this circumstance well illustrates
the velocity of this hawk.

The .flight of the bird consists of a series of flaps of the
wings, with but a very few intervals of soaring : in pursuing
the wild pigeon, the strokes of the wings of the two birds
are nearly simultaneous. As he strikes his prey, he almost

2

18 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

always, instead of clutching it as it falls, alights after it has
fallen, in the same manner as the Great-footed Hawk. I
have noticed the same fact with the Red-tailed Hawk ; the
victim seems to fall dead, or, at any rate, perfectly incapable
of motion : whether this is the result of a kind of mesmer-
ism, as it were, similar to the influence of the cats on their
prey, or the hawk transfixes his quarry through the vitals, I
am unable to say.

The Pigeon Hawk, in alighting on a. branch or other
object, always descends below the level of it, and rises up ;
and usually turns abruptly about, and faces the direction
from which it came, as soon as it has struck its perch.
This habit is observable in many of the other hawks.

While perching, the tail is often flirted up and down,
and the wings are partially opened and shut in a nervous
manner, as if the bird were anxious to be off again in the
pursuit of game. . * -

It is not improbable that it breeds in New England,
although I do not remember of an authenticated instance.
I have no egg of this bird in my collection, and have never
met with its nest. There seems considerable confusion
regarding this species, both as to its nesting-place and its
eggs. Mr. Hutchins says (" Fauna Boreali Americana,"
II. 36) it " makes its nest on rocks and in hollow trees,
of sticks and grass, lined with feathers ; laying from two to
four white eggs, marked with red spots." Audubon, in
describing the eggs, says (" Birds of America ") : " Mr.
Hutchins' s description of the eggs of this bird is greatly
at variance with my own observations. The eggs, in three
instances which occurred at Labrador, were five ; they
measured an inch and three-quarters in length, an inch and
a quarter in breadth, and were rather elongated ; their
ground-color a dull yellowish-brown, thickly clouded with
irregular blotches of dull, dark reddish-brown." Dr.
Brewer says (" Synopsis of Birds of North America," as
an appendix to Wilson's " Ornithology "") it " nests in low

THE SPARROW HAWK. 19

fir-trees, twelve feet from the ground; eggs three, dull
yellowish-brown, with dark reddish-brown blotches."

A single egg before me, kindly loaned for descriptions
and figure by George A. Boardman of Milltown, Me., is of
the above color. It is admirably figured, fig. 1, plate I.,
in this volume. It is a trifle more pointed than the eggs
of rapacious birds usually are, and measures 1.50 inch in
length, and 1.14 inch at its greatest breadth.

TINNUNCULUS SPARVERIUS.— Vleilkt.
The Sparrow Hawk.

Falco sparverius, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. 128 (1766).

Falco dominicenses, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 285 (1788).

Falco gradlis, cinnamoninus, and isabellinus. Sw. Cab. Cy., p. 281 (1838).

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Frontal band and space, including the eyes and throat, white; spot on
the neck behind, two others on each side of the neck, and line running downwards
from before the eye, black ; spot on the top of the head, the neck behind, back,
rump and tail, light rufous or cinnamon color; under parts generally a paler shade
of the same rufous as the back, frequently nearly white, but sometimes as dark as
the upper parts, and always with more or less numerous circular or oblong spots of
black ; quills brownish-black, with white bars on their inner webs ; tail tipped with
white, frequently tinged with rufous, and with a broad subterminal band of black,
outer frequently white, tinged with ashy, and barred with black ; bill light-blue ;
legs yellow ; back generally with transverse stripes of black, but frequently with
very few, or entirely without; rufous spot on the head, variable in size, and some-
times wanting.

Younger Male. — Upper parts as above ; wing coverts and tail ferruginous red,
with numerous transverse bands of brownish-black; under parts with numerous
longitudinal stripes, and on the sides with transverse bands of brownish-black;
external feathers of the tail palest; broad subterminal band on the tail, obscure or
wanting.

Young. — All the rufous parts of the plumage with wider transverse bands of
brownish-black; wing coverts, dark bluish-cinereous, with large circular spots
of black ; under parts with longitudinal stripes, and large circular spots of black ;
iris very dark hazel.

Total length, eleven to twelve inches; wing, seven to seven and a half; tail, five
to five and a half inches.

This beautiful little hawk is a summer inhabitant of all
the New-England States, and, in the more southern districts,
a resident throughout the year. It is not a very common
species in any but the most northern sections of these

20 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

states, but in those localities it is the most abundant of
the birds of prey. I can add but little to Wilson's descrip-
tion that will be of interest : it is as follows : —

" The habits and manners of this bird are well known. It flies
rather irregularly, occasionally suspending itself in the air, hover-
ing over a particular spot for a minute or two, and then shooting
off in another direction. It perches on the top of a dead tree or
pole, in the middle of a field or meadow, and, as it alights, shuts its
long wings so suddenly that they seem instantly to disappear : it
sits here in an almost perpendicular position, sometimes for an hour
at a time, frequently jerking its tail, and reconnoitring the ground
below, in every direction, for mice, lizards, &c. It approaches the
farmhouse, particularly in the morning, skulking about the barn-
yard for mice or young chickens. It frequently plunges into
a thicket after small birds, as if by random, but always with a
particular, and generally a fatal aim. One day I observed a bird
of this species perched on the highest top of a large poplar, on
the skirts of the wood, and was in the act of raising the gun to
my eye, when he swept down, with the rapidity of an arrow, into a
thicket of briers, about thirty yards off, where I shot him dead,
and, on coming up, found a small field-sparrow quivering in his
grasp. Both our aims had been taken in the same instant ; and,
unfortunately for him, both were fatal. It is particularly fond of
watching along hedge-rows and in orchards, where small birds
usually resort. When grasshoppers are plenty, they form a con-
siderable part of its food.

THE SPARROW HAWK. 21

" Though small snakes, mice, lizards, &c., are favorite morsels
with this active bird, yet we are not to suppose it altogether desti-
tute of delicacy in feeding. It will seldom or never eat of any
thing that it has not itself killed ; and even that, if not (as epicures
would term it) in good eating order, is sometimes rejected. A very
respectable friend, through the medium of Mr. Bartram, informs
me, that one morning he observed one of these hawks dart down
on the ground, and seize a mouse, which he carried to a fence-post,
where, after examining it for some time, he left it, and, a little
while after, pounced upon another mouse, which he instantly car-
ried off to his nest hi the hollow of a tree hard by. The gentle-
man, anxious to know why the hawk had rejected the first mouse,
went up to it, and found it to be almost covered with lice, and
greatly emaciated. Here was not only delicacy of taste, but sound
and prudent reasoning : " If I carry this to my nest," thought he,
" it will fill it with vermin, and hardly be worth eating."

"The Blue Jays have a particular antipathy to this bird, and
frequently insult it by following and imitating its notes so exactly
as to deceive even those well acquainted with both. In return for
all this abuse, the Hawk contents himself with now and then
feasting on the plumpest of his persecutors, who are, therefore, in
perpetual dread of him ; and yet, through some strange infatuation,
or from fear that, if they lose sight of him, he may attack them
unawares, the Sparrow Hawk no sooner appears than the alarm is
given, and the whole posse of jays follow."

Although I have had quite a number of the eggs of this
bird, I have been able to meet with but one nest, notwith-
standing I have repeatedly searched for it in many localities.
This was built in a crow's nest of the previous year, in a
hemlock-tree, about thirty feet from the ground. There
had been apparently but few alterations of the old nest ;
these consisting principally of the addition of a few loose
sticks and twigs to the interior of the nest, making it
nearly a flat platform. The locality was the valley of the
Magalloway River, about twenty-five miles north of Lake
Umbagog, Me. The eggs were four in number; and
these, with several other specimens collected in Upton, Me.,

22 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Calais, Me., and Williamstown, Mass., are before me. I am
inclined to think, from what I can learn from collectors and
others, that four is the usual number laid by this bird, —
probably seldom more. Their ground-color varies from a
deep cream or yellowish-buff to a pale reddish-white : this
is covered, more or less thickly in different specimens, with
spots and confluent blotches of reddish-brown and Vandyke-
brown, or chocolate. Their form is nearly spherical, being
but very little pointed at either end. Their dimensions
vary from 1.40 inch by 1.15 inch to 1.30 inch by 1.13 inch.
This species breeds later than most of the other birds
of prey, as the eggs which I found in Maine on the llth of
June, 1864, were newly laid. This species usually nests in
a hollow tree or a deserted woodpecker's nest.

Sub-Family ACCIPITRINJE. — The Hawks.

Form rather long and slender; tail and legs long; wings rather short; bill short,
hooked ; upper mandible lobed, but not toothed. Very active and vigilant, and swift
of flight; pursuing their prey, which consists of birds and small quadrupeds, into
the woods and forests.

ASTUR, LAC.

Astur, LACEPEDE, Mem. Inst., III. p. 506.

The largest birds of this sub-family. General form strong, but rather long and
slender; wing rather short; tail long and broad; tarsi long, covered in front with
rather wide transverse scales; toes and claws moderate, the latter fully curved,
sharp; bill short, curved; nostrils large, ovate, inserted in the cere. This genus
contains about twelve species of all countries.

ASTUR ATRICAPILLUS. — Bonaparte.

The Goshawk.

Falco atricapittus, Wilson. Am. Orn., VI. 80 (1812).
Falco regalis, Temm. PL col. I. (liv. 84, about 1827).
Dcedalionpictum, Lesson. Traite d'Orn., I. 67 (1831).

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Head above, neck behind, and stripe from behind the eye, black,
generally more or less tinged with ashy; other upper parts dark ashy bluish or
slate color, with the shafts of the feathers black, and frequently with the feathers
narrowly edged with black, presenting a squamate or scale-like appearance ; a con-
spicuous stripe over the eye, and an obscure and partially concealed occipital and

THE GOSHAWK. 23

nuchal band, white ; entire under parts mottled with white and light ashy-brown ;
every feather with a longitudinal line of dark-brown on its shaft, and with numerous
irregular and imperfect transverse lines or narrow stripes of light ashy-brown, more
distinct and regular on the abdomen and tibiae; quills brown, with bands of a deeper
shade of the same color, and of ashy- white on their inner webs; tail same color as
other upper parts ; under surface very pale, nearly white, and having about four
obscure bands of a deeper shade of ashy-brown, and narrowly tipped with white;
under tail coverts white.

Young. — Entire upper parts, including head, dark-brown, with the feathers,
especially on the head and neck behind, edged and spotted with light-reddish, or
nearly white ; tail light-ashy, with about five wide and conspicuous bands of ashy-
brown, and narrowly tipped with ashy-white; quills brown, with wide bars of a
darker shade of the same color, and wide bands of reddish-white on their inner
webs ; under parts white, generally tinged with yellowish, and frequently with red-
dish ; every feather with a longitudinal stripe terminating in an ovate spot of brown ;
sides and tibiae frequently with circular and lanceolate spots and irregular bands
of the same color, the tibiae generally very conspicuously marked in this manner ;
under tail coverts white, with a few large lanceolate spots of brown.

"Adult. — Bill black, light-blue at the base; cere greenish-yellow; eyebrow
greenish-blue ; iris reddish-orange ; feet yellow.

" Young. — Bill as in the adult; iris light-yellow; feet greenish-yellow." —
AUDUBON. %

Total length, female, twenty-two to twenty-four inches; wing about fourteen;
tail, ten and a half to eleven inches. Male, about twenty inches ; wing, twelve and
a half; tail, nine and a half inches.

This handsome hawk is a not very common winter visitor
in the New-England States ; at least, such is my observa-
tion, which is corroborated by many others, although Mr.
Verrill, in his catalogue of the birds of Maine,1 says it is
common, and that it breeds there. I have never met with
a nest of this species, and have no authentic specimen of
its egg in my collection. In 1864, a gentleman brought
me two eggs that he found in a large hawk's nest in
Woburn, Mass. He described the hawk, which he killed,
and which corresponded pretty closely with that of this bird.
I showed him mounted specimens of the Goshawk, and he
thought them identical with his bird. As there was still a
doubt concerning the identity of the eggs, I did not label
them as of this species, and for the same reason will not
figure them in this work. So far as description goes, they
are almost exactly like the eggs of the Red-tailed Hawk

1 Proceedings Essex Institute, vol. III. p. 140.

24 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

(Buteo borealis), but are a little more of a bluish-white in
the ground-color.

For some reason, this species was quite abundant in
the neighborhood of Boston in the winter of 1859-60 :
probably a dozen or fifteen specimens were sent to me in
the different plumages, and I have heard of many others
being shot in the same season.

I have had but few opportunities for studying the habits
of this hawk, and, as my observations have been very
meagre, I will give Audubon's description, which, so far as
my experience goes, is very accurate ; it is as follows : —

" The flight of the Goshawk is extremely rapid and protracted.
He sweeps along the margins of the fields, through the woods, and
by the edges of ponds and rivers, with such speed as to enable him
to seize his prey by merely deviating a few yards from his course ;
assisting himself on such occasions by his long tail, which, like a
rudder, he throws to the right or left, upwards or downwards, to
check his progress, or enable him suddenly to alter his course.
At times he passes like a meteor through the underwood, where
he secures squirrels and hares with ease. Should a flock of wild
pigeons pass him when on these predatory excursions, he imme-
diately gives chase, soon overtakes them, and, forcing his way into
the very centre of the flock, scatters them in confusion, when you
may see him emerging with a bird in his talons, and diving towards
the depth of the forest to feed upon his victim. When travelling,
he flies high, with a constant beat of the wings, seldom moving in
large circles like other hawks ; and, when he does this, it is only
a few times in a hurried manner, after which he continues his
journey.

"Along the Atlantic Coast, this species follows the numerous
flocks of ducks that are found there during the autumn and winter ;
and greatly aids in the destruction of mallards, teals, black ducks,
and other species, in company with the Peregrine Falcon (Falco
anatum). It is a restless bird, apparently more vigilant and indus-
trious than many other hawks, and it seldom alights unless to
devour its prey ; nor can I recollect ever having seen one alighted
for many minutes at a time, without having a bird in its talons.

THE GOSHAWK. 25

When thus engaged with its prey, it stands nearly upright ; and in
general, when perched, it keeps itself more erect than most species
of hawks. It is extremely expert at catching snipes on the
wing ; and so well do these birds know their insecurity, that, on its
approach, they prefer squatting to endeavoring to escape by flight.

"When the passenger pigeons are abundant in the western
country, the Goshawk follows their close masses, and subsists
upon them. A single hawk suffices to spread the greatest terror
among their ranks ; and the moment he sweeps towards a flock,
the whole immediately dive into the deepest woods, where, not-
withstanding their great speed, the marauder succeeds in clutching
the fattest. While travelling along the Ohio, I observed several
hawks of this species in the train of millions of these pigeons.
Towards the evening of the same day, I saw one abandoning its
course to give chase to a large flock of Crow Blackbirds ( Quis-
calus versicolor), then crossing the river. The hawk approached
them with the swiftness of an arrow, when the blackbirds rushed
together so closely that the flock looked like a dusky ball passing
through the air. On reaching the mass, he, with the greatest ease,
seized first one, then another and another, giving each a squeeze
with his talons, and suffering it to drop upon the water. In this
manner he had procured four or five, before the poor birds reached
the woods, into which they instantly plunged, when he gave up the
chase, swept over the water in graceful curves, and picked the fruits
of his industry, carrying each bird singly to the shore. Reader, is
this instinct or reason ?

" The nest of the Goshawk is placed on the branches of a tree,
near the trunk or main stem. It is of great size, and resembles
that of our crow, or some species of owl ; being constructed of with-
ered twigs and coarse grass, with a lining of fibrous strips of plants
resembling hemp. It is, however, much flatter than that of the
crow. In one I found, in the month of April, three eggs ready to
be hatched: they were of a dull bluish-white, sparingly spotted
with light reddish-brown. In another, which I found placed on a
pine-tree, growing on the eastern rocky bank of the Niagara River,
a few miles below the great cataract, the lining was formed of
withered herbaceous plants, with a few feathers : the eggs were
four in number, of a white color tinged with greenish-blue, large,
much rounded, and somewhat granulated.

26 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

" In another nest were four young birds covered with buff-col-
ored down, their legs and feet of a pale yellowish flesh-color, the
bill light-blue, and the eyes pale-gray. They differed greatly in
size, one being quite small compared with the rest. I am of
opinion that few breed to the south of the State of Maine."

I once witnessed an attempt of this bird to capture a
common gray squirrel, that was quite interesting to the
beholder, but certainly not to the animal. While on a col-
lecting excursion, a few miles from Boston, as I was seated
beneath a huge oak, observing the movements of some small
birds, I heard the barking of a squirrel ; and, while looking
for his whereabouts, I suddenly heard a whistling sound as
of a body falling through the air, and, as quick as thought,
a Goshawk struck on the limb, on the spot where, a second
before, the squirrel had been seated : luckily for the squirrel,
the hawk missed his aim, the animal giving a sudden dodge
beneath the limb the moment the hawk appeared. All
who are acquainted with the habits of this quadruped
know that it is very successful in dodging behind the limb
of a tree, and hugging it closely. The hawk sat a few
moments, apparently surprised at his disappointment, when,
suddenly launching into the air, he espied it beneath the
limb, hugging for dear life. As soon as he had moved,
the squirrel turned adroitly on the limb, still keeping it
between itself and its enemy. After several trials, the
hawk always alighting and remaining perched on the limb a
few seconds, he succeeded, by a dexterous feint, in securing
his prey, when, on the instant, I fired, bringing the hawk
and his victim to the ground. The hawk dropped dead;
but the squirrel, after lying on the ground a moment, got
up, and staggered off beneath a pile of rocks, and I neither
saw nor heard any thing more of it.

ACCIPITER, BRISSON.

Accipiter, BRISSON, Orn., I. 310 (1760).

General form more slender and smaller than Astur, but otherwise similar; wings
short, tail long, tarsi long and slender, frequently with the scales in front nearly

THE COOPER'S HAWK. 27

obsolete. Contains about twenty species of all countries, several of which intimately
resemble each other. Colors in North-American species very similar to each other,
especially in adult specimens, though they differ materially in size.

ACCIPITEE COOPERIL — Bonaparte.
The Cooper's Hawk.

Falco Cooperii, Bonaparte. Am. Orn., II. 1 (1828).
Falco Stanhii, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. 186 (1831).

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Head above brownish-black, mixed with white on the occiput, other
upper parts dark ashy-brown, with the shafts of the feathers brownish-black ; an
obscure rufous collar on the neck behind; throat and under tail coverts white, the
former with lines of dark-brown ; other under parts transversely barred with light
rufous and white; quills ashy-brown, with darker bands, and white irregular
markings on their inner webs ; tail dark cinereous, tipped with white, and with four
wide bands of brownish-black.

Young. — Head and neck behind yellowish-white, tinged with rufous, and with
longitudinal stripes and oblong spots of brown; other upper parts light amber-
brown, with large partially concealed spots and bars of white ; upper tail coverts
tipped with white; under parts white, with narrow longitudinal stripes of light-
brown; tail as in adult; bill bluish horn-color; tarsi yellow; iris in adult, reddish-
orange ; in young, bright yellow.

Total length, male fifteen to sixteen inches; wing, nine; tail, eight inches.
Female, total length, seventeen to eighteen inches; wing, nine and a half to ten;
tail, nine inches.

It is a noticeable fact in the history of many of our birds,
that in different periods, from some cause or other, many
species have increased in number to a remarkable extent,
while others have diminished in like proportion. Some
have moved from sections in which they were for years
common residents, to others in which they were, compara-
tively, strangers.

The Cooper's or Stanley Hawk of Audubon has had one
of these changes ; and throughout New England, where it
was formerly a comparatively rare species, it is now one of
the most abundant of our birds of prey.

The habits of the Cooper's Hawk are generally well
known. It is the smallest of those known by the name of
" Hen Hawk ; " and the mischief it does among domestic
poultry well earns for it this title.

28 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Powerful, active, and gifted with great rapidity of flight,
he is able to attack and conquer birds and animals greatly
his superior in size and weight. The Common Hare (Lepus
Americanus) often falls a victim to his voracity. Ducks,
grouse, squirrels, and small birds, are destroyed by him ;
and I have known of his capturing and eating snakes and
other reptiles, and even grasshoppers and crickets.

In hunting for prey, he usually flies just above the trees
in the forest, and quite near the earth in the open country.
His flight consists of a rapid succession of beatings of the
wings, with intervals of equal periods of soarings. On
discovering a bird or other object that he may wish to
capture, he immediately gives chase. If the bird takes to
the foliage of the trees, he immediately follows, turning at
every turn, doubling and twisting through the trees with
wonderful speed and success ; and the chase is usually but
a very short one indeed before he alights to feed on the
quarry that he has secured.

He is very destructive to the flocks of young ducks that
breed in the wilder districts of the country. I remember
an instance of one of his raids on these birds that is not
without interest.

While on a hunting and collecting excursion in the wilds
of Maine, up the Magalloway River, — a beautiful stream
that empties into the Androscoggin, near Lake Umbagog, —
I wandered down the river banks, that are, for nearly the
entire length of the stream, fringed with a thick growth of
trees, away from the camp perhaps a mile. I was watching
an old Black Duck (Anas olseura) and her brood of eight
" flappers " disporting themselves in the water, and impa-
tiently waiting for an opportunity for a shot; for, kind
reader, I can assure you that a " broiled flapper,' ' or wild
duck about half grown, is a delicacy which, once enjoyed, is
eagerly sought for by the frequenters of the wilderness. As
I was creeping cautiously within shot of the birds, I sud-
denly heard a " quack " and splash, and the whole bevy was

29

gone. At that instant, a Cooper's Hawk, that had evidently
just made a swoop at the flock and missed it, alighted on a
small tree that hung over the water, and remained perfectly
motionless. Now, when man attempts to secure any of
these young ducks, the parent almost always flies off, while
the young dive and swim under water to the banks of the
stream or pond where they may be. When a bird of prey
makes his appearance, the whole family dives beneath the
surface, and swims off; the mother in one direction, the
young in another. I have noticed the same fact several
times, and conclude that the parent, who frequently makes
her appearance above the surface, does so because she is
capable of enduring submersion better than her young,
and shows herself often, a little farther from her offspring
every time, until she had led their pursuer away from
them ; giving them, in the mean time, a chance to swim off,
and conceal themselves. The hawk, in this instance, was
not to be deceived. He followed the parent but once, and
then immediately returned to his perch. The banks of the
river at this place were steep, there was no vegetation
growing in the water, and the chances for obtaining a meal
from one of the young ducks were decidedly in the hawk's
favor.

The young ducks are very expert divers. They have the
faculty of sinking beneath the surface at any alarm, and
will remain there perhaps half a minute. Unfortunately
for them, they cannot swim beneath the surface a great
distance, and generally come up quite near the place where
they went down. The hawk sat attentively inspecting the
river in different places; and, as one of the young birds
made its appearance, he marked it for his victim. The
moment it rose to the surface, he made a swoop for it,
when, 'of course, it dove. This was repeated several times,
the young duck remaining beneath the water a shorter
length of time at each dive. Soon it was manifest that the
hawk would obtain his quarry, when, as he flew for

30 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

the duck the last time, I pulled trigger on him ; for we are
all eminently selfish, and when one of the lower animals,
as we regard them, interferes with us in our pleasures or
comforts, even if they are fulfilling the dictates of their
natures, we brush them from existence, as if we were the
only rightful possessors of this beautiful world. Fortu-
nately for the hawk, unfortunately for the flapper, and
much to my chagrin, the cap failed to explode, and the poor
duck was borne off for food for the family of the hawk.

The Cooper's Hawk breeds in all the New-England States,
and is partial to no particular locality. I have found the
nest in sections not a mile from the seacoast ; in the deepest
woods of Northern Maine ; and have had the eggs sent me
from different localities in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and
New Hampshire.

The nest of this species is more .often found than that of
any other. In my collecting trips, my experience has been
that I have found certainly two nests of this to one of all
others. Audubon says, " The nest is usually placed in the
forks of the branch of an oak-tree, towards its extremity.
In its general appearance, it resembles that of the common
crow, for which I have several times mistaken it. It is com-
posed externally of numerous crooked sticks, and has a slight
lining of grasses and a few feathers." This does not agree
with my observation ; for, in great numbers of nests that I
have examined, in which I have found no great variation in
character, they were almost invariably in a fork of a tall
tree near the top, — in three cases out of five in the differ-
ent pines. They were large, bulky affairs, constructed of
twigs and sticks, some of them nearly half an inch in
diameter: they were decidedly hollowed, and often lined
with leaves and the loose bark of the cedar. The eggs of
this species vary in number from two to four. I do not
remember ever having found more than four, which number
is usually laid. Their ground-color is a dirty bluish-white,
with often thinly scattered spots of brown, or obscure

THE SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. 31

blotches and markings of a shade darker than the ground-
color of the egg. A great number of specimens in my col-
lection exhibit a variation in dimensions of from 1.82 inch
to 2 inches in length, by from 1.50 inch to 1.62 in breadth.
The average dimensions are about 1.78 inch by 1.52 inch.
The breeding season varies considerably with this species,
even in the same latitude. I have found nests with eggs as
early as the first week in May, and as late as the first week
in June. Usually the eggs are laid before the 20th of May
in Massachusetts. The season for the northern district of
New England seems to be from one to two weeks later than
this ; that of the southern district, about a week earlier.

A pair of birds that nested in Newton, Mass., in the
summer of 1866,* were robbed of their eggs four times in
the season. They built different nests in the same grove,
and laid in the four litters four, four, five, and three eggs
respectively. The eggs of the last litter were very small ;
but little larger than the eggs of the Sharp-shinned Hawk.

ACCIPITER FUSCUS. — Gmelin.
The Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Fakofuscus et dubius, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 280, 281 (1788).

Accipiter striatus, Vieillot. Ois. d'Am. Sept., I. 42 (1807).

Falco velox et Pennsylvanicus, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. 116, and VI. p. 13 (1812).

Sparvius lineatus, Vieillot. Ency. Meth., III. 1266 (1823).

Nisus Malfini, Lesson. Traite d'Orn., I. 58 (1831).

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Small; tail rather long; legs and toes slender; entire upper parts
brownish-black, tinged with ashy; occiput mixed with white; throat and under tail
coverts white, the former with lines of black on the shafts of the feathers; other
under parts fine light rufous, deepest on the tibiae, and with transverse bands
of white; shafts of the feathers with lines of dark-brown; tail ashy-brown tipped
with white, and with about four bands of brownish-black; quills brownish-black,
with bands of a darker shade, and of white on their inner webs ; secondaries and
tertiaries with large partially concealed spots of white.

Young. — Entire upper parts dull umber-brown, tinged with ashy; neck behind
mixed with white ; greater wing coverts and shorter quills with large partially con-
cealed spots of white ; .under parts white, with longitudinal stripes and circular and
ovate spots of reddish-brown, changing into transverse bands on the flanks

32 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

and tibiae; under tail coverts white; bill dark bluish horn-color; cere and tarsi
yellow ; iris reddish-yellow.

Total length of female, twelve to fourteen inches; wing, seven and a half to
eight; tail, six and a half to seven niches. Male, ten to eleven inches; wing, six
to six and a half; tail, five to five and a half inches.

This well-known little species is a general and common
summer inhabitant of all the New-England States: it
makes its appearance with the arrival of the earliest flight
of the smaller migratory birds in spring, and remains until
the latter part of autumn ; and, in the southern portions of
these States, even throughout the winter. The habits of the
bird are so well described by Audubon, that I cannot do
better than include the description here. He says : —

"While in search of prey, the Sharp-shinned Hawk passes
over the country, now at a moderate height, now close over the
land, in so swift a manner, that, although your eye has marked it,
you feel surprised that the very next moment it has dashed off, and
is far away. In fact, it is usually seen when least expected,
and almost always but for a few moments, unless when it has
procured some jprey, and is engaged in feeding upon it. The kind
of vacillation or wavering with which it moves through the air
appears perfectly adapted to its wants ; for it undoubtedly enables
this little warrior to watch and to see at a single quick glance of its
keen eyes every object, whether to the right or to the left, as it pur-
sues its course. It advances by sudden dashes, as if impetuosity
of movement were essential to its nature, and pounces upon and
strikes such objects as best suit its appetite, but so very suddenly
that it appears quite hopeless for any of them tov try to escape.
Many have been the times, reader, when watching this vigilant,
active, and industrious bird, I have seen it plunge headlong among
the briery patches of one of our old fields, in defiance of all thorny
obstacles ; and, passing through, emerge^ on the other side, bearing
off with exultation in its sharp claws a sparrow or finch, which it
had surprised when at rest. At other times, I have seen two or
three of these hawks, acting in concert, fly at a Golden-winged
Woodpecker while alighted against the bark of a tree, where it
thought itself secure, but was suddenly clutched by one of the
hawks throwing, as it were, its long legs with the quickness of

THE SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. 33

thought, protruding its sharp talons, and thrusting them into the
back of the devoted bird, while it was endeavoring to elude
the harassing attacks of another, by hopping and twisting around the
tree. Then down to the ground assailants and assailed would
fall, the woodpecker still offering great resistance, until a second
hawk would also seize upon it, and, with claws deeply thrust into
its vitals, put an end to its life, when both the marauders would
at once commence their repast."

Nuttall informs us that " descending furiously and blindly
upon its quarry, a young hawk of this species broke through
the glass of the greenhouse at the Cambridge Botanic
Garden ; and, fearlessly passing through a second glass par-
tition, he was only brought up by the third, and caught,
though little stunned by the effort. His wing-feathers were
much torn by the glass, and his flight in this way so
impeded as to allow of his being approached."

Whilst travelling to some point at a considerable distance,
the Sharp-shinned Hawk flies high, though in a desultory
manner, with irregular quick flappings of its wings ; and at
times, as if to pause for a while and examine the objects
below, moves in short and unequal circles, after which it is
seen to descend rapidly, and then follow its course at the
height of only a few feet from the ground, visiting, as it
were, every clump of low bushes or brier patches likely to
be inhabited by the smaller birds, on which it principally
feeds. Again, after having satisfied its hunger, it at times
rises to a great height, and indeed now and then is scarcely
discernible from the ground.

Notwithstanding the comparative abundance of this spe-
cies, its nest, until quite recently, has been quite rarely
found. Audubon met with but three, and neither Wilson
nor Nuttall ever saw one. I have been so fortunate as to
find several, two of which had in each four eggs. They
were built in the forks of pine-trees, about twenty-five feet
from the ground : they were loosely constructed of sticks
and twigs, were not much hollowed, and were lined with

34 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

smaller twigs and a few leaves. Fourteen eggs in my col-
lection, from different parts of New England, exhibit but
slight variations ; they are of a bluish-white color, and
covered at the larger end with spots and blotches of
chocolate-brown : in some specimens these blotches are con-
fluent, making a ring near the large end ;a others are
covered nearly over their entire surface with these markings.
The form of the egg is nearly spherical ; the length varying
from 1.50 inch to 1.23 inch, and the breadth from 1.24
inch to 1.06 inch. Average dimensions about 1.40 inch by
1.20 inch. I have found the eggs as early as the 10th of
May ; but usually they are not laid before the 20th, in the
latitude of Massachusetts. The same nest is occupied by
the parent birds for several years, and the female is a per-
sistent layer. A case came to my knowledge In the spring
of 1864, when the nest was robbed three times : fourteen
eggs were removed ; and, if the female had not been killed
when the last eggs were taken, she would probably have
laid another litter, as there were several found in her
nearly formed. Both sexes, as with nearly all the other
birds of prey, incubate

Sub-Family BUTEONIN.E. — The Buzzard-Hawks.

General form heavy; flight vigorous and long continued, but not so rapid as in
the preceding sub-families. Subsist mainly on small quadrupeds and reptiles.

BUTEO, CUVIER.

Euteo, CUVIER, Regne Animal, I. 323 (1817).

Bill short, wide at base ; edges of upper mandible lobed ; nostrils large, ovate ,
wings long, wide, fourth and fifth quills usually longest ; tail moderate, rather wide ;
tarsi moderate, robust, with transverse scales before and behind, laterally with small
circular and hexagonal scales ; toes moderate, or rather short ; claws strong. Con-
tains about thirty species, inhabiting all countries.

1 The specimen, fig. 3, plate L, is marked with a ring of confluent blotches at tho
vmatter end, a peculiarity rarely met with.

THE RED-TAILED HAWK. 35

BUTEO BOREALIS. — Vidllot.

The Bed-tailed Hawk.

Falco borealis, Leverianus, and Jamaicensis, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 266 (1788).

Falco aquilinus, Bartram. Trav., p. 290 (1791).

Buteo ferrugineicaudus, Vieillot. Ois. d'Am. Sept., I. 32 (1807).

Accipiter ruftcaudus, Vieillot. Ois. d'Am. Sept., I. 43 (1807).

Buieo fulvous and Americanus, Vieillot. Nouv. Diet., IV. 472, 477 (1816).

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Tail bright rufous, narrowly tipped with white, and having a subtermi-
nal band of black; entire upper parts dark umber-brown, lighter and with fulvous
edgings on the head and neck ; upper tail coverts yellowish-white, with rufous and
brown spots and bands ; throat white, with narrow longitudinal stripes of brown ;
other under parts pale yellowish-white, with longitudinal lines and spots of reddish-
brown, tinged with fulvous ; most numerous on the breast, and forming an irregular
band across the abdomen ; under tail coverts and tibiae generally clear yellowish-
white, unspotted, but the latter frequently spotted and transversely barred with
light rufous ; under surface of tail silvery-white.

Young. — Tail usually ashy-brown, with numerous bands of a darker shade of
the same color, and narrowly tipped with white; upper tail coverts white, with
bands of dark-brown ; other upper parts dark umber-brown, many feathers edged
with dull white and with partially concealed spots of white; entire under parts
white, sides of the breast with large ovate spots of brownish-black, and with a wide
irregular band on the abdomen, composed of spots of the same color; under tail
coverts and tibiae with irregular transverse stripes and sagittate spots of dark-brown ;
bill, blue-black; cere and sides of the mouth, yellow tinged with green; legs yellow;
iris pale amber.

Total length of female, about twenty-three inches; wing, fifteen to sixteen
inches ; tail, eight and a half inches. Male, nineteen to twenty-one inches ; wing,
fourteen inches ; tail, seven and a half to eight inches.

The Red-tailed Hawk is a common resident of all the
New-England States throughout the year. Its habits are
so well known that a description here is hardly needed.
Every one has noticed this hawk up in the air, at a consider-
able height, soaring in extended circles, and uttering the
oft-repeated cry, kae, Jcae, kae, as he examines the earth
beneath him for prey. Audubon was of the opinion, that
the bird emitted this shriek for the purpose of attracting the
notice of birds and animals beneath, and causing them to
fly to a place of concealment, thus giving him a knowledge
of their whereabouts. This supposition is not improbable ;
for he is often observed descending with great rapidity
towards a bird that has taken flight at his outcries.

36 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

This Hawk is very destructive among domestic poultry,
and is generally regarded with dislike. I have known of
instances when he has almost completely depopulated a
poultry-yard before he could be captured.

It is the custom of the Hawk, when he has once had a
taste of a flock of fowls, to visit it regularly every day at
about the same time ; sometimes in the afternoon, oftener
in the morning.

The moment his cry is heard, the shrill alarm of the cock
is given, when the hens run hither and thither, cackling,
and adding to their own affright; the guinea-fowls rattle
their discordant notes ; the mother with her chickens becomes
almost frantic in her efforts to protect her young from
the inevitable destroyer. In the midst of this clatter, the
pirate who has been its sole cause comes on eager wing,
and, selecting the fattest of the flock, pounces upon it, and,
with scarcely an effort, bears it off to feast his mate and
young. The Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) and Com-
mon Hare (Lepus Americanus) both fall victims; and the
number he destroys is very great.

The Red-Tailed Hawk builds its nest in a lofty fork of a
large tree. The nest is one of the largest of our rapacious
birds, — in one case, to my knowledge, exceeding two feet
in width and twenty inches in depth. It is constructed of
large sticks and twigs ; is but slightly hollowed ; and is
lined with smaller twigs, leaves, and moss. The eggs are
generally three in number, selolom more : their ground-
color is a dirty yellowish-white, with blotches of a yellow-
ish-brown, and sometimes distinct blotches of a darker
brown. Their form varies from nearly spherical to ovoidal ;
but they are, in general, nearly as large at one end as at the
other. Dimensions of specimens vary from 2.12 to 2.25
inches in length, by from 1.68 to 2 inches in breadth.

Three eggs that I took from a nest in the southern part
of Ohio, early in the month of April, measure 2*18 by 1.62 ;
2.14 by 1.70 ; and 2.20 by 2 inches, — averaging a little

THE RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. 37

smaller than specimens collected in New England. These
eggs must have been laid by the 25th of March. In New
England, they are seldom laid before the last week in April
to the first week in May.

BUTEO LINEATUS, — Jardine.

The Bed-shouldered Hawk.

Fdco lineatus and hyemalis, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 268, 274 (1788).
Falco buteoides, Nuttall. Man., I. 100 (1st edition, 1832).

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Wing coverts, from its flexure to the body, fine brigflt rufous ; breast
and other lower parts of the body paler orange rufous, many feathers with transverse
bars and spots of white, which predominate on the abdomen and under tail coverts ;
entire upper parts brown ; on the head mixed with rufous, and with white spots on
the wing coverts and shorter quills and rump ; quills brownish-black, with white spots
on their outer webs, and with bars of a lighter shade of brown and of white on
their inner webs ; tail brownish-black, with about five transverse bands of white,
and tipped with white.

Young. — Entire upper parts yellowish-white, with longitudinal stripes and
oblong spots of dark-brown; throat dark brown; upper parts lighter ashy-brown,
with many partially concealed spots and bars of white; quills dark-brown, with
wide transverse bars of rufous and white on both webs; tail ashy-brown, with
numerous bands of pale-brownish and rufous white; tail beneath silvery-white;
bill light-blue at the base, bluish-black" at the tip; cere, basal margin of the bill,
edges of the eyelids and the feet, bright-yellow ; iris hazel.

Total length, female, twenty-one to twenty-three inches; wing, fourteen; tail,
nine inches. Male, eighteen to twenty inches ; wing, twelve ; tail, eight inches.

This bird is a rather common resident of all New Eng-
land throughout the year. Its habits are so nearly like
those of the preceding, that I can add nothing to that I
have already written.

The best account of the bird's habits in the breeding
season, that I remember, is given by Audubon. It is as
follows : —

" This bird is one of the most noisy of its genus, during spring
especially, when it would be difficult to approach the skirts of woods
bordering a large plantation without hearing its discordant shrill
notes, — ka-hee, ka-hee, — as it is seen sailing in rapid circles at a
very great elevation. Its ordinary flight is even and protracted,

38 - ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

excepting when it is describing the circles just mentioned, when it
often dives and gambols. It is a more general inhabitant of the
woods than most of our other species, particularly during the sum-
mer, and in autumn and winter ; now and then only, in early spring,
showing itself in the open grounds, and about the vicinity of small
lakes, for the purpose of securing red-winged starlings and wounded
ducks.

" The interior of woods seems, as I have said, the fittest haunts
for the Red-shouldered Hawk. He sails through them a few yards
above the ground, and suddenly alights on the low branch of a
tree or the top of a dead stump, from which he silently watches,
in an erect posture, for the appearance of squirrels, upon which
he pounces directly, and kills in an instant, afterwards devour-
ing them on the ground. If accidentally discovered, he essays to
remove the squirrel ; but, finding this difficult, he drags it, partly
through the air and partly along the ground, to some short distance,
until he conceives himself out of sight of the intruder, when he
again commences feeding. The eating of a whole squirrel, which
this bird often devours at one meal, so gorges it, that I have seen
it in this state almost unable to fly, and with such an extraordinary
protuberance on its breast as seemed very unnatural, and very
injurious to the beauty of form which the bird usually displays.
On all occasions such as I have described, when the bird is so
gorged, it is approached with the greatest ease. On the contrary,
when it is in want of food, it requires the greatest caution to get
within shooting distance of it.

" At the approach of spring, this species begins to pair ; and its
flight is accompanied with many circlings and zigzag motions,
during which it emits its shrill cries. The. male is particularly
noisy at this time. He gives chase to all other hawks, returns to
the branch on which his mate has chanced to perch, and caresses
her. This happens about the beginning of March.1 The spot
adapted for a nest is already fixed upon, and the fabric is half
finished. The top of a tall tree appears to be preferred by this
hawk, as I have found its nest more commonly placed there, not
far from the edges of woods bordering plantations.

"When one ascends to the nest (which, by the way, is not

1 May in New England.

THE RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. 39

always an easy matter, as our beech-trees are not only very
smooth, but frequently without any boughs to a considerable dis-
tance from the ground, as well as of rather large size), the female
bird, if she happens to be sitting, flies off silently, and alights on a
neighboring tree to wait the result; but should the male, who
supplies her with food, and assists in incubation, be there, or make
his appearance, he immediately sets up a hue and cry, and plunges
toward the assailant with such violence as to astonish him.

" When, on several occasions, I have had the tree, on which the
nest was placed, cut down, I have observed the same pair, a few
days after, build another nest on a tree not far distant from the
spot in which the first one had been.

" The mutual attachment of the male and the female continues
during life. They usually hunt in pairs during the whole year ;
and, although they build a new nest every spring, they are fond of
resorting to the same parts of the woods for that purpose.1

" The young remain in the nest until fully fledged, and are fed
by the parents for several weeks after they have begun to fly ; but
leave them, and begin to shift for themselves, in about a month,
when they disperse, and hunt separately, until the approach of the
succeeding spring, at which time they pair.

" This Hawk seldom attacks any kind of poultry, and yet fre-
quently pounces on partridges, doves, or wild pigeons, as well as
red-winged blackbirds, and now and then young rabbits. On one
or two occasions, I have seen them make their appearance at the
report of my gun, and try to rob me of some blue-winged teals,
shot in small ponds. I have never seen them chase any other
small birds than those mentioned, or quadrupeds of smaller size
than the Cotton Rat."

My experience has been different from the above para-
graph ; for I have known of this Hawk attacking poultry,
and, even several times in the same flock, killing a fowl each
time. The breeding habits of this and the Bed-tailed Hawk
are so exactly similar, that the above description well
answers for both.

1 I have known of the same nest being occupied by a pair of these birds for
several seasons. — E. A. S.

40 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY*

I have found several nests of this species in different
localities, all of which were placed in high forks of trees.
They were built of twigs and sticks of different sizes, and
usually were of large size. A nest that I found in Milton,
Mass., was built in a fork of a large oak, against the trunk,
about forty feet from the ground. It was of a bulk nearly
sufficient to fill a bushel-basket: it was considerably hol-
lowed, and lined with dry grass and leaves. The eggs,
two in number, are in the cabinet of Dr. Brewer, who
describes them as follows : —

" Two others belonging to this species, obtained in Milton, Mass.,
by Mr. E. A. Samuels, and identified by securing the parent birds,
may be thus described: One measures 2^ by l|g inch. The
ground-color is a dirty-white, and is marked with large blotches,
lines, and dottings of umber-brown of various shades, from quite
dark to light. The other is 2 inches by l|g, has a bluish-white
ground, and is only marked by a number of very faint blotches of
yellowish-brown and a slate-drab. Except in their shape, which is
an oval spheroid, slightly pointed at one end, these bear but very
slight resemblance to each other, though taken at the same time
from one nest."

A number of specimens in my collection exhibit as great
a variety as the above instances ; and one specimen, obtained
in Connecticut, which measures 2.12 by 1.65 inches, has a
dirty yellowish-white ground-color, which is nearly covered
with blotches of faint-purple ; the appearance being as if
the purple spots were laid on, and then a coating of white-
wash laid over them.

BUTEO PENNSYLVANICUS, — Bonaparte.
The Broad-winged Hawk.

Fako Pennsylvanicus, Wilson. Am. Orn., VI. 92 (1812). Aud. Orn. Biog., 1. 161.
Falco Wilsonii, Bonaparte. Jour. Phila. Acad., III. 348 (1824).

DESCRIPTION.

Adult.— Entire upper parts umber-brown; feathers on the occiput and back of
the neck white at their bases ; throat white, with longitudinal lines of brown, and

THE BROAD-WINGED HAWK. 41

with a patch of brown on each side running from the base of the lower mandible ;
breast with a wide band composed of large cordate and sagittate spots and trans-
verse bands of reddish-ferruginous tinged with ashy; other under parts white, with
numerous sagittate spots of reddish on the flanks, abdomen, and tibiae. In some
specimens, the ferruginous color predominates on all the under parts, except the
under tail coverts, and all the feathers have large circular or ovate spots of white
on both edges; under tail coverts white; quills brownish-black, widely bordered
with white on their inner webs ; tail dark-brown, narrowly tipped with white, and
with one wide band of white and several narrower bands near the base.

Young. — Upper parts dull umber-brown, many feathers edged with fulvous and
ashy-white; upper tail coverts spotted with white; under parts white, generally
tinged with yellowish, and having longitudinal stripes and oblong and lanceolate
spots of brownish-black ; a stripe of dark-brown on each side of the neck from the
base of the under mandible ; tail brown, with several bands of a darker shade of
the same color, and of white on the inner webs, and narrowly tipped with white.
Bill bluish-black at the tip, blue towards the base; cere and margin yellow; iris
hazel; feet gamboge-yellow; claws brownish-black.

Total length, female, seventeen to eighteen inches ; wing, eleven ; tail, six and a
half to seven inches. Male, total length, sixteen to sixteen and a half inches ; wing,
ten inches ; tail, six to six and a half inches.

This bird, until quite recently, has been regarded as rare
in all the New-England States ; and even now it is by no
means common, although it is much oftener found here than
formerly. It occurs in these States only as a summer
visitor, arriving in the spring about the middle of April, and
departing for the South in October. The flight of this
Hawk is quite rapid, consisting of long intervals of soaring,
with shorter periods of flappings of the wings. It seems to
prefer the wilder districts to the more thickly settled ones,
and is most often met with in the interior of the country.
I noticed several individuals, in the course of a day's march
in Northern Maine, soaring above the hemlock and pine
forests, and uttering their shrill key, ky-ah, ky-ah-ke-ee,
ke-ee, as they were searching for prey beneath them. Small
birds, reptiles, squirrels, and insects constitute the principal
portion of their food ; and they seldom attack a bird larger
than a pigeon or quail.

Once, while listening to the beautiful song of the White-
throated Sparrow, I was startled by the sudden appearance
of one of these hawks, which, flying within a yard of my
head, as I sat in some bushes on the shores of Lake Umba-

42 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

gog, pounced at a Red Squirrel ($. Hudsonius'), that was
chattering at me from the top of a hollow stump: the
squirrel barely escaped by diving into the hollow, when
the hawk, turning suddenly, rushed at my little songster,
and, clutching him through the vitals, bore him off in
exultation. So sudden was the attack, that I had no time
to cock my gun before he was half a dozen rods off, when I
fired, and brought him to the ground : the sparrow was, of
course^ dead. The hawk was only wing-tipped ; and, throw-
ing himself on his back, his feet extended, he awaited my
approach. As I drew near him, he emitted a sort of hiss ;
and, as he glared at me with rage-enkindled eye, he appeared
the very incarnation of wrath. On killing him, I found that
he had had one of his tarsi broken before, apparently by a
shot : it had healed, but had lost none of its strength ; for, as
I touched him with a stick, he grasped it with both feet so
powerfully that all his claws were thrust deep into the wood.
The nest is rarely found. One that I visited in West Rox-
bury, Mass., on the 20th of May, 1864, had four eggs ; it
was built in a tall pine-tree, in a fork near the top ; it was
composed of coarse sticks and twigs, and was lined with
the bark of the red cedar and a few leaves and feathers.
The eggs, which are now before me, vary from 2 by 1.70
inches, to 2.15 by 1.72 inches ; their color is a dirty yellow-
ish-white, covered more or less thickly in the different
specimens with spots and blotches of reddish-brown : an-
other egg, obtained in Newton, Mass., in the previous
season, is somewhat smaller, and the markings are fainter,
and of a lighter color. Two other specimens in my collec-
tion, collected in New Hampshire, correspond to this
description ; but the spots are much finer and of a darker
color.

ARCHIBUTEO, BREHM.

Archibuteo, Brehm, Isis, 1828, p. 1269.

Tarsi densely feathered to the toes, but more or less naked behind, and then cov-
ered with scales. Wings long and wide; toes short; claws moderate; tail rather
short, wide. Other characters very similar to those of Buteo

THE BOUGH-LEGGED HAWK. 43

This genus contains six or seven species, inhabiting Europe, Asia, and North
America, all birds of heavy though robust organization, subsisting mainly on small
quadrupeds and reptiles. The species of this genus are easily recognized by their
having the tarsi feathered.

ARCHIBUTEO LAGOPUS. — Gray.
The Rough-legged Hawk.

Falco lagopus, Gm. Syst. Nat., 260 (1788). Aud. Orn. Biog., II. 377, and
Wilson.

Falco plumipes, Daudin. Traite d'Orn., II. 163.
Falco pennatus, Cuvier. Reg. An., I. 323 (1817).
Archibuteo alticeps, Brehm. Vog. Deutsch, I. 40.

DESCRIPTION.'

Tarsus densely feathered in front to the toes, naked behind; wing long; tail
rather short.

Adult. — Head above yellowish-white, with longitudinal stripes of brown tinged
with reddish, especially on the occiput ; back scapular, and shorter quills pale cine-
reous, with partially concealed transverse bands of white and dark-brown, the latter
frequently predominating, and giving the color on the back ; rump dark umber-brown ;
longer quills and wing coverts umber-brown; primaries edged externally with ashy,
and with a large space on their inner webs at their base, white with a silky lustre ;
under parts white ; throat with longitudinal stripes of dark-brown ; breast with large
spots and concealed stripes of reddish-brown; abdomen with numerous transverse
narrow bands of brownish-black, most conspicuous on the flanks, and tinged with
ashy; tibiae and tarsi barred transversely with white and dark-brown, and tinged
with reddish; under tail coverts white; upper tail coverts white at base and
tipped with brownish-black ; tail white at base, with a wide subterminal band of
black, and about two other bands of black alternating with others of light-cinere-
ous; cere and toes yellow; iris hazel; under wing coverts white, with spots of
'brownish-black, and on the longer coverts with a large space of ashy-brown.

Young. — Upper parts light umber-brown, many feathers, especially on the head
and neck behind, edged with yellowish-white and pale-reddish ; a wide transverse
band or belt on the abdomen brownish-black; other under parts yellowish-white,
with a few longitudinal lines and spots of brownish-black ; quills ashy-brown, with
a large basal portion of their inner webs white ; tail at its base white, with a sub-
terminal band of light umber-brown, tip white ; tibiae and tarsi pale reddish-yellow,
with longitudinal stripes and spots of dark-brown ; cere and toes yellow ; iris hazel.

Total length, femaje, twenty-one to twenty-three inches ; wing, sixteen to seven-
teen inches ; tail, nine inches. Male, total length, nineteen to twenty-one inches ;
wing, fifteen to sixteen inches ; tail, eight to eight and a half inches.

This Hawk is rarely seen in New England, appearing only
in the late fall and winter months. I have had no opportu-
nities of studying its habits and characteristics, and. will
give the short description by Audubon. He says, -—

44 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

" The Rough-legged Hawk seldom goes further south along our
Atlantic Coast than the eastern portions of North Carolina ; nor
have I ever seen it west of the Alleghanies. It is a sluggish bird,
and confines itself to the meadows and low grounds bordering the
rivers and salt marshes along our bays and inlets. In such places,
you may see it perched on a stake, where it remains for hours at a
time, unless some wounded bird comes in sight, when it sails after
it, and secures it without manifesting much swiftness of flight. It
feeds principally on moles, mice, and other small quadrupeds, and
never attacks a duck on the wing, although now and then it pursues
a wounded one. When not alarmed, it usually flies low and
sedately, and does not exhibit any of the courage and vigor so con-
spicuous in most other hawks, suffering thousands of birds to pass
without pursuing them. The greatest feat I have see*i it perform
was scrambling at the edge of the water to secure a lethargic
frog.

" They alight on trees to roost, but appear so hungry or indolent
at all times, that they seldom retire to rest until after dusk.
Their large eyes, indeed, seem to indicate their possession of the
faculty of seeing at that late hour. I have frequently put up one
that seemed watching for food at the edge of a ditch, long after
sunset. Whenever an opportunity offer, they eat to excess,
and, like the Turkey Buzzards and Carrion Crows, disgorge
their food, to enable themselves to fly off. The species is more
nocturnal in its habits than any other hawk found in the United
States."

I have never met with the nest of this bird, and know
but little of its breeding habits. It does not breed in New
England, or, if it does, only very rarely, preferring the more
northern sections of the continent. Two eggs in my collec-
tion, from Canada, are of the following Description. Their
ground-color is a dirty bluish-white, which is covered more
or less thickly on different parts of their surface with
obscure spots and blotches of different shades of brown-
ish-ochre and faint-umber. They are broadly ovate in
form, and are 2.87 by 1.75 inch and 2.87 by 1.63 inch in
dimensions.

THE BLACK HAWK. 45

ARCHIBUTEO SANCTI-JOHANNIS. —Gray.
The Black Hawk.

Fako sancti-johannis, Gm. Syst. Nat., 273 (1788).
Falco nova-terras, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 274 (1788).
Fako niger, Wilson. Am. Orn., VI. 82 (1812).

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Entire plumage glossy black, in many specimens with .a brown tinge;
forehead, throat, and large partially concealed spot on occiput, white; tail with
one transverse well-defined band of white, and irregularly marked towards the base
with the same color; quills with their inner webs white, readily seen from below;
cere and toes yellow ; iris hazel ; tarsi densely feathered in front, naked behind.
Other specimens are entirely dark chocolate-brown, with the head more or less
striped with yellowish-white and reddish-yellow; tail with several transverse
bands of white, more or less imperfect and irregular.

Young. — Upper parts light umber-brown, with the feathers more or less edged
with dull-white and reddish-yellow; abdomen with a broad transverse band of
brownish-black ; other under parts pale yellowish-white, with longitudinal stripes
of brownish-black, frequently giving the predominating color on the breast and
sides; wings and tail brown, tinged with cinereous, the former marked with white
on their inner webs, the latter white at their base ; tarsi and tibiae pale reddish-
yellow, spotted with brown; cere, feet, and iris the same as in adult.

Total length, female, twenty-two to twenty-four inches ; wing, seventeen to seven-
teen and a half; tail, nine inches. Male, twenty to twenty-two inches ; wing, sixteen
to sixteen and a half; tail, eight to eight and a half inches.

This species,1 so often confounded in the immature plu-
mage with the preceding, but which may be separated
from it by its greater size and more numerous dark spots
beneath, is a rare winter visitor in New England. Like
the Rough-legged Hawk, it prefers the marshes and low,
swampy woods to the higher localities, and preys upon
mice, wounded ducks, and small birds. I have known of it
being killed while pursuing a flock of Snow Buntings
(Plectrophanes nivalis), and have heard of its attacking a
flock of domestic poultry. Its habits, therefore, are differ-
ent from those of the" A. lagopus, as given by Audubon ;
but it lacks the courage and vigor of most of our other
rapacious birds, and is hardly worthy of the immortality it
has received from the pens of some of our writers.

The distribution of this species is limited to the north-
ern regions of the continent in summer, and is very rarely
1 See Appendix.

46 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

found south of Massachusetts in winter. I do not remem-
ber of an instance of its being captured far inland, although
J. A. Allen, before quoted, includes it in the catalogue of
the birds of Springfield, Mass.

A single egg in my collection, from Northern America, is
of the following dimensions : 2.17 by 1.70 inch. Its form
is a perfect ovoidal. Its primary color is a dirty white ;
and it is marked with obscure blotches of lilac, and some
obscure blotches of brown and brownish-yellow. None of
the markings are decided ; and, at a little distance, the egg
has the appearance of being of a dirty-white color.

Sub-Family MILVIX^E. — The Kites.

Size various, usually medium or small ; general form usually rather slender, and
not strong; wings and tail usually long; bill short, weak, hooked, and acute; tarsi
and toes usually slender, and not strong, sometimes short. The birds of this group
habitually feed on reptiles and other small animals, and are deficient in the strength
and courage of the other groups of the falcons.

(
CIRCUS, LACEPBDE.

Circus, LACEPEDE, Mem. d'Inst. Paris, III. CXI. 506 (1803).

Face partially encircled by a ring or ruff of short projecting feathers, as in the
owls; head rather large; bill short, compressed, curved from the base; nostrils
large; wings long, pointed; tail rather long, wide; tarsi long and slender; toes
moderate; claws rather slender and weak.

CIRCUS HUDSONIUS.— Vieittot.
The Marsh-hawk; Harrier; Mouse-hawk.

fako Hudsonius, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. 128 (1766).
Falco uliginosus, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 278 (1788).
Falco uliginosus, Wilson. Am. Orn., VI. 67.
Falco cyaneus, Aububon. Orn. Biog., IV. 396.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Form rather long and slender; tarsi long; ruff quite distinct on the
neck in front; entire upper parts, head, and breast, pale bluish-cinereous, on
the back of the head mixed with dark-fulvous; upper tail coverts white; under
parts white, with small cordate or hastate spots of light-ferruginous ; quills brownish-
black, with their outer webs tinged with ashy, and a large portion of their inner

THE MARSH-HAWK; HARRIER; MOUSE-HAWK. 47

webs white ; tail light-cinereous, nearly white on the inner webs of the feathers, and
with obscure transverse bands of brown; under surface silky-white; under wing
coverts white; bill blue-black at the extremity; cere and legs yellow, the former
with a tinge of green ; iris hazel.

Younger. — Entire upper parts dull umber-brown, many feathers edged with dull
rufous, especially on the neck ; under parts dull reddish-white, with longitudinal
stripes of brown, most numerous on the throat and neck before ; tibiae tinged with
reddish; upper tail coverts white.

Young. — Entire upper parts dark umber-brown ; upper tail coverts white ;
under parts rufous, with longitudinal stripes of brown on the breast and sides;
tail reddish-brown, with about three wide bands of dark-fulvous, paler on the inner
webs ; tarsi, cere, and iris as in the adult.

Total length, female, nineteen to twenty-one inches ; wing, fifteen and a half;
tail, ten inches. Male, total length, sixteen to eighteen inches ; wing, fourteen and a
half; tail, eight and a half to nine inches.

This species is pretty generally diffused throughout New
England as a summer visitor. It is one of the least mis-
chievous of all the hawks, as it destroys but few of the
smaller birds. It is more common in districts that are low
and marshy than in others ; and this fact gives it the name,
in many localities, of the " Bogtrotter."

Its flight is low and rapid, consisting of long intervals
of flappings, with shorter periods of soaring. I do not
remember of ever hearing it cry out in the manner that
other hawks do, and think that it hunts silently. It arrives
from the South from about the middle of April to the first
of May. I am inclined to think that the birds are generally
mated before their arrival ; for they are almost always seen
in pairs from their first appearance. In choosing a situation
for a nest, both birds are remarkably nervous and restless :
they are almost constantly on the wing, prying into, and
apparently taking into account, every thing with reference to
future comfort. The following circumstances came to my
observation, and, as I improved every opportunity to watch
the proceedings, will serve to illustrate the breeding habits
of this bird : A pair made their appearance about the.
middle of April, a few years since, in a large meadow in
Dedham, Mass. They were apparently mated from the
first ; and, as the neighborhood gave promise of an abun-

48 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

dance of food (field-mice), I concluded that this would bo
selected as a breeding- place, and watched accordingly.
The male was very attentive to his mate, often talking to
and caressing her. If she should alight on the ground 'or
on a fence-rail, he would alight with her, and often fly and
walk around her, bowing and chattering in a ludicrous
manner. After a situation (luckily where I could watch
them unobserved) was fixed upon for a nest, both birds
were very active in its construction. It was built ori a
hummock, perhaps eighteen inches above the level of the
meadow. The materials used in its construction were
dried grasses, which were woven together rather neatly. It
was considerably hollowed, — perhaps an inch and a half, —
and lined with very soft grass. The external diameter of
the nest was about eighteen inches ; internal diameter,
about eight inches. The female laid four eggs of a dirty-
white color, with a faint tinge of blue. In one specimen
there were a few faint spots of brown ; but I think that
generally the eggs of this species are without spots.1 I
have seen a great many, and but a very few had spots, and
these not at all distinct. A great number of specimens
exhibit a variation of from 1.62 to 1.90 inch in length, and
from 1.32 to 1.25 inch in breadth. The habits of this bird
entitle it to the protection of the farmer. It subsists almost
entirely upon the injurious field-mice, and the numbers of
these animals which it destroys in the breeding season are
incredible : from early dawn to dim twilight it may be seen
busily searching for these pests, seldom molesting the small
beneficial birds or poultry.

i Dr. Brewer, in describing the eggs of this species, says: "With but a single
exception, all these eggs (six) are very distinctly -blotched and spotted. The.ir
ground-color is a dirty bluish-white, which in one is nearly unspotted ; the markings
so faint as to be hardly perceptible, and only upon close inspection. In all the
others, spots and blotches of a light shade of purplish-brown occur, in a greater or
less degree, over their entire surface. In two, the blotches are large and well
marked ; in the others, less strongly traced, but quite distinct. This has led to a
closer examination of eggs from other parts of the country, and nearly all are per-
ceptiblv spotted."

Plate/

Golden Eagle

Great Cinereous Owl.

eat Horned. Owl.

THE GOLDEN EAGLE; THE EING-T AILED EAGLE. 49

Sub-Family AQUILINE. — The Eagles.

Size large, and all parts very strongly organized; bill large, compressed, straight
at base, curved and acute at tip; wings long, pointed; tail ample, generally rounded;
tarsi moderate, very strong; claws curved, very sharp and strong. There are about
seventy species of eagles of all countries.

AQUILA, MOEHRING.

Aquila, MOEHEING, Av. Gen., 49 (1752).

General form large and very strong, and adapted to long-continued and swift
flight; bill large, strong, compressed, and hooked at the tip; wings long, pointed;
tarsi rather short, very strong, feathered to the toes; claws sharp, strong, curved.
This genus includes about twenty species, which are regarded as the true eagles.

AQUILA CANADENSIS.— Cassin.
The Golden Eagle ; the Ring-tailed Eagle.

Falco Canadensis, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. 125 (1766).
Falco niger, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 259 (1788).
Aquila nobilis, Pallas. Zoog. Ross. As., I. 338 (1811).
Falco chryscetos, Wilson. Aud., II. 464.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Large; tarsi densely feathered to the toes; head and neck behind light
brownish-fulvous, varying in shade in different specimens, frequently light orange-
fulvous, generally darker; tail at base white, which color frequently occupies the
greater part of the tail; other terminal portion glossy black; all other parts rich
purplish-brown, frequently very dark, and nearly clear black on the under parts of
the body; primaries shining black; secondaries purplish-brown; tibise and tarsi
brownish-fulvous, generally mixed with dark-ashy; cere and toes yellow: iris
reddish-hazel.

Younger. — Entire plumage lighter, and mixed with dull-fulvous; under parts of
the body nearly uniform with the upper parts ; cere, toes, and iris like adult.

Total length, female, thirty-three to forty inches; wing, about twenty-five; tail,
about fifteen inches. Male, total length, thirty to thirty-five inches ; wing, twenty
to twenty-three: tail, twelve to fourteen inches.

The above description is incomplete, so far as the markings of the tail are men
tioned; for in the adult bird the tail is entirely black, and the young have more or
less white in proportion to their age, — the youngest birds having the widest white
band at the base.

This bird is so extremely rare in New England, that I
have had no opportunities for studying its habits. It is
occasionally found here in different seasons of the year,

4

50 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

and it undoubtedly breeds in the wildest districts of these
States. The following are the most interesting facts, given
by Audubon, in relation to this species : —

"The Golden Eagle, although a permanent resident in the
United States, is of rare occurrence there ; it being seldom that
one sees more than a pair or two in the course of a year, unless he
be an inhabitant of the mountains, or of the large plains spread out
at their base. I have seen a few of them on the wing along the
shores of the Hudson, others on the upper parts of the Mississippi,
some among the Alleghanies, and a pair in the State of Maine.
At Labrador, we saw an individual sailing, at the height of a few
yards, over the moss-covered surface of the dreary rocks.

"Although powerful in flight, it has not the speed of many
hawks, nor even of the White-headed Eagle. It cannot, like the
latter, pursue and seize, on the wing, the prey it longs for ; but is
obliged to glide down through the air for a certain height to insure
the success of its enterprise. The keenness of its eye, however,
makes up for this" defect, and enables it to spy, at a great distance,
the objects on which it preys ; and it seldom misses its aim, as it
falls with the swiftness of a meteor towards the spot on which they
are concealed. When .at a great height in the air, its gyrations are
uncommonly beautiful, being slow and of wide circuit, and becom-
ing the majesty of the king of birds. It often continues them for
hours at a time, with apparently the greatest ease.

" The notes of this species are sharp and harsh ; resembling, at
times, the barking of a dog ; especially about the breeding season,
when the birds become extremely noisy and turbulent, flying more
swiftly than at other times, alighting more frequently, and evincing
a fretfulness which is not so observable after their eggs are laid.

" They are capable of remaining without food for several days at
a time, and eat voraciously whenever they find an opportunity.

"Young fawns, raccoons, hares, wild turkeys, and other large
birds, are their usual food ; and they devour putrid flesh only when
hard pressed by hunger, none alighting on carrion at any other
time.

I regret that I am unable to add any thing to our knowl-
edge of its habits and breeding peculiarities. Dr. Brewer

THE WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. 51

says, "It breeds in the mountainous portions of Maine*
New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York." The Golden
Eagle usually constructs its nest on the sides of steep rocky
crags, where its materials are coarsely heaped together on
a projecting shelf of rock. These consist of large sticks
loosely arranged. In rare instances, they are said to
have been built -on trees in the Western States, where
rocky cliffs are not to be met with. The eggs are usually
three in number ; sometimes two, or only one. Mr. Audu-
bon describes them as measuring three and a half inches in
length by two and a half in breadth ; the shell thick and
smooth, dull-white, brushed over with undefined patches
of brown, which are most numerous at the larger end.

HALLETUS, SAVIGNY.

Size large; tarsi short, naked, or feathered for a short distance below the joint
of the tibia and tarsus, and with the toes covered with scales; toes rather long;
claws very strong, curved, very sharp; bill large, very strong, compressed; margin
of upper mandible slightly lobed; wings long, pointed; tail moderate.

HALIJETUS LEUCOCEPHALUS.
The White-headed Eagle ; the Bald Eagle ; the Gray Eagle.

Falco kucocephalus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat, I. 124 (1766).
Falco pygargus, Daudin. Traite d'Orn., II. 62 (1800).
Falco ossifragus, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. 16 (1813).

DESCRIPTION.

Bill large, strong, straight at the base, rather abruptly hooked; wings long;
tarsi rather short.

Adult. — Head, tail, and its upper and under coverts, white; entire other plumage
brownish-black, generally with the edges of the feathers paler; bill, feet, and irides,
or iris, yellow.

Younger. — Entire plumage, including head and tail, dark-brown ; paler on the
throat; edges of the feathers paler or -fulvous, especially on the under parts; tail
more or less mottled with white, which color, in more advanced age, extends over a
large portion of the tail, especially on the inner webs; bill brownish-black ; irides
brown.

Total length, female, about thirty-five to forty inches; wing, twenty-three to
twenty-five inches ; tail, fourteen to fifteen inches. Male, thirty to thirty-four inches:
wing, twenty to twenty-two inches ; tail, thirteen to fourteen inches.

52

ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

This beautiful and well-known bird is occasionally seen in
different parts of New England throughout the year, most
commonly near the seacoast or in the neighborhood of large

tracts of water. I have had several opportunities of observ-
ing and studying its habits, but have discovered nothing that
has not been already presented to the public. Its flight is

THE WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. 53

rapid and graceful, and is often prolonged for hours with
apparent ease. It feeds upon wild-fowl, wild geese, and
small animals, and is very partial to fish, which it robs from
the Fish Hawk (P. Carolinensis), and finds cast upon the
shore, dead.

Wilson, in describing its attacks on the Fish Hawk,
says : —

" Formed by nature for braving the severest cold ; feeding
equally on the produce of the sea and of the land; possessing
powers of flight capable of outstripping even the tempests them-
selves; unawed by any thing but man; and, from the ethereal
heights to which he soars, looking abroad, at one glance, on an im-
measurable expanse of forests, fields, lakes, and ocean, deep below
him, — he appears indifferent to the little change of localities or
seasons ; as, in a few minutes, he can pass from summer to winter,
from the lower to the higher regions of the atmosphere, the abode
of eternal cold, and thence descend, at will, to the torrid or
the arctic regions of the earth. He is therefore found at all
seasons in the countries he inhabits, but prefers such places as
have been mentioned above, from the great partiality he has for
fish.

" In procuring these, he displays, in a very singular manner,
the genius and energy of his character, which is fierce, contempla-
tive, daring, and tyrannical, — attributes not exerted but on par
ticular occasions, but, when put forth, overpowering all opposition.
Elevated on the high dead limb of some gigantic tree that com-
mands a wide view of the neighboring shores and ocean, he seems
calmly to contemplate the motions of the various feathered tribes
that pursue their busy avocations below, — the snow-white gulls
slowly winnowing the air; the busy tringce coursing along the
sands ; trains of ducks streaming over the surface ; silent and
watchful cranes, intent and wading ; clamorous crows ; and all the
winged multitudes that subsist by the bounty of this vast liquid
magazine of nature. High over all these hovers one whose action
instantly arrests his whole attention. By his wide curvature of
wing and sudden suspension in air, he knows him to be the Fish
Hawk, settling over some devoted victim of the deep. His eye
kindles at the sight ; and, balancing himself, with half-opened wings,

54 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

on the branch, he watches the result. Down, rapid as an arrow
from heaven, descends the distant object of his attention ; the roar
of its wings reaching the ear as it disappears in the deep, making
the surges foam around. At this moment, the eager looks of the
Eagle are all ardor; and, levelling his neck for flight, he sees
the Fish-hawk once more emerge, struggling with his prey, and
mounting in the air with screams of exultation. These are the
signal for our hero, who, launching into the air, instantly gives
chase, and soon gains on the Fish-hawk : each exerts his utmost to
mount above the other, displaying in these rencontres the most
elegant and sublime aerial evolutions. The unencumbered Eagle
rapidly advances, and is just on the point of reaching his opponent,
when, with a sudden scream, probably of despair and honest
execration, the latter drops his fish : the Eagle, poising himself for
a moment, as if to take a more certain aim, descends like a whirl-
wind, snatches it in his grasp ere it reaches the water, and bears
his ill-gotten booty silently away to the woods.

"These predatory attacks and defensive mano3uvres of the
Eagle and the Fish-hawk are matters of daily observation along
the whole of our seaboard, from Georgia to New England, and
frequently excite great interest in the spectators. Sympathy,
however, on this as on most other occasions, generally sides with
the honest and laborious sufferer, in opposition to the attacks
of power, injustice, and rapacity ; qualities for which our hero is
so generally notorious, and which, in his superior, man, are cer-
tainly detestable, its for the feelings of the poor fish, they seem
altogether out of the question.

" When driven, as he sometimes is, by the combined courage
and perseverance of the fish-hawks, from their neighborhood, and
forced to hunt for himself, he retires more inland, in search of
young pigs, of which he destroys great numbers. In the lower
parts of Virginia and North Carolina, where the inhabitants raise
vast herds of those animals, complaints of this kind are very
general against him. He also destroys young lambs in the early
part of spring ; and will sometimes attack old sickly sheep, aiming
furiously at their eyes."

It generally chooses for a breeding-place a retired spot
in the neighborhood of a tract of water. The nest is

THE FISH-HAWK. 55

usually placed in the fork of a large dead tree, and is
occupied by the same pair of birds for successive years. I
am informed, that a pair of these birds have, for a number
of years past, made their eyrie on a shelf of an inaccessible
cliff on the side of what is called " Diamond Mountain," a
few miles south of the Umbagog lakes. Mr. J. A. Allen
(Catalogue of Birds of Springfield, Mass., in "Proceedings
of Essex Institute," vol. IV., No. 2) says that this species
" sometimes breeds on Mount Tom, about twenty miles
north of Springfield, Mass." These are probably, how-
ever, exceptional cases. The nest is constructed of large
sticks, twigs, branches of seaweeds, turf, and moss : some
of these sticks are nearly or. quite an inch in thickness. It
is a bulky affair ; its diameter often being five feet, and its
thickness from two to three feet. It is not much hollowed,
and is nearly level across the top. Of numbers of eggs of
this bird, that I have examined, I could see no material
difference as to shape or color; the form being nearly
spherical, and the color a dirty yellowish- white. Length
of specimens varies from 2.93 to 3.07 inches; breadth,
from 2.31 to 2,47 inches.

PANDION, SAVIGNY.

Pandion, SAVIGNY, Hist. Nat. d'Egypt, I. 95 (1809).

Wings very long; general form heavy, and not adapted to vigorous or swift
flight like the preceding eagles ; bill short, curved from the base, compressed ; tarsi
thick and strong, and covered with small circular scales ; claws large, curved, very
sharp ; toes beneath rough ; tail moderate or rather short.

This genus contains three or four species only, nearly allied to each other, and
inhabiting all temperate regions of the world.

PANDION CAROLINENSIS. — Bonaparte.
The Fish-hawk. Osprey.

Falco Carolinensis, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 263 (1788).
Aquila piscatrix, Vieillot. Ois. d'Am. Sept., I. 29 (1807).
Pandion Americanos, Vieillot. Gal. Ois., I. 33 (1825).
Falco halicetus, Linnaeus. Wilson, Am. Orn., V. 14.
Falco halicetus, Linna3us. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. 415.

56 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

DESCRIPTION.

Wings long; legs, toes, and claws very robust and strong.

Adult. — Head and entire under parts white ; stripe through the eye, top of the
head, and upper parts of the body, wings and tail deep uniber-brown, tail having
about eight bands of blackish-brown ; breast with numerous cordate and circular
spots of pale yellowish-brown; bill and claws bluish-black; tarsi and toes green-
ish-yellow; iris reddish-yellow.

Young. — Similar to the adult, but with the upper plumage edged and tipped
with pale-brownish, nearly white; spots on the breast more numerous and darker
colored.

Total length, female, about twenty-five inches ; wing, twenty-one inches ; tail,
ten and a half inches. Male, rather smaller.

" Soon as the sun, great ruler of the year,
Bends to our northern climes his bright career,
And from the caves of Ocean calls from sleep
The finny shoals and myriads of the deep ;
When freezing tempests back to Greenland ride,
And day and night the equal hours divide, —
True to the season, o'er our sea-beat shore,
The sailing Osprey high is seen to soar
•With broad, unmoving wing ; and, circling slow,
Marks each loose straggler in the deep below,
Sweeps down like lightning, plunges with a roar,
And bears his struggling victim to the shore.

The long-housed fisherman beholds with joy
The well-known signals of his rough employ ;
And, as he bears his nets and oars along,
Thus hails the welcome season with a song : —

THE FISHERMAN'S HYMN.

The Osprey sails above the sound ;

The geese are gone, the gulls are flying;
The herring-shoals swarm thick around ;
The nets are launched, the boats are plying.
Yo, ho, my hearts ! let's seek the deep,

Raise high the sotag, and cheerly wish her,
Still, as the bending net we sweep,
' God bless the Fish-hawk and the fisher ! '

She brings us fish : she brings us spring,
Good times, fair weather, warmth, and plenty ;

Fine store of shad, trout, herring, ling,
Sheep's-head and drum, and old-wives dainty.

THE FISH-HAWK. 57

Yo, ho, my hearts ! let's seek the deep,

Ply every oar, and cheerly wish her,
Still as the bending net we sweep,

' God bless the Fish-hawk and the fisher ! '

She rears her young on yonder tree ;

She leaves her faithful mate to mind 'em ;
Like us, for fish, she sails to sea,
And, plunging, shows us where to find 'em.
Yo, ho, my hearts ! let's seek the deep,
Ply every oar, and cheerly wish her,
While the slow-bending net we sweep,
' God bless the Fish-hawk and the fisher ! ' "

ALEXANDER WILSON.

The common and well-known bird which furnishes the
theme of the above beautiful verses is a summer inhabitant
of New England along the whole coast, and in the neighbor-
hood of large sheets of water. The males arrive from the
south about the middle of April, and the females about a
week later. I believe that the same pair are constant to
each other for several years : those that commence their
matrimonial career in the spring usually mate about the
first week in May, in our latitude. The movements of
the male, while paying court to the female, are interesting;
and, as Audubon has described them better than I can
myself, I will give his description : - —

" As soon as the females make their appearance, which happens
eight or ten days after the arrival of the males, the love-season
commences, and, soon after, incubation takes place. The loves of
these birds are conducted in a different way from those of the
other falcons. The males are seen playing through the air amongst
themselves, chasing each other in sport, or sailing by the side or
after the female which they have selected, uttering cries of joy
and exultation, alighting on the branches of the tree on which
their last year's nest is yet seen remaining, and doubtless congratu-
lating each other on finding their home again. Their caresses are
mutual. They begin to augment their habitation, or to repair the
injuries which it may have sustained during the winter, and are

58 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

seen sailing together towards the shores, to collect the drifted
seaweeds, with which they line the nest anew. They alight on the
beach, search for the dryest and largest weeds, collect a mass of
them, clench them in their talons, and fly towards their nest, with
the materials dangling beneath. They both alight and labor
together. In a fortnight, the nest is complete, and the female
deposits her eggs."

The nest is generally placed in a large tree in the imme-
diate vicinity of the water, either along the seashore, on the
margins of the inland lakes, or by some large river. It is,
however, sometimes to be seen in the interior of a wood, a
mile or more from the water. I have concluded, that, in
the latter case, it was on account of frequent disturbance,
or attempts at destruction, that the birds had removed from
their usual haunts. The nest is very large, sometimes meas-
uring fully four feet across, and is composed of a quantity
of materials sufficient to render its depth equal to its diam-
eter. Large sticks, mixed with seaweeds, tufts of strong
grass, and other materials, form its exterior, while the in-
terior is composed of seaweeds and finer grasses. I have
not observed that any particular species of tree is preferred
by the Fish-hawk. It places its nest in the fork of an oak
or a pine with equal pleasure. But I have observed that
the tree chosen is usually of considerable size, and not un-
frequently a decayed one.

The Fish-hawk is gregarious, and often breeds in colonies
of three or four nests in an area of a few acres. The males
assist in incubation.

I have heard of instances of as many as a dozen nests
being found in the distance of half a mile on the coast of
New Jersey.

In New England, the species is not so plentiful, and sel-
dom more than one nest can be found in one locality. The
flight of the bird is strong, vigorous, and well sustained.
As he flies over the ocean, at a height of perhaps fifty

THE FISH-HAWK. 59

feet, his long wings, as they beat the air in quick, sharp
strokes, give the bird the appearance of being much larger
than he really is. When he plunges into the water, he
invariably seizes the fish, his prey, in his talons, and is
sometimes immersed to the depth of a foot or eighteen
inches in his efforts to capture it. He is of a peaceable
disposition, and never molests any of his feathered neigh-
bors. If the nest is plundered, the parent attacks the in-
truder, and often inflicts ugly wounds in its defence.

Mr. Allen, in his notes on the " Rarer Birds of Massa-
chusetts," remarks while the osprey " breeds abundantly
on the New Jersey coast, on portions of Long Island, on
the coast of Maine and about the large lakes in the interior,
it is now, only seen in this state, (Massachusetts,) so far as
I can learn, during its migrations."

During the past winter, I have had frequent conversa-
tions with hunters and others, interested in our birds, who
are residents of Plymouth and Barnstable counties, and
their testimony is that in the large tracts of woodland in
those counties, such as the Plymouth and Sandwich woods,
the osprey nests, not in communities, but so frequently that
the birds and nests are often found.

The eggs are usually laid before the 10th of May : they
are generally three in number. They vary considerably,
both in shape, size, and markings. In a majority of speci-
mens in my collection, the ground-color is a rich reddish-
cream, and covered with numerous blotches of different
shades of brown. In a number of specimens, these blotches
are confluent, and the primary color is nearly hidden. Their
form varies from nearly spherical to ovoidal, and the dimen-
sions from 2.28 to 2.44 inches in length, and from 1.65 to
1.83 in breadth.

60 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

FAMILY STRIGIDJE. THE OWLS.

Form usually short and heavy, with the head disproportionately large, and fre-
quently furnished with erectile tufts of feathers, resembling the ears of quadrupeds.
General organization adapted to vigorous and noiseless, but not rapid, flight, and to
the capture of animals in the morning and evening twilight.

Eyes usually very large, directed forwards, and, in the greater number of species,
formed for seeing by twilight or in the night; bill rather strong, curved, nearly
concealed by projecting, bristle-like feathers; wings generally long, outer edges of
primary quills fringed; legs generally rather short, and in all species, except in one
Asiatic genus (Ketupa), more or less feathered, generally densely ; cavity of the ear
very large ; face encircled by a more or less perfect disc of short, rigid feathers,
which, with the large eyes, gives to those birds an'entirely peculiar and frequently
catlike expression. Female larger than the male.

Sub-Family BUBONIN.E. — The Horned Owls.

Head large, with erectile and prominent ear-tufts ; eyes large ; facial disc not
complete above the eyes and bill; legs, feet, and claws usually very strong.

BUBO, CUVIER.

Bubo, CUVIER, Regne Animal, I. 331 (1817).

Size large ; general form very robust and powerful ; head large, with conspicuous
ear-tufts ; eyes very large ; wings long ; tail short ; legs and toes very strong, densely
feathered; claws very strong; bill rather short, strong, curved, covered at base by
projecting feathers.

This genus includes the large Horned Owls, or Cat Owls, as they are sometimes
called. These birds are most numerous in Asia and Africa, and there are in all
countries about fifteen species.

BUBO VIRGINIANUS.— Bonaparte.
The Great Horned Owl.

Strix Virginiana, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 287 (1788). Bonap. Syn., p. 37. Nutt., I.
124. Wilson, Audubon, and others.

Bubo articus, Swains. Faun. Bor. Am. Birds, p. 86 (1831).

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Large and strongly organized; ear-tufts large, erectile; bill strong,
fully curved; wing rather long; third quill usually longest ; tail short; legs and
toes robust, and densely covered with short, downy feathers ; claws very strong,
sharp, curved; variable in plumage, from nearly white to dark-brown, usually
with the upper parts dark-brown, every feather mottled, and with irregular trans-
verse lines of pale-ashy and reddish-fulvous, the latter being the color of all the
plumage at the bases of the feathers; ear-tufts dark-brown, nearly black, edged on

THE GREAT HORNED OWL. 61

their inner webs with dark-fulvous; a black spot above the eye; radiating feathers
behind the eye, varying in color from nearly white to dark reddish-fulvous, usually
the latter ; feathers of the facial disc tipped with black ; throat and neck before, white ;
breast with wide longitudinal stripes of black; other under parts variegated vf'th
white and fulvous, and every feather having transverse, narrow lines of dark-brown ,
middle of the abdomen frequently, but not always, white; legs and toes varying
from white to dark-fulvous, usually pale-fulvous ; in most specimens unspotted, but
frequently, and probably always in fully mature specimens, with transverse, narrow
bars of dark -brown; quills brown, with wide transverse bands of cinereous, and
usually tinged on the inner webs with pale fulvous; tail the same, with the fulvous
predominating on the outer feathers; iris yellow; bill and claws bluish-black.

Dimensions. — Female, length, twenty-one to twenty- five inches ; wing, fourteen
and a half to sixteen; tail, ten inches. Male, eighteen to twenty-one inches; wing,
fourteen to fifteen ; tail, nine inches.

THIS well-known bird is a resident in all the New-England
States throughout the year. It is not so common in Mas-
sachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island as in the other
States, where, in the vast tracts of forest, it is quite abun-
dant ; so much so, that I have heard several of them at the
same time making " night hideous with their discordant,
mournful cries." Never shall I forget a serenade I once had
the pleasure of hearing in the State of Maine, in which this
bird maintained the basso. We were encamped on the
shores of Lake Umbagog : our tent was pitched on a bluff
overlooking the lake, and behind us was the deep, dark
forest of pines and hemlocks. We had just got fairly into
our first nap, the sweet follower of our day's toils, when we
were awakened by the hootings of one of these owls, " Waugh,
hoo, hoo, hoo!" or "Who cooks for you?" as the Western
traveller understood it, which seemed to be addressed to us
from a tree almost over our tent. We listened : presently
another took up the theme, and then both together. They
had scarcely finished their duet, when, from away, up the
lake, came the shrill, mournful cry or scream of the Loon :
this was continued and answered by others, until, with owls
and loons, the night was vocal with melodious sounds.
After this had died away, and all was still, there came from
a bush near our tent the almost heavenly song of the White-
throated Sparrow, the "Nightingale of the North." One

62 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

cannot imagine the effect produced by the contrast : he must
be on the spot in the dark night, and, through the sighing of
the winds amid the grand old trees, hear the owls and loons ;
then, silence, broken by the beautiful song of the Nightin-
gale.

The flight of the Great Horned Owl is rapid, noiseless,
and vigorous : he passes through the mazes of the forest
with great dexterity and ease ; and, when flying above the
trees, frequently soars in the manner of the Hawks. He is
very destructive among domestic poultry, frequently pouncing
on fowls that are roosting on trees in the night, and bearing
them off in his powerful grasp. This habit has rendered
him obnoxious to the farmers, who lose no opportunity for
destroying him. Rabbits, grouse, and other birds, fall vic-
tims to his rapacity ; and I have often shot individuals of
this species, whose feathers were so impregnated with the
peculiar odor of the skunk as to be unbearable at a near
approach.

When a flock of crows discover the presence of one of
these birds, they immediately collect from all quarters, and
attack him on every side, uttering their harsh, discordant
cries : the owl is kept dancing and dodging on the limb, his
perch, in a ludicrous manner ; if he takes to flight, he is
pursued by his enemies, and soon forced to alight. I have
often been enabled to procure a specimen, by following
a noisy mob of this description ; just as we often are able
to secure one of the smaller owls by proceeding to the copse
where numbers of small birds — cat-birds, chewinks, and
thrushes — are scolding at their enemy.

I ha,ve had several specimens of the Great Horned Owl
in captivity : they make amusing pets. When fed with raw
meat, they seldom take it freely from the hand or tongs ;
and often can be made to swallow it, only by our opening
their bills, and putting in the meat. They seem to have
the power of seeing by daylight ; for, if a living animal is
introduced into their cage, they instantly seize it. I have

THE GREAT HORNED OWL. 63

often put in a dead mouse, with a string attached to it,
by which I dragged it across the cage : an owl instantly
seized it, as if it were alive, and ate it. A living bat ( Ves-
pertilio Carolinensis) , on being introduced, was instantly
seized, but, after being killed, was rejected. The strong
musky scent peculiar to these animals may have been the
reason for the owl's not eating it : if not, I cannot account
for it.

In eating its prey, the Owl stands on it with both feet, and
tears it with its bill : if the piece torn off is large, the head
is thrown back, and the repeated contraction of the muscles
of the throat forces it down. In holding a mouse or other
small object, all the talons of one foot are clenched in it,
while the other foot is left free. On being approached, this
Owl, as indeed do almost all the others, faces the intruder,
and follows his motions by turning his head, at the same
time snapping his bill.

In drinking, the bill is immersed, and repeated swallows
are taken, after the manner of the pigeons.

The Great Horned Owl chooses for its breeding-places the
most retired and inaccessible places in the deep forests ; and
the student might search for weeks for its nest, and not find
it unless by accident. It is usually built in a fork of a tall
tree, but is sometimes made in a hollow of a tree or in the
top of a stub or stump. Audubon found it twice in fissures
of rocks. It is constructed of sticks and twigs, and is lined
with leaves, grasses, and moss. The eggs are usually three
in number ; sometimes four, rarely more : they are of a
white color, with a very faint yellowish tint ; their shape is
nearly spherical, and they average in size 2.25 inches by
2 inches.

A nest that I found a few miles from Marietta, Ohio,
about the middle of March, 1865, was built in a tall, hollow
stub of a beech, which was cut down for the purpose of
being examined. It was built of twigs and sticks, in num-
bers sufficient to fill the cavity : in the middle of these were

64 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

arranged a few leaves and pieces of moss, and a few feath-
ers from the body of the parent ; on this nest were found
three young birds, apparently but a few days old, as they
were covered with gray down, and a few grayish feath-
ers. On being taken in the hand, they clutched it tight
with their claws, and squatted perfectly still. The iris
of their eyes was a light-grayish color : the inside of their
mouths, eyelids, and ears, were yellowish. At the foot of
the stump were found small pellets of feathers, small bones,
and hairs. I have heard of the deserted nest of a crow or
hawk being occupied by this Owl ; but usually it builds its
own nest.

'SCOPS, SAVIGNY.

SAVIGNY, Nat. Hist. Egypt, I. 105 (1809).

Size small; ear-tufts conspicuous; head large; facial disc imperfect in front and
about the eyes; bill short, nearly covered by projecting feathers; wings long; tail
rather short, and frequently curved inwards; tarsi rather long, more or less fully
covered with short feathers; toes long, generally partially covered with hair-like
feathers; head large.

General form short and compact. This genus contains twenty-five to thirty
species of small owls, inhabiting all parts of the world except Australia.

SCOPS ASIO. — Bonaparte.
The Mottled Owl ; Screech Owl ; Red Owl.

Strix Asia, Linnseus. Syst. Nat., I. 132 (1766). Audubon, Wilson, and others

Strlx ncevia, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 289 (1788).

Bubo striatus, Vieillot. Ois. d'Am. Sept., I. 54 (1808).

DESCRIPTION.

" Short and compact; ear-tufts prominent; tail short; tarsi rather long.

"Adult. — Upper parts pale ashy-brown, with longitudinal lines of brownish-black,
and mottled irregularly with the same and with cinereous ; under parts ashy-white,
with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black, and with transverse lines of the same
color; face, throat, and tarsi ashy-white, irregularly lined and mottled with pale-
brownish; quills brown, with transverse bands, nearly white on the outer webs;
tail pale ashy-brown, with about ten transverse narrow bands of pale-cinereous;
under wing coverts white, the larger tipped with black ; bill and claws light horn-
color ; irides yellow.

" Younger. — Entire upper parts pale brownish-red, with longitudinal lines of
brownish-black, especially on the head and scapulars; face, throat, under wing
coverts, and tarsi reddish-white ; quills reddish-brown ; tail rufous, with bands of
brown, darker on the inner webs.

THE MOTTLED OWL.

65

-Entire plumage transversely striped with- ashy-white and pale-brown;
wings and tail pale-rufous.

" Total length, nine and a half to ten inches ; wing, seven ; tail, three and a half
inches. Sexes nearly alike in size and color.

" The stages of plumage described above have been regarded as characterizing
distinct species ; and they do present a problem scarcely to be considered as fully
solved. This bird pairs and rears young while in the red plumage ; and it is not
unusual to find a mottled male and red female associated, or the reverse." — JOHN
CASSIN.

As with many of the other birds of prey, the different
plumages in which this owl is taken have caused great con-
fusion ; and, as Mr. Cassin truly remarks, the matter is not
yet settled beyond doubt. The
observation has generally been,
that the young birds are in the
red plumage ; but I have cer-
tainly known of one instance
when the young bird was in
the gray. A nest was found
in a hollow tree in Milton,
Mass., in which there were
three young birds. They were
permitted to remain ; and I vis-
ited the nest as often as every
two days until they flew oif.
The last time that I saw them,
— the day before they left the
nest, — they were fully fledged, and they had very few marks
of brownish-red in their plumage. Whether this was an
exceptional case, I know not ; but I will present the obser-
vations of different ornithologists which conflict with my
own. I will also quote Audubon's description of the habits
of the bird, as it is better than I can give from my own
experience, though it corresponds to my observations so far
as they go. He says, —

" The flight of the Mottled Owl is smooth, rapid, protracted, and
noiseless. It rises at times above the top branches of the highest
of our forest trees whilst in pursuit of large beetles ; and at other

5

66 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

times sails low and swiftly over the fields, or through the woods,
in search of small birds, field-mice, moles, or wood-rats, from which
it chiefly derives its subsistence. On alighting, — which it does
plumply, — the Mottled Owl immediately bends its body, turns its
head to look behind it, performs a curious nod, utters its notes,
then shakes and plumes itself, and resumes its flight in search of
prey. It now and then, while on the wing, produces a clicking
sound with its mandibles, but more frequently when perched near
its mate or young. This I have thought was done by the bird to
manifest its courage, and let the hearer know that it is not to be
meddled with ; although few birds of prey are more gentle when
seized, as it will suffer a person to touch its feathers and caress it
without attempting to bite or strike with its talons, unless at rare
intervals.

" The notes of this Owl are uttered in a tremulous, doleful
manner, and somewhat resemble the chattering of the teeth of a
person under the influence of extreme cold, although much louder.
They are heard at a distance of several hundred yards, and by
some people are thought to be of ominous import."

These notes almost exactly resemble the whimpering
whine of a small dog, for which I have mistaken them on
different occasions.

" The little fellow is generally found about farm-houses, or-
chards, and gardens. It alights on the roof, the fence, or the
garden-gate, and utters its mournful ditty, at intervals, for hours at
a time, as if it were in a state of great suffering ; although this is
far from being the case, — the song of all birds being an indication
of content and happiness. In a state of confinement, it utters its
notes with as much satisfaction as if at liberty. They are chiefly
heard during the latter part of winter, — that being the season of
love, when the male bird is particularly attentive to the fair one
which excites his tender emotions, and around which he flies and
struts much in the manner of the common Pigeon, adding numer-
ous nods and bows, the sight of which is very amusing.

"The young remain in the nest until they are able to fly. At-
first, they are covered with a downy substance of a dull yellowish-
white. By the middle of August, they are fully feathered, and

, THE MOTTLED OWL. 67

we then generally of a reddish-brown, although considerable differ-
ences exist between individuals, as I have seen some of a deep-
chocolate color, and others nearly black. The feathers change
their colors as the pairing season advances, and in the first spring
the bird is in the perfect dress."

J. P. Norris, writing in the " Country Gentleman,"
Jan. 11, 1866, says that he secured two young birds of this
species when covered with down, and kept them until they
had become feathered, when their plumage was decidedly
red in color.

J. P. Giraud, in his " Birds of Long Island," gives a
letter from J. G. Bell, of New York, in which that gentle-
man says, that he has taken the young birds from the nest,
covered with grayish-brown, and kept them through their
first plumage, which was red in color.

These and other writers seem to agree that the red plum-
age is that of the bird in the first year. I leave it to
future experimenters to determine the matter beyond a
doubt.

This bird feeds largely on the injurious night-flying
moths and beetles. Numbers of specimens that I have
examined, contained in their stomachs parts of these in-
sects and small mammals : very seldom indeed did they
have feathers or other parts of birds.

The Mottled Owl selects for a nesting-place a hollow
tree, often in the orchard, and commences laying at about
the first of May, in the latitude of the middle of Massachu-
setts. The nest is made at the bottom of the hollow, and
is constructed of grass, leaves, moss, and sometimes a few
feathers. It is not elaborately made, being nothing more
than a heap of soft materials. The eggs are usually four
in number : they are pure-white, smooth, and nearly spher-
ical in form. Their length varies from 1.30 to 1.37 inch ;
breadth from 1.18 to 1.25 inch. The eggs are often laid on
the chips at the bottom of the hollow ; no attempt at a
nest being made.

68 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

OTUS, CUVIER.

Otus, CUVIER, Kegne Animal, I. 327 (1817).

General form longer and more slender than in the preceding genera; head mod-
erate; ear-tufts long, erectile; bill rather short, curved from the base; facial disc
more perfect than in the preceding; wings long; tail moderate; tarsi and toes cov-
ered with short feathers; claws long, curved; eyes rather small, and surrounded by
radiating feathers.

This genus contains ten or twelve species of various countries, all of which are
more handsome birds than are usually met with in this family.

OTUS WILSONIANUS.— Lesson.
The Long-eared Owl.

Otus Wilsonianus, Lesson. Traite d'Orn., I. 110 (1831).

Otus Americanus, Bonaparte. Comp. List, 7 (1838). Syn., 37.

Strix otus, Wilson. Bonaparte's edition, 449.

Strix otus, Linnaeus. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. 572. Nuttall, I. 130.

DESCRIPTION.

Ear-tufts long and conspicuous; eyes rather small; wings long; tarsi and toes
densely feathered; upper parts mottled with brownish-black, fulvous, and ashy-
white, the former predominating; breast pale-fulvous, with longitudinal stripes of
brownish-black ; abdomen white ; every feather with a wide longitudinal stripe, and
with transverse stripes of brownish-black; legs and toes pale-fulvous, usually
unspotted, but frequently with irregular narrow transverse stripes of dark-brown ;
eye nearly encircled with black ; other feathers of the face ashy-white, with minute
lines of black ; ear-tufts brownish-black edged with fulvous and ashy- white; quills
pale-fulvous at their bases, with irregular transverse bands of brown; inferior
coverts of the wing pale-fulvous, frequently nearly white ; the larger widely tipped
with black; tail brown, with several irregular transverse bands of ashy-fulvous,
which are mottled, as on the quills; bill and claws dark horn-color; irides yellow.

Total length, female, about fifteen inches ; wing, eleven to eleven and a half; tail,
six inches. Male rather smaller.

This species is rather common in New England, rather
preferring the less settled districts to the others. It is
eminently nocturnal in its habits, and has the power of see-
ing in the daytime to a less degree than any of the other
species with which I am acquainted.

A specimen that I once had, as a pet, could not see my
hand as it approached him, and would permit my finger to
touch his eye before he drew over it the thin nictitating
membrane given to all birds to protect this delicate organ.

I do not remember of ever hearing this owl utter a cry

THE LONG-EARED OWL. 69

in its nocturnal rambles ; and I think that it hunts in
silence, except, perhaps, in the mating season.

The specimen in my possession would not eat in the day-
time ; and, if I fed it then, was obliged to push the food down
its throat with my finger : at night, it fed readily on raw
meat, but was rather loath to eat when I was by, or when a
lamp was near its cage. I had water always accessible to
it, but never saw it drink, and think, that, in the space of
two months, it drank not more than two or three times ; or,
if it did, the quantity it took was so small as not to be
appreciable.

Notwithstanding the comparative abundance of this spe-
cies, its breeding habits are not well known. I have been
so fortunate as to find several nests, all of which were built
in forks of tall pines, and constructed of twigs and leaves.
Audubon says : —

" The Long-eared Owl is careless as to the situation in which
its young are to be reared, and generally accommodates itself with
the abandoned nest of some other bird that proves of sufficient
size, whether it be high or low, in the fissure of a rock or on the
ground. Sometimes, however, it makes a nest itself; and this I
found to be the case in one instance near the Juniata River, in
Pennsylvania, where it was composed of green twigs, with the
leaflets adhering, and lined with fresh grass and wool, but without
any feathers."

Wilson describes its breeding habits as follows : —

" About six or seven miles below Philadelphia, and not far from
the Delaware, is a low swamp, thickly covered with trees, and
inundated during a great part of the year. This place is the resort
of great numbers of the qua bird (Night Heron), where they build
in large companies. On the 25th of April, while wading through
the dark recesses of this place, observing the habits of these birds,
I discovered a Long-eared Owl, which had taken possession of one
of their nests, and was setting. On mounting to the nest, I found
it contained four eggs ; and, breaking one of them, the young
appeared almost ready to leave the shell. There were numbers of

70 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

the qua birds' nests on the adjoining trees all around, and one
of them actually on the same tree."

The reader will perceive from the above account of the
breeding habits of this bird, that it is variable in its choice
of a nesting-place, although every nest that I have found,
or known of, was built in tall pines, and constructed as
above ; and I have known instances where the same nest
was used for successive breeding seasons.

The eggs are generally four in number, seldom more.
They are nearly spherical in form, and of a pure-white
color. Dimensions of specimens in my collection vary from
1.40 to 1.60 inch in length, by from 1.30 to 1.40 inch in
breadth.

BRACHYOTUS, GOULD.

Brachyotus, GOULD, Proc. Zool. Soc., London, 1837, 10.

Ear-tufts very short and inconspicuous; general form rather strong; wings long;
tail moderate ; legs rather long, which, with the toes, are fully covered with short
feathers ; claws long, very sharp, and rather slender ; head moderate ; eyes rather
small, surrounded by radiating feathers; facial disc imperfect on the forehead and
above the eyes ; tail moderate.

This genus contains four or five species only, the two best known of which are
the European.

BRACHYOTUS CASSINII. — Brewer.
The Short-eared Owl.

Brachyotus Cassinii, Brewer. Proc. Boston Soc. of Nat. Hist.
Strix brachyotus, Forster. Phil. Trans., London, LXII. 384 (1772).
Strix brachyotits, Linnaeus. Wilson and others.

DESCRIPTION.

Ear-tufts very short; entire plumage buff or pale- fulvous ; every feather on the
upper parts with a wide longitudinal stripe of dark-brown, which color predominates
on the back; under parts paler, frequently nearly white on the abdomen, with
longitudinal stripes of brownish-black, most numerous on the breast, very narrow
and less numerous on the abdomen and flanks ; legs and toes usually of a deeper
shade of the same color as the abdomen; quills pale reddish-fulvous at their bases,
brown at their ends, with wide irregular bands and large spots of reddish-fulvous ;
tail pale reddish-fulvous, with about five irregular transverse bands of dark-brown,
which color predominates on the two central feathers ; under tail coverts usually
nearly white; throat white; eyes enclosed by large spots of brownish-black; ear-
tufts brown, edged with fulvous ; bill and claws dark ; irides yellow.

Total length, female, about fifteen inches; wing, twelve; tail, six inches. Male
rather smaller.

THE GRAY OWLS. 71

I regret being unable to add any thing to our knowledge
of the history of this bird. I have had no opportunities
for observing its habits, and know of nothing that has been
noted recently which will add to our information. It is
not common in any part of New England, and is, I believe,
more often met with in the neighborhood of the seacoast
than elsewhere. I have never met with its nest, but have
no doubt that it breeds in these States, as specimens are
occasionally taken here in summer.

Richardson says that its nest is formed of withered grass
and moss, and is built on the ground. Dr. Bryant (" Pro-
ceedings of Boston Society of Natural History," January,
1857) describes a nest found on an island in the Bay of
Fundy as follows : —

" A nest of this bird was found by Mr. Cabot in the midst of a
dry peaty bog. It was built on the ground, in a very slovenly
manner, of small sticks and a few feathers, and presented hardly
any excavation. It contained four eggs on the point of being
hatched."

The eggs of this species are of a pure-white color, and
vary in dimensions from 1.65 inch by 1.25 inch to 1.50 inch
by 1.23 inch.

Sub-Family SYRNIN^E. — The Gray Owls.

Head large, with very small and concealed ear-tufts, or entirely without. Facial
disc nearly perfect; eyes small for the family of owls: wings rather short, or not so
long as in the preceding; tarsi and toes generally fully feathered. This group con-
tains some of the largest of owls ; generally, however, the size is medium, and fre-
quently small.

SYENIUM, SAVIGNY.

Syrnium, SAVIGNY, Nat. Hist. Egypt, I. 112 (1809).

Size usually large ; head large, without ear-tufts ; eyes rather small ; facial disc-
somewhat imperfect in front; bill strong, curved from its base; wings moderate,
somewhat rounded ; fourth and fifth quills longest ; tail rather long, wide, and usu-
ally rounded at the end; legs moderate, or rather long, which, with the toes, are
densely covered with short feathers ; claws long, strong, very sharp.

72 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Species of this genus inhabit principally the northern parts of the world, and are
generally characterized by the prevalence of gray or cinereous, of various shades, in
their plumage.

STRNIUM CINEREUM. — Audubon.
The Great Gray Owl.

Strix cinerea, Gm. Syst. Nat, I. 291 (1788). Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. 364.
Strix acclimator, Bartram. Travels, 289 (1790).

DESCRIPTION.

The largest Owl of North America. Head very large; eyes small; tail rather
long; upper parts smoky or ashy brown, mottled and transversely barred with
ashy- white; under parts ashy- white, with numerous longitudinal stripes of dark
ashy-brown predominating on the breast, and with transverse stripes of the same on
the abdomen, legs, and under tail coverts; quills brown, with about five wide, irregu-
lar bands of ashy- white ; tail brown, with five or six wide, irregular bands of ashy-
white, mottled with dark-brown; feathers of the disc on the neck tipped with white;
eye nearly encircled by a black spot; radiating feathers around the eye, with regular
transverse narrow bars of dark-brown and ashy-white; bill pale-yellow; claws pale
yellowish -white, darker at their tips ; iris bright-yellow.

Total length, twenty-five to thirty inches ; wing, eighteen ; tail, twelve to fifteen
inches.

This bird is an extremely rare winter visitor in New Eng-
land ; appearing only in the southern districts of these
States, in Massachusetts even, in very severe seasons. I
never saw one alive ; have, of course, never seen its nest,
and can add nothing at all to our knowledge of its habits.
It breeds in the most northern regions ; and, according to
Dr. Brewer, " nests in high trees." Its eggs I have never
seen. Audubon gives the following account of this spe-
cies : —

"The comparatively small size of this bird's eyes renders it
probable that it hunts by day ; and the remarkable smallness of its
feet and claws induces me to think that it does not prey on large
animals. Dr. Richardson says, that ' it is by no means a rare bird
in the fur countries ; being an inhabitant of all the woody districts
lying between the Lake Superior and latitudes 67° or 68°, and
between Hudson's Bay and the Pacific. It is common on the
borders of Great Bear Lake ; and there, and in the higher parallels
of latitude, it must pursue its prey, during the summer months, by
daylight. It keeps, however, within the woods, and does not fre-
quent the barren grounds, like the Snowy Owl ; nor is it so often met

THE BARRED OWL. 73

with in broad daylight as the Hawk Owl, but hunts principally when
the sun is low : indeed, it is only at such times, when the recesses
of the woods are deeply shadowed, that the American Hare, and the
murine animals on which the Cinereous Owl chiefly preys, come
forth to feed.' "

Audubon speaks of a gentleman in Salem, Mass., who
kept one of these birds alive for several months : it was fed
on fish and small birds, of which it was very fond. It uttered
at times a tremulous cry, not unlike that of the little Screech-
owl (Scops asio'), and showed a great antipathy to cats and
dogs.

SYENIUM NEBULOSUM.— Gray.
The Barred Owl.

Strix nebuksa, Forster. Trans. Philosoph. Soc., London, LXII. 386, 424 (1772).

Strix nebulosa, Linnaeus. Wilson, 304. Bonap. Syn., 38. Nutt., I. 133. Aud.,
I. 242.

DESCRIPTION.

Head large, without ear-tufts; tail rather long; upper parts light ashy-brown,
frequently tinged with dull-yellow, with transverse narrow bands of white, most
numerous on the head and neck behind, broader on the back ; breast with transverse
bands of brown and white ; abdomen ashy-white, with longitudinal stripes of brown ;
tarsi and toes ashy-white, tinged with fulvous, generally without spots, but frequently
mottled and banded with dark-brown; quills brown, with six or seven transverse
bars, nearly pure-white on the outer webs, and ashy-fulvous on the inner webs ; tail
light-brown, with about five bands of white, generally tinged with reddish-yellow ;
discal feathers tipped with white; face ashy-white, with lines of brown, and a spot
of black in front of the eye; throat dark-brown; claws horn-color; bill pale-yellow;
irides bluish-black. Sexes alike.

Total length, about twenty inches; wing, thirteen to fourteen; tail, nine inches.
Sexes nearly of the same size. ,

This Owl is rather common in most sections of New Eng-
land ; is more often seen in the more southern localities,
and less frequently met with in sections where the Great
Horned Owl is most abundant, and vice versd. Its flight is
soft and rapid, the great breadth of the wings and compara-
tive lightness of the body giving it remarkable speed. Its
vision is almost as good in the daylight as in the night, and
surpasses that of most of our other owls. A specimen that
I kept alive for a few weeks, often, in the daytime, flew about
the room in which his cage was placed : he alighted with

74 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

ease on the backs of chairs, or on other pieces of furniture ;
seldom miscalculating the distance or missing a footing, as
many of the other owls would in the same circumstances.
This bird soon became tame, and would accept food at almost
any time in the day or night : on receiving a piece of meat,
he sometimes attempted to clutch it with his foot, and my
fingers often had narrow escapes from his sharp, crooked
talons. Usually, he would seize it with his mouth, and, if
not too large, swallow it without tearing : if the piece was
more bulky than he could manage, he stood on it, and tore
it with his beak. Fish he invariably rejected, but greedily
ate mice and small birds : a dead pigeon, that I put in his
cage, was untouched for several days. He died in conse-
quence of a hurt he received in flying against a window.

The Barred Owl subsists principally upon small birds,
field-mice, and reptiles. He is frequently seen, in early
twilight, flying over the low meadow-lands, searching for the
mice that dwell there : he usually takes a direct course, and
sometimes flies so low that the tips of his wings seem to
touch the grass. When he discovers his prey, he drops on
it instantly, folding his wings and protruding his feet, in
which his quarry is always secured : he often captures frogs
that are sitting on the shores of ponds and rivers ; but I am
inclined to think that the statement, quoted by Audubon,
that he often catches fish, is incorrect. The Barred Owl
usually nests in high trees, placing the structure of sticks
and leaves in a crotch near the trunk. The eggs are usually
three in number. I have one only in my collection : this is
pure-white, almost globular, aad, except in shape, hardly
distinguishable from the egg of the domestic hen. It is
2 inches in length by 1.68 in breadth.

NYCTALE, BRKHM.

Nyctale, BREHM, Isis (1828), 1271.

Size small ; head with very small ear-tufts, only observable when erected ; eyes
small; bill moderate, or not very strong; facial disc nearly perfect; wings rather
long; tail short; legs and toes densely feathered.

THE SAW-WHET OWL. 75

Contains five species of small and quite peculiar owls, four of which are Ameri-
can, and one European.

NYCTALE RICHARDSONII. — Bonaparte.
The Sparrow Owl.

Nyctale fiichardsonii, Bonaparte. Comp. List, 7 (1838).

" Strix Tengmalmi, Gm." Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. 559, and other American authors.

DESCRIPTION.

The largest of this genus; wings long; upper parts pale reddish-brown, tinged
with olive, and with partially concealed spots of white, most numerous on the head
and neck behind, scapulars, and rump ; head in front with numerous spots of white ;
face white, with a spot of black in front of the eye ; throat with brown stripes ;
under parts ashy-white, with longitudinal stripes of pale reddish-brown; legs and
toes pale-yellowish, nearly white, sometimes barred and spotted with brown ; quills
brown, with small spots of white on their outer edges, and large spots of the same
on their inner webs ; tail brown, every feather with about ten pairs of white spots ;
bill light-yellowish horn-color; irides yellow.

Total length, about ten and a half inches ; wing, seven and a half inches ; tail,
four and a half inches.

. This species is an exceedingly rare winter visitor in New
England. I have never met with it alive, and can give
from my own observation no account of its habits. Dr.
Richardson, in the " Fauna Boreali- Americana," says : —

" When it accidentally wanders abroad in the day, it is so much
dazzled by the light of the sun as to become stupid ; and it may
then be easily caught by the hand. Its cry in the night is a
single melancholy note, repeated at intervals of a minute or two.
Mr. Hutchins says that it builds a nest of grass half-way up a
pine-tree, and lays two white eggs in the month of May."

NYCTALE ACADICA, — Bonaparte.
The Saw-Whet Owl; Acadican Owl.

Strix Acadica, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 296 (1788). Bonap. Syn., 38. .Nuttall and
other authors.

" Strix passerina, Linnaeus." Wilson, Am. Orn., IV. 66.

DESCRIPTION.

Small; wings long; tail short; upper parts reddish-brown, tinged with olive;
head in front with fine lines of white, and on the neck behind, rump,, and scapulars,
with large, partially concealed spots of white ; face ashy-white ; throat white ; under
parts ashy-white, with longitudinal stripes of pale reddish-brown ; under coverts

76 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

of wings and tail white ; quills brown, with small spots of white on their outer
edges, and large spots of the same on their inner webs ; tail brown, every feather
with about three pairs of spots of white; bill and claws dark; irides yellow.

Total length, about seven and a half to eight inches; wing, five and a half
inches ; tail, two and three quarters to three inches. Sexes nearly the same size,
and alike in colors.

This species is also quite rare in New England ; but, as
it is occasionally found in the summer months, is probably
a resident here through the year. Says Audubon, in his
description of this bird, which is very full and perfect : —

" The Little Owl is known in Massachusetts by the name of the
1 Saw-whet,' the sound of its love-notes bearing a great resemblance
to the noise produced by filing the teeth of a large saw. These
notes, when coming, as they frequently do, from the interior of a
deep forest, produce a very peculiar effect on the traveller, who,
not being aware of their real nature, expects, as he advances oif*his
route, to meet with shelter under a saw-mill at no great distance.
Until I shot the bird in the act, I had myself been more than once
deceived in this manner.

" A nest of our Little Owl, which I found near the city of Natchez,
was placed in the broken stump of a small decayed tree, not more
than four feet from the ground. I was attracted to it by the snor-
ing notes of the young, which sounded as if at a considerable
elevation; and I was so misled by them, that, had not my dog
raised himself to smell at the hole where the brood lay concealed,
I might not have discovered them. In this instance, the number
was five. It was in the beginning of June ; and the little things,
which were almost ready to fly, looked exceedingly neat and beauti-
ful. Their parents I never saw, although I frequently visited the
nest before they left it. The Little Owl breeds more abundantly
near the shores of the Atlantic than in the interior of the country,
and is frequent in the swamps of the States of Maryland and New
Jersey during the whole year. "Wherever I have found the young
or the eggs placed in a hollow tree, they were merely deposited on
the rotten particles of wood ; and, when in an old crow's nest, the
latter did not appear to have undergone any repair. Being quite
nocturnal, it shows great uneasiness when disturbed by day, and
flies t)ff in a hurried, uncertain manner, throwing itself into the

THE SNOWY OWL. 77

first covert that it meets with, where it is not difficult to catch it,
provided the necessary caution and silence be used. Towards
dusk, it becomes full of animation, flies swiftly — gliding, as it
were — over the low grounds like a little spectre, and Bounces on
small quadrupeds and birds with the quickness of thought."

The Saw-whet Owl1 nests in hollow trees, in cavities of
rocks, and in deserted crows' and woodpeckers' nests. The
eggs are from three to five or six in number ; and, according
to Dr. Brewer, are of a bright, clear white, and more like a
woodpecker's than an owl's in their crystalline clearness.
Dimensions, 1T^- by ^| inch.

Sub-Family NTCTEININJE. — The Day Owls.

General form compact and robust; head moderate, without ear-tufts; wings and
tail rather long; tarsi strong, which, with the toes, are more densely covered than
in any other division of this family.

This division embraces two species only, which inhabit the arctic regions of both
continents ; migrating southward in the winter.

NYCTEA, STEPHENS.

Nyctea, STEPHENS, Cont. of Shaw's Zool., XIII. 62 (1826).

Large ; head rather large, without ear-tufts ; no facial disc ; legs rather short, and
with the toes covered densely with long hair-like feathers, nearly concealing the
claws; bill short, nearly concealed by projecting feathers, very strong; wings long;
tail moderate, or rather long, wide ; claws strong, fully curved. Contains one spe-
cies only.

NYCTEA NIVEA.— Gray.
The Snowy Owl. »

Stria nivea, Daudin. Traite d'Orn., 190 (1800).

Strix nyctea, Linnseus. Syst. Nat. I. 132 (1766).

" Strix nyctea, Linnseus." Bonap. Syn., 36. Nutt. I. 116. Aud. II. 135. Wil-
son and others.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill nearly concealed by projecting plumes; eyes large; entire plumage white, fre-
quently with a few spots or imperfect bands, only on the upper parts dark-brown, and
on the under parts Avith a few irregular and imperfect bars of the same; quills and
tail with a few spots or traces of bands of the same dark-brown ; the prevalence of

1 See Appendix.

78 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

the dark-brown color varies much in different specimens ; frequently both upper and
under parts are very distinctly banded transversely, and sometimes this color pre-
dominates on the back ; plumage of the legs and toes pure snowy- white ; bill and
claws horn-color ; irides yellow.

Total length, female, about twenty-six inches; wing, seventeen to nineteen;
tail, ten inches. Male, about twenty-two inches ; wing, seventeen ; tail, nine inches.

As a winter visitor, throughout all New England, this bird
is a rather common species. It is often taken on the islands
in Massachusetts Bay, where it feeds on fish that have been
thrown up on the shore by the tide, birds, wounded sea-
fowl, and even dead animals, as I am informed by a reliable
person who once shot one while perched on and eating
a dead horse on the beach. The flight of this Owl is rapid
and protracted. I have seen an individual chase and cap-
ture a Snow Bunting (P. nivalis) from a flock; and once
saw one make a swoop at a flock of poultry which had come
out from their house on a fine day, but which immediately
retreated on the appearance of their enemy. The Snowy
Owl hunts both in the daylight and twilight: he seems to
prefer cloudy, gloomy days to bright ones, and is most
active just before a storm. Audubon says that this Owl
captures living fish in the water by standing quietly by the
margin, and seizing its prey with its claws, as it appears
near the surface : whether this is a regular habit or not, I
cannot say. I never saw one do so ; and I have conversed
with several hunters who have shot numbers of specimens,
and they all were ignorant of such a fact.

Of the breeding habits of this Owl, we are ignorant.
The Hudson's Bay. and other northern countries, are its
summer homes. Wheelwright, in his " Spring and Sum-
mer in Lapland," gives the only description of its nest and
eggs accessible to me at present. He says : —

" The egg of the Snowy Owl measures 2£ inches in length, and
If inches in breadth : its color is pure- white. The nest is nothing
more than a large boll of reindeer moss, placed on the ledge of a
bare fell. The old birds guard it most jealously ; in fact, the Lap-
landers often kill them with a stick when they are robbing the

THE HAWK OWL. 79

nest, which they do upon every occasion that presents itself. The
Snowy Owl will occasionally make its nest on the large turf-hillocks
in some of the mosses.

SURNIA, DUMERIL

Surnia, DUMERIL, Zoologie Analytique, 34 (1806).

General form rather long, but robust ; size medium ; head moderate, without ear-
tufts ; facial disc obsolete ; bill moderate, curved from the base, covered with pro-
jecting plumes; wings long; tail long, wide, graduated ; legs rather short, and with
the toes densely feathered; contains one species only, which inhabits the arctic
regions of both continents.

SURNIA ULULA. — Bonaparte.
The Hawk Owl; Day Owl.

Strix ulula, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. 133 (1766).

" Strix funerea," Gm. Bonap. Syn. 25. Nutt., I. 115. Aud. Orn. Biog.,
IV. 550.

" Strix Hudsonica." Wilson, VI. 64.

DESCRIPTION.

Wings rather long; first three quills incised on their inner webs; tail long, with
its central feathers about two inches longer than the outer ; tarsi and toes densely
feathered ; upper parts fuliginous-brown, with numerous partially concealed circular
spots of white on the neck behind, scapulars and wing coverts ; face grayish-white ;
throat white, with longitudinal stripes of dark-brown ; a large brown spot on each
side of the breast ; other under parts with transverse lines or stripes of pale ashy-
brown; quills and tail brown, with transverse bands of white ; bill pale-yellowish ;
irides yellow; color of .upper parts darker on the head, and the white markings
more or less numerous in different specimens.

Total length, female, sixteen to seventeen inches; wing, nine; tail, seven inches.
Male rather smaller.

This bird is occasionally met with in different localities in
New England ; rarely in the summer, most often in the
winter. As its name implies, it is diurnal in its habits,
and hunts its prey in the hours when most of the other
owls are hidden in their retreats. Its food consists of small
birds and mice, which it seizes in the manner of the hawks.
A specimen was obtained in Yermont on a wood-pile in a
door-yard, where it was eating a woodpecker that it had
just captured. Dr. Richardson, in his " Fauna Boreali-
Americana," says that, " when the hunters are shooting
grouse, this bird is occasionally attracted by the report of

80 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

the gun, and is often bold enough, on a bird being killed,
to pounce down upon it, though unable, from its size, to
carry it off.

The Hawk Owl occasionally breeds in New England.
My friend, George A. Boardman
of Milltown, Me., has been so for-
tunate as to find its nest, with
eggs, in that neighborhood. It
usually builds in a hollow tree,
but sometimes constructs a habi-
tation in the crotch of a tall tree,
of sticks, grass, and feathers.
According to Richardson, it lays
two white globular eggs.

Two beautiful specimens in my
collection, from William Couper,
Esq., Quebec, collected at North-
ern Labrador by the Montanaz
Indians, are a trifle more elongated and pointed than the
eggs of the Red Owl {Scops asio). They are of a pure-
white color, and measure 1.50 by 1.25 inch and 1.47 by
1.22 inch.

NOTES.

I append the following notes, that have been kindly fur-
nished me by William Couper, of Quebec, Lower Canada,
for the purpose of showing the northern distribution of the
brrds of prey described in the preceding pages : —

. HYPOTRIORCHIS COLUMBARIUS. — Only young specimens occur, and
those rarely, in the latitude of Quebec : they are more common toward the
western portions of Lower and Upper Canada. It has not, to my knowledge,
been found breeding in Canada.

TINNUNCULUS SPARVERIUS. — This species is more abundant than the
preceding ; but the majority of the specimens shot in the neighborhood of
Quebec are young. I am informed that it breeds in the vicinity of the river
St. Maurice, which falls into the river St. Lawrence, west of Quebec.

NOTES. 81

ASTUR ATRICAPILLUS. — The adult of this species is very rare in this
latitude, and it occurs in this plumage about midwinter. The young, how-
ever, are sometimes common during the autumn.

ACCIPITER FUSCUS. — This is one of the most common of our Hawks.
It occurs in young plumage in the fall also. I am told that it breeds in
Canada ; but I have not had the good fortune to find its nest. Sportsmen
have told me incidents of the audacity of this little species. They say it is
always on the alert for woodcock and snipe, and knows the moment that one
of these birds is wounded. It is sometimes so bold, that, as soon as the shot
strikes the intended game, the Hawk pounces upon it to carry it away.

BUTEO PENNSYLVANICUS. — This species is very common here during
the months of September and October. It is generally found preying upon
frogs and a species of common field locust. I have not learned that it breeds
in Upper or Lower Canada.

ARCHIBUTEO LAGOPUS. — Sometimes this species is very abundant in
the northern mountains, especially where there is a plenty of hares and
grouse. It breeds in Labrador.

CIRCUS HUDSONIUS. — Occurs only in the fall, and then in young plum-
age. Breeds in "Western Canada. It has not been detected breeding in the
northern swamps of Lower Canada.

AQUILA CANADENSIS. — The adult and young of this species are occa-
sionally shot here during autumn and winter. I think it breeds on some of
our high northern mountains. The specimens that I have examined had
their bodies and legs stuck full of porcupine quills.

PANDION CAROLINENSIS. — This is a very rare visitor in the northern
regions. I understand that a pair arrive annually, and breed at Lake St.
Joseph, north of this city. I never saw an adult specimen in Quebec.

BUBO VIRGINIANUS. — This Owl occurs here during summer and win-
ter. I am almost certain it breeds in the mountains behind the city. I have
had the young in the down from Bay St. Paul, on the north side of the
river St. Lawrence, below Quebec.

OTUS WILSONIANUS and BRACHYOTUS CASSINII are extremely rare
here, and I cannot give any facts in relation to them.

SYRNIUM NEBULOSUM. — This is the common Owl of our forests.
SYRNIUM CINEREUM. — Is an accidental winter visitor.

SURNI A ULULA. — This bird is also very common during, some winters.
It breeds in the northern portions of Hudson's Bay and Labrador.

NYCTEA NIVEA. — This Owl is more abundant this winter (1867) than it
has been for years.

NYCTALE RICHARDSONII and N. ACADICA also occur here. The former
is occasional; but the latter, extremely rare.

6

82 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

ORDER II. — - SCANSORES. CLIMBERS.

The characteristics of this order are given on page 4 of this
volume. It is represented in the New-England States by two
families, — the Cuculidce or Cuckoos, and the Picidce or Wood-
peckers.

These families have the arrangement of two pairs of toes
opposed to each other in common ; otherwise, they are much dif-
ferent in their characteristics.

The Cuculidce have " bill thin, usually slender, and rather long,
the tip more or less decurved, the base usually without rictal
bristles ; tarsi usually rather long, clothed with broad plates ante-
riorly; the tail feathers usually ten, sometimes eight or twelve,
all long."

The Picidce have " bill straight, rigid, and chisel-shaped at the
tip, the base without rictal bristles ; the feet are stout, and clothed
anteriorly with broad plates ; tail feathers twelve, the exterior very
small and concealed." x

1 See Introduction.

THE YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 83

FAMILY CUCULIDJE. THE CUCKOOS.
COCCYGUS, VIEILLOT.

Coccyzus, Vieillot. Analyse (1816).

Erythrophrys, Swainson. Class. Birds, II. (1837), 322. t

Head without crest; feathers about base of bill soft; bill nearly as long as the
•head, decurved, slender, and attenuated towards the end; nostrils linear; wings
lengthened, reaching the middle of the tail; the tertials short; tail of ten graduated
feathers ; feet weak ; tarsi shorter than the middle toe.

The species of Coccygus are readily distinguished from those of Geogoccyx by
their arborial habits, confining themselves mainly to trees, instead of living habitu-
ally on the ground. The plumage is soft, fine, and compact.

The American cuckoos differ from the European cuckoos ( Cuculus) by having
lengthened naked tarsi, instead of very short feathered ones; the nostrils are
elongated, too, instead of rounded.

COCCYGUS AMERICANUS. — Bonaparte.
The Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

Cuculus Americanus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766).

Coccyzus Americanus, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. (1832). Bonap. Syn., 42.

Cuculus Carolinensis. Wilson, 267.

DESCRIPTION.

Upper mandible, and tip of lower black ; rest of lower mandible, and cutting
edges of the upper yellow ; upper parts of a metallic greenish-olive, slightly tinged
with ash towards the bill; beneath white; tail feathers (except the median, which
are like the back) black, tipped with white for about an inch on the outer feathers,
the external one with the outer edge almost entirely white ; quills orange-cinnamon;
the terminal portion and a gloss on the outer webs olive ; iris brown.

Length, twelve inches; wing, five and ninety-five one-hundredths ; tail, six and
thirty-five one-hundredths.

bird is very irregularly distributed through New
-L England as a summer visitor. A. E. Verrill, in his
catalogue of birds found at Norway, Me., says that "it
is not common as a summer visitor." George A. Board-
man writes me, that, near Calais, Me., it is " extremely
rare." J. A. Allen, in his paper on Springfield birds
(before referred to), calls it " extremely rare." Dr. Wood
says it is " very rare " at East-Windsor Hill, Conn., where

84 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

he has found it breeding. While I have noticed, that,
though in former years it was equally^ abundant with the
Black-billed Cuckoo, this bird is now growing scarce in the
neighborhood of Boston.

This species arrives from the South from about the 25th
of April to the 1st of May. We are first notified of his
arrival by hearing his harsh notes in 'the opening foliage ;
and presently we see him moving about the twigs, busily
picking off and swallowing the caterpillars and other larvae
which are so destructive to our fruit and shade trees. Soon
he passes to another tree, still pursuing his profitable
search ; and, when he has gleaned to his heart's — or
rather stomach's — content, he launches himself into the
air, and takes flight for another grove or orchard, perhaps
a half-mile off, or even farther. His flight is rapid, con-
sisting of repeated strokes of his wings, but it is not
always direct ; for he frequently turns from a straight course
and flies off at an angle, then back again in a wavering
manner. Occasionally, he pauses in his flight, and sud-
denly descends and alights on a shrub or low bush, as if he
perceived an enemy in the air or a friend in the bush.
After repeating his song, — "Krow-krow-krow-krow-krow ; kru-
kritj kru-kru, kmjs-kru" — he is off again, and is soon out
of sight.

The male arrives about ten days before the female. As
soon as the latter makes her appearance, the male com-
mences his courtship. He is very attentive to her, watch-
ing her every movement, and following her every flight.
Although usually very cowardly, he is at this period toler-
ably brave, and will even attempt to molest any other bird
that happens to be near, but usually with poor success ; for,
as his cowardice is traditional among the birds, they will
turn upon him, and drive him off discomfited. When the
couple have mated, they soon commence building. The
nest is placed in a low bough of a tree, or in a shrub or
barberry bush. It is a loose, straggling affair, composed of

THE BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. 85

sticks and twigs, and sometimes a few pieces of moss. The
eggs are usually four in number ; they are of a light
greenish-blue color, and almost invariably larger than those
of the Black-billed Cuckoo. A number of specimens before
me vary from 1.07 to 1.25 of an inch in length, by from .84
to .96 inch in breadth. But one brood is reared in the
season.

COCCYGUS ERYTHROPHTHALMUS. — Bonaparte.
The Black-billed Cuckoo.

Ouculus erythrophthalmus, Wilson. Am. Orn., IV. (1811), 16.
Coccyzus erythrophthalmus, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. (1832), 170. Bonap.
Syn., 42. v

DESCRIPTION.

Bill entirely black ; upper parts generally of a metallic greenish-olive, ashy to-
wards the base of the bill ; beneath pure-white, with a brownish-yellow tinge on the
throat; inner webs of the quills tinged with cinnamon; under surface of all the tail
feathers hoary ash-gray; all beneath the central, on either side, suffused with darker
to the short, bluish-white, and not well-defined tip ; a naked red skin round the eye ;
iris, hazel.1

Length about twelve inches ; wing, five ; tail, six and a half.

This species is quite abundantly distributed throughout
New England as a summer visitor, reaching to more north-
ern latitudes than the other. It arrives from the South
about the first week in May ;
and, like the Yellow-billed
Cuckoo, the males precede
the females. I have exam-
ined numbers of the first
birds that arrived in differ-
ent seasons, and they were
invariably males ; the females
making their appearance
about ten days or a fortnight
later. The habits of the two
species are very similar, although the present bird prefers
the more cultivated and open districts, while the other

1 In succeeding species, when the color of the iris is not given, it is understood to
be dark-hazel or black.

86 „ ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

seems to delight in the more retired and wooded locali-
ties.

In flight, the Black-billed Cuckoo is more swift than the
other ; in breeding habits, the same ; and its food is similar,
consisting principally of insects and their Iarva3, small fruits,
and the eggs and young of small birds. Like the other, the
•Black-billed Cuckoo is very cowardly, and is quickly driven
from the neighborhood of the nest of almost any of the
other birds. If a robin, or other bird of equal size, discover
one of these, to him pirates, in the vicinity of his nest, he
immediately assaults the intruder, with loud outcries, poun-
cing upon him, and pecking with great ferocity. Others of
his neighbors, who are near, join in the attack : the Cuckoo,
in retreating, dives into the recesses of a stone wall, or the
first secure retreat available ; very seldom taking to his
wings, as another bird would do. I have known of a cuckoo
being driven into a barn by a Blue-bird ($. sialis), who sat
perching on a fence outside for several minutes, keeping his
enemy prisoner ; and the latter, when pursued and captured
by myself, preferred being my prisoner to facing his enemy
outside.

The nest of the Black-billed Cuckoo is usually placed in
a low tree or barberry-bush. It is constructed of twigs,
roots, and sometimes a few leaves and moss. I have exam-
ined a great number of these, from different sections ; and I
have noticed that those from northern localities were inva-
riably lined with gray moss, called Spanish moss, and leaves,
while others, from more southern districts, were without
such linings.

The eggs are usually four in number : they are of a darker
greenish-blue than those of the other bird, and average a
little smaller ; their length varying from 1 to 1.12 inch, by
from .84 to .92 inch in breadth.

THE HAIRY WOODPECKER. 87

FAMILY PICID^. THE WOODPECKERS.
Sub-Family PICIN.E.

Although all the woodpeckers have a certain resemblance to each other, and
agree more or less in habits, there are distinctions among them which serve readily
for division into sub-genera, genera, or even higher groups. Thus, the difference
between the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and the common Flicker, which may be taken
as representing the extremes of the scale in North- American species, will be palpable
to any observer.

In the woodpeckers inhabiting the United States, there are three distinct groups,
which may be taken, with some authors, as so many sub-families ; or if, with Bona-
parte, we unite all the Picidce with stiffened, acuminate, and pointed tails into a sub-
family Picince, they will constitute so many separate sections. They may be severally
characterized as follows : —

PICINJE or Picece. — Bill more or less long; the outlines above and below nearly-
straight; the ends truncated; a prominent ridge on the side of the mandible, spring-
ing from the middle of the base or a little below, and running out either on the
commissure, or extending parallel to and a little above it, to the end ; sometimes
obliterated or confluent with the lateral bevel of the bill ; nostrils considerably over-
hung by the lateral ridge, more or less linear, and concealed by thick bushy tufts of
feathers at the base of the bill ; outer posterior toe generally longer than the anterior.

MELANERPIN.E or Centurece. — Bill rather long; the outlines, that of the culmen
especially, decidedly curved. The lateral ridge much nearest the culmen, and,
though quite distinct at the base, disappearing before coming to the lower edge of
the mandible; not overhanging the nostrils, which are broadly oval, rounded an-
teriorly, and not concealed by the bristly feathers at the base; outer pair of toes
nearly equal, the anterior rather longer.

COLAPTIN.E or Colaptece. — Bill much depressed, and the upper outline much
curved to the acutely pointed (not truncate) tip; the commissure considerably
curved; bill without any ridges; the nostrils broadly oval, and much exposed;
anterior outer toe longest.

PIOUS VILLOSUS. — Linnceus. *

The Hairy Woodpecker.
Picas villosus, Linnaeus. Syst., 1. 175. Bonap. Syn., 46, and others.

DESCRIPTION.

" The Hairy Woodpecker is nine inches long and fifteen in extent ; crown
black; line over and under the eye white; the eye is placed in a black line,
that widens as it descends to the back; hind head scarlet, sometimes intermixed
with black; nostrils hid under remarkably thick, bushy, recumbent hairs, or
bristles; under the bill are certain long hairs thrown forward and upward; bill

1 See p. 84, vol. IX., Pacific R.R. Reports.

88 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

a bluish horn-color, grooved, wedged at the end, straight, and about an inch and a
quarter long; touches of black, proceeding from the lower mandible, end in a broad
black strip that joins the black on the shoulder; back black, divided by a broad,
lateral strip of white, the feathers composing which are loose and unwebbed, resem-
bling hairs, — whence its name ; rump and shoulders of the wing black ; wings black,
tipped and spotted with white, three rows of spots being visible on the secondaries
and five on the primaries ; greater wing coverts also spotted with white ; tail, as in
the others, cuneiform, consisting of ten strong-shafted and pointed feathers, the four
middle ones black, the next partially white, the two exterior ones white, tinged at
the tip with a brownish burnt-color; tail coverts black; whole lower side pure- white;
legs, feet, and claws light-blue, the latter remarkably large and strong ; inside of the
mouth flesh-colored; tongue pointed, beset with barbs, and capable of being pro-
truded more than an inch and a half; the os hyoides, in this species, passes on each
side of the neck, ascends the skull, passes down towards the nostril, and is wound
round the bone of the right eye, which projects considerably more than the left for
its accommodation. The great mass of hairs that cover the nostril appears to be
designed as a protection to the front of the head, when the bird is engaged in digging
holes into the wood. The membrane which encloses the brain in this, as in all the
other species of woodpeckers, is also of extraordinary strength ; no doubt, to prevent
any bad effects from violent concussion while the bird is employed in digging for
food. The female wants the red on the hind head, and the white below is tinged
with brownish." — WILSON.

rilHE above description, as given by Wilson, is very full

JL and complete. This Woodpecker is a rather common

visitor in New England, in the spring, fall, and winter

months, and is, to
some extent, a resi-
dent through the year.
Probably the greater
number retire to the
North in the breeding
season ; and those that
remain in the south-

Skull and tongue of Woodpecker.

ern districts of these

States most usually seek the woods for their summer
homes, and are, as a general thing, seldom met with
in the thickly settled districts. The flight is a waver-
ing, undulating one, like that of all the woodpeckers ;
consisting of a series of short vibrations of the wings,
followed by a downward, soaring movement, which is suc-
ceeded by another similar series. On alighting, the bird

THE DOWNY WOODPECKER. 89

strikes its object with both feet, and makes no discrimina-
tion between a horizontal branch or limb and a perpendicular
one. It commences its building operations quite early, often
by the 20th of April. The nest is made by excavating in
old trees in the woods, rarely in orchards : the hole made is
often as much as eighteen inches in depth, in some cases
hardly five inches. A post in a fence is sometimes taken
for a breeding-place, the hole in which the rail is inserted
furnishing a starting-place for the excavation of the nest.

The eggs are usually five in number ; seldom more, often
less : they are of a beautiful clear-white color, and the shell
is very smooth and rather thin ; and, before the contents of
the egg are removed, they impart a rosy tint to it. Speci-
mens vary in size from .77 to .84 inch in length, by from
.62 to .68 inch in breadth.

The nest is never lined with leaves or other soft materials,
so far as my observation has been ; but the eggs are depos-
ited on a small pile of chips of the rotten wood, which seem
to be left by the bird designedly for this purpose.

The food of this species consists principally of the eggs
and larvae of injurious insects that are burrowing in the
wood of our fruit and forest trees : these he is enabled to
obtain by chiselling out a small hole with his powerful bill,
and drawing them from their lurking-places with his long
barbed tongue. He also eats some small fruits and berries,
but never, so far as I am aware, the buds or blossoms of
trees, as some persons assert.

PIOUS PUBESCENS. — Linnceus.
The Downy Woodpecker.

Picus pubescens, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat, I. (1766) 15. Vieill. Ois. Am. (1807) 65.

"Picus pvbescens," Linnaeus, Wilson. Am. Orn. I. (1808) 153. Aud. Orn.
Biog. H. (1834).

DESCRIPTION.

A miniature of P. villosus. Above black, with a white band down the back ; two
white stripes on the side of the head ; the lower of opposite sides always separated ,
the upper sometimes confluent on the nape; two stripes of black on the side of the

90 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

head, the lower not running into the forehead; beneath white; wing much spotted
with white; the larger coverts with two series each; tertiaries or inner secondaries
all banded with white ; two outer tail feathers white, with two bands of black at the
end, third white at tip and externally. Male, with red terminating the white feathers
on the nape; legs and feet bluish-green; claws light-blue tipped with black; iris
dark-hazel.

Length, about six and a quarter inches ; wing, three and three-quarters.

This little Woodpecker — the smallest we have — is abun-
dantly distributed throughout New England, and is a resi-
dent throughout the year. The exceedingly interesting
description of its habits, by Wilson, is so full that I will give
it entire. He says : —

" About the middle of May, the male and female look out for a
suitable place for the reception of their eggs and young. An apple,
pear, or cherry tree — often in the near neighborhood of the farm-
house — is generally fixed upon for this purpose. The tree is mi-
nutely reconnoitred for several days previous to the operation ; and
the work is first begun by the male, who cuts out a hole in the solid
wood as circular as if described with a pair of compasses. He is
occasionally relieved by the female, both parties working with the
most indefatigable diligence. The direction of the hole, if made in
the body of the tree, is generally downwards, by an angle of thirty
or forty degrees, for the distance of six or eight inches, and then
straight down for ten or twelve more : within, roomy, capacious,
and as smooth as if polished by the cabinet-maker ; but the entrance
is judiciously left just so large as to admit the bodies of the owners.
During this labor, they regularly carry out the chips, often strewing
them at a distance, to prevent suspicion. This operation sometimes
occupies the chief part of a week. Before she begins to lay, the
female often visits the place, passes out and in, examines every
part — both of the exterior and interior — with great attention
(as every prudent tenant of a new house ought to do), and at
length takes complete possession. The eggs are generally six, —
pure-white, and laid on the smooth bottom of the cavity. The
male occasionally supplies the female with food while she is sitting ;
and, about the last week in June, the young are perceived making
their way up the tree, climbing with considerable dexterity. All
this goes on with great regularity where no interruption is met

THE DOWNY WOODPECKER. 91

with ; but the House Wren, who also builds in the hollow of a
tree, but who is neither furnished with the necessary tools nor
strength for excavating such an apartment for himself, allows the
woodpeckers to go on till he thinks it will answer his purpose,
then attacks them with violence, and generally succeeds in driving
them off. I saw, some weeks ago, a striking example of this,
where the Woodpeckers we are now describing, after commencing
in a cherry-tree, within a few yards of the house, and having made
considerable progress, were turned out by the Wren. The former
began again on a pear-tree in the garden, fifteen or twenty yards
off, whence, after digging out a most complete apartment, and one
egg being laid, they were once more assaulted by the same imper-
tinent intruder, and finally forced to abandon the place.

" The principal characteristics of this little bird are diligence,
familiarity, perseverance, and a strength and energy in the head
and muscles of the neck which are truly astonishing. Mounted on
the infected branch of an old apple-tree, where insects have lodged
their corroding and destructive brood in crevices between the bark
and wood, he labors sometimes for half an hour incessantly at the
same spot, before he has succeeded in dislodging and destroying
them. At these times, you may walk up pretty close to the tree,
and even stand immediately below it, within five or six feet of the
bird, without in the least embarrassing him. The strokes of his
bill are distinctly heard several hundred yards off; and I have
known him to be at work for two hours together on the same tree.
Buffon calls this ' incessant toil and slavery ; ' their attitude, ' a
painful posture ; ' and their life, ' a dull and insipid existence,' —
expressions improper because untrue, and absurd because con-
tradictory. The posture is that for which the whole organization
is particularly adapted; and though to a Wren or a Humming-
bird the labor would be both toil and slavery, yet to him it is, I
am convinced, as pleasant and as amusing as the sports of the
chase to the hunter, or the sucking of flowers to the Humming-
bird. The eagerness with which he traverses the upper and lower
sides of the branches, the cheerfulness of his cry, and the liveli-
ness of his motions while digging into the tree and dislodging the
vermin, justify this belief. He has a single note, or chink, which,
like the former species, he frequently repeats ; and when he flies

92 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

off, or alights on another tree, he utters a rather shriller cry, com-
posed of nearly the same kind of note, quickly reiterated. In fall
and winter, he associates with the Titmouse, Creeper, &c., both in
their wood and orchard excursions, and usually leads the van. Of
all our Woodpeckers, none rid the apple-trees of so many vermin
as this, digging off the moss which the negligence of the proprie-
tor had suffered to accumulate, and probing every crevice. In
fact, the orchard is his favorite resort in all seasons ; and his indus-
try is unequalled and almost incessant, which is more than can be
said of any other species we have. In fall, he is particularly fond
of boring the apple-trees for insects, digging a circular hole through
the bark, just sufficient to admit his bill; after that, a second,
third, &c., in pretty regular horizontal circles round the body of
the tree : these parallel circles of holes are often not more than an
inch or an inch and a half apart, and sometimes so close together
that I have covered eight or ten of them at once with a dollar.
From nearly the surface of the ground up to the first fork, and
sometimes far beyond it, the whole bark of many apple-trees is
perforated in this manner, so as to appear as if made by successive
discharges of buck-shot ; and our little Woodpecker — the subject
of the present account — is the principal perpetrator of this sup-
posed mischief: I say supposed, for, so far from these perforations
of the bark being ruinous, they are not only harmless, but, I have
good reason to believe, really beneficial to the health and fertility
of the tree. I leave it to the philosophical botanist to account for
this ; but the fact I am confident of. In more than fifty orchards
which I have myself carefully examined, those trees which were
marked by the Woodpecker (for some trees they never touch, per-
haps because not penetrated by insects) were uniformly the most
thriving, and seemingly the most productive. Many of these were
upwards of sixty years old, their trunks completely covered with
holes, while the branches were broad, luxuriant, and loaded with
fruit. Of decayed trees, more than three-fourths were untouched
by the Woodpecker. Several intelligent farmers, with whom I
have conversed, candidly acknowledge the truth of these observa-
tions, and with justice look upon these birds as beneficial : but the
most common opinion is, that they bore the tree to suck the sap,
and so destroy its vegetation : though pine and other resinous trees,

THE DOWNY WOODPECKER. 93

on the juices of which it is not pretended they feed, are often
found equally perforated. Were the sap of the tree their object,
the saccharine juice of the birch, the sugar-maple, and several
others, would be much more inviting (because more sweet and
nourishing) than that of either the pear or apple tree ; but I have
not observed one mark on the former for ten thousand that may be
seen on the latter. Besides, the early part of spring is the season
when the sap flows most abundantly; whereas, it is only during
the months of September, October, and November, that Wood-
peckers are seen so indefatigably engaged in orchards, probing
every crack and crevice, boring through the bark — and, what is
worth remarking, chiefly on the south and south-west sides of the
tree — for the eggs and larvae deposited there by the countless
swarms of summer insects. These, if suffered to remain, would
prey upon the very vitals — if I may so express it — of the tree,
and in the succeeding summer give birth to myriads more of their
race, equally destructive.

" Here, then, is a whole species, I may say genus, of birds,
which Providence seems to have formed for the protection of our
fruit and forest trees from the ravages of vermin, which every day
destroy millions of those noxious insects that would otherwise blast
the hopes of the husbandman; they even promote the fertility
of the tree, and, in return, are proscribed by those who ought to
have been their protectors, and incitements and rewards held out
for their destruction ! Let us examine better into the operations
of nature, and many of our mistaken opinions and groundless
prejudices will be abandoned for more just, enlarged, and humane
modes of thinking."

The nest and eggs are of the same description as the
Hairy Woodpecker's, except with regard to size ; the eggs
of the present species being considerably smaller on the
average, measuring from .73 to .77 inch in length, by
from .60 to .53 inch in breadth. I think that the nests of
this species, as of some others, are used for successive
seasons, as I have found apparently old nests occupied by
breeding birds. I am not aware that the Hairy Wood-
pecker uses the same nest several seasons. The Downy

94 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Woodpecker sometimes rears two broods in the southern
portion of New England ; usually, but one.

PICOIDES, LACEPEDE.

Picoides, LACEPEDE, Mem. Inst. (1799).

Bill about as long as the head, very much depressed at the base ; the outlines
nearly straight; the lateral ridge at its base much nearer the commissure than the
culmen, so as to bring the large rather linear nostrils close to the edge of the com-
missure ; the gonys very long, equal to the distance from the nostrils to the tip of the
bill ; feet with only three toes ; the outer lateral a little longer than the inner, but
slightly exceeded by the hind toe, which is about equal to the tarsus ; wings very
long, reaching beyond the middle of the tail ; fourth and fifth quills longest ; color
black, with a broad patch of yellow on the crown; transversely banded on the sides;
quills with round spots.

PICOIDES AECTICUS.— Gray.
The Black-backed, Three-toed Woodpecker.

Picus (Apternus) arcticus. Sw. F. Bor. Am., II. (1831) 313.
Picus arcticus. Aud. Syn. (1839) 182. lb., Birds Amer., IV. (1842) 266. Nut-
tall, Man., I. (20 ed. 1840) 691.

Picus tridactylus, Bonaparte. Am. Orn., II. (1828) 14. Aud. Orn. Biog., II.

(1834).

DESCRIPTION.

Above entirely uniform glossy bluish-black ; a square patch on the middle of the
crown saffron-yellow, and a few spots on the outer edges of both webs of the primary
and secondary quills ; beneath white, on the sides of the breast longitudinally striped,
and on the sides of the belly and on the flanks and tibial region banded transversely
with black; a narrow concealed white line from the eye a short distance backwards,
and a white stripe from the extreme forehead (meeting anteriorly) under the eye,
and down the sides of the neck ; bristly feathers of the base of the bill brown ; ex-
posed portion of the two outer tail feathers (first and second) white; bill bluish-black,
the lower mandible grayish -blue ; iris bluish-black. Female, without yellow on the
head.

Length, about nine and a half inches; wing, five; tail, three eighty-five one-
hundredths.

This species is rare in the three southern New-England
States, where it is found only as a winter visitor. In the
others, it is not very abundant, and is only resident, in
the most northern sections, in the neighborhood of, or in, the
deep forests and uninhabited districts, through the year.

Its habits are similar to those of the other woodpeckers.
I have had abundant opportunities of noticing them, and
have discovered nothing peculiar in them, or worthy of re-

THE BANDED THREE-TOED WOODPECKER. 95

mark. Its breeding habits are not well known ; but it
probably breeds in all the large forests of Northern Maine,
New Hampshire, and Vermont.

I was so fortunate as to find two nests in the month of
June, 1864, in the valley of the Magalloway Biver, about
forty miles north of Lake Umbagog, Me. The holes were
both excavated in hemlock stumps, about ten feet from the
ground ; they were not over an inch and a half in diameter,
and were about ten inches in depth: the bottom of the
hole formed the nest, which, as with the other species, was
nothing but a few chips and bits of wood. The first nest,
found on the 15th of June, had three young birds, appar-
ently about a week old. The second nest had three eggs :
these were of a beautiful clear-white color, and the shells
remarkably smooth to the touch. Their dimensions varied
only from .83 to .85 inch in length, by .75 to .77 inch in
breadth.

PICOIDES HIESUTUS.— Gray.
The Banded Three-toed Woodpecker.

Piciu hirsutus, Vieillot. Ois. Am. Sept., II. (1807) 68. Aud. Orn. Biog., V. 1*>,
39, 184. lb., Birds Am., IV. (1842), pi. 269. Nutt. Man., I. (2d ed. 1840) 692.

DESCRIPTION.

Black above ; the back with transverse bands of white to the rump ; a white line
from behind the eye, widening on the nape, and a broader one under the eye from
the loral region, but not extending on the forehead ; occiput and sides of the head
uniform black; quills spotted on both webs with white; under parts white; the sides
banded transversely with black; top of the head spotted with white; the crown of
the male with a yellow patch ; bill bluish-black ; iris daTk-hazel.

Length, about nine inches; wing, four forty-five one-hundredths ; tail, three
thirty -five one-hundredths.

This bird is rarely found in New England, except in the
midst of severe winters, and then it seldom penetrates so
far south as Massachusetts. I have known of but two or
three specimens being obtained in this State, and never
heard of any being shot in the others south of it. Having
had no opportunities for observing its habits, I can add
nothing to our knowledge of this species.

96 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

SPHYRAPICTJS, BAIBD.

Pilummis, Bonaparte. Consp. Zygod. Ateneo Italiano, May, 1854. (P. thy-
roideus.)

Bill as in Picus, but the lateral ridge, which is very prominent, running out dis-
tinctly to the commissure at about its middle, beyond which the bill is rounded
without any angles at all; the culmen and gonys are very nearly straight, but
slightly convex, the bill tapering rapidly to a point; the lateral outline concave to
very near the slightly bevelled tip ; outer pair of toes longest ; the hinder exterior
rather longest ; the inner posterior toe very short, less than the inner anterior with-
out its claw; wings long and pointed, the fourth longest; tail feathers very broad,
abruptly acuminate, with a very long linear point.

SPHYRAPICUS VARIUS.— Baird.
The Yellow-bellied Woodpecker.

Picus varius, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 176. Wilson, Am. Orn., I. (1808)
147. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 519.

DESCRIPTION.

Fourth quill longest; third a little shorter; fourth considerably shorter; general
color above black, much variegated with white; feathers of the back and rump
brownish-white, spotted with black ; crown scarlet, bordered by black on the sides
of the head and nape ; a streak from above the eye, and another from the bristles of
the bill, passing below the eye and into the yellowish of the belly, and a stripe along
the edges of the wing coverts white; a triangular broad patch of scarlet on the chin,
bordered on each side by black stripes from the lower mandible, which meet behind,
and extend into a large quadrate spot on the breast; rest of under parts yellowish-
white, streaked on the sides with black ; inner web of inner tail-feather white, spotted
with black; outer feathers black, edged and spotted with white. Female, with the
red of the throat replaced by white. Young male, without black on the breast,
or red on the top of the head; iris dark-hazel.

Length, eight and a quarter inches ; wing, about four and three-quarters ; tail,
three thirty one-hundredths.

This bird is very irregularly distributed in New England
as a summer visitor. Yerrill, in his Catalogue, before re-
ferred to, says that it is a common summer visitor, and
breeds at Norway, Me. J. A. Allen says, that near Spring-
field " it is not common, and is only seen in fall and spring,
when migrating. I have never seen this species here in
summer, and do not think it breeds here; though I am
informed by W. H. Niles that l they breed plentifully on the
hills in Western Massachusetts, twenty or thirty miles west
of Springfield.' "

• THE YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 97

So far as my own observation has been, it is not found at
all abundant in any part of these States ; and I think, that,
on the seaboard, it is rare. •

It arrives from the South, from about the 10th to the 20th
of April, and soon commences pairing. I have never noticed
any great peculiarity in its habits. It seems to prefer the
woods to the more open districts, and very seldom indeed
makes its appearance, in the breeding season, in the orchards
and nurseries, where, as it is often said by persons who are
prejudiced, it does considerable damage in boring into apple-
trees and sucking the sap ; hence it is called the " Sap-
sucker." I am not sufficiently acquainted with its habits, in
the Western States, to say positively that it does not eat
some of the inner bark of trees, when in pursuit of its
favorite insect-food ; but I cannot help thinking that the
denunciations of it, so often seen in the Western papers,
are exaggerated.

Dr. Bryant, who has paid some attention to the examina-
tion of the food of this bird, gives, in the " Proceedings of
the Boston Society of Natural History," vol. X. 91, the fol-
lowing remarks : —

" It has long been known that some of our smaller woodpeckers
pick out portions of the sound bark of trees, particularly of apple-
trees, where there are no larvae, and apparently no inducement for
them to do so. What their object is has never been satisfactorily
established. In Massachusetts, I am not aware that these holes
are ever sufficiently large or numerous to cause any material injury
to the apple-trees : they are generally seen in circles round the
limbs or trunks of small irregularly rounded holes, and in this
vicinity are made almost exclusively by the Downy Woodpecker
(P. pubescens), aided occasionally by the Hairy Woodpecker (P.
vittosus). In certain parts of the West, however, it is said that
great damage is done to orchards by the Yellow-bellied Wood-
pecker (S. varius) ; and Dr. Hoy, of Racine, Wis., has advanced
the theory that the object of the bird in so doing is to obtain the
inner bark for food. A number of specimens of this bird, for-
warded by Dr. Hoy to the Smithsonian Institution, have been

7

98 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

placed in my hands by Professor Baird for examination: as the
specimens are alcoholic, the soft parts are, as is always the case,
too much distorted to be available for correct comparisons; the
gizzard, however, seems smaller, and the proventriculus larger, than
in other species of this family with which I have compared them.
The contents of the stomach are berries, small coleoptera, larvae of
boring beetles, ants, and fragments of the inner bark of the apple-
tree."

After giving minute analyses of the characteristics of the
tongues and portions of the skulls of the different small
woodpeckers, and comparing them with the Yellow-bellied
Woodpecker's, showing how the latter differ from the others,
he says : —

" The general shape of the whole tongue is not much unlike that
of the Robin ; the ciliated edges show an analogy to the Melipha
gidce, and indicate that the sap of the trees pecked by them may
form a portion of their food. In the stomachs of the six individuals
examined by me, fragments of the inner bark were found in all, so
that it can hardly be presumed to have been accidentally introduced.
It is evident, from the shape of the tongue, that it is not used as a
dart, in the manner of the true Woodpecker, to draw out insects
from their lurking-places, but that these are seized by the bill, as in
other insectivorous birds. Insects, however, probably form their
chief diet, as all the stomachs examined also contained insects, the
quantity of which was greater than that of the fragments of bark :
in one bird, there were two larvae of a boring beetle, so large that
there was not room for both in the stomach at once, and one re-
mained in .the lower part of the O3sophagus. If these were, as is
probable, the larvae of the Saperda, they would do more damage
than twenty woodpeckers ; and I sincerely hope that these birds are
not to be exterminated, unless it is clearly demonstrated that the
injury caused by the destruction of the bark is not more than com-
pensated by their destruction of noxious insects."

About the 1st of May, the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
commences excavating its hole, which is usually in a de-
cayed tree in the woods, but occasionally in a sound tree.

THE PILEATED WOODPECKER. 99

This excavation is often eighteen or twenty inches deep. It
is not lined with any soft material, and the eggs are depos-
ited on chips of the wood left in the bottom. These are
usually five in number ; they are of a pure-white color, and
small for the size of the bird, measuring from .82 to .86 inch
in length, by from .74 to .77 inch in breadth.

HYLATOMUS, BAIRD.

Dryotomus, MALHERBE, Mem. Ac. Metz. (1849) 322. (Not of Swainson, 1831.)
Dryqpicus, BONAP. Consp. Zygod. in Aten. Ital. (May, 1854). (Not of Malherbe.)

Bill a little longer than the head ; considerably depressed, or broader than high
at the base ; shaped much as in Campephilus, except shorter, and without the bristly
feathers directed forwards at the base of the lower jaw; gonys about half the length
of the commissure; tarsus shorter than any toe except the inner posterior; outer
posterior toe shorter than the outer anterior, and a little longer than the inner
anterior; inner posterior very short, not half the outer anterior, about half the inner
anterior one.

Tail long, graduated, the longer feathers much incurved at the tip ; wing longer
than the tail, reaching to the middle of the exposed surface of tail, considerably
graduated, though pointed, the fourth and fifth quills longest.

Color uniform black, with white patches on the side of the head; head with
pointed crest.

HYLATOMUS PILEATUS- — Baird.
The Pileated "Woodpecker; Log Cock.

Picas pileatus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 173. Vieill. Ois. Am. Sept., II.
(1807)58. Wilson, Am. Orn., IV. (1811)27. Aud. Orn. Biog., H. (1834) 74.

DESCRIPTION.

Fourth and fifth quills equal and longest, third intermediate between the sixth
and seventh ; bill blue-black ; general color of body, wings, and tail, dull greenish-
black; a narrow white streak from just above the eye to the occiput, a wider one
from the nostril feathers (inclusive) under the eye and along the side of the head and
neck; side of the breast (concealed by the wing), axillaries, and under wing coverts,
and concealed bases of all the quills, with chin and beneath the head, white, tinged
with sulphur-yellow; entire crown, from the base of the bill to a well-developed
occipital crest, as also a patch on the ramus of the lower jaw, scarlet-red; a few
white crescents on the sides of the body and on the abdomen; iris very dark hazel.

Female without the red on the cheek, and the anterior half of that on the top
>f the head replaced by black.

Length, about eighteen inches ; wing, nine and a half inches.

This species is a resident in the northern districts of
New England throughout the year. It has been known

100 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

to breed in Massachusetts ; but, as a general thing, it is not
found south of the northern border of this State. Yerrill,
in his Catalogue of Maine birds, before referred to, says
" it is a common resident, and breeds : " he also says it is
" most common in winter."

The great size and strength of this bird enable it to
pierce into and tear apart the decaying trees in which its
food is burrowing, with wonderful facility and ease. I have
at times, in passing through the forest, found huge trees
that had died and fallen to the ground, with their bark
stripped off, and large chips torn out, as if some animal had
been at work on them ; and I always supposed that a bear
had been amusing himself, as those animals sometimes do,
in this employment. One day I discovered the author of
the demolition, and it proved to be the Pileated Woodpecker.
While seated in the woods near the settlement known as
Wilson's Mills in Maine, I heard a large animal, as I sup-
posed, rooting and tearing into a dead tree a few rods off. I
crept up near the sound, hoping to get a shot at a bear, when
I discovered this bird, which looked very much like a black
hen, busily at work. He was searching for the borers and
large black ants that hide beneath the bark ; and so earnestly
was he employed, that he permitted me to approach very
near him. He would force his powerful bill, by repeated
strokes, into the bark, in holes in a direct line with the
grain, until he had marked out a patch, perhaps six or eight
inches square, and then, striking into it diagonally, tear it
off, thus exposing the living vermin beneath, which he lost
no time in securing. After clearing that spot, he moved to
another, and repeated the same operation, until, by a sud-
den movement, I startled him, when he flew off, uttering
a rattling cackle similar to that of a garrulous hen. His
flight was similar to that of the other woodpeckers de-
scribed in another place in this volume. In addition to
insects, this Woodpecker eats acorns, beech-nuts, berries,
and Indian corn, but is not at all troublesome to farmers ;

THE PILEATED WOODPECKER. 101

and the little that it pilfers is much more than repaid by
the immense numbers of injurious larvae that it destroys.

Wilson, in a very interesting account of the general
habits of this bird, says : —

" Almost every trunk in the forest where he resides bears the
marks of his chisel. Wherever he . perceives a tree beginning to
decay, he examines it round and round with great skill and dex-
terity, strips off the bark in sheets of five or six feet in length, to
get at the hidden cause of the disease, and labors with a gayety and
activity really surprising. He is sometimes observed among the
hills of Indian corn, and it is said by some that he frequently feeds
on it. Complaints of this kind are, however, not general ; many
farmers doubting the fact, and conceiving that at these times he is
in search of insects which lie concealed in the husk. I will not be
positive that they never occasionally taste maize, yet I have opened
and examined great numbers of these birds, killed in various parts
of the United States, from Lake Ontario to the Alatamaha River,
but never found a grain of Indian corn in their stomachs."

Audubon in his description of the breeding habits of this
bird says, —

" The hole was about eighteen inches deep, and I could touch
the bottom with my hand. The eggs, which were laid on frag-
ments of chips expressly left by the birds, were six, large, white,
and translucent. Before the woodpeckers began to set, I robbed
them of their eggs, to see if they would lay a second time. They
waited a few days, as if undecided, when, on a sudden, I heard the
female at work again in the tree. She once more deepened
the hole, made it broader at the bottom, and recommenced laying.
This time she laid five eggs. I suffered her to bring out her young,
both sexes alternately incubating, each visiting the other at inter-
vals, peeping into the hole to see that all was right and well there,
and flying off afterwards in search of food."

102 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

MELANERPES, SWAINSON.

Melanej*pes, SWAINSON, F. B. A., II. (1831) (type M. erythrocephalus).

Bill about equal to the head, broader than high at the base, but becoming com-
pressed immediately anterior to the commencement of the gonys ; culmen and gonys
with a moderately decided angular ridge; both decidedly curved from the very
base ; a rather prominent acute ridge commences at the base of the mandible, a little
below the ridge of the culmen, and proceeds but a short distance anterior to the nos-
trils (about one-third of the way), when it sinks down, and the bill is then smooth;
the lateral outlines are gently concave from the basal two-thirds, then gently convex
to the tip, which does not exhibit any abrupt bevelling ; nostrils open, broadly oval,
not concealed by the feathers, nor entirely basal ; the outer pair of toes equal ; wings
long, broad; third and fourth quills longest; tail feathers broad.

The species all have the back black, without any spots or streaks anywhere.

MELANERPES ERYTHROCEPHALUS. — Swainson. ,
The Red-headed Woodpecker.

Picas erythrocephalw, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 174. Wilson, Am. Orn.,
I. (1810) 142. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1832).

DESCRIPTION.

Head and neck all round crimson-red, margined by a narrow crescent of black
on the upper part of the breast; back, primary quills, and tail, bluish-black; under
parts generally, a broad band across the middle of the wing, and the rump white ;
iris hazel; bill and feet bluish-black. The female is not different.

Length about nine and three-quarters inches ; wing, five and a half.

This handsome Woodpecker is a not very common summer
inhabitant of New England. It makes its appearance from
the South about the 10th of May. Its habits are similar to
those of the other species ; and I recollect nothing of any
importance that is peculiar to them except, perhaps, that
these birds seem to be much fonder of the small fruits than
either of the others. Wilson says of this fact : —

" Wherever there is a tree, or trees, of the wild cherry, covered
with ripe fruit, there you see them busy among the branches ; and,
in passing orchards, you may easily know where to find the earliest,
sweetest apples, by observing those trees on or near which the
Red-headed Woodpecker is skulking : for he is so excellent a con-
noisseur in fruit, that, wherever an apple or pear is found broached
by him, it is sure to be among the ripest and best flavored. When

THE BED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 103

alarmed, he seizes a capital one by striking his open bill deep into
it, and bears it off to the woods. When the Indian corn is in its
rich, succulent, milky state, he attacks it with great eagerness,
opening a passage through the numerous folds of the husk, and
feeding on it with voracity. The girdled or deadened timber, so
common among corn-fields in the back settlements, are his favorite
retreats, whence he sallies out to make his depredations. He is
fond of the ripe berries of the sour gum, and pays pretty regular
visits to the cherry-trees, when loaded with fruit. Towards fall, he
often approaches the barn or farm-house, and raps on the shingles
and weather-boards : he is of a gay and frolicsome disposition ; and
half a dozen of the fraternity are frequently seen diving and vocif-
erating around the high, dead limbs of some large tree, pursuing
and playing with each other, and amusing the passenger with their
gambols. Their note, or cry, is shrill and lively; and so much
resembles that of a species of tree-frog, which frequents the same
tree, that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the one from the
other.

" Such are the vicious traits, if I may so speak, in the character
of the Red-headed Woodpecker ; and I doubt not but, from what
has been said on this subject, that some readers would consider it
meritorious to exterminate the whole tribe as a nuisance ; and, in
fact, the legislatures of some of our provinces, in former times,
offered premiums to the amount of twopence per head for their
destruction.1 But let us not condemn the species unheard: they
exist, they must therefore be necessary. If their merits and
usefulness be found, on examination, to preponderate against their
vices, let us avail ourselves of the former, while we guard as well
as we can against the latter.

" Though this bird occasionally regales himself on fruit, yet his
natural and most useful food is insects, particularly those numerous
and destructive species that penetrate the bark and body of the
tree to deposit their eggs and Iarva3, the latter of which are well
known to make immense havoc. That insects are his natural food
is evident from the construction of his wedge-formed bill, the
length, elasticity, and figure of his tongue, and the strength and
position of his claws, as well as from his usual habits. In fact,

i KALM.

104 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

bisects form at least two-thirds of his subsistence ; and his stomach
is scarcely ever found without them. He searches for them with a
dexterity and intelligence, I may safely say, more than human : he
perceives, by the exterior appearance of the bark, where they lurk
below ; when he is dubious, he rattles vehemently on the outside
with his bill, and his acute ear distinguishes the terrified vermin
shrinking within to their inmost retreats, where his pointed and
barbed tongue soon reaches them. The masses of bugs, cater-
pillars, and other larvae, which I have taken from the stomachs
of these birds, have often surprised me. These larvae, it should be
remembered, feed not only on the buds, leaves, and blossoms, but
on the very vegetable life of the tree, — the alburnum, or newly
forming bark and wood. The consequence is, that the whole
branches and whole trees decay under the silent ravages of these
destructive vermin ; witness the late destruction of many hundred
acres of pine-trees in the north-eastern parts of South Carolina,
and the thousands of peach-trees that yearly decay from the same
cause. Will any one say, that, taking half a dozen, or half a
hundred, apples from a tree, is equally ruinous with cutting it
down ? or that the services of a useful animal should not be
rewarded with a small portion of that which it has contributed to
preserve ? We are told, in the benevolent language of the Scrip-
tures, not to muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the
corn ; and why should not the same generous liberality be ex-
tended to this useful family of birds, which forms so powerful a
phalanx against the inroads of many millions of destructive ver-
min ? "

About the middle of May, this species pairs, and soon
commences excavating a hole in a tree, either in the woods
or orchard, as he is not particular in his choice. This work
is done by both the birds, who labor with industry and
cheerfulness until the excavation is finished ; this is from
fourteen to eighteen inches deep, and, like those of other
woodpeckers, is roomy at the bottom, and tapering gradually
to the entrance, which is only large enough for the comfort-
able passage of the bird : it is not lined, but the bottom is
partly covered with chips from the sides of the hole. The

THE GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. 105

eggs are generally five or six in number, and of a beautiful
clear-white. Dr. Thompson says, in his " Birds of Yer-
mont," that " they are marked with reddish spots at the
large end." This was a mistake ; for the eggs of wood-
peckers are always immaculate. The shell is smoother
than that of any other woodpecker's egg of my acquaint-
ance. Length of specimens vary from 1.07 to 1.12 inch,
breadth from .77 to .84 inch.

COLAPTES, SWAINSON.

Colaptes., SWAINSON, Zool. Jour., III. (Dec. 1827) 353 (type C. auratus).

Bill slender, depressed at the base,tthen compressed; culmen much curved; gonys
straight, both with acute ridges, and coming to quite a sharp point with the com-
missure at the end ; the bill consequently not truncate at the end ; no ridges on the
bill; nostrils basal, median, oval, and exposed; gonys very short, about half the
culmen ; feet, large, the anterior outer toe considerably longer than the posterior; tail
long, exceeding the secondaries, the feathers suddenly acuminate, with elongated
points.

COLAPTES AURATUS. — Swainson.
The Golden- winged Woodpecker; Flicker; Pigeon Woodpecker.

Picus auratus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. (1766) 174. Wilson, Am. Orn., I. (1810) 45.
Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1832) 191.

DESCRIPTION.

Shafts and under surfaces of wing and tail feathers gamboge-yellow; a black
patch on each side of the cheek ; a red crescent on the nape ; throat and stripe
beneath the eye pale lilac-brown ; back glossed with olivaceous-green ; female with-
out the black cheek patch ; a crescentic patch on the breast, and rounded spots on
the belly, black ; back and wing coverts with interrupted transverse bands of black ;
neck above and sides ashy.

Length, about twelve and a half inches ; wing, six.

This is a very common summer inhabitant of New Eng-
land. It is probably the most abundant of all the wood-
peckers, and is very generally known. It is in the southern
districts of these States a resident throughout the year;
and in Massachusetts I have often met with it in midwinter,
when the season was not of the mildest either. They begin
to arrive from the south at about the second week in
March.

106 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

The habits of this bird are so well known, that any
description here seems to be a work of supererogation.
About the first week in May, the males begin to pay court
to the females ; at this period their movements are amusing.

" Their note is merriment itself, as it imitates a prolonged and
jovial laugh, heard at a considerable distance. Several males pur-
sue a female, reach her, and, to prove the force and truth of their
love, bow their heads, spread their tails, and move sidewise, back-
wards, and forwards, performing such antics as might induce any one
witnessing them, if not of a most morose temper, to join his laugh
to theirs. The female flies to another tree, where she is closely fol-
lowed by one, two, or even half a dozen of these gay suitors, and
where again the same ceremonies are gone through. No fightings
occur, no jealousies seem to exist among these beaux, until a marked
preference is shown to some individual, when the rejected proceed
in search of another female. In this manner, all the Golden-
winged Woodpeckers are soon happily mated. Each pair imme-
diately proceed to excavate the trunk of a tree, and finish a hole in
it sufficient to contain themselves and their young. They both
work with great industry and apparent pleasure. Should the male,
for instance, be employed, the female is close to him, and congratu-
lates him on the removal of every chip which his bill sends
through the air. While he rests, he appears to be speaking to her
on the most tender subjects, and when fatigued is at once assisted
by her. In this manner, by the alternate exertions of each, the
hole is dug and finished." — AUDUBON.

This is often as much as twenty inches in depth, and in
a solid tree very often at that. On the bottom of this hole,
the female lays six pure-white eggs : these are generally of
uniform ovoidal shape, and vary in size from 1 to 1.16 inch
in length, by from .82 to .92 in breadth.

When the eggs are removed, the female, after a couple
of days' deliberation, lays another litter ; and I have known
of this being repeated several times by a bird that was
unwilling to leave the nest which she and her mate had
been at so much labor to prepare. Instances have occurred

THE GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. 107

of this bird's laying eighteen or twenty eggs in a few
days, they being removed as soon as laid, and only two or
three being left in the nest at a time. The food of this spe-
cies consists of insects, berries, and grains. Ants are
greedily eaten by it, and constitute no inconsiderable por-
tion of its diet. On visiting the nest at night, I have very
seldom been able to catch the old bird in it; she almost
always heard my approach, and took flight : once I caught
her on the nest ; but, as I put my hand in to secure her, she
attacked it with fierce pecks of her bill, and made such an
onslaught that I was glad to permit her to escape. But
one brood is reared in the season.

108 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

ORDER III. — INSESSORES. PERCHERS.

In accordance with the views of many systematic writers,
it may perhaps be as well to retain an order Insessores, and to
place in it the Strisores, Clamatores, and Oscines as sub-orders.
The characters of the order will then consist chiefly in the posses-
sion of three toes in front and one behind (or, at least, never with
two toes directed backwards), as in Scansores. The claws are not
retractile, nor the bill with a cere, as in the Raptores ; nor is the
hind toe situated appreciably above the plane of the others, as in
Rasores, Grallatores, and Natatores.

The hind toe of the Insessores corresponds to the thumb or
inner toe of the mammals, and is usually quite short. The joints
of the anterior toes generally follow the law of number character-
istic of birds ; namely, two to the hinder, three to the inner, four
to the middle, and five to the outer toes : but a deviation is seen in
some Strisores, where there are sometimes but three joints each to
the anterior toes, and sometimes only four in the outer. The tarsi
are generally covered anteriorly with plates, and furnished behind
with granulations or small scales, or else with two long plates
covering the sides, the latter feature especially characteristic of the
Oscines, or singing-birds : in the latter alone is the tarsus some-
times covered anteriorly with a single plate. Sometimes the tarsus
is entirely or partly naked, or destitute of plates altogether.

The carpal joint or the hand part of the wing is in most
Insessores furnished with ten quills (primaries), although the first
quill is sometimes very short, or even entirely wanting, as in many
Oscines. The fore-arm has from six (in the Humming-birds) to
thirteen quills, the average being eight or nine.

There are certain peculiarities in the arrangement of he
wing coverts of the different sub-orders of Insessores, constituting
important distinctive features. Some of these will be hereafter
referred to.

ORDER III. — INSESSORES. 109

The tail of the Insessores exhibits considerable differences.
The number of feathers is usually twelve ; sometimes ten only, as
in the Strisores.

The different groups of the order Insessores are subject to con-
siderable variations in respect to the structure of the lower larynx
attached to the trachea or windpipe just anterior to its division
into the two bronchial tubes. Cuvier long since showed, that the
true singing-birds had the larynx provided with a peculiar appa-
ratus for the purpose of effecting a modulation of the voice,
composed of five pairs of muscles, of which other birds were
destitute in greater part, or entirely. The characteristic of the
groups Strisores, Clamatores, and Oscines, and of their subdivisions,
as will be shown hereafter, depend very much on these peculiarities
of the larynx.

The tongue of the Insessores varies to a considerable degree.
In the Humming-birds, it is thread-like and bifurcated. In most
other insessorial or perching birds, it is long or short, flat, and
triangular, the posterior extremity bilobed, the anterior usually
with the tip horny, serrated, or with fibres, more rarely smooth.
These furnish important characteristics for the division into families,
and even genera ; the variations being quite considerable.

See Introduction, and vol. IX., Pacific R.R. Reports, 128.

110 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

SUB-ORDER STRISORES.

FAMILY TROCHILID^. THE HUMMING-BIRDS.

There is no group of birds so interesting to the ornithologist or to the casual
observer as the Humming-birds ; at once the smallest in size, the most gorgeously
beautiful in color, and almost the most abundant in species of any single family of
birds. They are strictly confined to the continent and islands of America, and are
most abundant in the Central- American States ; though single species range almost
to the Arctic regions on the north and to Patagonia on the south, as well as from
the seacoast to the frozen summits of the Andes. The number of known species
considerably exceeds three hundred, and new ones are being constantly brought to
light; so that an estimate of four hundred species is, perhaps, not too large. Many
are very limited in their range ; some confined to particular islands, even though of
small dimensions.

The bill of the Humming-bird is awl-shaped or subulate, thin, and sharp-
pointed, straight or curved; sometimes as long as the head, sometimes much
longer. The mandibles are excavated to the tip for the lodgement of the tongue,
and form a tube by the close apposition of their cutting edges. There is no indica-
tion of stiff bristly feathers at the base of the mouth. The tongue has some resem-
blance to that of the Woodpeckers in the elongation of the cornua backwards,
so as to pass found the back of the skull, and then anteriorly to the base of the
bill. The tongue itself is of very peculiar structure, consisting anteriorly of two
hollow threads closed at the ends and united behind. The food of the Humming-
bird consists almost entirely of insects, which are captured by protruding the tongue
into flowers of various shapes, without opening the bill very wide.

The wings of the Humming-birds are long and falcate ; the shafts very strong ;
the primaries usually ten in number, the first always longest ; there are six seconda-
ries. The tail has but ten feathers. The feet are small ; the claws very sharp and
strong.1

The species known to inhabit the United States, though few, are yet nearly twice
as many as given by Mr. Audubon. It is probable that additional ones will here-
after be detected, particularly on our southern borders.

The different authors who have made a specialty of the Humming-birds have
named a great many sub-families and genera ; but there has as yet been no published
systematic description of the higher groups. It is probable that the North-Ameri-

1 Most of the above general remarks are borrowed from Burmeister (Thiere Bra-
siliens, Vogel, 311), to which I would refer for an excellent article on the structure
and habits of Humming-birds.

THE RUBY-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD. Ill

can species belong to two different sub-families, — the Lampornithince and the Tro-
chilince, — and to at least four genera; but the precise character and limits of these I
am unable to give. The following remarks, however, may serve to sketch xmt the
characters of the North- American species : —

A. Edges of mandible serrated near the end; throat without metallic, scale-like
feathers.

Lampornis. — Bill depressed, slightly curved ; tail broad, slightly emarginate, the
outer feather as broad as the rest; wings reaching the tip of tail; no metallic
feathers on the throat.

B. Edges of mandible nearly even towards the tip, without distinct serrations ;
throat with metallic, scale-like feathers.

Trochilus. — Feathers of throat but little elongated laterally; lateral tail feathers
but little narrower than the others, and lanceolate-acute ; tail forked.

Selasphvrus. — Feathers of the throat much elongated laterally into a ruff; lateral
tail feathers much narrower than the middle ones, and linear in shape, or with the
sides parallel to the end, which is rounded ; tail graduated or cuneate ; outer primary
attenuated at the tip ; crown without metallic scales.

Atthis. — Similar to the last, but the top of the head with metallic scales like the
throat; the outer primary not attenuated; tail emarginated, or deeply forked.

TROCHILUS, LINNAEUS.

TROCHILUS COLUBRIS. — Linnceus.
The Ruby-throated Humming-bird.

Trochilus colubris, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat, I. (1766) 191. Wilson, Am. Orn., II.
(1810) 26. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1832) 248. /£., Birds Amer., IV. (1842) 190.
Ornismya colubris, Deville. Rev. et Mag. Zool. (May, 1852) (habits).

DESCRIPTION.

Tail in the male deeply forked, the feathers all narrow lanceolate-acute ; in the
females lightly rounded and emarginate; the feathers broader, though pointed; male,
uniform metallic-green above ; a ruby-red gorget with no conspicuous ruff; a white
collar on the throat; sides of body greenish; tail feathers uniformly brownish-violet;
female, without the red«on the throat; the tail is rounded and emarginate, the
inner feathers shorter than the outer; the tail feathers banded with black, and
the outer tipped with white; no rufous or cinnamon on the tail in either sex.

Length, three and twenty-five one-hundredths inch; wing, one and sixty one-
hundredths; tail, one and twenty-five one-hundredths inch; bill, sixty-five one-
hundredths.

THIS beautiful little winged gem is distributed through-
out New England as a summer visitor. It arrives
from the south from about the 15th to the 25th of May,
according to latitude, and usually in pairs. The first notice
that we have of his arrival is a humming sound, and now

112 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

and then a sharp chirp, like that of a large beetle, among
the earliest flowers in the garden. We look in the direction
of the sound, and perceive our little stranger darting about,

and thrusting his bill and little head into the flowers,
busily searching for the small insects that inhabit them,
and which constitute the principal part of his food. While
we are looking at him, he suddenly alights on a twig,
turns his gorgeous throat towards us, and scans us with
his bright little black eyes. While he is perched, he busies
himself in arranging his plumage, and cleaning from his
feathers the drops of dew that have perhaps fallen upon
him, uttering occasionally his merry chirp ; presently his
mate appears, and alights by his side. The little lovers (for
they are still such) then indulge in mutual caresses, and
apparently talk over with much earnestness their plans for
future housekeeping. Woe to another humming-bird, if he
comes in sight! for our little friend is not only jealous
of his mate, but is very quarrelsome also, and protects his
honor with great courage. As he darts off like a bullet at
the intruder, his mate watches with no little interest for the
results of the battle that is inevitable. The two males meet
in the air, and fierce is the contest ; their little wings beat
the air with such force that their humming is heard at the

THE RUBY-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD. 113

distance of several rods ; up they mount, rushing against
and striking each other with their sharp little bills, until
they are both lost to the sight : presently our acquaintance
descends to the twig where his mate is seated, and struts
before her with a pride much larger than his body, ap-
parently anxious for her approval of his courage. She
caresses him; and, after he has adjusted his plumage, off
they shoot for other scenes and pleasures.

About the first week in June, the Humming-bird com-
mences building its nest : this is composed of a soft down,
that is taken from the stems of some of the ferns ; it is
covered entirely with lichens, which are glued on with the
saliva of the bird, giving it the appearance of a mossy knot.
It is usually built on the upper side of a limb ; but I have
known of cases of its being built in a forked twig. The
whole fabric is about an inch and a half in diameter, and
about that in depth externally ; it is hollowed about half an
inch, and is three-fourths of an inch in diameter internally ;
it is lined with soft, downy substances detached from flying
seeds. The eggs are two in number, white, and nearly
elliptical in shape, being of about equal size at both ends.
Length of eggs, about .45 inch ; breadth, about .31 inch. I
am inclined to think, that, in the latitude of New England,
this bird raises only one brood in the season ; but further
south it undoubtedly rears two. The period of incubation
is ten days.

On approaching the nest, the parent bird immediately
flies at the intruder ; and it was by this means that I have
been enabled to find specimens of the nests, when I could
not possibly have done so if their locality had not been
betrayed by the bird herself. I have heard of young birds
being taken from the nest when nearly fledged, kept for
several weeks, and fed with nothing but sweetened water ;
but they always died after a short confinement, and I believe
that it is impossible to keep .this bird as a pet, from the

114 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

fact that its actual food is insects, and it cannot live on any
other.

Wilson gives the following facts in relation to this. He
says : —

" The singularity of this little bird has induced many persons to
attempt to raise them from the nest, and accustom them to the
cage. Mr. Coffer, of Fairfax County, Va., a gentleman who has
paid great attention to the manners and peculiarities of our native
birds, told me that he raised and kept two, for some months, in a
cage, supplying them with honey dissolved in water, on which they
readily fed. As the sweetness of the liquid frequently brought
small flies and gnats about the cage and cup, the birds amused
themselves by snapping at them on wing, and swallowing them
with eagerness, so that these insects formed no inconsiderable part
of their food. Mr. Charles Wilson Peale, proprietor of the
Museum, tells me that he had two young Humming-birds, which
he raised from the nest. They used to fly about the room, and
would frequently perch on Mrs. Peale's shoulder to be fed. When
the sun shone strongly in the chamber, he has observed them dart-
ing after the motes that floated in the light, as Flycatchers would
after flies. In the summer of 1803, a nest of young Humming-
birds was brought me, that were nearly fit to fly. One of them
actually flew out by the window the same evening, and, falling
against a wall, was killed. The other refused food, and the next
mo'raing I could but just perceive that it had life. A lady in the
house undertook to be its nurse, placed it in her bosom, and, as it
began to revive, dissolved a little sugar in her mouth, into which
she thrust its bill, and it sucked with great avidity. In this man-
ner, it was brought up until fit for the cage. I kept it upwards
of three months, supplied it with loaf sugar dissolved in water,
which it preferred to honey and water, gave it fresh flowers every
morning sprinkled with the liquid, and surrounded the space in
which I kept it with gauze, that it might not injure itself. It
appeared gay, active, and full of spirit, hovering from flower to
flower as if in its native wilds ; and always expressed, by its
motions and chirping, great pleasure at seeing fresh flowers intro-
duced to its cage. Numbers of people visited it from motives of
curiosity ; and I took every precaution to preserve it, if possible,

THE RUBY-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD. 115

through the winter. Unfortunately, however, by some means it
got at large ; and, flying about the room, so injured itself that it
soon after died.

" This little bird is extremely susceptible of cold ; and, if long
deprived of the animating influence of the sunbeams, droops, and
soon dies. A very beautiful male was brought me this season
(1809), which I put into a wire cage, and placed in a retired,
shaded part of the room. After fluttering about for some time, the
weather being uncommonly cool, it clung by the wires, and hung in
a seemingly torpid state for a whole forenoon. No motion what-
ever of the lungs could be perceived, on the closest inspection,
though, at other times, this is remarkably observable ; the eyes
were shut; and, when touched by the finger, it gave no signs
of life or motion. I carried it out to the open air, and placed it
directly in the rays of the sun, in a sheltered situation. In a few
seconds, respiration became very apparent; the bird breathed
faster and faster, opened its eyes, and began to look about, with as
much seeming vivacity as ever. After it had completely recov-
ered, I restored it to liberty ; and it flew off to the withered top
of a pear-tree, where it sat for some time dressing its disordered
plumage, and then shot off like a meteor."

About the latter part of August, or perhaps by the 8th or
10th of September, the Humming-bird takes his departure
for the south. The young birds travel with their parents,
or, at any rate, leave this section with them; for I have
invariably noticed that these little groups were together up
to the time when they left. The parents return to the same
breeding-place in the succeeding year ; and I have known of
a pair breeding on the same apple-tree for three successive
seasons.

116 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

FAMILY CYPSELID^. THE SWIFTS.

Bill very small, without notch, triangular, much broader than high, the culmen
not one-sixth the gape; anterior toes cleft to the base, each with three joints (in the
typical species), and covered with skin, the middle claw without any serrations,
the lateral toes nearly equal to the middle ; bill without bristles, but with minute
feathers extending along the under margin of the nostrils; nostrils elongated, supe-
rior, and very close together; plumage compact; primaries ten, elongated, falcate.

CH^ETURA, STEPHENS.

Chcetura, STEPHENS. Shaw's Gen. Zool. Birds, XIII. (1825) 76 (type C.
pelasgia).

Tail very short, scarcely more than two-fifths the wings, slightly rounded, the
shafts stiffened and extending some distance beyond the feathers in a rigid spine ;
first primary longest; legs covered by a naked skin, without scutellae or feathers;
tarsus longer than middle toe; lateral toes equal, nearly as long as the middle; hind
toe scarcely versatile, or quite posterior, with the claw, less than the middle anterior
without it ; toes slender, claws moderate ; feathers of the base of the bill not extend-
ing beyond the beginning of the nostrils.

CHJETURA PELASGIA.— Stephens.
The Chimney Swallow.

Hirundo pelasgia, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. I. (1766) 345. Wils. Am. Orn. V.
(1812) 48.

Cypselus pelasgia, Audubon. Orn. Biog. II. (1834) 329; V. 419.

Chcetura pelasgia, Stephens. Shaw's Gen. Zool. Birds, XIII. (1825) 76.

DESCRIPTION.

Tail slightly rounded; of a sooty-brown all over, except on the throat, which
becomes considerably lighter from the breast to the bill; above with a greenish
tinge; the rump a little paler.

• Length, five and a quarter inches ; wing, five ten one-hundredths ; tail, two fifteen
one-hundredths.

well-known bird is a common summer inhabitant
JL of New England. It arrives in great numbers from
the South, about the 1st to the 10th of May. Immediately
on arriving, the birds pair, and commence building. The
nest is usually constructed in an unused flue of a chimney ;
but, before the country was settled, they bred, and I have no

THE CHIMNEY SWALLOW. 117

doubt that great numbers of them in thinly settled districts
still breed in hollow trees. The nest is composed of twigs,
which are glued together and to the side of the chimney
with the saliva of the bird. It is very rarely lined with a
few feathers. The strength of these structures is wonderful :
and they are so durable that I have known of instances
of their remaining in the chimney during three seasons.
Usually, the bird displays great sagacity in the choice of a
location for a nest, in securing protection from storms and
from the attacks of animals ; but occasionally the nest is
built in a chimney, open at the top sufficiently wide to
permit the rain to trickle down the sides : the result is, that
the moisture softens the glue by which the nest is attached
to the chimney, and it is, with its living contents, precipi-
tated to the bottom. Again, if the nest is built too low in
the chimney, the young or eggs furnish agreeable food for
rats, which, unfortunately, are sometimes found in dwelling-
houses in the country in uncomfortable numbers. The eggs
are generally four or five in number, pure-white in color,
rather long in shape. Dimensions of five eggs, in a nest
collected in Upton, Me. : .84 by .44 inch, .81 by .46 inch,
.80 by .46 inch, .78 by .48 inch, .76 by .51 inch.

This species is somewhat nocturnal in its habits. From
earliest dawn until seven or eight in the morning, it is busy
in the pursuit of insects : it then retires to its roosting-places
in the chimneys, and is seldom seen until late in the afters
noon. From early twilight until late in the night, it is again
actively employed ; and, having heard its notes, as it sped
through the air, often as late as midnight, I have no doubt
that, in pleasant weather, it is busy through the whole
night.

In descending the chimneys where their young are, the
birds fly rapidly until they are immediately over them, when,
partially closing their wings, they drop suddenly, and with
apparent ease, down the flue.

In ascending, the noise of their wings in the chimney is

118 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

like that of distant thunder. The flight of these birds is
very rapid, surpassing, I think, that of any other species :
it is so peculiar, — the long wings vibrating in short, quick,
energetic strokes, — that it furnishes a ready means of dis-
tinguishing it, from all other species, at a great height.

About sunset, the great multitudes of these birds are out,
and the numbers of insects they destroy must be immense.
Everywhere they may be seen : away up in the blue sky, as
far as the eye can reach, they are coursing in wide-extended
circles, chasing each other in sport, and even caressing and
feeding their mates while on the wing ; a little lower, they
are speeding over the tops of the trees, gleaning the insects
that have just left the foliage ; over the surface of the lake
or river they fly so low, in the pursuit of aquatic insects,
that their wings often touch the water; everywhere they
are busy. Truly, they are deserving of much better treat-
ment than they too often receive at the hands of the farmer,
to whom they are his best friends ; yet it is a fact, that, in
a great many sections, they are driven from the chimneys
of the farm-houses, and even destroyed, at every oppor-
tunity.

About the last of August, the Chimney Swallow, in large
scattered flocks, leaves for the South, and spends the winter
in Honduras and the West Indies. On returning in the
spring, the same pair occupies the chimney used in the pre-
vious season, as has been proved by actual observation.

Yellow- "billed Cuclcoo

HairyWboipecler. -

Belted Engfi&her

,-

THE WHIPPOORWILL. 119

FAMILY CAPEIMULGID^. THE GOAT-SUCKERS.
Sub-Family CAPRIMULGIN^:.

Bill very short, triangular, the culmen less than one-sixth the gape ; the anterior
toes united at the base by a membrane; the inner anterior toe with three joints, the
others with four, all with distinct scutellse above ; the toe much elongated, its middle
claw pectinated on the inner edge ; hind toe directed a little more than half for-
wards ; tarsi partly feathered superiorly ; the bill more or less bristled, the nostrils
separated, rather nearer the commissure than the culmen; plumage soft, lax, and
owl-like ; primary quills, ten ; secondaries, eleven or twelve.

ANTROSTOMUS, GOULD.

Antrostomus, GOULD. Icones Avium (1838), Agassiz.

Bill remarkably small, with tubular nostrils, and the gape with long, stiff, some-
times pectinated, bristles ; wings long, somewhat rounded, second quill longest, the
primaries emarginate.d ; tail rounded; plumage loose and soft.

ANTROSTOMUS VOCIFERUS. — Bonaparte.
The Whippoorwill.

Caprimulgus vodferus, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. (1812) 71; Aud. Orn. Biog., I.
(1832)443; V. 405.

Antrostomus vociferus, Bonaparte. List, 1838.

DESCRIPTION.

Bristles without lateral filaments; wing about six and a half inches long; top of
the head ashy-brown, longitudinally streaked with black ; terminal half of the tail
feathers (except the four central) dirty-white on both outer and inner webs ; iris dark-
hazel. Female, without white on the tail.

Length, ten inches ; wing, six and a half.

THIS familiar species is a summer inhabitant of New
England : it arrives from the South about the second
week in May. Its habits are not well known, as it is not a
very common species, and it inhabits the most secluded spots
in the deep woods ; but its song is well known to all, a^ are
its nocturnal wanderings in search for insect food. This
bird, as also the Night-hawk, is, to the farmer, one of the
most valuable among the feathered tribes : its food consists
almost entirely of night-flying Lepidoptera, and the number
of these insects destroyed is immense.

120 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

The peculiar song of this bird is heard at early eve, and
until late into the night, during the mating and part of the
breeding seasons. It is not uttered in the depths of the wil-
derness alone ; but the bird, perching on the well-sweep, on
the eaves of a low shed, or even on the door-sill of the farm-
er's house, pours out its melancholy strain. The descrip-
tion, by Alexander Wilson, of the habits of this bird, is so
accurate and comprehensive, that I will not presume to
attempt another. He says: —

" The notes seem pretty plainly to articulate the words which
have been generally applied to them, whip-poor-will, the first and
last syllables being uttered with great emphasis, and the whole in
about a second to each repetition ; but, when two or more males
meet, their whip-poor-will altercations become much more rapid
and incessant, as if each were straining to overpower or silence the
other. When near, you often hear an introductory cluck between
the notes. At these times, as well as at almost all others, they fly
low, not more than a few feet from the surface, skimming about the
house and before the door, alighting on the wood-pile, or settling on
the roof. Towards midnight, they generally become silent, unless
in clear moonlight, when they are heard, with little intermission,
till morning. If there be a creek near, with high, precipitous,
bushy banks, they are sure to be found in such situations. During
the day, they sit in the most retired, solitary, and deep-shaded parts
of the woods, generally on high ground, where they repose in
silence. When disturbed, they rise within a few feet, sail low and
slowly through the woods for thirty or forty yards, and generally
settle on a low branch or on the ground. Their sight appears
deficient during the day, as, like owls, they seem then to want that
vivacity for which they are distinguished in the morning and even-
ing twilight. They are rarely shot at or molested ; and, from being
thus transiently seen in the obscurity of dusk, or in the deep um-
brage of the woods, no wonder their particular markings of plumage
should be so little known, or that they should be confounded with
the Night-hawk, whom, in general appearance, they so much re-
semble. The female begins to lay about the second week in May,
selecting, for this purpose, the most unfrequented part of the wood,

THE WHIPPOORWILL. 121

often where some brush, old logs, heaps of leaves, &c., had been
lying, and always on a dry situation."

The Whippoorwill constructs no nest, but lays its eggs,
which are two in number, in a slight hollow which it
scratches in the earth, iisually near a rock, or fallen trunk
of a tree. These eggs are of an elliptical form, being as
large at one end as at the other; their ground-color is a
delicate creamy-white, with blotches, lines, and spots of
different shades of light-brown and lavender : taken alto-
gether, it is one of the handsomest eggs found in New Eng-
land. The length of several specimens before me varies
from 1.21 to 2.27 inches, breadth from .75 to .79 inch. The
bird commences laying about the last week in May, and the
period of incubation is fourteen days.

The young are soon able to walk, and in a very few days
can run with considerable speed ; and they hide with such
adroitness that it is a work of no little difficulty to capture
them. The female, when her young are discovered, imme-
diately throws herself before the intruder, counterfeiting
lameness so well, that, unless he is well acquainted with
the habits of birds, he will quickly be misled into following
her. As soon as the young birds are able to shift for them-
selves, they are turned adrift by their parents, and are seen
only singly, or at most in pairs, during the .remainder of
their stay. By the latter part of August, or seldom later
than the 10th of September, all of them depart for the
South, the old males remaining a few days later ; uttering,
occasionally, their song, but always in the woods, or in
localities far removed from human habitation.

CHORDEILES, SWAINSON.

SWAINSON. Fauna Bor. Amer. (1831) 496.

Bill very small, the gape with very short, feeble bristles ; wings very long and
pointed, with the first quill nearly or quite equal to the second, and the primaries not
emarginated on the inner edge; tail long, slightly forked in the North-American
species; plumage rather compact.

122 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

CHOEDEILES POPETUE. — JBaird.
The Night-hawk; Bull Bat.

Caprimulgus popetue, Vieillot. Ois. Am. Sept., I. (1807) 56.
Caprimulgus Americanus, Wilson, V. (1812) 65.
Caprimulgus Virginianus. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 273.

DESCRIPTION.

Male, above greenish-black, with but little mottling on the head and back ; wing
coverts varied with grayish; scapulars with yellowish-rufous; a nuchal band of fine
gray mottling, behind which is another coarser one of rufous spots; a white
V-shaped mark on the throat; behind this a collar of pale-rufous blotches, and
another on the breast of grayish mottling ; under parts banded transversely with
dull-yellowish or reddish-white and brown ; wing quills quite uniformly brown ; the
five outer primaries with a white blotch midway between the tip and carpal
joint, not extending on the outer web of the outer quill; tail with a terminal white
patch.

Female, without the caudal white patch, the white of the throat mixed with
reddish.

Length of male, nine and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, eight and twenty
one-hundredths inches.

This bird is much more abundantly distributed through-
out New England than the preceding; and its habits are,
consequently, better known. It arrives from the south
about the 10th of May. At this time, great numbers may
be observed, at early twilight, coursing through the air in
different directions, sometimes at a great height, sometimes
just above the trees in the country, or houses in the city ;
occasionally, very near the earth or water, or, when near
the seacoast, but just above the marshes, where they destroy
great numbers of insects. Their flight is very rapid, their
long wings giving quick, powerful sweeps ; and, as they dart
about in many eccentric movements, busily gleaning their
food, they utter, at oft-repeated intervals, their short note
or squeak, which almost exactly resembles that of the Com-
mon Snipe.

About the middle of May, or by the 20th of that month,
in Maine, the male commences his attentions to the female.
His movements at this time are interesting, and, from their
common occurrence, familiar to all who live in the country.

THE NIGHT-HAWK. 123

At early evening, and in cloudy weather throughout the
greater part of the day, he ascends into the air ; and when
he has attained a considerable height, partially closing his
wings, he drops with great velocity through the distance of
seventy-five or one hundred feet, sometimes nearly to the
earth. The sound made by the air passing through the wing
quills is so loud that I have often heard it at certainly the
distance of half a mile : it resembles, as Nuttall truly says,
the sound produced by blowing into the bung-hole of an
empty hogshead. This act is often repeated, the bird darting
about at the same time in every direction, and uttering his
sharp squeak. Wilson was of the opinion, that this habit of
the Night-hawk was confined to the period of incubation;
the male acting in this manner, as he thought, to intimidate
any person from approaching the nest. I have had abun-
dant opportunities for observing the bird in all times of the
summer, and during its stay with us ; and I should unhesi-
tatingly affirm, that, from the time of early courtship, until
the young are hatched, if not after, the male acts in this
manner.

This species constructs no nest, but lays its eggs on the
bare ground in a slight hollow scratched by the female, or
often on a bare rock. I have found numbers of these eggs,
particularly in the northern parts of Maine, where, in walk-
ing over a pasture or rocky field, I have flushed sometimes
a bird in every ten rods. I remember a ledge of rocks
back of the settlement known as Wilson's Mills, which
seemed a favorite breeding-place for these birds ; and, in the
space of every four or five rods, a female was sitting on her
eggs. The eggs are two in number, elliptical in shape, of
a dirty-white color, which is covered with fine dottings
of different shades of brown, with obscure markings of
slate-color, and some spots of lavender. Length from 1.23
to 1.25 inch ; breadth, from .82 to .85 inch. A great num-
ber of specimens from different sections do not exhibit an
appreciable variation from these dimensions. In the south-

124 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

ern districts, it lays about the 20th of May ; in the northern,
about the 10th of June.

The male assists the female in incubating, as I have wit-
nessed many times. When perched by her on a tree or
fence-rail, during the light of mid-day, he always sits along
the limb or rail, instead of across it — a peculiarity which is
also noticeable in the Whippoorwill. Some authors, in speak-
ing of this fact, explain it by noticing the comparatively
small size of the feet, and apparent weakness of the legs.
I think this can hardly be a sufficient cause ; for both these
birds, while on the ground, can run with considerable speed,
and, if captured, can not only perch across the finger of a
hand or the back of a chair, as I have often proved, but can
rest on one foot, drawing the other up into the feathers
of the belly, like other birds.

About the 20th of August, after the young have become
able to provide for themselves, all the families in a neigh-
borhood assemble in a large, scattered flock; and, after
having become completely recruited from the labors of incu-
bation, they all leave for the south.

THE BELTED KINGFISHER. 125

SUB-ORDER CLAMATORES. SCREAMERS.

FAMILY ALCEDINID^. THE KINGFISHERS.

Head large; bill long, strong, straight, and sub-pyramidal, usually longer than
the head; tongue very small; wings short; legs small, the outer and middle toes
united to their middle; toes with the usual number of joints (2, 3, 4, 5).

The gape of the bill in the Kingfishers is large, reaching to beneath the eyes;
the third primary is generally longest, the first decidedly shorter; the secondaries
vary from twelve to fifteen in number, all nearly equal ; the secondaries cover at
least three-quarters of the wing; the tail is short, the feathers twelve in number,
they are rather narrow, the outer usually shorter; the lower part of the tibia is bare,
leaving the joint and the tarsus uncovered ; the tarsus is covered anteriorly with
plates, behind, it is shagreen-like or granulated ; the. hind toe is connected with the
inner, so as to form with it and the others a regular sole, which extends unbroken
beneath the middle and outer as far as the latter are united ; the inner toe is much
shorter than the outer; the claws are sharp, the middle expanded on its inner edge,
but not pectinated.

CERYLE, BOIE.

Ceryk, BOIE, Isis (1828) 316 (type C. rudis).

Bill long, straight, and strong, the culmen slightly advancing on the forehead,
and sloping to the acute tip; the sides much compressed; the lateral margins rather
dilated at the base, and straight to the tip; the gonys long and ascending; tail
rather long and broad ; tarsi short and stout.

CEEYLE ALCYON. — Bole.

\
The Belted Kingfisher.

Akedo akyon, Linnseus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 180. Wilson, Am. Orn., III.
(1811) 59. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. "(1831) 394.
Ceryle akyon, Boie. Isis, (1828) 316.

DESCRIPTION.

Head with a long crest; above blue, without metallic lustre; beneath, with a con-
cealed band across the occiput, and a spot anterior to the eye, pure-white ; a band
across the breast, and the sides of the body under the wings, like the back ; prima-
ries white on the basal half, the terminal unspotted ; tail with transverse bands and
spots of white.

Young, with the sides of body and a transverse band across the belly below the
pectoral one, light-chestnut; the pectoral band more or less tinged with the same

Length of adult, about twelve and three-quarters inches ; wing, six or more.

Hob. — The entire continent of North America.

126 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

THIS species is a very common summer inhabitant of all
the New-England States. It arrives from the south
about the 1st of April, often earlier, particularly in early
springs : indeed, Mr. Yerrill says they are sometimes seen
in Maine in winter, and they are often found in the southern
districts of these States in this season. The birds, on arriv-
ing, commence pairing ; and they soon begin excavating in a
sand-bank a long, winding hole of about three inches and
a half in diameter at the entrance, and gradually larger to
the end, at which the nest, composed of grasses, leaves, and
feathers, is built, — or laid, which would perhaps be the better
term. This hole is sometimes as much as six or eight feet,
usually, from four to six, in length. The female deposits in
this nest six eggs usually : these are of a clear-white color,
and of a nearly spherical shape, being from 1.35 to 1.42
inch in length, by from 1.05 to 1.08 inch in breadth. I am
aware that these measurements exceed any heretofore given ;
but they are accurately taken from a large number of speci-
mens in my collection. Dr. Brewer gives the dimensions
as averaging lT5g in length by 1^ in breadth. The period
of incubation is stated by Audubon and other ornithologists
to be sixteen days.

The habits of this bird are so well known that any
description here is almost superfluous. Its food, as its
name implies, consists almost entirely of fish, which he
obtains by diving into the water, and seizing with his bill.
When passing over a sheet of water, he attentively scans
the surface beneath him: if he observes a small fish, he
pauses in his flight, and remains over it a few seconds,
maintaining his position by short, quick vibrations of his
wings. If the fish is sufficiently near the surface, he sud-
denly dives at it, and, plunging into the water, seizes it, and
bears it off to some rock or post, where he can eat it at his
leisure. The note of the Kingfisher is a loud, harsh cry,
similar to the sound of a watchman's rattle : it is easily
heard above the rushing of the waters at a dam or other

THE BELTED KINGFISHER. 127

waterfall, and, when heard in such a locality, is not disagree-
able. When perched on a limb overhanging the water, he
frequently jets his tail in the manner of the Pewee, and
often descends from such a perch and seizes a frog or a fish ;
and I once shot one that had just seized a meadow mouse
(arvicolci) in this manner. The young usually remain in
the hole in the bank until they are about fledged. I am
inclined to think, that usually they return to these holes at
night and in stormy weather, as I have frequently seen
them about their nests long after they were fledged, and
have even seen them passing into them at the close of the
day. In migrating, the young leave their parents, and
these even separate, and pursue their journey alone ; and it
is a case of rare occurrence that two are seen together
after the latter part of August.

128 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

FAMILY COLOPTERIDJS. THE FLYCATCHERS.

Sub-Family TYRANNIN^. — Tyrant Flycatchers.

Bill broader than high at the base, much depressed, more or less triangular; cul-
men nearly as long as the head, or shorter, straight to near the tip, then suddenly
bent down into a conspicuous hook, with a notch behind it; tip of lower jaw also
notched ; commissure straight to near the notch ; gonys slightly convex ; nostrils
oval or rounded in the anterior extremity of the nasal groove, and more or less
concealed by long bristles which extend from the posterior angle of the jaws along
the base of the bill, becoming smaller, but reaching nearly to the median line of the
forehead ; these bristles with lateral branches at the base ; similar bristles mixed in
the loral feathers and margining the chin; tarsi short, generally less than the middle
toe, completely enveloped by a series of large scales which meet near the posterior
edge of the inner side, and are separated either by naked skin or by a row of small
scales. Sometimes a second series of rather large plates is seen on the posterior
face of the tarsus; these, however, usually on the upper extremity only; basal joint
of middle toe united almost throughout to that of the outer toe, but more than half
free on the inner side; outer lateral toe rather the longer; wings and tail variable,
first quill always more than three-fourths the second ; the outer primaries sometimes
attenuated near the tip.

TYRANNUS, CUVIEK.

Tyrannus, CUVIER, Le?ons Anat. Comp., 1799-1800 (Agassiz).

Tail nearly even, or moderately forked, rather shorter than the wings; the
feathers broad, and widening somewhat at the ends; wings long and pointed;
the outer primaries rather abruptly attenuated near the end, the attenuated portion
not linear, however; head with a concealed patch of red on the crown.

TYRANNUS CAROLINENSIS. — Baird.
King-bird; Bee Martin.

Lanius tyrannus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 1*36. This belongs to the Cuban
T. matutinus, according to Bonaparte.

Muscicapa tyrannus (Brisson?), Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 66. Aud. Orn.
Biog., I. (1832) 403; V. (1839) 420. lb., Birds Amer., I. (1840) 204.

DESCRIPTION.

Two, sometimes three, outer primaries abruptly attenuated at the end ; second
quill longest, third little shorter, first rather longer than fourth, or nearly equal;
tail slightly rounded, above dark bluish-ash; the top and sides of the head to
beneath the eyes bluish-black; a concealed crest on the crown, vermilion in the

THE KING-BIRD. 129

centre, white behind, and before partially mixed with orange; lower parts pure-
white, tinged with pale bluish-ash on the sides of the throat and across the breast;
sides of the breast and under the wings similar to, but rather lighter than, the back;
axillaries pale grayish-brown tipped with lighter; the wings dark-brown, darkest
towards the ends of the quills ; the greater coverts and quills edged with white,
most so on the tertials; the lesser coverts edged with paler; upper tail coverts
and upper surface of the tail glossy-black, the latter very dark brown beneath;
all the feathers tipped, and the exterior margined externally with white, form-
ing a conspicuous terminal band about twenty-five one-hundredths of an inch
broad.

The young of the year is similar, the colors duller, the concealed colored patch
on the crown wanting ; the tail more rounded, the primaries not attenuated.

Specimens vary in the amount of white margining the wing feathers ; the upper
tail coverts are also margined sometimes with white.

Length, eight and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, four and sixty-five one-
hundredths inches ; tail, three and seventy one-hundredths inches ; tarsus, seventy-
five one-hundredths inches.

THIS common species is abundantly distributed through-
out New England as a summer resident. It arrives
from the South about the 1st to the 10th of May : the males
precede the females in small parties of three or four, the
latter arriving about a week or ten days later.

Soon after the arrival of the females, the males begin
their attentions to them ; and, as the season of courtship is
comparatively short, the new-made couple soon begin their
selection of a locality for their nest. This seems to be with
them a rather difficult matter to settle ; for I have known of
a pair remaining in an orchard a fortnight, examining every
tree and its peculiar advantages, before they made a selec-
tion.

At last, when the location is decided, both birds com-
mence work, and the nest is soon completed. It is usually
placed on the branch of an apple or pear tree, in a small
cluster of twigs or a crotch of a limb : it is constructed
outwardly of coarse grasses, mosses, twigs, roots, and
weeds; and is deeply hollowed, and lined with fine roots,
horse-hairs, and grasses. About the 1st of June, the eggs
are laid : these are usually five in number ; their ground-
color is a very delicate creamy- white, with irregular spatters
and spots of different shades of brown, and some obscure

9

130 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

spots of lavender. Dimensions of a nest complement of
five eggs: 1.06 by .71 inch; 1.04 by .70 inch; 1.02 by .72
inch ; 1 by .74 inch ; and .94 by .75 inch.

During the mating and breeding season, the pugnacity
and courage of the King-bird are proverbial: if any bird
approach the neighborhood of his nest, he immediately
attacks it; and, whether crow (his particular dislike),
hawk, or eagle, the intruder is obliged to flee, so fierce an
onslaught does this little warrior make on him. As soon
as the cry of a crow is heard, he is all activity : he flies
Irom the tree where he is perching to reconnoitre, uttering
his shrill twitter, and vibrating his wings in short, quick,
nervous strokes ; as soon as the crow appears, the King-
bird pursues it, his flight now being very swift and powerful.
As soon as he nears his foe, he flies above him, and, dart-
ing down on his back and head, attacks him with such
vigor that the crow dives and dodges to avoid him. He
repeats his attack, and follows his enemy, sometimes to the
distance of a mile and more : then, returning to his mate,
he perches on the tree by her nest, and twitters a volley of
courageous songs.

The food of the King-bird consists principally of insects,
which he captures usually while on the wing. It seems a
provision of nature, that all the Flycatchers shall only take
those insects that have taken flight from the foliage of trees
and shrubs, at the same time making the warblers and
other birds capture those which remain concealed in such
places. The King-bird, in seizing a flying insect, flies in a
sort of half-flitting hover, and seizes it with a sharp snap
of the bill. Sometimes he descends from his perch, and
captures a grasshopper that has just taken a short flight,
and occasionally seizes one that is crawling up some tall
stalk of grass. Those farmers who keep bees dislike
this bird because of his bad habit of eating as many
of those insects as show themselves in the neighborhood
of his nest; but they should remember that the general

THE GREAT-CRESTED FLYCATCHER. 131

interests of agriculture are greater than those of a hive of
bees.

About the middle of September, this bird with his family
and neighbors gather into a scattered flock, and depart for
the south, spending the winter in Central America and
Southern Mexico.

MYIARCHUS, CABANIS.

Myiarclius, CABANIS, Fauna Peruana (1844-46) 152. Burmeister, Thiere Bra-
siliens, II. Vogel (1856) 469.

Tarsus equal to, or not longer than, the middle toe, which is decidedly longer
than the hinder one ; bill wider at base than half the culmen ; tail broad, long, even,
or slightly rounded, about equal to the wings, which scarcely reach the middle of
the tail, the first primary shorter than the sixth ; head with elongated lanceolate
distinct feathers; above brownish-olive; throat ash; belly yellow; tail and wing
feathers varied with rufous.

MYIARCHUS CRINITUS. — Cabanis.
The Great-crested Flycatcher.

Mwcicapa crinita, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 325. Wilson, Am. Orn., II.
(1810) 75. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 176; V. 423.
Tyrannus crinitus. Nutt. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 302.

DESCRIPTION.

Head with a depressed crest; third quill longest, fourth and second successively
but little shorter, first a little longer than seventh, much shorter than sixth; tail
decidedly rounded or even graduated, the lateral feather about twenty-five one-
hundredths of an inch shorter ; upper parts dull greenish-olive, with the feathers of
the crown, and to some extent of the back, showing their brown centres; upper tail
coverts turning to pale rusty-brown; small feathers at the base of the bill, ceres,
sides of the head as high as the upper eyelid, sides of the neck, throat, and forepart
of the breast, bluish-ashy ; the rest of the lower parts, including axillaries and lower
wing coverts, bright sulphur-yellow; a pale ring round the eye; sides of the. breast
and body tinged with olivaceous; the wings brown, the first and second rows of
coverts, with the secondary and tertial quills, margined externally with dull-white,
or on the latter slightly tinged with olivaceous-yellow; primaries margined exter-
nally for more than half their length from the base with ferruginous, great portion
of the inner webs of all the quills very pale-ferruginous; the two middle tail
feathers light brown, shafts paler, the rest have the outer web and a narrow line on
the inner sides of the shaft brown, pale olivaceous on the outer edge, the remainder
ferruginous to the very tip; outer web of exterior feather dull brownish-yellow; feet
black; bill dark-brown above and at the tip below, paler towards the base.

The female appears to have no brown on the inner web of the quills along the
ahaft, or else it is confined chiefly to the outer feathers.

Length, eight and seventy-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, four and twenty-

132 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

five one-hundredths ; tail, four and ten one-hundredths ; tarsus, eighty-five one-
hundredths.

Hob. — Eastern North America to the Missouri, and south to Eastern Texas (not
yet observed further west).

This species is a rare summer inhabitant of New England.
It arrives from the South about the 10th of May in the lati-
tude of Massachusetts, — that is, so far as so irregular a
visitor may be said to arrive, — and spreads throughout
these States. It is less rare in the southern districts than
in the middle, and hardly penetrates as far north as the
latitude of the middle of Maine. It has been ascertained
to breed in all these States ; and two nests, with -their con-
tents, are before me. One of these was found in a hollow
tree in Plymouth, Mass., on the 10th of June ; the other
was found in Middleton, Mass., on the 4th of June. These
nests are composed of straws, leaves, feathers, and the cast-
on0 skins of snakes ; and it seems a distinguishing character-
istic of the nests of this species to have the skins of one or
more snakes woven into the other materials. The first
of these nests had five eggs ; the other, three. These are of
a beautiful creamy-buff, and covered with irregular scratches
and lines of different shades of purple. Wilson says of these
eggs, " The female lays four eggs of a dull cream-color,
thickly scratched with purple lines of various tints, as if
done with a pen." Dimensions of eggs vary from .95 by .78
inches to 1 by .80 inch.

As this species is quite rare in these States, I have had
but very few chances for observing its habits. It appears
to be equally courageous and quarrelsome with the King-
bird, and has many of the peculiarities of that bird. Its
food consists of insects, which it captures while on the wing,
after the manner of the other species. When the young
leave the nest, they feed on berries and caterpillars, and are
fond of crickets and grasshoppers. By the middle of Sep-
tember, the whole family leave for the South.

THE PEWEE. 133

SAYORNIS, BONAPARTE.

Sayornis, BONAPARTE? Ateneo Italiano (1854). 7&., Comptes Rendus (1854),
Notes Orn. Delattre.

Head with a blended depressed moderate crest; tarsus decidedly longer than
middle toe, which is scarcely longer than the hind toe ; bill rather narrow, width at
base about half the culmen ; tail broad, long, slightly forked, equal to the wings,
which are moderately pointed, and reach to the middle of the tail, first primary
shorter than the sixth.

S ATORNIS FUSCUS. — Baird.
The Pewee; Phebe-bird,

Muscicapafusca, Gmelin. Syst. Nat, I. (1788) 931. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834)
122 ; V. (1839) 424. /&., Birds Amer., I. (1840) 223.
Tyrannusfuscus, Nuttall. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 312.
Muscicapa nunciola, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 78; pi. xiii.

DESCRIPTION.

Sides of 'breast and upper parts dull olive-brown, fading slightly toward the tail;
top and sides of head dark-brown ; a few dull-white feathers on the eyelids ; lower
parts dull yellowish-white, mixed with brown on the chin, and in some individuals
across the breast; quills brown, the outer primary, secondaries, and tertials edged
with dull-white; in some individuals the greater coverts faintly edged with dull-
white ; tail brown, outer edge of lateral feather dull-white, outer edges of the rest
like the back ; tibiae brown ; bill and feet black ; bill slender, edges nearly straight ;
tail rather broad, and slightly forked, third quill longest, second and fourth nearly
equal, the first shorter than sixth.

Length, seven inches ; wing, three and forty-two one-hundredths ; tail, three and
thirty one-hundredths.

Hob. — Eastern North America.

In autumn, and occasionally in early spring, the colors are much clearer and
brighter. Whole lower parts sometimes bright sulphur-yellow, above greenish-olive,
top and sides of the head tinged with sooty ; in the young of the year, the colors are
much duller; all the wing coverts broadly tipped with light-ferruginous, as also the
extreme ends of the wings and tail feathers; the brown is prevalent on the whole
throat and breast; the hind part of the back, rump, and tail, strongly ferruginous.

The tail of this species is quite deeply forked, the external feather being from
thirty-five one-hundredths to forty one-hundredths of an inch longer than the
middle one.

This well-known bird is a very common summer inliabl
tant of all New England. It arrives from the South often
as early as the middle of March, sometimes before the last
snowstorm of the season. As soon as the birds have
paired, usually by the last of April, they commence build-

134 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

ing. The nest is usually placed under a bridge, sometimes
under an eave, or ledge of ' rock, sometimes in a barn
or other building. It is constructed of fine roots, grasses,
fine moss, and hairs, which are plastered together, and
to the object the nest is built on, by pellets of mud : it is
hollowed about an inch and a half, and lined with soft-
grasses, wool, and feathers. The eggs are usually five in
number : their color is white, with a very delicate cream tint.
There are usually in each litter one or two eggs with a few
spots thinly scattered over the larger end : these spots are
of a reddish-brown. The period of incubation is thirteen
days, and two broods are often reared in the season in this
latitude. The length of eggs varies from .72 to .78 inch ;
breadth, from .54 to .56 inch.

The familiar cheerful habits of this species, and the fact
that it is one of the first birds to remind us of the return
of spring, have made it a universal favorite ; and many
residents in the country are so attached to it, that they
protect it, and encourage its visits, and even provide
quarters for the establishment of its nest. It seems to pre-
fer the neighborhood of a pond or stream of water for its
home, where, perching on the branch of an overhanging
tree, or on the railing of a bridge ^ or darting about in dif-
ferent directions, it busies itself through the day in catching
the insects that swarm in myriads in such localities. When
perching, it frequently flirts its tail, and erects the feathers
of its head, uttering the notes phebe-phebee in a soft
plaintive key. Sometimes, this note is more lively, resem-
bling the word peweet, peweet, uttered in a quick, cheerful
manner. The beautiful description of the habits of this
bird, given by Audubon, is certainly one of the best efforts
of that naturalist ; and I would advise all who are interested
in the history of the bird to read it.

After the young have left the nest, the parents remain
together in the neighborhood of their home until their
departure, about the middle of October. At this time, they

THE OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER. 135

are a little more shy than they were during the season
of incubation, and their note is seldom heard ; and, when it
is, it consists of a melancholy strain, quite different from
that uttered in the spring and early summer.

CONTOPUS, CABANIS.

Contopus, CABANIS, Journal fur Ornithologie, III. (Nov., 1855) 4-79. (Type
Muscicapa virens, L.)

Tarsus very short, but stout, less than the middle toe, and scarcely longer than
the hinder; bill quite broad at the base, wider than half the culmen; tail mod-
erately forked, much shorter than the wings (rather more than three-fourths) ; wings
very long and much pointed, reaching beyond the middle of the tail, the first
primary about equal to the fourth ; all the primaries slender and rather acute, but
not attenuated; head moderately crested; color, olive above, pale-yellowish beneath,
with a darker patch on the sides of the breast; under tail coverts streaked.

CONTOPUS BOEEALIS. — Baird.
The Olive-sided Flycatcher.

Tyrannus borealis, Sw. and Rich. F. Bor. Am., II. (1831) 141; plate.
Muscicapa Cooperi, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 282. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834)
422; V. (1839) 422.

Tyrannus Oyen, Bonaparte. List (1838). Nutt. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 298.
Muscicapa inornata, Nuttall. Man. I. (1832) 282.

DESCRIPTION.

"Wings long, much pointed, the second quill longest, the first longer than the
third; tail deeply forked ; tarsi short; .the upper parts ashy-brown, showing darker
brown centres of the feathers, this is eminently the case on the top of the head;
the sides of the head and neck, of the breast and body resembling the back, but
with the edges of the feathers tinged with gray, leaving a darker central streak; the
chin, throat, narrow line down the middle of the breast and body, abdomen, and
lower tail coverts white, or sometimes with a faint tinge of yellow; the lower
tail coverts somewhat streaked with brown in the centre; on each side of the rump,
generally concealed by the wings, is an elongated bunch of white silky feathers ;
the wings and tail very dark brown, the former with the edges of the secondaries
and tertials edged with dull-white ; the lower wing ooverts and axillaries grayish-
brown; the tips of the primaries and tail feathers rather paler; feet and upper
mandible black, lower mandible brown; the young of the year similar, but the
color duller; feet light-brown.

Length, seven and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, four and thirty-three one-
hundredths ; tail, three and thirty one-hundredths ; tarsus, sixty one-hundredths.

Hob. — Rare on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States. Not
observed in the interior, except to the north. Found in Greenland. (Reinhardt.)

This bird is a not very common summer inhabitant of
New England. It arrives from the South about the 20th

136 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

of May, and is most frequently observed in low growths of
oak and chestnut.: it seems always busily employed in
catching winged insects, of which its food almost entirely
consists ; these it seizes in the manner of the King-bird,
which bird it resembles in both its habits and disposition
I have sometimes seen two birds of this species engaged in
a fight, which, for fierceness, I have hardly seen surpassed.
They would rush together in mid-air, snapping their bills,
beating with theirwings, and pecking each other, until they
both descended to the trees beneath, actually exhausted with
their exertions.

Mr. Verrill says that it breeds quite common near the
Umbagog Lakes, Me.*; but I have never been able to find its
nest there or elsewhere, although I have looked for it with
great care.

It has been found breeding in Vermont ; and Dr. Thomp-
son, in his work on the birds of that State, gives a descrip-
tion of the nest and eggs. Three nests have been found in
Massachusetts within two years ; two in West Roxbury, and
one in Dorchester. These were all built in forked twigs
of apple-trees, in old neglected orchards, facing to the
southward, and were constructed of the same material that
the King-bird uses in its nest. In fact, they were almost
exactly like the King-bird's nest, but were a little smaller.

Two of the nests had three eggs each, and the other had
but two. They were all found in the first week in June,
and the eggs were freshly laid : probably, if they had been
unmolested, more eggs would have been deposited. Three
of these eggs are in my cabinet. To compare them with
the eggs of any other bird, I should say they seem like
exceedingly large Wood Pewee's : for they are almost exactly
like them in shape, color, and markings ; being of a creamy-
white, with large blotches and spatters of lilac, lavender,
and brownish-red. Their dimensions are .88 by .68 ; .88
by .66 ; .86 by .68 inch.

Mr. Nuttall, who found a nest in Cambridge, Mass.,

THE WOOD PEWEE. 137

describes it as follows : "It was built in the horizontal
branch of a tall red cedar, forty or fifty feet from the
ground. It was formed much in the manner of the King-
bird's, externally made of interlaced dead twigs of the
cedar ; internally, of the wire stolons of the common Lichen
or Usnea. It contained three young, and had had probably
four eggs. The eggs had been hatched about the 20th of
June, so that the pair had arrived in this vicinity about the
close of May." He also describes the bird's note as
follows : " The female had a whistling, oft-repeated, whin-
ing call of 'pu 'pit, then varied to 'pu 'pip, and 'pip 'pu, also
at times 'pip 'pip 'pu, 'pip 'pip 'pip, 'pu 'pu 'pip, or 'tu 'tu
'tu, and 'tu 'tu. The male, besides this note, had, at long
intervals, a call of seh' phebee or 'h' phebed, almost exactly
in the tone of the circular tin whistle or bird-call."

By the second week in September, none of these birds
are to be seen ; and, probably before that time, they have
all departed on their migrations.

CONTOPUS VIEENS. — Cabana.

The Wood Pewee.

Muscicapa wrens, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 327. Nutt. Man., I. (1832)
285. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 93; V. (1839) 425.
Muscicapa rapax, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 81.
Tyrannus virens, Nuttall. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 316.

DESCRIPTION.

The second quill longest, the third a little shorter, the first shorter than the
fourth, the latter nearly forty one-hundredths longer than the fifth ; the primaries
more than an inch longer than the secondaries ; the upper parts, sides of the head,
neck, and breast, dark olivaceous-brown, the latter rather paler, the head darker; a
narrow white ring round the eye ; the lower parts pale-yellowish, deepest on the
abdomen; across the breast tinged with ash; this pale ash sometimes occupies
the whole of the breast, and even occasionally extends up to the chin ; it is also
sometimes glossed with olivaceous ; the wings and tail dark-brown, generally deeper
than in S. fuscus; two narrow bands across the wing, the outer edge of first
primary and of the secondaries and tertials dull-white ; the edges of the tail feathers
like the back, the outer one scarcely lighter; upper mandible black, the lower yel-
low, but brown at the tip.

Length, six and fifteen one-hundredths inches; wing, three and fifty one-hun-
dredths ; tail, three and five one-hundredths.

Hal. — Eastern North America to the borders of the high central plains, south to
New Granada.

138 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

This bird is a common summer inhabitant of New Eng-
land, making its appearance from the South from about the
10th to the 20th of May. It prefers the solitudes of

the deep forests to the more open districts, and is a more
retiring species than any of its cousins in these States.
About the last of May, the birds, having chosen their mates,
commence building. The nest is placed usually on the
horizontal limb of a tree, generally at a height of about
twenty feet from the ground : it is composed of pine leaves
and cottony substances, and covered with lichens and
mosses, which are fixed on after the manner of the Hum-
ming-bird. I think Nuttall's description of the nest the
best that I have seen : it is as follows : —

"The nest is extremely neat and curious, almost universally
saddled upon an old moss-grown and decayed limb in a horizontal
position, and is so remarkably shallow, and incorporated upon the
branch, as to be easily overlooked. The body of the fabric con-
sists of wiry grass and root fibres, often blended with small branch-
ing lichens, held together with cobwebs and caterpillars' silk,
moistened with saliva ; externally, it is so coated over with bluish,
crustaceous lichens as to be hardly discernible from the moss
upon the tree. It is lined with finer root-fibres, or slender grass-
stalks."

THE WOOD PEWEE. 139

The eggs are generally four in number. They are very
beautiful, being of a delicate cream-color, with blotches
and spots of lilac and brown around the larger end : there
are two shades of lilac, — one obscure, and the other
decided, even a lavender. The eggs are generally oval in .
shape, and but little larger at one end than at the other.
Length from .72 to .78 inch ; breadth from .54 to .56 inch.
But one brood is reared in the season in New England.
The period of incubation is fourteen days.

The habits of this species are not generally so well known
as those of the Phebe, which bird it resembles in many
respects. Although it is usually found in the wildest and
most thickly wooded localities, it sometimes frequents the
orchards and open pastures ; and I have occasionally seen
individuals on the trees on Boston Common, busily engaged
in hunting insects, and apparently having families in the
neighborhood. The note is different from that of the Phebe,
being more plaintive and drawling, sounding like the syl-
lables "pe-we£ee" "pe-weeee." When the nest is ap-
proached, bo.th the parents fly to meet the intruder,
hovering over his head, snapping their bills, and uttering
short notes of complaint like chip-pee, pe-peu : they often
alight on a twig near him, and flirt their tails and quiver
their wings in a nervous, irritable manner. After the
young have left the nest, the old birds separate ; and, though
still frequenting the same localities they inhabited during
the season of incubation, they are seldom seen together,
each seeming to avoid the other. They are now generally
silent, and, when approached, are quite shy. They leave
the New-England States by the 10th of September, and
probably winter in South America.

4

EMPIDONAX, CABANIS.

Empidonax, CABANIS, Journal fur Ornithologie, III. (Nov., 1855) 480 (type
Tyrannula pusilla.

Tyrannula of most authors.

140 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Tarsus lengthened, considerably longer than the middle toe, which is decidedly
longer than the hind toe ; bill variable ; tail very slightly forked, even, or rounded,
a little shorter only than the wings, which are considerably rounded, the first pri-
mary much shorter than the fourth; head moderately crested; color olivaceous
above, yellowish beneath ; throat generally gray.

EMPIDONAX TRAILLIL— Saird.
The Traill's Flycatcher.

Muscicapa traittii, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. (1832) 236; V. (1839) 426.
Tyrannus traittii, Nuttall. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 323.

DESCRIPTION.

Third quill longest, second scarcely shorter than fourth, first shorter than fifth,
about thirty-five one-hundred ths shorter than the longest; primaries about seventy-
five one-hundredths of an inch longer than secondaries ; tail even ; upper parts dark
olive-green, lighter under the wings, and duller and more tinged with ash on nape
and sides of the neck; centre of the crown feathers brown; a pale yellowish-white
ring (in some specimens altogether white) round the eye; loral feathers mixed
with white ; chin and throat white ; the breast and sides of throat light-ash tinged
with olive, its intensity varying in individuals, the former sometimes faintly
tinged with olive; sides of the breast much like the back; middle of the belly nearly
white ; sides of the belly, abdomen, and the lower tail coverts sulphur-yellow ; the
quills and tail feathers dark-brown, as dark (if not more so) as these parts in
C. virens; two olivaceous yellow-white bands on the wing, formed by the tips of the
first and second coverts, succeeded by a brown one, the edge of the first primary
and of secondaries and tertials a little lighter shade of the same; the outer edge of
the tail feathers like the back, that of the lateral one rather lighter; bill above dark-
brown, dull-brownish beneath.

Length, nearly six inches ; wing, two and ninety one-hundredths ; tail, two and
sixty one-hundredths.

Hob. — Eastern United States, and south to Mexico.

This bird is occasionally found as a spring and autumn
visitor in New England, arriving about the 15th or 20th of
May. In its habits, it resembles the Least Flycatcher (J7.
minimus) , as it does also in its plumage : in fact, these two
birds and the Green-crested Flycatcher have been so much
mistaken for each other by different naturalists, the confu-
sion in whose descriptions is so great, ttiat it requires a very
careful examination to identify either of these birds per-
fectly and accurately. I have had no opportunities for
observing the habits of the bird now before us, and can add
nothing to its history. Thompson, in his " Vermont Birds,"

THE LEAST FLYCATCHER. 141

gives it as breeding in that State ; and I have no doubt it
occasionally passes the summer in each of the New-England
States. I had a nest and four eggs brought me in June,
1864, found in Eastern Massachusetts, that were almost
exactly like those of E. minimus; but the bird brought
with the nest was unquestionably of this species : whether
or not the two belonged together I cannot say, but think
that they probably did. The person who collected them
informed me that the nest was found in an apple-tree in an
old orchard : it was built in a small fork about twenty feet
from the ground. The bird attacked the person who found
it, courageously flying in his face, and snapping its bill
with anger, and uttering a querulous twitter like that of the
Phebe. The eggs were nearly hatched ; and, as they were
found on the 20th of June, they must have been laid by
the 10th of that month.

Two eggs in my cabinet, from near Quebec, Lower Can-
ada, collected by William Couper, Esq., who informs me
this species is occasionally met with there, are of a creamy-
white color, like that of the eggs of E. minimus ; each egg
having a very few pale reddish-brown dots. The form of
the eggs is more elongated than that of the eggs of minimus,
the dimensions being .77 by .53 inch, and .76 by .55 inch.

EMPIDONAX MINIMUS. — Beard.
The Least Flycatcher; Chebec.

Tyrannula minima, William M. and S. F. Baird. "Pr. A. N. Sc. I. (July, 1843)
284. /&., Sillim. Am. Jour. Sc. (July, 1844). And., Birds Amer. VII. (1844) 343,
pi. 491.

DESCRIPTION.

Second quill longest, third and fourth but little shorter, fifth a little less, first
intermediate between fifth and sixth; tail even; above olive-brown, darker on the
head, becoming paler on the rump and upper tail coverts ; the middle of the back
most strongly olivaceous; the nape (in some individuals) and sides of the head
tinged with ash ; a ring round the eye, and some of the loral feathers white, the chin
and throat white ; the sides of the throat and across the breast dull-ash, the color on
the latter sometimes nearly obsolete; sides of the breast similar to the back, but of a
lighter tint ; middle of the belly very pale yellowish-white, turning to pale sulphur-
yellow on the sides of the belly, abdomen, and lower tail coverts ; wings brown

142 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

two narrow white bands on wing, formed by the tips of the first and second cov-
erts, succeeded by one of brown; the edge of the first primary, and of the second-
aries and tertials, white; tail rather lighter brown, edged externally like the back;
feathers narrow, not acuminate, with the ends rather blunt. In autumn, the white
parts are strongly tinged with yellow.

Length, about five inches; wing, two and sixty-five one-hundredths ; tail, two
and fifty one-hundredths.

Hob. — Eastern United States to Missouri plains.

This species arrives from the South usually about the
last week in April. The birds commence building about
the 20th or 25th of May. The nest is placed usually in
a small fork of a limb of an apple-tree, in the orchard, and
often quite near the house : it is composed of soft, fine grass,
cobwebs, twine, cotton, — in fact, almost any thing that will
help to make a smooth, compact fabric : the interior is lined
with soft grass, bristles, fine roots, feathers, and- wool. The
eggs are usually four in number, sometimes three, some-
times five : they are of a beautiful creamy-white color ; and
their form is nearly pyriform, being abruptly tapered to the
small. end. Dimensions of a nest complement of four eggs,
taken at random from a large number, collected in different
parts of New England : .63 by .50 inch, .64 by .51 inch,
.61 by .53 inch, .60 by .53 inch. This species often breeds
twice in the season in New England. The period of incuba-
tion is thirteen days.

This bird, being very abundantly distributed as a summer
resident throughout New England, is well known, and its
habits are familiar to all. It prefers the neighborhood of
civilization, and is most frequently found in orchards and
gardens. A pair once built in an apple-tree, immediately
beneath my chamber window, — so near that I could touch
the nest with a rod four feet in length. The nest was com-
menced on the 5th of June, and was finished by the 10th ;
both birds working in its construction. The female laid
four eggs in three days' time, and commenced sitting when
the fourth was laid. Both birds incubated, and the male
remained on the nest nearly as long as his mate. When he

THE SMALL GREEN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER. 143

was off the nest, he was very pugnacious ; attacking every
bird that came near, and even forcing a robin to retreat, so
fierce was the onslaught he made on it. He always, in
attacking other birds, uttered his shrill cry, chebec, chebec,
and snapped his bill loudly and fiercely. When perching,
he often flirted his tail in the manner of the Phebe ; and,
every few seconds, he emitted his note, — chebec, chebec,
chebec; varied sometimes into chebec-trree-treo, chebe c-treee-
cheu.

The young were all hatched by the fourteenth day, and
left the nest within a month from their birth. They were fed
abundantly, while on the nest, by the parents, with insects,
which they caught and crushed between their bills: they
were fed a few days after they left the nest, and then turned
adrift ; the parents having begun another nest on the same
tree.

The Least Flycatcher has often been called the Small
Green-crested or Acadican Flycatcher. I would caution
those who are interested in the history of these birds to
observe great care, and be certain of their identity before
naming them.

By the second week in September, it leaves on its south-
ern migration.

EMPIDONAX ACADICUS. — Beard.
The Small Green-crested Flycatcher.

? Muscicapa acadica, Gmelin. Syst. Nat, I. (1788) 947. Aud. Orn. Biog., II.
(1834) 256; V. (1839) 429. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 208.
Muscicapa querula. Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 77.
Tyrannus acadica, Nuttall. Man. I. (2d ed., 1840) 320.

DESCRIPTION.

The second and third quills are longest, and about equal; the fourth a little
shorter, the first about equal to the fifth, and about thirty-five one-hundredths less
than the longest ; tail even ; the upper parts, with sides of the head and neck, olive-
green, the crown very little if any darker; a yellowish-white ring round the eye;
the sides of the body under the wings like the back, but fainter olive, a tinge of the
same across the breast; the chin, throat, and middle of the belly white; the abdo-
men, lower tail and wing coverts, and sides of the body not covered by the wings,
pale greenish-yellow ; edges of the first primary, secondaries, and tertials margined

144 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

with dull yellowish- white, most broadly on the latter; two transverse bands of pale-
yellowish across the wings, formed by the tips of the secondary and primary coverts,
succeeded by a brown one; tail light-brown, margined externally like the back;
upper mandible light-brown above, pale-yellow beneath. In autumn, the lower
parts are more yellow.

Length, five and sixty-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, three ; tail, two and
seventy-five one-hundredths inches.

Hob. — Eastern United States to the Mississippi.

This bird is a rare summer inhabitant of any of the New-
England States, seldom coming so far north. I have had
no opportunities of observing its habits, and can give no
description from my own observation. Mr. Allen says that
it breeds in swamps and low moist thickets, which are its
exclusive haunts.

Giraud, in his " Birds of Long Island," says, " In habits,
it is solitary ; generally seen on the lower branches of the
largest trees ; utters a quick, sharp note ; arrives among us
in the latter part of May, and retires southward early in
September."

I have no nest, but understand that it resembles that of
the Least Flycatcher. Five eggs before me, furnished by
J. P. Norris, Esq., of Philadelphia, are of a pale creamy-
white color, with a few thin spots of reddish-brown scattered
over their larger end. They vary in size from .78 inch in
length by about .56 inch in breadth, to .72 inch in length
by .55 inch in breadth. The form is like that of E. traillii ;
but the spots are larger and more numerous.

OSCINES. SINGING BIRDS. 145

SUB-ORDER OSCINES. SINGING BIRDS.

Toes, three anterior, one behind, all at the same level, and none versatile, the
outer anterior never entirely free to the base ; tail feathers twelve ; primaries, either
nine only, or else the first is spurious or much shorter than the second, making the
tenth; tail feathers usually twelve; tarsi feathered to the knee, the plates on the
anterior face either fused into one or with distinct divisions, the posterior portion of
the sides covered by one continuous plate on either side, meeting in a sharp edge
behind, or with only a few divisions^ inferiorly. Occasionally, the hinder side has
transverse plates, corresponding in number to the anterior; but there are then usually
none on the sides. Larynx provided with a peculiar muscular apparatus for singing,
composed of five pairs of muscles.

FAMILY TURDID^. THE THRUSHES.

The following characteristics of this family and its genera, represented in New
England, are given by Professor Spencer F. Baird, in his recent " Review of the
Birds of North America," published in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collec-
tions : —

"Primaries ten, the first of which is either spurious or much shorter than the
second. The bill is elongated and subulate, moderately slender, and usually notched
at tip; nostrils uncovered; the culmen moderately curved from the base, and the
mouth well provided with bristles, except in a few cases. Usually, the scutellae
covering the front and sides of the tarsus are fused into one continuous plate, or else
scarcely appreciable, except on the inner edge only; in the Mocking Thrushes, they
are, however, distinctly marked. The lateral toes are nearly equal, the outer rather
the longer." These general characteristics apply also to the Saxicolidce, more fully
spoken of in a succeeding page.

The peculiar characteristics of the family Turdidce are : " Wings moderate, more
rounded, not reaching beyond middle of the often rounded tail, and not more than
one and a third the latter, usually more nearly equal. Spurious primary sometimes
half the length of second quill, the second quill shorter than the fourth. In the
closed wing, the outer secondary reaches three-fourths or more the length of longest
primary."

Professor Baird divides this family into the sub-families Turdims, which have
"tarsi covered anteriorly with a continuous plate;" and the Mimince, whose tarsi
are scutellate anteriorly ; scutellae seven.

Sub-Family TURDIN^E.

Nostrils oval ; bristles along the base of the bill from gape to nostrils, those of
rictus not reaching beyond nostrils; the loral feathers with bristly points; second
quill longer than sixth; outer lateral toes longer; wings long.

10

146 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

TURDUS, LINN.EUS.

Turdus, LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat. (1735). (Type T. visdvorus, fide G. R. Gray.)
Bill rather stout; commissure straight to near the tip, which is quite abruptly
decurved, and usually distinctly notched; culmen gently convex from hase; bill
shorter than the head, both outlines curved ; tarsi longer than the middle toe ; lateral
toes nearly equal, outer longer; wings much longer than the tail, pointed; the first
quill spurious and very small, not one-fourth the length of longest; tail short, nearly
even, or slightly emarginate.

TURDUS MUSTELINUS. — GmeUn.
The Song Thrush ; Wood Thrush.

Turdus mustelinus, Gmelin. Syst. Nat, I. (1788) 817. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 343.
Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1832) 372; V. (1839) 446.

Turdus melodus, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 35, pi. ii.

DESCRIPTION.

Above, clear cinnamon-brown, on the top of the head becoming more rufous, on
the rump and tail olivaceous ; the under parts are clear-white, sometimes tinged with
buff on the breast or anteriorly, and thickly marked beneath, except on the chin
and throat, and about the vent and tail coverts, with sub-triangular, sharply defined
spots of blackish ; the sides of the head are dark-brown, streaked with white, and
there is also a maxillary series of streaks on each side of the throat, the central por-
tion of which sometimes has indications of small spots.

Length, eight and ten-hundredths inches : wing, four and twenty-five one-hun-
dredths; tail, three and five one-hundredths ; tarsus, one and twenty-six one-
hundredths.

Hob. — Eastern United States to Missouri River, south to Guatemala.

THIS beautiful songster is a pretty common summer
inhabitant of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode
Island. In the other New-England States, it is rarely seen ;
and, when we hear of a Song Thrush occurring there, refer-
ence is probably made either to the Hermit or Olive-backed
Thrush. It arrives from the South about the 10th of May,
both sexes making their appearance at about the same time.
They soon commence pairing, and frequent the moist thick-
ets and thickly wooded glens, where their amours are con-
ducted in privacy and peace.

At this season, the beautiful song of the male is heard at
early dawn and early twilight : it seldom sings in the middle
of the day, unless the weather is dark and cloudy. This
song is a beautiful, melancholy strain, similar to the tone

THE SONG THRUSH. 147

produced on a flute : the notes are difficult of description.
Mr. Nuttall, wKo was particularly happy in his descriptions
of bird-songs, speaks of this as follows : —

" The prelude to this song resembles almost the double-tonguing
of the flute, blended with a tinkling, shrill, and solemn warble,
which re-echoes from his solitary retreat like the dirge of some sad
recluse, who shuns the busy haunts of life. The whole air consists
usually of four parts, or bars, which succeed, in deliberate time,
and finally blend together in impressive and soothing harmony,
becoming more mellow and sweet at every repetition. Rival per-
formers seem to challenge each other from various parts of the
wood, vying for the favor of their mates with sympathetic respon-
ses and softer tones. And some, waging a jealous strife, terminate
the warm dispute by an appeal to combat and violence. Like the
Robin aiM the Thrasher, in dark and gloomy weather, when other
birds are sheltered and silent, the clear notes of the Wood Thrush
are heard through the dropping woods, from dawn to dusk ; so that,
the sadder the day, the sweeter and more constant is his song. His
clear and interrupted whistle is likewise often nearly the only voice
of melody heard by the traveller, to mid-day, in the heat of sum-
mer, as he traverses the silent, dark, and wooded wilderness, remote
from the haunts of men. It is nearly impossible by words to con-
vey any idea of the peculiar warble of this vocal hermit; but,
amongst his phrases, the sound of 'airoee, peculiarly liquid, and
followed by a trill, repeated in two separate bars, is readily recog-
nizable. At times, their notes bear a considerable resemblance to
those of Wilson's Thrush : such as eh rhehu 'vrhehu, then varied
to 'eh villia villia, 'eh villia vrhehu, then 'eh velu vittu, high and
shrill."

About the 20th of May, the Song Thrush builds its nest.
This is placed usually in a low alder or birch shrub, in a
retired locality, almost always in the deep woods. It is
composed outwardly of grass, leaves, and weeds, bent and
twined together. In this is built a nest composed of mud
and grass, and the whole is lined with fibrous roots and soft
grass and moss. It is placed on a low branch of a tree, or
in the branches of a shrub. I give Wilson's description of

148 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

the nest, not because it is essentially different from my own,
but to confirm my own observation, and to help clear up
the confusion that exists in many districts concerning the
identity of the thrushes. It is as follows : —

" The favorite haunts of the Wood Thrush are low, thick-shaded
hollows, through which a small brook or rill meanders, overhung
with cedar-bushes that are mantled with wild vines. Near such a
scene, he generally builds his nest in a laurel or alder bush. Out-
wardly, it is composed of withered beech-leaves of the preceding
year, laid at bottom in considerable quantities, no doubt to prevent
damp and moisture from ascending through, being generally built
in low, wet situations : above these are layers of knotty stalks or
withered grass, mixed with mud, and smoothly plastered, above
which is laid a slight lining of fine black fibrous roots of plants."

The eggs are usually four in number ; they are of a uni-
form light-blue color, without spots, and with a very slight
tint of green ; their form is rather long and pointed. The
following are the dimensions of a nest complement of four
eggs, found in Milton, Mass. : 1.12 by .68 inch, 1.12 by .69
inch, 1.07 by 70 inch, 1 by .73 inch. But one brood is
usually reared in the season in New England.

TURDUS PALLASIL— Cabanis.
The Hermit Thrush.

Turdus pattasii, Cabanis. Wieggman's Archiv. (1847), I. 205.

Turdus solitarius, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. (1812) 95 (not of Linnaeus. The figure
quoted pi. xliii. fig. 2, belongs to T. Swainsonii). Aud. Syn. (1839). /£., Birds
Am., III. (1841) 29, pi. 146.

Turdus minor, Bonaparte. Obs. Wilson (1825), No. 72. /&., Syn. (1828), 75.
Nutt. Man., I. (1830) 346. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 303; V. 445, pi. 58.

DESCRIPTION.

Fourth quill longest; third and fourth a little shorter; second about equal to the
sixth (about a thirtieth of an inch shorter than the longest) ; tail slightly emargi-
nate; above light olive-brown, with a scarcely perceptible shade of reddish, passing,
however, into decided rufous on the rump, upper tail coverts, and tail, and to a less
degree on the outer surface of the wings ; beneath white, with a scarcely appreciable
shade of pale-buff across the fore part of the breast, and sometimes on the throat;
the sides of the throat and the fore part of the breast with rather sharply defined

THE HERMIT THRUSH. 149

subtriangular spots of dark olive-brown ; the sides of the breast with paler and less
distinct spots of the same; sides of the body under the wings of a paler shade than
the back; a whitish ring round the eye; ear coverts very obscurely streaked with
paler.

Length, seven and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, three and eighty-four one-
hundredths ; tail, three and twenty-five one-hundredths ; tarsus, one and sixteen
one-hundredths.

Hob. — Eastern North America to the Mississippi River.

This bird, although not so well known in Massachusetts,
Connecticut, and Rhode Island, is quite familiar to the
people of the other States in New England. It arrives from
the South about the middle of April, and passes leisurely
to the North, where it arrives about the middle of May.
It very seldom breeds in any districts south of the latitude
of the middle of Maine ; and from thence north it is quite
abundant, where it is known by the name of the Swamp
Kobin. I have been so fortunate as to find several nests
of this species ; and they were all built in very low scrubby
trees or bushes, quite near the ground. They were com-
posed of twigs, grasses, mosses, and leaves ; they were
deeply hollowed, and no mud was used in their composition,
as with several other species ; they were lined with soft
grasses, mosses, arid fine fibrous roots. The eggs were, in
one nest, three in number ; and, in the others, four. This was
about the 10th of June. The localities were in the neigh-
borhood of Lake Umbagog and in the valley of the Magal-
loway River, in Maine. The eggs of this species are of a
somewhat elongated oval form, and their color is a light-
blue with a very faint tint of green : " about one in every
four has very thinly scattered spots of reddish-brown, and
occasionally one is met with having an abundance of
coarser spots of two shades of brown." Dimensions
of specimens from various localities vary from .92 by .65
to .88 by .60 inch.

Mr. C. L. Paine, of Randolph, Yt., writes me that he has
found numbers of the nests of this bird, and that they were
invariably built on the ground. He also says that the eggs

150 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

are always blue in color, and he has never met with one
that was spotted in any manner. I have quite a number
of specimens in my collection, and not one is spotted. I
have also seen many others, and they were not marked ; and
I think that the above quotation must be received with cau-
tion. A nest sent me from Upton, Me., is composed almost
entirely of mosses. It contains five eggs, all unspotted.

Mr. Paine writes me that the Olive-backed Thrush breeds
in his neighborhood, which, with the other, are the only
thrushes breeding there. In answer to his remark that
the Hermit Thrush always builds on the ground, I can only
say that I found the nests as above. I have noticed that
the Tawny or Wilson's Thrush builds on the ground in
some localities and in bushes in others, and conclude that
the Hermit is also variable in its choice of a nesting-place.

The habits, song, and general characteristics of this bird
are almost exactly similar to those of the Song Thrush.
Its song resembles it so much, that I always supposed the
bird was the same, until I examined some of them that I
heard singing, when I found my mistake. About the
middle of October, the last individuals that are seen in
Massachusetts leave for the South. At this time, as in the
spring, they are silent and shy : their note is a faint chirp,
uttered in a listless, melancholy tone ; and their whole
appearance is in keeping with the great change which has
come over the face of Nature. In fact, the Hermit Thrush
is always associated in my mind with the falling of leaves,
the rattling of acorns, and the whirring of the Ruffed
Grouse through the birches and alders of the swampy
glens. f

TURDUS FTJSCESCENS. — Stephens.
The Tawny Thrush ; Wilson's Thrush.

Turdus fuscescens, Stephens. Shaw's Zool. Birds, X. (1817) 182. Gray, Genera
(1849).

Turdiu mustelinus, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. (1812) 98 (not of Gm.).

Turdus Wilsonii, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 349. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 362 {
V. 446. /&., Birds Am., III. (1841) 27, pi. 145.

THE TAWNY THRUSH. 151

DESCRIPTION.

Third quill longest, fourth a little shorter, second nearly a quarter of an inch
longer than the fifth ; above, and on sides of head and neck, nearly uniform light
reddish-brown, with a faint tendency to orange on the crown and tail; beneath
white, the fore part of the breast and throat (paler on the chin) tinged with pale
brownish-yellow, in decided contrast to the white of the belly; the sides of the
throat and the fore part of the breast, as colored, are marked with small triangular
spots of light-brownish, nearly like the back, but not well defined ; there are a few
obsolete blotches on the sides of the breast (in the white) of pale-olivaceous, the
sides of the body tinged with the same ; tibiae white ; the lower mandible is brown-
ish only at the tip ; the lores are ash-colored.

Length, seven and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, four and twenty-five one-
hundredths ; tail, three and twenty one-hundredths inches ; tarsus, one and twenty
one-hundredths.

Hob. — Eastern North America to the Missouri, north to fur countries.

This species is well distinguished among the American thrushes by the indis-
tinctness of the spots beneath, and their being confined mainly to the fore part of
the breast. In some specimens, there is a faint tendency to a more vivid color on
the rump ; but this is usually like the back, which is very nearly the color of the
rump in T. pattasii.

This quite common species is a summer inhabitant of
southern New England. It is quite abundant until we reach
the southern portions of Maine, New Hampshire, and Ver-
mont, when it begins to grow less common until we reach the
latitude of the middle of these States, where it begins to be
replaced by the Hermit Thrush, and soon ceases to occur to
the north of this latitude. It makes its appearance from
the South about the first week in May, often earlier, and
commences building about the 20th of May. The nest is
placed occasionally in a low shrub, or tangled clump of
briers, usually on the ground. The situation is retired,
often in the depths of the woods. The nest is constructed
of grass, leaves, and weeds ; in some cases, the outer bark
of the grape-vine is the principal material used : it is quite
thoroughly made, and is deeply hollowed, and lined with
fine roots and horsehair. The eggs are usually four in
number, sometimes five ; their color is bluish-green, deeper
than that of the eggs of the Hermit Thrush, but not so dark
as in those of the Cat Bird ; their form is generally an oval,
sometimes lengthened and sharpened ; their average size is

152 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

about .90 by .66 inch. As in many other eggs, the longest
specimens are not always the broadest. The following are
the dimensions of four eggs, taken at random from a large
number of this species : .92 by .64 inch, .88 by .64 inch,
.86 by .66 inch, .87 by .67 inch.

From the first arrival of this bird, during its whole stay
here, it seems to prefer the neighborhood of a swampy wood
for its home. There, during the mating and incubating
seasons, the notes of the male may be heard at the earliest
hours of the morning and evening ; and, in cloudy weather,
through the day, and sometimes in the night. The song is
a peculiar one, with a singular metallic ring, exceedingly
difficult to describe : it begins quite loud, the syllables
cheury, chetiry, cheury, chetiry, decreasing in tone to a quite
faint lisp ; then, after a short pause, the notes, cheou 'twit,
tritter, ' 'fritter, are uttered ; and the whole is finished usually
with the ejaculation, chickwheu. This song is often re-
peated ; and sometimes two or three males, perching on a
low shrub or tree, emulate each other in a musical contest
that is very pleasing to hear. This thrush, as are all the
others, is eminently insectivorous ; and through the whole
day he may be heard busily searching among the fallen
leaves for his favorite food.

About the 10th of September, it leaves for the South : at
this time, like most of the others, it is silent and retiring,
and is found only in localities that are thickly wooded with
a growth of small birches and oaks.

TURDUS SWAINSONII. — Cabanis.
The Olive-backed Thrush; Swainson's Thrush.

Turdus Swainsonii. Cab. in Tschudi F. Peruana (1844-46) 188.
Turdus solitarius, Wilson. Am. Orn., V.

DESCRIPTION.

Third quill longest, second and fourth but little shorter, and much longer than
the fifth (by thirty-five one-hundredths of an inch); upper parts uniform olivaceous,
with a decided shade of green; the fore part of breast, the throat, and chin, pale
brownish-yellow ; rest of lower parts white, the sides washed with brownish-olive ;

THE OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH. 153

sides of the throat and fore part of the breast with sub-rounded spots of well-defined
brown, darker than the back; the rest of the breast (except medially) with rather
less distinct spots that are more olivaceous ; tibiae yellowish-brown ; broad ring round
the eye ; loral region, and a general tinge on the side of the head, clear reddish-buff.

Length, seven inches; wing, four and fifteen one-hundredths ; tail, three and
ten one-hundredths inches; tarsus, one and ten one-hundredths.

Hob. — Eastern North America to the Black Hills, south to Mexico and Peru,
north to Greenland. Accidental in Europe and Siberia.

This species is at once distinguished from the others by the perfectly uniform and
pure dull-olivaceous shade of its upper parts, most strongly marked and appreciable
on the rump and tail. The throat and breast are perhaps more reddish than in any
of our species, and the tinge in the marking on the side of the head is very much
more decided than in any other. The spots on the breast larger than in T. ustulatus,
and rather more numerous than in pallasii.

This species is the least common of all the New-England
thrushes. It is rarely observed in its passage through the
southern portions of these States, and only begins to choose
a home for the summer on arriving at the northern districts.
I have looked for it repeatedly, but have not been able to
find it south of the latitude of Lake Umbagog, in the breed-
ing season ; and even there it is not often met with. It
arrives in. the localities where it breeds about the first week
in June. In common with the Hermit Thrush, it is called
the " Swamp Robin," and can hardly be distinguished from
that bird, either by its song, which is beautiful, or by its
breeding habits or nests. The eggs are different, being of a
deeper green color : they are always (so far as my experi-
ence goes) thinly spotte<j. with dots and blotches of reddish
and brown. The following are the dimensions of four eggs
that I found in a nest near Wilson's Mills, Me., on the 16th
of June, 1864 : .93 by .64 inch, .93 by .63 inch, .92 by .60
inch, .90 by .61 inch.

The only difference in the habits of this species from those
of the Hermit Thrush is, that, while the latter is most usually
found in swampy localities, the other is most often seen in
dry, scrubby woods, where it is almost always busily engaged
in the pursuit of its favorite insect food.

J. A. Allen, in his paper on the birds of Springfield,
Mass., before referred to, is of the opinion that this species

154 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

and the Turdus alicice are the same. In a conversation with
Professor Baird, since the issue of Allen's 'paper, I was in-
formed, that, in a large suite of specimens of both species,
to which he had access, he could identify each by character-
istics so fixed that any confusion was impossible : he was
of the opinion that Mr. Allen had not seen the bird he calls
alicice. I have therefore not given that species as a bird of
New England, and think that it yet remains to be proved as
such.

Dr. Bryant, in describing the habits of the Olive-backed
Thrush, says: —

" Its note differs entirely from that of T. pallasii, and the birds
also differ very much in their habits ; the latter species being gen-
erally seen on the ground, while the Olive-backed Thrush prefers
to procure its food among the branches. The one seen at Big Mud
Lake, Grand Manan, was perched on the top of a small dwarf-fir,
and was hunting the passing insects with all the dexterity of a
typical Flycatcher."

TUEDUS MIGEATOEIUS. — Linnaus.
The Robin.

Turdus migratorius, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat, I. (1766) 292. Wilson, Am. Orn., I.
(1808) 35. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 190.

Merula migratoria, Sw. and Kich. Fauna Bor. Amer., II. (1831) 176.

DESCRIPTION.

Third and fourth quills about equal, fifth a little shorter, second longer than
sixth; tail slightly rounded; above olive-gray, top and sides of the head black;
chin and throat white, streaked with black ; eyelids, and a spot above the eye an-
teriorly, white ; under parts and inside of the wings chestnut-brown ; the under tail
coverts and anal region with tibiae white, showing the plumbeous inner portions of
the feathers ; wings dark-brown, the feathers all edged more or less with pale-ash ;
tail still darker, the extreme feathers tipped with white ; bill yellow, dusky along the
ridge and at the tip.

Length, nine and seventy-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, five and forty-three
one-hundredths ; tail, four and seventy-five one-hundredths inches; tarsus, one and
twenty-five one-hundredths.

Hob. — Continent of North America to Mexico.

It is very seldom that specimens exhibit the colors exactly as described. Nearly
always in winter, and in most cases at other times, the rufous feathers are margined
with whitish, sometimes quite obscuring the color. The black feathers of the head,

THE ROBIN. 155

too, have brownish edgings. The white spot above the eye sometimes extends for-
wards towards the nostrils, but is usually quite restricted. The white patches on
the two eyelids are separated from each other, anteriorly and posteriorly.

This very common and well-known bird is a summer in-
habitant of all New England, and, in mild winters, remains
in the southern districts of these States through the year.
The great body of the
birds, however, arrive
from the South about
the middle of March.
They commence build-
ing from the middle of
April to the first week
in May, according to lati-
tude. The nest is built
more often in the trees of
the orchards and gardens, near houses, than in the deep
woods. It is a large, elaborately built affair, constructed first
of a thick layer of straws, weeds, roots, and mosses : on this
is built the nest proper, which is made of straws and weeds,
woven together in a circular form, and plastered together
with mud ; this is lined with soft grasses and moss, the
whole making a durable structure, often holding together
through the entire year. The eggs are usually four in num-
ber : their color is a beautiful greenish-blue, almost the same
as that of the Wood Thrush's egg, which they resemble in
shape, except they are a trifle broader. Dimensions of a
nest-complement of four eggs : 1.16 by .82 inch, 1.16 by .82
inch, 1.10 by .75 inch, 1.10 by .80 inch. Many cases occur,
in the southern districts of New England, of two broods
being reared in the season, and I have known of three
broods being reared in Massachusetts ; but, in the northern
districts, I think that the second brood is the exception,
instead of the rule.

Perhaps none of our birds are more unpopular with horti-
culturists than this ; and I will here give the observations

156 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

of different scientific men, and my own, to show that the
prejudice against the bird is unjust and unfounded. Mr.
Trouvelot, of Medford, Mass., who is engaged in rearing
silkworms, for the production of silk, is troubled by the
Robin to a degree surpassing most other birds. He has a
tract of about seven or eight acres enclosed, and mostly
covered with netting. He is obliged, in self-defence, to kill
the birds which penetrate into the enclosure and destroy the
worms. Through the season, probably ten robins, for one
of all others, thus molest him ; and, of scores of these birds
which he has opened and examined, none had any fruit or
berries in their stomachs, — nothing but insects. It is to
be understood that this was not in a part of the summer
when berries were unripe: on the contrary, it was all
through the season. His land is surrounded with scrub-
oaks and huckleberry-bushes. These latter were loaded
with fruit, which was easier of access to the birds than the
worms ; but none were found in them. He says they came
from all quarters to destroy his silkworms, and gave him
more trouble than all the other birds together. He said
that, in his opinion, if the birds were all killed off, vegeta-
tion would be entirely destroyed. To test the destructive-
ness of these marauders, as he regarded them, he placed on
a small scrub-oak near his door two thousand of his silk-
worms. (These, let me say, resemble, when small, the
young caterpillar of the apple-tree moth.) In a very few
days they were all eaten by Cat-birds and Robins, — birds
closely allied, and of the same habits. This was in the
berry season, when an abundance of this kind of food was
easily accessible; but they preferred his worms. Why?
Because the young of these, as well as those of most other
birds, must be fed on aninxal food. Earthworms assist in
the regimen ; but how often can birds like the Robin, Cat-
bird, Thrush, &c., get these ? Any farmer knows, that, when
the surface of the ground is dry, they go to the subsoil, out
of the reach of birds ; and it is not necessary here to say

THE ROBIN. 157

what proportion of the time the ground is very dry through
the summer. Caterpillars, grubs of variotts kinds, and
insects, therefore constitute the chief food of these birds ;
and of these, caterpillars and grubs being the most abun-
dant, and most easily caught, furnish, of course, the larger
proportion.

In fact, the Thrushes seem designed by nature to rid the
surface of the soil of noxious insects not often pursued by
most other birds. The warblers capture the insects that
prey on the foliage of the trees ; the flycatchers seize these
insects as they fly from the trees ; the swallows capture
those which have escaped all these ; the woodpeckers destroy
them when in the larva state in the wood ; the wrens, nut-
hatches, titmice, and creepers eat the eggs and young that
live on and beneath the bark ; but the thrushes subsist on
those that destroy the vegetation on the surface of the earth.
They destroy nearly all kinds of grubs, caterpillars, and
worms that live upon the greensward and cultivated soil,
and large quantities of crickets and grasshoppers before
they have become perfect insects. The grubs of locusts,
of harvest-flies, and of beetles, which are turned up by the
plough or the hoe, and their pupae when emerging from the
soil ; apple- worms, when they leave the fruit and crawl about
in quest of new shelter ; and those subterranean caterpillars,
the cutworms, that come out of the earth to take their food, —
all these, and many others, are eagerly devoured by the
Robin and other Thrushes. The cutworms emerge from
the soil during the night to seek for food ; and the Robin,
which is one of the earliest birds to go abroad in the morn-
ing, is very diligent at the dawn of day in hunting for these
vermin before they have gone back into their retreat. The
number of these destructive grubs is immense. " Whole
cornfields," says Dr. Harris, " are sometimes laid waste by
them. Cabbage-plants, till they are grown to a considerable
size, are very apt to be cut off and destroyed by them. Po-
tato-vines, beans, beets, and various other culinary plants,

158 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

suffer in the same way." The services of the robins, in
destroying these alone, would more than pay for all the fruit
they devour. Indeed, during the breeding season, a robin is
seldom seen without having in his mouth one of these cater-
pillars, or some similar grub, which he designs for his young;
and as the Robin often raises three broods of young during
the season, his species must destroy more of this class of
noxious insects than almost all other birds together. In
my own gardening experiences, I have had my full share of
cutworms ; and I have always noticed the Robin, Brown
Thrush, and Cat-bird busy early in the morning, — almost
before other birds are out of their feather-beds, figuratively
speaking, — catching these vermin and eating them, or
carrying them for food to their young.

To show further the food of this bird, I present the follow-
ing experiment. At a meeting of the Boston Society of
Natural History, a communication was read from Professor
Treadwell, of Cambridge, giving a detailed account of the
feeding and growth of this bird during a period of thirty-
two days, commencing with the 5th of June. The following
is the substance of this report : —

When caught, the two were quite young, their tail feathers
being less than an inch in length, and the weight of each
about twenty-five pennyweights, — less than half the weight
of the full-grown birds : both were plump and vigorous, and
had evidently been very recently turned out of the nest.
He began feeding them with earthworms, giving three to
each bird that night. The second day, he gave them ten
worms each, which they ate ravenously. Thinking this
beyond what their parents could naturally supply them with,
he limited them to this allowance. On the third day, he gave
them eight worms each in the forenoon ; but in the afternoon
he found one becoming feeble, and it soon lost its strength,
refused food, and died. On opening it, he found the pro-
ventriculus, gizzard, and intestines entirely empty, and con-
cluded therefore that it died from want of sufficient food;

THE ROBIN. 159

the effect of hunger being increased perhaps by the cold,
as the thermometer was about sixty degrees.

The other bird, still vigorous, he put in a warmer place,
and increased its food, giving it the third day fifteen worms,
on the fourth day twenty-four, on the fifth twenty-five, on
the sixth thirty, and on the seventh thirty-one worms. They
seemed insufficient, and the bird appeared to be losing
plumpness and weight. He began to weigh both the bird
and its food, and the results were given in a tabular form.
On the fifteenth day, he tried a small quantity of raw meat,
and, finding it readily eaten, increased it gradually, to the
exclusion of worms. With it the bird ate a large quantity
of earth and gravel, and drank freely after eating. By the
table, it appears that though the food was increased to forty
worms, weighing twenty pennyweights, on the eleventh day
the weight of the bird rather fell off; and it was not until
the fourteenth day, when he ate sixty-eight worms, or thirty-
four pennyweights, that he began* to increase. On this day,
the weight of the bird was twenty-four pennyweights : he
therefore ate forty-one per cent more than his own weight
in twelve hours, weighing after it twenty-nine pennyweights,
or fifteen per cent less than the food he had eaten in that
time. The length of these worms, if laid end to end, would
be about fourteen feet, or ten times the length of the intes-
tines.

To meet the objection, that the earthworm contains but a
small quantity of nutritious matter, on the twenty-seventh
day he was fed exclusively on clear beef, in quantity twenty-
seven pennyweights. At night, the bird weighed fifty-two
pennyweights, but little more than twice the amount of flesh
consumed during the day, not taking into account the water
and earth swallowed. This presents a wonderful contrast
with the amount of food required by the cold-blooded ver-
tebrates, fishes, and reptiles, many of which can live for
months without food, and also with that required by
mammalia. Man, at this rate, would eat about seventy

160 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

pounds of flesh a day, and drink five or six gallons of
water.

The question immediately presents itself, How can this
immense amount of food, required by the young birds, be
supplied by the parents ? Suppose a pair of old robins, with
the usual number of four young ones. These would require,
according to the consumption of this bird, two hundred and
fifty worms, or their equivalent in insect or other food, daily.
Suppose the parents to work ten hours, or six hundred min-
utes, to procure this supply : this would be a worm to every
two and two-fifths minutes ; or each parent must procure a
worm or its equivalent in less than five minutes during ten
hours, in addition to the food required for its own support.

After the thirty-second day, the bird had attained its full
size, and was intrusted to the care of another person during
his absence of eighteen days. At the end of that period,
the bird was strong and healthy, with no increase of weight,
though its feathers had grown longer and smoother. Its
food had been weighed daily, and averaged fifteen penny-
weights of weight, two or three earthworms, and a small
quantity of bread each day, the whole being equal to eigh-
teen pennyweights of meat, or thirty-six pennyweights of
earthworms ; and it continued up to the time of the pres-
entation of the report. The bird having continued in con-
finement, with certainly much less exercise than in the wild
state, to eat one-third of its weight in clear flesh daily, the
Professor concludes that the food it consumed when young
was not much more than must always be provided by the
parents of wild birds. The food was never passed undi-
gested; the excretions were made up of gravel and dirt,
and a small quantity of semi-solid urine.

He thought that every admirer of trees may derive from
these facts a lesson, showing the immense power of birds
to destroy the insects by which our trees, especially our
apple-trees, elms, and lindens, are every few years stripped
of their foliage, and often many of them killed.

THE ROBIN. 161

" The food of the Robin," the Professor says, " while with us,
consists principally of worms, various insects, their larvae and eggs,
and a few cherries. Of worms and cherries they can procure but
few, and those during but a short period ; and they are obliged,
therefore, to subsist principally upon the great destroyers of leaves,
— canker-worms, and some other kinds of caterpillars and bugs. If
each robin, old and young, requires for its support an amount of
these equal to the weight consumed by this bird, it is easy to see
what a prodigious havoc a few hundred of these must make upon
the insects of an orchard or nursery."

Wilson Flagg, an acute and careful observer of the habits
of our birds, gives some of his experiences of the Robin,
as follows. He says, —

" Before I had investigated the habits of this bird, with particular
reference to the service he renders to agriculture, I supposed he
was only of secondary importance, compared with the Blackbird
and others that possess the faculty of discovering and seizing the
grubs that lie concealed beneath the surface of the ground. Though
the Robin does not possess this faculty, he is pre-eminently service-
able in other ways ; and the more I have studied his habits, the
more I am convinced of his usefulness. Indeed, I am now fully
persuaded that he is valuable beyond all other species of birds, and
that his services are absolutely indispensable to the farmers of New
England. Some persons believe that the Robin is exclusively a
frugivorous bird, and that for fruit he will reject all other food that
is within his reach. Others believe that his diet consists about
equally of fruits and angle-worms, but that he is not a general con-
sumer of insects. The truth is, the Robin is almost exclusively
insectivorous, and uses fruit, as we do, only as a dessert, and not
for his subsistence, except in the winter, when his insect food cannot
be obtained. He is not omnivorous, like the Crow, the Jay, and the
Blackbird. He rejects farinaceous food unless it is artificially pre-
pared, derives almost his entire support from insects and grubs, and
consumes, probably, a greater variety of species than any other
bird. I am entirely at a loss to account for this very prevalent and
mistaken notion respecting the frugivorous habits of the Robin.

11

162 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

"Early in May," lie says, "my son caught and caged three
young Robins, and I encouraged him in the act, that I might be
enabled to study their habits of feeding. He commenced by feed-
ing them with angle- worms and soaked bread, giving them the latter
very,sparingly. They soon died, evidently from an excess of the
farinaceous part of their diet. He then took three others from
different nests, and fed them more exclusively on worms, and some
fruit. Two of these also soon died, and the remaining one ap-
peared ill and drooping. I suggested that the bird probably needed
insects as well as worms, which alone were not sufficient to supply
all the wants of the system ; though he had access to cherries and
soaked bread, of which he could eat whenever he wanted them.
After this, he was supplied with all sorts of grubs and insects which
my son was able to capture. The robin devoured these indiscrimi-
nately and with great eagerness. He was never known to refuse one
of any description. All kinds of beetles, moths, bugs, grubs, vine-
worms, chrysalids, and caterpillars, which were presented to him,
he devoured. After this improvement of his diet, the bird soon
recovered his health ; and the experiment proved conclusively that
this variety of insect food was necessary to the life of the bird, at
least while he was young.

" These insects were not put into his mouth : they were placed
upon the floor of his cage, and he picked them up, killing them in
a way that showed that he knew instinctively how to manage them.

" He was particular in beating the vine-worm considerably before
he swallowed it ; but he never refused one, or neglected to eat it.
On one occasion, having swallowed a hard beetle, and finding it
incommodious, he threw it out of his crop by a voluntary effort,
beat it awhile with his bill against the floor, and then swallowed it
again. This fact also proved his instinctive knowledge of the mode
of proceeding in such emergencies.

"It is a fact worthy of notice, that the Baltimore Oriole, or
Golden Robin, which has the reputation of performing more ser-
vice than the common Robin, may, when confined in a cage, be fed
almost entirely on farinaceous food, without injury to his health.
This fact is good evidence that the common Robin is more entirely
insectivorous than the other. The contrary is generally believed.
The fondness of the Robin and others for fruit is not peculiar to his

THE BROWN THRUSH. 163

species : it is equally remarkable in almost all other insectivorous
birds."

I have given these accounts, as I remarked before, for the
purpose of removing a prejudice that is too well established
against this bird. Instances like the above might be pre-
sented to almost any extent ; but my limits will not permit
a further notice of this species. 2

Sub-Family MIMIN^E. — Mocking Birds.

Tail long, vaulted at the base, the feathers more or less graduated; size large;
general appearance thrush-like ; rictus with distinct bristles ; frontal feathers normal,
directed backwards ; anterior half of outer side of tarsi distinctly scutellate.

1 HARPORHYNCHUS, CABANIS.

Harporhynchus, CABANIS, Wiegmann's Archiv. (1848), I. 98. (Type ffarpes
redivivus.)

Bill from front as long as, or longer than the head, nearly straight to near the tip,
or bow-shaped, without any notch; tarsus as long as, or longer than the middle toe,
conspicuously scutellate ; outer lateral toe a little the longer, not reaching the base of
the middle claw; hind toe longer than lateral, its claw equal to its remaining portion;
wings short, rounded, the fourth or fifth longest; the exposed portion of the first about
half that of longest; tail longer than the wings, broad, more or less graduated.

HARPORHYNCHUS RUFUS. — Cabanis.
The Brown Thrush ; Brown Thrasher.

Turdus rufus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat, I. (1766) 293. Wilson, Am. Orn., II. (1810)
83. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 102; V. (1839) 441.

Orpheus rufus, Swainson. F. Bor. Am., II. (1831) 187. Nuttall, Man. I. (1832)
328.

DESCRIPTION.

Fifth quill longest; the third, fourth, and sixth little shorter; second equal to
ninth ; exposed portion of the bill shorter than the head ; outline of lower mandible
straight; above light cinnamon-red, beneath pale rufous-white with longitudinal

1 This genus, together with the following, has been removed from its position in
the Liotrichidce, as given in vol. IX. Pac. K.R. Keports, and placed in the Turdidce by
Professor Baird, in his recent Review of the Birds of North America.

2 See Appendix. .

164 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

streaks of dark-brown, excepting on the chin, throat, middle of the belly, and under
tail coverts ; these spots, anteriorly, are reddish-brown in their terminal portion ; the
inner surface of the wing and the inner edges of the primaries are cinnamon ; the con-
cealed portion of the quills otherwise is dark-brown ; the median and greater wing
coverts become blackish-brown towards the end, followed by white, producing two
conspicuous bands ; the tail feathers are all rufous, the external ones obscurely tipped
with whitish ; the shafts of the same color with the vanes.

Length, eleven and fifteen one-hundredths inches; wing, four and fifteen one-
hundredths; tail, five and twenty one-hundredths inches; tarsus, one and thirty
one-hundredths; iris, golden-yellow. .

Probably none of our summer visitors are better known,
and none are greater favorites than this bird. Its beautiful
song and well-known beneficial habits have endeared it to
the farmer, who takes it under his protection, as he should
all the Thrushes, and encourages its approach to the garden
and orchard. The Brown Thrush arrives from the South
about the middle of April in Connecticut and Rhode Island,
and the 10th of May in Maine and the other northern dis-
tricts. The birds seem to be mated before their arrival
here, as they are almost always observed in pairs at their
first appearance. The nest is built about the middle of
May, sooner or later, according to latitude. It is usually
placed in a bush or thicket of briers or vines, sometimes on
the ground at the foot of a clump of bushes. It is com-
posed first of a layer 'of twigs, then leaves and strips of
cedar and grape-vine bark, and the whole is covered with
fibrous roots : the nest is pretty deeply hollowed, and lined
with fine roots and hairs. The eggs are from three to five
in number. Their color is a greenish or dirty white, over
which are thickly sprinkled minute dots of reddish-brown :
their shape is ovate, and their dimensions vary from 1.16
by .80 inch to 1.06 by .76 inch. A great number before me
exhibit these variations, which probably are the greatest of
this species, as the eggs are generally nearly of a size. Four
eggs in a nest collected in New Hampshire have the follow-
ing measurements : 1.12 by .78 inch, 1.12 by .76 inch, 1.08
by .76 inch, 1.06 by .76 inch. But one brood is reared in
the season in the Northern States.

THE BROWN THRUSH. 165

The song of this bird is difficult of description : it is a
sort of confused mixture of the notes of different birds, or
rather seems to be, but is really its own song ; as different
individuals all sing nearly alike. The fact that it resembles
the Mocking-bird in its medley of notes has caused it to be
called, in some localities, the Brown Mocker ; and it is also
sometimes called the Mavis and Nightingale, from its habit
of singing in the night during the mating season.

The description of Wilson's, of the habits of this bird, is
pretty comprehensive, in fact, the best that I have seen, and
I give it almost entire. He says, —

" It is the largest of all our Thrushes, and is a well-known and
very distinguished songster. About the middle or 20th of April,
or generally about the time the cherry-trees begin to blossom, he
arrives in Pennsylvania; and, from the tops of our hedge-rows,
sassafras, apple, or cherry trees, he salutes the opening morning
with his charming song, which is loud, emphatical, and full of
variety. At that serene hour, you may plainly distinguish his voice
fully half a mile off. These notes are not imitative, as his name
would import, and as some people believe, but seem solely his own,
and have considerable resemblance to the notes of the Song Thrush
( Turdus musicus) of Britain. Early in May he builds his nest,
choosing a thorn-bush, low cedar, thicket of briers, dogwood-sapling,
or cluster pf vines, for its situation, generally within a few feet of
the ground. Outwardly, it is constructed of small sticks ; then,
layers of dry leaves ; and, lastly, lined with fine, fibrous roots, but
without any plaster. The eggs are five, thickly sprinkled with fer-
ruginous grains, on a very pale-bluish ground. They generally have
two broods in a season. Like all birds that build near the ground,
he shows great anxiety for the safety of his nest and young, and
often attacks the black snake in their defence ; generally, too, with
success, his strength being greater, and his bill stronger and more
powerful, than any other of his tribe within the United States. His
food consists of worms, which he scratches from the ground, cater-
pillars, and many kinds of berries. Beetles, and the whole race of
coleopterous insects, wherever he can meet with them, are sure to
suffer. He is accused, by some people, of scratching up the hills

166 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

of Indian corn, in planting time. This may be partly true ; but, for
every grain of maize he pilfers, I am persuaded he destroys five
hundred insects, particularly a large dirty-colored grub, with a
black head, which is more pernicious to the corn, and other grain
and vegetables, than nine-tenths of the whole feathered race. He
is an active, vigorous bird, flies generally low, from one thicket to
another, with his long, broad tail spread like a fan ; is often seen
about brier and bramble bushes, along fences ; and has a single note
or chuck, when you approach his nest. In Pennsylvania, they are
numerous, but never fly in flocks. About the middle of September,
or as soon as they have well recovered from moulting, in which they
suffer severely, they disappear for the season. In passing through
the southern parts of Virginia, and south as far as Georgia, in the
depth of winter, I found them lingering in sheltered situations,
particularly on the border of swamps and rivers. On the 1st of
March, they were in full song round the commons at Savannah,
as if straining to outstrip the Mocking-bird, that prince of feathered
musicians.

" The Thrasher is a welcome visitant in spring, to every lover of
rural scenery and rural song. In the months of April and May,
when our woods, hedge-rows, orchards, and cherry-trees, are one
profusion of blossoms ; when every object around conveys the sweet
sensations of joy, and Heaven's abundance is, as it were, showering
around us, — the grateful heart beats in unison with the varying,
elevated strains of this excellent bird : we listen to its notes with
a kind of devotional ecstasy, as a morning hymn to the great and
most adorable Creator of all. The human being who, amidst such
scenes, and in such seasons of rural serenity and delight, can pass
them with cold indifference, and even contempt, I sincerely pity ;
for abject must that heart be, and callous those feelings, and de-
praved that taste, which neither the charms of nature, nor the
melody of innocence, nor the voice of gratitude or devotion, can
reach.

" Concerning the sagacity and reasoning faculty of this bird, my
venerable friend, Mr. Bartram, writes me as follows : < I remember
to have reared one of these birds from the nest, which, when full
grown, became very tame and docile. I frequently let him out of
his cage, to give him a taste of liberty. After fluttering, and dusting

THE MOCKING-BIRD. 167

himself in dry sand and earth, and bathing, washing, and. dressing
himself, he would proceed to hunt insects, such as beetles, crickets,
and other shelly tribes ; but, being very fond of wasps, after catch-
ing them, and knocking them about to break their wings, he would
lay them down, ; then examine if they had a sting, and, with his
bill, squeeze the abdomen to clear it of the reservoir of poison
before he would swallow his prey. When in his cage, being very
fond of dry crusts of bread, if upon trial the corners of the crumbs
were too hard and sharp for his. throat, he would throw them up,
carry and put them in his water-dish to soften, then take them out
and swallow them.' "

By the first week in October, the Brown Thrush departs
on its southern migration, and passes the winter in the
West Indies and Mexico.

MIMUS, BOIE.

*

Mimus, BOIE, Isis (Oct., 1826) 972. (Type Turdus polyglottus.)
Bill shorter than the head, decurved from the base, distinctly notched at
tip ; tarsi longer than the middle toe ; lateral toes equal, not reaching the base of
the middle claw, and shorter than the hind toe, the claw of which is half the total
length; tail variable, equal to or longer than the wings, moderately graduated;
wings rounded, the exposed portion of the first nearly or quite half that of the
second, which is considerably shorter than the third.

MIMUS POLYGLOTTUS, — Bole.
The Mocking-bird.

Turdus polyglottus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 293. Wilson, Am. Orn., II.
(1810) 14. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 108; V. (1839) 438.
Mimus polyglottus, Boie. Isis (Oct., 1826), 972.
Orpheus polyglottus, Swainson. Zool. Jour., III. (1827) 167.

DESCRIPTION.

Third to sixth quills nearly equal, second shorter than seventh ; tail considerably
graduated, above ashy-brown, the feathers very obsoletely darker centrally, and
towards the light plumbeous downy basal portion (scarcely appreciable, except when
the feathers are lifted) ; the under parts are white, with a faint brownish tinge,
except on the chin, and With a shade of ash across the breast ; there is a pale super-
ciliary stripe, but the lores are dusky ; the wings and tail are nearly black, except
the lesser wing coverts, which are like the back, the middle and greater tipped with
white, forming two bands, the basal portion of the primaries white, most extended
on the inner primaries ; the outer tail feather is white, the second is mostly white,

168 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

except on the outer web and towards the base, the third with a white spot on the
end, the rest, except the middle, very slightly tipped with white ; the bill and legs
are black.

Length, nine and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, four and fifty one-hun-
dredths; tail, five inches; iris, light-yellow.

This bird is so exceedingly rare in New England, that it
can scarcely be regarded otherwise than as an accidental
visitor; and Massachusetts is certainly its northern limit.

Mr. Allen, before referred to, says that it has been known
to breed in Springfield several times within five years, and
in 1860 two pairs nested there. In June, 1860, he found
a nest containing three freshly .laid eggs, incubation not
having been begun : the locality was a sandy field, growing
up to pitch-pines, in one of which the nest was placed,
about three feet from the ground ; the pair was secured
with the nest and eggs.

As. I have had no opportunities of observing the habits
of this beautiful songster, I will give the very interesting
description by Wilson. He says, —

" The precise time at which the Mocking-bird begins to build
his nest varies according to the latitude in which he resides. In
the lower parts of Georgia, he commences building early in April,
but in Pennsylvania rarely before the 10th of May ; and in New

THE MOCKING-BIRD. 169

York, and the States of New England, still later. There are par-
ticular situations to which he gives the preference. A solitary-
thorn bush, an almost impenetrable thicket, an orange-tree, cedar,
or holly bush, are favorite spots, and frequently selected. It is no
great objection with him, that these happen, sometimes, to be near
the farm or mansion-house. Always ready to defend, but never
over-anxious to conceal, his nest, he very often builds within a
small distance of the house, and not unfrequently in a pear or
apple tree ; rarely at a greater height than six or seven feet from
the ground. The nest varies a little in different individuals,
according to the conveniency of collecting suitable materials. A
very complete one is now lying before me, and is composed of the
following substances : First, a quantity of dry twigs and sticks ;
then, withered tops of weeds, of the preceding year, intermixed
with fine straws, hay, pieces of wool and tow ; and, lastly, a thick
layer of fine fibrous roots, of a light-brown color, lines the whole.
The eggs are four, sometimes five, of a cinereous-blue, marked with
large blotches of brown. The female sits fourteen days, arid gener-
ally produces two broods in the season, unless robbed of her eggs,
in which case she will even build and lay the third time. She is,
however, extremely jealous of her nest, and very apt to forsake it
if much disturbed. It is even asserted by some of our bird-dealers,
that the old ones will actually destroy the eggs, and poison the
young, if either the one or the other have been handled. But I
cannot give credit to this unnatural report. I know, from my own
experience at least, that it is not always their practice; neither
have I ever witnessed a case of the kind above mentioned. During
the period of incubation, neither cat, dog, animal, nor man can
approach the nest without being attacked. The cats, in particular,
are persecuted whenever they make their appearance, till obliged
to retreat. But his whole vengeance is most particularly directed
against that mortal enemy of his eggs and young, the black snake.
Whenever the insidious approaches of this reptile are discovered,
the male darts upon it with the rapidity of an arrow, dexterously
eluding its bite, and striking it violently and incessantly about the
head, where it is very vulnerable. The snake soon becomes
sensible of its danger, and seeks to escape; but the intrepid
defender of his young redoubles his exertions, and, unless his

170 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

antagonist be of great magnitude, often succeeds in destroying him.
All its pretended powers of fascination avail it nothing against
the vengeance of this noble bird. As the snake's strength begins
to flag, the Mocking-bird seizes and lifts, it up partly from the
ground, beating it with his wings ; and, when the business is com-
pleted, he returns to the repository of his young, mounts the
summit of the bush, and pours out a torrent of song in token of
victory.

" The plumage of the Mocking-bird, though none of the home-
liest, has nothing gaudy or brilliant in it, and, had he nothing else
to recommend him, would scarcely entitle him to notice ; but his
figure is well proportioned, and even handsome. The ease, ele-
gance, and rapidity of his movements, the animation of his eye,
and the intelligence he displays in listening and laying up lessons
from almost every species of the feathered creation within his
hearing, are really surprising, and mark the peculiarity of his
genius. To these qualities we may add that of a voice full, strong,
and musical, and capable of almost every modulation, from the
clear, mellow tones of the Wood Thrush, to the savage scream of
the Bald Eagle. In measure and accent, he faithfully follows his
originals. In force and sweetness of expression, he greatly im-
proves upon them. In his native groves, mounted on the top of a
tall bush or half-grown tree, in the dawn of dewy morning, while the
woods are already voc^l with a multitude of warblers, his admirable
song rises pre-eminent over every competitor. The ear can listen
to his music alone, to which that of all the others seems a mere
accompaniment. Neither is this strain altogether imitative. His
own native notes, which are easily distinguishable by such as are
well acquainted with those of our various song-birds, are bold and
full, and varied seemingly beyond all limits. They consist of short
expressions of two, three, or, at the most, five or six syllables,
generally interspersed with imitations, and all of them uttered with
great emphasis and rapidity, and continued with undiminished
ardor for half an hour or an hour at a time. His expanded wings
and tail, glistening with white, and the buoyant gayety of his
action, arresting the eye, as his song most irresistibly does the ear,
he sweeps round with enthusiastic ecstasy; he mounts and de-
scends as his song swells or dies away ; and, as my friend Mr.

THE MOCKING-BIRD. 171

Bartram has beautifully expressed it, ' He bounds aloft with the
celerity of an arrow, as if to recover or recall his very soul,
expired in the last elevated strain.'1 While thus exerting him-
self, a bystander destitute of sight would suppose that the whole
feathered tribes had assembled together, on a trial of skill, each
striving to produce his utmost effect, so perfect are his imita-
tions. He many times deceives the sportsman, and sends him in
search of birds that perhaps are not within miles of him, but
whose notes he exactly imitates ; even birds themselves are fre-
quently imposed on by this admirable mimic, and are decoyed by
the fancied calls of their mates, or dive with precipitation into the
depth of thickets at the scream of what they suppose to be the
Sparrow-hawk.

" The Mocking-bird loses little of the power and energy of his
song by confinement. In his domesticated state, when he com-
mences his career of song, it is impossible to stand by uninterested.
He whistles for the dog, — Caesar starts up, wags his tail, and runs
to meet his master. He squeaks out like a hurt chicken, — and
the hen hurries about with hanging wings and bristled feathers,
clucking to protect its injured brood. The barking of the dog, the
mewing of the cat, the creaking of a passing wheelbarrow, follow
with great truth and rapidity. He repeats the tune taught him by
his master, though of considerable length, fully and faithfully. He
runs over the quiverings of the Canary, and the clear whistlings
of the Virginia Nightingale, or Red-bird, with such superior execu-
tion and effect, that the mortified songsters feel their own inferiority,
and become altogether silent, while he seems to triumph in their
defeat by redoubling his exertions. *

" This excessive fondness for variety, however, in the opinion
of some, injures his song. His elevated imitations of the Brown
Thrush are frequently interrupted by the crowing of cocks; and
the warblings of the Blue-bird, which he exquisitely manages, are
mingled with the screaming of swallows, or the cackling of hens ;
amidst the simple melody of the Robin, we are suddenly surprised
by the shrill reiterations of the Whippoorwill ; while the notes of
the Killdeer, Blue Jay, Martin, Baltimore, and twenty others, suc-
ceed with such imposing reality, that we look round for the or'igi-

1 Travels, p. 32. Introd.

172 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

nals, and discover, with astonishment, that the sole performer in
this singular concert is the admirable bird now before us. During
this exhibition of his powers, he spreads his wings, expands his tail,
and throws himself around the cage in all the ecstasy of enthu-
siasm, seeming not only to sing, but to dance, keeping time to the
measure of his own music. Both in his native and domesticated
state, during the solemn stillness of night, as soon as the moon
rises in silent majesty, he begins his delightful solo, and sere-
nades us the livelong night with a full display of his vocal
powers, making the whole neighborhood ring with his inimitable
medley."

A number of eggs in my collection average about .98 of
an inch in length by about .70 inch in breadth ; their form
is generally ovate, and their color a pale emerald-green,
with spots of ferruginous and brown.

GALEOSCOPTES, CABANIS.

Galeoscopies, CABANIS, Mus. Hein., I. (1850) 82. (Type Muscicapa Caroli-
nensis.)

Bill shorter than the head, rather broad at base ; rictal bristles moderately devel-
oped, reaching to the nostrils ; wings a little shorter than the tail, rounded ; second-
aries well developed, fourth and fifth quills longest, third and sixth little shorter,
first and ninth about equal, and about the length of secondaries, first quill more
than half the second, about half the third ; tail graduated, tail feather about seventy
one-hundredths inch shorter than the middle ; tarsi longer than lateral middle toe
and claw by about an additional half claw, scutellate anteriorly, more or less dis-
tinctly in different specimens; scutellse about seven.

The conspicuous naked membranous border round the eye of some thrushes,
with the bare space behind it, not appreciable.

GALEOSCOPTES CAROLINENSIS. — Cabanis.
The Cat-bird.

Muscicapa Carolinensis, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 328.
Orpheus Carolinensis, Audubon. Syn. (1839), 88.
Mimw Carolinensis, Gray. Genera (1844-49).

Turdus felivox, Vieillot. Ois. Am. Sept., II. (1807) 10. Aud. Orn. Biog., IL
(1831)171; V. 1839,440.

Orphem felivox, Swainson. F. Bor. Am., II. (1831) 192.'
Turdus lividus, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 90.

THE CAT-BIRD. 173

DESCRIPTION.

Third quill longest, first shorter than sixth; prevailing color dark plumbeous,
more ashy-beneath ; crown and nape dark sooty-brown; wings dark-brown, edged
with plumbeous; tail greenish-black, the lateral feathers obscurely tipped with
plumbeous; the under tail coverts dark-brownish chestnut; female smaller.

Length, eight and eighty-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, three and sixty-five
one-hundredths ; tail, four; tarsus, one and five one-hundredths inch.

This very common and well-known species arrives in
New England about the first week in May, — in Maine,
perhaps about the 15th of that month. It is distributed
abundantly throughout these States, and its habits are so
well known that a description here is hardly necessary.
During the mating season, and indeed through the greater
part of the summer, the song of the male is heard in the
woods, pastures, and gardens at early morning, and some-
times through the day ; and, although most persons describe
it as being harsh and uncouth, it is really very pleasing and
melodious. It is a sort of medley, like that of the Brown
Thrush, but not near so loud : the bird usually perches on
a low tree, where, standing nearly erect, his wings slightly
expanded, and his tail spread beneath him, he pours forth
his notes sometimes for half an hour at a time. In addition
to this song, he, in common with the female, has a plaintive
note almost exactly like the mewing of a cat ; and the spe-
cific name of felivox, given it by some authors, is much
more descriptive and appropriate than that of Carolinensis,
which is neither descriptive nor proper.

The alarm-note is a rattling cry, like the sound of quick
breaking of several strong sticks: it is perhaps well ex-
pressed by the syllables trat-tat-tatrtat, uttered very quickly,
I have noticed that this bird, as do many others, prefers the
neighborhood of thickly settled districts, even a home in
their midst, to others of a wilder character; and, when
travelling through the deep forests, I have invariably found,
that, when these birds became abundant, a settlement was
near.

Soon after mating, the birds build : this is from about the

174 OENITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

20th of May to the first week in June. The nest is usually
placed in bushes and shrubs, seldom more than four or five
feet from the ground ; the location as often in the deep
woods as in the fields or pastures. It is constructed first
of a layer of twigs and sticks, on which is built the body of
the nest, which is composed of strips of grape-vine bark,
fine twigs, leaves, and straws : it is deeply hollowed, and
lined with fibrous roots and hairs, and sometimes fine grass.
The eggs are usually four in number, sometimes five : their
color is a bright, deep emerald-green, and their form gener-
ally ovate. A great number of specimens before me do not
exhibit great variations in measurement from the dimen-
sions of a nest complement of four collected in Thornton,
N.H. ; they are as follows : .95 by .67 inch ; .95 by .66
inch ; .93 by .67 inch ; .93 by .66 inch. Two broods are
reared in the season, seldom three in this latitude.

About the middle of October, this species moves in its
Southern migration.

THE BLUE-BIRD. 175

FAMILY SAXICOLIDJE.1 THE ROCK INHABITERS.

Wings very long and much pointed, reaching heyond the middle of the short
square or emarginated tail, and one and a half times or more the length of the
latter; the spurious primary very short, the second quill longer than the fourth; in
the closed wing, the outer secondary reaches only about two-thirds the length of the
longest primary.

SIALIA, SWAINSON.

Sialia, SWAINSON, Zool. Jour., III. (Sept., 1827) 173. (8. Wilsonii.)
Bill short, stout, broader than high at the base, then compressed, slightly notched
at tip; rictus with short bristles; tarsi not longer than the middle toe; claws con-
siderably curved ; wings much longer than the tail, the first primary spurious, not
one-fourth the longest ; tail moderate, slightly forked.

SIALIA SIALIS. — Baird.
The Blue-bird; Eed-breasted Blue-bird.

Motacilla sialis, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1758) 187. Gmelin, Syst. Nat., I.
(1788) 989.

Sylvia sialis, Latham. Index Orn., II. (1790) 522. Wilson, Am. Orn., I. (1808) 56.
Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 84; V. (^839) 452.

Ampelis sialis, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 444.

DESCRIPTION.

Entire upper parts, including wings and tail, continuous and uniform azure-blue,
the cheeks of a duller tint of the same; beneath reddish-brown; the abdomen, anal
region, and under tail coverts white ; bill and feet black ; shafts of the quills and
tail feathers black; female with the blue lighter, and tinged with brown on the head
and back.

Length, six and seventy-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, four inches ; tail, two
and ninety one-hundredths inches.

THIS beautiful bird is a very common summer inhabitant
of all New England. It is one of the earliest in its
arrival from the South, often making its appearance by the
middle of March, sometimes even earlier. About the middle
of April, immediately after mating, the birds commence pre-^

paring their nest : this is made in a deserted woodpecker's

•

1 I have adopted the arrangement given by Professor Baird in his recent review,
in this family and the succeeding, as far as SYLVICOLID^

176 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

hole, in a martin's box, or in a knot-hole in a fence-post.
The materials used in its construction are generally soft
grasses, feathers, and wools: these are thrown together

without any great care, the object being to get comfort and
warmth in the early season in which the first litter of eggs
is laid. The eggs are either four or five in number : they
are of a light-blue color, with a very faint greenish tint.
Five specimens, taken at random from a great number,
exhibit the following measurements: .86 by .62 inch, .85
by .62 inch, .84 by .61 inch, .82 by .60 inch, .80 by .60
inch. This species raises two broods, usually in the same
nest, in the season.

The Blue-bird's habits are pretty well known; and its
insectivorous character, and social and happy disposition,
have established it as a great favorite.

THE BLUE-BIRD. 177

• Its song is a soft pleasing warble, which is often repeated,
and is uttered by the bird both when flying and perching.
In capturing insects, it has many of the habits of the Fly-
catchers. It remains perching on a post or twig until its
prey shows itself, when it suddenly flies at it flapping
its wings rapidly, seizes it, and returns to its perch to eat
it. It often descends quickly, and seizes a grasshopper that
is crawling on a straw or weed; and, if it misses its aim,
even follows it while flying.

About the last week of October, the parents and young
leave in a detached flock for the South.

12

178 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

FAMILY SYLVIID^. THE WOOD-INHABITERS.

" Bill slender, broad, and depressed at the base, distinctly notched and decurred
at the tip ; culmen sharp ridged at base ; frontal feathers reaching to the nostrils,
which are oval, with membrane above, and overhung — not concealed — by a few
bristles or by a feather ; rictal bristles extending beyond nostrils ; tarsi booted or
scutellate; basal joint of middle toe attached its whole length externally, half-way
internally ; primaries ten ; spurious primary about half the second, which is shorter
than the seventh; lateral toes equal." — BAIRD.

REGULUS, CUVIEK.

Regulus, CUVIER, Lecons d'Anat. Comp., 1799-1800 (Agassiz). (Type Motadlla
regulus, Linnaeus; Regulus cristatus, Koch.)

Bill slender, much shorter than the head, depressed at base, but becoming rapidly
compressed, moderately notched at tip ; culmen straight to near the tip, then gently
curved; commissure straight; gonys convex; rictus well provided with bristles;
nostril covered by a single bristly feather directed forwards; tarsi elongated,
exceeding considerably the middle toe, and without scutellae; lateral toes about
equal, hind toe with the claw longer than the middle one, and about half the toe;
claws all much curved ; first primary about one-third as long as the longest, second
equal to fifth or sixth ; tail shorter than the wings, moderately forked, the feathers
acuminate; colors olive-green above, whitish beneath; size very small.

BEGULUS CALENDULA. — Licit.
The Ruby-crowned Wren.

Motadlla calendula, Linnams. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 337.

Sylvia calendula, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 83.

Requlus calendula, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 415. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 546

DESCRIPTION.

Above dark greenish-olive, passing into bright olive-green on the rump and
outer edges of the wings and tail; crown with a large concealed patch of scarlet
feathers, which are white at the base; the under parts are grayish- white tinged
with pale olive-yellow, especially behind ; a ring round the eye, two bands on the
wing coverts, and the exterior of the inner tertials white. Young without the red
on the crown. The female differs very little in color. It is quite probable that the
species does not attain the red patch in the crown until the second year, as the
spring migrations of the species always embrace a considerable number with
the head perfectly plain.

Length, four and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, two and thirty-three one-
hundredths ; tail, one and eighty-five oue-hundredths.

THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. 179

THIS diminutive species ais a quite common spring and
autumn visitor in New England, arriving from the
South from April the 13th to the 20th in the different States.
They are generally first seen in evergreen woods; but
later are found among the opening foliage and blossoms of
forest and orchard trees, — particularly the oak, elm, maple,
and apple, — darting about, climbing on the small twigs,
and prying in all directions in search of minute flying
insects, their eggs and larvae, frequenting the tops of the
trees as well as the lower branches. By the 12th of May,
they depart for the North to rear their young, — breeding
in Canada, Labrador, &c. From about the 1st of October
to the last of that month, they are again with us, and are
seen diligently engaged in pursuit of food in our woods and
orchards.

They are not shy in their habits, and will permit one to
approach quite near them. I have noticed that they remain
in one cluster of twigs until it is completely cleared of
insects, and they often employ ten minutes in searching it
thoroughly.

The Ruby Crown winters in the more southern States of
the Union and in Mexico. On clear, fine days in spring, I
have heard this bird warble a beautiful song ; and it has
also a peculiar guttural, querulous call-note, which often
precedes this song.

REGULUS SATEAPA.— Licit.
The Golden-crested Wren.

Regulus satrapa, Lichtenstein. Verzeich. Doubl. (1823), No. 410 (Quotes Parus
satrapa, Illiger, — probably a museum name). Aud. Syn. (1839), 82. /&., Birds
Amer., II. (1841) 165.

Sylvia regulus, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 126.

Regulus tricolor, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832), 420. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 476

DESCRIPTION.

Above olive-green, brightest on the outer edges of the wing; tail feathers tinged
with brownish-gray towards the head; forehead, a line over the eye and a space

180 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

beneath it, white ; exterior of the crown Before and laterally black, embracing a
central patch of orange-red, encircled by gamboge-yellow ; a dusky space around
the eye; wing coverts with two yellowish-white bands, the posterior covering, a
similar band on the quills, succeeded by a broad dusky one; under parts dull
whitish.

The black of the head immediately succeeds the white frontal band as one of
about the same width, passing behind on each side. Generally the white line over
the eye is separated from the white forehead by a dusky lore. There is also a
dusky space beneath the whitish under the eye. The yellow of the crown
generally overlies and conceals the orange. The orange is wanting in the fe-
male. The young birds always appear to have at least the yellow and black of the
crown.

Length, under four inches ; wing, two and twenty-five one-hundredths inches ;
tail, one and eighty one-hundredths inches.

This handsome and active species is also a common bird,
coming to us from the North the last of September, but,
unlike the preceding, braving the. rigors of our winter;
and it leaves again by the 15th of April. Numbers, how-
ever, winter farther south ; and it is in spring and autumn
that the species is most abundant. On their arrival in
autumn, they frequent orchard trees, feeding among the
leaves of the apple-trees, which, at this season, are infested
with insects. Later, and in winter, they resort more often
to the evergreens, — such as the pine, spruce, and cedar,
but rove wherever they can find food, generally in company
with the Chickadees, and occasionally the White-breasted
Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, and Downy Woodpecker; the
whole forming a lively, busy winter party, as they perambu-
late the country, intent on gathering their now scanty food.
Their call-note at this season, indeed the only note that I
have heard at any time, is a faint pipe or whistle, sounded
quickly three or four times. I have never heard this bird
utter the querulous note assigned to it by Audubon and
Nuttall, but have often heard the Ruby Crown give this
strain. In spring, having similar habits and diet with the
Kuby Crowns, they frequent the same hunting-grounds, and
are seen hanging to the extremities of twigs, head down-
wards, and sometimes fluttering in the air in front of them,
seizing small flies, " and often exposing the golden feathers

THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. 181

of their head, which are opened and shut with great adroit-
ness." This species may possibly breed in Maine, having
been seen there in summer ; but I do not remember of its
having been found in the breeding season south of that
State.

182 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

FAMILY PARID^E.

Bill generally short, conical, not notched nor decurved at tip ; culmen broad and
rounded, not sharp-ridged at base ; nostrils rounded, basal, and concealed by dense
bristles or bristly feathers ; loral feathers rough and bristly, directed forwards ; tarsi
distinctly scutellate; basal joints of anterior toes abbreviated, that of middle toe
united about equally for three-fourths its length to the lateral, in Parince forming a
kind of palm for grasping ; outer lateral toe decidedly longer than the inner ; prima-
ries ten, the first much shorter than the second ; tail feathers without soft tips.

The two sub-families may be thus distinguished : —

Parince. — Body compressed ; bill shorter than the head ; wings rounded, equal
to or shorter than the rounded tail, second quill as short as the tenth; tarsus longer
than the middle toe and claw, which are about equal to the hinder ; soles of toes
widened into a palm; plumage rather soft and lax.

' Sittince. — Body depressed ; bill about equal to or longer than the head ; wings
much pointed, much longer than the nearly even tail ; tarsus shorter than the mid-
dle toe and claw, which are about equal to the hinder; plumage more compact.

Sub-Family PARINJE. — The Titmice.

PARUS, LINNAEUS.

Parus, LINN^TUS, Syst Nat., 1735 (Agassiz). (Type P. major.)
Head not crested; body and head stout; tail moderately long, and slightly
rounded; bill conical, not very stout, the upper and under outlines very gently and
slightly convex ; tarsus but little longer than middle toe ; crown and throat gener-
ally black.

PARUS ATRICAPILLUS. — Linnoeus.

The Black-cap Titmouse; Chick-a-dee.

Pdrus atricapillus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 341. Wilson, Am. Orn., I
(1808) 134. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838).
Paruspalustris, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 79.

DESCRIPTION.

Second quill as long as the secondaries; tail very slightly rounded, lateral
feathers about ten one-hundredths shorter than middle ; back brownish-ashy ; top of
head and throat black, sides of head between them white, beneath whitish; brown-
ish-white on the sides ; outer tail feathers, some of primaries, and secondaries con-
spicuously margined with white.

Length, five inches; wing, two and fifty one-hundredths inches; tail, two and
fifty one-hundredths inches.

THIS well-known little bird is a very common resident
of all New England throughout the year. It is one
of the very few species that are as abundant in the depths of

THE BLACK-CAP TITMOUSE.

183

Hudson's Bay Titmouse, upper fig.
Black-cap Titmouse, lower fig.

winter as through the summer, and it is deservedly one
of the greatest favorites. It
commences building as early as
the second week in May. The
nest is placed in a hole exca-
vated in a dead tree or stump.
This hole is, like that of the
Woodpecker, gradually widened
at the bottom, and is about nine
or ten inches in depth. The'
nest is constructed of soft moss
and the hairs of different ani-
mals. One beautiful specimen
that I found in the northern
part of Maine is composed of
the hair of the common deer,
moose, and hare, a few feathers
of the Ruffed Grouse, and a few fragments of soft mosses.
They are woven into a warm and comfortable tenement.

The eggs are from six to ten in number, usually about
six. They are of a nearly pure-white color, with a faint
reddish tint, and are spotted thickly, at the greater end,
with markings of reddish-brown : their form is nearly spher-
ical, and their dimensions vary from .65 by .52 inch to .60
by .50 inch. Two broods are often reared in the season.

The habits of this little bird are so well known, and have
been written about so much, that any description here is
almost superfluous. It is eminently kindly and sociable in
its disposition; and, although almost always in company
with other birds, — such as the Golden-crested and Ruby-
crowned Wrens, Nuthatches, <fcc., — it is never seen quar
relling with them, but fraternizes with them in the most
cordial manner. Often, when seated in the woods, have I
been surrounded by them ; and their curiosity to learn the
cause of my presence and my employment was so great,
that they would often perch on a twig within two feet of my

184 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

head, and scrutinize me with their shining black eyes in a
manner amusing to witness.

Ostensibly, they were searching beneath the bark for their
food; but really they were watching me. I once had one
perch on my boot, and look in my face with a perfectly plain
" wha1>do-you-want-here " expression on its countenance.
Always at short intervals, while perched in trees, and some-
times while flying, this bird utters its song, which consists
of several notes, that may be described by the syllables
cheweek-a-dee-dee-dee, cheweek-a-dee-dee-dee, emitted in a
clear, sweet tone, easily recognized, and not to be mistaken
for any other song. The flight of this species is wavering,
and not protracted; the bird seldom extending it further
than from one tree to another. When in the air at any
considerable height, it resembles the flight of the Wood-
peckers, being undulating and partly gliding.

In some localities, the Titmouse is regarded as injurious,
from the fact that it is .often seen among the branches and
leaves of the fruit-trees and shrubs, pecking off and destroy-
ing the buds. It does not do this to the bud for food, but
really for the grub contained in it. If these buds be exam-
ined after the Chick-a-dee has thrown them away, the bur-
row of a grub or caterpillar will appear in the very heart
of them. The bird is able to discover the presence of these
vermin much more readily than man could ; and it is thus
able to assail them at a period of their existence when they
are doing the most harm. But it is not the insects and
their larvae alone that he destroys. His microscopic eyes
enable him to discover their eggs deposited on and in the
crevices of the bark and in the buds, and in an instant he
can destroy the whole future brood. The eggs of the moth
of the destructive leaf-rolling caterpillar, those of the canker-
worm, the apple-tree moth, and others of these well-known
plagues, are greedily eaten by it ; and this is in the inclem-
ent winter, when most of our other birds have abandoned
as for a more genial climate.

THE HUDSON'S BAY TITMOUSE. 185

In the summer time, the Chick-a-dee's labors are more
easily noticed ; and as he raises a large brood of young, the
female laying six or eight eggs at a litter, he is very busy
through the whole day in capturing vast quantities of cater-
pillars, flies, and grubs. It has been calculated that a single
pair of these birds destroy, on the average, not less than five
hundred of these pests daily ; a labor which could hardly be
surpassed by a man, even if he gave his whole time to the
task.

" Moreover, the man could not be as successful at so
small a cost ; for, setting aside the value of his time and
the amount of a laborer's daily wages, he could not reach the
denser and loftier twigs on which the caterpillars revel, and
which the Titmouse can traverse with perfect ease. No
man can investigate a tree, and clear it of the insect hosts
that constantly beleaguer it, without doing some damage to
the buds and young leaves by his rough handling ; whereas
the Chick-a-dee trips along the branches, peeps under every
leaf, swings himself round upon his perch, spies out
every insect, and secures it with a peck so rapid that it is
hardly perceptible."

In some observations made on the habits of this and
some other birds in Paris, it was found that the Titmouse
destroys, at the lowest computation, over two hundred
thousand eggs alone of noxious insects in the course of a
year. That one small bird is thus able to accomplish so
much good in destroying these myriads of vermin is an
appeal to the good sense of the farmer, for the protection of
the whole class, that should not be slighted.

PAEUS HUDSONICUS. — Forster.
The Hudson's Bay Titmouse..

Parus Hudsonicus, Forster. Philos. Trans., LXII. (1772) 383, 430. Aud. Orn.
Biog., II. (1834) 543. Ib., Birds Amer., II. (1841) 155.

DESCRIPTION.

Above yellowish olivaceous-brown ; top of head purer brown, not very different
in tint; chin and throat dark sooty-brown; sides of head white; beneath white;

186 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

sides and anal regions light brownish-chestnut; no whitish on wings or tail; tail
nearly even, or slightly emarginate and rounded; lateral feathers about twenty one-
hundredths inch shortest.

Length, about five inches; wing, two and forty one-hundredths inches; tail, two
and sixty-six one-hundredths inches.

Hob.— North-eastern portions of North America to the North Atlantic States.

This bird occurs in New England only in the most
northern parts of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont,
where it is sometimes resident. I have never met with it
alive, and will be obliged to avail myself of Audubon's
description of its habits, nest, &c. He says, in describing
the nest: —

" It was placed at the height of not more than three feet from
the ground, in the hollow of a decayed low stump, scarcely thicker
than a man's leg ; the whole so rotten that it crumbled to pieces on
being touched. I cautiously removed the woody enclosure, and
took possession of the nest, which I obtained in perfect order. It
was shaped like a purse, eight inches in depth, two in diameter
inside; its sides about half an inch thick. It was entirely com-
posed of the finest fur of different quadrupeds, but principally of
the great northern hare, so thickly and ingeniously matted through-
out, that it looked as if it had been * felted ' by the hand of man.
It was quite elastic throughout, and rather wider at the bottom,
probably in consequence of the natural growth of the young."

This hardy little bird resembles in its manners the other
species of its interesting and beautiful tribe : its notes
resemble those of our southern Black-headed Titmouse, but
are much weaker.

Sub-Family SITTING. — The Nuthatches.
SITTA, LINNAEUS.

Sitta, LINSUEUS, Syst. Nat. 1735 (Agassiz).

Bill subulate, acutely pointed, compressed, about as long as the head; culmen
and commissure nearly straight; gonys convex and ascending; nostrils covered by a
tuft of bristles directed forward ; tarsi stout, scutellate, about equal to the middle
toe, much shorter than the hinder, the claw of which is half the total length ; outer

THE WHITE-BELLIED NUTHATCH. 187

lateral toe much longer than inner, and nearly equal to the middle ; tail very short,
broad, and nearly even, the feathers soft and truncate ; wings reaching nearly to the
end of the tail, long and acute, the first primary one-third of (or less) the third, or
longest.

SITTA CAROLINENSIS.— Gmelin.
The White-bellied Nuthatch.

Sitta Carolinensis, Latham. Ind. Orn., I. (1790) 262. Wilson, Am. Orn., I.
(1808) 40. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 581. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 299; V. (1839) 473.

DESCRIPTION.

Above ashy-blue ; top of head and neck black ; udder parts and sides of head, to
a short distance above the eye, white ; under tail coverts and tibial feathers brown ;
concealed primaries white; bill stout.

Length, about six inches ; wing, about three and three-quarters inches.

Hob. — Eastern North America to the high central plains. West of this, replaced
by S. aculeata.

-This species is a not uncommon one in New England,
where it is found through the winter. In the more north-
ern districts, it is a summer resident; and it regularly
breeds as far south as Massachusetts. A nest was found in
Cambridge, Mass., in June, 1865. It was made in an exca-
vation in a dead tree (or rather stump), which was carried
to the depth of perhaps eight inches. The nest was com-
posed of soft grasses, hairs, and a few feathers : these were
arranged compactly in the bottom of the hole to the depth
of perhaps an inch and a half. The eggs were six in num-
ber, four of them are now before me : they are ovoidal in
shape, of a beautiful roseate-white color, and covered more
or less thickly with fine spots and dashes of light-reddish.
Their dimensions are .80 by .61 inch, .80 by .60 inch, .78
by .58 inch, .75 by .57 inch. Another specimen, collected
in the Adirondack Mountains, is marked more sparingly
with coarser and darker spots : its dimensions are .70 by
.57 inch.

The habits of this species are very similar to those of the
small woodpeckers ; and they are equally industrious with
those birds in their search for the larvae and eggs of insects,
which they obtain by boring in the bark, and knocking off

188 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

the moss and dead pieces of trees with their sharp, powerful
bffl.

In traversing the limbs of trees, they resemble in their
movements the Downy Woodpecker ; and their flight is also
similar, to that bird's. The note is a short, harsh call, simi-
lar to the syllables eha-cha-cha-chd, uttered quickly, and with
emphasis. *

SITTA CANADENSIS.— Linnceus.
The Bed-bellied Nuthatch.

8taa Canadensis, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat, I. (1766) 177. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 583.
Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 24; V. 474.

Sitta varia, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 40.

DESCRIPTION.

Above ashy-blue ; top of head black ; a white line above and a black one through
the eye ; chin white ; rest of under parts brownish-rusty.

Length, about four and a half inches; wing, two and two-thirds inches.
Hab. —North America to the Rocky Mountains, probably also to the Pacific.

The same remarks as to distribution, habits, &c., will
apply to this species as to the preceding. It is quite abun-
dant as a summer resident in the wilds of Maine; and its
notes are almost the first sound heard by the traveller on
awakening in the early morning. I have sometimes heard
its note in the night, while floating in my canoe on the
bosom of some tranquil lake or between the banks of a
sombre river ; and frequently they seemed to be high up
in the air, as if the bird had taken flight. These notes
are a sort of drawling repetition of the syllable chape, like
perhaps the following : Cheadpe, cheadpe, cheadpe.

The nest is built in a hole in a tree or stump', usually
excavated by the birds for the purpose : it is of the same
description as that of the preceding, as are also the eggs
with the exception of size ; the present being considerably
smaller, averaging .64 by .53 inch.

Audubon, in describing the nest of the Red-bellied Nut-
hatch, says, —

THE RED-BELLIED NUTHATCH. 189

" I found it building its nest near Eastport, in Maine, on the
19th of May, before the Blue-bird had made its appearance there,
and while much ice still remained on the northern exposures. The
nest is dug in a low, dead stump, seldom more than four feet from
the ground ; both the male and the female working by turns until
they have got to the depth of about fourteen inches. The eggs,
four in number, are small, and of a white color, tinged with a deep
blush, and sprinkled with reddish dots. They raise, I believe,
only one brood in the season."

Although I found a pair on Nantucket in June, 1866,
which had young without doubt, the only other occurrence
of this bird's breeding in New England that has come to
my knowledge was in West Roxbury, Mass., in June, 1866,
when a nest was found in an old stump by my young friend,
William Minot, jun. The eggs were four in number, and
were of the description given above.

190 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

FAMILY CEI^THIIADJE. THE CREEPERS.

First primary very short, less than half the second; outer lateral toe much
longest; hind toe exceeding both the middle toe and the tarsus, which is scutellate
anteriorly, and very short ; bill slender, as long as, or longer than, the head, much
compressed and greatly decurved ; gonys concave, without any notch ; entire basal
joint of the middle toes united to the lateral, the feathers stiffened at the tips ; tail
long, cuneate.

CERTHIA, LINN.EUS.

Certhia, LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat., 1735 (Gray). (Type C. familiaris.)
Bill as long as the head, slender, much compressed and decurved from the base,
without notch or rictal bristles ; tarsi distinctly scutellate, very short, not longer than
the outer lateral toes, which much exceeds the inner, reaching nearly as far as the
middle toe ; hind toe longer than the middle one, its claw more than half the total
length ; claws all very long and acute ; tail rather longer than the wings, arched or
vaulted, graduated or cuneate ; the feathers very acute at the tips, the shafts stiff-
ened; first primary rather more than one-third the fourth or longest one; color
above brown, streaked with white, beneath white.

CEETHIA AMERICANA.—

The American Creeper.

Certhia Americana, Bonaparte. Consp. List (1838).

Certkia familiaris, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 122. Aud. Orn, Biog., V.
(1839) 158.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill about the length of the head; above dark-brown, with a slightly rufous
shade, each feather streaked centrally, but not abruptly, with whitish; rump rusty;
beneath almost silky-white ; the under tail coverts with a faint rusty tinge ; a white
streak over the eye ; the ear coverts streaked with whitish ; tail feathers brown cen-
trally, the edges paler yellowish-brown; wings with a transverse bar of pale reddish-
white across both webs.

Length, about five and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, two and sixty one-
hundredths inches ; tail, two and ninety one-hundredths inches.

Hob. — North America generally.

THIS species is a resident of the three southern New-
England States through the year : in the other States,
it is not a common summer visitor. It arrives from the
South about the middle of April, and, on pairing, com-
mences building about the second week in May. The nest

THE AMERICAN CREEPER. 191

is built in a hollow limb of a tree, in a deserted nest of a
woodpecker or squirrel, or a hole in a fence-post. Usually
the locality is chosen in the deep woods, and seldom near
dwellings or in the orchards. The materials used in the
construction are soft grasses, feathers, and the bark of
the cedar and grape-vine. The eggs are usually about six in
number : their color is a dull-gray ; and they are marked,
thickest near the great end, with small spots of reddish-
brown, and a few dabs of a darker color. Mr. Allen speaks
of a nest being found " in a large elm in Court Square,
Springfield, about ten feet from the ground, and built behind
a strip of thick bark that projected in such a way as to leave
a protected cavity behind it." Dimensions of eggs average
about .70 by .50 inch. But one brood is reared in the
season in New England.

192 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

FAMILY TROGLODYTUXE. THE WRENS.

" Rictal bristles wanting ; the loral feathers with bristly points ; the frontal feathers
generally not reaching to nostrils; nostrils varied, exposed or not covered by
feathers, and generally overhung by a scale-like membrane ; bill usually without
notch; wings much rounded, about equal to tail, which is graduated; primaries ten,
the first generally about half the second; basal joint of middle toe usually united to
half the basal joint of inner, and the whole of that of the outer, or more; lateral
toes about equal, or the outer a little the longer; tarsi scutellate." — BAIRD.

CISTOTHORUS, CABANIS.

dstothorus, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. (1850-51), 77. (Type Troglodytes stellaris.)
• Bill about as long as the head or much shorter, much compressed, not notched,
gently decurved from the middle; the gonys slightly concave or straight; toes
reaching to the end of the tail ; tarsus longer than the middle toe ; hind toe longer
than the lateral, shorter than the middle, lateral toes about equal, hind toe longer
than or equal to its digit; wings rather longer than the tail, all the feathers of which
are much graduated, the lateral only two-thirds the middle; the feathers narrow;
back black, conspicuously streaked with white.

CISTOTHORUS PALUSTRIS. — Cabanis.
The Long-billed Marsh Wren.

Certhia palustris, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 58.

Troglodytes palustris, Bonaparte. Obs. Wils. (1824), No. 66. Aud. Orn. Biog.,
I. (1831)500; V. (1839)467.

Thryothorus palustris, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 439.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill about as long as head; tail and wing nearly equal; upper parts of a dull
reddish-brown, except on the crown, interscapular region, outer surface of tertials,
and tail feathers, which are almost black, r — the first with a median patch like the
ground-color; the second with short streaks of white, extending round on the sides
of the neck; the third indented with brown; the fourth barred with whitish, de-
creasing in amount from the outer feather, which is marked from the base to the
fifth, where it is confined to the tips ; the two middle feathers above like the back,
and barred throughout with dusky; beneath rather pure-white, the sides and under
tail coverts of a lighter shade of brown than the back ; a white streak over the eye.

Length, five and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, two and eight one-hundredths
inches ; tail, two inches.

Hob. — North America from Atlantic to Pacific, north to Greenland. — REIN-

HARDT.

THE LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN. 193

THIS interesting and not generally well-known little bird
is a summer inhabitant of New England. Although
not uncommon in Massachusetts and the other two southern
States, it seldom ventures north of the first State, where it
is confined to the neighborhood of the salt-water marshes.
It makes its appearance about the middle of May ; and its
presence is soon made known by its lively, chattering song,
and grotesque dodgings among the reeds and tall grass in
which it makes its home. I cannot refrain from giving the
exceedingly interesting account of its habits, &c., by Wilson.
-He says, —

" The Marsh Wren arrives in Pennsylvania about the middle of
May, or as soon as the reeds and a species of nymphea, usually
called splatter-docks, which grow in great luxuriance along the tide-
water of our rivers, are sufficiently high to shelter it. To such
places it almost wholly limits its excursions, seldom venturing far
from the river. Its food consists of flying insects and their larvae,
and a species of green grasshopper that inhabits the reeds. As to its
motes, it would be mere burlesque to call them by the name of song.
Standing on the reedy borders of the Schuylkill or Delaware, in the
month of June, you hear a low crackling sound, somewhat similar
to that produced by air-bubbles forcing their way through mud or
boggy ground when trod upon. This is the song of the Marsh
Wren : but as, among the human race, it is not given to one man
to excel in every thing, and yet each perhaps has something pecu-
liarly his own ; so, among birds, we find a like distribution of talents
and peculiarities. The little bird now before us, if deficient and
contemptible in singing, excels in the art of design, and constructs
a nest which, in durability, warmth, and convenience, is scarcely
inferior to one, and far superior to many, of its more musical breth
ren. This is formed outwardly of wet rushes mixed with mud,
well intertwined, and fashioned into the form of a cocoanut. A
small hole is left two-thirds up for entrance, the upper edge of
which projects like a pent-house over the lower to prevent the
admission of rain. The inside is lined with fine soft grass, and
sometimes feathers ; and the outside, when hardened by the sun,
resists every kind of weather. This nest is generally suspended

13

194 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

among the reeds, above the reach of the highest tides, and is tied
so fast to every part of the surrounding reeds as to bid defiance to
the winds and the waves. The eggs are usually six, of a dark-fawn
color, and very small. The young leave the nest about the 20th of
June, and they generally have a second brood in the same season."

I am unable to add any thing of value to this description.
Several nests in my collection, from various localities in
New England and elsewhere, agree with the above descrip-
tion of nest. They are formed of reeds and grasses twined
strongly together in a bulky fabric; and the entrance, a
small round hole, is on one side (facing the south always,
I believe). Tbe cavity is deep, and lined with soft grasses
and feathers. The eggs are of a mahogany-color, with fine
dots covering the entire surface. These dots are darker than
the ground-color, and so fine as to be hardly visible. A great
number of eggs in my collection vary from .60 by .48 to .56
by .42 inch in dimensions.

CISTOTHORUS STELLARIS. — Cabanis.
The Short-billed Marsh Wren.

Cistothorus stettaris, Cabanis. Mus. Hein. (1851), 77. Type.

Troglodytes brevirostris, Nuttall. Trans. Amer. Acad. Arts and Sc., New Ser., I.
(1833) 98, with figure (quoted in Manual, though date of volume is subsequent to
1832). Ib., Man., I. (1832) 436. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 427; V. (1839) 469.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill very short, scarcely half the length of the head ; wing and tail about equal ;
hinder part of the crown and the scapular and interscapular region of the back and
rump almost black, streaked with white ; tail dusky, the feathers barred throughout
with brown (the color grayish on the under surface) ; beneath white ; the sides, upper
part of the breast, and under tail coverts reddish-brown ; upper parts, with the excep-
tions mentioned, reddish-brown.

Length, four and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, one and seventy-five one-
hundredths inch ; tail, one and seventy-five one-hundredths inch.

JToi.— Eastern United States to the Loup fork of Platte.

Like the preceding species, this bird is limited to the
southern districts of New England ; Massachusetts being its
northern limit. It makes its first appearance about the
middle of May, sometimes a little earlier. The nest is built

TROGLODYTES. 195

about the last week in May : it is constructed of grasses and
sedges, and is pensile, or rather suspended in tall grass in
fresh-water meadows, which is woven into the body of the
fabric. I have never noticed any mud in the materials, and
doubt if any is used. The entrance is on the side ; it is a
small hole, just under the greatest bulge of the nest : the
whole fabric is lined with soft down from flying-seeds, and
sometimes a few feathers. The eggs are sometimes eight or
nine in number, usually about six : their color is pure-white,
and the shell is extremely thin and brittle. The dimensions
vary from .57 by .44 to .50 by .40 inch. But one brood is
reared in New England.

The habits of this bird are not so well known as those of
the preceding, as it is a much more shy bird, and always
avoids the presence of man. When its nest is approached,
it hovers near the intruder, chattering and scolding in a
violent manner. It is hardly ever seen in the neighborhood
of the salt water, and seems to be found only in the mead-
ows in the vicinity of fresh water : its food consists princi-
pally of small insects, and spiders, which it is almost
constantly employed in capturing. Its song is short, and
consists of a repetition of the syllables, 'che, 'chet, de-de-de-
de-de. This is uttered when 'the bird is perched on a low
bush, or tuft of grass. A peculiarity of this bird, and also
of the preceding species, is its habit of building a number of
nests in the same season : it is believed by many persons,
that this is done to secure protection ; because, when a
person searches for the nest occupied by the female, the
male always decoys the intruder to the neighborhood of one
of these empty ones.

TROGLODYTES, VIEILLOT.

Troglodytes, VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept., II. (1807) 52. (Type T. cedon.)

Wings longer than the tail, or nearly equal; tail rounded, the lateral feathers

graduated; hind claw shorter than the rest of the toe; back brown, obsoletely

waved' with dusky ; bill nearly as long as the head.

196

ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

TEOGLODTTES JEDON. - VMUat.
The House Wren.

Troglodytes cedm, Vieillot. Ois. Am. Sept., II. (1807) 62. And. Ora. Biog., I.
(1831)427; V. (1839)470.

Sylvia domestica, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 129.
Troglodytes fuhus, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 422.

DESCRIPTION.

Tail and wings about equal; bill shorter than the head; above reddish-brown,
darker towards the head, brighter on the rump ; the feathers everywhere, except on
the head and neck, barred with dusky; obscurely so on the back, and still less
on the rump ; all the tail feathers barred from the base ; the contrast more vivid on
the exterior ones ; beneath pale fulvous-white, tinged with light-brownish across the
breast; the posterior parts rather dark-brown, obscurely banded; under tail coverts
whitish, with dusky bars ; an indistinct line over the eye, eyelids, and loral region,
whitish ; cheeks brown, streaked with whitish.

Length, four and ninety one-hundredths inches; wing, two and eight one-hun-
dredths inches ; tail, two inches.

Hob. — Eastern United States to the Missouri, or to the high central plains.

The bill of this species, even from the extreme base, is shorter than the head.
The wing is very nearly equal to the tail, and reaches over its basal fourth. The
tail is moderately graduated, the lateral feather about .32 of an inch shorter than the
middle. The outstretched feet reach about to the end of the tail.

There are a few whitish spots on the wing coverts.

This interesting and well-known little bird is very gen-
erally distributed throughout New England. It arrives from
the South as early as the first week in May, and soon appears

about its old haunts in the gar-
den and orchard. The famili-
arity of this species with man
is well known ; and comfortable
quarters are provided for its
reception, oftentimes in the
piazza of a dwelling-house, or
in the casement of a window.
This little bird is rather quar-
relsome, and often drives from
its home the Blue-bird and Martin, occupying the prepared
nest for its own domicile. When building a nest of its own,
it selects a hole in a tree, or post in a fence, and fills the
whole cavity with sticks and twigs : this mass is hollowed

THE WINTER WREN. 197

in the centre, and lined with fine grasses, feathers, wool, and
other soft materials. The eggs are usually six in number,
sometimes eight, and I have known as many as ten being
found ia one nest : their color is a pale-reddish flesh-color,
covered with fine dots or sprinkling of a darker color.
Dimensions vary from .62 by .50 to .59 by .48 inch. Occa-
sionally, two broods are reared in the season ; but, as a
general thing, one brood only. The wrens are extremely
beneficial in the garden and orchard : they destroy immense
numbers of insects and their larvae, and are, in consequence
of their sociable habits and pleasant dispositions, great favor-
ites. It is hardly necessary to say a good word in their
favor, as they are well appreciated and protected.

As with many other birds, this species, although very
generally distributed, is not, by any means, regularly spread
through these States. It may be quite abundant in one
town ; and in another, perhaps five miles off, not an indi-
vidual is to be seen. In Cambridge, Mass.,' it is one of the
most abundant of birds ; but, in Newton or Dorchester, it is
comparatively rare. I cannot account for this irregularity,
and have never heard a plausible or satisfactory reason for
it given. Some species of insects, which are favorites with
it for food, may possibly be found .less abundantly in some
localities than in others ; but I am unable to say if this is
the case, since I do not know of any particular insect which
this bird prefers. Numbers that I have examined, con-
tained in their stomachs spiders in abundance ; but what
species they were, or what were their peculiar localities, I
am ignorant.

TROGLODYTES HYEMALIS. — VieiUot.
The Winter Wren.

Sylvia troglodytes, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 139.

Troglodytes hyemalis, VieiUot. Nouv. Diet., XXXIV. (1819) 514. Aud. Orn.
Biog., IV. (1838) 430.

Troglodytes Europceus, Bonaparte. Obs. Wils. (1825), No. 137. Nutt. Man., I.
1832) 427.

198 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill very straight, slender, and conical; shorter than the head; tail considerably
shorter than the wings, which reach to its middle; upper parts reddish-brown,
becoming brighter to the rump and tail ; everywhere, except on the head and upper
part of the back, with transverse bars of dusky and of lighter; scapulars and wing
coverts with spots of white; beneath pale reddish-brown, barred on the posterior
half of the body with dusky and whitish, and spotted with white more anteriorly ;
outer web of primaries similarly spotted with pale brownish-white; an indistinct
pale line over the eye.

Length, about four inches ; wing, one and sixty-six one-hundredths inch ; tail,
one and twenty-six one-hundredths inch.

Hob. — North America generally.

This bird is quite abundant in the three northern New-
England States, and, as a winter visitor, is not uncommon
in the others. Wilson gives the following account of its
habits : —

"This little stranger visits us from the north in the month of
October, sometimes remaining with us all the winter, and is always
observed, early in spring, on his route back to his breeding-place.
In size, color, song, and manners, he approaches nearer to the
European Wren (M. troglodytes) than any other species we have.
During his residence here, he frequents the projecting banks of
creeks, old roots, decayed logs, small bushes, and rushes, near
watery places : he even approaches the farm-house, rambles about
the wood-pile, creeping among the interstices like a mouse. With
tail erect, which is his constant habit, mounted on some projecting
point or pinnacle, he sings with great animation. Even in the
yards, gardens, and outhouses of the city, he appears familiar, and
quite at home. In short, he possesses almost all the habits of the
European species. He is, however, migratory, which may be
owing to the superior coldness of our continent. Never having
met with the nest and eggs, I am unable to say how nearly they
approximate to those of the former."

I know nothing of the breeding habits, nest, or eggs of
this species. It has, while in its summer home, one of the
most beautiful warbling songs that I ever heard.

THL WARBLERS. 199

FAMILY SYLVICOLID^. THE WARBLERS.

Primaries nine, the first quill nearly as long as the second or third ; tarsi dis-
tinctly scutellate the whole length anteriorly; bill conical, slender, or depressed,
usually half the length of head, more or less bristled or notched ; nostrils oval or
rounded; lateral toes nearly or quite equal, and shorter than the middle; the basal
joint of the middle free nearly to its base externally, united for about half inter-
nally.

This family is well marked by its scutellate tarsi in front, the absence of any
spurious or short first primary, and the rather weak, slender, conical, or depressed,
sometimes decurved, bill. The base of the bill, with the nostrils, is not covered in
any genera by setae, as in Parus, Alauda, &c. In many respects, there is a close
relationship to some Fringillidce ; and there are some forms, such as the Tanagridce,
which it is difficult to assign to the one family rather than to the other. The chief
difference, however, is to be found in the longer, slenderer, and less abruptly conical
bill of the Tanagers.

The following synopsis will Serve to point out the sub-families of the Sylvi-

MOTACILLIN^E. — Bill slender; culmen slightly concave at base; legs long;
claws but little curved ; hind toe considerably longer than the middle one ; its claw
much longer (twice) than the middle claw; all the claws but slightly curved ; ter-
tials elongated, much longer than the secondaries.

SYLVICOLIN^E. — Bill rather slender, conical or depressed; culmen straight or
convex ; hind toe shorter than the middle ; the claws all much curved ; hind claw
not conspicuously longer than the middle one ; when the hind toe is lengthened, it
is usually in the digit, not the claw ; tertials generally not longer than the second-

— Bill very stout, conical, as high as broad, or considerably
broader than high ; tarsi short, not exceeding the hind toe ; claws much curved, the
hinder scarcely larger than the middle anterior.

Sub-Family MOTACILLIN^E. — The Wagtails.
ANTHUS, BECHSTEIN.

Anthus, BECHSTEIN, Gemein. Naturg. Deutschl., 1802 (Agassiz). (Type Alauda
spinoletta.)

Bill slender, much attenuated, and distinctly notched; a few short bristles at the
base; culmen concave at the base; tarsi quite distinctly scutellate, longer than
the middle toe, inner lateral toe the longer; hind toe rather shorter than the tarsus,
but longer than the middle toe, owing to the long, attenuated, and moderately
curved hind claw, which is considerably more than half the total length of the toe;
tail rather long, emarginate ; wing very long, considerably longer than the length-
ened tail, reaching to its middle; the first primary nearly equal to the longest; the
tertials almost as long as the primaries.

200 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

ANTHUS LUDOVICIANUS.— Licht.
The Tit-lark.

Alauda Ludwiciana, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 793.

Anthus Ludavicianus, Licht. Verz. (1823), 37, No. 421. Aud. Syn. (1839), 94.
Alauda rufa, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. (1812) 89.

Anthus spinoletta, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. (1832) 408, V. (1839), 449. Nutt
Man., I. (1832)450.

Anthus pipiens, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. (1832) 408, V. (1839) 449.

DESCRIPTION.

(Female, in spring.) Above olive-brown, each feather slightly darker towards
the central portion ; beneath pale dull-buff, or yellowish -brown, with a maxillary
series of dark-brown spots and streaks across the breast and along sides; ring
round the eye, and superciliary stripe yellowish ; central tail feathers like the back,
others dark blackish-brown, the external one white, except at the base within, a
white spot at the end of the second ; primaries edged with whitish, other quills with
pale-brownish.

Length, six and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, three and forty-five one-
hundredths inches ; tail, two and ninety-five one-hundredths inches.

Hob. — North America generally. Greenland (Reinhardt). Accidental in Eu-
rope.

THIS bird is a not uncommon fall and- spring visitor in
New England; and, in the southern parts of these
States, in mild seasons, it remains through the entire winter.
It is most frequently found in the neighborhood of the sea-
coast or its large marshes, and in large tracts of level, dry,
weedy pastures and fields.

While with us, it flies in loose, detached flocks, in a jerk-
ing, irregular sort of flight, uttering occasionally its feeble,
lisping queet, queSt. It seems always busily employed,
either on the beach, in gathering the small shell-fish and
animalcules thrown up by the tide, or, in pastures and
stubble-fields, in gleaning the seeds of weeds and grasses :
it also feeds upon spiders and such insects as it is able to
find in the dead grass and weeds.

As this species breeds in the most northern parts of the
continent, I am unable to give any account of its breeding
habits ; and, having no egg in my collection, I can give
no description of it here. Nuttall says the " nest is built
in the fissures of cliffs, is composed of dry grass and a

THE BLACK AND WHITE CREEPER. 201

little moss, and^ lined with finer blades of the former and a
few long hairs. The eggs are four or five in number, of
a sullied-white color, and covered with small brown spots,
collected chiefly towards the larger end."

Sub-Family SYLVICOLIN^E. — The Wood-warblers.
MNIOTILTA, VIEILLOT.

Mniotilta, VIEILLOT, Analyse, 1816 (Agassiz).

General form sylvicoline; bill rather long, compressed, shorter than the head,
with very short rictal bristles and a shallow notch ; wings considerably longer than
the tail, which is slightly rounded; first quill shorter than second and third; tarsi
rather short ; toes long, middle one equal to the tarsus ; hind toe nearly as long, the
claw considerably shorter than its digit. Color white streaked with black.

This genus differs from other Sylvicolines in the elongation of the toes, especially
the hinder one, by means of which the species is enabled to move up and down the
trunks of trees, like the true Creepers. But one species is recognized as North
American, although Nuttall describes a second.

MNIOTILTA VARIA.— WeiUot.
The Black and White Creeper.

Motacilla varia, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 333.

Mniotilta varia, Vieillot. Analyse (1016). lb., Galerie Ois., I. (1834) 276. Aud.
Syn. (1839), 71. 7&., Birds Am., II. (1841) 105.

Sylvia varia, Bonaparte. Syn. (1828), 81. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 384.
Certhia maculata, Wilson. Am. Orn., III. (1811) 22.

.» DESCRIPTION.

Bill with the upper mandible considerably decurved, the lower straight; general
color of the male black, the feathers broadly edged with white ; the head all round
black, with a median stripe in the crown and neck above, a superciliary and a max-
illary one of white ; middle of belly, two conspicuous bands on the wings, outer
edges of tertials and inner of all the wing and tail feathers, and a spot on the inner
webs of the outer two tail feathers, white ; rump and upper tail coverts black,
edged externally with white; female similar; the under parts white, obsoletely
streaked with black on the sides and under tail coverts.

Length, five inches; wing, two and eighty-five one-hundredths inches; tail, two
and twenty-five one-hundredths inches.

Hob. — Eastern North America to Missouri River, south to Guatemala.

This is a rather common summer inhabitant of all New
England. It arrives from the South before the 20th of

202 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

April, and sometimes is seen by the first week in that
month. In its habits, it resembles both the Creepers and
Warblers ; moving about the bodies and limbs of trees with
the ease of the former, and gleaning amongst the foliage the
insect hosts like the latter. I have sometimes seen it seize
a flying insect while on the wing, although this must have
been a departure from its general habits.

The song of the male during the mating season is a sort
of lisping rendition of the syllables whechee, whSchee,
whechee, whechee, uttered at first loud, and gradually weak-
ening to a subdued note, like cheet. At other times, it has
only a faint chirp or chink, which is uttered by both sexes.
About the 10th of May, after the birds have paired, they
commence building the nest : this, Audubon says, in Louis-
iana " is usually placed in some small hole in a tree, and
is composed of mosses in a dry state, and lined with cottony
substances." In New England, it is almost always built, or
rather placed, on the ground ; the situation is chosen usually
beneath an overhanging point of rock, or beneath a fallen
trunk of a tree : it is made of mosses, straw, leaves, and
other soft materials, and is lined with cotton from ferns,
soft grass, or hair. The eggs are laid by the middle of
May. They are usually four or five in number : their color
is white, with a slight cream tinge ; and they are spotted
irregularly with fine dots and confluent blotches of reddish-
brown, thickest near the largest end of the egg. Dimen-
sions of four eggs found in a nest in Reading, Mass. : .66
by .54 inch, .66 by .54 inch, .65 by .54 inch, .65 by .54
inch. Two broods are occasionally reared by this species in
southern New England.

Probably the greater number breed in more northern
localities ; for it is much more common in the spring and
fall than in summer. By the 10th of September, they move
on their southern migration ; and, after the 15th or 20th of
that month, none are to be seen in New England.

THE BLUE YELLOW-BACKED WARBLER. 203

PARULA, BONAPARTE.

Parula, BONAPARTE, Geog. and Comp. List, 1838. (Type Parus Americanm.)
In the species of this genus, the bill is conical and acute; the culmen very gently
curved from the base ; the commissure slightly concave, the notch when visible is
further from the tip than in Dendroica, but usually is either obsolete or entirely
wanting; bristles very short; the tarsi are longer than the middle toe; the tail is
nearly even, and considerably shorter than the wing.

PARULA AMERICANA. — Bvnaparte.
The Blue Yellow-backed "Warbler.

Parus Americanm, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1758) 190.

Sylvia Americana. Aud. Orrf. Biog., I. (1832) 78.

Parula Americana, Bonaparte. List (1838). /&., Consp. (1850), 310.

Sylvia pusilla, Wilson. Am. Orn., IV. (1811) 17.

DESCRIPTION.

Above blue, the middle of the back with a patch of yellowish-green ; beneatn
yellow anteriorly, white behind ; a reddish-brown tinge across the breast ; lores and
space round the eye dusky; a small white spot on either eyelid; sides of head
and neck like the crown; two conspicuous white bands on the wings; outer two tail
feathers with a conspicuous spot of white ; female similar, with less brown on the
breast.

Length, four and seventy-five one-hundredths inches; wing, two and thirty-four
one-hundredths inches ; tail, one and ninety one-hundredths inch.

Hob. — Eastern North America to the Missouri, south to Guatemala.

This species, I am inclined to think, is rather common
in all of New England ; and it undoubtedly breeds more
or less abundantly in each of these States. It arrives from
the South about the middle of May, sometimes a little ear-
lier. The birds, on their arrival, seem to be mated ; for
they are almost always seen in pairs, often two males with
one female. Their habits are very similar to those of the
Titmice, and they are equally at home in the high foliage of
trees and in the low thickets and shrubbery. When travel-
ling through the trees, they run nimbly both across and
along the branches, sometimes hanging head downwards,
sometimes fluttering at the extremity of a small twig: they
are very nervous and active, and are almost continually
employed in catching caterpillars and insects, of which
their food consists. While thus engaged, they emit, occa-

204 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

sionally, a feeble note like the syllables cheweech, cheweech,
cheweech, uttered at first low, and rapidly increasing in
volume. When passing through the forests of Maine and
New Hampshire, I have seen numbers of these birds, par-
ticularly in the neighborhood of swamps, flying from the
tops of the huge hemlocks, and seizing the small lace-
winged flies (ephemerides) that are abundant in those
regions in May and June. I also noticed that they fed
largely upon the small caterpillars (geometridce) ; and I saw
them occasionally descend to the surface of a lake or river,
and seize small spiders that were struggling in the water.
The habits of this bird have caused it to be classed in many
different ways. Linnasus and others placed it in the genus
Parus, Latham and many others called it Sylvia, some
have named it Motacilla, and Stephens named it Thryo-
thorus. It, however, belongs properly among the Warblers ;
and the position given it as above seems its most natural
one. About the first of June, the birds commence build-
ing their nest : this is placed in a fork near the end of a
branch of a tree, about twenty feet from the ground. It is
usually constructed of the long, gray Spanish moss that
is so plentiful in the States of Maine, New Hampshire, and
Vermont. A beautiful specimen in my collection, found in
Maine by John Krider of Philadelphia, who kindly pre-
sented it to me, is of this description, and one of the most
curious specimens of bird architecture : the long hairs of
the moss are woven and twined together in a large mass, on
one side of which is the entrance to the nest, a mere hole
left in the moss ; the lining is nothing but the same mate-
rial, only of a finer quality. There is another nest of this
description in the collection of the Museum of Comparative
Zoology in Cambridge, which was also found in Maine. The
eggs are usually four in number, and they are laid about
the first week in June. Their color is white, with a very
slight creamy tint, and covered more or less thickly with
spots and confluent blotches of brownish-red and obscure-

THE MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT. 205

lilac, thickest at the large end. Two eggs in my collection
are of the following measurements : .62 by .48 inch, and .63
by .46 inch.

GEOTHLYPIS, CABANIS.

Geothlypis, CABANIS, Wiegmann's Archiv. (1847), I. 316, 349. lb., Schomburgk'a
Reise Guiana (1848).

• Bill sylvicoline, rather depressed, and distinctly notched; rictal bristles very
short or wanting; wings short, rounded, scarcely longer than the tail; the first quill
shorter than the fourth; tail long, much rounded or graduated; legs stout; tarsi
elongated as the head; olive-green above, belly yellow; tail feathers immaculate;
legs yellow.

GEOTHLYPIS TRICHAS. — Cabanis.
The Maryland Yellow-throat.

Turdus trichas, Linnseus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 293.

Sylvia trichas, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. (1832) 120; V. (1838) 463.

Geothlypis trichas, Cabanis. Mus. Hein. (1850), 16.

Sylvia Marilandica, Wilson. Am. Om., I. (1808) 88.

Trichas roscoe, Nuttall. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 457.

DESCRIPTION.

Upper parts olive-green, tinged with brown towards the middle of the crown ;
chin, throat, and breast as far as the middle of the body, with the under tail coverts,
bright-yellow; belly dull whitish-buff; sides of body strongly tinged with light
olive-brown ; under coverts glossed with the same ; a band of black on the fore-
head (about twenty one-hundredths of an inch wide in the middle), passing back-
ward so as to cover the cheek and ear coverts, and. extending a little above the eye ;
this band bordered behind by a suffusion of hoary-ash, forming a distinct line above
the eye, and widening behind the ear coverts into a larger patch, with a yellow
tinge. In winter dress, and in the female, without the black mask, the forehead
tinged with brown, the yellow of the throat less extended, the eyelids whitish, and
an indistinct superciliary line yellowish.

Length of male, five and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, two and forty one-
hundredths inches ; tail, two and twenty one-hundredths inches.

This bird is a common inhabitant of all the New-England
States. It arrives from the South about the second week in
May, sometimes earlier, and soon commences building.
The nest is usually placed on the ground, although often in
thickets of briers and bushes. It is constructed of leaves
and grasses, and is lined with fine grasses and hairs. It is
often built over at the top, with the entrance through a hole
in the side. The whole makes a bulky affair, almost imper-

206 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

vious to water.1 The eggs are laid about the last week in
May or first week in June. They are variable in size and
markings, but are usually five in number. To illustrate
the difference in size and markings, I will describe five eggs
found in a nest in Milton, Mass. : No. 1 is creamy-white in
color, with numerous spots of dark-brown and obscure spots
of lilac ; these markings are thinly scattered over the eggs,
but are quite thick at the larger end : dimensions, .70 by
.52 inch. No. 2 has the same ground-color, but the mark-
ings consist of numerous spots and confluent blotches
of light-brown and lilac at the large end of the egg : dimen-
sions, .70 by .56 inch. No. 3 is pure-white, with thinly
scattered spots of brown and black running like a ring
around the larger end of the egg ; dimensions, .74 by .50
inch. No. 4 is of a pure-white color, with thinly scattered
spots of light-brown around the larger end : dimensions,
.66 by .52 inch. No. 5 of the same color, size, and mark-
ings as No. 4. Other eggs of this species in my collection
exhibit other markings from spots and blotches of lilac and
brown at the larger end to thinly scattered dots of reddish
over the entire surface ; and one specimen has numerous
irregular lines in a circle around the larger end of the egg.
This species rears two broods in the season in southern
New England. I have found nests often as late as the
middle of July. The habits of the Maryland Yellow-throat
are well known. He is first noticed in the swampy thickets,
darting in and out through the tangled shrubbery. Soon
he makes his appearance in the flower-garden and orchard,
where he may be seen at almost all times through the breed-
ing season, busily engaged searching for his insect food ;
occasionally pausing to carol his pretty song, ivhe-tit-te-tee,
whe-tit-te-tee, then darting away for a discovered insect, then
caressing his mate, or flying to his nest with food for their
young.

1 A nest sent me from Delaware is constructed of grasses, which are woven into
a loose fabric, quite different from northern specimens.

THE MOURNING WARBLER. 207

In the woods, this species is more often found in low
thickets in or near wet, swampy localities, and is very sel-
dom seen in high, dry, heavily wooded countries. It seems
to prefer the neighborhood of human habitations for its
home, and its genial disposition and beneficial habits have
established it as a great favorite with the farmers.

As soon as the last brood of young leaves the nest, the
old birds become silent ; and, by the middle of September,
the whole family leave for the South.

GEOTHLYPIS PHILADELPHIA. — Saird.
The Mourning "Warbler.

Sylvia Philadelphia, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 101. Aud. Orn. Biog., V.
(1839) 78. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 404.

DESCRIPTION.

Wings but little longer than the tail, reaching but little beyond its base ; head
and neck all round, with throat and fore part of breast, ash-gray, paler beneath ; the
feathers of the chin, throat, and fore breast in reality black, but with narrow ashy
margins, more or less concealing the black, except on the breast; lores and region
round the eye dusky, without any trace of a pale ring; upper parts and sides of the
body clear olive-green; the under parts bright-yellow; tail feathers uniform olive ;
first primary, with the outer half of the outer web, nearly white. Female, with the
gray of the crown glossed with olive ; the chin and throat paler centrally, and tinged
with fulvous ; a dull whitish ring round the eye.

Length, five and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, two and forty-five one-hun-
dredths inches ; tail, two and twenty-five one-hundredths inches.

This bird is very rarely found in New England. It has
been taken in all these States, but in such small numbers
that it can hardly be called one of our birds. Mr. Allen
shot two ; I have taken but one ; and Mr. Verrill gives one
or two instances of its being taken in Maine. The specimen
that I captured had all the motions and habits of the Mary-
land Yellow-throat; and I neglected to shoot it for some
time, supposing it to be the female of that bird. Itstnote
was a simple chirp, with a warbling termination like the
syllables chirpchreee, chirpchreee, uttered in a soft, pensive
tone. Of its breeding habits, nest, and eggs, I am ignorant.

208 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

OPORORNIS, BAIKD.

Bill sylvicoline, rather compressed ; distinctly notched at tip ; rictal bristles very
much reduced ; wings elongated, pointed, much longer than the tail ; the first quill
nearly or quite the longest; tail very slightly rounded; tail feathers acuminate,
pointed; the under coverts reaching to within less than half an inch of their tip;
tarsi elongated, longer than the head ; claws large, the hinder one as long as its digit,
and longer than the lateral toes; above olive-green, beneath yellow; tail and wings
immaculate ; legs yellow.

OPORORNIS AGILIS.— Baird.
The Connecticut Warbler.

Sylvia agilis, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. (1812) 64. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 227.

Sylvicola agilis, Orn. Biog., II. (1841) 71.

Trichas agilis, Nuttall. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 403.

Trichas tephrocotis, Nuttall. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 462.

DESCRIPTION.

Upper parts and sides of the body uniform olive-green, very slightly tinged with
ash on the crown; sides of the head ash, tinged with dusky beneath the eye (entire
head sometimes ash); chin and throat grayish-ash, gradually becoming darker to
the upper part ot .the breast, where it becomes tinged with dark -ash ; sides of the
neck, breast, and body olive, like the back; rest of under parts light-yellow; a
broad, continuous white ring round the eye; wings and tail feathers olive (especially
the latter), without any trace of bars or spots ; bill brown above ; feet yellow.

Length, six inches ; wing, three ; tail, two and twenty-five one-hundredths.

This is another very rare bird in New England, and I
have never met with a specimen that was taken north of
Massachusetts. In West Roxbury, of this State, in a large
tract of pine forest, two or three specimens have been taken
within as many years. So far as I can learn, this species
has all the habits and motions of the two preceding. It
has no song, but utters the note queet often, and in a
sprightly tone, as it searches among the shrubbery for its
favorite food of spiders and small caterpillars.

ICTERIA, VIEILLOT.

Icteria, VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. I., (1790) 85.

Bill shorter than the head ; broad at the base, but rapidly becoming compressed
or much higher than broad, with the ridge elevated and sharp from the very base
of the bill; the upper outline much curved throughout; the commissure less curved,

THE YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT. 209

but strongly concave ; the gonys nearly straight, the upper edge of the lower jaw as
convex as the commissure is concave; no notch in the bill, and the rictal bristles
small ; tarsi longer than the toes, without scutellae, except faint indications on the
inner side; lateral toes about equal, shorter than the hinder; wings about equal to
the tail, rounded ; the first quill longer than the secondaries ; tail graduated, above
olive, beneath yellow; abdomen, eyelids, maxillary patch, and line to the bill,
white.

ICTEEIA VIRIDIS.— Bonaparte.
The Yellow-breasted Ghat.

Muscicapa viridis, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 936.

Icteria viridis, Bonaparte. Obs. Wilson (1826), No. 163. Nutt. Man., I. (1832)
289. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 223; V. 433.

Pipra polyglotta, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 90.

DESCRIPTION.

Third and fourth quills longest, second and fifth little shorter, first nearly equal
to the sixth ; tail graduated ; upper parts uniform olive-green ; under parts, including
the inside of wing, gamboge-yellow as far as nearly half-way from the point of the
bill to the tip of the tail ; rest of under parts white, tinged with brown on the sides ;
the outer side of the tibia plumbeous ; a slight tinge of orange across the breast ;
forehead and sides of the head ash, the lores and region below the eye blackish ;
a white stripe from the nostrils over the eye and involving the upper eyelid ; a patch
on the lower lid, and a short stripe from the side of the lower mandible, and running
to a point opposite the hinder border of the eye, white; bill black; feet brown.
Female like the male, but smaller; the markings indistinct; the lower mandible not
pure-black.

Length, seven and forty one-hundredths inches; wing, three and twenty-five
one-hundredths ; tail, three and thirty one-hundredths inches.

Massachusetts seems to be the northern limit of this
bird's habitat in New England ; and, even in this State, it is
a very rare species. Every season, for the last three years, a
pair has nested near Lynn, in this State ; and Mr. Allen
says, that they are sometimes seen, in the breeding season,
near Springfield. I have seen great numbers of these birds
in the Western States ; their habits, song, &c., are well
described by Nuttall in the following :

" The males, as in many other migrating birds, who are not
continually paired, arrive several days before the females. As
soon as our bird has chosen his retreat, which is commonly in some
thorny or viny thicket, where he can obtain concealment, he becomes
jealous of his assumed rights, and resents the least intrusion, scold-
ing all who approach in a variety of odd and uncouth tones, very

14

210 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

difficult to describe or imitate, except by a whistling ; in which case
the bird may be made to approach, but seldom within sight. His
responses on such occasions are constant and rapid, expressive of
anger and anxiety ; and, still unseen, his voice shifts from place to
place amidst the thicket, like the haunting of a fairy. Some of
these notes resemble the whistling of the wings of a flying duck,
at first loud and rapid, then sinking till they seem to end in single
notes. A succession of other tones are now heard, some like the
barking of young puppies, with a variety of hollow, guttural, un-
common sounds, frequently repeated, and terminated occasionally
by something like the mewing of a cat, but hoarser; a tone, to
which all our Vireos, particularly tlje young, have frequent recur-
rence. All these notes are uttered with vehemence, and with such
strange and various modulations as to appear near or distant, like
the manoeuvres of ventriloquism. In mild weather also, when the
moon shines, this gabbling, with exuberance of life and emotion, is
heard nearly throughout the night, as if the performer were dis-
puting with the echoes of his own voice.

" About the middle of May, soon after their arrival, the icterias
begin to build, fixing the nest commonly in a bramble-bush, in an
interlaced thicket, a vine, or small cedar, four or five feet from the
ground. The outside is usually composed of dry leaves, or thin
strips of grape-vine bark, and with root-fibres and dry, slender
blades of grass. The eggs are about four, pale flesh-colored, spotted
all over with brown or dull-red. The young are hatched in the
short period of twelve days, and leave the nest about the second
week in June."

Four eggs in my collection exhibit the following dimen-
sions : .71 by .60 inch, .70 by .60 inch, .68 by .59 inch, .67
by .58 inch.

The food of this bird consists of those small insects and
spiders that are found in the thick shrubbery of brier patches,
and on the ground among the fallen leaves. It also occa-
sionally captures flying insects in the manner of the Vireos ;
and this fact has caused it, more than its peculiarities of
form, to be classed by some authors with those birds.

By the first week in September, none are seen in New

THE WORM-EATING WARBLER. 211

England ; they having left for the tropical countries of South'
America, where they spend the winter.

HELMITHERUS, RAFINESQUE.

ffelmitherus, RAFINESQUE, Journal de Physique, LXXXVHI. (1819) 417. (Type
Motadlla vermivora. )

Bill large and stout, compressed, almost tanagrine; nearly or quite as long as the
head; culmen very slightly curved; gonys straight; no notch in the bill; rictal
bristles wanting; tarsi short, — but little longer, if any, than the middle toe; tail
considerably shorter than the wings, rather rounded; wings rather long, the first
quill a little shorter than the second and third.

HELMITHERUS VERMIVORUS. — Bonaparte.
The "Worm-eating "Warbler.

f Motadlla vermivora, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 951.

Sylvia vermivora, Wilson. Am. Orn., III. (1811) 74. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1832)
177.

Sylvia (Dacnis) vermivora, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 409.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill nearly as long as the head; upper parts generally rather clear olive-green;
head with four black stripes and three brownish-yellow ones, namely, a black one
on each side of the crown, and one from behind the eye (extending, in fact, a little
anterior to it), a broader median yellow one on the crown, and a superciliary from
the bill ; under parts pale brownish-yellow, tinged with buff across the breast, and
with olivaceous on the sides ; tail unspotted. Female nearly similar.

Length, five and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, three ; tail, two and thirty-
five one-hundredths inches.

This species is so rarely seen in New England, that it can
be regarded only as a straggler. I have never met with a
specimen alive, although it has been taken in all these
States. Audubon describes its habits as follows : —

" It is an inhabitant of the interior of the forests, and is seldom
found on the borders of roads or in the fields. In spring, they
move in pairs; and, during their retrograde marches, in little
groups, consisting each of a family, seven or eight in number:
on which account I am inclined to believe that they raise only a
single brood in the year. They are ever amongst the decayed
branches of trees or other plants, such as are accidentally broken
off by the wind, and are there seen searching for insects or cater-

212 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

pillars. They also resort to the ground, and turn over the dried
leaves in quest of the same kind of food. They are unsuspecting,
and will suffer a person to approach within a few paces. When
disturbed, they fly off to some place where withered leaves are
seen. They have only a few weak notes, which do not deserve
the name of song. Their industry, however, atones for this defect,
as they are seen continually moving about, rustling among the
leaves, and scarcely ever removing from one situation to another,
until after they have made a full inspection of the part in which
they have been employed."

Mr. T. H. Jackson, of Westchester, Pa., describes, in the
Am. Naturalist, the nest and eggs of this bird as follows : —

" On the 6th of June, 1869, 1 found a nest of this species
containing five eggs. It was placed in a hollow on the
ground much like the nest of the oven bird (Seiurus auroca-
pillus), and was hidden from sight by the dry leaves that
lay thickly around. The nest was composed externally of
dead leaves, mostly those of the beech, while the interior
was prettily lined with the fine thread-like stalks of the
hair-moss (Polytrichium). Altogether it was a very neat
structure, and looked to me as if the owner was habitually
a ground-nester. The eggs most nearly resemble those of
the white-bellied Nuthatch (Sitta Carolinensis') , though the
markings are fewer and less distinct. So close did the
female sit that I captured her without difficulty by placing
my hat over the nest."

HELMINTHOPHAGA, CABANIS.

Helminthophaga, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. (1850-51) 20. (Type Sylvia rufcapilla.)
Bill elongated, conical, very acute; the outlines very nearly straight, sometimes
slightly decurved; no trace of notch at the tip; wings long and pointed; the first
quill nearly or quite the longest; tail nearly even or slightly emarginate; short and
rather slender; tarsi longer than the middle toe.

HELMINTHOPHAGA PINUS.— Baird.
The Blue-winged Yellow Warbler.

Certhiapinus, Linnseus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 187. Gm., I. (1788) 478.

SyMa solitaria, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 109. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1832) 102.

Sylvia (Dacnis) solitaria, NuttalL Man., I. (1832) 410.

THE BLUE-WINGED YELLOW WARBLER. 213

DESCRIPTION.

Upper parts and cheeks olive-green, brightest on the rump ; the wings, tail, and
upper tail coverts, in part, bluish-gray; an intensely black patch from the blue-
black bill to the eye, continued a short distance behind it; crown, except behind,
and the under parts generally, rich orange-yellow; the inner wing and under tail
coverts white; eyelids, and a short line above and behind the eye, brighter yellow;
wing with two white bands; two outer tail feathers with most of the inner web,
third one with a spot at the end white. Female and young similar, duller, with
more olivaceous on the crown.

Length, four and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, two and forty one-hirn-
dredths inches; tail, two and ten one-hundredths inches.

This species is also very rare in New England. In 1857,
in the month of May, about the 12th or 15th, I found a
small flock in a swamp in Dedham, Mass. They were
actively employed in catching flying insects, and were so
little mistrustful, that they permitted me to approach quite
near, and observe their motions. I noticed nothing pecu-
liar in them ; but they had all the activity and industry of
the true arboreal Warblers. I know nothing of their breed-
ing habits, and will give the description by Wilson of the
nest and eggs. He says, —

" This bird has been mistaken for the Pine Creeper of Catesby.
It is a very different species. It comes to us early in May from
the South ; haunts thickets and shrubberies, searching the branches
for insects ; is fond of visiting gardens, orchards, and willow-trees,
of gleaning among blossoms and currant-bushes ; and is frequently
found in very sequestered woods, where it generally builds its nest.
This is fixed in a thick bunch or tussock of long grass, sometimes
sheltered by a brier bush. It is built in the form of an inverted
cone or funnel, the bottom thickly bedded with dry beech-leaves,
the sides formed of the dry bark of strong weeds lined within with
fine, dry grass. These materials are not placed in the usual
manner, circularly, but ' shelving downwards on all sides from the
top ; the mouth being wide, the bottom very narrow, filled with
leaves, and the eggs or young occupying the middle. The female
lays five eggs, pure-white, with a few very faint dots of reddish
near the great end ; the young appear the first week in June. I
am not certain whether they raise a second brood in the same
season.

" I have met with several of these nests, always in a retired
though open part of the woods, and very similar to each other,"

214 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

HELMINTHOPHAGA CHEYSOPTEEA. — CabanU.
The Golden-winged Warbler.

Motadlla chrysqptera, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 333. Gm. Syst. Nat.,
I. (1788) 971.

Sylvia chrysoptera, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 113.

DESCRIPTION.

Upper parts uniform bluish-gray; the head above and a large patch on the wings
yellow; a broad streak from the bill through and behind the eye, with the chin,
throat, and forepart of the breast, black ; the external edge of the yellow crown con-
tinuous with a broad patch on the side of the occiput above the auriculars, a broad
maxillary stripe widening on the side of the neck, the under parts generally, with
most of the inner webs of the outer three tail feathers white; the sides of the body
pale ash-color. Female similar, but duller.

Length, about five inches ; wing, two and sixty-five one-hundredths inches ; tail,
two and twenty-five one-hundredths inches.

lu This handsomely marked species has hitherto been con-
sidered a very rare bird in New England ; but it is less
uncommon than it is supposed to be. The first one I saw
was caught by a cat in a garden in West Newton, Mass.
This was on May 16, 1861. That year, and since, I have
found it occurring, in small numbers, from the 14th to the
30th of May. The higher branches of trees, in the vicinity
of swampy land, appear to be its favorite hunting-places. It
may be seen seeking its food quite diligently along the
branches and among the twigs, moving by short leaps, and
stopping often to utter its drawling note, 'zee-zee-zee-zee' or
4 dee-dee-dee-dee.'

" I once saw one, who, having seemingly finished his
morning meal, was perched on the topmost twig of a tree,
quite motionless, occasionally uttering the above song,
which is easily recognized from that of any of our other
Warblers. On my alarming him, he flew down among the
under growth of young birches, and permitted me to approach
quite near him : while watching his movements, I observed
a Nashville Warbler alight on the same bush in which he
was moving, when the Golden-wing immediately gave fight,
and chased the intruder away. I have never observed the

1 See Appendix.

THE NASHVILLE WAKBLER. 215

species in autumn, and all the specimens that I have met
with were males. It rears its young in the more northern
regions probably; and winters beyond the southern limits
of the Union, in the West Indies, Central America, and
even as far south as Bogota, S.A. This Warbler is not
given in any of the lists of the birds of Maine or Vermont
that I have seen ; but, as it occurs in such small numbers, it
may have been overlooked, or perhaps is now becoming a
regular visitor, during the spring migrations, in New Eng-
land." — Letter from Henry A. Pur die.

HELMINTHOPHAGA BUFICAPILLA. — Saird.
The Nashville Warbler.

Sylvia rujcapilla, Wilson. Am. Orn., HI. (1811) 120. Aud. Orn. Biog., 1.
(1832) 450.

Sylvia rubricapilla, Wilson. Am. Orn., VI. (1812) 15.
Sylvia (Dacnis) rubricapilla, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 412.

DESCRIPTION.

Head and neck above and on sides ash-gray, the crown with a patch of con-
cealed dark brownish-orange hidden by ashy tips to the feathers; upper parts
olive-green, brightest on the rump; under parts generally, with the edge of the
wing deep yellow; the anal region paler; the sides tinged with olive; a broad yel-
lowish-white ring round the eye; the lores yellowish; no superciliary stripe; the
inner edges of the tail feathers margined with dull-white. Female similar, but
duller; the under parts paler; but little trace of the red of the crown.

The bill is very acute; the wings long and pointed; the tail emarginate, not
rounded.

In autumn, the entire upper parts are olive-green, tinged with yellowish on the
rump, sometimes with brownish on the head ; the patch on the crown more or less
concealed ; the female has the white on the middle of the belly more extended.

Length, four and sixty-five one-hundredths inches; wing, two and forty-two
one-hundredths inches; tail, two and five one-hundredths inches.

This species is quite common in the spring migrations,
arriving about the first week in May ; but few breed in the
southern districts of New England. Like some other spe-
cies, it has grown much more abundant than it was a few
years since, and is now quite common in localities where it
was once a stranger. Its habits are like those of the other
Warblers, eminently active and industrious : it seems always

216 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

moving through the foliage, gleaning its insect food. Its
note is a peculiar one, and easily recognized : it is best
described or illustrated by the sound produced by striking
two pebbles together with some force.

About the 20th of June, after the birds have paired, they
commence building the nest : this is usually placed on the
ground, in a slight depression usually made by the birds
themselves. A specimen before me containing three eggs,
collected in Maiden, Mass., by Mr. H. A. Purdie, is con-
structed of the leaves of the pine, which are very neatly
woven into a compact, circular fabric, deeply hollowed, and
lined with horsehair and fine leaves of the pine : the eggs
are of a white color, with a very faint rosy tint, and covered
irregularly with dots of reddish-brown and obscure lilac.
Dimensions of the three specimens : .61 by .50 inch, .60 by
.48 inch, .58 by .48 inch. J. A. Allen, in his " Catalogue
of the Birds of Springfield, Mass.," gives the following
exceedingly interesting description of the nest and eggs
of this bird : —

" I have found the nest of this species for two successive
seasons as follows : May 31, 1862, containing four freshly laid eggs.
The nest was placed on the ground, and sunken so that the top of
the nest was level with the surface of the ground, and protected
and completely concealed above by the dead grass and weeds of
the previous year. It was composed of fine rootlets and dry grass,
lined with fine, dry grass and a few horsehairs, and covered
exteriorly with a species of fine, green moss. The eggs were
white, sprinkled with light reddish-brown specks, most thickly
near the larger end. Longer diameter sixty, and the shorter fifty
one-hundredths inch. The following year, June 5, 1863, I found
another nest of this species, within three or four feet of where
the one was discovered the previous year, and containing three
eggs of this species, and one of the Cow Bunting, in all of which
the embryos were far advanced. The nest, in every particular,
was built and arranged like the one above described ; and the eggs
must have been laid at just about the same season. In both cases,
the female bird was secured, and the identity ascertained beyond

THE TENNESSEE WARBLER. 217

question. The locality of the nests was a mossy bank, at the edge
of young woods, sloping southward, and covered with bushes and
coarser plants."

HELMINTHOPHAGA PEEEGEINA. — Cabanis.
The Tennessee Warbler.

Sylvia peregrina, Wilson. Am. Orn., III. (1811) 83. Aud. Orn. Biog., II.
(1834) 307.

Sylvia (Dacnls) peregrina, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 412.

DESCRIPTION.

Top and sides of the head and neck ash-gray ; rest of upper parts olive-green,
brightest on the rump ; beneath dull-white, faintly tinged in places, especially on the
sides, with yellowish-olive ; eyelids and a stripe over the eye whitish ; a dusky line
from the eye to the bill ; outer tail feather with a white spot along the inner edge,
near the tip. Female, with the ash of the head less conspicuous ; the under parts
more tinged with olive-yellow.

Length, four and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, two and seventy-five one-
hundredths ; tail, one and eighty-five one-hundredths inches.

This bird is an extremely rare summer visitor in New
England. Mr. Allen says he has taken it on Sept. 19 and
May 29: this shows that it passes north to breed, but where
it passes the season of incubation we are ignorant. The
species itself seems to be a very small one ; and, as the mem-
bers are so few, they may be easily overlooked in the
forest through the whole season, particularly as they are
quiet and retiring in habits. I think that, perhaps, the
wilder sections of Maine and New Hampshire may give it a
summer home, but of course can only judge from the above
reasons.

Mr. Geo. A. Boardman says in the Am. Naturalist that a
few remain in his locality (Calais, Me.) through the season,
from which I judge that it breeds there.

SEIURUS, SWAINSON.

Seiurus, SWAINSON, Zool. Jour., III. (1827) 171. (Sufliciently distinct from
Sciurus. Type Motacilla aurocapilla, L.)

Bill rather sylvicoline, compressed, with a distinct notch; gonys ascending; rictal
bristles very short; wings moderate, about three-quarters of an inch longer than the
tail; first quill scarcely shorter than the second; tail slightly rounded; feathers acu-

218 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

minate; tarsi about as long as the skull, considerably exceeding the middle toe;
under tail coverts reaching within about half an inch of the end of the tail; color
above olivaceous; beneath whitish, thickly streaked on the breast and sides; wings
and tail immaculate.

SEIURUS AUROCAPILLUS. — Swainson.
The Oven-bird; Golden-crowned Thrush.

Motacilla aurocapitta, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat, I."(1766) 334. Gm., I. (1788) 982.
Turdus aurocajtillus, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 88. Aud. Orn. Biog., II.
(1834)253; V. (1839) 447.

Turdus (Seiurus) aurocapillus, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 355.

DESCRIPTION.

Above uniform olive-green, with a tinge of yellow; crown with two narrow
streaks of black from the bill, enclosing a median and much broader one of brownish-
orange ; beneath white ; the breast, sides of the body, and a maxillary line streaked
with black. The female, and young of the year, are not appreciably different.

Length, six inches; wing, three inches; tail, two and forty one-hundredths
inches.

This beautiful and well-known bird is a common summer
inhabitant of New England, breeding abundantly in all the
States. It arrives from the South about the last week in
April or first in May, and soon commences building. The
birds are not often paired on their arrival, and many are
the little quarrels and battles that occur between two or
three males for the possession of one of the opposite sex.
The birds both work diligently in the construction of the
nest, which is a model of neatness and ingenuity. It is
built on the ground in the woods, usually in a dry situation.
The materials used are dry leaves and grasses: these are
arranged compactly together, and built over at the top, the
entrance being on the side, like an old-fashioned oven;
hence the familiar name of the " Oven-bird." The nest is
usually placed in a slight hollow in the earth, scratched by
the birds, and is lined with soft grasses and hairs. The
eggs are from three to five in number, usually four. They
are of a delicate creamy-white color, and spotted irregularly
with different shades of reddish-brown ; and some specimens
have a number of spots of obscure lilac-color. The mark-

THE OVEN-BIKD. 219

ings are usually thickest at the larger end of the egg, where
they are often confluent, and cover the primary color.
Dimensions of four specimens collected in a iiest in West
Roxbury, Mass. : .80 by .64 inch, .79 by .64 inch, .79 by
.62 inch, .78 by .62 inch. A great number of specimens,
collected in different localities of New England, show no
great variations from these measurements.

The habits of this bird are so well known that an ex-
tended description here is scarcely needed. It is seldom
found in any but the most retired and thickly wooded local-
ities, and it generally prefers the neighborhood of a swamp
for its home. Its song is a peculiar one, and easily recog-
nized : it consists of the repeated utterance of the syllables,
quicha, quicha, quicha, quicha, quicha, begun at first very
low, and rapidly increasing in volume. I have heard this
song, in the mating and incubating seasons, at all hours of
the night : the bird seems, at that time, to ascend into the
air to a considerable height, and utters its notes while hover-
ing and slowly descending. I have noticed the same habit
in the Maryland Yellow-throat and some other birds ; and
suppose that it is owing to, and to show, his great affection
for his mate, and to anxiety for £he success of her labors.

When on the ground, the Oven-bird runs with great
rapidity, frequently jetting its tail and uttering its. sharp
alarm-note : if the nest is approached, the male throws
himself in the way of the intruder, and endeavors to draw
him from its vicinity, scolding all the time with the greatest
vehemence. If the female is driven from her domicile, she
suddenly flutters along the ground, her wings extended,
counterfeiting lameness in a very natural and generally
effective manner.

This species, in consequence of its eminently terrestrial
habits, often falls a victim to snakes and skunks. I have
repeatedly found nests, and left them, in order that I might
acquaint myself with the breeding peculiarities of the bird ;
and in a day or two, on paying it a second visit, found

220 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

that a skunk or other depredator had destroyed the whole
family.

The Oven-bird feeds principally upon small insects and
smooth caterpillars, which it obtains usually on the ground,
among the fallen leaves : when berries are in season, it feeds
occasionally upon them ; and it seems particularly fond of
small spiders, with which I have sometimes found its stom-
ach filled. About the 12th or 15th of September, after the
young birds have become capable of providing for them-
selves, the whole family leave for the South.

SEIURUS NOVEBORACENSIS.— Nuttall.
The Water Thrush ; Water Wagtail.

Motadlla Noveboracensis, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 958.

Turdus (Seiurus) Noveboracensis, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 353.

Turdus aquaticus, Wilson. Am. Orn., III. (1811) 66. Aud. Orn. Biog., V. (1839)
284.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill, from rictus, about the length of the skull; ahove olive-brown, with a shade
of green ; beneath pale sulphur-yellow, brightest on the abdomen ; region about the
base of the lower mandible, and a superciliary line from the base of the bill to the
nape, brownish-yellow; a dusky line from the bill through the eye; chin and throat
finely spotted; all the remaining under parts and sides of the body, except the
abdomen, and including the under tail coverts, conspicuously and thickly streaked
with olivaceous-brown, almost black on the breast.

Length, six and fifteen one-hundredths inches ; wing, three and twelve one-hun-
dredths inches ; tail, two and forty one-hundredths inches ; bill, from rictus, sixty-
four one-hundredths of an inch.

This bird is not very uncommon in New England in the
spring and fall migrations (arriving about the 1st of May,
and departing about the last week in September) ; and I
have sometimes seen it in summer in Massachusetts. It
undoubtedly breeds in the three northern of these States,
and probably in them all. In its habits, it much resembles
the preceding species ; but it is seldom found in any but a
wet locality.

Wilson says, "This bird is remarkable for its partiality
to brooks, rivers, shores, ponds, and streams of water;

THE WATER-THRUSH. 221

wading in the shallows in search of aquatic insects, wag-
ging the tail almost continually, chattering as it flies ; and,
in short, possesses many strong traits and habits of the
Water Wagtail. It is also exceedingly shy, darting away
on the least attempt to approach it, and uttering a sharp
chip repeatedly, as if greatly alarmed."

Although I have met with quite a number of these birds
in their sylvan haunts, I have never heard them sing. That
it possesses a beautiful song most writers agree ; its notes
are described as follows : " They are eminently distin-
guished by the loudness, sweetness, and expressive vivacity
of their notes, which begin very high and clear, falling with
an almost imperceptible gradation till they are scarcely
articulated. At these times, the musician is perched on
the middle branches of a tree over the brook or river bank,
pouring out his charming melody, that may be distinctly
heard for nearly half a mile. The voice of this little bird
appeared to me so exquisitely sweet and expressive, that I
was never tired of listening to it, while traversing the deep-
shaded hollows of those cane-brakes where it usually
resorts."

Although I have looked repeatedly for the nest of this
species, I have never been able to find one, and will be
obliged to use the description of others. Mr. Verrill says,
in his paper on Maine birds, before referred to : —

"A nest found, June 8, 1861, in a dense cedar swamp, was built
in an excavation in the side of a decayed, moss-covered log, so that
the excavation itself formed an arch over the nest, instead of one
made by the bird, as in the preceding species. The nest was con-
structed of moss, and lined with fine roots. The five eggs were of
a delicate flesh-color, spotted with light reddish-brown."

Nuttall says of the nest : —

" It is placed usually at the foot of a tree, or by the side of a
decayed log, and is formed of dry leaves, moss, and fine grass ;
being lined with hair or the similar fibres of the Spanish moss

222 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

(Tilandsia). The eggs are four or five, flesh-colored, with dark
spots at the greater end."

Several eggs in my collection agree with the above descrip-
tion : they exhibit an average of .81 by .63 inch in dimen-
sions.

DENDROICA, GRAY.

Syhicola, GRAY, Genera Birds (2d ed., 1841), 32. (Not of Humphreys or Swain-
son.)

Dendroica, GRAY, Genera Birds, Appendix (1842) 8.

Bill conical, attenuated, depressed at the base, where it is, however, scarcely
broader than high, compressed from the middle ; culmen straight for the basal half,
then rather rapidly curving, the lower edge of upper mandible also concave ; gonys
slightly convex and ascending; a distinct notch near the end of the bill; bristles,
though short, generally quite distinct at the base of the bill ; tarsi long, decidedly
longer than middle toe, which is longer than the hinder one ; the claws rather small
and much curved, the hind claw nearly as long as its digit; the wings long and
pointed; the second quill usually a very little longer than the first; the tail slightly
rounded and emarginate.

Colors. — Tail always with a white spot; its ground-color never clear olive-green.

DENDEOICA VIEENS. — Baird.
The Black-throated Green Warbler.

Motadlla wrens, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 985.

Sylvia wrens, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 127. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 376.
Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 70.
Sylvicola virens.

DESCRIPTION.

Male, upper parts, exclusive of wing and tail, clear yellow olive-green, the
feathers of the back with hidden streaks of black ; forehead and sides of head and
neck, including a superciliary stripe, bright yellow; a dusky-olive line from the bill
through the eye, and another below it; chin, throat, and fore part of breast, extend-
ing some distance along on the sides, continuous black; rest of under parts white,
tinged with yellow on the breast and flanks ; wings and tail feathers dark-brown,
edged with bluish-gray; two white bands on the wing; the greater part of the three
outer tail feathers white. Female, similar, but duller; the throat yellow; the black
on breast much concealed by white edges ; the sides streaked with black.

Length, five inches; wing, two and fifty-eight one-hundredths ; tail, two and
thirty one-hundredths inches.

This beautiful bird is a quite common species in Rhode
Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, and is not rare in
the other New-England States, in which, I have no doubt, it

THE BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER. 223

breeds, though not nearly so abundantly as in those first
mentioned. It arrives from the South from about the 25th
of April to the 1st of May, in Massachusetts. I have often
seen this species, as late as the last week in May, busily
engaged in destroying insects (of which its food, as also that
of the other Warblers, consists), apparently without being
mated, as several individuals of both sexes were together,
seemingly in harmony, but without those little fondlings
and attentions peculiar to mated birds. The nest is seldom
built before the 10th of June in this latitude. It is con-
structed of fine grasses, fibrous roots, fine strips of bark from
the cedar, and the leaves of the pine : these are entwined
together strongly and neatly, and the interior of the nest is
lined with horsehair and fine moss. Nuttall, in describing
the only nest of this bird that he ever saw, says, —

" On the 8th of June, I was so fortunate as to find a nest of this
species in a perfectly solitary situation, on the Blue Hills of Milton,
Mass. The female was now sitting, and about to hatch. The nest
was in a low, thick, and stunted Virginia juniper. When I ap-
proached near the nest, the female stood motionless on its edge, and
peeped down in such a manner that I imagined her to be a young
bird : she then darted directly to the earth, and ran ; but when,
deceived, I sought her on the ground, she had very expertly disap-
peared, and I now found the nest to contain four roundish eggs,
white, inclining to flesh-color, variegated, more particularly at the
great end, with pale, purplish points of various sizes, interspersed
with other large spots of brown and blackish. The nest was formed
of circularly entwined fine strips of the inner bark of the juniper,
and the tough, fibrous bark of some other plant, then bedded with
soft feathers of the Robin, and lined with a few horsehairs, and
some slender tops of bent grass (Agrostis)"

Early in June, 1863, a nest of this species was discovered
in a grove of pines in West Roxbury : it was built in a
small fork of a pine, about ten feet from the ground. The
nest and its contents, four eggs, were removed ; but the
birds remained in the neighborhood, and soon commenced

224 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

building another nest in the same tree, but a few feet higher.
In it the female laid three eggs, after which this nest and
eggs were removed ; but soon after they built another nest
in another pine, near the first : this nest was perhaps twenty-
five feet from the ground ; in this, two eggs were laid, which
were allowed to be hatched. One of these nests, with four
eggs, is in my collection, and is already described above.
The eggs are a pale, creamy-white color, with a very faint
roseate tint, and one marked with coarse and fine spots of
brown of different shades, and obscure spots of lilac. These
markings are quite thick at the large end of the egg, — in
fact, are almost confluent into a sort of girdle. Their
dimensions are .66 by .53 inch, .66 by .52 inch, .64 by .52
inch, and .62 by .51 inch. A large number of nests, with
eggs collected in Massachusetts, have, within a few years,
passed through my hands : they were all of the above de-
scription.

This bird prefers the foliage of high trees to the lower
shrubbery, and I have noticed that it is most usually found
in or near the different pines. Its song is heard through
the mating and breeding seasons, as the bird is actively
moving about the trees searching for its food.

This song is something like the syllables, ta-te-te-it-td-tee,
uttered in a plaintive tone ; the first syllable low, the second
higher, the third and fourth quickly together and high, and
the fifth and sixth a little slower and lower. Its song is
peculiar, and cannot be confounded with that of any other
Warbler in New England.

DENDEOICA CANADENSIS. — Baird.
The Black-throated Blue Warbler.

Motadlla Canadensis, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 336. Gm., I. (1788) 991.
Sylvia Canadensis, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 115. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 398.
Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 309.

Sylvia pusilla, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. (1812) 100.

DESCRIPTION.

Above uniform continuous grayish-blue, including the outer edges of the quill
and tail feathers ; a narrow frontal line, the entire sides of head and neck, chin and

THE BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER. 225

throat, lustrous black, this color extending in a broad lateral stripe to the tail ; rest
of under parts, including the axillary region, white; wings and tail black above, the
former with a conspicuous white patch formed by the bases of all the primaries
(except the first); the inner webs of the secondaries and tertials with similar patches
towards the base and along the inner margin ; all the tail feathers, except the inner-
most, With a white patch on the inner web, near the end.

Female, olive-green above and dull-yellow beneath; sides of head dusky-olive,
the eyelids and a superciliary stripe whitish ; traces of the white spot at the base of
the primaries and of the tail.

Length, five and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, two and sixty one-hun-
dredths; tail, two and twenty-five one-hundredths inches.

This Warbler is not uncommon in the mountainous dis-
tricts of Massachusetts, from the middle to the end of May ;
and I found several specimens in the Green-Mountain coun-
try as late as the 10th of June. This occurrence, together
with the fact that it has been found, in the breeding season,
on Mount Holyoke, in Mass., and along the ridges in the
western part of this State, shows that it probably breeds,
sometimes at least, in Massachusetts.

The individuals that I saw were in tall oaks and chest-
nuts, actively moving about through the foliage, snapping at
flies and other insects : they often uttered a faint, drawling
weesy, weesy, and occasionally a louder chirp or chink, like
that of the Nashville Warbler.

Being unacquainted with the nest and eggs, I give Audu-
bon's description of them : —

" The nest is usually placed on the horizontal branch of a fir-tree,
at a height of seven or eight feet from the ground. It is composed
of slips of bark, mosses, and fibrous roots, and is lined with fine
grass, on which is laid a warm bed of feathers.

" The eggs, four or five in number, are of a rosy tint, and, like
those of most other Sylvice, scantily sprinkled with reddish-brown
at the larger end. Only one brood is raised in a season."

About the first week in September, this species leaves
New England on its southern migration.

15

226 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

DENDBOICA CORONATA. — Gray.
The Yellow-rumped "Warbler.

1 Motacitta coronata, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 333. Gm. Syst. Nat., I. (1788)
974.

Sylvia coronata, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 138. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 361
Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 303.

DESCRIPTION.

Above bluish-ash, streaked with black; under parts white; the fore part of breast
and the sides black, the feathers mostly edged with white; crown, rump, and sides
of breast yellow; cheeks and lores black; the eyelids and a superciliary stripe, two
bands on the wing, and spots on the outer 'three tail feathers, white. Female, of
duller plumage, and browner above.

Length, five and sixty-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, three inches ; tail, two
and fifty one-hundreths inches.

The Yellow-rumped or Golden-crowned Warbler is very
abundant in all parts of New England as a spring and fall
visitor. It arrives from the South about the 20th of April,
and passes quickly northward. But few breed south of

the northern parts of Maine,
and probably not a great many
pass the season of incubation
there. When with us in the
spring, they are found in the
pastures, woods, orchards, and
swamps, equally distributed,
and evincing no partiality for
any particular locality. They
are then very active, and are constantly engaged in their
search for insects.

Their note is nothing but a kind of tchip and a tinkling
tweeter, which they utter occasionally, both while on the
wing and while perching.

I have heard of no nest being found in either of the
southern New-England States, — have met with but one in
Massachusetts, and have heard of but two or three others.

THE BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER. 227

This nest was built in a low barberry-bush in Waltham : it
was constructed of fine grasses and the down from ferns.
These materials were carefully woven together into a neat
fabric, which was lined with cottony substances and a few
horsehairs. The eggs were three in number: these were
of a creamy-white color, covered sparsely with spots and
blotches of different shades of reddish-brown, thickest at
the large end of the egg. Dimensions of the eggs : .68 by
.50 inch, .67 by .50 inch, .66 by .49 inch. Audubon
describes a nest and eggs sent him from Nova Scotia as
follows : —

" It resembles that of the Sylvia <zstiva of Latham, being firm,
compact, the outer parts formed of silky fibres from different plants,
attached to the twigs near it by means of glutinous matter, mixed
with the inner bark of some tree unknown to me. Within this is
a deep and warm bed of thistle-down, and the inner layer consists
of feathers and the fine hair of small quadrupeds.

" The eggs are rather large, of a light rosy tint, the shell thin
and transparent : they are sparingly dotted with reddish-brown near
the larger end, but in a circular manner, so that the extremity is
unspotted."

From the last of September until the middle of October,
they become very plentiful again, and may be seen in large
detached flocks in all the fields, orchards, and woods of the
country : they are very abundant in stubble-fields ; and I
have seen as many as fifty in a flock start at the report of
my gun, when I have been quail-shooting.

DENDROICA BLACKBURNL2E — Baird.
The Blackburnian Warbler.

Motadlla BlacJcburnice, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 977.

Sylvia BlacMwrni<B, Wilson. Am. Orn., III. (1811) 67. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 379.
Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 208; V. 73.

Sylviaparus, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. (1812) 114.
Hemlock Warbler, Authors.

228 OENITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

DESCRIPTION.

Upper parts nearly uniform black, with a whitish scapular stripe and a large
white patch in the middle of the wing coverts ; an oblong patch in the middle of
the crown, and the entire side of the head and neck (including a superciliary stripe
from the nostrils), the chin, throat, and forepart of the breast, bright orange-red;
a black stripe from the commissure passing over the lower half of the eye, and
including the ear coverts, with, however, an orange crescent in it, just below
the eye, the extreme lid being black; rest of under parts white, strongly tinged
with yellowish-orange on the breast and belly, and streaked with black on the sides ;
outer three tail feathers white, the shafts and tips dark-brown, the fourth and fifth
spotted much with white, the other tail feathers and quills almost black. Female
similar; the colors duller; the feathers of the upper parts with olivaceous edges.

.Length, five and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, two and eighty-three one-
hundredths inches; tail, two and twenty-five one-hundredths inches.

This, the most beautiful of all our Warblers, is a rare
summer inhabitant of all New England. Dr. Brewer found
it breeding in the eastern part of Massachusetts. Yerrill
says it breeds in Maine; Dr. Thompson says it breeds in
Vermont ; and I have seen it in New Hampshire in the
season of incubation. It is a shy and mistrustful species,
and is found only in the deepest woods, -where it keeps in
the thickest foliage of tall trees. Its nest and eggs I have
not seen, and I am obliged to give the description by
Audubon: "It [the nest] is composed externally of dif-
ferent textures, and lined with silky fibres and thin delicate
strips of fine bark, over which lay a thick bed of feathers
and horsehair. The eggs are small, very conical towards
the smaller end, pure-white, with a few spots of light-red
towards the larger end. It was found in a small fork of a
tree, five or six feet from the ground, near a brook."

DENDROICA CASTANEA. — Baird.
The Bay-breasted Warbler.

Sylvia castanea, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 97. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 382.
Aud. Orn. Biog., I. 358.

DESCRIPTION.

Male. — Crown dark reddish-chestnut; forehead and cheeks, including a space
above the eye, black ; a patch of buff-yellow behind the cheeks ; rest of upper parts
bluish-gray, streaked with black; the edges of the interscapulars tinged with
yellowish, of the scapulars with olivaceous ; primaries and tail feathers edged ex-

THE PINE-CREEPING WARBLER. 229

ternally with bluish-gray, the extreme outer ones with white ; the secondaries edged
with olivaceous ; two bands on the wing and the edges of the tertials white ; the
under parts are whitish with a tinge of buff; the chin, throat, forepart of breast, and
the sides, chestnut-brown, lighter than the crown; two outer tail feathers with a
patch of white on the inner web near the end; the others edged internally with
the same. *

Female with the upper parts olive, streaked throughout with black, and an oc-
casional tinge of chestnut on the crown; lower parts with traces of chestnut, but
no stripes.

Length of male, five inches ; wing, three and five one-hundredths inches ; tail,
two and forty one-hundredths inches.

The Bay-breasted Warbler is, in most localities of New
England, not common, in some quite rare. In the eastern
localities of Massachusetts it is very seldom met with.
Allen mentions instances when specimens could be obtained
by the " bushel-basket full ; " but I think that generally it is
rarely seen. Mr. Tripp, in the Am. Naturalist, says of this
species : " It is not quite so active as the other warblers, and
keeps more on the lower boughs, seldom ascending to the
tops of the trees. The young are totally different in their
colors from the adults, and so closely resemble the young
of the Black-polled Warbler that it is often very difficult to
distinguish them apart." It is seen in New England only
in the migrations.

DENDROICA PINUS. — Baird.
The Pine-creeping Warbler.

Sylvia pinus, Wilson. Am. tirn., III. (1811) 25. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 387.
Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 232.

DESCRIPTION.

Upper parts nearly uniform and clear olive-green, the feathers of the crown with
rather darker shafts; under parts generally, except the middle of the belly behind,
and under tail coverts (which are white), bright gamboge-yellow, with obsolete
streaks of dusky on the sides of the breast and body; sides of head and neck olive-
green like the back, with a broad superciliary stripe; the eyelids and a spot beneath
the eye very obscurely yellow; wings and tail brown; the feathers edged with dirty
white, and two bands of the same across the coverts ; inner web of the first tail
feather with nearly the terminal half, of the second with nearly the terminal third,
dull inconspicuous white.

Length, five and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, three inches ; tail, two and
forty one-hundredths inches.

230 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

This species arrives from the South very early, often
before the last snow-storm of the season, and remains in
the deep swamps of hemlocks or pines until the weather
opens. About the first week in June, the birds become
scarce, and soon but very few can be found. A nest with
two eggs, found in Woburn, Mass. ; and another nest with
three eggs, from West Roxbury, in the same State, — are all
the specimens accessible to me at the present time. These
nests were built in forks of pine-trees, about twenty feet
from the ground. They are constructed of the bark of the
cedar and leaves of the pine : these materials are intwined
into a neat structure, which is warmly lined with mosses,
and hairs of different animals. The eggs are of a bluish-
white, with a slight roseate tint: this primary color is dotted
with spots of two shades of brown and reddish, and some
spots of purple. Dimensions vary from .69 by .50 inch to
.67 by .51 inch.

In the migrations, these birds associate in detached flocks :
in the spring they are in company with the Red-poll
Warblers ; and, in the fall, with the Yellow-rumps.

They are, in the summer, almost always observed in the
pine-groves, actively traversing the limbs and branches,
sometimes with the movements of the Creepers and Titmice,
sometimes with those of the Warblers, and often flying
from the foliage and seizing an insect on the wing, like the
Flycatchers.

Their song is now somewhat similar to that of the Field
Sparrow, or perhaps more like a mixture of that and the
song of the Indigo-bird, if such can be imagined. It con-
sists of the syllables tweet 'weet 'weet 'weet 'weet \veet, uttered
at first slow and faint, but rapidly increasing in utterance
and volume. Besides this, it has a sort of trilling note,
like fre 're 're 're 're 're, uttered softly and listlessly.

In the autumn, they add to their usual insect-food small
berries and seeds : they are now nearly silent, having only
a quick, sharp chirp. They are scattered through the fields

THE CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER. 231

and woods, and seem to be as much on the ground as in
the trees. They depart for the South by the 10th or
15th of October.

DENDROICA PENNSYLVANIA. — Baird.
The Chestnut-sided Warbler.

Motacilla Pennsylvanica, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 333.
Sylvia Pennsylvanica, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 99.

Sylvia icterocephala, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. (1832) 306. Nutt. Man., I.
(1832) 380.

DESCRIPTION.

Male. — Upper parts streaked with black and pale bluish-gray, which becomes
nearly white on the forepart of the back; the middle of the back glossed with
greenish-yellow; the crown is continuous yellow, bordered by a frontal and super-
ciliary band, and behind by a square spot of white ; loral region black, sending off
a line over the eye, and another below it; ear coverts and lower eyelid and entire
under parts pure-white, a purplish-chestnut stripe starting on each side in a line
with the black moustache, and extending back to the thighs ; wing and tail feathers
dark-brown, edged with bluish-gray, except the secondaries and tertials, which are
bordered with light yellowish-green ; the shoulders with two greenish-white bands ;
three outer tail feathers with white patches near the end of the inner webs.

Female like the male, except that the upper parts are yellowish-green, streaked
with black ; the black moustache scarcely appreciable.

Length, five inches; wing, two and fifty one-hundredths inches; tail, two and
twenty one-hundredths inches.

This bird is a rather common summer inhabitant of all
New England, being most plentiful in Massachusetts and
the States south, and gradually growing more rare as we
advance north. It makes its appearance from the South
about the first to the middle of May, according to latitude,
and commences to build about the last week in this month
or the first in June. The nest is usually built in a small
fork of a low tree, often in bushes, but a few feet from the
ground. It is constructed of thin strips of pliable bark and
fine grasses : these materials are bent and intwined together,
and over the outside are pieces of caterpillar silk and cob-
webs, which are plastered on, seemingly to give the fabric
compactness and consistency. The nest is deeply hollowed,
and lined with horsehairs and slender strips of the bark of

232 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

the grape-vine. Nuttall describes a nest found in Acton,
Mass., as follows : —

" It is fixed in the forked twigs of a hazel, about breast-high.
The fabric is rather light and airy, being made externally of a few
coarse blades and stalks of dead grass, then filled in with fine
blades of the same ; the whole matted and tied with caterpillars'
silk, and lined with very slender strips of brown bark and similar
white-pine leaves."

The nests which I have collected, and some I have before
me, are of a different character from his description, being
compactly and neatly made of bark from the cedar, and
grasses, and lined with horsehair ; but I have no doubt that
this species, like many others, varies in breeding habits in
different localities. The eggs are three or four in number,
and are laid about the first week in June. They are of a
delicate creamy-white color, and marked at the great end
with spots of brown, which are often confluent : the spots
are of two colors, a reddish-brown and purplish-brown.
The dimensions vary from .70 by .51 inch to .63 by .50 inch.
But one brood is raised in the season in this latitude.

This is another of those birds which seem to have become
quite abundant within a few years. Wilson, Nuttall, and
others speak of it as being a very rare species ; and it is now
one of the most common of birds in localities where it was,
a few years since, quite rare. It prefers a growth of low
shrubs and scrub-oaks and birches to a forest of tall trees,
and is seldom seen in the latter. i*

Its note consists of the syllables 'che 'die 'ch 'cheea,
repeated at short intervals : it has also, at times, a rattling
cry something like the alarm-note of the Maryland Yellow-
throat.

The female has nothing but a sharp chirp, which she
often emits in answer to tbe song of the male. When
approached while on the nest, she sits quietly until the
intruder is quite near. I once had a dog make a point

THE BLACK-POLL WARBLER. 233

at one while she was sitting on her nest, and she almost
permitted me to touch her before she flew off.

By the first week in September, the old birds and young,
apparently in a group by themselves, leave for the South,
and winter in Panama and the Bahamas.

DENDROICA STRIATA, — Baird.
The Black-poll Warbler.

Mmcicapa striata, Forster. Philos. Trans., LXII. (1772) 383, 428. Gm. Syst.
Nat., I. (1788) 930.

Sylvia striata, Wilson. Am. Orn., IV. (1811) 40. Kutt. Man., I. (1832) 383.
Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 201.

Sylvia autumnalis, Wilson. Am. Orn., III. (1811) 65. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1832)
447. Nutt. Man., I. (1832), 390. (Female or young in autumn.)

DESCRIPTION.

Male. — Crown, nape, and upper half of the head black ; the lower half, including
the ear coverts, white, the separating line passing through the middle of the eye ;
rest of upper parts grayish-ash, tinged with brown, and conspicuously streaked with
black; wing and tail feathers brown, edged externally (except the inner tail feathers)
with dull olive-green ; two conspicuous bars of white on the wing coverts, the ter-
tials edged with the same ; under parts white, with a narrow line on each side the
throat from the chin to the sides of the neck, where it runs into a close patch of
black streaks continued along the breast and sides to the root of the tail ; outer two
tail feathers with an oblique patch on the inner web near the end, the others edged
internally with white.

Female similar, except that the upper parts are olivaceous, and, even on the
crown, streaked with black; the white on the sides and across the breast tinged
with yellowish ; a ring of the same round the eye, cut by a dusky line through it.

Length of male, five and seventy-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, three inches ;
tail, two and twenty-five one-hundredths inches.

This bird, although very abundant in all parts of New
England in the spring migrations, passes far to the north
to breed ; but few remain in the States through the breed-
ing season, and these in the most northern districts. It
arrives from the South about the last week in May, and pro-
ceeds leisurely on its journey, arriving at its destination
about the second week in June. I have two nests in my
collection, both found in the northern part of Maine :
they were placed in low trees or saplings, and are con-
structed of first a layer of twigs and grass, then the

234 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

leaves of the pine, and moss ; these materials are twined
into a compact structure, somewhat bulky, and deeply
hollowed, and lined with feathers of wild birds and hairs
of different animals. A nest complement of four eggs in my
collection, furnished by my friend, George A. Boardman,
are of a grayish-white color, thickly marked with spots and
blotches of two or three shades of brown and purple.
Dimensions vary from .71 by .54 inch, to .66 by .50 inch.
Audubon describes the only nest of this bird that he
ever met with as follows : —

" It was placed about three feet from the ground, in the fork of
a small branch, close to the main stem of a fir-tree. Its diameter
internally was two inches, the depth one and a half: externally, it
resembled the nest of a white-crowned sparrow, being formed of
green and white moss and lichens, intermixed with coarse dried
grass ; within this was a layer of bent grass, and the lining was of
very dark-colored, dry moss, looking precisely like horsehair,
arranged in a circular direction with great care. Lastly, there was
a thick bed of large, soft feathers, some of which were from ducks,
but most of them from willow-grouse."

The same author describes the habits of this bird as
follows : —

" You see it darting in all directions after insects, chasing them
on the wing, and not unfrequently snapping, so as to emit the click-
ing sound characteristic of the true Flycatcher. Its activity is
pleasing ; but its notes have no title to be called a song. They are
shrill, and resemble the noise made by striking two small pebbles
together, more than any other sound I know."

I cannot agree with Professor Baird, that the Autumnal
Warbler of authors, and the young of the Bay-breasted,
are identical, at least in New England ; but I am persuaded
that the young of the present species is the Sylvia autumnalis.
And it seems to me, that no other argument is needed to
establish this beyond a doubt, than the fact, that the Bay-
breasted Warbler is very rare, in all this section of the coun-

THE BLACK-POLL WARBLER. 235

try, in spring and summer; and that it should become
exceedingly abundant in autumn is inconsistent with reason
and nature. The description of the young of the Black-poll
also agrees -with that of the Autumnal Warbler, as do also
its habits and characteristics. '

I will append Wilson's description of the habits of the
Black-poll and Autumnal Warbler, and also their general
description. He says of the Autumnal Warbler, —

" This plain little species regularly visits Pennsylvania from the
North, in the month of October, gleaning among the willow-leaves,
but, what is singular, is rarely seen in spring. From the 1st to the
15th of October, they may be seen in considerable numbers, almost
every day, in gardens, particularly among the branches of the
weeping-willow, and seem exceedingly industrious. They have
some resemblance, in color, to the Pine-creeping Warbler, but do
not run along the trunk like that bird, neither do they give a
preference to the pines. They are also less. After the 1st of
November, they are no longer to be found, unless the season be
uncommonly mild. These birds doubtless pass through Pennsyl-
vania, in spring, on their way to the North ; but either make a very
hasty journey, or frequent the tops of the tallest trees : for I have
never yet met with one of them in that season, though in October
I have seen more than a hundred in an afternoon's excursion.

" Length, four inches and three-quarters ; breadth, eight inches ;
whole upper parts olive-green, streaked on the back with dusky
stripes ; tail coverts ash, tipped with olive ; tail black, edged with
dull-white ; the three exterior feathers marked near the tip with
white ; wings deep-dusky, edged with olive, and crossed with two
bars of white ; primaries also tipped, and three secondaries next
the body edged with white ; upper mandible dusky-brown ; lower, as
well as the chin and breast, dull-yellow ; belly and vent white ; legs
dusky-brown ; feet and claws yellow ; a pale-yellow ring surrounds
the eye. The males of these birds often warble out some low but
very sweet notes, while searching among the leaves in autumn."

He says of the Black-poll Warbler, —

" This species has considerable affinity to the Flycatchers in its
habits. It is chiefly confined to the woods, and, even there, to the

236 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

tops of the tallest trees, where it is descried skipping from branch
to branch in pursuit of winged insects. Its note is a single screep,
scarcely audible from below. It arrives in Pennsylvania about the
20th of April, and is first seen on the tops of the highest maples,
darting about among the blossoms. As the woods thicken with
leaves, it may be found pretty generally, being none of the least
numerous of our summer birds. It is, however, most partial to
woods in the immediate neighborhood of creeks, swamps, or mo-
rasses, probably from the greater number of its favorite insects
frequenting such places. It is also pretty generally diffused over
the United States, having myself met with it in most quarters
of the Union, though its nest has hitherto defied all my researches."

He then says of the female Black-poll, —

" From its habit of keeping on the highest branches of trees, it
probably builds in such situations, and its nest may long remain
unknown to us.

" Pennant, who describes this species, says that it inhabits, during
summer, Newfoundland and New York, and is called in the last
Sailor. This name, for which, however, no reason is given, must
be very local ; as the bird itself is one of those silent, shy, and soli-
tary individuals that seek the deep retreat of the forest, and are
known to few or none but the naturalist.

"Length of the female Black-cap five inches and a quarter,
extent eight and a quarter; bill brownish-black; crown yellow-
olive, streaked with black ; back the same, mixed with some pale-
slate ; wings dusky-brown, edged with olive ; first and second wing
coverts tipped with white ; tertials edged with yellowish-white ;
tail coverts pale-gray ; tail dusky, forked, the two exterior feathers
marked on their inner vanes with a spot of white ; round the eye
is a whitish ring ; cheeks and sides of the breast tinged with yellow,
and slightly spotted with black ; chin white, as are also the belly
and vent ; legs and feet dirty-orange.

" The young bird of the first season, and the female, as is usually
the case, are very much alike in plumage. On their arrival, early
in April, the black feathers on the crown are frequently seen coming
out, intermixed with the former ash-colored ones.

" This species has all the agility and many of the habits of the
Flycatcher."

THE YELLOW WARBLER. 237

About the middle of October, sometimes not before the
last of that month, the Black-poll Warbler leaves on its
southern migration : at that time, it has, in New England
certainly, all the characteristics and habits of the Autumnal
Warbler described above; and, having examined numbers
of specimens, I conclude, from the reasons expressed above,
that the species are identical.

DENDEOICA -ESTIVA, — Baird.
The Yellow Warbler.

Motacilla (estiva, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 996.
Sylvia citrinella, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 111.
Sylvia childreni, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 180.
Motacilla petechia, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 334.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill lead-color; head all round, and under parts generally, bright-yellow; rest of
upper parts yellow-olivaceous, brightest on the rump; back with obsolete streaks
of dusky reddish-brown ; fore breast and sides of the body streaked with brownish-
red; tail feathers bright-yellow; the outer webs and tips, with the whole upper sur-
faces of the innermost one, brown; extreme outer edges of wing and tail feathers
olivaceous, like the back; the middle and greater coverts and tertials edged with
yellow, forming two bands on the wings. Female similar, with the crown olivaceous,
like the back, and the streaks wanting on the back, and much restricted on the under
parts ; tail with more brown.

Length of male, five and twenty -five one-hundredths inches ; wing, two and sixty-
six one-hundredths ; tail, two and twenty-five one-hundredths inches.

This exceedingly abundant species is a summer resident,
and breeds in all the New-England States. It arrives from
the South about the last of April or first of May, and com-
mences building about the 15th of the latter month. The
nest is usually placed in a low bush, frequently the bar-
berry. Occasionally, it is built in an alder or maple tree,
seldom more than fifteen or twenty feet from the ground,
although Mr. Nuttall gives instances of its being built in the
forks of a sugar-maple-tree, fifty feet from the ground : this,
however, is a very rare case. Nuttall' s description of the
nest is the best I have seen, and I give it entire : —

" The nest is extremely neat and durable ; the exterior is formed
of layers of asclepias, or silk-weed lint, glutinously though slightly

238 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

attached to the supporting twigs, mixed with some slender strips of
fine bark and pine-leaves, and thickly bedded with the down of wil-
lows, the nankeen wool of the Virginia cotton-grass (Eriophorum
Virginicum), the down of fine stalks, the hair of the downy seeds
of the button-wood (Platanus), or the papus of compound flowers,
and then lined either with fine bent grass (Agrostis), or down, and
horsehair, and rarely with a few accidental feathers."

The eggs are usually four in number, sometimes five:
they vary in color from creamy-white, with numerous spots
and blotches of different shades of brown, to a grayish-white
with a greenish tint, and marked with the same spots and
blotches ; these markings are thickest at the larger end of
the egg, where they are often confluent. Dimensions vary
from .67 by .50 inch to '.64 by .50 inch. The habits of this
bird are well known ; and its genial nature and confid-
ing disposition have rendered it a great favorite with the
farmer.

DENDROICA MACULOSA.— Baird.
The Black and Yellow Warbler ; Magnolia "Warbler.

Motacilla maculosa, Gmelin. Syst., I. (1788) 984.

Sylvia maculosa, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 370. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 260;
II. (1834) 145; V. (1839)458.

Sylvia magnolia, Wilson. Am. Orn., III. (1811) 63.

DESCRIPTION.

Male, in spring. — Bill dark bluish-black, rather lighter beneath; tail dusky,
top of head light grayish-blue ; front, lore, cheek, and a stripe under the eye, black,
running into a large triangular patch on the back, between the wings, which is also
black ; eyelids and a stripe from the eye along the head white ; upper tail coverts
black, some of the feathers tipped with grayish ; abdomen and lower tail coverts
white; rump and under parts, except as described, yellow; lower throat, breast, and
sides streaked with black, the streaks closer on the lower throat and fore breast ;
lesser wing coverts, and edges of the wing and tail, bluish-gray, the former spotted
with black ; quills and tail almost black, the latter with a square patch of white on
the inner webs of all the tail feathers (but the two inner), beyond the middle of the
tail; two white bands across the wings (sometimes coalesced into one), formed by
the small coverts and secondaries ; part of the edge of the inner webs of the quills
white; feathers margining the black patch on the back behind and on the sides
tinged with greenish.

Second and third quills longest, first shorter than fourth ; tail rounded, emarginate.

Female, in spring. — In general appearance like the male, but with the corre-
sponding colors much duller; the black on the back reduced to a few large proxi-

THE BLACK AND YELLOW WARBLER.

239

mate spots; the spots on the under parts much fewer; upper parts dirty-ash, tinged
with greenish on the lower back ; on the rump dull-yellow.

Male, in autumn. — Bill brown, lighter along the edges and base of lower man-
dible; head and hind neck dirty-ash, tinged above with green; back greenish-
yellow, obsoletely spotted with black; rump yellow; throat and breast yellow,
obsoletely spotted with black, strongly tinged with light-ash on the lower throat;
eyelids dirty-white ; differs from the spring plumage in being without the black on
the back, front, sides of the head and cheeks, and in a great degree on the under
parts; much less white on the whig and side of the head; the colors generally
also are duller.

Female, in autumn. — Similar, generally, to the male in fall. Back greenish-
yellow, brighter on the rump; rest of upper parts deep-ash; lower parts yellow,
obsoletely streaked with black, the light-ash on the lower throat decided; the
white on the wings reduced to two narrow bands. ' There is a continuous white ring
round the eye; bill light brown; basal part of lower mandible dirty- white ; feet
lighter brown.

Specimens vary somewhat in the amount of black on the under parts.

Length, five inches ; wing, two and fifty one-hundredths ; tail, two and twenty-five
one-hundredths inches.

This beautiful bird is not uncommon in the migrations
in the three southern New-England States, and is a summer
resident in the others. It does not make its appearance
before the 10th of May, and
proceeds slowly in its travels.
I found numbers in Northern
Maine and New Hampshire as
late as the 17th of June. They
were industrious, and seemed to
be, at that late date, but just
mating. Hence I infer that they
rear but one brood, and not until
late in the season.

The no. te of the male is very
similar to that of the Chestnut-
sided Warbler; and I was de-
ceived by it into mistaking this
for that species. It had the hab-

Upper fig., Yellow Warbler.
itS Of that bird also, and Seemed Lower flg.,Black and Yellow Warbler

to prefer the low, swampy woods to the higher ones.

Although I looked very carefully and diligently for the
nest, I could not find it. From the fact that the birds were

240 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

almost always in or near clearings or young growth, I judge
that they nest in such localities. Mr. Hutchins informs us,
that, in the Hudson's Bay country, the nest is built in wil-
lows, and that it is constructed of grass and feathers: he
also says that the female lays four eggs. I can find no
other description of the nest or eggs.

After the 25th of September, none are to be found in
New England.

DENDROICA TIGRINA. — Baird.
The Cape-May "Warbler.

Motacilla tigrina, Gmelin. Syst. Nat, I. (1788) 985.

Sylvia maritima, Wilson. Am. Orn., VI. (1812) 99. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 156.
And. Orn. Biog., V. (1839) 156.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill very acute, conical, and decidedly curved ; bill and feet black ; upper part of
head dull-black, some of the feathers faintly margined with light yellowish-brown ;
collar scarcely meeting behind ; rump and under parts generally rich-yellow ; throat,
fore part of breast, and sides, stre'aked with black ; abdomen and lower tail coverts
pale-yellow, brighter about the vent; ear coverts light reddish-chestnut; back part of
a yellow line from nostrils over the eye, of this same color ; chin and throat tinged
also with it; a black line from commissure through the eye, and running into the
chestnut of the ear coverts ; back, shoulder, edges of the wing and tail, yellowish-
olive, the former spotted with dusky ; one row of small coverts, and outer bases of
the secondary coverts, form a large patch of white, tinged with pale-yellow ; tertials
rather broadly edged with brownish-white; quills and tail dark-brown, the three
outer feathers of the latter largely marked with white on the inner web ; edge of the
outer web of the outer feathers white, more perceptible towards the base.

Length, five and twenty-five one-hundredths inches; wing, two and eighty-four
one-hundredths; tail, two and fifteen one-hundredths inches.

This species appears to be quite rare in New England,
but it probably occurs regularly in the migrations. It is
said to breed in south-eastern Maine, and it probably does
so in the northern sections.

DENDEOICA PALMAEUM. — Baird.
The Yellow Red-poll Warbler.

Motacilla palmarum, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 951.

Sylvia petechia, Wilson. Am. Orn., VI. (1812) 19. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 364.
Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 259, 360.

THE PRAIRIE WARBLER. 241

DESCRIPTION.

Head above chestnut-red; rest of upper parts brownish olive-gray; the feathers
with darker centres, the color brightening on the rump, upper tail coverts, and outer
margins of wing and tail feathers, to greenish-yellow; a streak from nostrils over the
eye, and under parts generally, including the tail coverts, bright-yellow; paler on
the body; a maxillary line; breast and sides finely but rather obsoletely streaked
with reddish-brown ; cheeks brownish (in highest spring plumage, chestnut like the
head); the eyelids and a spot under the eye olive-brown; lores dusky; a white spot
on the inner web of the outer two tail feathers at the end.

Length, five inches ; wing, two, and forty-two one-hundredths ; tail, two and
twenty-five one-hundredths inches.

This is one of the earliest of our spring visitors, arriving
sometimes as early as the first week in April : it is quite
abundant until the second week of May, when it moves on
to its northern breeding-homes. While here, it prefers the
neighborhood of a swampy thicket, and is seldom seen in
high dry woods. It is, .like the other Warblers, always
actively employed in searching for insects, which it captures
as often while on the wing as otherwise. Its note is a faint
tinkle like that of the Golden-crested Wren. There are only
a few that breed in New England. I have in my collection a
nest and eggs collected in Northern Maine by Mr. George
A. Boardman, of Calais. The nest was placed on the
ground. It is constructed loosely, first of stalks of weeds
and grasses : above these is placed a layer of fine roots and
grass ; then are laid pieces of moss, caterpillars' silk, fine
grasses, and hairs ; and the whole is deeply hollowed, and
lined with fine roots and pine-leaves. Two eggs in the nest
are of a delicate white, with a faint roseate tint : they are
marked at the larger end with fine spots and blotches of
reddish and brown. They are about the size of the eggs
of the Blue Yellow-backed Warbler, being .61 by .50 inch
and .62 by .51 inch.

DENDEOICA DISCOLOR. — Baird.
The Prairie Warbler.

Sylvia discolor, Vieillot. Ois. Am. Sept., II. (1807) 37. Aud. Orn. Bioff., L
(1831) 76. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 294.

Sylvia minuta, Wilson. Am. Orn., III. (1811) 87.

16

242 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

DESCRIPTION.

Above uniform olive-green; the middle of the back streaked with brownish-red.
Under parts and sides of the head, including a broad superciliary line from the nos-
trils to a little behind the eye, bright-yellow, brightest anteriorly ; a well-defined
narrow stripe from the commissure of the mouth through the eye, and another from
the same point curving gently below it, also a series of streaks on each side of the
body, extending from the throat to the flanks, black; quills and tail feathers brown,
edged with white; the terminal half of the inner web of the first and second tail
feathers white; two yellowish bands on the wings. Female similar, but duller;
the dorsal streaks indistinct. %

Length, four and eighty-six one-hundredths inches ; wing, two and twenty-five
one-hundredths ; tail, two and ten one-hundredths inches.

This beautiful bird is not very common in any part of
New England ; and it appears to be a rather rare species
north of Massachusetts, which State seems to be its northern
breeding limit. It makes its appearance about the third
week in May, and commences building about the last of
that month. I have been so fortunate as to find two nests
in Norfolk County, and have had another nest and eggs sent
me from Belmont, in this State : I have also known of sev-
eral other nests being found, and judge that the species
breeds not uncommonly in Massachusetts and the other two
southern New-England States. These nests were all placed
in low barberry bushes, in rocky localities. They are ex-
ceedingly neat structures, the most so of any of our New-
England Warblers' nests : they are constructed of various
soft cottony substances, after the manner of the nest of the
Yellow Warbler, and are lined with soft feathers and wool.
The eggs are usually three in number. These are of a beau-
tiful pearly-white color, with a slight roseate tint, and cov-
ered irregularly with small spots of different shades of
brown and lilac, thickest at the large end. Dimensions of
three eggs collected in Belmont, Mass. : .64 by .52 inch, .63
by .52 inch, .60 by .50 inch. The above-described nests
were invariably placed in the fork of the bush in which
they were built : the materials were the same, consisting of
the down from different plants, cotton, wool, and other like
substances. I find, on referring to Audubon, Wilson, and

THE PRAIRIE WARBLER. 243

others, considerable differences in the description of the
nest, &c. Wilson's description is as follows : —

" The nest of this species is of very neat and delicate workman-
ship, being pensile, and generally hung on the fork of a low bush
or thicket. It is formed outwardly of green moss, intermixed with
rotten bits of wood and caterpillars' silk : the inside is lined with
extremely fine fibres of grape-vine bark; and the whole would
scarcely weigh a quarter of an ounce."

Audubon says, —

" Its nest, which forms by far the most interesting part of its his-
tory, is uncommonly small and delicate. Its eggs I have uniformly
found to be four in number, and of a white color, with a few brown-
ish spots near the larger end. The nest is sometimes attached to
three or four blades of tall grass, or hangs between two small sprigs
of a slender twig. At first sight, it seems to be formed like that of
the Humming-bird; the external parts being composed of deli-
cate gray lichens and other substances, and skins of black cater-
pillars, and the interior finished with the finest fibres of dried
vines." /

Nuttall says, in contradiction to these descriptions, —

•
" The nest was hardly distinguishable from that of the Summer

Yellow-bird (Yellow Warbler), being fixed in a trifid branch (not
pensile), and formed of strips of inner red-cedar bark and asclepias
fibres, also with some caterpillar silk, and thickly lined with cud-
weed down (Gnaphalfam plantagineum), and slender tops of bent
grass (Agrostis). The eggs, four or five, were white, rather sharp
at the lesser end, marked with spots of lilac-purple, and others of
two different shades of brown, rather numerous at the great end,
where they appear most collated together in a circle."

Nuttall's description of the nest is certainly the most
correct, so far as shown in all the specimens that I have :
probably, in different sections, the breeding habits of this
bird are, like those of some others, subject to great varia-
tions.

244 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Wilson says, in his description of the habits of these
birds, —

"They seem to prefer these open plains and thinly wooded
tracts, and have this singularity in their manners, that they are
not easily alarmed, and search among the leaves the most leisurely
of any of the tribe I have yet met with ; seeming to examine every
blade of grass and every leaf ; uttering, at short intervals, a feeble
chirr. I have observed one of these birds to sit on the lower
branch of a tree for half an hour at a time, and allow me to come
up nearly to the foot of the tree, without seeming to be in the least
disturbed, or to discontinue the regularity of its occasional note.
In activity, it is the reverse of the preceding species ; and is rather
a scarce bird in the countries where I found it. Its food consists
principally of small caterpillars and winged insects."

In closing with the genus Dendroica, I give the remarks
of J. A. Allen concerning the distribution of the different
species at Springfield, Mass. : —

" Of the twenty-two species of Dendroica inhabiting the United
States, thirteen have been found at Springfield, and one other
(D. ccerulea) may occur as accidental or extremely rare. Four of
them (D. virens, pinus, Pennsylvanica, (Estiva) are known to breed
here, and two others (D. Blackburnice, castanea) have been taken
in the breeding season. None are permanent residents, and none
are seen in the winter. The remaining five (D. coronata, striata,
maculosa, tigrina, palmarum) are at present known merely as
spring and autumn visitants. D. coronata is most abundant;
striata next so ; virens, Canadensis, maculosa, cestiva, and palma-
rum are but little less common ; Blackburnice is more rare ; casta-
nea and discolor are quite rare, while tigrina is extremely rare.
The earliest to arrive are pinus and palmarum, commonly appearing
early in April ; striata is rarely seen before May 30 : the others
commonly arrive from May 5th to May 12th, and stragglers remain
till June. JD. coronata is decidedly gregarious in its migrations,
and is everywhere about equally abundant. The others are usually
Been in small parties, and keep pretty closely to the woods, except
JD. <estiva and palmarum, cestiva, being never found in the deep
woods."

THE HOODED WARBLER. 245

MYIODIOCTES, AUDUBON.

Myiodioctes, AUDUBON, Syn. (1839), 48. (Type Motacilla mitrata.)
Bill depressed, Flycatcher like ; broader than high at the base ; gape with bristles
nearly as long as the bill, which is distinctly notched at tip ; both outlines gently
convex ; tarsi longer than the head, considerably exceeding the middle toe ; claws
all considerably curved ; tail decidedly rounded or slightly graduated ; the lateral
feathers one-fifth of an inch shorter; wing very little longer than the tail; the first
quill decidedly shorter than the fourth ; colors yellow.

MYIODIOCTES MITRATUS.— Audubon.
The Hooded Warbler.

Motacilla mitrata, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 977.

Sylvia mitrata, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 373. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 68.

Syjvania mitrata, Nuttall. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 333.

Musdcapa cucullata, Wilson. Am. Orn., III. (1811) 101.

DESCRIPTION.

Male. — Bill black; feet pale-yellow; head and neck all round, and fore part of
the breast, black ; a broad patch on the forehead extending round on the entire
cheeks and ear coverts, with the under parts, bright-yellow; upper parts and sides
of the body olive-green ; greater portion of inner web of three outer tail feathers
white.

Female similar; the crown like the back; the forehead yellowish; the sides of
the head yellow, tinged with olive on the lores and ear coverts.

Length, five inches ; wing, two and seventy-five one-hundredths ; tail, two and
fifty-five one-hundredths inches.

This bird is so extremely rare in New England, that it
can be regarded only as a straggler. It has been known to
occur in Connecticut, but its regular habitat is more a
southern one. Audubon describes its habits as follows : —

" The Hooded Flycatcher is one of the liveliest of its tribe, and
is almost continually in motion. Fond of secluded places, it is
equally to be met with in the thick cane-brakes of the high or low
lands, or amid the rank weeds and tangled rushes of the lowest
and most impenetrable swamps. You recognize it instantly, on
seeing it ; for the peculiar graceful opening and closing of its broad
tail distinguishes it at once, as it goes on gambolling from bush to
bush, now in sight, now hidden from your eye, but constantly
within hearing.

246 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

" The nest of this species is always placed low, and is generally
attached to the forks of small twigs. It is neatly and compactly
formed of mosses, dried grasses, and fibrous roots, and is carefully
lined with hair, and, not unfrequently, a few large feathers. The
eggs are from four to six, of a dull-white, spotted with reddish-
brown towards the larger end. The male and female sit by turns,
and show extreme anxiety for the safety of their eggs or young."

MYIODIOCTES PUSILLUS. — Bcmaparte.
The Green Black-cap Flycatcher ; Wilson's Black-cap.

Musdcapa pusilla, Wilson. Am. Orn., III. (1811) 103.

Sylvania pusilla, Nuttall. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 335.

Sylvia Wilsonii, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 408.

Musdcapa Wilsonii, Audubon. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 148. .

DESCRIPTION.

Forehead, line over and around the eye and under parts generally bright-yellow;
upper part olive-green ; a square patch on the crown lustrous-black ; sides of body
and cheeks tinged with olive; no white on wings or tail. Female similar; the
black of the crown obscured by olive-green.

Length, four and seventy-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, two and twenty-
five one-hundredths ; tail, two and thirty one-hundredths inches.

Occurs in sparing numbers from May 12th to 27th. Have
seen it in apple-orchards, actively engaged in hunting in-
sects, at which times it was quite tame, uttering its song at
intervals. It has also been observed in August. Probably
breeds in Northern New England.

"It has all the habits of a true Flycatcher, feeding on small
insects, which it catches entirely on the wing, snapping its bill with
a smart clicking sound. It frequents the borders of the lakes, and
such streams as are fringed with low bushes, from which it is seen
every moment sallying forth, pursuing its insect prey for many
yards at a time, and again throwing itself into its favorite thickets.

"The nest is placed on the extremity of a small horizontal
branch, among the thick foliage of dwarf firs, not more than from
three to five feet from the ground, and in the centre of the thickets
of these trees so common in Labrador. The materials of which it
is composed are bits of dry moss and delicate pine twigs, aggluti-
nated together and to the branches or leaves around it, and beneath

THE CANADA FLYCATCHER. 247

which it is suspended, with a lining of extremely fine and trans-
parent fibres. The greatest diameter does not exceed three and a
half inches, and the depth is not more than one and a half. The
eggs are four, dull-white, sprinkled with reddish and brown dots
towards the larger end, where the marks form a circle, leaving
the extremity plain. The parents show much uneasiness at the
approach of any intruder, skipping about and around among the
twigs and in the air, snapping their bill, and uttering a plaintive
note. They raise only one brood in the season. The young
males show their black cap as soon as they are fully fledged, and
before their departure to the South." — AUDUBON.

This bird, according to Audubon, is not very rare in
Maine, and it becomes more abundant the farther north we
proceed. He found it in Labrador and all the immediate
districts ; it reaching that country early in June, and re-
turning southward by the middle of August.

MTIODIOCTES CANADENSIS. — Audubon.
The Canada Flycatcher.

Muscicapa Canadensis, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 327. Wil. Am. Orn.,
III. (1811) 100. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 17.

Sylvia pardalina, Bonaparte. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 372.

DESCRIPTION.

Upper parts bluish-ash ; a ring round the eye, with a line running to the nos-
trils, and the whole under part (except the tail coverts, which are white), bright-
yellow ; centres of the feathers in the anterior half of the crown, the cheeks, con-
tinuous with a line on the side of the neck to the breast, and a series of spots across
the fore part of the breast, black ; tail feathers unspotted. Female similar, with the
black of the head and breast less distinct. In the young obsolete.

Length, five and thirty-four one hundredths inches ; wing, two and sixty-seven
one-hundredths ; tail, two and fifty one-hundredths inches.

This beautiful species is a rather common spring and
autumn visitor in all New -England, and, in the northern
sections of these States, is an inhabitant through the whole
summer. It sometimes breeds in Massachusetts ; and I
have no doubt, that, in a few years, it will be found to
breed abundantly in this State, as it has increased in num-

248 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

bers greatly within four or five years. It arrives from the
South from about the 10th to the 25th of May. The birds
seem to be mated on their arrival ; for I have noticed, that,
if a male is seen, a female is almost always to be found in
his immediate vicinity.

About the first week in June, the nest is built.1 This is
fixed in a fork of a low cedar or pine bush, very near the
ground, and is constructed of pine leaves, fine roots and
grasses, and a few hairs : it is loosely put together, and is
lined with fine pieces of the same materials and lichens.

The eggs are four in number. They are small and
abruptly pointed : they are of a grayish-white color, with a
slight roseate tint, and are marked with spots and fine
blotches of lilac and brown, usually thickest near the larger
end. The only nest and eggs that I have seen were of this
description: they were found in Quincy, Mass., in an old
pasture, partly grown up with bushes.

The eggs were nearly of a uniform size and shape, and
measured about .65 by .48 inch in dimensions.

The habits of this species are so much like those of the
preceding, that, if the Wilson's Black-cap were more com-
mon, the two birds might be easily confounded. The flight
of the present is rapid ; and all the motions of the bird, when
it is pursuing insects, are those of the true Flycatchers. Its
note is a shrill we$chy, weechy, which is uttered at short
intervals by the bird, both while on the wing and when
perching. About the first week in September, it begins to
grow abundant; and, by the 15th of that month, it has
departed on its southern migration.

SETOPHAGA, SWAINSON.

Setophaga, SWAINSON, Zool. Jour., III. (Dec., 1827) 360. (Type Musdcapa ruti-
cilla, Linnaeus.)

Bill depressed, broader than high; rictus with long bristles; wings rounded,
equal to or shorter than the tail ; first quill shorter than the fourth ; tail long, some-
what graduated, the outer feathers about twenty one-hundredths of an inch or more
shorter; all the feathers unusually broad, and widened at the end; feet short; tarsus
1 See Appendix.

THE RED START. 249

shorter than the head; hind toe equal to the lateral; coloration embracing more or
less of red in northern species.

This genus differs from Myiodioctes chiefly in the longer, broader tail, and rather
shorter tarsi and toes, the hinder especially; the bill is more muscicapine; the
culmen nearly straight to the abruptly decurved and much notched tip; the gonys
straight; in Myiodioctes the vertical outlines are more convex; the gonys more
ascending; the tip gently and but slightly decurved.

SETOPHAGA BUTICILLA. — Swainson.
The Bed Start.

Muscicapa ruticilla, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat, I. (1766) 326. Wil. Am. Orn., I.
(1808) 103. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 202; V. (1839)428.
Sylvania ruticilla, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 291.

DESCRIPTION.

Male. — Prevailing color black ; a central line on the breast, the abdomen, and
under tail coverts, white; some feathers in the latter strongly tinged with dark-
brown; bases of all the quills, except the inner and outer, and basal half of all
the tail feathers, except the middle one, a patch on each side of the breast, and the
axillary region orange-red, of a vermilion shade on the breast. Female with the
black replaced by olive-green above, by brownish-white beneath ; the head tinged
with ash; a grayish-white lore and ring round the eye; the red of the male
replaced by yellow.

Length, five and twenty-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, two and fifty one-
hundredths inches; tail, two and forty-five one-hundredths inches.

This quite common species is a summer resident, and
breeds in all the New-England States. It arrives from the
South from about the first to the middle of May, accord-
ing to latitude, and commences
building about the first week
in June. The nest is usually
placed on a low limb of a
small tree, often in a hori-
zontal fork, seldom more than
ten feet from the ground. It
is constructed of strips of
cedar bark, grape-vine bark,
grasses, and fine weeds: these
materials are adjusted neatly, and agglutinated by the bird's
saliva into a compact structure, to the exterior of which
are attached, or plastered on by the bird's saliva, fragments

250 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

of soft lichens, caterpillars' silk, and down from the ferns.
It is deeply hollowed, and lined with thin strips of grape-vine
bark and cottony substances, and sometimes a few hairs or
fibrous roots. Nuttall, in describing the nest, says " the
lining is neither soft nor downy;" but Wilson and Audubon
both assert to the contrary. I have examined a great num-
ber of the nests, and have found them to agree with the
foregoing description. The eggs are usually four in number.
Their color is a beautiful creamy-white, which is covered,
more or less thickly, with spots of reddish-brown and lilac.
Average dimensions of eggs, about .63 by .50 inch.

Perhaps the best description I can give of the habits of
this bird is to say that they are a combination of those
of the Flycatchers and Warblers ; for, like the former, it
pursues flying insects in the air, and seizes them with a
loud snapping of the bill, and, like the latter, gleans indus-
triously for them among the foliage and branches of trees.
The note of the Red Start is a shrill cheweea, which is
uttered at intervals of perhaps a half or whole minute.

I have not noticed that it prefers any particular locality ;
but it seems to frequent the woods, pastures, and orchards
in equal abundance : and I have known of a pair building,
and rearing a brood, in a garden, within five rods of a house.

About the 15th of September, the Bed Start leaves for
the South ; and, after the 20th of that month, none are to
be seen in New England.

Sub-Family TANAGRIN^E. — The Tanagers.
PYRANGA, VIEILLOT.

Pyranga, VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept., I. (1807) IV. /&., Analyse (1816), 32.
Sclater, Pr. Zool. Soc. (1856), 123.

t Bill somewhat straight; sub-conical, cylindrical, notched at tip; culmen moder-
ately curved; commissure with a median acute lobe; wings elongated; the four first
primaries about equal ; tail moderate, slightly forked. Colors of the male chiefly
scarlet, of the female yellowish.

THE SCARLET TANAGEB. 251

PTEANGA RUBRA.— Vleillot.
The Scarlet Tanager.

Tanagra rubra. Linn., I. (1766) 314. Wil. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 42. Aud. Orn.
Biog., IV. (1838J 388.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill shorter than the head ; second quill longest ; first and third a little shorter ;
tail moderately forked ; general color of male bright-carmine ; wings and tail velvet-
black, the quills internally edged with white towards the base. Female olive-green
above, yellowish beneath; wing and tail feathers brown, edged with olivaceous.

The young males are colored like the females, but generally exhibit more or less
of red feathers among the greenish ones. Sometimes the full plumage is varied by
a few yellow feathers, or by olivaceous edges to the wings ; not unfrequently there
is a partly concealed bar of red or yellow on the wing, across the median coverts.
Young males are sometimes seen with the body like the female, the wings and tail
like the male.

Length, seven and forty one-hundredths inches; wing, four inches; tail, three
inches.

This gaudy summer visitor breeds in all the New-England
States ; less plentifully, however, in the northern than in the
southern districts. It arrives from the South about the fif-
teenth of May, and commences building about the last of
that month. The favorite localities of this bird seem to be
oak-groves, situated near swamps : here I have often heard
several males singing at the same time, and have watched
them in their active movements in their pursuit of insects,
of which this species destroys great numbers. The nest is
placed on a horizontal limb of a treey usually from fifteen
to twenty feet from the ground, in the deep woods. It is
constructed of slender twigs of the oak, huckleberry or
whortleberry bush, and weeds: these are loosely put to-
gether ; so much so, that, were it not for the interlacing of
the small joints of the twigs, it would soon fall apart. It is
not deeply hollowed, and is lined with thread-like fibrous
roots and the leaves of the various pines. The whole
structure is so thinly made as almost to fall to pieces on
removal from the tree. The eggs are usually four in num-
ber, sometimes three, seldom five. They are of a dull light
greenish-blue color, of different shades, and spattered with

252 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

purplish-brown, in some specimens quite thickly, in others
less so. The ground-color is the most prominent ; the mark-
ings never completely hiding it, or sufficiently confluent to

be called blotches. A nest complement of four eggs, in a
nest collected in Milton, Mass., exhibit the following meas-
urements: .97 by .66 inch, .93 by .65 inch, .90 by .62 inch,
.88 by .64 inch. Other specimens show no great variations
from these dimensions.

The Scarlet Tanager thrives well in confinement, and
makes a beautiful and interesting pet. I once kept one
caged for over six months. Tie eat seeds and small fruits,
and, within a week after his capture, chanted his warbling
song with perfect freedom. He had, and I have also noted
that all of this species have, a sort of ventriloquism in his
song: it at times sounded as if at quite a distance; and I
have been deceived in this manner, by birds that were almost
over my head, into supposing that they were far away.

THE SCARLET TANAGEE. 253

The song is almost exactly like that of the Robin, but is
often broken with a pensive call-note, sounding like the
syllables chip churr.

Early in September, the Tanagers leave for their Southern
homes ; from which they seem, while here, hardly more than
wanderers, so commonly do we associate gaudy plumages
with tropical climes. They winter, probably, in Central
America and the Bahamas.

254 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

FAMILY HIRUNDINIDJ3. THE SWALLOWS.

Sub-Family HIRUNDININJE.

Bill triangular, very short and broad, much depressed ; the ridge much less than
half the head ; the gonys two-thirds this length ; the gape extending to below the
eye; primaries nine; the first longest, and, with the second, considerably longer
than the others ; the secondaries and tertials not reaching the middle of the prima-
ries; the secondaries deeply emarginate; wings very long, reaching beyond the
commencement of the fork of the tail, which is generally more or less deep ; tarsi
scutellate, very short, less than the lateral toes, the inner of which is more deeply
cleft than the outer.

HIRUNDO, LINNAEUS.

ffirundo, LINN^US, Syst. Nat. (1735). Gray, Genera, I. (1845).

Nostrils basal, small, oblong, and covered partly by a membrane ; tail more or
less forked; the outer lateral feather sometimes greatly lengthened; tarsi shorter
than the middle toe, and scutellated; tarsi naked; toes long, slender, the lateral ones
unequal ; claws moderate, curved, acute.

HIRUNDO HORREORUM. — Barton.
The Barn Swallow.

Eirundo horreorum, Barton. Fragments N. H. Penna. (1799) 17.
Hirundo Americana, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. (1812) 34.
Eirundo rustica, Audubon. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 413.

DESCRIPTION.

Tail very deeply forked; outer feathers several inches longer than the inner, very
narrow towards the end ; above glossy-blue, with concealed white in the middle of
the back ; throat chestnut ; rest of lower part reddish-white, not conspicuously dif-
ferent; a steel-blue collar on the upper part of the breast, interrupted in the middle;
tail feathers with a white spot near the middle, on the inner web. Female with the
outer tail feather not quite so long.

Length, six and ninety one-hundredths inches ; wing, five inches ; tail, four and
fifty one hundredths inches.

beautiful and well-known bird arrives in New
JL England from about the 10th of April to the 25th of
that month, according to latitude : it is quickly dispersed in
great numbers through these States, and soon commences
mating. Its habits are so well known that any description

THE BARN SWALLOW. 255

here is hardly needed. About the 10th of May, after the
birds have paired, they commence building; or sometimes
the same couple begin repairing the nest of the preceding
year or years, as the same nest
is occupied several seasons. It is
built in the eaves of houses or
barns, or on rafters of barns and
other buildings. It is constructed |
outwardly of a strong shell of
pellets of mud, which are plas-
tered together, and, as Nuttall
says, "tempered with fine hay,
and rendered more adhesive by
the glutinous saliva of the bird." This nest is built out
and up until the top is about horizontal, and then lined with
a layer of fine grass or hay, which is covered with loose
feathers. This bird is fond of society, often as many as
twenty nests being in the same eaves. The eggs are
usually four in number, sometimes five : they are of a
nearly pure-white color, with a slight roseate tint ; and are
spotted more or less thickly with fine dots of two shades of
brown, reddish, and purplish. The dimensions of four eggs,
collected in Upton, Me., are .76 by .56 inch, .70 by .52
inch, .76 by .52 inch, .69 by .53 inch. The largest speci-
men, in a great number, is .78 by .57 inch ; the smallest,
.67 by .50 inch. Two broods, and sometimes three, are
reared in the season. The period of incubation is thirteen
days.

About the first week in September, the old and young
birds of different families gather in immense flocks ; and,
after remaining about the marshes near the seacoast for a
few days, they leave for their winter homes.

256 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

HIRUNDO LUNIFRONS. — Say.
The Cliff Swallow ; Eave Swallow.

Hirundo lunifrons, Say. Long's Exped. R. Mts., II. (1823) 47.
Eirundo respuUicana, Audubon. Ann. N.Y. Lye., I. (1824) 164.
Hirundo fulva, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 353.
Hirundo melanogaster, Swainson. Philos. Mag., I. (1827) 366.
Petrochelidon melanogastra, Cabanis. Mus. Hein., 47.

DESCRIPTION.

Crown and back steel-blue; the upper part of the latter with concealed pale
edges to the feathers; chin, throat, and sides of the head dark-chestnut; breast
fuscous ; belly white ; a steel-blue spot on throat ; rump light-chestnut ; forehead
brownish-white ; a pale nuchal band ; tail slightly emarginate.

Length, about five inches ; wing, four and forty one-hundredths ; tail, two and
twenty one-hundredths.

Hob. — North America from Atlantic to Pacific.

The Cliff Swallow is very generally distributed as a sum-
mer inhabitant of New England. It arrives from the South
from about the 25th of April to the 1st of May. It has all
the habits and characteristics of the preceding species, and
is probably as well known throughout New England as that
bird. About the 10th of May (sometimes earlier, sometimes
later, according to latitude), it pairs, and commences build-
ing. The nest is usually fixed beneath eaves or cornices,
or other jutting portions of buildings, or on cliffs, beneath
overhanging portions of rock : it is constructed externally
of pellets of mud and earth, which are gradually plastered
together into a large gourd-shaped structure ; the larger part
attached to the building or cliff, and the neck curving out-
ward and downward. At the part of the nest resembling
the neck of the gourd is the entrance. The whole fabric is
much more brittle than the nest of the Barn Swallow, for the
reason that no grass or hay is worked into the mud to give
it strength. A lining of fine grass and feathers is fixed in
this, and the whole makes a very neat and comfortable
structure. The eggs are usually five in number. They
can hardly be distinguished from those of the preceding

THE WHITE-BELLIED SWALLOW. 257

species ; and, in fact, identification is next to impossible.
In a majority of the present species, the spots are somewhat
coarser, and the eggs are generally longer. Four eggs,
collected in Dorchester, Mass., are of the average dimen-
sions of .84 by .54 inch ; other specimens, from various
localities, are about this size.

Like the Barn Swallow, this species gathers into large
flocks at the end of the summer, and frequents the same
localities, but not at the same time ; as it leaves usually a
week or ten days before the other bird.

HIEUNDO BICOLOR.— Vteillot.
The White-bellied Swallow ; Blue-backed Swallow.

ffirundo Wcofor, Vieillot. Ois. Am. Sept., I. (1807) 61. Aud. Orn. Biog. (1831),
491.

DESCRIPTION.

Glossy metallic-green above; entirely white beneath. Female much duller in
color.

Length, six and twenty-five one-hundredths inches; wing, five inches; tail, two
and sixty-five one-hundredths inches.

This very common and well-known species is a summer
inhabitant of all New England; being most abundant in
localities near sheets of water, and less common in high,
dry districts. Its habits are well known ; and arriving, as
it does, early in the season, and fraternizing with man, it is
a great favorite. It makes its appearance as early as the
first week in April, but does not commence building before
the middle of May. Near cities and towns, the nest is
built in martin-boxes provided for its reception: but, in
less thickly settled districts, it is built in holes in stumps
and trees ; and cases are on record of its being built in a
deserted nest of the common Barn Swallow. When passing
through the chain of the Umbagog* lakes, in Maine, I
observed great numbers of these birds whose nests were
built in holes in dead trees standing in the lake near the
shores. These nests were so plenty, that, in the area of

17

258 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

about ten rods square, I counted over fifty. Of course, the
birds were in myriads, and the species constitutes the com-
mon Swallow of the districts in that latitude. The materials
used in the construction of the nest are fine grasses, hay,
and feathers : these are adjusted loosely in the cavity of the
tree, and without any form. The eggs are, most commonly,
five in number. Their color is a beautiful clear-white, with
a roseate tint before their contents are removed : they are
extremely thin and fragile, much more so than most of the
other species ; and their form is a slender oval. Of a great
number of specimens, collected in various localities, the
largest is .79 by .56 inch ; the smallest, .69 by .51 inch.
Two broods are generally reared in the season, and the
period of incubation is fourteen days.

This species leaves New England in the fall migration
about the 10th of September.

COTYLE, BOIE.

Cotyle, BOIE, Isis (1822), 550. (Type H. riparia.)

Bill very flat, extremely broad at the base, and gradually narrowed towards
the tip; nostrils prominent and rounded; tail moderate, nearly straight, or some-
what emarginated; tarsi rather shorter than the middle toe, slender and scutellated;
toes very slender, the claws slightly curved ; colors generally dull brown above,
without gloss.

COTYLE RIPARIA.— JBoie.
The Bank Swallow.

Hirundo riparia, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 344. Wils. Am. Orn., V. 46.
Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 584.

Cotyle riparia, Boie. Isis (1822), 550.

DESCRIPTION.

The smallest of American swallows; tail slightly emarginate; outer web of first
primary soft, without hooks ; lower part of the tarsus with a few scattered feathers ;
above grayish-brown, somewhat fuliginous, with a tendency to paler margins to the
feathers ; beneath pure-white, with a band across the breast and sides of the body
like the back.

Length, four and seventy-five one-hundredths inches; wing, four; tail, two
inches.

THE BANK SWALLOW. 259

Unlike all our other swallows, this species avoids the
neighborhood of man in selecting its breeding-place ; and it
is abundant only in the neighborhood of streams or other
sheets of water. It is distributed, as a summer resident,
in all the New-England States, arid in many localities is
very abundant. It arrives the first week in May, often
earlier ; and soon pairs, and commences building, or rather
excavating, for the nest. The excavations are made in
sand-banks, in the same manner as those of the Kingfisher,
and are often three or four feet in depth, usually about
eighteen inches. At the end of this burrow, which is
widened and enlarged, is placed the nest, composed of
dried grasses, hay, feathers, and other like soft materials.
The birds are sociable in their habits, as are all the other
species ; and often as many as twenty and thirty holes
may be seen in the same bank. The number, of eggs is
either five or four. These are of a pure-white color, and
vary but little in size or shape ; the latter being almost
always oval, and the size ranging from .72 by .52 inch to
.68 by .49 inch. Usually two broods are reared in the
season, but often only one.

In habits, this bird resembles the other swallows, but is
not so quarrelsome as they, and I never noticed two of this
species fighting: its note is not, like theirs, shrill and oft
repeated, but is only a seldom-uttered lisping chatter. It
leaves New England by the last week in August.

PROGNE, BOIE.

Progne, BIOE, Isis (1826), 971. (Type Hirundo purpurea, L.)
Bill, strong^ short; the gape very wide; the sides gradually compressed, the
culmen and lateral margins arched to the tip, the latter inflected; the nostrils
basal, lateral, open, and rounded ; tail considerably forked ; tarsi shorter than the
middle toe and claw, about equal to the toe alone ; toes long, strong ; lateral ones
equal.

The large size, very stout bill and feet (for this family), with the usually uni-
form black glossy plumage, readily distinguish tlys genus among the swallows.
But one species is well established as North American.

260 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

PBOGNE PURPUREA.— Boie.
The Purple Martin.

Hirundo purpurea, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766)344. Aud. Orn. Biog., L
(1831) 115.

Prognepivrpurea, Boie. Isis (1826), 971.

DESCRIPTION.

Largest of North-American Swallows; closed wings rather longer than the
deeply forked tail ; tarsi and toes naked ; color, in the old male, everywhere glossy
steel-blue, with purple and violet reflections. Female and immature male less
brilliant above, pale-brownish beneath, blotched with darker or with bluish.

Length, seven and thirty one-hundredths inches; wing, five and eighty-five
one-hundredths ; tail, three and forty one-hundredths inches.

The Purple Martin is the least abundant of all our
Swallows, and, indeed, in some localities is quite rare.
It arrives from the South about the first week in May,
and is distributed in single pairs through all New Eng-
land.

The description, by Wilson, of the habits of the bird, is
so well written that 1 present quite a liberal extract from it.
He says, —

" The summer residence of this agreeable bird is universally
among the habitations of man, who, having no interest in his
destruction, and deriving considerable advantage as well as amuse-
ment from his company, is generally his friend and protector.
Wherever he comes, he finds some hospitable retreat fitted up for
his accommodation and that of his young, either in the projecting
wooden cornice, on the top of the roof or sign-post, in the box
appropriated to the Blue-bird, or, if all these be wanting, in the
dove-house among the pigeons. In this last case, he sometimes
takes possession of one quarter or tier of the premises, in which
not a pigeon dare for a moment set its foot. Some people have
large conveniences formed for the Martins, with many apartments,
which are usually full tenanted, and occupied regularly every
spring ; and, in such places, particular individuals have been noted
to return to the same box for several successive years. Even the
solitary Indian seems to have a particular respect for this bird.

THE PURPLE MARTIN. 261

The Choctaws and Chickasaws cut off all the top branches from a
sapling near their cabins, leaving the prongs a foot or two in
length, on each of which they hang a gourd or calabash, properly
hollowed out, for their convenience. On the banks of the Missis-
sippi, the negroes stick up long canes, with the same species of
apartment fixed to their tops, in which the Martins regularly
breed. Wherever I have travelled in this country, I have
seen with pleasure the hospitality of the inhabitants to this favor-
ite bird.

" About the middle' or 20th of April, the Martins first begin to
prepare their nest. The last of these which I examined was
formed of dry leaves of the weeping willow, slender straws, hay,
and feathers in considerable quantity. The eggs were four, very
small for the size of the bird, and pure-white, without any spots.
The first brood appears in May, the second late in July. During
the period in which the female is laying, and before she commences
incubation, they are both from home the greater part of the day.
When the female is sitting, she is frequently visited by the male,
who also occupies her place while she takes a short recreation
abroad. He also often passes a quarter of an hour in the apart-
ment beside her, and has become quite domesticated since her con-
finement. He sits on the outside, dressing and arranging his
plumage, occasionally passing to the door of the apartment, as if
to inquire how she does. His notes, at this time, seem to have
assumed a peculiar softness ; and his gratulations are expressive of
much tenderness. Conjugal fidelity, even where there is a num-
ber together, seems to be faithfully preserved by these birds. On
the 25th of May, a male and female Martin took possession of a
box in Mr. Bartram's garden. A day or two after, a second
female made her appearance, and stayed for several days ; but from
the cold reception she met with, being frequently beat off by the
male, she finally abandoned the place, and set off, no doubt, to seek
for a more sociable companion.

" The Purple Martin, like his half-cousin the King-bird, is the
terror of crows, hawks, and eagles. These he attacks whenever
they make their appearance, and with such vigor and rapidity that
they instantly have recourse to flight. So well known is this to
the lesser birds, and to the domestic poultry, that, as soon as they

262 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

hear the Martin's voice engaged in fight, all is alarm and conster-
nation. To observe with what spirit and audacity this bird dives
and sweeps upon and around the Hawk or the Eagle is astonish-
ing. He also bestows an occasional bastinading on the King-bird
when he finds him too near his premises ; though he will, at any
time, instantly co-operate with him in attacking the common
enemy.

" The Martin differs from all the rest of our Swallows in the
particular prey which he selects. Wasps, bees, large beetles, par-
ticularly those called by the boys goldsmiths, seem his favorite
game. I have taken four of these large beetles from the stomach
of a Purple Martin, each of which seemed entire, and even
unbruised.

" The flight of the Purple Martin unites in it all the swiftness,
ease, rapidity of turning, and gracefulness of motion of its tribe.
Like the Swift of Europe, he sails much with little action of the
wings. He passes through the most crowded parts of our streets,
eluding the passengers with the quickness of thought ; or plays
among the clouds, gliding about at a vast height, like an aerial
being. His usual note, peuo, peuo, peuo, is loud and musical;
but is frequently succeeded by others more low and guttural.
Soon after the 20th of August, he leaves Pennsylvania for the
South."

In New England, this species begins to prepare its nest
about the 20th of May : this is composed of dried grasses,
leaves, and feathers, and is deposited usually in a box pre-
pared for this purpose. The eggs are from four to six in
number, of a pure-white color, and vary but little in form
from exactly oval. Four specimens, collected in Connecti-
cut, exhibit the following measurements : 1.04 by .70 inch,
1 by .70 inch, 1 by .68 inch, .97 by .68 inch. Other speci-
mens vary but little from these dimensions. Two broods
are often reared in the season, and the period of incubation
is fourteen days.

In dismissing this family, it is hardly necessary, at this
late day, to say a word in favor of their beneficial habits ;

THE PURPLE MARTIN. 263

for every farmer has recognized them, and encouraged
the presence of the birds, and protected them for years ;
but the immense amount of injurious and noxious insects
they destroy is astonishing, and hardly realized ; amount-
ing probably to several hundreds by every bird in the
day.

264 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

FAMILY BOMBYCILLID-ZE. THE CHATTERERS.

Primaries ten, the first very short or moderate, always less than half the second;
bill short, broad, triangular, much depressed; gape opening nearly to the eyes,
twice the length of the culmen ; both mandibles notched, the upper with a tooth'
behind the notch ; tarsi scutellate anteriorly, with indications also of scales inferiorly
on the sides (except in Myiadestesf), shorter than the middle toe; outer lateral toe
longest; toes unequally cleft; head generally crested.

Sub-Family BOMBTCILLINJE. — The Wax Wings.

AMPELIS, LINNAEUS.

Ampelis, LINN^US, Syst. Nat. (1735). (Type A. garrulus.}

Head with a broad, depressed crest; bill very broad, opening nearly to the eye;
a series of short, velvety feathers at the base of the bill, with bristles directed for-
wards and covering the nostrils, but none along the rictus; commissure straight ;
culmen and gonys curved, convex; both mandibles notched at tip; legs stout; tarsi
shorter than the middle toe, scutellate anteriorly, and slightly on the lower half on
the sides behind, slightly feathered above ; hind toe shorter than the lateral, which
are equal; wings very long, pointed, reaching almost to the tip of the nearly even
tail; first primary so short as to be with difficulty discernible, the second quill
longest; tips of secondary quills with horny appendages, like sealing-wax.

AMPELIS GARRULUS. — Linruws.
The Wax-wing; Bohemian Chatterer.

" Lanius garrulus, Linnaeus. Fauna Suecica, II. No. 82."
Ampelis garrulus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 297.
BambydUa garrula. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 462.

DESCRIPTION.

Highly crested; general color brownish-ash, with a faint shade of reddish,
especially anteriorly; the forehead, sides of the head, and under tail coverts, brown-
ish-orange; the hinder parts purer ash; the region about the vent white; primaries
and tail feathers plumbeous black, especially towards the tips ; the tail with a ter-
minal band of yellow; a narrow frontal line passing backward and involving the
eye, and extending above and behind it; chin and upper part of throat black; tips
of the secondary coverts, and a spot on the end of the outer webs of all the quills,
white; those on the inner primaries glossed with yellow; secondaries with red, horny
tips, like sealing-wax; side of the lower jaw whitish.

Length, seven and forty one-hundredths inches; wing, four and fifty one-hun-
dredths inches; tail, three inches.

THE CEDAR-BIRD. 265

This species, with the general appearance of the Cedar-bird, is readily distin-
guished by its superior size, much larger crest, black chin and throat, instead of
chin alone, brownish-chestnut under tail coverts, instead of white, and the white
marks on the wing not found at all in the other. In the closed wing, the white on
the ends of the primaries forms a continuous narrow stripe nearly parallel with the
outer edge of the wing.

THIS bird is an extremely rare winter visitor in New
England, appearing only in severe seasons. It is seen
in small flocks of perhaps six or eight individuals, usually
in groves of cedars or Virginia junipers, where it feeds on
the small blue berries or seeds that are found on those trees.
This species breeds in the most northern portions of the
continent.

AMPELIS CEDEOEUM. — Baird.
The Cedar-bird; Cherry-bird.

Ampelis garrulus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 297.

Bombydlla Carolinensis, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 227; V. 494.

Ampelis Americana, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 107.

DESCRIPTION.

Head crested ; general color reddish-olive, passing anteriorly on the neck, head,
and breast into purplish-cinnamon, posteriorly on the upper parts into ash, on the
lower into yellow; under tail coverts white; chin dark sooty-black, fading insensibly
into the ground-color on the throat ; forehead, loral region, space below the eye, and
a line above it on the side of the head, intense black ; quills and tail dark-plumbeous,
passing behind into dusky; the tail tipped with yellow; the primaries, except the
first, margined with hoary; a short maxillary stripe, a narrow crescent on the infero-
posterior quarter of the eye, white ; secondaries with horny tips, like red sealing-wax.

Length, seven and twenty-five one-hundredths inches; wing, four and five one-
hundredths ; tail, two and sixty one-hundredths inches.

Hob. — North America generally, south to Guatemala.

This very common and well-known bird is a summer
inhabitant of all New England. It remains in the southern
districts through the winter, but usually arrives, in flocks
of twenty or thirty, as early as the first or second week
in March. About the middle of May, these flocks are
divided into smaller ones, and these soon into pairs,
which commence building about the second week in June.
The nest is placed in the midst of twigs on a horizontal

266

ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

branch, generally of a tree in the orchard ; sometimes in a
cedar or other tree in a pasture or wood. It is con-
structed of stalks of weeds, long fine roots, grass, grape-
vine bark, and leaves : it is
deeply hollowed, and lined with
fine roots, horsehairs, and fine
grass. One specimen in my col-
lection- is partly composed of
strips of twine and thread,
which are woven together in a
very neat and compact man-
ner, and interlaced with nu-
merous fine roots and weeds.
The eggs are usually four or
five in number: they are laid
about the twentieth of June,
Lower fig., cedar-bird. and a second litter often in Au-

upper %., Eed-eyed vireo. gust. They are of a light-bluish

or clay-white color, with a slight purple tint, and are marked,
more or less thickly, with distinct spots of black, and more
obscure spots of purplish-brown: the appearance of these
latter spots is as if they were " beneath the surface of
the shell." Dimensions of five eggs collected in New
Hampshire: .86 by .64 inch, .86 by .63 inch, .86 by .60
inch, .80 by .62 inch, .80 by .60 inch. A great number of
specimens from different localities do not exhibit any great
variations from these measurements.

There is a great deal of ill feeling manifested towards
this well-known bird by the farmers, on account of its occa-
sionally helping itself to a few cherries or other small fruits.
Its valuable services in the orchard and nursery seem to be
overlooked, and its life is often forfeited for this little weak-
ness. But if the farmer will observe it in its insect-destroy-
ing labors, watch it as it devours caterpillar after caterpillar,
or draws from its lurking-place the larva of some injurious
insect, he will come to the conclusion, as many have already

THE CEDAR-BIRD. 267

done, that this bird is worthy his protection, instead of
deserving his anger.

Says Nuttall, in speaking of this fact, —

"At this season (April), to repay the gardener for the tithe
of his crop, their natural due, they fail not to assist in ridding his
trees of more deadly enemies which infest them, and the small
caterpillars, beetles, and various insects now constitute their only
food ; and for hours at a time they may be seen feeding on the all-
despoilipg canker-worms, which infest our apple-trees and elms.
On these occasions, silent and sedate, after plentifully feeding, they
sit dressing their feathers, in near contact on the same branch, to
the number of five or six ; and, as the season of selective attach-
ment approaches, they may be observed pluming each other, and
caressing with the most gentle fondness. This friendly trait is
carried so far, that an eye-witness assures me he has seen one
among a row of these birds seated upon a branch dart after an
insect, and offer it to his associate when caught, who very disin-
terestedly passed it to the next ; and, each delicately declining the
offer, the morsel has proceeded backwards and forwards before it
was appropriated."

The note of the Cedar-bird, like that of the Wax-wing, is
a feeble, plaintive tw£e, tw£e, uttered often, and by both
sexes.

268 OENITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY,

FAMILY LANIIDJE.

Bill strong and compressed, the tip abruptly hooked; both mandibles distinctly
notched, the upper with a distinct tooth behind, the lower with the point bent up;
tarsi longer than the middle toe, strongly scutellate; primaries ten; first primary
half the second, or shorter (occasionally wanting).

The sub-families of Laniidce belonging to the United States are as follows : —

LANIIJ^E. — Bill very powerful, much compressed, and abruptly hooked, with a
very prominent tooth behind the notch; wings considerably rounded; tail rather
long and graduated ; sides of the tarsi scutellate behind.

VIREONIN^E. — Bill moderate, cylindrical, somewhat compressed; wings long, the
first primary sometimes wanting; tail short and nearly even; sides of the tarsi behind
not scutellate.

Sub-Family LANIIKE. — The Shrikes.
COLLYRIO, MOEHRING.

Collyrio, MOEHRING, Genera Avium (1752), 28. (Type Lanius excubitor, L.)

Lanius, of AUTHORS.

Feathers of forehead stiffened; base of bill, including nostrils, covered by bristly
feathers directed forward ; bill shorter than the head, much compressed, and very
powerful; culmen decurved from base, the mandible abruptly bent down in a power-
ful hook, what in acute lobe near the tip; tip of lower mandible bent upwards in a
hook; the gonys very convex; rictus with long bristles; legs stout; the tarsi are
rather short, longer than the middle toe; the lateral equal ; the claws all very sharp
and much curved ; wings rounded ; the first primary about half the second, which is
equal to the sixth or seventh; tail longer than the wings, much graduated, the
feathers broad.

COLLYEIO BOREALIS. — Baird.
The Great Northern Shrike ; Butcher-bird.

Lanius septentrionalis, Bonaparte. Syn. (1828), 72. Bon. List (1838). Nutt.
Man., I. (1832) 258.

Lanius borealis, Audubon. Syn. (1839), 157.

Lanius excubitor. Wils., I. (1808) 74. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 534.

DESCRIPTION.

Above light bluish-ash, obscurely soiled with reddish-brown ; forehead, sides of
the crown, scapulars, and upper tail coverts hoary-white ; beneath white, the breast
with fine transverse lines ; wings and tail black, the former with a white patch at
base of primaries and tips of small quills, the latter with the lateral feathers tipped
with white; bill blackish-brown, considerably lighter at the base; black stripe from
the bill through and behind the eye, but beneath the latter interrupted by a whitish
crescent. Female and young with the gray soiled with brownish.

THE GREAT NOETHERN SHRIKE. 269

Length, nine and eighty-five one-hundredths inches ; wings, four and fifty one-
hundredths inches; tail, four and eighty one-hundredths inches; its graduation,
ninety one-hundredths inches.

THIS species, although not uncommon as a winter visitor
in New England, is seldom seen here during the sum-
mer months ; and I think that it very rarely breeds in these
States, and then only in the most northern and retired
sections.

It makes its appearance about the last week in October,
and is seen until the last week in April. During this period,
it preys upon small birds, mice, and such insects and larvaa
as it finds in exposed situations, such as fences, piles of
stones, &c.

In watching for its prey, it usually remains perched on a
stake or small tree, in a field or meadow, carefully scanning
the surrounding neighborhood. When a mouse or other
small mammal presents itself in the grass, the bird folds
its wings, drops on it with an unerring £im, and seizes it
with its bill. If a flock of small birds, such as Pine-finches '
or Red-polls, appear in sight, he immediately pursues them,
and generally secures one or two before they are dispersed.
I have seen an individual dart into a flock of Tree Sparrows,
and kill three of them before they could escape ; and it
seems a characteristic of this bird to secure more than
enough food for its present wants. Its habit of suspending
small birds, mice, and insects on thorns and small twigs,
is well known. This is done, I am inclined to think, not
because, as many writers assert, that it will not eat its food
when freshly killed, and it thus suspends it in order that
it may become tainted, but rather to have this food stored
for future need. We see many other birds with this same
habit of providing for future wants ; particularly the Blue
Jay, and some of the Woodpeckers.

I have never met with the nest of this species, and will
borrow the description by Audubon: —

"About the 20th of April, the male and his mate are seen

270 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

engaged in building their nest in the covered and secluded parts of
the forests. I found several of their nests placed on bushes not
above ten feet from the ground, without any appearance of choice
as to the tree, but generally towards the top, and placed in a fork.
The nest is as large as that of the Robin, and is composed exter-
nally of coarse grasses, leaves, and moss ; internally of fibrous roots,
over which is a bed of the feathers of the wild turkey and pheas-
ant (Tetrao umbellus)"

Nuttall, in describing the nest, says that it is " large and
compact, in the fork of a small tree, and sometimes in an
apple-tree, composed externally of dried grass, with whitish
moss, and well lined with feathers."

The eggs are from four to six in number, of a dirty lead-
colored white, and marked more or less thickly, around the
greater end, with dashes and spots of brown of different
shades. Dimensions of four eggs : 1.12 by .80 inch, 1.12
by .78 inch, 1.08 by .78 inch, 1.04 by .77 inch.

Sub-Family VIREONIN^E. — The Vireos.

VIREO, VIEILLOT.

Krco, VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept., I. (1807) 83. (Type Muscicapa Noveboracensis,
Gm.)

Bill short, strong, straight ; the culmen slightly curved, the sides much compressed
to the tip, which is rapidly curved and deflected ; the gonys long and ascending ; the
gape with short, weak bristles ; the nostrils basal, rounded, and exposed, the feathers
of the head advancing forward on the bill to the nostril ; wings variable, rather long,
and pointed; the first quill sometimes spurious, the larger outer one always gradu-
ated a little ; tail nearly even and rather short ; tarsi longer than the middle toe ;
outer toe a little longer than the inner; hind toe rather shorter than the middle one.

VIREO OLIVACEUS. — VieiUot.
The Red-eyed Vireo.

Muscicapa olivacea, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat, I. (1766) 327. Wils. Am. Orn., II.
(1810)55.

Vireo olivaceus, Nuttall. Man., I. (1632) 312. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 287:
V. 430.

THE BED-EYED VIREO. 271

DESCRIPTION. t> •

Second and third quills about equal, and longest; first a little shorter than the
fourth, but considerably longer than the fifth ; back, rump, and edges of wing and
tail feathers bright olivaceous-green; side of head and neck paler; crown dark-ash,
sharply defined ; a well-defined whitish line from the bill, over the eye, nearly to the
occiput ; a dark line separating it above from the ashy crown ; a dusky line through
the eye; beneath white; under tail coverts pale sulphur-yellow; iris, red.

Length, about six and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, three and fifty one-
hundredths.

I feel that no description of mine can begin to do justice
to the genial, happy, industrious disposition of this one of
our most common, and perhaps best-loved birds. From the
time of its arrival, about the first week in May, until its
departure, about the first week in October, it is seen in the
foliage of elms and other shade-trees in the midst of our
cities and villages, in the apple-trees near the farm-houses,
and in the tall oaks and chestnuts in the deep forests.
Everywhere in these States, at all hours of the day, from
early dawn until evening twilight, his sweet, half-plaintive,
half-meditative carol is heard. I know that I am not singu-
lar in my preference, when I say, that, of all my feathered
acquaintances, this is the greatest favorite I have. I always
loved it ; and I can never look upon one, after it is killed,
no matter how naturally it is preserved, without a sad feel-
ing, as if it were one of my own most dear friends dead
before me.

The Red-eyed "Vireo is one of the most industrious of
our birds. Whenever we see him, we notice that he is
busily searching in the foliage of trees for caterpillars and
noxious Iarvs8, or pursuing winged insects that have taken
flight from the trees. While thus engaged, he utters at
short intervals his warbling song. This consists some-
times of a few syllables like *w£e chew£o turrullit chewdeo,
given in a singularly sweet tone. This is only a part of its
song ; and the whole is so difficult of description that I can-
not put it on paper.

Says Nuttall, —

272 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

" The whole is delivered almost without any sensible interval,
with earnest animation, in a pathetic, tender, and pleasing strain,
well calculated to produce calm and thoughtful reflection in the
sensitive mind. Yet, while this heavenly reverie strikes on
the human ear with such peculiar effect, the humble musician
himself seems but little concerned : for all the while, perhaps, that
this flowing chorus enchants the hearer, he is casually hopping
from spray to spray in quest of his active or crawling prey ; and,
if a cessation occurs in his almost untiring lay, it is occasioned by
the caterpillar or fly he has fortunately just captured. So unaf-
fected are these delightful efforts of instinct, and so unconscious is
the performer, apparently, of this pleasing faculty bestowed upon
him by nature, that he may truly be considered as a messenger of
harmony to man alone, appointed by the fiat of the Creative
power. Wantonly to destroy these delightful aids to sentimental
happiness ought therefore to be viewed, not only as an act of bar-
barity, but almost as a sacrilege."

The Red-eyed Yireo commences building about the first
week in June, frequenting the woods rather more commonly
than the pastures and orchards, although it often breeds in
these places. The nest is pensile, and is hung from the
fork of a small limb of a tree, seldom more than fifteen or
twenty feet from the ground : it is constructed of thin strips
of cedar bark, pieces of wasps' nests, spiders' nests, pieces of
caterpillars' silk, and other pliable materials. These are
woven together neatly and compactly, and agglutinated
together by the bird's saliva. It is suspended in the form
of a basket from the forked twig to which it is attached, or
rather sewed firmly. It is lined with narrow strips of
grape-vine bark, pine leaves, and sometimes fine grass. On
the outside are often visible bits of rotten wood, fragments
of newspapers, and hornet's nests. One specimen in my col-
lection, obtained in Maine, is constructed almost entirely of
pieces of the bark of the white birch: it is a very neat
fabric. The eggs are four in number, pure-white in color,
and thinly spotted, chiefly at the great end, with dots of

THE WARBLING VIREO. 273

brownish-black. The measurement of four eggs in a n^st
collected in Milton, Mass., are .84 by .60 inch, .80 by .60
inch, .80 by .59 inch, .78 by .59 inch. Other specimens
vary but little from these dimensions. Two broods are
often reared in the season. The period of incubation is
twelve days.

VIREO GILVUS.— Bonaparte.
. The Warbling Vireo.

Muscicapa gilva, Vieillot. Ois., I. (1807) 65.

Vireo gilws, Nuttall. I. (1832) 309. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 114; V. (1839 1
433.

Muscicapa melodia, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. (1812) 85.

DESCRIPTION.

Third, fourth, and fifth quills nearly equal ; second and sixth usually about equal,
and about twenty-five one-hundredths of an inch shorter than third ; the exposed
portion of spurious quill about one-fourth the third; above greenish-olive; the
head and hind neck ashy, the back slightly tinged with the same; lores dusky; a
white streak from the base of the upper mandible above and a little behind the eye;
beneath the eye whitish ; sides of the head pale yellowish-brown ; beneath white,
tinged with very pale yellpw on the breast and sides ; no light margins whatever on
the outer webs of the wings or tail.

Length, about five and a half inches ; wings nearly three. Spurious primary,
one-fourth the length of second.

This species is a not very common summer inhabitant of
New England, arriving and departing at about the same
time as the preceding species. It is seldom seen in the
deep forests; and, while usually found about farm-houses
and villages, is most commonly seen in localities where there
are numbers of the trees of the poplar and ash. In these
trees, it inhabits the higher branches ; and is, with the Red-
eyed Yireo, equally industrious in its search for insects. Its
song is difficult of description : it is, unlike that of our other
Vireos, a long-continued, cheerful warble; and is perhaps
best described by saying that it almost exactly resembles
the love-song of the Purple Finch. In fact, I have some-
times mistaken the song of this bird for that of the other,
and only discovered my error after carefully watching the
bird in his movements in the tree-tops.

18

274 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

The Warbling Vireo seems to arrive here in pairs ; for they
seem to be mated when we first discover them. Whether
their attachment continues through several seasons, I am
ignorant.

About the first of June, the pair commence building.
The nest is pensile, and usually built in tall trees (usually
poplars), often fifty feet from the ground. It is constructed
of strips of grape-vine bark, grass, leaves, or bass-wood
bark ; and sometimes bunches of caterpillars' silk are left on
the outside, as if for ornament. The following very inter-
esting account of the breeding habits of this bird is given
by Audubon, who watched a pair building in a Lombardy
poplar : — .

"One morning, I observed both of them at work: they had
already attached some slender blades of grass to the knots of the
branch and the bark of the trunk, and had given them a circular
disposition. They continued working downwards and outwards
until the structure exhibited the form of 'their delicate tenement.
Before the end of the second day, bits of hornets' nests and particles
of corn husks had been attached to it by pushing them between the
rows of grass, and fixing them with silky substances. On the third
day, the birds were absent, nor could I hear them anywhere in the
neighborhood ; and, thinking that a cat might have caught them from
the edge of the roof, I despaired of seeing them again. On the
fourth morning, however, their notes attracted my attention before
I arose; and I had the pleasure of finding them at their labors.
The materials which they now used consisted chiefly of extremely
slender grasses, which the birds worked in a circular form within
the frame which they had previously made. The little creatures
were absent nearly an hour at a time, and returned together, bring-
ing the grass, which, I concluded, they found at a considerable
distance. Going into the street to see in what direction they went,
I watched them for some time, and followed them as they flew from
tree to tree towards the river. There they stopped, and looked as
if carefully watching me, when they resumed their journey, and
led me quite out of the village to a large meadow, where stood an
old hay-stack. They alighted on it, and, in a few minutes, each had

THE WHITE-EYED VIBEO. 275

selected a blade of grass. Returning by the same route, they
moved so slowly from one tree to another, that my patience was
severely tried. Two other days were consumed in travelling for
the same kind of grass. On the seventh, I saw only the female at
work, using wood and horsehair : the eighth was almost entirely
spent by both in smoothing the inside. They would enter the nest,
sit in it, turn round, and press the lining. In the course of five
days, an equal number of eggs were laid : they were small, of a
rather .narrow oval form, white, thinly spotted with reddish-black
at the larger end. The birds sat alternately, though not with regu-
larity as to time ; and, on the twelfth day of incubation, the young
came out. I observed that the male would bring insects to the
female, and that, after chopping and macerating them with her
beak, she placed them in the mouth of her young with a care
and delicacy which were not less curious than pleasing to me."

This account is so full and complete that I can add noth-
ing to the history of the breeding habits of this bird. But
one brood is reared in the season in this latitude. The
dimensions of four eggs in my collection from different
localities are .83 by .56 inch, .80 by .56 inch, .78 by .54
inch, .78 by .53 inch. These will be found to be the aver-
age size of this species. The. nest is about three inches in
exterior diameter, and about two and a half in depth.

VIREO NOVEBORACENSIS. — Bonaparte.
The White-eyed Vireo.

Muscicapa Noveboracensis, Gmelin. Syst. Nat, I. (1788) 947.
Vireo Noveboracensis, Bonaparte. Obs. Wils. (1825), No. 122. Aud. Orn. Biog.,
I. (1831) 328; V. 431, 433; Birds Am., IV. (1842) 146; Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 306.
Muscicapa cantatrix, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 266.

DESCRIPTION.

Spurious primary about half the second, which is about equal to the eighth quill ;
entire upper parts bright olivaceous-green; space around the eyes and extending
ro the bill greenish-yellow, interrupted by a dusky spot from the anterior canthus to
the base of the gape; beneath white; the sides of the breast and body well defined,
almost gamboge-yellow; edges of greater and middle wing coverts (forming two
bands) and of inner tertiaries greenish-yellow white; iris white.

Length, five inches; wing, two and fifty one-hundredths.

276 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

This species is very irregularly distributed in New Eng-
land as a summer inhabitant. In Maine, New Hampshire,
and Vermont it is rare ; and, while it is quite abundant in
the eastern parts of Massachusetts, it is rare in the western.
Says J. A. Allen of it, at Springfield, —

" I have never known the White-eyed Vireo taken here ; and if
occurring, as it very probably does, being not very uncommon in
the eastern parts of the State, it must be excessively rare. In
about a thousand specimens of the smaller land birds taken at
Springfield during the last three years by different collectors, not
a single White-eyed Vireo has been found."

This species arrives from the South, usually in pairs, from
about the 25th of April to the 1st of May. It generally
frequents low thickets and swamps. I do not remember of
ever meeting with one in deep, high woods ; but have often
found a pair in a brier-patch in the middle of an old field or
pasture. In such localities, its peculiar note 'chip cheweSo,
' chip ''chip cheweeo, is often heard ; together with another
rattling, scolding note, difficult of description. When the
bird is approached, it meets the intruder with this scolding
rattle; and, if the nest is approached, the Vireo becomes
almost outrageous in its remonstrances. The nest is usually
placed in a thicket of briers or vines, often in the gardens
and fields. It is constructed of fibres of the inner bark of
trees, fine twigs, grasses, pieces of hornets' nests, and frag-
ments of paper. These are built in a pensile form, sus-
pended by the upper edge, and lined with slender strips of
grape-vine bark and roots. The eggs are usually four in
number, and can hardly be distinguished from those of the
Red-eyed Vireo in shape or color ; the average, dimensions
being a trifle smaller. Several eggs collected in different
localities exhibit, as an average measurement, .82 by .59
inch. A nest complement of four eggs, collected in Milton,
Mass., vary but a trifle from this size ; their measurement
oeing .83 by .59 inch, .82 by .59 inch, .82 by .58 inch, .80

THE SOLITARY VIREO. 277

by .58 inch. But one brood is usually reared in New Eng-
land in the season, and the period of incubation is twelve
days.

VIREO SOLITARIUS.— Vieittot.
The Solitary Vireo ; Blue-headed Vireo.

Muscicapa solitaria, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 143.

Vireo solitarius, Vieillot. Nouv. Diet. (1817). Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831), 147 ; V.
(1839) 432. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 305.

DESCRIPTION.

Spurious primary very small, not one-fourth the second, which is longer than
the sixth ; top and sides of the head and upper part of the neck dark bluish-ash ;
rest of uppej parts clear olive-green ; a white ring round the eye, interrupted in the
anterior canthus by a dusky lore, but the white color extending above this spot to
the base of the bill; under parts white; the sides under the wings greenish-yellow;
two bands on the wing coverts, with the edges of the secondaries, greenish-white ;
outer tail feather with its edge all round, including the whole outer web, whitish.

Length, about five and a half inches ; wing, two and forty one-hundredths.

This bird occurs as a summer resident in New England.
It has been taken in all these States, but not in any numbers.

It makes its appearance about the first or second week in
May, usually in pairs, and commences building its nest
about the last week in that month. I have never met with
its nest ; and Audubon's description, though meagre, is the
best available. It is as follows : —

" The nest is prettily constructed, and fixed, in a partially pensile
manner, between two twigs of a low bush on a branch running
horizontally from the main stem. It is formed externally of gray
lichens slightly put together, and lined with hair, chiefly from the
deer and raccoon. The female lays four or five eggs, which are
white, with a strong tinge of flesh-color, and sprinkled with brown-
ish-red dots at the larger end."

A number of eggs in my collection correspond in color
and markings to the above description, and measure on
the average .81 by .59 inch. But one brood is reared in the
, season, although there have been specimens taken as late as

278 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

October. But little is known of the habits of this bird, as
it prefers the deep woods and swamps to the more open dis-
tricts.

VIEEO FLAVIFRONS.— Vieillot.
The Yellow-throated Vireo.

Vlreo flavifrons, Vieillot. Ois. Am., I. (1807) 85. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834)
119; V. 428. 76., Syn. /£., Birds Am., IV. (1842) 141.
Muscicapa sylvicola, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 117.

DESCRIPTION.

No spurious quill ; the first and fourth equal ; from bill to middle of back, sides
of head, neck, and fore part of breast olive-green ; beneath, from bill to middle of
belly, with a ring round the eyes, sulphur-yellow; lores dusky; rest of under parts
white ; of upper, ashy-blue, tinged with green ; two white bands on the wing ; ter-
tiaries edged with white, other quills with greenish ; outer tail feathers edged with
yellowish-white; the outer web of first feather entirely of this color, except near
the end.

Length, nearly six inches; wing, three and twenty one-hundredths.

This beautiful Vireo is not very common in New England,
although it is found in all these Sfcates as a summer visitor,
It arrives from the South about the tenth of May, sometimes
not earlier than the fifteenth, and commences building
about the first or second week in June. The nest is placed
in a small fork of a tree, usually the apple-tree, at a height
of about fifteen or twenty feet from the ground. It is the
most beautiful nest made by birds of this genus : it is built
of nearly the same materials as the others, but is covered in
the most tasty manner with pieces of lichens and caterpil-
lars' silk and spiders' webs, which are plastered or aggluti-
nated on over the entire surface, giving the nest the
appearance of a large bunch of moss hanging from a forked
twig. Several of these nests, collected in different locali-
ties, are in my collection. They are invariably of this
description, and are all lined with pieces of paper, wasps'
nest, and fine grasses. "With the exception of the nest of the
Humming-bird, and perhaps two or three of the Warblers,
the nest of this species is the most beautiful specimen of

THE YELLOW-THROATED VIREO. 279

bird architecture that I am acquainted with. The eggs are
usually four in number. They are of a pure-white color,
with thinly scattered spots of two shades of reddish-brown
and black. The dimensions of four eggs collected in Con-
necticut are .83 by .61 inch, .82 by .60 inch, .82 by .60 inch,
and .80 by .59 inch. But one brood is reared in the season
in New England.

Wilson, in describing the habits of this bird, says, —

" This summer species is found chiefly in the woods, hunting
among the high branches ; and has an indolent and plaintive note,
which it repeats, with some little variation, every ten or twelve
seconds, like preeb, preea, &c. It is often heard in company with
the Red-eyed Flycatcher (Muscicapa olivacea) ; the loud, energetic
notes of the latter, mingling with the soft, languid warble of the
former, producing an agreeable effect, particularly during the burn-
ing heat of noon, when almost every other songster but these two
is silent. Those who loiter through the shades of our magnificent
forests at that hour will easily recognize both species. It arrives
from the south early in May, and returns again with its young
about the middle of September. Its nest, which is sometimes fixed
on the upper side of a limb, sometimes on a horizontal branch
among the twigs, generally on a tree, is composed outwardly of
thin strips of the bark of grape-vines, moss, lichens, &c., and lined
with fine fibres of such like substances : the eggs, usually four, are
white, thinly dotted with black, chiefly near the great end. Winged
insects are its principal food."

In dismissing this beautiful and favorite family of our
birds, I feel that it is impossible to say too much in their
favor : their neat and delicate plumage and sweet song, their
engaging and interesting habits, and their well-known insect-
destroying proclivities, have justly rendered them great
favorites ; and the farmer, in protecting them, and encour-
ing them to take up homes near his orchards and gardens,
but extends a care and welcome for his best friends.

280 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

FAMILY ALAUDID^. THE SKYLARKS.

First primary very short or wanting; tarsi scutellate anteriorly and posteriorly,
with the plates nearly of corresponding position and number; hind claw very long
and nearly straight; bill short, conical, frontal feathers extending along the side of
the bill ; the nostrils usually concealed by a tuft of bristly feathers directed forwards ;
tertials greatly elongated beyond the secondaries.

EREMOPHILA, BOIE.

Eremophila, BOIE, Isis (1828), 322. (Type Alauda alpeslris.) Sufficiently distinct
from Eremophilus, Humboldt (Fishes, 1805).

First primary wanting; bill scarcely higher than broad; nostrils circular, con-
cealed by a dense tuft of feathers ; the nasal fossae oblique ; a pectoral crescent and
cheek patches of black.

EREMOPHILA CORNUTA. — Boie.
The Skylark; Shore-lark.

Eastern and Northern variety.
Alauda cornuta, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 85.
Eremophila cormtta, Boie. Isis (1828), 322.

Alauda alpestris, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 85. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 455.
Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 570; V. 448.

DESCRIPTION.

Above pinkish-brown, the feathers of the back streaked with dusky; a broad
band across the crown, extending backwards along the lateral tufts; a crescentic
patch from the bill below the eye and along the side of the head; a jugular crescent,
and the tail feathers, black ; the innermost of the latter like the back ; a frontal band
extending backwards over the eye, and under parts, with outer edge of wings and
tail, white; chin and throat yellow.

Length of Pennsylvania specimens, seven and seventy-five one-hundredths
inches ; wing, four and fifty one-hundredths inches ; tail, three and twenty-five one-
hundredths inches ; bill, above, fifty-two one-hundredths of an inch.

THIS bird is found in New England only as a winter
visitor. It makes its appearance by the latter part of
November, in flocks of thirty or forty, which repair to the
salt-marshes, and low pastures and fields, where they remain
during their stay with us. Here they feed on the seeds of
various grasses and weeds, and such insects as they may be

THE SKYLARK. 281

able to obtain at that inclement season. They often associate
with the Snow Buntings, and sometimes make short excur-
sions inland. I have seen them on the beach busily search-
ing among the seaweed for small shell-fish and animalcules ;
and, in country roads, have observed that they visit the drop-
pings of horses and cattle for the seeds contained in them.

By the middle of March, the Shore-larks leave New Eng-
land for the North, where they breed, and spend the summer.
Audubori says, of their breeding habits, —

"The Shore-lark breeds on the high and desolate tracts of
Labrador, in the vicinity of the sea. The face of the country
appears as if formed of one undulated expanse of dark granite,
covered with mosses and lichens, varying in size and color ; some
green, others as white as snow, and others again of every tint, and
disposed in large patches or tufts. It is on the latter that the Lark
places her nest, which is disposed with so much care, while the moss
so resembles the bird in hue, that, unless you almost tread upon her
as she sits, she seems to feel secure, and remains unmoved. Should
you, however, approach so near, she nutters away, feigning lameness
so cunningly that none but one accustomed to the sight can refrain
from pursuing her. The male immediately joins her in mimic
wretchedness, uttering a note so soft and plaintive that it requires
a strong stimulation to force the naturalist to rob the poor birds of
their treasure.

" The nest, which is embedded in the moss to its edges, is com-
posed of fine grasses, circularly disposed, and forming a bed about
two inches thick, with a lining of grouse-feathers and those of other
birds. In the beginning of July, the eggs are deposited. They
are four or five in number, large, grayish, and covered with numer-
ous pale-blue and brown spots. The young leave the nest be-
fore they are able to fly, and follow their parents over the moss,
where they are fed about a week. They run nimbly, emit a soft
prep, and squat closely at the first .appearance of danger. If ob-
served and pursued, they open their wings to aid them in their
escape, and, separating, make off with great celerity. On such
occasions, it is difficult to secure more than one of them, unless
several persons be present, when each can pursue a bird. The

282 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

parents, all this time, are following the enemy overhead, lamenting
the danger to which their young are exposed. In several instances,
the old bird followed us almost to our boat, alighting occasionally
on a projecting crag before us, and entreating us, as it were, to
restore its offspring. By the first of August, many of the young
are fully fledged, and the different broods are seen associating
together to the number of forty, fifty, or more. They now gradu-
ally remove to the islands of the coast, where they remain until
their departure, which takes place in the beginning of September.
They start at the dawn of day, proceed on their way south at a
small elevation above the water, and fly in so straggling a manner
that they can scarcely be said to move in flocks."

A number of eggs in my collection, from Wisconsin and
Illinois, where these birds breed in considerable numbers,
are of a faint grayish-brown color, and marked with numer-
ous dots and spots of umber, of different shades, over the
entire surface of the egg. On one or two specimens, these
markings are confluent into coarser blotches of the two
shades of umber and lilac. The greatest dimensions of my
specimens are .93 by .65 inch; the least dimensions, .85
by .63 inch.

THE PINE GROSBEAK. 283

FAMILY FRINGILLID^E. THE SEED-EATERS.

Primaries nine ; bill very short, abruptly conical and robust ; commissure strongly
angulated at base of bill ; tarsi scutellate anteriorly, but the sides with two undivided
plates meeting behind along the median line, as a sharp posterior ridge.

Sub-Family COCCOTHRAUSTIN^E. — The Finches.

Wings very long and much pointed, generally one-third longer than the more or
less forked tail; first quill usually nearly as long or longer than the second; ter-
tiaries but little longer, or equal to the secondaries, and always much exceeded by
the primaries ; bill very variable in shape and size, the upper mandible, however, as
broad as the lower; nostrils rather more lateral than usual, and always more or less
concealed b}* a series of small bristly feathers applied along the base of the upper
mandible ; no bristles at the base of the bill ; feet short and rather weak ; hind claw
usually longer than the middle anterior one, sometimes nearly the same size.

PINICOLA, VlEILLOT.

Pinicola, VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept., I. (1807).

Bill short, nearly as high as long, upper outline much curved from the base ; the
margins of the mandibles rounded; the commissure gently concave, and abruptly
deflexed at the tip; base of the upper mandible much concealed by the bristly feath-
ers covering the basal third ; tarsus rather shorter than the middle toe ; lateral toe
short, but their long claws reach the base of the middle one, which is longer than
the hind claw ; wings moderate, the first quill rather shorter than the second, third,
and fourth ; tail rather shorter than the wings, nearly even.

But one species of this genus belongs to the American fauna, and is closely allied
to, if not identical with, that belonging to the northern portions of the Old World.

PINICOLA CANADENSIS — Cabanis.
The Pine Grosbeak.

Pinicola Canadensis, Cabanis. Mus. Hein. (1851), 167.
Loxia enucleator, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 80.
Pyrrhula enucleatw, Audubon. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 414.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill and legs black; general color carmine-red, not continuous above, however,
except on the head ; the feathers showing brownish centres on the back, where, too,
the red is darker; loral region, base of lower jaw all round, sides and posterior part
of body, with under tail coverts, ashy, whitest behind ; wing with two white bands

284 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

across the tips of the greater and middle coverts ; the outer edges of the quills also
white, broadest on the tertiaries.

Female, ashy; brownish above, tinged with greenish-yellow beneath ; top of head,
rump, and upper tail coverts brownish gamboge-yellow; wings as in the male.

Length, about eight and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, four and fifty one-
hundredths; tail, four inches.

A LTHOUGH we find in Yerrill's list of birds found at
^L\- Norway, Me., that this species is there a very common
winter visitor, my experience has been, that it is an ex-
tremely rare one in Massachusetts, and is only found with
us in very severe seasons.

This winter (1866-67), they have been very abundant,
and good opportunities have been obtained for studying
their habits.

Like other northern species, the Pine Grosbeak is very
tame and familiar while here in winter. Mr. Maynard, of
Newtonville, Mass., informs me, that he has repeatedly,
during this season, captured specimens in his hands, and
has had no difficulty in slipping a noose over their heads, as
the birds were employed in opening the pine seeds, or eating
the berries of the cedar ; and he has now -in captivity a
number of specimens that are exceedingly tame and inter-
esting, feeding readily on various seeds and fruits. A pair
that I have in my possession, which he captured, are so
tame that they take food from my hand, and even perch
upon my finger. Their song is a soft, pleasing warble, not
unlike that of the canary.

Both sexes have a number of call-notes, and they keep up
a continuous twitter through the day : they are always lively
and good-tempered, and are really entertaining pets.

Mr. Wheelwright, in his valuable and exceedingly inter-
esting book, " A Spring and Summer in Lapland," gives
the following account of the habits of the European Pine
Grosbeak, a bird nearly allied to, if not identical with, our
own : " By the first week in May, they had paired ; and we
took our first nest on June 4, with three eggs, in a small fir,
about ten feet from the ground, on the side of a small fell,

THE PURPLE FINCH. 285

in by 110 means a large wood : and I may observe, that all
the nests we took were built in small firs, never high from the
ground, or in deep woods, and generally in conspicuous situa-
tions. The nest is neither large nor deep, but very com-
pactly and cleanly built, like basket-work, the outside walling
of very fine fir branches and thin cranberry fibres tightly
interlaced, and lined with fine stiff grass and a little hair.
The eggs vary much, both in size and coloring ; but are
usually of a pale blue-green ground-color, blotched and lined
with light-purple and dark burnt-umber spots and pricks,
always thickest towards the large end. Average size, 1 inch
by .75 inch."

The food of the Grosbeak is not, as in the Crossbills, from
the seed of the fir cones, but the small buds or embryo of the
young branches which shoot out from the lateral branches
of the fir ; but they can pick out the seeds from the cones,
both of the pine and fir, quite as cleverly as the Crossbills.

For a very full and interesting description of the habits
of this species, I will refer the reader to vol. IY. Audubon's
Am. Orn. Biog., p. 414.

CARPODACUS, KAUP.

Carpodacus, KAUP, " Entw. Europ. Thienv., 1829." (Type Loxia erythrina, Pall.)
Bill short, stout, vaulted ; the culmen decurved towards the end ; the commis-
sure nearly straight to the slightly decurved end ; a slight development of bristly
feathers along the sides of the bill, concealing the nostrils ; tarsus shorter than the
middle toe ; lateral claws reaching to the base of the middle one ; claw of hind toe
much curved, smaller than the middle one, and rather less than the digital portion ;
wings long and pointed, reaching to the middle of the tailn which is considerably
shorter than the wing, and moderately forked ; colors red, or red and brown.

CARPODACUS PURPUREUS.— Gray.
The Purple Finch.

Fringitta purpurea, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 119. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831 )
24; V. 200.

DESCRIPTION.

Second quill longest ; first shorter than third, considerably longer than the fourth ;
body crimson, palest on the rump and breast, darkest across the middle of back and
wing coverts, where the feathers have dusky centres ; the red extends below continu-

286 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

ously to the lower part of the breast, and in spots to the tibiae ; the belly and'under tail
coverts white, streaked faintly with brown, except in the very middle ; edges of wings
and tail feathers brownish-red; lesser coverts like the back; two reddish bands across
the wings (over the ends of the middle and greater coverts); lores dull-grayish.

Female olivaceous-brown, brighter on the rump ; beneath white ; all the feathers
everywhere streaked with brown, except, on the middle of the belly and under coverts,
a superciliary light stripe.

Length, six and twenty-five one-hundredths inches; wing, three and thirty-four
one-hundredths; tail, two and fifty one-hundredths; bill, above, forty-six one-hun-
dredths of an inch.

This species, although quite common in many localities
of New England, is very irregularly distributed. For in-
stance, it breeds abundantly in and near Cambridge, Mass.,
but is not found in any other part of the State in any thing
like the abundance that it is there. In that locality, it is
one of the most common birds breeding ; in other localities, it
is occasionally found in only detached pairs. So, in Maine,
it is common in the neighborhood of the Umbagog lakes ; but
elsewhere it is not often seen. There seems to be, as Mr.
Allen justly remarks, a great increase of this species within
the last few years ; and it is beginning to be one of our most
common species. The birds separate into pairs soon after
their arrival, about the middle of April, but do not com-
mence building before the middle of May. They are occa-
sionally resident here through the mild winter ; but, as a
general thing, they arrive in New England in flocks of ten
or a dozen about the last of March. The nest is usually
built in a pine or cedar tree, and is sometimes thirty or even
forty feet from the ground, — oftener about fifteen or twenty.
It is constructed of fine roots and grasses, and is lined with
horsehair and hogs' bristles. One specimen in my collection
has the cast-off skin of a snake woven in the rest of the
fabric ; and I have seen nests lined with mosses. Generally,
hairs of different animals form the lining, and roots and
grass the main structure.

The eggs are of a beautiful bluish-green color, and marked
with spots and streaks of black: their form is a sharply
pointed oval, and their dimensions vary from .94 by .64 inch

THE PURPLE FINCH. 287

to .88 by .60 inch. Two broods are often reared in the
season.

This species is one of the few injurious birds that we have ;
and, although it has a beautiful warbling song, and is alto-
gether a fine-looking bird, it is much disliked in the country
in consequence of its bad habit of cutting off and eating
the buds and blossoms of fruit-trees. Wilson says of this
habit,—

" This is a winter bird of passage, coming to us in large flocks
from the North, in September and October ; great numbers remain-
ing with us in Pennsylvania during the whole winter, feeding on
the seeds of the poplar, button-wood, juniper, cedar, and on those
of many rank weeds that flourish in rich bottoms and along the
margin of creeks. When the season is very severe, they proceed
to the South, as far at least as Georgia, returning North early in
April. They now frequent the elm-trees, feeding on the slender
but sweet covering of the flowers ; and, as soon as the cherries put
out their blossoms, feed almost exclusively on the stamina of the
flowers : afterwards, the apple-blossoms are attacked in the same
manner ; and their depredations on these continue till they disap-
pear, which is usually about the 10th or middle of May. I have
been told that they sometimes breed in the northern parts of New
York, but have never met with their nests. About the middle of
September, I found these birds numerous on Long Island, and
around Newark in New Jersey. They fly at a considerable height
in the air ; and their note is a single chink, like that of the Rice-
bird. They possess great boldness and spirit, and, when caught,
bite violently, and hang by the bill from your hand, striking with
great fury ; but they are soon reconciled to confinement, and in a
day or two are quite at home. I have kept a pair of these birds
upwards of nine months to observe their manners. One was caught
in a trap, the other was winged with the gun : both are now as
familiar as if brought up from the nest by the hand, and seem to
prefer hemp-seed and cherry-blossoms to all other kinds of food.
Both male and female, though not crested, are almost constantly
in the habit of erecting the feathers of the crown. They appear to
be of a tyrannical and domineering disposition : for they nearly

288 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

killed an Indigo-bird, and two or three others, that were occasion-
ally placed with them, driving them into a corner of the cage,
standing on them, and tearing out their feathers, striking them on
the head, munching their wings, &c., till I was obliged to interfere ;
and, even if called to, the aggressor would only turn up a malicious
eye to me for a moment, and renew his outrage as before. They are
a hardy, vigorous bird. In the month of October, about the time
of their first arrival, I shot a male, rich in plumage, and plump in
flesh, but which wanted one leg, that had been taken off a little
above the knee: the wound had healed so completely, and was
covered with so thick a skin, that it seemed as though it had been
so for years. Whether this mutilation was occasioned by a shot, or
in party quarrels of its own, I could not determine : but our invalid
seemed to have used his stump either in hopping or resting ; for it
had all the appearance of having been brought in frequent contact
with bodies harder than itself."

CHRYSOMITRIS, BOIB.

Chrysomitris, BOIE, Isis (1828), 322. (Type Fringilla spinus, Linnaeus.)
Bill rather acutely conic, the tip not very sharp ; the culmen slightly convex at
the tip ; the commissure gently curved ; nostrils concealed ; obsolete ridges on the
upper mandible; tarsi shorter than the middle toe; outer toe rather the longer,
reaching to the base of the middle one ; claw of hind toe shorter than the digital
portion; wings and tail as in Aegioihus.

The colors are generally yellow, with black on the crown, throat, back, wings,
and tail, varied sometimes with white.

CHRYSOMITRIS TRISTIS.— Bonaparte.
The Yellow-bird; Thistle-bird.

Fringilla tristis, Linnams. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 320. Wils. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 20.
Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 172; V. 510.

DESCRIPTION.

Bright gamboge-yellow; crown, wings, and tail, black; lesser wing coverts,
band across the end of greater ones, ends of secondaries and tertiaries, inner mar-
gins of tail feathers, upper and under tail coverts, and tibia, white. Female re-
placing the yellow of the male by a greenish-olive color.

Length, five and twenty-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, three inches.

This well-known bird is a very common summer inhab-
itant of all New England, and in the southern districts

ine Grosbeak.

Foz-'cdlored

jparrovr.

Towi.e Bunting ,or GkewirGc

THE YELLOW-BIRD. 289

remains through the year. Notwithstanding its being here
through the early spring, it does not begin to build before
the middle of June. The earliest nest that I ever heard of
was found June the 10th, and very few are found as early
as the middle of that month. The nest is usually placed in
a forked branch in an apple-tree in the orchard, sometimes
in a maple or birch tree near the roadside. It is constructed
of soft strips of the cedar and grape-vine bark: these are
very neatly woven together into a compact structure, which
is deeply hollowed, and lined with soft down from the
thistle, and sometimes a few feathers. The eggs are
usually four in number : their form is generally oval,
and their color a bluish-white. Dimensions vary from .68
by .53 inch to .62 by .50 inch. But one brood is reared in
the summer.

The habits of this bird are so well known that I will not
give them an extended notice here. It seems to be a per-
sistently gregarious species : for, even in the breeding
season, several families are usually found in one neighbor-
hood ; and the males often assemble together, and pass the
time in collecting food, trimming their feathers, and bath-
ing. In fact, this bird seems to be more of a dandy, and
consequently less of a family man, than most of our other
species ; and I have noticed that he leaves the greater part
of the burden of the family cares upon the shoulders of his
attentive mate.

When the season of incubation has passed, the birds
assemble in flocks of from ten to twenty or thirty in num-
ber, and frequent the gardens and stubble-fields, where they
subsist upon the seeds of various weeds and grasses. They
have a short note like che w£ee, which is uttered often,
sometimes in a drawling, plaintive key, and at other times
in a brisk, cheerful tone. Their flight is undulating and
irregular, and resembles very much that of the Wood-
peckers. When on the wing, they have a short, simple
chatter, like 'che 'che 'che 'che, uttered rapidly, and with

19

290 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

emphasis on the second syllable. Occasionally, the male
emits a continued warbling song, very similar to that of the
Canary-bird; and I have heard one of this species sing in
confinement almost as sweetly and often as its more familiar
and domesticated relative.

CHEYSOMITRIS PINUS,— Bonaparte.
The Pine Finch.

Fringillapinus, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 133. Aud. Orn. Biog., IL (1834)
455; V. 509.

Chrysomitrispinus, Bonaparte. Consp. (1850), 615.

DESCRIPTION.

Tail deeply forked; above brownish-olive; beneath whitish, every feather
streaked distinctly with dusky; concealed bases of tail feathers and quills, together
with their inner edges, sulphur-yellow ; outer edges of quills and tail feathers yel-
lowish-green ; two brownish-white bands on the wing.

Length, four and seventy-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, three inches ; tail,
two and twenty one-hundredths inches.

This bird is found in New England, usually as a winter
visitor. While here, it has all the habits of the preceding
species, and might, at a little distance, be mistaken for that
bird. The Pine Finch, as its name implies, prefers the
groves and forests of pines to other trees ; and it is found in
all our pine woods in flocks of twenty or thirty, where it
feeds on the seeds contained in the cones on these trees.
It has been known to breed in Cambridge, in this State ; and
breeds regularly in the northern sections of New England.

CURVIROSTRA, SCOPOLI.

Loxia, LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat., 1758. (Type Loxia curvirostra, L. N/ot of 1735,
which has for type Loxia coccothraustes, L.)

Curvirostra, SCOPOLI, 1777. (Type L. curvirostra.)

Mandibles much elongated, compressed, and attenuated; greatly curved or
falcate, the points crossing or overlapping to a greater or less degree; tarsi very
short; claws all very long, the lateral extending beyond the middle of the central;
hind claw longer than its digit; wings very long and pointed, reaching beyond the
middle of the narrow, forked tail.

Colors reddish in the male.

THE RED CROSSBILL. 291

The elongated, compressed, falcate-curved, and overlapping mandibles readily
characterize this genus among birds.

The United-States species of Curvirostra are readily distinguished by the pres-
ence of white bands on the wing in Leucqptera and their absence in Americana.

CURVIROSTRA AMERICANA. — Wilson.
The Red Crossbill.

Curvirostra Americana, Wilson. Am. Orn., IV. (1811) 44.
Loxia curvirostra. Aud. Biog., II. (1834) 559; V. 511.

DESCRIPTION.

Male dull-red ; darkest across the back ; wings and tail dark blackish-brown.

Female dull greenish-olive above, each feather Avith a dusky centre ; rump and
crown bright greenish-yellow ; beneath grayish ; tinged, especially on the sides of
the body, with greenish-yellow; young entirely brown; paler berieath.

The immature and young birds exhibit all imaginable combinations of the colors
of the male and female. They all agree in the entire absence of white bands on
the wings.

Male about six inches ; wing, three and thirty one-hundredths inches ; tail, two
and twenty-five one-hundredths inches.

This bird is very irregularly distributed in New Eng-
land, usually as a winter visitor. Sometimes it is quite
rare at that season in all sections ; and occasionally it
is very abundant. It also occurs here during the sum-
mer, breeding regularly in the pine and hemlock forests of
the northern sections. Wilson says of the habits of this
bird, —

" On first glancing at the bill of this extraordinary bird, one is
apt to pronounce it deformed and monstrous : but on attentively
observing the use to which it is applied by the owner, and the dex-
terity with which he detaches the seeds of the pine-tree from the
cone, and from the husks that enclose them, we are obliged to con-
fess, on this, as on many other occasions where we have judged
too hastily of the operations of nature, that no other conformation
could have been so excellently adapted to the purpose ; and that
its deviation from the common form, instead of being a defect or
monstrosity, as the celebrated French naturalist insinuates, is a
striking proof of the wisdom and kind superintending care of the
great Creator.

292 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

"This species is a regular inhabitant of almost all our pine
forests situated north of 40°, from the beginning of September to
the middle of April. It is not improbable that some of them re-
main during the summer within the territory of the United States
to breed. Their numbers must, however, be comparatively few, as
I have never yet met with any of them in summer, though lately
I took a journey to the Great Pine Swamp beyond Pocano Moun-
tain, in Northampton County, Pa., in the month of May, expressly
for that purpose; and ransacked, for six or seven days, the
gloomy recesses of that extensive and desolate morass, without
being able to discover a single Crossbill. In fall, however, as
well as in winter and spring, this tract appears to be their favorite
rendezvous ; particularly about the head waters of the Lehigh, the
banks of the Tobyhanna, Tunkhannock, and Bear Creek, where I
have myself killed them at these seasons. They then appear in
large flocks, feeding on the seeds of the hemlock and white-pine ;
have a loud, sharp, and not unmusical note ; chatter as they fly ;
alight, during the prevalence of deep snows, before the door of the
hunter, and around the house, picking off the clay with which
the logs are plastered, and searching in corners where urine, or any
substance of a saline quality, had been thrown. At such times,
they are so tame as only to settle on the roof of the cabin when
disturbed, and, a moment after, descend to feed as before. They
are then easily caught in traps, and will frequently permit one to
approach so near as to knock them down with a stick. Those
killed and opened at such times are generally found to have the
stomach filled with a soft, greasy kind of earth or clay. When
kept in a cage, they have many of the habits of the Parrot ; often
climbing along the wires, and using their feet to grasp the cones in,
while taking out the seeds."

Nuttall says of its breeding habits, —

" They often breed in winter in more temperate countries, as in
January and February ; and the young fly in March. The nest
is said to be fixed in the forks of fir-trees ; and the eggs, four or
five, are of a greenish-gray, with a circle of reddish-brown spots,
points, and lines, disposed chiefly at the larger end : the lines also
often extend over the whole surface of the egg."

THE WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL. 293

CURVIROSTRA LEUCOPTERA.— Wilson.
The White-winged Crossbill.

Loxia hucoptera, Audubon. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 467.
Curvirostra leucqptera, Wilson. Am. Orn., IV. (1811) 48.

t DESCRIPTION.

Bill greatly compressed, and acute towards the point; male carmine-red, tinged
with dusky across the back; the sides of body under the wings streaked Avith
brown; from the middle of belly to the tail coverts whitish, the latter streaked
with brown; scapulars, wings, and tail, black; the broad bands on the wings
across the ends of greater and median coverts ; white spots on the end of the inner
tertiaries.

Female brownish, tinged with olive-green in places; feathers of the back and
crown with dusky centres; rump bright brownish-yellow.

Length, about six and twenty-five one-hundredths inches; wing, three and fifty
one-hundredths inches ; tail, two and sixty one-hundredths inches.

This beautiful bird seems to
be much less frequent in its
winter visits to New England
than the preceding. It has all
the general characteristics of
that bird. In May, in the Hud-
son's Bay country, according
to Mr. Hutchins, it builds its
nest in a pine-tree. This is
constructed of grass, mud, and
feathers, and is lined with moss
and other soft materials. The
female lays five white eggs,
marked with yellowish spots.

^EGIOTHCS, CABANIS.

jEgiothus, CABANIS, Mus. Hein., 1851, 161. (Type Fringilla linaria, Linn.)
Bill very short, conical, and acutely pointed, the outlines even concave; the
commissure straight; the base of the upper mandible and the nostrils concealed by
stiff, appressed bristly feathers; middle of the mandible having several ridges
parallel with the culmen ; inner lateral toe rather the longer, its claw reaching the
middle of the middle claw ; the hind toe rather longer, its claw longer than the digi-
tal portion ; wings very long, reaching the middle of the tail ; second quill a little
longer than the first and third; tail deeply forked.

294 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

2EGIOTHUS LINAEIA. — Cabanis.
The Lesser Redpoll.

Fi-ingilla linaria, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 322. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV.
1838) 533.
^Egiothus linaria, Cabanis. Mus. Hein. (1851), 161.

DESCRIPTION.

Above light-yellowish, each feather streaked with dark-brown; crown dark-
crimson ; upper part of breast and sides of the body tinged with a lighter tint of the
same ; the rump and under tail coverts also similar, but still less vivid, and with
dusky streaks ; rest of under parts white, streaked on the sides with brown ; loral
region and chin dusky; cheeks (brightest over the eye), and a narrow front,
whitish; wing feathers edged externally, and tail feathers all round with white; two
yellowish-white bands across the wing coverts; secondaries and tertiaries edged
broadly with the same; bill yellowish, tinged with brown on the culmen and
gonys ; the basal bristles brown, reaching over half the bill.

The specimen described above is a male in winter dress. The spring plumage
has much more of the red. The female winter specimens lack the rose of the
under parts and rump; the breast is streaked across with dusky.

Length, five and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, three and ten one-hundredths
inches ; tail, two and seventy one-hundredths inches.

This species is a pretty common winter visitor in all parts
of New England. It congregates in large flocks, which
frequent old fields and pastures and stubble-fields, and feed
on the seeds of weeds and grasses. It has, while with us,
the note and general habits of the Goldfinch and Pine
Finch, and might easily, at a little distance, be mistaken for
those birds. They seem fond of the seeds of the white
birch ; and they cluster so thick on a branch of this tree,
while securing the seeds, that I have killed as many as a
dozen at a shot. Mr. Selby's account of the nest and eggs
is as follows : —

" It is only known in the southern parts of Britain as a winter
visitant ; and is at that period gregarious, and frequently taken, in
company with the other species, by the bird-catchers, by whom it is
called the Stone Redpoll. In the northern counties of England,
and in Scotland and its isles, it is resident through the year. It
retires, during the summer, to the underwood that covers the bases
of many of our mountains and hills, and that often fringes the

THE MEALY REDPOLL. 295

banks of their precipitous streams; in which sequestered situa-
tions it breeds. The nest is built in a bush or low tree (such as
willow, alder, or hazel), of moss and the stalks of dry grass, inter-
mixed with down from the catkin of the willow, which also forms
the lining, and renders it a particularly soft and warm receptacle
for the eggs and young. From this substance being a constant
material of the nest, it follows that the young are produced late
in the season, and are seldom able to fly before the end of June or
the beginning of July. The eggs are four or five in number : their
color pale bluish-green, spotted with orange-brown, principally
towards the larger end. In winter, the Lesser Redpoll descends to
the lower grounds in considerable flocks ; frequenting woods and
plantations, more especially such as abound in birch or alder trees,
the catkins of which yield it a plentiful supply of food. When
feeding, its motion affords both interest and amusement ; since, in
order to reach the catkins, which generally grow near the extremi-
ties of the smaller branches, it is obliged, like the Titmouse*, to
hang with its back downwards, and assume a variety of constrained
attitudes : and, when thus engaged, it is so intent upon its work, as
frequently to allow itself to be taken by a long stick smeared with
bird-lime ; in which way I have occasionally captured it when in
want of specimens for examination. It also eats the buds of trees,
and (when in flocks) proves in this way seriously injurious to
young plantations. Its call-note is very frequently repeated when
on wing, and by this it may be always distinguished from the other
species. The notes it produces during the pairing season, although
few, and not delivered in continuous song, are sweet and pleasing."

JEGIOTHUS CANESCENS — Cabanis.
The Mealy Redpoll.

bEgiothus canescens, Cabanis. Mus. Hein. (1851), 161.
IFringilla borealis, Audubon. Orn. Biog., V. (1839) 87.

DESCRIPTION.

Size large; bill short; claws elongated; rump white (in the spring, male tinged
with rose), never streaked; the quills broadly margined with white.
Length, six inches ; tail, three and seventeen one-hundredths.

This bird occurs only as an exceedingly rare winter visi-
tor in New England. I have never met with it myself, but

296 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Mr. Yerrill says that it is found rarely in Maine. It is con-
sidered by some ornithologists as identical with the pre-
ceding.

PLECTROPHANES, MEYER.

Plectrqphanes, MEYER, Taschenbuch (1810). Agassiz. (Type Emberiza nivalis.)
Bill variable, conical, the lower mandible higher than the upper; the sides ef
both mandibles (in the typical species) guarded by a closely applied brush of stiffened
bristly feathers directed forwards, and in the upper jaw concealing the nostrils; the
outlines of the bill nearly straight, or slightly curved; the lower jaw considerably
broader at the base than the upper, and wider than the gonys is long; tarsi consid-
ably longer than the middle toe; the lateral toes nearly equal (the inner claw
largest), and reaching to the base of the middle claw; the hinder claw very long;
moderately curved and acute ; considerably longer than its toe ; the toe and claw
together reaching to the middle of the middle claw, or beyond its tip ; wings very
long and much pointed, reaching nearly to the end of the tail ; the first quill longest,
the others rapidly graduated; the tertiaries a little longer than the secondaries; tail
moderate, about two-thirds as long as the wings ; nearly even, or slightly emargi-
nated.

PLECTROPHANES NIVALIS. — Meyer.
The Snow Bunting.

Emberiza nivalis, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 308. Wils. Am. Ora., III.
(1811) 86; Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 515; V. (1839) 496.
"Plectrophanes nivalis, Meyer." Bon. List (1838).

DESCRIPTION.

Colors, in full plumage, entirely black and white ; middle of back between scapu-
lars, terminal half of primaries and tertiaries, and two innermost tail feathers, black ;
elsewhere pure-white; legs black at all seasons. In winter dress white beneath;
the head and rump yellowish-brown, as also some blotches on the side of the breast;
middle of back brown, streaked with black ; white on wings and tail much more
restricted.

This species varies much in color; and the male in full plumage is seldom, if ever,
seen within the limits of the United States.

Length, about six and seventy-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, four and thirty-
five one-hundredth s ; tail, three and five one-hundredths inches ; first quill longest.

This is a very common winter visitor in all parts of New
England, but is most abundant in localities near the sea-
coast. I have seen flocks of hundreds of individuals in the
marshes in Plymouth County, Mass., and have almost
always noticed that they were accompanied by Shore-larks
and Redpolls. They feed on seeds of various wild plants

THE SNOW BUNTING.

297

and small shell-fish, and become, during their stay here,
very fat, and are accounted as delicate eating by epicures,
for whose tables they are killed in great numbers.

The following interesting account of the habits of this
species is by Wilson. It is partly compiled from the observa-
tions of Mr. Pennant : —

" These birds," says Mr. Pennant, " inhabit, not only Greenland,
but even the dreadful climate of Spitzbergen, where vegetation is
nearly extinct, and scarcely any but
cryptogamous plants are found. It
therefore excites wonder, how birds
which are graminivorous in every
other than those frost-bound regions
subsist, yet are there found in great
flocks, both on the land and ice of
Spitzbergen. They annually pass
to this country by way of Norway ;
for, in the spring, flocks innumer-
able appear, especially on the Nor-
wegian isles, continue only three
weeks, and then at once disappear.
As they do not breed in Hudson's
Bay, it is certain that many retreat
to this last of lands, and totally uninhabited, to perform, in full
security, the duties of love, incubation, and nutrition. That they
breed in Spitzbergen is very probable; but we are assured that
they do so in Greenland. They arrive there in April, and make
their nests in the fissures of the rocks on the mountains in May :
the outside of their nest is grass, the middle of feathers, and the
lining the down of the arctic fox. They lay five eggs, — white,
spotted with brown : they sing finely near their nest.

" They are caught by the boys in autumn, when they collect
near the shores in great flocks, in order to migrate, and are eaten
dried.

" In Europe, they inhabit, during summer, the most naked Lap-
land alps ; and descend in rigorous seasons into Sweden, and fill the
roads and fields, — on which account the Dalecarlians call them

298 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Mlwarsfogel, or bad-weather birds; the Uplanders, ffardwars-
fogel, expressive of the same. The Laplanders style them Alaipg.
Leems remarks, I know not with what foundation, that they fatten
on the flowing of the tides in Finmark, and grow lean on the ebb.
The Laplanders take them in great numbers in hair springs, for the
tables ; their flesh being very delicate.

" They seem to make the countries within the whole arctic circle
their summer residence, from whence they overflow the more south-
ern countries in amazing multitudes at the setting-in of winter in
the frigid zone. In the winter of 1778-79, they came in such mul-
titudes into Birsa, one of the Orkney Islands, as to cover the whole
barony ; yet, of all the numbers, hardly two agreed in colors.

" Lapland, and perhaps Iceland, furnishes the north of Britain
with the swarms that frequent these parts during winter, as low
as the Cheviot Hills, in latitude 52° 32' ; their resting-places, the
Feroe Isles, Shetland, and the .Orkneys. The Highlands of Scot-
land, in particular, abound with them. Their flights are immense ;
and they mingle so closely together in form of a ball, that the
fowlers make great havoc among them. They arrive lean, soon
become very fat, and are delicious food. They either arrive in the
Highlands very early, or a few breed there ; for I had one shot for
me, at Invercauld, the 4th of August. But there is a certainty of
their migration; for multitudes of them fall, wearied with their
passage, on the vessels that are sailing through the Pentland
Firth.

" In their summer dress, they are sometimes seen in the south of
England, the climate not having severity sufficient to affect the
colors ; yet now and then a milk-white one appears, which is
usually mistaken for a white Lark.

" Russia and Siberia receive them in their severe seasons
annually, in amazing flocks, overflowing almost all Russia. They
frequent the villages, and yield a most luxurious repast. They vary
there infinitely in their winter colors, are pure-white, speckled, and
even quite brown. This seems to be the influence of difference of
age, more than of season. Germany has also its share of them.
In Austria, they are caught and fed with millet, and afford the
epicure a treat equal to that of the Ortolan.

" These birds appear in the northern districts of the United States

THE SNOW BUNTING. 299

early in December, or with the first heavy snow, particularly if
drifted by high winds. They are usually called the White Snowbird,
to distinguish them from the small dark-bluish Snowbird already
described. Their numbers increase with the increasing severity of
weather, and depth of snow. Flocks of them sometimes reach as
far south as the borders of Maryland ; and the whiteness of their
plumage is observed to be greatest towards the depth of winter.
They spread over the Genesee country and the interior of the
District of Maine, flying in close, compact bodies, driving about
most in a high wind ; sometimes alighting near the doors, but sel-
dom sitting long, being a roving, restless bird. In these plentiful
regions, where more valuable game is abundant, they hold out no
temptation to the sportsman or hunter ; and, except the few caught
by boys in snares, no other attention is paid to them. They are,
however, universally considered as the harbingers of severe cold
weather. How far westward they extend I am unable to say.
One of the most intelligent and expert hunters, who accompanied
Captains Lewis and Clark on their expedition to the Pacific Ocean,
informs me that he has no recollection of seeing these birds in any
part of their tour, not even among the bleak and snowy regions of
the Stony Mountains ; though the little blue one was in abundance.
" The Snow Bunting derives a considerable part of its food from
the seeds of certain aquatic plants, which may be one reason for its
preferring these remote northern countries, so generally intersected
with streams, ponds, lakes, and shallow arms of the sea, that proba-
bly abound with such plants. In passing down the Seneca River
towards Lake Ontario, late in the month of October, I was sur-
prised by the appearance of a large flock of these birds, feeding on
the surface of the water, supported on the tops of a growth of
weeds that rose from the bottom, growing so close together that our
boat could with great difficulty make its way through them. They
were running about with great activity ; and those I shot and ex-
amined were filled, not only with the seeds of this plant, but with a
minute kind of shell-fish that adheres to the leaves. In this kind
of aquatic excursions, they are doubtless greatly assisted by the
length of their hind heel and claws. I also observed a few on
Table Rock, above the Falls of Niagara, seemingly in search of the
same kind of food.

300 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

According to the statements of those traders who have resided
near Hudson's Bay, the Snow Buntings are the earliest of their
migratory birds ; appearing there about the llth of April, staying
about a month or five weeks, and proceeding farther north to breed.
They return again in September, stay till November, when the
severe frosts drive them southward."

PLECTROPHANES LAPPONICUS. — Selby. *
The Lapland Longspur.

Emberiza Japponica, Audubon. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 472.
Plectrophanes lapponicus, " Selby." Bon. List (1838).

DESCRIPTION.

First quill longest ; legs black ; head all round black, this extending as a semi-
circular patch to the upper part of breast; sides of lower neck and under parts
white, with black streaks on the sides, and spots on the side of the breast ; a short
brownish-white streak back of the eye; a broad chestnut collar on the back of the
neck; rest of upper parts brownish-yellow, streaked with dark-brown; outer tail
feathers white, except on the basal portion of the inner web.

This species is very seldom seen in full spring plumage in the United States. In
perfect dress, the black of the throat probably extends further down over the breast.
In winter, the black is more or less concealed by whitish tips to the feathers beneath,
and by yellowish-brown on the crown. Some fall specimens, apparently females,
show no black whatever on the throat, which, with the under parts generally, are
dull-white, with a short black streak on each side of the throat.

Length, about six and twenty -five one-hundredths inches; wing, three and
ninety one-hundredths; tail, two and eight one-hundredths.

This bird is found only as an extremely rare winter
visitor in the interior of New England ; but in some local-
ities on the seaboard it is not uncommon, associating
with flocks of Snow Buntings. We are informed by Dr.
Richardson, that it breeds in the moist meadows on the
shores of the 'Arctic Sea. The nest is placed on a small
hillock, among moss and stones ; is composed externally
of the dry stems of grass, interwoven to a considerable
thickness ; and lined, very neatly and compactly, with deer's
hair. The eggs, usually seven, are pale ochre-yellow,
spotted with brown.

THE SAVANNAH SPARROW. 301

Sub-Family SPIZELLIN^:. — The Sparrows.

Bill variable, usually almost straight; sometimes curved ; commissure generally
nearly straight, or slightly concave; upper mandible wider than lower; nostrils
exposed; wings moderate; the outer primaries not much rounded; tail variable;
feet large; tarsi mostly longer than the middle toe.

The species are usually small, and of dull color. Nearly all are streaked on the
back and crown ; often on the belly. None of the United-States species have any
red, blue, or orange ; and the yellow, when present, is as a superciliary streak, or on
die elbow edge of the wing.

PASSERCULUS, BONAPARTE.

Passerculus, BONAPARTE, Comp. List Birds (1838). (Type Fringilla Savanna.)
Bill moderately conical; the lower mandible smaller; both outlines nearly
straight; tarsus about equal to the middle toe; lateral toes about equal, their claws
falling far short of the middle one; hind toe much longer than the lateral ones,
reaching as far as the middle of the middle claw ; its claws moderately curved ;
wings unusually long, reaching to the middle of the tail, and almost to the end of the
upper coverts; the tertials nearly or quite as long as the primaries; the first primary
longest; the tail is quite short, considerably shorter than the wings, as long as
from the carpal joint to the end of the secondaries; it is emarginate, and slightly
rounded; the feathers pointed and narrow.

Entire plumage above, head, neck, back, and rump, streaked ; thickly streaked
beneath.

PASSERCULUS SAVAXNA.— Bonaparte.
The Savannah Sparrow.

Fringilla Savanna, Wilson. Am. Orn., III. (1811) 65. Aud. Orn. Biog., II.
(1834) 63; V. (1839), 516.

Passerculus Savanna, Bonaparte. List (1838).

DESCRIPTION.

Feathers of the upper parts generally with a central streak of blackish-brown;
the streaks of the back with a slight rufous suffusion laterally ; the feathers edged
with gray, which is lightest on the scapulars ; crown with a broad median stripe of
yellowish-gray; a superciliary streak from the bill to the back of the head, eyelids,
and edge of the elbow, yellow ; a yellowish-white maxillary stripe curving behind
the ear coverts, and margined above and below by brown; the lower margin is a
series of thickly crowded spots on the sides of the throat, which are also found on
the sides of the neck, across the upper part of the breast, and on the sides of the
body ; a few spots on the throat and chin ; rest of under parts white ; outer tail
feather and primary edged with white.

Length, five and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, two and seventy one-hun-
iredths inches; tail, two and ten one-hundredths inches.

302 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

This bird seems to be rather irregularly distributed
throughout New England in the summer season. In the
eastern part of Massachusetts, it is quite common ; in
the western part, "chiefly a spring and summer visitant,"
but "not common." Mr. Allen has never found it breed-
ing in the neighborhood of Springfield ; but, in the neighbor-
hood of the seacoast in the same State, it is abundant in
the breeding season. On the contrary, in Maine, it is not
very common near the seacoast; but in the interior, even
as far as the western borders, it is one of the most plentiful
of Sparrows. It arrives in Massachusetts as early as the
first week in April ; in Maine, seldom before the middle of
that month. About the first week in May in Massachusetts,
and later as we advance north, the birds commence build-
ing. The nest is placed on the ground, usually under a
tussock of grass : it is constructed of fine grasses and
roots, which are bent and twined together rather neatly;
and the whole is lined with hairlike roots and fine grass.
The eggs are usually four in number, grayish-white in color,
and covered irregularly with spots of umber-brown and lilac.
Their form varies from long and slender to quite short
and thick : their dimensions vary from .76 by .60 to .72 by
.58 inch. Two broods are often reared in the season. This
species rather prefers pastures and fields at a distance from
houses for a home to their more immediate neighborhood.

On the seaboard, this species is most often found on or
near the sandy beaches, where it is observed busily glean-
ing, in the seaweed and little bunches of beach-grass, the
insects and mollusks that are found there. In the interior,
it prefers the dry, sandy fields and pastures, where, running
about with great rapidity, its white outer tail feathers spread,
it is always industrious in its search for coleopterous insects
and seeds.

The female, when the nest is approached, leaves it, and
runs limping off, her wings extended, uttering the chatter-
ing cry peculiar to the Sparrows.

THE GRASS PINCH. 303

The male, during the mating and the early part of the
breeding season, has a very sweet and pretty song which he
chants most often at morning and early evening, and during
dark and cloudy weather.

This song is difficult of description : it resembles nearly
the syllables 'chew$e 'chewitt 'chewitt 'chewitt 'chewtiet 'chew^e,
uttered slowly and plaintively. It has also a short chirp,
quite faint, yet shrill, which, as Mr. Nuttall truly remarks,
almost exactly resembles the chirping of a cricket.

About the first week in October, this species gathers in
small, detached flocks ; and, after frequenting the stubble-
fields and gardens a week or two, the whole leave for the
South.

POOCLETES, BAIRD.

Bill rather large; upper outline slightly decurved towards the end, lower straight;
commissure slightly concave; tarsus about equal to the middle toe; outer toe a
little longer than the inner, its claw reaching to the concealed base of the middle
claw ; hind toe reaching to the middle of the middle claw ; wings unusually long,
reaching to the middle of the tail, as far as the coverts, and pointed, the primaries
considerably longer than the secondaries, which are not much surpassed by the
tertiaries; second and third quills longest; first little shorter, about equal to the
fourth, shorter than the tail; the outer feathers scarcely shorter; the feathers rather
stiff, each one acuminate and sharply pointed ; the feathers broad nearly to the end,
when they are obliquely truncate ; streaked with brown above everywhere ; beneath,
on the breast and sides ; the lateral tail feather is white.

POOC J1TES GRAMINEUS. — Baird.
The Grass Finch; Bay-winged Bunting.

Fringilla graminea, Gmelin. Syst Nat, I. (1788) 922. Aud. Orn. Biog., I.
(1831) 473; V. 502.

Emberiza graminea, Wilson. Am. Orn., IV. (1811) 51.

DESCRIPTION.

Tail feathers rather acute; above light yellowish-brown; the feathers everywhere
streaked abruptly with dark-brown, even on the sides of the neck, which are paler;
beneath yellowish-white ; on the breast and sides of neck and body streaked with
brown; a faint light superciliary and maxillary stripe; the latter margined above
and below with dark-brown; the upper stripe continued around the ear coverts,
which are darker than the brown color elsewhere ; wings with the shoulder Jight
chestnut-brown, and with two dull-whitish bands along the ends of the coverts ; the
outer edge of the secondaries also is white ; outer tail feather, and edge and tip
of the second, white.

304 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Length, about six and twenty-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, three and ten
one-hundredths inches.

Hab. — United States from Atlantic to the Pacific ; or else one species to the high
central plains, and another from this to the Pacific.

This Sparrow is abundantly distributed throughout New
England in the breeding season. It arrives about the first
week in April, and commences building about the last of
that month in Massachusetts ; in Maine, about the first
of June. The nest, like that of the preceding species, is
built in open, dry pastures and fields, at the foot of a tuft
of grass, and is composed of the same materials and con-
structed in the same form as the others ; and I would here
remark, that, of our New-England sparrows, it'is impossible
to distinguish most species, either in manner and material
of nest, and form and color of eggs, in the great variations
which exist in them. The descriptions already given, and
those which follow, are made from the average specimens,
or in the forms in which they are most often met. The
eggs of the Grass Finch are usually about four in number :
they are of a grayish, livid-white color, and marked irregu-
larly with spots of obscure brown, over which are blotches
of black. Dimensions of specimens from various localities
vary from .88 by .60 to .76 by .58 inch. Two broods, and
sometimes three, are reared in the season.

The habits of this and the succeeding species so much
resemble those of the preceding, that it is difficult to
describe either so that they may be readily recognized.
The present bird is more civilized in its habits, and usually
resides much nearer the habitations of man than the others ;
but in other respects it resembles them in all their charac-
teristics.

COTURNICULUS, BONAPARTE.

Coterniculus, BONAPARTE, Geog. List (1838). (Type Fringttta passerina, Wils.)
Bill very large and stout; the under mandible broader, but lower than the upper,
which is considerably convex at the basal portion of its upper outline ; legs mod-
erate, apparently not reaching to the end of the tail ; the tarsus appreciably longer

THE YELLOW-WINGED SPARROW. 305

than the middle toe ; the lateral toes equal, and with their claws falling decidedly
short of the middle claw ; the hind toe intermediate between the two ; the wings are
short and rounded, reaching to the base of the tail ; the tertiaries almost as long as
the primaries; not much difference in the lengths of the primaries, although the
outer three or four are slightly graduated ; the tail is short and narrow, decidedly
shorter than the wing, graduated laterally, but slightly emarginate ; the feathers all
lanceolate and acute, but not stiffened, as in Ammodromus.

The upper parts generally are streaked ; the blotches on the interscapular region
very wide ; the breast and sides are generally streaked more or less distinctly ; the
edge of the wing is yellow.

COTURNICULUS PASSERINUS. — Bonaparte.
The Yellow-winged Sparrow.

Fringilla passerina, Wilson. Am. Orn., in. (1811) 76. Aud. Orn. Biog., II
(1834) 180; V. 497.

Coturniculus passerina, Bonaparte. List (1838).

Fringilla Savanarum (Gmelin), Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 494. Ib. (2d ed.,
1840), 570.

DESCRIPTION.

Feathers of the upper parts brownish-rufous, margined narrowly and abruptly
with ash-color; reddest on the lower part of the back and rump; the feathers all
abruptly black in the central portion ; this color visible on the interscapular region,
where the rufous is more restricted; crown blackish, with a central and superciliary
stripe of yellowish tinged with brown, brightest in front of the eye ; bend of the
wing bright-yellow; lesser coverts tinged with greenish-yellow; quills and tail
feathers edged with whitish; tertiaries much variegated; lower parts brownish-
yellow, nearly white on the middle of the belly; the feathers of the upper breast
and sides of the body with obsoletely darker centres.

Length, about five inches ; wing, two and forty one-hundredths inches ; tail, two
inches.

The young of this species has the upper part of the breast streaked with black,
much more distinct than in the adult, and exhibiting a close resemblance to C. Hens-
lorn.

Specimens from the Far West have the reddish of the back considerably paler;
the light stripe on the head, with scarcely any yellow; a decided spot in front
of the eye quite yellow.

This bird is irregularly distributed. In Massachusetts it
is rare near the seacoast, but in the western part is an
" abundant summer visitant ; arrives about the first week
in May, and leaves in autumn the earliest of the Sparrows."
— ALLEN. It is not included in Mr. Yerrill's list of Maine
birds ; and I have never met with it in that State or the
other two northern ones, although it probably occurs there,

20

306 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

but not abundantly. The nest is built, like the two preced
ing species, on the ground, in the same localities, and of the
same materials ; but the eggs are different, being pure-white
in color, with thinly scattered spots of reddish-brown : they
are usually five in number, and their dimensions vary from
.78 by .60 to .74 by .58 inch. Two broods are often reared
in the same season. Its habits are similar to those of the
Savannah Sparrow.

COTURNICULUS HENSLOWL — Bonaparte.
Henslow's Bunting.

Emberiza Henskwi, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 360. Nutt. Man., I. (1832)
App.

Coturniculus Henslmvi, Bonaparte. List (1838). 76., Consp. (1850), 481.
Fringitta Henskwi, Nuttall. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 571.

DESCRIPTION.

Upper parts yellowish-brown ; the head, neck, and1 upper parts of back tinged
with greenish-yellow; interscapular feathers dark-brown, suffused externally with
bright brownish-red ; each feather with grayish borders ; tertiaries, rump, and tail
feathers abruptly dark-brown centrally, the color obscurely margined with dark-red ;
crown with a broad black spotted stripe on each side, these spots continued down
to the back; two narrow black maxillary stripes on each side the head, and an
obscure black crescent behind the auriculars; under parts light brownish-yellow,
paler on the throat and abdomen ; the upper part of the breast, and the sides of the
body, conspicuously streaked with black; edge of wing yellow; a strong tinge of
pale-chestnut on the wings and tail.

Length, five and twenty-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, two and fifteen one-
hundredths inches ; tail, two and fifteen one-hundredths inches.

This bird is a rare summer resident in New England as
far north as Massachusetts, in which state it probably breeds
regularly in certain localities. A nest found in Berlin,
Mass., by Mr. E, S. Wheeler, contained four eggs. Mr.
Allen says that " this species must still be considered a rare
summer visitor, though it proves more common than was
supposed a few years since."

Individuals are occasionally found in the eastern part of
the state, and their nests discovered. Mr. Maynard con-
jectures that it may have been confounded with the yellow-
winged sparrow by some collectors.

THE SHARP-TAILED FINCH. 307

AMMODROMUS, SWAINSON.

Ammodromus, SWAINSON, Zool. Jour., III. 1827. (Type Oriolus caudacutus,
Gmelin.)

Bill very long, slender, and attenuated, considerably curved towards the tip above ;
the gonys straight; the legs and toes are very long, and reach considerably beyond
the tip of the short tail ; the tarsus is about equal to the elongated middle toe ; the
lateral toes equal, their claws falling considerably short of the base of the middle
one ; the hind claw equal to the lateral one ; wings short, reaching only to the base
of the tail ; much rounded ; the secondaries and tertials equal, and not much shorter
than the primaries ; the tail is short, and graduated laterally, each feather stiffened,
lanceolate, and acute.

Color. — Streaked above and across the breast ; very faintly on the sides.

AMMODROMUS CAUDACUTUS. — Swainson.
The Sharp-tailed Finch.

Oriolus caudacutus. Gm., I. (1788) 394.

Fringilla caudacuta, Wilson. Am. Orn., IV. (1811) 70. Aud. Orn. Biog., II.
(1834) 281; V. 499.

Ammodromus caudacutus, Swainson. Birds, II. (1837) 289.
Fringilla littoralis, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 504 (2d ed., 1840, 590).

DESCRIPTION. .

Upper parts brownish-olivaceous; head brownish, streaked with black on the
sides, and a broad central stripe of ashy; back blotched with darker; a broad
superciliary and maxillary stripe, and a band across the upper breast buff-yellow;
the sides of the throat with a brown stripe; the upper part of the breast and the
sides of the body streaked with black ; rest of under parts white ; edge of wing
yellowish-white.

The young is of a more yellowish tinge above and below; the streaks on the
back more conspicuous; the scapular feathers without the whitish edging.

Length, five inches; wing, two and thirty one-hundredths inches.

Hob. — Atlantic Coast of the United States.

4

Massachusetts seems to be the northern limit of this spe-
cies. In this State and those south, it is not uncommon ;
but it is confined to the districts in the neighborhood of the
coast, and is never found more than a mile or two from
those localities in the breeding season. About the last
week in May, the nest is built : this is placed in a tussock
of grass above the tide-marks, and is constructed of coarse
grasses, which are woven into a strong fabric, and lined with
finer grasses and seaweed. The eggs are generally five in

308 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

number. Their color is a bluish-white, which is covered
with fine brown dots : these dots are coarser in some speci-
mens, and almost confluent near the greater end. Dimen-
sions vary from .80 by .64 inch to .76 by .60 inch. But one
brood is generally reared in the season in this latitude.

The description, by Wilson, of the habits of the Seaside
Finch is so applicable to this species, that I give it here :
" It inhabits the low, rush-covered sea islands along our
Atlantic Coast, where I first found it ; keeping almost con-
tinually within the boundaries of tide-water, except when
long and violent east and north-easterly storms, with high
tides, compel it to seek the shore. On these occasions, it
courses along the margin, and among the holes and inter-
stices of the weeds and sea-wrack, with a rapidity equalled
only by the nimblest of our Sand-pipers, and very much in
their manner. At these times, also, it roosts on the ground,
and runs about after dusk.

" This species derives its whole subsistence from the sea.
I examined a great number of individuals by dissection,
and found their stomachs universally filled with fragments
of shrimps, minute shell-fish, and broken limbs of small
sea-crabs. Its flesh, also, as was to be expected, tasted of
fish, or what is usually termed sedgy. Amidst the re-
cesses of these wet sea-marshes, it seeks the rankest growth
of grass and seaweed, and climbs along the stalks of the
rushes with as much dexterity as it runs along the ground,
which is rather a singular circumstance, most of our
climbers being rather awkward at running."

AMMODEOMUS MARITIMUS. — Swainson.
The Seaside Finch.

Fringilla maritima, Wilson. Am. Orn., IV. (1811) 68. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831).
Ammodromus maritimus, Swainson. Zool. Jour., III. (1827) 328.
Fringilla (Ammodromus) maritima, Nuttall. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 592.
Fringilla Macgillivrayi, Audubon. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 285; IV. (1838) 394;
V. (1839) 499.

Fringilla (Ammodromus) Macgillivrayi, Nuttall. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 593.

THE WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW. 309

DESCRIPTION.

Above olivaceous-brown ; beneath white ; the breast and sides of body yellowish-
brown, obsoletely streaked with plumbeous ; sides of head and body, a central stripe
on the head above, a maxillary stripe, and indistinct longitudinal streaks on the
breast, ashy-brown; the sides and the breast tinged with yellowish; the maxillary
stripe cuts off a white one above it; a superciliary stripe is bright-yellow anterior to
the eye, and plumbeous above and behind it; edge of wing yellow; bill blue.

Length, about six inches ; wing, two and fifty one-hundredths inches.

•i

This bird's habits and distribution are the same as those
of the preceding species, as also are the nests and eggs,
which are impossible of identification when placed side by
side.

ZONOTRICHIA, SWAINSON.

Zonotrichia, SWAINSON, Fauna Bor. Am., II. (1831). (Type JEmberiza leucqphrys.)
Body rather stout ; bill conical, slightly notched, somewhat compressed, excavated
inside; the lower mandible rather longer than the upper; gonys slightly convex ;
commissure nearly straight ; feet stout; tarsus rather longer than middle toe; the
lateral toes very nearly equal; hind toe longer than the lateral ones, their claws just
reaching to base of middle one; inner claw contained twice in its toe proper; claws
all slender and considerably curved ; wings moderate, not reaching to the middle of
the tail, but beyond the rump ; secondaries and tertials equal and considerably less
than longest primaries; second and third quills longest; first about equal to the fifth,
much longer than tertials; tail rather long, moderately rounded; the feathers not
very broad ; back streaked ; rump and under parts immaculate ; head black, or with
white streaks, entirely different from the back.

ZONOTRICHIA LEUCOPHRYS. — Swainson.
The White-crowned Sparrow.

Emberiza leucaphrys, Forster. Philos. Trans., LXII. (1772) 382, 426. Wils. Am.
Orn., IV. (1811) 49.

Fringilla (ZonotricMa) leucophrys, Swainson. F. B. Am., II. (1831) 255.
Fringilla leucophrys, Audubon. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 88; V. 515.

DESCRIPTION.

Head above, upper half of loral region from the bill, and a narrow line through
&nd behind the eye to the occiput, black ; a longitudinal patch in the middle of the
crown, and a short line from above the anterior corner of the eye, the two confluent
on the occiput, white; sides of the head, fore part of breast, and lower neck all
-ound, pale-ash, lightest beneath and shading insensibly into the whitish of the belly
and chin; sides of belly and under tail coverts tinged with yellowish-brown; inter-
scapular region streaked broadly with dark chestnut-brownish; edges of the tertiariea
brownish-chestnut; two white bands on the wing.

310 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Female similar, but smaller; immature male with the black of the head replaced
by dark chestnut-brown, the white tinged with brownish-yellow.

The white of the crown separates two black lines on either sides, rather narrower
than itself; the black line behind the eye is continued anterior to it into the black
at the base of the bill; the lower eyelid is white; there are some obscure cloudings
of darker on the neck above ; the rump is immaculate ; no white on the tail, except
very obscure tips ; the white crosses the ends of the middle and greater coverts.

Length, seven and ten one-hundredths inches ; wing, three and twenty-five one-

•hundredths.

i

This .beautiful bird is a rare spring and autumn visitor
in New England. It arrives about the first week in May,
sometimes as late as the 20th of that month, and returns
from the North about the 10th of October. While with
us, it has all the habits of the succeeding species, with
which it usually associates.

The following description of its breeding habits, nest, and
eggs, is given by Audubon : —

" One day, while near American Harbor, in Labrador, I observed
a pair of these birds resorting to a small 'hummock' of firs, where
I concluded they must have had a nest. After searching in vain, I
intimated my suspicion to my young friends, when we all crept
through the tangled branches, and examined the place without suc-
cess. . . . Our disappointment was the greater, that we saw the
male bird frequently flying about with food in his bill, no doubt
intended for his mate. In a short while, the pair came near us,
and both were shot. In the female we found an egg, which was
pure-white, but with the shell yet soft and thin. On the 6th of
July, while my son was creeping among some low bushes to get a
shot at some Red-throated Divers, he accidentally started a female
from her nest. It made much complaint. The nest was placed in
the moss, near the foot of a low fir, and was formed externally of
beautiful dry green moss, matted in bunches, like the coarse hair
of some quadruped; internally of very fine dry grass, arranged
with great neatness to the thickness of nearly half an inch, with a
full lining of delicate fibrous roots of a rich transparent yellow.
It was five inches in diameter externally, two in depth ; two and a
quarter in diameter within, although rather oblong, and one and
three-quarters deep. In one nest, we found a single feather of the
Willow Grouse. The eggs, five in number, average seven-eighths

THE WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. 311

of an inch in length, are proportionally broad, of a light sea-green
color, mottled toward the larger end with brownish spots and
blotches ; a few spots of a lighter tint being dispersed over the
whole. . . . We found many nests, which were all placed on the
ground or among the moss, and were all constructed alike. This
species deposit their eggs from the beginning to the end of June.
In the beginning of August, I saw many young that were able to
fly ; and, by the twelfth of that month, the birds had already com-
menced their southward migration. The young follow their parents
until nearly full grown.

" The food of this species, while in Labrador, consists of small
coleopterous insects, grass seeds, and a variety of berries, as well
as some minute shell-fish, for which they frequently search the mar-
gins of ponds or the seashore. At the approach of autumn, they
pursue insects on the wing to a short distance, and doubtless secure
some in that manner."

The song of the White-crowned Sparrow consists of six
or seven notes, the first of which is loud, clear, and musi-
cal, although of a plaintive nature ; the next broader, less
firm, and seeming merely a second to the first; the rest
form a cadence, diminishing in power to the last note, which
sounds as if the final effort of the musician. These notes
are repeated at short intervals during the whole day, — even
on those dismal days produced by the thick fogs of the
country where it breeds, and where this species is, of all,
the most abundant.

ZONOTRICHIA ALBICOLLIS. — Bonaparte.
The White-throated Sparrow ; Peabody Bird.

Fringilla albicollls, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 926. Wils. Am. Orn., III.
(1811) 51.

Zonotrichia aflricollis, Bonap. Consp. (1850), 478.

Fringilla Pennsyhanica, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 42; V. 497.

DESCRIPTION.

Two black stripes on the crown separated by a median one of white ; a broad
superciliary stripe from the base of the mandible to the occiput, yellow as far as
the middle of the eye and white behind this ; a broad black streak on the side of the

312

ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

head from behind the eye ; chin white, abruptly defined against the dark-ash of
the sides of the head and upper part of the breast, fading into white on the belly,
and margined by a narrow black maxillary line; edge of wing and axillaries yellow;
back and edges of secondaries rufous-brown, the former streaked with dark-brown;
two narrow white bands across the wing coverts.

Female smaller, and the colors rather duller. Immature and winter specimens
have the white chin-patch less abruptly defined ; the white markings on the top and
sides of the head tinged with brown. Some specimens, apparently mature, show
quite distinct streaks on the breast, and sides of throat and body.

Length, seven inches; wing, three and ten one-hundredths ; tail, three and twenty
one-hundredths inches.

This beautiful Sparrow arrives in Massachusetts by the
last week in April. It does not tarry long, but passes
north, and breeds abundantly in the northern districts of

New England. I have
found the nests as early
as the last week in May ;
but generally they are
not built before the 10th
of June. They are
placed under a low bush
oh the ground, some-
times in swamps and
pastures, sometimes in
high woods and ledges.
They are constructed of
fine grasses, twigs, and
mosses, and lined with
finer grasses, and sometimes a few hair-like roots. Some
specimens that I have collected in Northern Maine were
placed in a hollow in a mossy knoll, which was scratched
by the birds to the depth of the whole nest. The eggs are
usually four in number : their color is a grayish-white, and
marked with spots and confluent blotches of brown and
obscure lilac. A number of specimens, collected in differ-
ent localities in Maine, exhibit the following variations in
size : .92 by .64 inch, .92 by .60 inch, .90 by .62 inch, .86
by .62 inch. But one brood is reared in the season. This

JUNCO. 313

bird is a great favorite in the North, and justly so. It is
one of the sweetest songsters of the "localities where it
is found ; and, having no bad precedents with the farmer,
and being of a sociable, lively disposition, it is no wonder
that it meets with great favor.

The song of this species is very beautiful. It is difficult of
dpscription, but resembles nearly the syllables *ch£a dee de;
de-d-de,-d£-d-de, de-d-de, d£-d-de, uttered at first loud and
clear, and rapidly falling in tone and decreasing in volume.

This is chanted during the morning and the latter part of
the day, and, in cloudy weather, through the whole day. I
have often heard it at different hours of the night, when
I have been encamped in the deep forests ; and the effect, at
that time, was indescribably sweet and plaintive. The fact
that the bird often sings in the night has given it the name
of the " Nightingale " in many localities ; and the title is
well earned.

While in its spring and autumn migrations, this Sparrow
prefers low moist thickets and young woods ; but, in its sum-
mer home, it is found equally abundant in fields, pastures,
swamps, and forests.

It feeds on insects, various seeds, and berries, and some-
times pursues flying insects in the manner of the preceding
species.

About the last week in October, the birds, after congre-
gating in loose flocks of a dozen or fifteen, leave New Eng-
land for their winter homes.

JUNCO, WAGLER.

Junco, WAGLER, Isis (1831). (Type Fringilla cinerea, Sw.)
Bill small, conical; culmen curved at the tip; the lower jaw quite as high as the
upper; tarsus longer than the middle toe; outer toe longer than the inner, barely
reaching to the base of the middle claw ; hind toe reaching as far as the middle of
the latter; extended toes reaching about to the middle of the tail; wings rather
short, reaching over the basal fourth of the exposed surface of the tail ; primaries,
however, considerably longer than the nearly equal secondaries and tertials; the
second quill longest, the third to fifth successively but little shorter; first longer than
sixth, much exceeding secondaries ; tail moderate, a little shorter than the wings ;

314

ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

slightly emarginate and rounded ; feathers rather narrow, oval at the end ; no streaks
on the head or body ; color above uniform on the head, back, or rump, separately or
on all together; belly white; outer tail feathers white.

The essential characters of this genus are, the middle toe rather shorter than the
short tarsus; the lateral toes slightly unequal, the outer reaching the base of
the middle claw; the tail a little shorter than the wings, slightly emarginate. In
Junco cinereus the claws are longer; the lower mandible a little lower than the
upper; the species have the upper parts ashy or plumbeous, the belly and lateral
tail feathers white.

JUNCO HYEMALIS. — Sclater.
The Snowbird.

Fringilla hyemalis, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (10th ed., 1758) 183. Aud. Orn. Biog.,
I. (1831) 72; V. 505.

Junco hyemalis, Sclater. Pr. Zool. Soc. (1857), 7.
Fringilla nivalis. Wils., II. (1810) 129.

DESCRIPTION.

Everywhere of a grayish or dark ashy-black, deepest anteriorly ; the middle oi
the breast behind and of the belly, the under tail coverts, and first and second exter-
nal tail feathers, white ; the third tail feather white, margined with black.

Length, six and twenty-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, about three inches.

This interesting and well-known little species is an abun

dant inhabitant of New Eng-
land. In the spring it migrates
from the southern districts,
where it spends the winter, to
the northern sections, and late
in fall returns to its winter
home. A few pairs breed in
Massachusetts on the Holyoke
Mountains, and in New Hamp-
shire on the White Mountains :
but the great numbers pass to
the northern districts to spend
the summer ; and near the Um-
}\ bagog lakes, and north to the
snowbird, upper fig. Canada frontier, it is the most

song sparrow, lower fig. common species. I have been

so fortunate as to find a number of the nests : some had eggs
as early as the last week in May, and others as late as the

THE SNOWBIRD. 315

middle of July ; therefore two broods are probably reared.
The nests are constructed of fine grasses and leaves, and
are placed sometimes in a slight hole scratched in a mossy
knoll, sometimes in an old stump of a tree or in a tuft of
grass in a thicket of bushes. The eggs are usually four in
number : they vary in color from nearly pure-white with
reddish spots, to grayish-white with reddish-brown spots, and
bluish-white with a roseate tint and spots of umber, reddish-
brown, and lilac. Dimensions vary from .76 by .60 inch to
.70 by .56 inch.

The description by Wilson of the habits of this species is
so full and accurate that I can do no better than give it
here : —

"This well-known species, small and insignificant as it may
appear, is by far the most numerous, as well as the most extensively
disseminated, of all the feathered tribes that visit us from the frozen
regions of the North, — their migrations extending from the arctic
circle, and probably beyond it, to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico,
spreading over the whole breadth of the United States, from the
Atlantic Ocean to Louisiana ; how much farther westward, I am
unable to say. About the 20th of October, they make their first
appearance in those parts of Pennsylvania east of the Alleghany
Mountains. At first they are most generally seen on the borders
of woods among the falling and decayed leaves, in loose flocks of
thirty or forty together, always taking to the trees when disturbed.
As the weather sets in colder, they approach nearer the farm-house
and villages ; and, on the appearance of what is usually called fall-
ing weather, assemble in larger flocks, and seem doubly diligent in
searching for food. This increased activity is generally a sure prog-
nostic of a storm. When deep snows cover the ground, they
become almost half domesticated. They collect about the barn,
stables, and other out-houses, spread over the yard, and even round
the steps of the door, not only in the country and villages, but
in the heart of our large cities ; crowding around the threshold
early in the morning, gleaning up the crumbs ; appearing very lively
and familiar. They have also recourse, at this severe season, when
the face of the earth is shut up from them, to the seeds of many

316 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

kinds of weeds that still rise above the snow in corners of fields,
and low, sheltered situations, along the borders of creeks and fences,
where they associate with several other species of Sparrows. They
are, at this time, easily caught with almost any kind of trap ; are
generally fat, and, it is said, are excellent eating.

" I cannot but consider this bird as the most numerous of its
tribe of any within the United States. From the northern parts
of the District1 of Maine to the Ogeechee River in Georgia, — a
distance, by the circuitous route in which I travelled, of more than
eighteen hundred miles, — I never passed a day, and scarcely a
mile, without seeing numbers of these birds, and frequently large
flocks of several thousands. Other travellers with whom I con-
versed, who had come from Lexington, in Kentucky, through Vir-
ginia, also declared that they found these birds numerous along the
whole road. It should be observed, that the roadsides are their
favorite haunts, where many rank weeds that grow along the
fences furnish them with food, and the road with gravel. In
the vicinity of places where they were most numerous, I observed
a Small Hawk, and several others of his tribe, watching their
opportunity, or hovering cautiously around, making an occasional
sweep among them, and retiring to the bare branches of an old
cypress to feed on their victims. In the month of April, when the
weather begins to be warm, they are observed to retreat to
the woods, and to prefer the shaded sides of hills and thickets ; at
which time, the males warble out a few very low, sweet notes, and
are almost perpetually pursuing and fighting with each other.
About the 20th of April, they take their leave of our humble
regions, and retire to the North and to the high ranges of the Alle-
ghany to build their nests and rear their young. In some of those
ranges, in the interior of Virginia, and northward, about the wa-
ters of the west branch of the Susquehanna, they breed in great
numbers. The nest is fixed in the ground, or among the grass ;
sometimes several being within a small distance of each other.
According to the observations of the gentlemen residing at Hudson-
Bay Factory, they arrive there about the beginning of June, stay
a week or two, and proceed farther north to breed. They return
to that settlement in the autumn, on their way to the South.

i Now State.

THE TREE SPARROW. 317

"In some parts of New England, I found the opinion pretty
general, that the Snowbird, in summer, is transformed into the
Small Chipping Sparrow, which we find so common in that season.
I had convinced a gentleman of New York of his mistake in this
matter, by taking him to the house of a Mr. Gautier there, who
amuses himself by keeping a great number of native as well as
foreign birds. This was in the month of July ; and the Snow-
bird appeared then in the same colored plumage he usually has.
Several individuals of the Chipping Sparrow were also in the same
apartment. The evidence was, therefore, irresistible; but, as I
had not the same proofs to offer to the eye in New England, I had
not the same success.

" There must be something in the temperature of the blood or
constitution of this bird, which unfits it for residing, during sum-
mer, in the lower parts of the United States, as the country here
abounds with a great variety of food, of which, during its stay, it
appears to be remarkably fond. Or perhaps its habit of associating
in such numbers to breed, and building its nest with so little pre-
caution, may, to insure its safety, require a solitary region, far from
the intruding footsteps of man."

SPIZELLA, BONAPARTE.

Spizella, BONAPARTE, Geog. and Comp. List (1838). (Type Fringilla Canaden-
sis, Lath.)

Bill conical, the outlines slightly curved ; the lower mandible decidedly lower
than the upper; the commissure gently sinuated; the roof of the mouth not
knobbed ; feet slender ; tarsus rather longer than the middle toe ; the hinder toe a
little longer than the outer lateral, which slightly exceeds the inner; the outer claw
reaching the base of the middle one, and half as long as its toe ; claws moderately
curved; tertiaries and secondaries nearly equal; wing somewhat pointed, reaching
not quite to the middle of the tail ; first quill a little shorter than the second and
equal to the fifth, third longest; tail rather long, moderately forked, and divaricated
at the tip ; the feathers rather narrow ; back streaked ; rump and beneath immacu-
late; hood generally uniform.

The genus differs from Zonotrichia in the smaller size, and longer and forked
instead of rounded tail.

SPIZELLA MONTICOLA. — Baird.
The Tree Sparrow.

Fringilla monticola, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 912.

Fringilla Canadensis, Audubon. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 511; V. 504.

Fringilla arborea, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 12.

318 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

DESCRIPTION.

Middle of back with the feathers dark-brown centrally, then rufous, and edged
with pale- fulvous (sometimes with whitish). Hood and upper part of nape continu-
ous chestnut ; a line of the same from behind the eye ; sides of head and neck ashy ;
a broad light superciliary band ; beneath whitish, with a small circular blotch of
brownish in the middle of the upper part of the breast ; edges of tail feathers, pri-
mary quills, and two bands across the tips of the secondaries, white; tertiaries nearly
black; edged externally with rufous, turning to white near the tips; lower jaw yel-
low; upper black.

This species varies in the amount of whitish edging to the quills and tail.

Length, six and twenty-five one-hundredths inches; wing, three inches.

Hob. — Eastern North America to the Missouri; also on Pole Creek and Little
Colerado River, New Mexico.

This species occurs in New England only as a winter
visitor. It arrives from the North about the last of October,
and remains in swamps and sheltered thickets through the
winter, and until the first week in May. While with us, it
is gregarious, and often visits stubble-fields and gardens,
where it feeds upon the seeds of grasses and various weeds.
It has, at this season, a persistent twitter, which is uttered
by all the members of the flock at short intervals. As it
sometimes utters a sweet soft warble in the spring, it un-
doubtedly possesses quite a song during the mating season.

It is not impossible that this bird sometimes breeds in
the most northern sections of these States ; but there is no
authenticated instance on record of its doing so. The bird
alluded to in the " Proceedings of the Boston Society of
Natural History" (vol. Y. p. 213) was undoubtedly the
Chipping Sparrow.

The Tree Sparrow breeds, according to Mr. Hutchins,
around the Hudson's Bay settlements. " Its nest is placed
in the herbage, is formed externally of mud and dry
grass, and lined with soft hair or down, — probably from
plants, — in the manner of the Yellow-bird." The eggs
are about five in number : they are of a light grayish-blue
color, and are marked with spots and blotches of two shades
of brown and red. To compare them with another species,
I would say that they almost exactly resemble small speci-
mens of the eggs of the common Song Sparrow. They are

THE FIELD SPARROW. 319

ovate or ovoidal in form, and average about .73 by 56 inch
in dimensions.

SPIZELLA PUSILLA. — Bonaparte.
The Field Sparrow.

FringillapusiUa, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 121; Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834)
299.

Spizella pusilla, Bonaparte. List (1838)»

Fringilla juncorum, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 499. Ib. (2d ed., 1840), 577.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill red ; crown continuous rufous-red ; back somewhat similar, streaked with
blackish; sides of head and neck (including a superciliary stripe) ashy; ear coverts
rufous; beneath white, tinged with yellowish anteriorly; tail feathers and quills
faintly edged with white ; two white bands across the wing coverts.

This species is about the size of S. sodalis, but is more rufous above ; lacks the
black forehead and eye-stripe; has chestnut ears instead of ash; has the bill red
instead of black ; lacks the clear ash of the rump ; has a longer tail, &c. It is
more like Monticola, but is much smaller; lacks the spot on the breast and the
predominance of white on the wings, &c. The young have the breast and sides
streaked.

Length, about five and seventy-five one hundredths inches ; wing, two and thirty-
four one hundredths inches.

Hob. — Eastern North America to the Missouri River.

This bird makes its appearance about the first week in
April, in Massachusetts, and soon scatters throughout New
England. It prefers dry bushy pastures and low open
woods, and is seldom found in the near vicinage of human
habitations.

The male sings during the season of incubation, and,
indeed, through nearly all the summer : mounted on a low
tree or fence-rail, he utters his pleasing yet plaintive ditty
at early morning and evening, and, in dark and cloudy
weather, through the whole day. The song is a peculiar
warble, something like the syllables, 'te 'de 'de 'de 'de'de'de
'd 'd 'd dr, uttered at first low, and rapidly increasing, and
then decreasing in tone to a faint chatter, something like the
twitter of the Chipping Sparrow.

About the middle of May, the first nest is built." It is con
structed of stalks of dried grass and fine twigs, is loosely
put together, and placed usually on the ground beneath a.

320 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

bush, sometimes in a bush : it is lined with fine grass and
horsehairs. The eggs are usually four in number : they are
of a grayish-white color, with thinly scattered spots and
blotches of reddish-brown and lavender ; and their dimen-
sions vary from .72 by .52 to .70 by .50 inch. Two broods
are reared in the season.

Early in September, these birds collect in loose flocks,
when they have all the habits and notes of the Tree Spar-
row. In October, they all leave New England for the
South.

SPIZELLA SOCIALIS. — Bonaparte.
The Chipping Sparrow; Hair-bird.

Fringilla socialis, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 127; Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834)
21; V. 517.

Spinites socialis, Cabanis. Mus. Hein. (1851), 133.

DESCRIPTION.

Rump, back of neck, and sides of neck and head, ashy; interscapular region with
black streaks, margined with pale-rufous; crown continuous and uniform chestnut;
forehead black, separated in the middle by white ; a white streak over the eve, and
a black one from the base of the bill through and behind the eye ; under parts un-
spotted whitish, tinged with ashy, especially across the upper breast; tail feathers
and primaries edged with paler, not white ; two narrow white bands across the wing
coverts ; bill black.

Length, five and seventy-five one-hundredths inches; wing, nearly three inches.

Hob. — North America, from Atlantic to Pacific.

This very common and well-known little species makes its
appearance in Massachusetts sometimes as early as the 25th
of March,1 usually about the 5th of April, and spreads
throughout New England. The habits are so well known
that any description here is superfluous.

About the fifteenth of May, the nest is built. It is
placed in an apple-tree in the orchard, or in a lilac-bush
under the windows of a dwelling-house ; and I found nests
in low juniper bushes in the deep woods in Maine. It is

1 I am indebted for the time of the arrival of this and of many other birds to
Mr. H. A. Purdie, of Boston, who has kindly furnished me with full and copious
notes and memoranda on the arrival of species, which are of value, having been con-
ducted for several years.

THE SONG SPARROW. 321

constructed of fine twigs and roots and grasses, and is almost
invariably lined with horsehairs ; hence its name, in some
localities, of " Hair-bird," " Hair Sparrow." The eggs are
usually five in number. Their color is a bluish-green ; and
they are marked with spots and lines of black and obscure-
brown, which are thickest at the great end : some specimens
have these spots confluent into a sort of ring. The dimen-
sions vary from .74 by .50 to .70 by .48 inch. This species
is the most often chosen by the parasitic Cow-bird as a parent
for its young ; and many ornithologists account by this fact
for its persistent familiarity with man.

About the middle of October, the old and young birds
gather into small flocks, and proceed leisurely on the south-
ern migration.

MELOSPIZA, BAIRD.

Body stout; bill conical, very obsoletely notched or smooth, somewhat com-
pressed; lower mandible not so deep as the upper; commissure nearly straight ; gonys
a little curved; feet stout, not stretching beyond the tail; tarsus a little longer
than the middle toe; outer toe a little longer than the inner, its claw not quite
reaching to the base of the middle one; hind toe appreciably longer than the middle
one ; wings quite short and rounded, scarcely reaching beyond the base of the tail ;
the tertials considerably longer than the secondaries ; the quills considerably gradu-
ated ; the fourth longest ; the first not longer than the tertials, and almost the short-
est of the primaries ; tail moderately long, and considerably graduated ; the feathers
oval at the tips; crown and back similar in color and streaked; beneath thickly
streaked; tail immaculate.

This genus differs from Zonotrichia in shorter, more graduated tail, rather longer
hind toe, much more rounded wing, which is shorter; the tertiaries longer; the first
quill almost the shortest, and not longer than the tertials. The under parts are
spotted ; the crown streaked and like the back.

MELOSPIZA MELODIA.— Baird.
The Song Sparrow.

Fringllla melodia, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 125; Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1832)
126; V. 607.

DESCRIPTION.

General tint of upper parts rufous-brown, streaked with dark-brown and ashy-
gray; the crown is rufous, with a superciliary and median stripe of dull-gray, the
former lighter; nearly white anteriorly, where it has a faint shade of yellow; each
feather of the crown with a narrow streak of dark-brown; interscapulars dark-
brown in the centre, then rufous, then grayish on the margin ; rump grayer than

21

322 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

upper tail coverts, both with obsolete dark streaks; there is a whitish maxillary
stripe, bordered above and below by one of dark rufous-brown, with a similar one
from behind the eye ; the under parts are white ; the breast and sides of body and
throat streaked with dark-rufous, with a still darker central line ; on the middle of
the breast, these marks are rather aggregated so as to form a spot; no distinct white
on tail or wings.

Specimens vary somewhat in having the streaks across the breast more or less
sparse ; the spot more or less distinct. In autumn, the colors are more blended, the
light maxillary stripe tinged with yellowish, the edges of the dusky streaks suffused
with brownish-rufous.

The young bird has the upper parts paler, the streaks more distinct, the lines on
the head scarcely appreciable. The under parts are yellowish ; the streaks narrower
and more sharply defined dark-brown.

Length of male, six and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, two and fifty-eight
one-hundredths ; tail, three inches.

Hob. — Eastern United States to the high central plains.

This beautiful songster is one of the most common and
well-known of our summer visitors. It arrives from about
the first week in March to the middle of that month. On
its first appearance, it prefers the low thickets and bushy
woods, where, at all hours of the day, it chants its beautiful
song. It is somewhat gregarious at this time, and is
usually found in flocks of half a dozen individuals. It soon
commences mating ; and, after a short season of courtship,
both birds begin building their first nest. This is about the
middle of April, sometimes earlier ; and I have found the
nest with eggs when there was an inch or two of snow on
the ground. The nest is usually built on the ground, some-
times in a low bush, and occasionally in low trees : it is
constructed of stalks and leaves, of grasses and weeds, and
is lined with softer grasses and fine weeds. The eggs are
four or five in number, and they are subject to great varia-
tions in form and markings : they exhibit all the changes
from grayish to bluish-white, with spots, thinly scattered,
of reddish-brown, to confluent blotches of umber-brown,
thickest at the greater end. Their dimensions vary from
.94' by .64 to .78 by .62 inch. Four eggs in one nest
measure .94 by .64, .84 by .66, .80 by .58, .78 by .62.
inch. Two broods, and sometimes three, are reared in the
season.

THE SWAMP SPARROW. 323

There has been considerable discussion among ornitholo-
gists regarding this bird ; and many are of the belief, that,
from its irregular habits, there are two species found in
New England. I have examined with great care many
specimens, and have attentively observed their habits, and
think that it yet remains to be proved that we have more
than one species. Late in October, this species assembles in
small detached flocks, and leaves New England for its
southern home.

MELOSPIZA PALUSTRIS.— Baird.
The Swamp Sparrow.

FringiUa palustris, Wilson. Am. Orn., III. (1811) 49. Aud. Orn. Biog., I.
(1831) 331; V. 508.

FringiUa (Ammodromus) Georgiana, Nuttall. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 588.

DESCRIPTION.

Middle of the crown uniform chestnut; forehead black; superciliary streak,
sides of head and back and sides of neck, ash ; a brown stripe behind the eye ; back
broadly streaked with black; beneath whitish, tinged with ashy anteriorly, espe-
cially across the breast, and washed with yellowish-brown on the sides ; a few obso-
lete streaks across the breast, which become distinct on its sides; wings and tail
strongly tinged with rufous ; the tertials black, the rufous edgings changing
abruptly to white towards the end.

Female with the crown scarcely reddish streaked with black, and divided by a
light line.

In autumn the male of this species has the feathers of the crown each with a
black streak ; and the centre of the crown with an indistinct light stripe, materially
changing its appearance.

The forehead is usually more or less streaked with black.

Length, five and seventy-five one-hundredths inches; wing, two and forty one-
hundredths inches.

Hob.— Eastern United States from the Atlantic to the Missouri.

This bird, although not rare, is not so common as the
preceding. It is about equally distributed throughout New
England, and breeds in all these States. It arrives from
the South about the first week in April in Massachusetts ;
in Maine, about a fortnight later. It prefers the swampy
localities to all others, and is seldom found at any distance
from such places. The nest is built about the 10th of May.
It is constructed of leaves of grass and fine hair-like roots,

324 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

and lined with finer of the same : these are adjusted into a
loose fabric, and placed in or beneath a tussock of grass in
a swamp. I have known of instances of its being found
in a low barberry-bush ; but such cases are extremely rare,
and form exceptions to the rule. The eggs are four or five
in number : their color is a grayish-white, with sometimes a
bluish tint, and marked with thinly scattered spots of brown
over the entire surface, except a circle around the greater
end, where they are confluent, and hide the primary color.
Dimensions of a number in my cabinet vary from .80
by .58 to .76 by .54 inch. Two broods are reared in the
season.

Wilson, in describing the general habits of this species,
says,—

" It is one of our summer visitants, arriving in Pennsylvania
early in April ; frequenting low grounds and river courses ; rearing
two, and sometimes three, broods in a season ; and returning to the
South as soon as the cold weather commences. The immense
cypress swamps and extensive grassy flats of the Southern States,
that border their numerous rivers, and the rich rice plantations,
abounding with their favorite seeds and sustenance, — appear to
be the general winter resort and grand annual rendezvous of this
and all the other species of Sparrow that remain with us during
summer. From the river Trent in North Carolina to that of
Savannah, and still farther south, I found this species very numer-
ous ; not flying in flocks, but skulking among the canes, reeds, and
grass, seeming shy and timorous, and more attached to the water
than any other of their tribe. In the month of April, numbers
pass through Pennsylvania to the northward ; which I conjecture
from the circumstance of finding them at that season in particular
parts of the woods, where, during the rest of the year, they are
not to be seen. The few that remain frequent the swamps and
reedy borders of our creeks and rivers. They form their nest in
the ground, sometimes in a tussock of rank grass surrounded by
water, and lay four eggs, of a dirty-white, spotted with rufous. So
late as the 15th of August, I have seen them feeding their young
that were scarcely able to fly. Their principal food is grass seeds,

THE FOX-COLORED SPARROW. 325

wild oats, and insects. They have no song ; are distinguished by a
single chip or cheep, uttered in a rather hoarser tone than that of
the Song Sparrow ; flirt the tail as they fly ; seldom or never take
to the trees, but skulk from one low bush or swampy thicket to
another."

Sub-Family PASSERELLINJE. — The Buntings.

Toes and claws very stout; the lateral claws reaching beyond the middle of the
middle one; all very slightly curved.

Bill conical, the outlines straight; both mandibles equal; wings long, longer
than the even tail, reaching nearly to the middle of its exposed portion; hind claw-
longer than its digit; its toe nearly as long as the middle toe; tarsus longer than
the middle toe; brown above, either uniformly so or faintly streaked; triangular
spots below.

PASSERELLA, SWAINSON.

Passerella, SWAINSON, Class. Birds, II. (1837) 288. (Type Fringilla iliaca,
Merrem.)

Body stout; bill conical, not notched, the outlines straight; the two jaws of
equal depth ; roof of upper mandible deeply excavated, and vaulted, not knobbed ;
tarsus scarcely longer than the middle toe ; outer toe little longer than the inner, its
claw reaching to the middle of the central one; hind toe about equal to the inner
lateral ; the claws all long, and moderately curved only ; the posterior rather longer
than the middle, and equal to its toe ; wings long, pointed, reaching to the middle
of the tail; the tertials not longer than secondaries; second and third quills longest;
first equal to the fifth; tail very nearly even, scarcely longer than the wing; inner
claw contained scarcely one and a half times in its toe proper.

Color. — Rufous or slaty ; obsoletely streaked or uniform above ; thickly spotted
with triangular blotches beneath.

PASSEEELLA ILIACA. — Swainson.
The Fox-colored Sparrow.

Fringilla iliaca, Audubon. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 68; V. 612.
Passerella iliaca, Swainson. Birds, II.. (1837) 288.
Fringilla rufa, Wilson. Am. Orn., III. (1811) 53.

DESCRIPTION.

Middle of the back dull-ash, each feather with a large blotch of brownish-red;
top of head and neck, with rump, similar, but with smaller and more obsolete
blotches; upper tail coverts, with exposed surface of wings and tail, bright-rufous;
beneath white, with the upper part of the breast and sides of throat and body with
triangular spots of rufous, and a few smaller ones of blackish on the middle of the

326 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

breast; inner edges of quills and tail feathers tinged with rufous-pink; no light lines
on the head, but a patch of rufous on the cheeks ; first quill rather less than the
fifth; hind toe about equal to its claw; sometimes the entire head above is reddish,
like the back.

Length, about seven and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, three and fifty one-
hundredths inches.

Hob. —Eastern United States to the Mississippi.

This beautiful Sparrow is very abundant in spring and
autumn in New England, arriving in spring early in March,
and departing for the North by the third week in April ; and
arriving in autumn from the North about the 10th of Octo-
ber, and departing for the South late in November. While
with us, it remains in low, moist thickets and woody pas-
tures ; and occasionally visits the stubble-fields and gardens,
where it busies itself in searching among the dead leaves
and weeds for its food of seeds and insects. It generally
has, while in New England, only a short, lisping note, occa-
sionally a pretty warble ; but it is said to have in its northern
home a beautiful song, that is excelled by that of hardly
any other species. Audubon, in describing the nest and
eggs, says, " The nest of the Fox-colored Sparrow, which
is large for the size of the bird, is usually placed on the
ground, among moss or tall grass, near the stem of a creep-
ing fir, the branches of which completely conceal it from
view. Its outside is loosely formed of dry grass and moss,
with a carefully disposed inner layer of finer grasses, circu-
larly arranged; and the lining consists of very delicate
fibrous roots, together with some feathers from different
species of water-fowls. The period at which the eggs are
laid is from the middle of June to the 5th of July. They
are proportionally large, four or five in number, rather
sharp at the smaller end, of a dull-greenish tint, sprinkled
with irregular small blotches df brown." Their dimensions
average about .86 by .62 inch.

THE BLACK-THROATED BUNTING. 327

Sub-Family

Bill variable, always large, much arched, and with the culmen considerably
curved ; sometimes of enormous size, and with a great development backwards of
the lower jaw, which is always appreciably, sometimes considerably, broader behind
than the upper jaw at its base; nostrils exposed; tail rather variable; bill generally
black or red ; wings shorter than in the first group ; gape almost always much more
strongly bristled; few of the species sparrow-like or plain in appearance; usually
blue, red, or black and white; seldom (or never?) streaked beneath.

EUSPIZA, BONAPARTB.

Euspiza, BONAPARTE, List (1838). (Type Emberiza Americana, Cm.;

Bill large and strong, swollen, and without any ridges; the lower mandible
nearly as high as the upper; as broad at the base as the length of the gonys, and
considerably broader than the upper mandible; the edges much inflexed, and shut-
ting much within the upper mandible ; the commissure considerably angulated at
the base, then decidedly sinuated ; the tarsus barely equal to the middle toe ; the
lateral toes nearly equal, not reaching to the base of the middle claw ; the hind toe
about equal to the middle one without its claw ; the wings long and acute, reaching
nearly to the middle of the tail ; the tertials decidedly longer than the secondaries,
but much shorter than the primaries ; first quill longest, the others regularly gradu-
ated ; tail considerably shorter than the wings, though moderately long, nearly even,
although slightly emarginate; the outer feathers scarcely shorter; middle of back
only striped; beneath without streaks.

EUSPIZA AMERICANA. — Bonaparte.
The Black-throated Bunting.

Emberiza Americana, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 872. Wils. Am. Orn., III.
(1811) 86. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 579.

Euspiza Americana, Bonaparte. List (1838). (Type.) Ib., Consp. (1850), 469.
Euspina Americana, Cabanis. Mus. Hein. (1851), 133. (Type.)

DESCRIPTION.

Male. — Sides of the head, and sides and back of the neck, ash ; crown tinged with
yellowish-green and faintly streaked with dusky ; a superciliary and short maxillary
line, middle of the breast, axillaries, and edge of the wing, yellow; chin, loral
region, spots on sides of throat, belly, and under tail coverts white; a black patch
on the throat diminishing to the breast, and a spot on the upper part of the belly ;
wing coverts chestnut; interscapular region streaked with black; rest of back
immaculate.

Female with the markings less distinctly indicated; the black of the breast
replaced by a black maxillary line and a streaked collar in the yellow of the upper
part of the breast.

Length, about six and seventy one-hundredths inches ; wing, three and fifty one-
hundredths inches.

Hab. — United States from the Atlantic to the border of the high central plains.

328 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

This bird can be regarded only as an extremely rare
summer visitor in New England, Massachusetts apparently
being its northern limit. I have heard of two or three
specimens being found in this State, and it is possible that
others may have occurred here.

The nest of this species is placed on the ground, usually
in a dry pasture or field, and most generally beneath a tuft
of grass or a small bush. It is loosely constructed of grass
and fine roots arranged circularly, and with a finer lining.
The eggs are four in number : they are of an ovoidal shape,
and are but little pointed. Their dimensions vary from .82
by .60 inch to .79 by .58 inch: their color is a delicate
greenish-blue, without spots or markings.

I have had no opportunities for observing the habits of
this bird, and can present nothing of value with relation to
them.

GUIRACA, SWAINSON.

Guiraca, SWAINSON, Zool. Jour., III. (Nov., 1827) 350. (Type Loxia ccerulea, L.)
Bill very large, nearly as high as long; the culmen curved, with a rather sharp
ridge; the commissure conspicuously angulated just below the nostril, the posterior
leg of the angle nearly as long as the anterior, both nearly straight; lower jaw
deeper than the upper, and extending much behind the forehead; the width greater
than the length of the gonys, considerably wider than the upper jaw; a prominent
knob in the roof of the mouth; tarsi shorter than the middle toe; the outer toe a
little longer, reaching not quite to the base of the middle claw; hind toe rather
longer than to this base ; wings long, reaching the middle of the tail ; the seconda-
ries and tertials nearly equal; the second quill longest; the first less than the fourth;
tail very nearly even, shorter than the wings.

GUIRACA LUDOVICIANA. — Swainson.
The Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Loxia Ludovidana, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 306. Wils. Am. Orn., II.
(1810) 135.

Guiraca Ludovidana, Swainson. Phil. Mag., I. (1827) 438.
Fringilla Isidavidana, Audubon. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 166; V. 513.

DESCRIPTION.

Upper parts generally, with head and neck all round, glossy black; a broau
crescent across the upper part of the breast, extending narrowly down to the belly,
axillaries, and under wing coverts, carmin* ; rest of under parts, rump, and upper tail
coverts, middle wing coverts, spots on the tertiaries and inner great wing coverts,

THE ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 329

basal half of primaries and secondaries, and a large patch on the ends of the inner
webs of the outer three tail feathers, pure-white.

Female, without the white of quills, tail, and rump, and without any black or
red; above yellowish-brown streaked with darker; head with a central stripe above,
and a superciliary on each side, white ; beneath dirty-white, streaked with brown on
the breast and sides ; under wing coverts and axillaries saffron-yellow.

In the male, the black feathers of the back and sides of the neck have a subter-
minal white bar: there are a few black spots on the sides of the breast just below
the red.

The young male of the year is like the female, except in having the axillaries,
under wing coverts, and a trace of a patch on the breast, light rose-red.

The tint of carmine on the under parts varies a good deal in different specimens.

Length, eight and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, four and fifteen one-hun-
dredths inches.

Hob. — Eastern United States to the Missouri plains, south to Guatemala.

This beautiful bird is a not very common summer inhabi-
tant of New England. It seems to be pretty generally dis-
tributed, but is in no locality plenty. It arrives about the
first week in May in the southern districts of these States,
and a fortnight later in the northern sections. It prefers
the neighborhood of a swamp, and is most often found in
low growths of birches and alders. The nest is placed
in low shrubs and trees, often in the barberry-bush and
alder, usually in the deep woods, sometimes in a pasture.
It is loosely constructed of twigs and roots, and lined with
grass and hair-like roots, and sometimes a few leaves. The
eggs are usually four in number, more often less than
more. Their ground-color is a greenish-blue : this is. irregu-
larly covered with fine spots and dashes of umber-brown,
thickest at the greater end of the egg. Dimensions vary
from 1 by .74 to .90 by .70 inch. One brood only is reared
in the season in New England. I am aware that this
description differs from those which have been written of the
nest and eggs of this bird ; l but it is correct. I have had a
number of the eggs, and have seen several of the nests :
these were invariably of the above description, and differed
in no essential particular, though from various localities.

1 According to Bonaparte, its nest is concealed amidst the thick foliage of the
lhady forest ; externally, it is composed of twigs, and lined with slender grass ; and
the eggs are four or five, white, spotted with brown. — NUTTALL.

330 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

The habits of this bird are pretty well known. It is a
very fine songster, and is hardly excelled by any of our
other species ; its notes being uttered, not only through the
day, but also during the night, as I have heard on several
occasions. The song is difficult of description: it as a
sweet warble, with various emphatic passages, and some-
times a plaintive strain, exceedingly tender and affecting.

The Grosbeak feeds upon the seeds of the birches and
alders, which it obtains very expertly. It also is very fond
of various berries and buds, and it occasionally searches
among the fallen leaves for insects and worms.

After the young birds have become capable of providing
for themselves, the whole family sometimes visit the orchards
and gardens, where they eat a few berries and currants.
By the middle of September, they proceed leisurely on their
southern migration.

CYANOSPIZA, BAIKD.

Passerina, VIEILLOT, Analyse (1816). Not of Linnaeus; used in Botany.

Cyanospiza, BAIRD. (Type Tanagra cyanea, L.)

Bill deep at the base, compressed ; the upper outline considerably curved ; the
commissure rather concave, with an obtuse, shallow lobe in the middle; gonys
slightly curved ; feet moderate ; tarsus about equal to middle toe ; the outer lateral
toe barely longer than the inner, its claw falling short of the base of the middle;
hind toe about equal to the middle without claw ; claws all much curved, acute ;
wings long and pointed, reaching nearly to the middle of the tail ; the second and
third quills longest; tail appreciably shorter than the wings, rather narrow, very
nearly even.

The species of this genus are all of very small size and of showy plumage,
usually blue, red, or green, in well-defined areas.

CYANOSPIZA CYANEA.— Baird.
The Indigo-bird.

Tanagra cyanea, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 315.

Fringilla cyanea. Wils., I. (1810) 100; Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1832) 377; V. 503.

DESCRIPTION.

Male. — Blue, tinged with ultramarine on the head, throat, and middle of breast;
elsewhere with verdigris-green ; lores and anterior angle of chin velvet-black; wing
feathers brown, edged externally with dull bluish-brown.

THE INDIGO-BIRD. 331

Female. — Brown above; whitish, obscurely streaked or blotched with brownish-
yellow beneath ; immature males similar, variously blotched with blue.

Length, about five and seventy-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, nearly three
inches.

Hob. — Eastern United States to the Missouri, south to Guatemala.

This beautiful species is pretty generally distributed
throughout New England as a summer visitor, and is rather
common in thickly settled districts. It arrives from the
south about the 10th of May, and soon mates and selects its
home for the ensuing summer. Says Nuttall, —

" Though naturally shy, active, and suspicious, they still, at this
interesting period of procreation, resort chiefly to the precincts of
habitations, around which they are far more common than in the
solitary woods, seeking their borders, or the thickets by the sides of
the road ; but their favorite resort is the garden, where, from the
topmost bough of some tall tree, which commands the whole wide
landscape, the male regularly pours out his lively chant, and
continues it for a considerable length of time. Nor is this song
confined to the cool and animating dawn of morning; but it is
renewed and still more vigorous during the noonday heat of sum-
mer. This lively strain seems composed of a repetition of short
notes, commencing loud and rapid, and then, slowly falling, they
descend almost to a whisper, succeeded by a silent interval of about
half a minute, when the song is again continued as before. The
most common of these vocal expressions sounds like, tshe tshe
tshe — tshe tshe e tshee — tshe tshe tshe. The middle syllables are
uttered lispingly in a very peculiar manner, and the three last
gradually fall: sometimes it is varied and shortened into tshea
tshea tshea tshreh, the last sound being sometimes doubled. This
shorter song is usually uttered at the time that the female is
engaged in the cares of incubation, or as the brood already appear,
and when too great a display of his music might endanger the
retiring security of his family."

The Indigo-bird commences building about the last of
May. The nest is usually placed in low bushes, often
bramble and brier bushes, usually near houses and gar-
dens : it is constructed of coarse sedge grass, some withered

332 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

leaves, and lined with fine stalks of the same and the slen-
der hair-like tops of the bent grass (agrostis), with a very
few cow-hairs, though sometimes they make a substantial
lining of hair. The eggs are four or five in number ; and
their color is a nearly pure white, sometimes with a bluish
tint. In a large number in my collection from L, E. Rick-
seeker, of Pennsylvania, a few have scattered blotches of
reddish-brown. Their size varies from .80 by .60 to .70 by
.52 inch. But one brood is reared in the season in New
England.

About the middle of September, the whole family leaves
New England, and winters in tropical America.

PIPILO, VlEILLOT.

Pipilo, VIEILLOT, Analyse (1816) Agassiz. (Type Fringilla erythrophthalma,
Linn.)

Bill rather stout ; the culmen gently curved, the gonys nearly straight ; the com-
missure gently concave with a decided notch near the end; the lower jaw not so
deep as the upper, not as wide as the gonys is long, but wider than the base of the
upper mandible ; feet large, the tarsus as long or a little longer than the middle
toe ; the outer lateral toe a little the longer, and reaching a little beyond the base
of the middle claw ; the hind claw about equal to its toe ; the two together about
equal to the outer toe ; claws all stout, compressed, and moderately curved ; wings
reaching about to the end of the upper tail coverts ; short and rounded, though the
primaries are considerably longer than the nearly equal secondaries and tertials ;
the outer four quills are graduated ; the first considerably shorter than the second,
and about as lon'g as the secondaries; tail considerably longer than the wings;
moderatel v qraduated externally; the feathers rather broad; most rounded off on
the inner webs at the end.

The colors vary; the upper parts are generally uniform black or brown; the
under white or brown; no central streaks on the feathers. The hood sometimes
differently colored.

The essential characters of the genus are in the curved culmen and commissure ;
the strong feet; the outer toe rather longer than the inner; the wings rounded, but
the primaries decidedly longer than the others ; the outer four quills considerably
graduated, but the first usually not shorter than the secondaries. The graduated
tail longer than the wings.

PIPILO ERYTHROPHTHALMUS.— Vieillot.
The Ground Robin; Towhee; Chewink.

Fringilla erytkrophthalma, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 318 ; Aud. Orn. Biog.,
I. (1832)151; V. 511.

THE GROUND ROBIN. 333

Emberiza erythrqphtkalma, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1758) 874; Wils. Am. Orn.,
VI. (1812) 90.

Pipillo eryihrophthalmus, Vieillot. Gal. Ois., I. (1824) 109.

DESCRIPTION.

Upper parts generally, head and neck all round, and upper part of the breast,
glossy black, abruptly defined against the pure white which extends to the anus,
but is bounded on the sides and under the wings by light-chestnut ; under coverts
similar to sides, but paler; edges of outer six primaries with white at the base and
on the middle of the outer web; inner two tertiaries also edged externally with
white; tail feathers black; outer web of the first, with the ends of the first to the
third white, decreasing from the exterior one. Female with the black replaced by
brown ; iris red.

Length, eight and seventy-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, three and seventy-
five one-hundredths ; tail, four and ten one-hundredths inches.

This beautiful and well-known species, although common
in Massachusetts and the other southern New-England
States, is rare in the three northern. It begins to grow
scarce in the northern districts of Massachusetts ; and, before
we have passed fifty miles beyond its northern limits, it is
very rarely seen. It makes its appearance about the 20th
of April, the males preceding the females by a week or ten
days. As soon as the females arrive, the pairing season
commences. The male, perched on a low limb of a tree or
high bush, chants his pleasing song, sometimes for half an
hour at a time : this song resembles the syllables, tow-Tie 'e
'che 'de 'de 'de 'de, uttered at first slowly and plaintively, and
quickly increased in volume and rapidity of utterance. He
has also a sort of quavering warble difficult of description.
If he is approached, he watches the intruder, and, after
ascertaining his business, utters his note tow-hee, and pro-
ceeds his search among the fallen leaves for his favorite food
of worms, insects, and seeds, which he is almost continually
scratching for among the dead vegetation.

About the second week in May, the birds commence build-
ing. The locality usually chosen is. in low, thick woods,
or in thickets of briers and bushes near streams of water,
in which places this species is most often found. The nest
is placed on the ground, usually beneath a bunch of grass,

334 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

or in a pile of old brush and fagots : it is constructed of
fine twigs, leaves, and grasses, and is lined with fine leaves
of grasses, and sometimes a few hair-like roots.

The eggs are usually four in number. Their ground color
varies from grayish to reddish-white: this is covered, over
the entire surface, with fine dots and points of reddish-
brown : in some specimens these dots run into each other,
and from small blotches. The average dimensions of a
great number of specimens in my collection is about .94 by
.76 inch. When placed in a tray beside an equal number
of the eggs of the Brown Thrush, the eggs of this species
appear much paler, and with a more roseate tint ; otherwise,
except with regard to size, the two species resemble each
other much.

In New England, but one brood is usually reared in the
season. I have found nests with young in June and
August, but generally the first brood leaves the nest too late
for another to be brought out before the early frosts.

About the middle of October, the old birds and their
young, in small detached flocks, leave New England on
their southern migration.

THE BOBOLINK. 335

FAMILY ICTERID^E.

Primaries nine; tarsi scutellate anteriorly; plated behind; bill long, generally
equal to the head or longer, straight or gently curved, conical, without any notch,
the commissure bending downwards at an obtuse angle at the base; gonys generally
more than half the culmen ; basal joint of the middle toe free on the inner side,
united half-way on the outer; tail rather long, rounded; legs stout.

Sub-Family AGELAEIN^:. — The Starlings.

Bill stout, conical, and acutely pointed, not longer than the head ; the outlines
nearly straight, the tip not decurved ; legs adapted for walking, longer than the
head; claws not much curved; tail moderate, shorter than the wings; nearly even

DOLICHONYX, SWAINSON.

Dotichonyx, SWAINSON, Zool. Jour., III. (1827) 351. (Type Emberiza oryzivo-
ro, L.)

Bill short, stout, conical, little more than half the head ; the commissure slightly
sinuated ; the culmen nearly straight ; middle toe considerably longer than the tar-
sus (which is about as long as the head); the inner lateral toe longest, but not reach-
ing the base of the middle claw; wings long, first quill longest; tail feathers
acuminately pointed at the tip, with the shafts stiffened and rigid, as in the Wood-
peckers.

The peculiar characteristic of this species is found in the rigid scansorial tail and
the very long middle toe, by means of which it is enabled to grasp the vertical stems
of reeds or other slender plants. The color of the known species is black, varied
with whitish patches on the upper parts.

DOLICHONYX OEYZIVOEUS. — Swainson.
The Bobolink; Eeed-bird; Eice-bird.

Emberiza oryzwora, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat, I. (1766) 311. Wils. Am. Ora., II.
(1810) 48.
> Dolichonyx oryzivora, Swainson. Zool. Jour., III. (1827) 351.

Icterus agripennis, Bonaparte. Obs. Wils. (1824),«No. 87. Aud. Orn. Biog., I.
(1831) 283 ; V. (1839) 486. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 185.

DESCRIPTION.

General color of male in spring black; the nape brownish^cream color; a patch
on the side of the breast, the scapulars and rump white, shading into light ash on
the upper tail covers and the back below the interscapular region ; the outer prima-
ries sharply margined with yellowish-white, the tertials less abruptly; the tail
feathers margined at the tips with pale brownish-ash. In autumn similar to the
female.

336 f ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Female, yellowish beneath; two stripes on the top of the head, and the upper
parts throughout, except the back of the neck and rump, and including all the wing
feathers generally, dark-brown, all edged with brownish-yellow; which becomes
whiter nearer the tips of the quills ; the sides sparsely streaked with, dark-brown,
and a similar stripe behind the eye; there is a superciliary and a median band of
yellow on the head.

Length of male, seven and seventy one-hundredths inches; wing, three and
eighty-three one-hundredths ; tail, three and fifteen one-hundredths inches.

Hob. — Eastern United States to the high central plains. Seen fifty miles east
of Laramie.

THIS well-known merry songster of the North, Reed
Bird or Ortolan of the Middle States, and Rice Bird
of the South, is abundantly distributed throughout most
sections of the eastern half of the continent, ranging from
the latitude of Quebec, in Lower Canada (which is its most
northern breeding point), through New England and its
latitude in summer, to Mexico, Central America, West
Indies, and the northern portions of the Southern Conti-
nent, where it passes the winter.

Early in spring it makes its appearance in the Southern
United States, usually in small detached parties of from
eight to a dozen individuals, and proceeds leisurely to its
summer home in the North, generally at about the following
dates : being abundant in Georgia about April 20 ; in Dis-
trict of Columbia, " distributed about orchards and meadows
in flocks, from May 1st to 15th ; " arrives on Long Island,
N. Y., " about the 20th of May ; " and is abundant in the
latitude of Middle New England by the tatter part of that
month.

The males usually arrive in the North several days before
the females, during which interim they frequent meadows
and fields in cultivated districts, preferring them to thinly
settled localities, and soon become very tame and familiar,
considering th« severity with which they were pursued by
the inhabitants of all the countries they traversed in their
migration, by whom they are regarded only as a pest and a
nuisance. The Bobolink knows when he has arrived among
his friends ; and the same bird which would have risen be-

THE BOBOLINK. 337

yond gunshot from you in the South will perch on your
garden fence in New England as familiarly as if he were
" to the manor born," and regale you with a flood of his
choicest melodies.

Almost everybody in the North knows the song of this
bird, and has laughed, in spite of him or herself, at the gro-
tesque singer, as, perched on a twig in the cherry-tree by
the house, or in the elm by the roadside, or alder by the
brook, he nodded his head, quivered his wings, opened his
mouth, and rattled out the most curious, incomprehensible,
jingling, roundabout, careless, joyous, laughable medley
that any bird throat ever uttered.

As soon as the females arrive, they become the especial
objects of attention with their male neighbors ; and the little
contentions, both in music, and something more severe, we
must confess, for the possession of a favored one, between
the contesting suitors, are almost innumerable.

When the birds are mated, usually early in June, they
commence the structure in which their family is to be
reared. Selecting a thick tussock of grass in a field or
meadow, through which, or near which, a brook prattles of
cool and delicious draughts, and sweet and refreshing baths,
beneath the bending and concealing leaves, they entwine
fine grasses and rootlets into a loose and not deeply
hollowed nest, which they line with softer pieces of the
same material.

The position is so well chosen that, nine times out of ten,
if you walk the meadow over again and again, knowing it
to be there, you will not discover the nest ; the male bird
flies over your head, chiding and complaining at your pres-
ence, and his mate skurrying off through the thick grass,
rises away from the nest, that you may not discover its
locality.

The eggs, four or five in number, vary in color from a
light ashy-blue, with spots of blackish-brown, to a pale-

22

338 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

brownish clay, with spots and blotches of umber of different
shades ; their form is usually a perfect ovate, and they vary
in dimensions from .90 of an inch in length by .65 of an inch
in breadth, to .86 of an inch in length by .62 of an inch in
breadth.

As soon as the young birds are hatched, the father, hith-
erto full of song and merriment, becomes more quiet,
spending a great part of his time in family cares. The
young birds are fed on grasshoppers, crickets, and various
other insects ; and this food is the chief sustenance of the
parents as well, at this period, for the seeds of the wild
grasses are not yet ripened, and incursions in the grain-
fields are tabooed while the young are in the nest. Is there
not a little of judicious reasoning in this ? look at it : if the
bird cultivates the good will of the farmer, by destroying
his insect enemies, and letting his crops grow in peace, he
is permitted to rear his family in security, and is even
rather liked, his song being a most pleasant companionship
to the farmer who delves and plods in the fields around him.

When the young birds leave the nest, the parents provide
for them for a few days, and then turn them away to shift
for themselves : this is in about the middle of July. The
old birds then pass a comparatively idle season, — roaming
through the country, recuperating from the cares of parent-
age, and exchanging their nuptial dress for one more in
accordance with their matured, respectable, old folks' con-
dition ; the male assumes the sober, and lately more sober,
attire of his mate, and dropping his song, contents himself
with repeating her simple " chink"

So much do the old and young birds resemble each other
that, in the flocks of from fifty to one hundred individuals,
in which they gather in early fall, it is almost impossible by
the plumage to distinguish either.

Early in September the Bobolinks begin to move south-
ward, and although they obtain a great portion of their

THE COW BLACKBIRD. 339

sustenance from fields and meadows, gleaning seeds of
grasses and weeds, and capturing orthopterous and other
insects, they make sad havoc in the fields of late grain and
rice ; and the firing of guns during their passage through
the Middle and Southern States, not only by farmers' and
planters' boys, but by sportsmen and pot-hunters, who
shoot them for the table and market, is often almost inces-
sant.

MOLOTHRUS, SWAINSON.

Mokthrus, SWAINSON, F. Bor. Am., II. (1831) 277. (Type Fringilla pecoris, Gm.)
Bill short, stout, about two-thirds the length of head; the commissure straight;
culmen and gonys slightly curved, convex, the former broad, rounded, convex, and
running back on the head in a point; lateral toes nearly equal, reaching the base of
the middle one, which is shorter than the tarsus; claws rather small; tail nearly
even; wings long, pointed, the first quill longest.

MOLOTHRUS PECOEIS. — Swainson.
The Cow Blackbird; Cowbird.

Fringilla pecoris, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 910.
Emberiza pecoris, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 145.

Icterus pecoris, Bonaparte. Obs. Wils. (1824), No. 88. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831)
493; V. (1839) 233, 490.

Icterus (emberizoides) pecoru, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 178 ; 2d ed., 190.
Fringilla ambiyua, Nuttall. Man. I. (1832) 484. (Young.)

DESCRIPTION.

Second quill longest; first scarcely shorter; tail nearly even, or very slightly
rounded; male with the head, neck, and anterior half of the breast, light chocolate-
brown, rather lighter above; rest of body lustrous-black, with a violet-purple gloss,
next to the brown, of steel-blue on the back, and of green elsewhere. Female, light
olivaceous-brown all over, lighter on the head and beneath ; bill and feet black.

The young bird of the year is brown above, brownish- white beneath; the throat
immaculate; a maxillary stripe and obscure streaks thickly crowded across the
whole breast and sides ; there is a faint indication of a pale superciliary stripe ;
the feathers of the upper parts are all margined with paler ; there1 are also indications
of the light bands on the wings ^ these markings are all obscure, but perfectly appre-
ciable, and their existence in adult birds may be considered as embryonic, and show-
ing an inferiority in degree to the species with the under parts perfectly plain.

Length, eight inches; wing, four and forty-two one-hundredths inches; tail, three
and forty one-hundredths inches.

Hob. — United States from the Atlantic to California: not found immediately on
the coast of the Pacific.

340 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

This common and well-known bird is abundantly dis-
tributed throughout New England as a summer visi-
tor. It makes its first appearance about the middle of
March in Massachusetts, and, instead of mating and sep-
arating into pairs, remains in small flocks through the
summer.

At all times, the males and females congregate together
and visit the fields and pastures, (where they destroy num-
bers of insects, principally Orthoptera), and are usually in
greatest numbers where droves of cattle are assembled.
The male, in spring and early summer, has a guttural song,
which he utters from a tall tree, sometimes an hour at a
time. This song resembles the syllables 'cluk 'seee. When
he emits this note, he bristles out the feathers of his neck,
and spreads his tail, and seems to swell out his body with
the effort to produce an agreeable tone.

When the desire for laying is awakened in the female,
instead of building a nest of her own, she seeks the tene-
ment of some other bird, usually a smaller species than
herself; and, watching an opportunity when the other bird
has left it, she drops an egg in it, and leaves it to the tender
mercies of the owner of the nest. The birds most often
chosen for this purpose are the Yireos, Warblers, and Spar-
rows : sometimes the Small Thrushes are thus imposed upon,
and rarely the Wrens. *

Some birds build over the stranger egg a new nest. I
have in my collection a nest of the Yellow Warbler thus
doubled, and another of the Goldfinch. Sometimes the
nest is abandoned, particularly if the owner has no eggs of
her own ; but usually the intruding egg is hatched, and the
young bird attended with all the care given to the legitimate
young. The eggs of this species are of a grayish-white,
with fine spots of brown over the entire surface. Their
dimensions vary from .96 by .70 to .80 by .62 inch : some
specimens are marked with very minute reddish dots, which
are scattered over the entire surface; others have bold

THE SWAMP BLACKBIRD. 341

dashes and confluent blotches of brown, thickest at the
greater end.1

By the last week in October, the young and old birds
assemble in large flocks, and leave for the South.

AGELAIUS, VIEILLOT.

Agelaius, VIEILLOT, " Analyse, 1816." (Type Oriolus Phceniceus, L.)
First quill shorter than second; claws short; the outer lateral scarcely reaching
the base of the middle; culmen depressed at base, parting the frontal feathers^
length equal to that of the head, shorter than tarsus ; both mandibles of equal thick-
ness and acute at tip, the edges much curved, the culmen, gonys, and commissure
nearly straight or slightly sinuated ; the length of bill about twice its height ; tail
moderately rounded, or very slightly graduated ; wings pointed, reaching to end of
lower tail coverts ; colors black, with red shoulders in North-American species.

The nostrils are small, oblong, overhung by a membranous scale ; the bill is
higher than broad at the base; there is no division between the anterior tarsal
scutellae and the single plate on the outside of the tarsus.

AGELAIUS PHCENICEUS. — Vieillot.
The Swamp Blackbird; Red-wing Blackbird.

Oriolus Phceniceus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat, I. (1766) 161.
Agelaius Phceniceus, Vieillot. Anal. (1816).

Icterus Phceniceus, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 348; V. (1839) 487.
Icterus (Xanihornus Phceniceus), Bonaparte. Syn. (1828), 52. Nutt. Man., L
(1832) 167.

Sturnuspradatorius, Wilson. Am. Om., IV. (1811) 30.

DESCRIPTION.

Tail much rounded; the lateral feathers about half an inch shorter; fourth quill
longest; first about as long as the fifth; bill large, stout; half as high, or more than
half as high as long.

Male. — General color uniform lustrous velvet-black, with a greenish reflection;
ehoulders and lesser wing coverts of a bright-crimson or vermilion-red ; middle
coverts brownish-yellow, and usually paler towards the tips.

• ! By an amusing yet incomprehensible mistake of the printer, the subjoined
description of eggs, &c., was annexed to this species, in an article published in the
" Report of the U. S. Department of Agriculture for 1864," p. 426. It belongs to
the Chewink or Ground Robin, page 425 of that volume: " Their form varies from
elongated oval to nearly spherical. The dimensions of a nest complement of four
eggs, collected in Quincy, Mass., are 1 by .74 inch, .96 by .72 inch, .90 by .70 inch,

90 by .68 inch : other specimens do not vary materially from these measurements.
.But one brood is usually reared in the season. This bird, although subsisting prin-
cipally on various seeds and small fruits, destroys great numbers of insects, particu-
larly in the breeding season : in fact, its young are fed entirely on insects and their
larvae, and the well-known wire-worms.''

342 • » ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Female. — Brown above, the feathers edged or streaked with rufous-brown and
yellowish ; beneath white, streaked with brown ; forepart of throat, superciliary, and
median stripe strongly tinged with brownish-yellow.

The female differs greatly in appearance ; the prevailing color above is brownish-
black, all the feathers margined with reddish-brown ; some of those on the back
with brownish-yellow, which, on the median and greater wing coverts, forms two
bands; the under parts are dull-whitish, each feather broadly streaked centrally with
dark-brown ; the chin and throat yellowish, and but little streaked ; there is a dis-
tinct whitish superciliary streak alongside the head, tinged anteriorly with brownish-
yellow, and another less distinct in the median line of the crown ; there is usually
no indication of any red on the wing; the immature males exhibit every possible
condition of coloration between that of the old male and of the female.

Length of male, nine and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, five inches ; tail,
four and fifteen one-hundredths inches.

This common and well-known species makes its appear-
ance about the middle of March. It arrives in small flocks,
the males preceding the females a week or ten days. On
its arrival, it frequents the meadows and swamps, where,
from early dawn to twilight, its song of quonk a ree is
lieard, sometimes uttered by a half-dozen birds at a time.
As soon as the females arrive, the birds mate, and disperse
through these States, but not so abundantly in the northern
as in the southern districts. It commences building about
the first week in May. The nest is usually placed in a
tussock of grass or low bush in a meadow and swamp : it
is constructed of coarse grasses, which are woven and
intwined into a strong fabric, into which are incorporated
the grass to which it is suspended, or the twigs of the bush
in which it is built. It is deeply hollowed, and lined with
fine grasses, and sometimes a few hair-like roots. The eggs
are four or five in number ; and they vary, in color, two or
three shades of light-blue : they are marked with spots ahcl
streaks of vandyke-brown and black, generally distributed
thickest at the greater end. Their dimensions vary from
1.05, by .75 inch to .90 by .66 inch. Average size about
.97 by .70 inch.

Sometimes several pairs breed in the same swamp or
meadow: they always fly to meet an intruder in their
haunts, and hover over him, uttering their cries of anger

THE MEADOW-LARK. 343

and complaint ; and, as the alarm passes along the country,
sometimes as many as a dozen or twenty birds are hovering
over him, scolding vociferously.

Two broods are usually reared in. the season : as soon as
the last brood leaves the nest, the whole family joins with
its neighbors into a flock of sometimes a hundred or hun-
dred and fifty or more. They then visit the grain-fields, and
inflict considerable damage by eating and destroying the
grain. In many localities, they are so numerous at this
season, that they are a serious nuisance ; and the farmers
destroy great numbers of them with poison and with the
gun.

Localities in the neighborhood of the seaboard are thus
afflicted more than others ; and I have seen flocks of these
birds in Plymouth County, Mass., containing as many as a
thousand individuals.

About the last of October, they depart on their southern
migration.

STURNELLA, VIEILLOT

Sturnella, VIEILLOT, Analyse (1816). (Type Alauda magna, L.)
Body thick, stout; legs large, toes reaching beyond the tail; tail short, even,
with narrow acuminate feathers ; bill slender, elongated ; length about three times
the height; commissure straight from the basal angle; culmen flattened basally,
extending backwards, and parting the frontal feathers; longer than the head, but
shorter than tarsus; nostrils linear, covered by an incumbent membranous scale;
inner lateral toe longer than the outer, but not reaching to basal joint of middle;
hind toe a little shorter than the middle, which is equal to the tarsus ; hind claw
nearly twice as long as the middle; feathers of head stiffened and bristly; the
shafts of those above extended into a black seta; tertiaries nearly equal to the
primaries; feathers above all transversely banded; beneath yellow, with a black
pectoral crescent.

STURNELLA MAGNA. — Swainson.
The Meadow-lark; Old Field-lark.

Alauda magna, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., I. (1758) 167, 10th ed. (based on Alauda
wagna, Catesby, tab. 33). Wils. Am. Orn., III. (1811) 20.
Slurnetta magna, Swainson. Phil. Mag., I. (1827) 436.
Sturnus Ludoiicianus, Audubon. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 216; V. (1839) 492.
Sturnella Ludoviciana, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 147.

344

ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

DESCRIPTION.

The feathers ahoye dark-brown, margined with brownish-white, and with a ter-
minal blotch of pale reddish-brown ; exposed portions of wings and tail with trans-
verse dark-brown bars, which on the middle tail feathers are confluent along the
shaft; beneath yellow, with a black pectoral crescent, the yellow not extending on
the side of the maxilla; sides, crissum, and tibiae pale reddish-brown, streaked with
blackish; a light median and superciliary stripe, the latter yellow anterior to the
eye; a black line behind.

Length, ten and sixty one-hundredth s inches ; wing, five ; tail, three and seventy
one-hundredths inches; bill above, one and thirty-five one-hundredths inches.

This beautiful and well-known bird is a common summer
inhabitant of the three southern New-England States, but is
more rare in the others. If a mild winter, it remains through

the year ; but generally leaves for the South late in the
fall, and returns about the " second or third week in
March." It commences building about the second week
in May, sometimes earlier: the locality is generally in a
meadow or low field. The nest is usually built in a tussock
of grass : it " is pretty compact, made of dry, wiry grass,
to which a hidden and almost winding path is made, and
generally so well concealed that the nest is only to be found
when the bird is flushed." — NUTTALL.

A number of nests that I have examined agree with this
description : all were beneath bunches of grass ; and, though

THE MEADOW-LARK. 345

some were only partly covered, still there was a decided
roof to all. The eggs are usually four in number: their
color is generally nearly pure-white, sometimes reddish-
white, with fine spots of reddish-brown diffused over the
entire surface of some specimens ; on others, thinly scat-
tered spots, blotches of two or three shades of brown and
lilac. Their dimensions vary from 1.10 by .85 to 1 by .78
inch. Their form is usually a rounded oval.

A rather peculiar specimen, kindly presented me by
Mr. J. P. Norris, of Philadelphia, is nearly spherical in
form, rosy-white in color, with exceedingly minute dots of
reddish. Size, 1.05 by .90 inch. Nuttall says of the food
of this species, —

" Their food consists of the larvae of various insects, as well as
worms, beetles, and grass seeds, to assist the digestion of which
they swallow a considerable portion of gravel. It does not appear
that this species ever adds berries or fruits of any kind to his fare,
like the Starling, but usually remains the whole summer in moist
meadows ; and in winter retires to the open, grassy woods, having
no inclination to rob the orchard or garden ; and, except in winter,
is of a shy, timid, and retiring disposition."
•

But one brood is reared in the season.

In the autumn, the Larks collect in small flocks of ten or
a dozen, which visit the marshes and stubble-fields in their
neighborhood. Their note at this season, as in other periods
of the year, is nothing but a shrill, prolonged, plaintive
whistle. Usually one bird of a flock is perched on a tree
or fence-post as a sentinel ; and, the moment a gunner
approaches, the bird gives his alarm, and the flock is on the
qui vive. They are so shy that it is extremely difficult to
approach them ; and, when shot at, they are secured only by
guns of long range. Their flight is a peculiar hovering
one, — the wings moving in short, almost imperceptible,
vibrations.

346 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Sub-Family ICTERIKE. — The Orioles.

Bill slender, elongated, as long as the head, generally a little decurved, and very
acute; tarsi not longer than the middle toe, nor than the head; claws short, much
curved; outer lateral toe a little longer than the inner, reaching a little beyond base
of middle toe; feet adapted for perching; tail rounded or graduated; prevailing
colors yellow or orange, and black.

ICTERUS SPURIUS. — Bonaparte.
The Orchard Oriole.

Oriolus qpurius, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 162.

Icterus spurius, Bonaparte. Obs. on Nom. Wils. (1825), No. 44. Aud. Ora.
Biog., I. (1831) 221; V. 485.

Oriolus mutatus, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 64.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill slender, attenuated, considerably decurved ; tail moderately graduated.

Male. — Head and neck all round, wings, and interscapular region of back, with
tail feathers, black; rest of under parts, lower part of back to tail, and lesser upper
wing coverts, with the lower one, brownish-chestnut ; a narrow line across the wing,
and the extreme outer edges of quills, white.

Female. — Uniform greenish-yellow beneath, olivaceous above, and browner in
the middle of the back ; two white bands on the wings. Young male like the female,
with a broad black patch from the bill to the upper part of the breast; this color
extending along the base of the bill so as to involve the eye and all anterior to it to
the base of the bill.

In this species the bill is slender, attenuated, and a good deal decurved to the
tip. The second and third quills are longest; the first intermediate between
the fourth and fifth. The tail is rather long ; the feathers moderately graduated, the
greatest difference in length amounting to half an inch.

The black of the throat extends backwards as far as the bend of the wing, and
ends as an obtuse angle. The tail feathers are entirely black, with dull whitish tips
when not fully mature.

Specimens are found in all stages between the characters given above. When
nearly mature, some yellowish feathers are found mixed in with the chestnut ones.

Length of specimens, seven and twenty-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, three
and twenty-five one-hundredths inches.

This bird is rather rare in New England, and is confined
to the southern districts as a summer visitor. It arrives
about the second week in May, and commences building
about the first week in June. The nest is usually placed in
a forked branch of a tree in the orchard, seldom more than
twenty feet from the ground. It is constructed of different

THE OBCHAED ORIOLE. 347

grasses, which are woven together very neatly and com-
pactly : the whole is lined with fine grass, and sometimes a
few horsehairs. It is not pensile, but is built on the branch.
The eggs are four or five in number : their color varies from
a light-blue to a fleshy tint, which is marked with irregu-
lar spots and lines of obscure lavender, over which are bold
spots and blotches of black and brown. The dimensions
vary from .86 to .56 by .54 inch. But one brood is reared
in the season.

Nuttall, in describing the habits of this specie's, says, —

"The Orchard Oriole is an exceedingly active, sprightly, and
restless bird : in the same instant almost, he is on the ground after
some fallen insect ; fluttering amidst the foliage of the trees, prying
and springing after his lurking prey ; or flying, and tuning his lively
notes in a manner so hurried, rapid, and seemingly confused, that
the ear is scarce able to thread out the shrill and lively syllables
of his agitated ditty. Between these hurried attempts, he also
gives others, which are distinct and agreeable ; but still his tones
are neither so full nor so mellow as those of the brilliant and gay
Baltimore."

After a description of the nest and eggs, he continues : —

"The female sits about fourteen days, and the young continue
in the nest ten (?) days before they become qualified to flit along
with their parents ; but they are generally seen abroad about the
middle of June. Previously to their departure, the young, leaving
the care of their parents, become gregarious, and assemble some-
times in flocks of separate sexes, from thirty to forty upwards ; in
the South, frequenting the savannahs, feeding much on crickets,
grasshoppers, and spiders. According to Audubon, they sing with
great liveliness in cages, being fed on rice and dry fruits, when
fresh cannot be procured. Their ordinary diet, it appears, is cater-
pillars and insects, of which they destroy great quantities. In the
course of the season, they likewise feed on various kinds of juicy
fruits and berries ; but their depredations on the fruits of the orchard
are very unimportant."

348

ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

In a large number of nests received from Wisconsin, since
the foregoing was in type, a proportion were pensile, being
composed of fine grasses, neatly interwoven.

ICTERUS BALTIMORE. — Daudin.
The Baltimore Oriole ; Golden Robin ; Hang-nest.

Oriolus Baltimore, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 162. Wils. Am. Orn., I.
(1808) 23.

" Icterus Baltimore, Daudin." Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 66 ; V. (1839) 278.

DESCRIPTION.

Tail nearly even ; head all round and to' middle of back, scapulars, wings, and
upper surface of tail, black ; rest of under parts, rump, upper tail coverts, and lesser
wing coverts, with terminal portion of tail feathers (except two innermost), orange-
red; edges of wing quills, with a band across the tips of the greater coverts,
white.

The female is much less brilliant in color; the black of the head and back gene-
rally replaced by brownish-yellow, purer on the throat; each feather with a black
spot.

Length, seven and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, three and seventyr-five
one-hundredths inches.

This well-known species is abundantly distributed through-
out New England as a summer visitor. It makes its appear-
ance about the 8th of May in Massachusetts, and about the

middle of that month
or later, in the north-
ern districts. It com-
mences building about
the 20th of May. The
nest is usually fixed
in an elm-tree near
houses, or in an apple
or pear tree in the or-
chard. NuttalPs de-
scription of the nest
is the best that I have ever seen, and much better than
any I could make : although somewhat lengthy, I give it
entire : —

THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 349

" There is nothing more remarkable in the whole instinct of our
Golden Robin than the ingenuity displayed hi the fabrication of its
nest, which is, in fact, a pendulous, cylindric pouch of five to seven
inches in depth, usually suspended from near the extremities of the
high drooping branches of trees (such as the elm,- the pear, or apple
tree, wild cherry, weeping willow, tulip-tree, or button wood). It
is begun by firmly fastening natural strings of the flax of the silk-
weed, or swamp hollyhock, or stout artificial threads, around two or
more forked twigs, corresponding to the intended width and depth
of the nest. With the same materials, willow-down, or any acci-
dental ravellings, strings, thread, sewing-silk, tow, or wool, that may
be lying near the neighboring houses, or around grafts of trees, they
interweave and fabricate a sort of coarse cloth into the form in-
tended, towards the bottom of which they place the real nest, made
chiefly of lint, wiry grass, horse and cow hair : sometimes, in defect
of hair, lining the interior with a mixture of slender strips of
smooth vine-bark, and rarely with a few feathers ; the whole being
of a considerable thickness, and more or less attached to the exter-
nal pouch. Over the top, the leaves, as they grow out, form a
verdant and agreeable canopy, defending the young from the sun
and rain. There is sometimes a considerable difference in the
manufacture of these nests, as well as in the materials which enter
into their composition. Both sexes seem to be equally adepts at
this sort of labor ; and I have seen the female alone perform the
whole without any assistance, and the male also complete this
laborious task nearly without the aid of his consort, who, however,
in general, is the principal worker."

The eggs are four or five in number. They are of a flesh-
color, with sometimes a bluish tint :' they are marked with
obscure lines of lavender, over which are irregular scratches
and lines, as if done with a pen, of vandyke-brown and
black. Their dimensions vary from 1 by .72 to .88 by .66
inch. The food of this bird, and also of the preceding
species, consists of caterpillars and other injurious insects :
great numbers of the hairy caterpillars are destroyed ; and
sometimes a large nest of the apple-tree caterpillars is de-
populated in a few days. The Orioles are certainly, there-

350 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

fore, worthy the highest consideration and protection from
the farmer.

The familiarity of this bird with man, and its sociable and
genial disposition, are so well known that any description
of its habits here is unnecessary. About the middle of
September, after forming into small detached flocks, this
species leaves New England on its southern migration.

Sub-Family QUISCALIN^:. — The GracJdes.

Bill rather attenuated, as long or longer than the head ; the culmen curved, the
tip much bent down ; the cutting edges inflected, so as to impart a somewhat tubular
appearance to each mandible ; the commissure sinuated ; tail longer than the wings,
usually much graduated; legs longer than the head, fitted for walking.

The bill of the Quiscalince is very different from that of the other Icteridce, and is
readily recognized by the tendency to a rounding inward along the cutting edges,
rendering the width in a cross section of the bill considerably less along the commis-
sure than above or below. The culmen is more curved than in the Agelaince.

The only genera in the United States are as follows: —

SCOLJSCOPHAGUS. — Tail shorter than the wings, nearly even ; bill shorter than
the head.

QUISCALUS. — Tail longer than the wings, much graduated; bill as long as or
longer than the head.

V" SCOLECOPHAGUS, SWAINSON.

Scolecophagus, SWAINSON, F. Bor. Am., II. (1831). (Type Oriolus ferrugineus,
Gmelin.)

Bill shorter than the head, rather slender, the edges inflexed as in Quiscalus, which
it otherwise greatly resembles ; the commissure sinuated ; culmen rounded, but not
flattened; tarsi longer than the middle toe; tail even, or slightly rounded.

SCOLECOPHAGUS FERRUGINEUS. — Swainson.
The Rusty Crackle.

Gracula ferruginea, Wilson. Am. Orn., III. (1811) 41.

Quiscalus ferrugineus, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 199. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834)
315; V. (1839)483.

Scolecqphagus ferrugineus, Swainson. F. Bor. Am., II. (1831) 286.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill slender, shorter than the head, about equal to the hind toe ; its height not
quite two-fifths the total length ; wing nearly an inch longer than the tail ; second
quill longest; first a little shorter than the fourth ; tail slightly graduated ; the lateral

THE RUSTY BLACKBIRD. 351

feathers about a quarter of an inch shortest; general color black, with purple reflec-
tions; the wings, under tail coverts, and hinder part of the belly, glossed with
green. Female, dull-brown. Iris, pale-straw color.

Length, nine and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, four and seventy-five one-
hundredths ; tail, four inches.

This bird is not uncommon in the New-England States in
the spring and fall migrations, but is never plenty, and
retires to high latitudes to breed. A few remain in the
northern districts of Maine and New Hampshire through
the breeding season ; but their nests are seldom found.
While in the valley of the Magalloway River, in Maine, in
June, 1864, I found several ; arid two of them contained
three eggs in each. These nests were all built in low alders
overhanging the water : they were constructed of, first, a
layer of twigs and brier-stalks ; on this was built the nest
proper, which was composed of stalks and leaves of grass,
which were mixed with mud, and moulded into a firm, cir-
cular structure, and lined with fine leaves of grass and a few
hair-like roots. The whole formed a large structure, easily
seen at the distance of a few rods through the foliage.

The eggs are of a bluish-white color, of oval form, and
covered with fine scratches and spots of light-brown. These
markings are almost exactly similar to those on the egg of
the Great-crested Flycatcher : they appear as if done with
a pen, which, as soon as it is pressed forcibly on the object,
is suddenly withdrawn, making a mark wide at one end,
and sharply pointed at the other.

The dimensions of three eggs in my collection are 1.04
by .76 inch, 1.05 by .75 inch, 1 by .70 inch.

The habits of this species are less known than those of
any of our other Blackbirds. This is owing as much to
its "unsociable, retiring disposition as to the scarcity of its
numbers. When it arrives in spring, — sometimes as early
as the third week in March, — it frequents the low, swampy
thickets, where, in companies of three or four, it employs it-
self in searching for seeds of various aquatic grasses, insects,
worms,, and the small crustacae found in such localities.

352 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

If approached, it flies a short distance into a low tree, and
watches the intruder, uttering its alarm-note check, — some-
times, cheek-che w£ech or check che weecha. This note is
uttered by both sexes, and seems to be the only song pos-
sessed by either. I have observed them carefully, not only
in the spring, but during the breeding season and in the
autumn, and I never heard them emit any other. Both
sexes incubate, and manifest great anxiety when the nest is
approached ; the males flying and scolding over the head
of the intruder, in the manner of the Red-winged Blackbird.
As I paddled my canoe up beneath one of the nests de-
scribed above, the parent bird remained sitting, almost until
my hand tou'ched the limb on which the structure was
placed. On flying off, she uttered a chattering cry, almost
exactly like that of the female Redwing when disturbed
in a similar manner.

Early in September, the old and young birds collect in
small detached flocks, and frequent the same localities that
they haunt in spring, from which they occasionally visit old
cornfields and stubble-fields, where they catch grasshoppers
and other insects, and eat the seed of weeds and such grains
as are left by the farmer after harvesting.

They remain in southern New England until early in
November.

QUISCALUS, VIEILLOT.

Quiscalus, VIEILLOT, Analyse (1816). (Gray.) (Type Gracula quiscala, L.)
Bill as long as the head, the culmen slightly curved, the gonys almost straight;
the edges of the bill inflected and rounded ; the commissure quite strongly sinuated ;
outlines of tarsal scutellae well defined on the sides ; wings shorter than the tail,
sometimes much more so ; -tail long, the feathers conspicuously and decidedly gradu-
ated. Colors black.

QUISCALUS VEBSICOLOR — Vieillot.
The Crow Blackbird ; Purple Grakle.

Gracula quiscala, Linnseus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 165. Wils. Am. Orn., III.
(1811) 44.

Quiscalus versicolor, Vieillot. Analyse? (1816). 75., Nouv. Diet., XXVIII.
(1819) 488. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 194. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 35; V. (1838) 481.

'/ate V

.American Crossbill.

Bob - o - link,.

Orcliard Oriole

Pitrple Grackle

THE CROW BLACKBIRD. 353

DESCRIPTION.

Bill above, about as long as the head, more than twice as long as high ; the cqm-
missure moderately sinuated and considerably decurved at tip ; tail a little shorter
than the wing, much graduated, the lateral feathers one and ten one-hundredths
inches shorter; third quill longest, first between fourth and fifth; head and neck all
well defined steel-blue; the rest of the body with varied reflections of bronze,
golden, green, copper, and purple, the latter most conspicuous on the tail, the tail
coverts, and wings ; the edges of primaries and of tail greenish. Female similar,
but smaller and duller, with perhaps more green on the head. Iris, yellow.

Length, thirteen inches; wings, six; tail, five and eighty one-hundredths; bill
above, one and twenty-five one-hundredths inches.

This very common and well-known bird is distributed
throughout New England in the summer season ; arriving
about the first week in April. It is a social species ; and,
instead of breaking up into scattered pairs, the birds'
remain in flocks, and breed in communities, sometimes
several pairs on one tree. The nest is composed of mud,
in which grass, seaweed, fine roots, and other like mate-
rials, are mixed and woven into a large, compact structure,
which is lined with fine grass, seaweeds, and sometimes
a few horsehairs.

The eggs are four or five in number. They vary in color
from light-blue to light-brown, and are marked with obscure
spots of light-brown, over which are laid blotches and lines
of black and umber-brown. They vary in dimensions from
1.30 by .88 to 1.18 by .84 inch. Usually, but one brood is
reared in the season; and in September the birds collect
into immense flocks, and do considerable mischief in the
cornfields : in other seasons, their food consists of " larvae,
caterpillars, moths, and beetles, of which they devour such
numbers, that, but for this providential economy, the whole
crop of grain in many places would probably be destroyed
by the time it began to germinate."

Wilson, in describing the habits of this species, says, —

" The trees where these birds build are often at no great distance
from the farm-house, and overlook the plantations. From thence
they issue in all directions, and with as much confidence, to make
their daily depredations among the surrounding fields, as if the
whole were intended for their use alone. Their chief attention,

23

354 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

however, is directed to the Indian corn in all its progressive stages.
As soon as the infant blade of this grain begins to make its appear-
ance above ground, the Grakles hail the welcome signal with
screams of peculiar satisfaction ; and, without waiting for a formal
invitation from the proprietor, descend on the fields, and begin to
pull up and regale themselves on the seed, scattering the green
blades around. While thus eagerly employed, the vengeance of the
gun sometimes overtakes them ; but these disasters are soon forgot-
ten, and those —

* Who live to get away,
Keturn to steal, another day/

About the beginning of August, when the young ears are in their
milky state, they are attacked with redoubled eagerness by the
Grakles and Redwings, in formidable and combined bodies. They
• descend like a blackening, sweeping tempest on the corn, dig off
the external covering of twelve or fifteen coats of leaves as dex-
terously as if done by the hand of man, and, having laid bare the
ear, leave little behind to the farmer but the cobs and shrivelled
skins that contained their favorite fare. I have seen fields of corn
of many acres, where more than one-half was thus ruined."

About the last week in September, these birds, in im-
mense flocks, depart on their southern migration : so abun-
dant are they at that time, and so closely do they fly
together in a flock, that I have killed, at one discharge of
my gun, over a dozen birds. They visit the beech woods,
and also the oak groves, and feed upon the nuts found
on and beneath those trees. They also eat the seeds of
weeds and various wild plants, as I have proved by examin-
ing the stomachs of different specimens.

In the evidence before the Committee on Agriculture, in
the- session of Massachusetts Legislature, for 1869 and '70,
it appeared, from the testimony of numerous observers, that
the Crow Blackbird, or Grakle, destroys, in the breeding
season of the smaller birds, great numbers of eggs and
young birds, eating them after the manner of the jays and
crows. 1 have not observed this fact myself, but on inquiry
find from different observers that such is often the habit of
tiiis species.

THE AMERICAN RAVEN. 355

FAMILY CORVIDJE.

Primaries ten ; the first short, generally about half as long as the second (or a
little more), the outer four sinuated on the inner edge; the nasal fossae and nostrils
usually more or less concealed by narrow stiffened bristles (or bristly feathers), with
short appressed lateral branches extending to the very tip, all directed forwards ;
tarsi scutellate anteriorly, the sides undivided (except sometimes below) and separa-
ted from the anterior plates by a narrow, naked strip, sometimes filled up with small
scales; basal joint of middle toe united about equally to the lateral, generally for
about half the length; bill generally notched.

Sub-Family CORVIN^E. — The Grows.

Wings long and pointed ; longer than the tail, and, when closed, reaching nearly
to its tip, extending far beyond the under tail coverts ; the third, fourth, and fifth
quills forming the tip of the wing.

CORVUS, LINNJSUS.

Corvus, LINN.EUS, Syst. Nat. (1735). (Type Oorvus corax, L.)
The nasal feathers lengthened, reaching to or beyond the middle of the bill;
nostrils large, circular, overhung behind by membrane, the edges rounded else-
where ; rictus without bristles ; bill nearly as long as the tarsus, very stout ; much
higher than broad at the base ; culmen much arched ; wings reaching to or nearly to
the tip of the tail ; tarsi longer than the middle toe, with a series of small scales on
the middle of each side separating the anterior scutellate portion from the posterior
continuous plates ; side of the head occasionally with nearly naked patches ; tail
graduated or rounded ; the outer four primaries sinuated internally.

CORVUS CARNIVORUS — Bartram.
The American Raven.

Corvus carnivores, Bartram. Travels in E. Florida (1793), 290.

Corvus corax, Wilson. Am. Orn., IX. (1825) 136. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 202.
Aud. Birds Am., IV. (1842) 78.

DESCRIPTION.

Fourth quill longest; third and fifth about equal; second between fifth and sixth;
first nearly equal to the eighth; entirely glossy black, with violet reflections.

In this species, the feathers of the head above and body are compact and blended ;
those of the back of the neck are very smooth and even, but do not show the out-
lines of each separately as elsewhere; on the chin and throat, the feathers are
elongated and lanceolate, each one more or less pendent or free, with the outlines
distinct to near the base; the bill is very long (three inches), and considerably
curved, the upper mandible extending considerably over the upper at the end.

356 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

The feet appear very short and stout; the tarsi with but seven scutellae, rather
longer than the middle toe and claw; the lateral claws about equal, and extending
to a little beyond the base of the middle claw; the fourth quill is longest, the
third about equal the fifth, the second considerably longer than the sixth, the first
about equal to the eighth primary.

Length, about twenty-four or twenty-five inches; extent, fifty to fifty-one; wing,
about seventeen; tail, ten. Tail moderately graduated; the outer about one and
sixty one-hundredths to one and ninety one-hundredths of an inch less than the
middle.

THIS bird is an extremely rare resident in New England.
I have never heard of its breeding here ; but it occa-
sionally rears its young on the island of Grand Menan,

off the north-east coast of
Maine. There, on the steep
and almost inaccessible cliffs,
its nest is built. This is com-
posed of twigs, sticks, seaweed,
and pieces of turf, and is lined
with the finer seaweeds and
algae found on the seacoast.

A nest that I found in Ohio
was built on a jutting rock in
a large cave. On ascending
to it, I found that it was built
of coarse sticks and twigs, and
was lined with leaves, strips
of bark, and pieces of moss.
This nest had been occupied — so a settler told me — for a
number of years, by the same pair of birds, who made the
cave and its surrounding forest their permanent home
through the year.

From its protected situation, it required but few altera-
tions and additions each year ; and many of the sticks of
which it was composed were quite rotten and decayed.

It contained five young, about half-grown. As this was
on the 18th of March, I judged the eggs must have been
laid by the 20th of February.

The eggs of this species are generally four or five in

THE COMMON CROW. 357

number: they almost exactly resemble those of the Com-
mon Crow; but are considerably larger, averaging about
two inches in length by 1.55 inch in breadth.

A specimen in my collection, of undoubted authenticity,
collected on Grand Menan, is much smaller than the usual
size, being but 1.70 by 1.24 inch in dimensions.

The habits of this bird have been described so many
times, and are so familiar to all, that I will not give them
an extended notice here.

CORVUS AMEEICANUS. — Audvban.
The Common Crow.

Corvus corone, Wilson. Am. Orn., IV. (1811) 79. Nutt Man., I. (1832) 209.
Corvus Americanus, Audubon. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 317; V. 477. Nutt. Man.,

I. (2d ed., 1840) 221.

DESCRIPTION.

Fourth quill longest, second shorter than sixth, first shorter than ninth; glossy
black with violet reflections, even on the belly ; tarsus longer than the middle toe
and claw.

The bill is considerably narrower than high or much compressed; it is gently
curved from the very base, rather more rapidly towards the tip; the incumbent
feathers of the nostril reach half the distance from the base of the bill to the end of
the lower jaw, and not quite half-way to that of the upper.

The tarsus has eight scutellae anteriorly, and is rather longer than the middle toe
and claw; the lateral toes are very nearly equal; the inner claw the larger, and
reaching to the base of the middle claw.

The webs of the throat feathers are a little loose, but lie quite smoothly, without
the pointed lanceolate character seen in the ravens.

Length, nineteen to twenty inches ; wing, thirteen to thirteen and fifty one-hun-
dredths; tail, about eight inches.

This well-known bird is abundant through New England
in the summer, and in mild winters is a resident through
the year. The species — as Mr. Allen justly remarks, in
his Catalogue of the Birds of Springfield, Mass. — " seems
to have diminished very materially in numbers in the last
six or eight years ; hundreds, and probably thousands, hav-
ing been killed in the State by the use of strychnine almost
every year."

About the first week in May, the birds separate into pairs,
and soon commence building. The nest is usually built in a

358 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

fork of a tall pine, sometimes in a thick birch or hemlock :
it is constructed of, first, a layer of coarse twigs and sticks,
then a layer of the bark of the cedar, moss, and sometimes
bunches of grass ; it is warmly lined with the bark of the
cedar, and sometimes a few leaves. The eggs are usually
four in number : their color is of different shades of green,
which is covered with blotches and spots of different browns,
and dusky. Dimensions vary from 1.65 by 1.20 to 1.50 by
1.08 inch. But one brood is reared in the season.

Perhaps no branch of American rural economy has been
so little investigated as the food of our native birds. In
Europe, within a few years, the attention of scientific men
has been turned to the subject: but the information they
have been able to obtain, although valuable, cannot, of
course, be applied, otherwise than by a series of analogies,
to this country ; and the economical value of most of our
species is as yet almost entirely unknown to us. This igno-
rance is owing, principally, to the difficulty attending such
investigations, — the killing of great numbers of birds in
all the seasons when they are found with us, which is abso-
lutely necessary, but which is extremely distasteful to most
persons ; and it has been aggravated somewhat by the con-
tradictory statements of various persons in different locali-
ties regarding the food of some species that they have had
the means of observing.

Of these birds, none have given rise to more controversy
than the Corvidce ; and I propose to discuss briefly here this
interesting topic, and bring a few facts and arguments,
founded on reason or actual observation, to show their
actual economical value.

Until very recently, I have been the earnest advocate of
these birds, and have believed that the benefits they render-
much more than balance the injuries they inflict; but I
must say, that, after careful consideration, my faith in their
utility is sadly shaken. ,

At the outset I will say, that I have kept specimens in

THE COMMON CROW. 359

captivity ; and have, by actual observation, proved that at
least eight ounces of such food as frogs, fish, &c., are eaten
daily by our Common Crow. Of course, like other birds, it
can live on a very limited allowance ; but I think that the
above is a reasonable amount: however, to be absolutely
within bounds, we will fix the food of the Crow to be equal
to five ounces of animal matter per diem. Beginning, then,
with the new year, we will follow the life of this bird through
all the seasons, and then compare the results arrived at
together, good and bad.

During the months of January, February, and March,
when the face x>f the country is covered with snow, the
insects being dormant, and the small birds away to more
southern districts, most of the Crows migrate from New
England: and the few that remain depend upon a scanty
subsistence of seeds of wild plants and weeds, acorns, apples
that have been left on the trees in the orchard, and frozen ;
and they occasionally capture a field-mouse that strays from
its nest in the stubble-field or swamp. The life of the Crow
during these months is one continued starvation ; and the
expression, " poor as a crow," may be applied to it, as well
describing its condition. It succeeds in finding a few
cocoons of Lepidopterous insects ; meets occasionally with a
caterpillar or beetle ; and, on the whole, its labors during
these months may be called beneficial; although the good
resulting from them is of so little amount that we might
safely regard them as neutral. But, to be beyond the chance
of doing it an injustice, we will assume, that, during the
three months above mentioned, the Crow does as much good
as during the whole month of April.

Let us adopt, in this discussion, a system of numerals to
signify the relative values of this bird through the year;
taking the unit one to represent the labors of each day. The
Crow is therefore valuable, during January, February, and
March, thirty units, and in April is unquestionably thirty
units more; for its food then consists almost entirely of

360 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

noxious insects in their different forms. It is perfectly safe
to say, that it would destroy a thousand insects in making
up the amount of food that I mentioned above ; and it is not
improbable, that, during this month, it actually eats that
number daily.

During the first half of May, its labors are undoubtedly
beneficial ; for its food still consists almost entirely of in-
sects : but after the middle of that month, when the small
birds have begun to lay their eggs and hatch their young,
the Crow divides its diet pretty equally between them and the
insects. Now, it is not apparent, at the first glancer how
immensely injurious it becomes the moment it begins to
destroy the eggs and young of our small birds ; but we may
demonstrate it to an approximation. We will allow, that,
during the latter part of May, half of its food consists of
injurious insects and other vermin : it is therefore beneficial
in the whole month about twenty-three units. But it is
perfectly reasonable to say, that it destroys at least the eggs
or young of one pair of Sparrows, four in number ; one pair
of Warblers, four in number ; and one pair of Thrushes or
Starlings, four in number : for I have known one pair of
Canada Jays to kill and devour the half-grown young of four
families of Snowbirds (Junco hy emails) , sixteen birds in all,
in one forenoon ; and have seen a pair of crows, in two
visits to an orchard, within a half-hour's time, destroy the
young birds in two robins' nests.

Now, let us see what the injury amounts to that it does in
destroying the four eggs or young of the Sparrows, Warblers,
and Thrushes. It is a well-known fact, that the young of
all our small birds, whether insectivorous or graminivorous
in the adult stage, are fed entirely on insects. Bradley
says that a pair of Sparrows will destroy 3,360 caterpillars
for a week's family supplies. For four weeks, at the lowest
estimate, the young of our Sparrows are fed on this diet ;
and the family that the crow destroys would, in that time,
eat at least 13,440 noxious insects ; and, as they feed more

THE COMMON CROW. 361

or less upon the same diet during their stay with us, killing
certainly as many as fifty insects each daily, the family
would devour two hundrefd per diem, or, before they leave
us in September, as many as twenty thousand. The War-
blers are entirely insectivorous, and we can certainly allow
them as great destructive capacity as the Sparrows. The
four that the crow destroys would have devoured, before
they leave us in autumn, at least thirty thousand cater-
pillars and other insects. A pair of thrushes has been
actually seen to carry over a hundred insects, principally
caterpillars, to their young in an hour's time : if we sup-
pose that the family mentioned above be fed for only six
hours in the day, they would eat six hundred per diem, at
least while they remain in the nest, which being three weeks,
the amount would be 12,600 ; and before they leave us in
the fall, allowing only fifty each per day, — a very small
number, — they would, in the aggregate, kill twenty thou-
sand more.

Now, we find that the Crow in one day destroys birds
that would together eat 96,040 insects before they would
leave us for their winter homes, or about ninety-six times as
many as it would eat in a day if its food consisted entirely
of them. It is therefore injurious, during the last half of
May, — keeping our original calculation in view, — 598
units.

During the whole month of June and the first half of
July, while its family are in the .nest, it is at least doubly
destructive ; for its young are possessed of voracious appe-
tites, requiring an abundance of food to supply them. Al-
lowing, then, that of its and their diet, half consists of insects
during this period, it is beneficial about forty-six units ; but,
as at least one-half of the other half consists of young birds
and eggs, it is injurious, during the same period, at least 96
units daily, or 4,320 units for June and the first half of
July. The remaining quarter of its and their food, during
this time, consists of berries and various small seeds and

362 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

reptiles ; and this diet may be considered as of neutral im-
portance, economically speaking.

During the last half of July, and through August and
the first half of September, its diet consists of about half
insects and mice ; and the balance, of berries and small
fruits. It is therefore, during this time, beneficial about
thirty units, and is not injurious, otherwise than by eating
garden fruits or grains, — items that I do not consider in
the present discussion. From the middle of September
until November, its food loses much of its fruit character,
because of the failure of supply, and it feeds at least two-
thirds on insects and other noxious animals : it is therefore
beneficial thirty units, and is not injurious ; and, during
November and December, it is beneficial to about the same
extent that it is in February and March, or about forty
units.

We have now but to condense the foregoing results, and
we have, in the aggregate, the sum total of the Crow's
merits and demerits.

We find, that, during the whole year, it is beneficial to the
amount of 229 units, and that it is injurious to the extent
of 4,918 units. If, for the sake of the greatest indulgence,
we take but one-fourth of this enormous disproportion as
the actual fact, we still have an exhibit that proves at once
that these birds are not only worthless, but are ruinously
destructive.

In presenting this extended sketch, I will say that I am
not moved in the least by prejudice or ill feeling for a much-
disliked bird, but that I state the facts as they are, and
simply to throw a little light on a subject that has given
rise to much discussion and controversy. • In conclusion,
I will say that the Jays are equally injurious with the Crows,
and that they are not deserving of a moment's indulgence
or protection at the hands of the ruralist.

THE FISH CROW. 363

CORVUS OSSIFEAGUS.— Wilson.
The Fish Crow.

Corvus ossifragus, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. (1812) 27. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 216.
Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 268; V. 479.

DESCRIPTION.

Fourth quill longest; second rather longer than seventh; first shorter than the
ninth; glossy-black, with green and violet reflections; the gloss of the belly
greenish.

In this species the bill is shaped much as in the Common Crow, the upper outline
perhaps a little more convex; the bristly feathers at the base of the bill reach
nearly half-way to the tip ; I find no bare space at the base of the lower mandible,
although the feathers are not quite so thick there as in the Common Crow; the
tarsus has eight transverse scutellae, and is decidedly shorter than the middle toe
with its claw ; the lateral claws do not reach within one-tenth of an inch of the base
of the middle claw.

The wings are long and acute; the fourth is longest; next the third, fifth, second,
and sixth ; the first is about as long as the secondaries.

Length, about fifteen and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, ten and fifty one-
hundredths inches; tail less than seven inches; tarsus shorter than the middle
toe and claw.

Hob. — South Atlantic (and Gulf?) coast.

This bird is so extremely rare in New England, that it
can be regarded only as an occasional straggler. I under-
stand that it has been taken on Long Island, and, on one
or two occasions, in Connecticut, in company with the Com-
mon Crow.

Audubon says of the habits of this species, —

" While on the St. John's River in Florida, during the month of
February, I saw flocks of Fish Crows, consisting of several hun-
dred individuals, sailing high in the air, somewhat in the manner
of the Raven. These aerial excursions would last for hours,
during the calm of a fine morning, after which the whole would
descend toward the water to pursue their more usual avocations in
all the sociability of their nature. When their fishing, which lasted
about half an hour, "was over, they would alight in flocks on the
live oaks and other trees near the shore, and there keep up their
gabble, pluming themselves for hours.

" The nest of this species is smaller than that of the Common
Crow, and is composed of sticks, moss, and grasses, neatly finished

364 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

or lined with fibrous roots. The eggs are from four to six, and
resemble those of the American Crow, but are smaller."

Two eggs in my collection, from Florida, are of the
above description, and are almost exactly like the others,
measuring a little smaller : their dimensions being 1.60 by
1.10 inch and 1.52 by 1.04 inch.

Sub-Family GARRULINJE. — The Jays.

Wings short, rounded ; not longer or much shorter than the tail, which is grad-
uated, sometimes excessively so ; wings reaching not much beyond the lower tail
coverts ; bristly feathers at base of bill, variable ; bill nearly as long as the head, or
shorter; tarsi longer than the bill or than the middle toe; outer lateral claws rather
shorter than the inner.

CYANURA, SWAINSON.

Cyanurus, SWAINSON, F. Bor. Am., II. (1831) 495, App. (Type Corvus cristatus,
Linn.)

Head crested; wings and tail blue, with transverse black bars; head and back
of the same color; bill rather slender, somewhat broader than high at the base; cul-
men about equal to the head; nostrils large, nearly circular, concealed by bristles;
tail about as long as the wings, lengthened, graduated; hind claw large, longer than
its digit.

The culmen is straight to near the tip, where it is gently decurved ; the gonys is
convex at the base, then straight and ascending ; the bill has a very slight notch at
the tip; the nostrils are large, nearly circular, or slightly elliptical; the commissure
is straight at the base, then bending down slightly near the tip ; the legs present no
special peculiarities ; the crest on the head consists of a number of elongated, narrow,
lanceolate occipital feathers.

CYANURUS CRISTATUS. — Swainson.
The Blue Jay.

Corvus cristatus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat, I. (10th ed., 1758) 106. Wils. Am. Orn.,
I. (1808) 2. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 11; V. (1839) 475.

Cyanurus cristatus, Swainson. F. Bor. Am., II. (1831) App. 495.

DESCRIPTION.

Crest about one-third longer than the bill; tail much graduated; general color
above, light purplish-blue; wings and tail feathers ultramarine-blue; the secondaries
and tertials, the greater wing coverts, and the exposed surface of the tail, sharply

THE BLUE JAY. 365

banded with black, and broadly tipped with white, except on the central tail feathers ;
beneath white; tinged with purplish-blue on the throat, and with bluish-brown
on the sides ; a black crescent on the forepart of the breast, the horns passing for-
ward and connecting with a half-collar on the back of the neck ; a narrow frontal
line and loral region black ; feathers on the base of the bill blue, like the crown.
Female rather duller in color, and a little smaller.

Length, twelve and twenty-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, five and sixty-five
one-hundredths inches ; tail, five and seventy-five one-hundredths inches.

This beautiful and well-known bird is abundantly dis-
tributed throughout New England. It is less common in
the northern than in the southern districts, but is often seen
there, not in company with the Canada Jay, however.

Its food is more varied than that of almost any other
bird that we have. In winter, the berries of the cedar, bar
berry or black-thorn, with the few eggs or cocoons of in-
sects that it is able to find, constitute its chief sustenance.
In early spring, the opening buds of shrubs, caterpillars,
and other insects, afford it a meagre diet. Later in the
spring, and through the greater part of summer, the eggs
and young of the smaller birds constitute its chief food,
varied by a few insects and early berries. Later in the
summer, and in early autumn, berries, small fruits, grains,
and a few insects, afford it a bountiful provender ; and later
in the autumn, when the frosts have burst open the burrs
of chestnuts and beechnuts, and exposed the brown, ripe
fruit to view, these form a palatable and acceptable food :
and a large share of these delicious nuts fall to the portion
of these busy and garrulous birds.

The notes of the Blue Jay consist of a shrill cry, like
jay-jay-jay repeated often, and in a high key; a shrill
whistle like the syllables wheeo-wheeo-wheeo ; a hoarse
rattle, something like a Kingfisher's well-known alarum;
and an exceedingly sweet bell-like note, that possesses a
mournful tone, like that of a far-off hamlet bell tolling
a funeral dirge.

I have often heard this tone in the autumn, when the
leaves were falling from the trees, and all1 nature wore its

866 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

funeral livery ; and it seemed to me, when the clear notes of
the bird were echoed from hill-side to hill-side in the forest,
that it was wandering like a forest elf through the trees,
mourning the decay of all the charms that had made them
so beautiful through the spring and summer.

About the first or second week in May, the Blue Jay com-
mences building. The nest is usually placed in a fork of a
low pine or cedar, in a retired locality : it is loosely con-
structed of twigs and coarse roots, and lined with the same
materials, but of a finer quality, and sometimes a few pieces
of moss or a few leaves. The eggs are four or five in
number. Their color is generally light-green, with spots of
light-brown ; sometimes a dirty brownish-gray, spotted with
different shades of brown and black. The dimensions vary
from 1.20 by .85 to 1 by .80 inch. But one brood is reared
in the season.

PERISOREUS, BONAPARTE.

Perisoreus, BONAPARTE, Saggio di una dist. met. (1831). (Type Corvus Cana-
densis?)

Feathers lax and full, especially on the back, and of very dull colors, without
any blue; head without distinct crest; bill very short, broader than high; culmen
scarcely half the length of the head, straight to near the tip, then slightly curved;
gonys more curved than culmen; bill notched at tip; nostrils round, covered by
bristly feathers; tail about to the wings, graduated; tarsi rather short, but little
longer than the middle toe.

This genus includes the species of dullest colors among all of our Jays. It has,
too, the shortest bill, and with this feature bears a very strong resemblance, in many
respects, to some of the Titmice.

PERISOREUS CANADENSIS.— Bonaparte.
The Canada Jay.

Corvus Canadensis, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 158. Wils. Am. Orn., III.
(1811) 33. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 53; V. (1839) 208.

Perisoreus Canadensis, Bonaparte. List (1838). lb.t Consp. (1850) 375.

DESCRIPTION.

Tail graduated; lateral feathers about one inch shortest; wings a little shorter
than the tail; head and neck, and forepart of the breast, white; a plumbeous brown
nuchal patch, becoming darker behind, from the middle of the crown to the back,
from which it is separated by an interrupted whitish color; rest of upper parts ashy-

THE CANADA JAY. 367

plumbeous; the outer primaries margined; the secondaries, tertials, and tail feathers
obscurely tipped with white; beneath smoky-gray; crissum whitish; bill and feet
black.

The young of this species are everywhere of a dull sooty-brown, lighter on the
middle of the belly, and more plumbeous on the wings and tail ; with increasing
age, the region about the base of the bill whitens, and this color gradually extends
backwards until the whole head, excepting the occiput and nape, is white; the
under parts are sometimes whiter than in1 the typical specimens.

Length, ten and seventy one-hundredths inches ; wing, five and seventy- five one-
hundredths inches; tail, six inches; tarsus, one and forty one-hundredths inches.

This species is confined to the northern districts in New
England, where it is resident through the year. I have
not been so fortunate as to find the nest, and will have to
borrow Audubon's description of that and the eggs : —

" The Canada Jay breeds in Maine, in New Brunswick, Nova
Scotia, Newfoundland, and Labrador. It begins as early as Feb-
ruary or March to form its nest, which is placed in the thickest
part of a fir-tree, near the trunk, and at a height of from five to.
ten feet. The exterior is composed of dry twigs, with moss and
grass ; and the interior, which is flat, is formed of fibrous roots.
The* eggs, which are from four to six, are of a light-gray color,
faintly marked with brown."

This bird is not generally so well known as the preceding.
I have had numerous opportunities for observing its habits,
and I can positively affirm that it is equally rapacious and
destructive with the Blue Jay, which it resembles in motions
and cry.

I once knew of a single pair of these birds destroying the
young in four nests of the Common Snowbird (J. hyemalis)
in a single day. I found these nests in an old abandoned
lumber-road on the morning of June 20 : in the afternoon,
when I returned through the same path, every nest was
depopulated ; and a pair of these Jays were lurking in the
trees, shouting defiance at us, while surrounded by the
afflicted Snowbirds, that were uttering their cries of com-
plaint and sorrow. I emptied both barrels of my gun in
the direction of the Jays, and I am inclined to think that

368 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

they have killed no young birds since. The familiarity with
which this species fraternizes with man in the woods is
interesting and amusing. I was once " snowed in," as the
expression is, in a large tract of forest, and, with my com-
panions, was obliged to wait until the storm had ceased
before we could resume our march. We remained in camp
two days. A pair of these birds, probably with young in
the neighborhood, visited our camp, and even penetrated
into our tent for crumbs and pieces of bread. They always
flew off with their mouths full, and soon returned for more :
their visits soon got to be any thing but a joke, particularly
when they flew off with the last piece of our soap. We
couldn't kill them, however; for any thing with life was
company, and we felt that we had none of that to spare.

NOTES.

I present a continuation of Mr. Couper's valuable notes,
taken at Quebec, Lower Canada, on the species described in
the present Order.

TBOCHILUS COLUBRIS. — Common in this neighborhood and in the
mountain wilds and savannas north of the city. I have had the pleasure
of finding its nest on more than one occasion. It generally arrives here
about the middle of May.

CHJETURA PELASGIA. — Very abundant. It builds its nest in unused
chimneys in the city. I have remarked that no more than a single pair will
occupy a flue; and, although there are many instances here of chimneys
having unused flues, it is curious that they are not occupied while one is in
possession of the Swallow. I have noticed this species flying over the woods
many miles north of Quebec ; and I think that it breeds within large forest-
trees.

ANTROSTOMTJS VOCIFERUS. — This bird is occasionally heard in the
mountains north of Quebec. It is, however, very rare in this latitude,
which may be considered its northern limit.

CHORDEILES POPETUE. — Very common. It deposits its eggs in a small
cavity in the ground, in the midst of a woodland clearing, or wherever there
is a young shrubbery. Its principal food in spring consists of ants. I can-
not say how far north it goes.

NOTES. 369

CERYLE ALCTON. — The Kingfisher occurs about all our northern lakes
and rivers, and breeds plentifully. It probably extends three degrees north
of Quebec.

TYRANNUS CAROLINENSIS. — Common. It builds its nest invariably
near farm-houses.

CONTOPUS VIRENS. — I detected this species here this spring for the first
time. I do not think it breeds commonly in high latitudes.

EMPIDONAX TRAILLII. — This species occurs during summer in the
woodlands near Quebec. It rarely builds its nest high from the ground. It
is extremely cunning, and invariably selects the most hidden portion of a
clump of bushes.

TURDUS PALLASII. — This thrush breeds in the neighborhood of Quebec ;
but it is not common. It builds its nest much higher than Wilson's Thrush ;
that is to say, the latter is generally found concealed at the lower portion
of a bush, while the former is often found on a heavily branched pine-tree
The eggs of T. pallasii are blue and spotted. *

TURDUS FUSCESCENS. — This is one of our most common thrushes. It
breeds plentifully in this neighborhood. Its nest is generally placed near the
ground, at the lower portions of bushes growing near a swamp or river. The
eggs are generally four or five, of a clear greenish-blue color.

SIALIA SIALIS. — The Redbreasted Bluebird is only seen here early in
spring, while on its passage to the West. It does not breed in Lower
Canada.

REGULUS CALENDULA. — This species, in company with R. satrapa, visit
this locality, from the North, in the autumn.

ANTHUS LUDOVICIANUS. — Common in the autumn. They frequent
fields and barnyards, and are generally in flocks. I think they breed in
Labrador.

MNIOTILTA VARIA. — This species is not common in our Northern woods.
It, however, breeds in the neighborhood of Quebec.

GEOTHLYPIS TRICHAS. — Very common. Breeds.
SEIURUS AUROCAPILLUS. — Common. Breeds.

DENDROICA VIRENS. — Only noticed in spring, on its way North. It was
rather common in the spring of 1866.

DENDROICA CANADENSIS. — Common. Breeds.

DENDROICA CORONATA. — Very common in the autumn. I think they
breed far north.

DENDROICA BLACKBURNL2E. — This beautiful Warbler was very abun-
dant here last spring. None of the young returned this way. There appears

1 Mr. Couper undoubtedly refers to T. Swainsonii. — E. A. S.
24

370 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

to be some mystery connected with the breeding localities of many of our
Warblers. Some of them are found breeding over the whole of temperate
'America, while others, who evidently eat the same kinds of food, pass to
the inaccessible parts of the northern forests, where the foot of man never
trod.

DENDEOICA CASTANEA. — This is another of the mysterious Warblers
that shows itself in spring, and afterwards slowly departs to its northern
hermitage.

DENDROICA PINUS. — Spring. Not common. Follows its kindred, North.

DENDROICA PENNSYLVANICA. — Not common. Breeds.

DENDROICA C2ERULEA. — This species was very common in this neigh-
borhood in the spring of 1866. I have never seen its nest or eggs.

DENDROICA STRIATA. — Not common. Breeds.
DENDROICA .ESTIVA. — Common. Breeds.
DENDROICA MACULOSA. — Common. Breeds.
MYIODIOCTES CANADENSIS. — Common. Breeds.
SETOPHAGA RUTICILLA. — Common. Breeds.

PYRANGA RUBRA. — Barely seen in the woods north of Quebec. They
breed in the maple woods ; and this latitude may be considered its northern
limit of migration.

HIRUNDO HORREORUM. — Uncommon. It builds its nest on the beams
of out-houses and barns in this neighborhood.

H. LUNIFRONS. — Very common. It builds mud or clay nests under the
thatched barns and country-houses near Quebec. They are protected by
farmers, who will not allow them to be disturbed during their stay here.
They return annually to the old nests, which they repair.

H. BICOLOR. — Common. It builds its nest in any hole it may find in
the houses in the city. In the woodland districts, it generally selects an
abandoned Woodpecker's nest in trees.

COTYLE RIP ARIA. — Common. Breeds in every sand-bank in the country.

PROGNE PURPUREA. — The breeding-place of this Swallow is confined to
a building called the Jesuit Barracks, of this city, where they raise their
young every season. I have repeatedly tried to induce them to occupy
boxes, but the White-bellied Swallow always took possession first. In this
locality, the Purple Martin loves its own community, and will not be induced
to occupy the most tempting abode unless made sufficiently large to accom-
modate several pairs.

AMPELIS GARRULUS. — During severe winters, this species arrives here
from the north to feed on the berries of the mountain-ash, which grows

NOTES. 371

abundantly in the neighborhood of the city. They go in fl«cks. They
must breed late in the season, as I had the young with the downy feathers
attached to their heads during the depth of winter.

AMPELIS CEDRORUM. — Common. Breeds.

COLL7RIO BOREALIS. — Arrives early in Spring. I think they go to
high latitudes to breed. The specimens which I procure are either in spring
or fall plumage.

VIREO OLIVACEUS. — Not common. Breeds.

MIMUS CAROLINENSIS. — Not common. Breeds.

TROGLODYTES HTEMALIS. — Common. Breeds.

CERTHIA AMERICANA. — Common. Breeds.

SITTA CANADENSIS. — Common in summer and winter. Breeds.

PARUS ATRICAPILLUS. — Common. Breeds.

P. HUDSONICUS. — Arrives about the middle of September from the
North, and remains until the snow falls. It has not been found breeding in
this locality. They go in flocks, like the former species.

EREMOPHILA CORNUTA. — This Lark arrives here in the month of Sep-
tember. It gathers in flocks, which remain until the snow falls. It breeds
in Labrador.

PINICOLA CANADENSIS. — Arrives from the North, sometimes in com-
pany with the Bohemian Waxwing, and feeds on the same berries. They
frequently remain during winter.

CARPODACUS PURPUREUS. — Common. Breeds.
CHRTSOMITRIS TRISTIS. — Common. Breeds.
C. PINUS. — Sometimes common in winter.

CURVIROSTRA AMERICANA. — Sometimes very abundant in winter. I
am told it breeds in Nova Scotia.

C. LEUCOPTERA. — Very numerous during winter. Breeds in Labrador.

.EGIOTHUS LIN ARIA. — Common in the fall. Breeds in Labrador and
Northern Newfoundland.

PLECTROPHANES NIVALIS. — Common in winter. Breeds in Labrador.
POOOETES GRAMINEUS. — Common. Breeds.
ZONOTRICHIA LEUCOPHRYS.— Common. Breeds.
Z. ALBICOLLIS. — Common. Breeds.
JUNCO HYEMALIS. — Common. Breeds.

SPIZELLA MONTICOLA. — This species goes far north to breed, probably
Labrador. It returns in the fall.

372 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

S. SOCIALIS. — Common. Breeds.
MELOSPIZA MELODIA. — Common. Breeds.

M. PALUSTRIS. — Not common here ; but it breeds in some of the south-
ern towns of Lower Canada.

PASSEEELLA ILIACA. —Not common. Breeds. I think that this species
is more abundant in Labrador during summer.

GUIRACA LUDOVICIANA. — Not common. Breeds. Quebec may be con-
sidered its northern limit.

CYANOSPIZA CYANEA. — Not common. Breeds.

DOLICHONYX ORYZIVORUS. — Common. Breeds. This is the most
northern limit of this species.

AGELAIUS PHCENICEUS. — This species is a very rare visitor in this
neighborhood, and is seen only in the spring, when on its passage to the
swamps in the West. It breeds abundantly at Toronto, Upper Canada.

SCOLECOPHAGUS FERRUGINEUS. — Very common in the fall, at which
season they visit this locality on their passage south. Great numbers are
shot, and sold like game in our markets. This species has been noticed here
as late as the 24th of May, when it disappears. It has not been found breed-
ing within the habitable portions of this province.

QUISCALUS VERSICOLOR.— Rare in this district. A few pairs have
been discovered breeding at Three Rivers, between this city and Montreal.

CORVUS AMERICANUS. — Common. Breeds in large numbers. A few
generally remain here during winter. They feed on the berries of the
mountain ash. The old nests are invariably occupied, and the birds lay
their eggs very early. I have seen the young ones fully fledged before the
24th of May.

CORVUS CARNIVORUS. — Occasionally seen in this district. It breeds on
the high, rocky portions of islands in the lower St. Lawrence.

CYANURA CRIST AT A. — Abundant in the mountains north of this city,
where they breed.

PERISOREUS CANADENSIS. — Sometimes very common in the fall. I
have not noticed this bird in the vicinity of Quebec during summer ; but,
while on a collecting trip down the St. Lawrence, in the month of July, I
saw numbers of the old and young in the woods, at a place called Mille
Vaches. They were following each other in one direction, and appeared to
me to have habits similar to those of the Black-cap Titmouse. From this
fact of its occurrence on the north shore of the St. Lawrence at the above
season, it is evident that they breed in our wild, unfrequented forests, such
as may be found north and east of the river Saguenay. I have offered a
high price for the nests and eggs of the Canada Jay; but, as yet, nothing of
the kind has appeared.

THE WILD PIGEON. 373

SUB-ORDER COLUMBUS.

The basal portion of the bill covered by a soft skin, in which are situated the
nostrils, overhung by an incumbent fleshy valve, the apical portion hard and con-
vex; the hind toe on the same level with the rest; the anterior toe without mem-
brane at the base; tarsi more or less naked; covered laterally and behind with
hexagonal scales.

FAMILY COLUMBID^. THE DOVES.

Bill horny at the tip; tail feathers twelve, only occasionally fourteen; head
smooth.

Sub-Family COLUMBINE.

Tarsi stout, short, with transverse scutellse anteriorly; feathered for the basal
third above, but not at all behind ; toes lengthened, the lateral decidedly longer than
the tarsus; wings lengthened and pointed; size large; tail feathers twelve.

This section of doves embraces the largest North-American species, and among
them the more arboreal ones.

ECTOPISTES, SWAINSON.

JEctopistes, SWAINSON, Zool. Jour., III. (1827) 362. (Type Columba migratoria, L.)

Head very small; bill short, black; culmen one-third the rest of the head; tarsi

very short, half covered anteriorly by feathers ; inner lateral claw much larger than

outer, reaching to the base of the middle one; tail very long and excessively

cuneate; about as long as the wings; first primary longest.

This genus is readily distinguished from the other Columbines by the excessively
lengthened and acute middle feathers. It formerly included the Columba Caroli-
nensis ; but this, with more propriety, has been erected into a different genus, and
will be found in the next section.

ECTOPISTES MIGRATORIA. — Swainson.
The Wild Pigeon; Passenger Pigeon.

Columba migratoria, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 285. Wils. Am. Orn., I
(1808) 102. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 319; V. 561.

Ectopistes migratoria, Swainson. Zool. Jour., III. (1827) 355.

DESCRIPTION.

Tail with twelve feathers ; upper parts generally, including sides of body, head,
and neck, and the chin, blue ; beneath, purple brownish-red, fading behind with a

374 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

violet tint; anal region and under tail coverts, bluish-white; scapulars, inner tertials,
and middle of back, with an olive-brown tinge ; the wing coverts, scapulars, and inner
tertials, with large oval spots of blue-black on the outer webs, mostly concealed, except
on the latter; primaries blackish, with a border of pale-bluish tinged internally with
red ; middle tail feathers brown ; the rest pale-blue on the outer web, white inter-
nally ; each with a patch of reddish-brown at the base of the inner web, followed by
another of black; sides and back of neck richly glossed with metallic golden-violet;
tibia bluish-violet; bill black; feet yellow.

The female is smaller; much duller in color; more olivaceous above ; beneath,
pale-blue instead of red, except a tinge on the neck; the jugulum tinged with
olive; the throat whitish.

The blue of the side of the head extends to the throat and chin ; the upper part
of the back and lesser coverts are of a darker blue than the head and rump; the
inner primaries are more broadly margined with light-blue, which tapers off to
the end; the axillars and under surface of the wing are light-blue; the longest
scapulars have the black on both webs ; there is no blue on the outer web of the first
tail feather, which is white, and the inferior surface of the tail generally is white.

In some specimens the entire head all round is blue.

The immature male varies in having most of the feathers of the head and body
margined with whitish.

Length of male, seventeen inches ; wing, eight and fifty one-hundredths inches ;
tail, eight and forty one-hundredths inches.

THIS bird has become of late years rather scarce in
New England ; so much so, that, in localities where it
was formerly abundant, it is now seen only occasionally in
small flocks of a dozen or fifteen. It is a resident of these
States through a greater part of the year ; only absenting
itself in the most severe portion of winter, when its food is
usually covered with snow. It depends principally upon
acorns and beechnuts for subsistence, and is most abundant
in localities where these nuts are found. It also frequents
grain-fields, where it gleans among the stubble and weeds ;
and, when berries are in season, it feeds plentifully upon
them, and it is at that time when the greater number are
seen in New England.

Early in May, the birds, although associating still in com-
munities, as in sections where they are more abundant,
separate into pairs, and build their nest. This is placed in
a forked branch of a tree, usually in a swamp or thick
wood. It is constructed of twigs and leaves, which are
loosely arranged into a frail structure hardly strong enough

THE CAROLINA DOVE. 375

to support the parent bird : it is but very little hollowed,
and has no lining of softer material. The female deposits
in this one or two eggs, on which both birds incubate.
These eggs are pure-white in color, nearly oval in form, and
have the slightest roseate tint before their contents are
removed : they average in dimensions about 1.54 by 1.10
inch. Many writers affirm that but .one egg is laid at
a time. I think that in the greater number of nests two
are deposited, as I have inquired of many hunters and
woodsmen, and they all agree on that number.

Sub-Family ZENAIDIKE.

Tarsi stout, lengthened ; always longer than the lateral toes, and entirely with-
out feathers; the tibial joint usually denuded; tarsus sometimes with hexagonal
scales anteriorly; tail feathers sometimes fourteen.

ZENAIDURA, BONAPARTE.

Zenaidura, BONAPARTE, Consp. Avium, II. (1854) 84. (Type Columba Caroli-
nensis, L.) Probably named previously in Comptes Rendus.

Bill weak, black ; culmen from frontal feathers, about one-third the head above ;
tarsus not quite as long as middle toe and claw, but considerably longer than the
lateral ones ; covered anteriorly by a single series of scutellae ; inner lateral claw
considerably longer than outer, and reaching to the base of middle; wings pointed,
second quill longest, first and third nearly equal ; tail very long, equal to the wings ;
excessively graduated and cuneate, of fourteen feathers.

The fourteen tail feathers render this genus very conspicuous among the North-
American doves. It was formerly placed with the Passenger Pigeon in Ectopistes,
but has nothing in common with it but the lengthened tail, as it belongs to a differ-
ent sub-family.

ZE N AIDUR A C AROLINENSIS. — Bonaparte.
The Carolina Dove ; Turtle Dove.

Columba Carolinensis, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766), 286, No. 37. Wils. Am.
Orn., V. (1812) 91. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 91; V. (1839) 655. Nutt. Man., I.
(1832) 626.

Zenaidura Carolinensis, Bonaparte. Consp. Av., II. (1854) 84.

DESCRIPTION.

Tail feathers fourteen ; above bluish, although this is overlaid with light brown-
ish-olive, leaving the blue pure only on the top of the head, the exterior of the

376 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

wings, ana upper surface of the tail, which is even slightly tinged with this color;
the entire head, except the vertex, the sides of the neck, and the under parts general-
ly, light brownish-red, strongly tinged with purple on the breast, becoming lighter
behind, and passing into brownish-yellow on the anal region, tibia, and under tail
coverts ; sides of the neck with a patch of metallic purplish-red ; sides of body and
inside of wings clear light-blue; wing coverts and scapulars spotted with black,
mostly concealed, and an oblong patch of the same below the ear ; tail feathers seen
from below blackish, the outer web of outermost white, the others tipped with the
same, the color becoming more and more bluish to the innermost, which is brown ;
seen from above, there is the same graduation from white to light-blue in the tips ;
the rest of the feather, however, is blue, with a bar of black anterior to the light tip,
which runs a little forward along the margin and shaft of the feather; in the sixth
feather the color is uniform bluish, with this bar; the seventh is without bar; bill
black ; feet yellow. Female smaller, and with less red beneath.

Length of male, twelve and eighty-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, five and
seventy-five one-hundredths ; tail, six and seventy one-hundredths inches.

This beautiful and well-known species is distributed
throughout New England as a summer resident. It is
more rarely seen in the more northern sections than in the
southern; but it breeds in all these States. It arrives
from the South early in spring, sometimes by the 10th of
March. On its first appearance, it is found in small, loose
flocks of five or six individuals, which frequent old stubble-
fields and orchards, where they feed on scattered grains and
the seeds of various weeds. They also sometimes associate
with domestic doves in the poultry yard, as I have witnessed
on several occasions.

About the middle of May, they separate into pairs, and
commence their duties of incubation. The nest is placed in
a forked, horizontal branch of a tree, sometimes in the
orchard, usually in a grove of pines or in a swamp. It is,
like the nest of the Wild Pigeon, a loose, frail structure, in
which the female deposits two eggs, which are pure-white
in color, and usually nearly oval in form.

A great number of specimens in my collection, from dif-
ferent parts of the country, vary from 1.20 by .85 to .98 by
.82 inch. The size most often found is about 1.12 by .80
inch. Two broods are reared in the season.

About the last of July, the old birds and young collect in
flocks, and frequent grain-fields, where they feed upon the

THE CAROLINA DOVE. 371

grain, and berry-patches, where they eat plentifully of
berries : they are now fat, and very delicate eating ; and, as
they are much pursued by gunners, they soon become very
shy, and difficult of approach.

During the mating season, and part of the period of incu-
bation, the male has a soft, melancholy cooing note, which
he utters often through the day. During the remainder of
the year, he seems to have no note ; for I have watched indi-
viduals for hours to ascertain, and never heard them emit
any thing but the short chuckle peculiar to all doves.

By the first week in October, this species leaves New
England on its southern migration.

378 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

SUB-ORDER GALLING.

Bill usually rather short and stout, and less than the head; basal portion hard,
generally covered with feathers, and not by a soft naked skin; legs lengthened;
the hind toe generally elevated above the level of the rest, and short; when lower
down, it is longer; toes connected at the base by a membrane; the feathers of fore-
head not extending on the culmen in a point, but more restricted, and parted by the
backward extension of the culmen.

FAMILY TETRAONID^E. THE GROUSE.

The Tetraonidce are pre-eminently characterized among gallinaceous birds by
their densely feathered tarsi, and by the feathers of the nasal fossa or groove, which
fill it completely, and conceal the nostrils ; the toes are usually naked (feathered
to the claws in the ptarmigans), and with pectinations of scales along the edges ;
the tail feathers vary from sixteen to eighteen and even twenty in number; the
tail is rounded, acute or forked; the orbital region is generally somewhat bare,
with a naked stripe above the upper eyelid, beset by short fringe-like processes.

TETRAO, LINN^US.

Tetrao, LINN^US, Syst. Nat. (1744) Gray. (Type T. urogallus, L.)
Tail lengthened, slightly narrowed to the square or somewhat rounded tip ; about
two-thirds the wing; the feathers with stiffened shafts; tarsus feathered to and
between the bases of the toes; no unusual feathers on the side of throat; culmen
between the nasal fossae nearly half the total length; color mostly black.
Inhabit wooded regions.

TETEAO CANADENSIS. - Linnaeus.
The Canada Grouse ; Spruce Partridge.

Tetrao Canadensis, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 274. Nutt, Man. I. (1832)
667. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 437; V. (1839) 663.

DESCRIPTION.

Tail of sixteen feathers; feathers above distinctly banded with plumbeous;
beneath uniform black, with a pectoral band of white, and white on the sides of the
belly; chin and throat above black; tail with a broad brownish-orange terminal
band.

Prevailing color in the male black; each feather of the head, neck, and upper
parts generally, having its surface waved with plumbeous-gray; this is in the
form of two or three well-defined concentric bars, parallel to each other, one along
the exterior edge of the feather, the others behind it; the sides of the body, the

P/ate.Vi

Wild Pigeon.

Ruffed Grouse.

THE CANADA GROUSE. , 379

scapulars, and outer surface of the wings are mottled like the back, but more irregu-
larly, and with a browner shade of gray, the feathers with a central white streak
expanding towards the tip (on the wing these streaks seen only on some of the
greater coverts); there is no white above, except as described; the under parts
are mostly uniform black, the feathers of the sides of the belly and breast broadly
tipped with white, which sometimes forms a pectoral band; there is a white bar
across the feathers, at the base of the upper mandible, usually interrupted above ;
a white spot on the lower eyelid, and a white line beginning on the cheeks, and
running into a series of white spots in the feathers of the throat; the lower feathers
of this are banded terminally with whitish ; the feathers at the base of the bill,
and the head, below the eyes and beneath, are pure-black; the quills are dark-
brown, without any spots or bands, the outer edges only mottled with grayish ; the
tail feathers are similar, but darker, and the tail is tipped with a band of orange-
chestnut, nearly half an inch wide, obscured on the central feathers, the under
tail coverts are black, broadly barred and tipped with white ; the feathers of the legs
mottled-brown and whitish ; dirty-white behind the tarsi ; the bill is black.

The female is smaller but somewhat similar, the black bars above broader, the
inner gray bars of each feather, including the tail, replaced by broader ones of
brownish-orange ; the under parts have the feathers black, barred with the brownish-
orange, which, on the tips of the belly feathers, is pure-white ; the clear continuous
black of the head and breast are wanting; the scapulars, greater coverts, and sides,
are streaked as in the male.

Length, sixteen and twenty one-hundredths inches ; wing, six and seventy one-
hundredths; tail, five and forty-four hundredths inches.

IT is only in the most retired and unsettled localities in
northern New England that this very beautiful grouse is
found. There, in the spruce and pine woods and swamps,
it is not uncommon as a resident through the year. I have
shot specimens in the White Mountains, between what is
called Waterville, a hamlet in Thornton, N.H., and Bethle-
hem, in the same State ; but they are more commonly found
in the localities above mentioned. In its native haunts, it
is very unsuspicious, permitting a person to walk within a
few feet of it without stirring ; and, when it does take flight,
it goes but a few rods, when it alights on a tree, and turns
to watch the intruder.

It is a very graceful bird on the ground, moving with a
stately step over the long elastic moss so abundant in the
woods of Maine.

It feeds upon the buds of the evergreens, and their seeds
and foliage. This food imparts to the flesh of the bird a
disagreeable resinous flavor, particularly in fall and winter,

380 OENITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

when it can get no other food. In fact, at all seasons, it is
far inferior to all our other game birds in flesh, and is never
delicate nor palatable.

About the middle of May, the female scratches together
a loose nest, beneath the branches of a creeping fir, and
lays in it from eight to twelve eggs. These are of a beau-
tiful yellowish-buff color, with spots and blotches of two
shades of brown : one a purplish-brown ; the other, a burnt-
sienna. They average in dimensions about 1.68 by 1.26
inch : their form is generally ovoidal ; sometimes nearly
oval, and occasionally more rounded. It is said, that,
" when incubation begins, the males go apart by themselves
to different portions of the forest, and remain until late in
autumn, when they rejoin the females and young."

This species flourishes well in confinement: it tames
readily, and soon eats all kinds of grains and seeds, and
pieces of potatoes and fruits. It requires a large cage or
coop, and is contented if it has, now and then, a spruce or
cedar-tree given it to roost and climb upon.

CUPIDONIA, REICHENBACH.

Cupidonia, REICHENBACH, Av. Syst. Nat. (1850). (Type Tetrao Cupido, L.)
Tail short, half the lengthened wings ; the feathers stiffened and more or less
graduated ; bare space of the neck concealed by a tuft of lanceolate feathers ; tarsi
feathered only to near the base, the lower joint scutellate; culm en between the nasal
fossae scarcely one-third the total length.

CUPIDONIA CUPIDO. — Balrd.
The Pinnated Grouse; Prairie Hen; Prairie Chicken.

Tetrao Cupido, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat, I. (1766) 274. Wils. Am. Orn., III. (1811)
104. Nutt Man., I. 662. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 490; V. (1839) 559.
Cupidonia Americana, Reichenbach. Av. Syst. Nat. (1850).

DESCRIPTION.

Tail of eighteen feathers, varied with whitish-brown and brownish-yellow ; almost
everywhere with well-defined transverse bars of brown on the feathers.

Body stout, compact; a tuft of long, pointed lanceolate feathers on each side of
the neck, covering a bare space capable of much inflation ; tail short, truncate, much
graduated, composed of eighteen feathers, the lateral feathers about two-thirds the

THE PINNATED GROUSE.

381

middle ; the feathers stiffened, nearly linear and truncate ; the tail is scarcely longer
than the coverts, and half the length of the wing ; tarsi covered with feathers anteriorly
and laterally to the toes, but bare, with hexagonal scutellse behind; the middle toe
and claw longer than the tarsus ; the toes margined by pectinated processes ; a space
above the eye provided with a dense pectinated process in the breeding season,
sometimes separated from the eye by a superciliary space covered with feathers.

Length, sixteen and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, eight and eighty one-
hundredths ; tail, four and seventy one-hundredths inches.

This well-known bird is now found in New England only
on Martha's Vineyard and Naushon, and perhaps one or
two other islands off the southern coast of Massachusetts.

It was once probably very abundant in all the southern New-
England States : but it is now nearly exterminated here ;
and very soon, in all probability, it will cease to be one of
our birds. Having had no opportunities for observing and
studying its habits, I give the very full and interesting
description presented by Wilson. He quotes a letter de-
scribing some of its habits as follows : —

" Amours. — The season for pairing is in March, and the breed-
ing time is continued through April and May. Then the male
Grouse distinguishes himself by a peculiar sound. When he utters
it, the parts about the throat are sensibly inflated and swelled. It
may be heard on a still morning for three or more miles ; some say

382 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

they have perceived it as far as five or six. This noise is a sort of
ventriloquism. It does not strike the ear of a bystander with much
force, but impresses him with the idea, though produced within a
few rods of him, of a voice a mile or two distant. This note is
highly characteristic. Though very peculiar, it is termed tooting,
from its resemblance to the blowing of a conch or horn from a
remote quarter. The female makes her nest on the ground, in
recesses very rarely discovered by men. She usually lays from ten
to twelve eggs, which are of a brownish color, much resembling
those of a Guinea Hen. When hatched, the brood is protected by
her alone. Surrounded by her young, the mother-bird exceedingly
resembles a domestic Hen and chickens. She frequently leads
them to feed in the roads crossing the woods, on the remains of
maize and oats contained in the dung dropped by the travelling
horses. In that employment, they are often surprised by the pas-
sengers. On such occasions, the dam utters a cry of alarm. The
little ones immediately scamper to the brush ; and, while they are
skulking into places of safety, their anxious parent beguiles the
spectator by drooping and fluttering her wings, limping along the
path, rolling over in the dirt, and other pretences of inability to
walk or fly.

" Food. — A favorite article of their diet is the heath-hen plum,
or partridge-berry. They are fond of whortleberries and cran-
berries. Worms and insects of several kinds are occasionally found
in their crops. But, in the winter, they subsist chiefly on acorns
and the buds of trees which have shed their leaves. In their
stomachs have been sometimes observed the leaves of a plant sup-
posed to be a wintergreen ; and it is said, when they are much
pinched, they betake themselves to the buds of the pine. In con-
venient places, they have been known to enter cleared fields, and
regale themselves on the leaves of clover ; and old gunners have
reported that they have been known to trespass upon patches of
buckwheat, and pick up the grains.

" Migration. — They are stationary, and never known to quit
their abode. There are no facts showing in them any disposition
to migration. On frosty mornings, and during snows, they perch
on the upper branches of pine-trees. Tfcey avoid wet and swampy
places, and are remarkably attached to dry ground. The low and

THE PINNATED GROUSE. 383

open brush is preferred to high shrubbery and thickets. Into these
latter places they fly for refuge when closely pressed by the hunt-
ers ; and here, under a stiff and impenetrable cover, they escape
the pursuit of dogs and men. "Water is so seldom met with on the
true Grouse ground, that it is necessary to carry it along for the
pointers to drink. The flights of Grouse are short but sudden,
rapid, and whirring. I have not heard of any success in taming
them. They seem to resist all attempts at domestication. In this,
as well as in many other respects, they resemble the Quail of New
York or the Partridge of Pennsylvania.

"Manners. — During the period of mating, and while the
females are occupied in incubation, the males have a practice of
assembling, principally by themselves. To some select and central
spot, where there is very little underwood, they repair from the
adjoining district. From the exercise performed there, this is called
a scratching-place. The time of meeting is the break of day.
As soon as the light appears, the company assembles from every
side, sometimes to the number of forty or fifty. When the dawn
is past, the ceremony begins by a low tooting from one of the
cocks. This is answered by another. They then come forth one
by one from the bushes, and strut about with all the pride and
ostentation they can display. Their necks are incurvated; the
feathers on them are erected into a sort of ruff ; the plumes of their
tails are expanded like fans ; they strut about in a style resembling,
as nearly as small may be illustrated by great, the pomp of the Tur-
key-cock. They seem to vie with each other in stateliness ; and, as
they pass each other, frequently cast looks of insult, and utter notes
of defiance. These are the signals for battles. They engage with
wonderful spirit and fierceness. During these contests, they leap a
foot or two from the ground, and utter a cackling, screaming, and
discordant cry.

" They have been found in these places of resort even earlier
than the appearance of light in the east. This fact has led to the
belief that a part of them assemble over night. The rest join, them
in the morning. This leads to the further belief that they roost on
the ground ; and the opinion is confirmed by the discovery of little
rings of dung, apparently deposited by a flock which had passed
the night together. After the appearance of the sun, they disperse.

384 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

" These places of exhibition have been often discovered by the
hunters ; and a fatal discovery it has been for the poor Grouse.
Their destroyers construct for themselves lurking-holes made of pine
branches, called lough houses, within a few yards of the parade.
Hither they repair with their fowling-pieces, in the latter part of
the night, and wait the appearance of the birds. Watching the
moment when two are proudly eying each other, or engaged in
battle, or when a greater number can be seen in a range, they pour
on them a destructive charge of shot. This annoyance has been
given in so many places, and to such extent, that the Grouse, after
having been repeatedly disturbed, are afraid to assemble. On
approaching the spot to which their instinct prompts them, they
perch on the neighboring trees, instead of alighting at the scratch-
ing-place ; and it remains to be observed how far the restless and
tormenting spirit of the marksmen may alter the native habits of
the Grouse, and oblige them to betake themselves to new ways
of life.

"They commonly keep together in coveys, or packs, as the
phrase is, until the pairing season. A full pack consists, of course,
of ten or a dozen. Two packs have been known to associate. I
lately heard of one whose number amounted to twenty-two. They
are so unapt to be startled, that a hunter, assisted by a dog, has
been able to shoot almost a whole pack, without making any of
them take wing. In like manner, the men lying in concealment
near the scratching-places have been known to discharge several
guns before either the report of the explosion, or the sight of their
wounded and dead fellows, would rouse them to flight. It has
further been remarked, that, when a company of sportsmen have
surrounded a pack of Grouse, the birds seldom or never rise upon
their pinions while they are encircled ; but each runs along until
it passes the person that is nearest, and then flutters off with the
utmost expedition. SAMUEL L. MITCHILL."

He then continues with his own observations : —

" This bird, though an inhabitant of different and very distant
districts of North America, is extremely particular in selecting his
place of residence ; pitching only upon those tracts whose features
and productions correspond with his modes of life, and avoiding

THE PINNATED GROUSE. 385

immense, intermediate regions that he never visits. Open, dry
plains, thinly interspersed with trees, or partially overgrown with
shrub , oak, are his favorite haunts. Accordingly, we find these
birds on the Grouse plains of New Jersey, in Burlington County,
as well as on the brushy plains of Long Island ; among the pines
and shrub oaks of Pocano, in Northampton County, Pennsylvania ;
over the whole extent of the Barrens of Kentucky ; on the luxuri-
ant plains and prairies of the Indiana Territory, and Upper Louisi-
ana ; and, according to the information of the late Governor Lewis,
on the vast and remote plains of the Columbia River ; in all these
places preserving the same singular habits.

" Their predilection for such situations will be best accounted for
by considering the following facts and circumstances : First, their
mode of flight is generally direct and laborious, and ill calculated
for the labyrinth of a high and thick forest, crowded and intersected
with trunks and arms of trees, that require continual angular evolu-
tion of wing, or sudden turnings, to which they are by no means
accustomed. I have always observed them to avoid the high-
timbered groves that occur here and there in the Barrens. Con-
nected with this fact is a circumstance related to me by a very
respectable inhabitant of that country ; viz., that, one forenoon, a
cock Grouse struck the stone chimney of his house with such force
as instantly to fall dead to the ground.

" Secondly, their known dislike of ponds, marshes, or watery
places, which they avoid on all occasions ; drinking but seldom, and,
it is believed, never from such places. Even in confinement, this
peculiarity has been taken notice of. While I was in the State of
Tennessee, a person living within a few miles of Nashville had
caught an old hen Grouse in a trap ; and, being obliged to keep her
in a large cage, as she struck and abused the rest of the poultry,
he remarked that she never drank, and that she even avoided that
quarter of the cage where the cup containing the water was placed.
Happening, one day, to let some water fall on the cage, it 'trickled
down in drops along the bars, which the bird no sooner observed
than she eagerly picked them off", drop by drop, with a dexterity
that showed she had been habituated to this mode of quenching her
thirst, and probably to this mode only, in those dry and barren
tracts, where, except the drops of dew and drops of ram, water is

25

386 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

very rarely to be met with. For the space of a week, he watched
her closely, to discover whether she still refused to drink; but,
though she was constantly fed on Indian corn, the cup and water
still remained untouched and untasted. Yet no sooner did he
again sprinkle water on the bars of the cage, than she eagerly and
rapidly picked them off as before.

"The last, and probably the strongest, inducement to their
preferring these plains is the small acorn of the shrub oak, the
strawberries, huckleberries, and partridge-berries, with which they
abound, and which constitute the principal part of the food of these
birds. These brushy thickets also afford them excellent shelter,
being almost impenetrable to dogs or birds of prey.

" In all these places where they inhabit, they are, in the strict-
est sense of the word, resident ; having their particular haunts and
places of rendezvous (as described in the preceding account), to
which they are strongly attached. Yet they have been known to
abandon an entire tract of such country, when, from whatever
cause it might proceed, it became again covered with forest. A
few miles south of the town of York, in Pennsylvania, commences
an extent of country, formerly of the character described, now
chiefly covered with wood, but still retaining the name of Barrens.
In the recollection of an old man born in that part of the country,
this tract abounded with Grouse. The timber growing up, in
progress of years, these birds totally disappeared ; and, for a long
period of time, he had seen none of them, until, migrating with his
family to Kentucky, on entering the Barrens, he, one morning,
recognized the well-known music of his old acquaintance, the
Grouse, which, he assures me, are the very same with those he
had known in Pennsylvania.

" But what appears to me the most remarkable circumstance
relative to this bird is, that not one of all those writers who have
attempted its history have taken the least notice of those two
extraordinary bags of yellow skin which mark the neck of the
male, and which constitute so striking a peculiarity. These appear
to be formed by an expansion of the gullet, as well as of the exte-
rior skin of the neck, which, when the bird is at rest, hangs in
loose, pendulous, wrinkled Folds along the side of the neck; the
supplemental wings, at the same time, as well as when the bird is

THE PINNATED GROUSE. 387

flying, lying along the neck. But when these bags are inflated
with air, in breeding-time, they are equal in size, and very much
resemble in color, a middle-sized, fully ripe orange. By means of
this curious apparatus, which is very observable several hundred
yards off, he is enabled to produce the extraordinary sound men-
tioned above, which, though it may easily be imitated, is yet diffi-
cult to describe by words. It consists of three notes of the same
tone, resembling those produced by the Night Hawks in their rapid
descent ; each strongly accented, the last being twice as long as the
others. When several are thus engaged, the ear is unable to dis-
tinguish the regularity of these triple notes ; there being, at such
times, one continued bumming, which is disagreeable and perplex-
ing, from the impossibility of ascertaining from what distance, or
even quarter, it proceeds. While uttering this, the bird exhibits
all the ostentatious gesticulations of a Turkey-cock ; erecting and
fluttering his neck-wings, wheeling and passing before the female,
and close before his fellows, as in defiance. Now and then are
heard some rapid, cackling notes, not unlike that of a person tickled
to excessive laughter ; and, in short, one can scarcely listen to
them without feeling disposed to laugh from sympathy. These are
uttered by the males while engaged in fight, on which occasion
they leap up against each other, exactly in the manner of Turkeys,
seemingly with more malice than effect. This bumming continues
from a little before daybreak to eight or nine o'clock in the morn-
ing, when the parties separate to seek for food.

" Fresh-ploughed fields, in the vicinity of their resorts, are sure
to be visited by these birds every morning, and frequently also in the
evening. On one of these I counted, at one time, seventeen males,
making such a continued sound, as, I am persuaded, might have
been heard for more than a mile off. The people of the Barrens
informed me, that, when the weather becomes severe with snow,
they approach the barn and farm-house, are sometimes seen sitting
on the fences in dozens, mix with the poultry, and glean up the
scattered grains of Indian corn, seeming almost half domesticated.
At such times, great numbers are taken in traps. No pains, how-
ever, or regular plan, has ever been persisted in, as far as I was
informed, to domesticate these delicious birds. A Mr. Reed, who
lives between the Pilot Knobs and Bairdstown, told me, that, a few

388 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

years- ago, one of his sons found a Grouse's nest with fifteen eggs,
which he brought home, and immediately placed beneath a hen then
sitting, taking away her own. The nest of the Grouse was on the
ground, under a tussock of long grass, formed with very little art,
and few materials : the eggs were brownish-white, and about the
size of a pullet's.- In three or four days, the whole were hatched.
Instead of following the hen, they compelled her to run after them,
distracting her with the extent and diversity of their wanderings ;
and it was a day or two before they seemed to understand her
language, or consent to be guided by her. They were let out to
the fields, where they paid little regard to their nurse ; and, in a
few days, only three of them remained. These became extremely
tame and familiar, were most expert flycatchers ; but, soon after,
they also disappeared.

The eggs of this species are generally ovoidal in form,
and are often pretty sharply tapered at their small ends.
They vary in color from a dirty-drab to a grayish-white, and
are covered more or less thickly with fine spots or dots of
brown : some specimens have none of these markings, while
others are abundantly spotted. A large number of speci-
mens in my collection average about 1.80 by 1.25 inch in
dimensions.

BONASA, STEPHENS.

Bonasa, STEPHENS, Shaw's Gen. Zool., XI. (1819). (Type Tetrao bonasia, L.)
Tail widening to the end, its feathers very broad, as long as the wings ; the
feathers soft, and eighteen in number; tarsi naked in the lower half; covered with
two rows of hexagonal scales anteriorly, as in the Ortygince; sides of toes strongly
pectinated ; naked space on the side of throat covered by a tuft of broad soft feathers ;
portion of culmen between the nasal fossae about one-third the total length; top of
head with a soft crest.

BONASA UMBBLLUS. —
The Buffed Grouse ; Partridge ; Pheasant.

•Tetrao unibellus, Linnams. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 275. Wils. Am. Orn., VI.
(1812) 46. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 211; V. 560.

Tetrao (Bonasia) umbellus, Bonaparte. Syn. (1828), 126. Nutt. Man., I. (1832)
667.

Bonasa urybettus, Stephens. Shaw, Gen. Zool., XI. (1824) 300.

THE RUFFED GROUSE. 389

DESCRIPTION.

Tail of eighteen feathers, reddish-brown or gray above ; the back with cordate
spots of lighter; beneath whitish, transversely barred with dull-brown; tail tipped
With gray, and with a subterminal bar of black; broad feathers of the ruff black.

Tail lengthened, nearly as long as the wing ; very broad, and moderately
rounded ; the feathers very broad and truncate, the tip slightly convex, eighteen in
number; upper half of tarsus only feathered; bare behind and below, with two
rows of hexagonal scutellae anteriorly; a naked space on the side of the neck, con-
cealed by an overhanging tuft of broad, truncate feathers ; there are no pectinated
processes above the eye, where the skin instead is clothed with short feathers.

Length, eighteen inches; wing, seven and twenty one-hundredths ; tail, seven
inches.

This .beautiful and well-known bird, commonly, but very
improperly, called Partridge, is a general resident in all the
New-England States throughout the year. In the most
retired localities, and in the near vicinage of towns, it is
found almost equally abundant ; and its habits and charac-
teristics are the same in all localities, except that in thickly
settled districts, in consequence of its being more pursued
by sportsmen, it is much wilder and more difficult of ap-
proach than in less settled neighborhoods. So tame and
unsuspicious are these birds in the deep forests, that I have
had considerable difficulty at times in flushing them. When
I have approached them, instead of flying off, as they should,
they stood watching me like so many barn-yard fowls ; and
when I walked up to within a few feet of them, to get them
a-wing, — for no true sportsman will ever kill a game bird
unless it is flying, — they only retreated slowly into a thicket
of undergrowth, and remained there until actually forced to
take flight.

About the first of May, sometimes a little earlier, more
often later, the female withdraws from the society of the
male, and repairs to a retired spot in the woods, where,
usually beneath a thicket of evergreen, or a bunch of brush,
or perhaps a fallen log or rock, she scrapes together a few
leaves into a loose nest, and deposits from eight to twelve
eggs. These are usually of a yellowish-white, sometimes
a darker color, sometimes nearly pure-white. They are

390 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

usually; ovoidal in form, sometimes nearly rounded, and their
dimensions average about 1.65 by 1.20 inches : specimens
are occasionally found much larger than this size, and many
considerably smaller. In about fifty specimens before me,
collected perhaps in ten different States, about five are of a
yellowish-buff color, marked with numerous spots of brown ;
others are more yellowish, and have more obscure spots,
while the greater number have no markings at all.

From several instances which have come to my knowl-
edge, I am inclined to think that the female Buffed Grouse,
if persistently molested when nesting on the ground, avails
herself of the abandoned nest of a crow, or the shelter
afforded in the top of some tall broken trunk of a tree,
in which she deposits her eggs. Two of my collectors in
Northern Maine have sent me eggs which they positively
declared were found in a crow's nest in a high pine, but
which are undoubtedly of this species ; and recently I have
heard of another occurrence from my friend L. E. Rick-
seeker, of Pennsylvania. The only satisfactory theory that
I can advance to account for these departures from the
usual habits of the Grouse is, that the birds had been much
disturbed, their eggs or young perhaps destroyed ; and as
they are often in the trees, and are expert climbers, they
laid their eggs in these lofty situations to secure protection
from their numerous foes below.

During the season of incubation, the males congregate
together and remain apart from the females, until the young
birds are nearly full-grown : they then join them, and remain
with them until the ensuing spring.

Early in spring, the male begins " drumming: " this habit
is peculiar to this species, and is probably familiar to all
persons who have passed much of their time in the woods.

I have heard this drumming as early as February, and as
late as September ; but usually it is not heard much before
the first of April. The bird resorts to a fallen trunk of a
tree or log, and, while strutting like the male Turkey, beats

THE BUFFED GROUSE. 391

his wings against his sides and the log with considerable
force. This produces a hollow drumming noise, that may
be heard to a considerable distance: it commences very
slowly, and, after a few strokes, gradually increases in
velocity, and terminates with a rolling beat very similar to
the roll of a drum.

I know not by what law of acoustics, but this drumming
is peculiar in sounding equally as loud at a considerable
distance off, as within a few rods. I have searched for the
bird when I have heard the drumming, and, while supposing
him to be at a considerable distance, have flushed him within
the distance of fifty feet, and vice versa.

The young birds, like those of all our G-allince, follow
their mother almost as soon as they are hatched. I have
often found these broods in the woods, and can com-
pare them to nothing so much as the chicks of domestic
poultry.

The female, when her family is surprised, quickly gives a
warning cluck, when the whole brood adroitly conceal them-
selves. I have known a number to disappear, as if by
magic, beneath a bunch of leaves or grass ; and it required
a long, careful search to discover their whereabouts.

I once came suddenly upon a covey of these young birds,
when the mother, taken by surprise, uttering a harsh cry,
flew at my foot, and commenced pecking it fiercely : the
young scrambled off, uttering faint peets, when the old bird,
perhaps astonished at this departure from her usual mod-
esty, suddenly retreated, and concealed herself. The young
birds associate with the female until scattered by sportsmen
or by a scarcity of provender. They are much more deli-
cate as food, when about two-thirds grown, than the old
birds, as they have less of that peculiar bitter taste, and
have a rich flavor, almost similar to that of the Woodcock.

The food of this species consists of various seeds, berries,
grapes, and insects. When nothing else can be obtained,
they will eat the leaves of the evergreens, and buds of

392 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

trees ; and, when all other food is covered with snow, they
eat dried pieces of apples that are left hanging on the trees,
mosses, and leaves of the laurel. It is after feeding on this
last plant that their flesh becomes dangerous to be eaten ;
and it is always safe not to eat these birds in winter, if they
have been killed for any great length of time, or if their
intestines and crops have been left in them.

One habit that this species has is, I believe, peculiar to
it; and that is its manner of diving into the deep snow
to pass the night in cold weather: this it does very fre-
quently, and its snowy covering affords it a warm and
effectual protection. But if it rains during the night, and
then the weather changes to freezing, the Grouse, imprisoned
beneath the crust that forms on the surface of the snow,
soon dies ; and it is noticed, that, in seasons after winters
when the weather frequently changes from raining to freez-
ing, there is a scarcity of these birds. It is a common
occurrence to find them, in the spring, dead, having perished
in this manner.

THE VIRGINIA PARTRIDGE. 393

FAMILY PEEDICID^E. THE PARTRIDGES.

Nostrils protected by a naked scale ; the tarsi bare and scutellate.

The Perdicidce differ from the Grouse in the bare legs and naked nasal fossae ;
they are much smaller in size and more abundant in species ; they are widely dis-
tributed over the surface of the globe, a large number belonging to America, where
the sub-families have no Old-World representatives whatever; the head seldom, if
ever, shows the naked space around and above the eye, so common in the Tetraonidce ;
and the sides of the toes scarcely exhibit the peculiar pectination formed by a suc-
cession of small scales or plates.

Sub-Family ORTYGINJS.

Bill stout; the lower mandible more or less bidentate on each side near the end.

The Ortygina of Bonaparte, or Odontophorince of other authors, are characterized
as a group by the bidentation on either side of the edge of lower mandible, usually
concealed in the closed mouth, and sometimes scarcely appreciable; the bill is short,
and rather high at base, stouter and shorter than what is usually seen in Old-
World partridges ; the culmen is curved from the base ; the tip of the bill broad,
and overlapping the end of the lower mandible; the nasal groove is short; the tail is
rather broad and long. *

ORTYX, STEPHENS.

Ortyx, STEPHENS, Shaw's Gen. Zool., XI. (1819). (Type Tetrao Virginianus, L.)

Bill stout; head entirety without any crest; tail short, scarcely more than half

the wing, composed of moderately soft feathers ; wings normal ; legs developed, the

toes reaching considerably beyond the tip of the tail ; the lateral toes short, equal,

their claws falling decidedly short of the base of the middle claw.

OETYX VIRGINIANUS. — .
The Virginia Partridge; Quail; Bob-white.

Tetrao Virginianus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 277.

Perdix Virginlana, Wilson. Am. Orn., VI. (1812) 21. Aud. Orn. Biog., I.
(1831) 388; V. (1839) 664.

Ortyx Vlrginiana, Jardine. Nat. Lib. Birds, IV. ; Game Birds, 101.
Perdix ( Colinla) Virginiana, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 646.

DESCRIPTION.

Forehead, and line through the eye and along the side of the neck, with chin
and throat, white ; a band of black across the vertex, and extending backwards on
the sides, within the white, and another from the maxilla beneath the eye, and
crossing on the lower part of the throat; the under parts are white, tinged with
brown anteriorly, each feather with several narrow, obtusely V-shaped bands of

394 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

black; the forepart of back, the side of the breast and in front just below the black
collar, of a dull pinkish-red; the sides of body and wing coverts brownish-red; the
latter almost uniform, without indication of mottling; scapulars and upper tertials
coarsely blotched with black, and edged internally with .brownish-yellow ; top of
head reddish ; the lower part of neck, except anteriorly, streaked with white and
black; primary quills unspotted brown; tail ash.

Female with the white markings of the head replaced by brownish-yellow ; the
black wanting.

This species is subject to considerable variations both of size and color, the more
northern being considerably the larger; southern specimens are darker, with
more black about the head, on the wings, and the middle of the back ; there is also
a more appreciable mottling on the wings, and the feathers of the back are streaked
with black.

Length, ten inches ; wing, four and seventy one-hundredths inches ; tail, two and
eighty-five one-hundredths inches.

THIS beautiful bird, very improperly called the Quail, is
not very common in any part of New England north
of Massachusetts ; and in that State it is rapidly becoming
rare, both in consequence of the' destructive pertinacity
with which it is followed by all sportsmen, and the abomi-
nable practice of snaring and netting it, that is growing too
common. In Massachusetts and the other southern New-
England States, it is partially migratory in the fall ; repair-
ing to the neighborhood of the seacoast, where it remains
two or three weeks : it returns to the fields and swamps, by
the first fall of snow, where it passes the winter. Its habits
are pretty well known in that section ; but, that my
readers may know about it elsewhere, I give the very inter-
esting description by Wilson. He says, —

"They are most numerous in the vicinity of well-cultivated
plantations, where grain is in plenty. They, however, occasionally
seek shelter in the woods, perching on the branches, or secreting
themselves among the brushwood ; but are found most usually in
open fields, or along fences sheltered by thickets of briers. Where
they are not too much persecuted by the sportsmen, they become
almost half domesticated ; approach the barn, particularly in winter,
and sometimes, in that severe season, mix with the poultry to glean
up a subsistence. They remain with us the whole year, and often
suffer extremely by long, hard winters and deep snows. At such

THE VIRGINIA PARTRIDGE. 395

times, the arts of man combine with the inclemency of the season
for their destruction. To the ravages of the gun are added others
of a more insidious kind ; traps are placed on almost every planta-
tion, in such places as they are known to frequent. These are
formed of lath, or thinly split sticks, somewhat in the shape of an
obtuse cone, laced together with cord, having a small hole at top,
with a sliding lid, to take out the game by. This is supported by
the common figure-four trigger, and grain is scattered below and
leading to the place. By this contrivance, ten or fifteen have some-
times been taken at a time.

" The Partridge begins to build early in May. The nest is
made on the ground, usually at the bottom of a thick tuft of grass,
that shelters and conceals it. The materials are leaves and fine
dry grass in considerable quantity. It is well covered above, and
an opening left on one side for entrance. The female Iays4from
fifteen to twenty-four eggs, of a pure-white, without any spots.
The time of incubation has been stated to me, by various persons,
at four weeks, when the eggs were placed under the domestic Hen.
The young leave the nest as soon as they are freed from the shell,
and are conducted about in search of food by the female ; are
guided by her voice, which, at that time, resembles the twittering
of young chickens, and sheltered by her wings, in the same manner
as those of the domestic fowl, but with all that secrecy and precau-
tion for their safety which their helplessness and greater danger
require. In this situation, should the little timid family be unex-
pectedly surprised, the utmost alarm and consternation instantly
prevail. The mother throws herself in the path, fluttering along,
and beating the ground with her wings, as if sorely wounded ;
using every artifice she is mistress of to entice the passenger in pur-
suit of herself; uttering, at the same time, certain peculiar notes of
alarm, well understood by the young, who dive separately amongst
the grass, and secrete themselves till the danger is over : and the
parent, having decoyed the pursuer to a safe distance, returns, by a
circuitous route, to collect and lead them off. This well-known
manoeuvre, which nine times in ten is successful, is honorable
to the feelings and judgment of the bird, but a severe satire on
man. The affectionate mother, as if sensible of the avaricious
cruelty of his nature, tempts him with a larger prize, to save her

396 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

more helpless offspring ; and pays him, as avarice and cruelty ought
always to be paid, with mortification and disappointment."

In a great number of eggs in my collection, from many
different localities, some specimens are nearly pure-white,
while others are smeared with some blotches or confluent
dabs of yellowish: whether these are stains caused by
moisture or dirt, I am ignorant; -but they are permanent,
for I cannot remove them by water or alcohol. I judge they
are stains from the earth or decayed vegetation on which
they were laid. Their form is pyriform ; and their average
length about 1.20 inch, and greatest width 1 inch.

NOTES.

I continue Mr. Couper's notes, made at Quebec, Lower
Canada : —

ECTOPISTES MIGRATOBIUS. — The Passenger Pigeon is not so common
in this portion of Lower as in Upper Canada, where they breed in large
numbers. They are found breeding in the eastern townships of Lower
Canada ; but I have not ascertained that they breed in this district or north
of it. I remember at one time finding a nest of this pigeon in the woods
north of Toronto : it contained a single young one. I believe there are
many instances of its breeding in solitary pairs, something like the Wood
Pigeon of Europe.

ZENAIDURA CAROLINENSIS. — The Carolina Dove has never been noticed
in Lower Canada. It occurs occasionally in the woods north of the city of
Toronto, where, I believe, it breeds.

TETRAO CANADENSIS. — This species is very common from October to
February. They are in prime condition during the last month. It breeds
on both sides of the St. Lawrence, but more common on the south. During
the above months, there are generally six males to one female exhibited
on our markets. The inhabitants inform me that females are very scarce
during winter. This is a parodox to me, when I know that both male and
female feed on the same tree. What is also astonishing, the nest and eggs
of this bird are as hard to discover in spring as the female is in winter. I
have offered to purchase every nest of this species brought to me; but,
strange to say, I have not been fortunate in seeing one yet.

BONASA UMBELLUS. — Common. Breeds. I have repeatedly found the
nest of this species

ORDER V. — GRALLATORES. 397

ORDER V. — GRALLATORES. WADERS.

Legs, neck, and usually the bill, much lengthened; tibia bare
for a certain distance above the tarsal joint ; nostrils exposed ; tail
usually very short ; the species live along or near the water, more
rarely in dry plains, wading, never swimming habitually, except
perhaps in the case of the Phalaropes.

The bill of the Grallatores is usually in direct proportion to the
length of legs and neck. The toes vary, but are usually connected
at the base by a membrane, which sometimes extends almost or
quite to the claws.

The Grallatores, like the Rasores and Natatores, are divisible
into two sub-orders, according as the species rear and feed their
young in nests, or allow them to shift for themselves. The follow-
ing diagnoses express the general character of these subdivisions :

HERODIONES. — Face or lores more or less naked, or else
covered with feathers different from those on the rest of the
body, except in some Gruidce ; bill nearly as thick at the base as
the skull ; hind toe generally nearly on same level with the ante-
rior ; young reared in nests, and requiring to be fed by the parent.

GBALL^E. — Lores with feathers similar to those on the rest of
the body ; bill contracted at base, where it is usually smaller than
the skull ; hind toe generally elevated ; young running about at
birth, and able to feed themselves.

398 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

SUB-ORDER HERODIONES.

Bill generally thick at the base and much longer than the head ; frontal feathers
with a rounded outline; lores, and generally the region round the eye (sometimes
most of the head), naked.

The primary characteristic of the Herodiones, though physiological rather than
zoological, is of the highest importance; the young are born weak and imperfect,
and are reared in the nest, being fed directly by the parent until able to take care of
themselves, when they are generally abandoned. In the Grallce, on the contrary,
the young run about freely, directly after being hatched, and are capable of securing
food for themselves under the direction of the parent.

The chief zoological character (not, however, entirely without exception) is to be
found in the bill, which is generally very large, much longer than the head, and
thickened at the base so as to be nearly or quite as broad and high as the skull ; the
lores are almost always naked, or, if covered, it is with feathers of a different kind
from those on the rest of the body ; the hind toe in most genera is lengthened and
on a level with the anterior, so as to be capable of grasping; sometimes, however, it
is elevated and quite short. — BAIRD.

FAMILY ARDEID^E. THE HERONS.

Bill conical, acuminate, compressed, and acute ; the edges usually nicked at the
end; the frontal feathers generally extending beyond the nostrils; tarsi scutellate
anteriorly ; the middle toe connected to the outer by a basal web ; claws acute ; the
edge of the middle one serrated or pectinated on its inner edge.

GARZETTA, BONAPARTE.

Garzetta, BONAPARTE, Consp., II. (1855) 118. (Type Ardea garzetta, L.,
whether of Kaup, 1829?)

Bill slender; outlines nearly straight to near the tipj when they are about
equally convex; middle toe more than half the tarsus; tarsi broadly scutellate ante-
riorly; tibia denuded for about one-half; outer toe longest; head with a full occipital
crest of feathers having the webs decomposed, hair-like ; feathers of lower part of
throat similar; middle of back with long plumes reaching to the tail, recurving at
tip; these plumes and the crest apparently permanent ; lower part of neck behind,
bare of feathers; colors pure-white in all ages.

GARZETTA CANDIDISSIMA. — Bonaparte.
The Snowy Heron.

Ardea, candidissima, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 633. Wils. Am. Orn., VII.
(1813) 120. Nutt. Man., II. (1834) 49. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 317; V.
(1839) 606.

Garzeita candidissima, Bonaparte. Consp. (1855), 119.

THE SNOWY HERON.

399

DESCRIPTION.

Occiput much crested ; dorsal plumes reaching to the end of the tail ; colors pure-
white; bill black; the base yellow; legs black; iris, hazel in young, yellow in
adult.

Length, twenty-four inches ; wing, ten and twenty one-hundredths inches ; tar-
sus, three and eighty one-hundredths inches; bill, above, three and fifteen one-hun-
dredths inches.

rflHIS beautiful bird is a very rare summer visitor in
JL the southern New-England States. I have never had
an opportunity for observing its habits, and will give the
description by Wilson : —

" The Snowy Heron seems particularly fond of the salt marshes
during summer, seldom penetrating far inland. Its white plumage
renders it a very conspicuous object, either while on wing, or while
wading the meadows or marshes.
Its food consists of those small
crabs usually called fiddlers, mud-
worms, snails, frogs, and lizards.
It also feeds on the seeds of some
species of nymphae, and of several
other aquatic plants.

On the 19th of May, I visited
an extensive breeding-place of the
Snowy Heron, among the red ce-
dars of Summer's Beach, on the
coast of Cape May. The situation
was very sequestered, bounded on
the land side by a fresh-water
marsh or pond, and sheltered from
the Atlantic by ranges of sand-hills. The cedars, though not high,
were so closely crowded together as to render it difficult to pene-
trate through among them. Some trees contained three, others
four nests, built wholly of sticks. Each had in it three eggs of a
pale greenish-blue color, and measuring an inch and three-quarters
in length by an inch and a quarter in thickness. Forty or fifty of
these eggs were cooked, and found to be well tasted : the white
was of a bluish tint, and almost transparent, though boiled for a
considerable time; the yolk very small in quantity. The birds

400 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

rose in vast numbers, but without clamor, alighting on the tops of
the trees around, and watching the result in silent anxiety. Among
them were numbers of the Night Heron, and two or three Purple-
headed Herons. Great quantities of egg-shells lay scattered under
the trees, occasioned by the depredations of the Crows, who were
continually hovering about the place. On one of the nests I found
the dead body of the bird itself, half devoured by the Hawks,
Crows, or Gulls. She had probably perished in defence of her
eggs.

" The Snowy Heron is seen at all times during summer among
the sal1> marshes, watching and searching for food, or passing, some-
times in flocks, from one part of the bay to the other. They often
make excursions up the rivers and inlets, but return regularly in
the evening to the red cedars on the beach to roost."

ARDEA, LINNAEUS.

Ardea, LINN^JUS, Syst. Nat., I. (1735). (Type A. cinerea.)

Bill very thick; culmen nearly straight; gonys ascending, its tip more convex
than that of culmen ; middle toe more than half the tarsus ; tibia bare for nearly
or quite one-half; claws short, much curved; outer toe longest; tarsus broadly
scutellate anteriorly; occiput with a few elongated occipital feathers; scapulars
elongate lanceolate, as long as the secondaries ; no dorsal plumes ; tail of twelve
broad stiffened feathers ; back of neck well feathered ; size very large ; colors plum-
beous, streaked beneath.

ARDEA HERODIAS. — Unnceus.
The Great Blue Heron, or Crane.

Ardea fferodias, Linnseus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 237. Wils. Am. Orn., VIII.
(1814) 28. Nutt. Man., II. (1834) 42. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 87; V. 599.

DESCRIPTION.

Lower third of tibia bare; above bluish-ash; edges of wing and the tibia rufous;
neck cinnamon-brown; head black, with a white frontal patch; body beneath black,
broadly streaked on the belly with white ; crissum white ; middle line of throat
white, streaked with black and rufous.

Adult. — Bill yellow, dusky at the base and greenish above; the forehead and
central part of the crown are white, encircled laterally and behind by black, of
which color is the occipital crest and its two elongated feathers ; the neck is of a
light smoky cinnamon-brown, with perhaps a tinge of purple ; the chin and throat
whitish ; the feathers along the central line of the throat to the breast white, streaked
with black, and also with reddish-brown, except on the elongated feathers of the

THE GREAT BLUE HERON. 401

breast; the body may be described as bluish-ash above and on the sides; the under
parts, including the tuft of feathers on each side the breast and the belly to the
white crissum, are sooty black, much varied along the middle line with white;
the tibia and the edge of the wing are rufous ; the quills are black, becoming more
plumbeous internally until the innermost secondaries are ashy, like the back ; the
elongated tips of the scapular feathers have a whitish shade ; the tail is of a bluish-
slate color; according to Mr. Audubon, the bill in life is yellow; dusky-green above ;
loral and orbital spaces light-green; iris yellow; feet olivaceous, paler above the
tibio-tarsal joint; claws black.

Young. — The upper mandible is blackish ; the lower yellow, except along the
commissure ; the head above is entirely dusky, without the much elongated occipital
feathers ; the breast is grayish, streaked with white and light-brown, but without
any pure-black patches ; the back is without the elongated scapular feathers ; in
still younger specimens, the coverts are all margined with rufous, which becomes
lighter at the tip; the rufous of the tibia is much lighter.

Length, forty-two inches ; wing, eighteen and fifty one-hundredth s ; tarsus about
six and fifty one-hundredths inches; bill about five and fifty one-hundredths
inches.

This, the' largest of our New-England Herons, is pretty
generally distributed throughout these States as a summer
resident ; and, although not very abundant in any section, it
is of course more often found in localities near large bodies of
water than elsewhere. It arrives from the South about the
second week in April, sometimes a little earlier. During
the day, it seems to prefer the solitudes of the forest for
its retreat, as it is usually seen in the meadows only at early
morning, and in the latter part of the afternoon. It then,
by the side of a ditch or pond, is observed patiently watching
for its prey. It remains standing motionless until a fish or
frog presents itself, when, with an unerring stroke with its
beak, as quick as lightning, it seizes, beats to pieces, and
swallows it. This act is often repeated ; and, as the Heron
varies this diet with meadow-mice, snakes, and insects, it
certainly does not lead the life of misery and want that
many writers ascribe to it. In fact, it is always plump and
in good condition ; and by many is considered as a palatable
bird on the table.

About the 10th of May, this species commences building :
as with the other Herons, it breeds in communities, and
several nests may be found in an area of a few rods. These

26

402 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

are placed in high forks of trees, generally in retired, almost
impassable swamps. I once visited a heronry of this species
in Erroll, N.H. It was in a deep swamp, which was inter-
sected by a small branch of the Androscoggin River. I
think that I never penetrated a more villanous tract : every
few rods a quagmire would present itself, which, although
familiar to the persons who accompanied me, was generally
unrecognizable by me, from any patches of green turf; and
it was only by wading through mud and water, sometimes
up to my waist, or by leaping from one fallen tree to another,
through briers and brushwood, that I at last succeeded in
arriving beneath the trees in which the nests were built.
These were all dead hemlocks, white and smooth, without a
branch for certainly forty feet, and unclimbable. We could
see that the nests were nearly flat, and were constructed of
twigs of different sizes, put together in a loose and slovenly
manner. This was about the 25th of June : the young were,
of course, then about two-thirds grown ; and, as I had heard
that they were excellent eating, I emptied both the barrels
of my gun into one of the nests, when down tumbled two
" squab Herons," as they are called. We had them broiled
for supper: they tasted something like duck, but had a
strong flavor that was not pleasant. " I don't hanker after
any more," as one of our company said after supper. The
old birds, at the report of my gun, began flying over our
heads, uttering their hoarse honks and guttural cries. They
were careful to keep out of gunshot ; and, after flying back
and forth a few minutes, they disappeared, and all was still.
The eggs of this species are laid about the 15th or 20th of
May : they are usually three or four in number, and their
form is ovoidal. They are of a light bluish-green color, and
average in dimensions about 2.62 by 1.75 inch. But one
brood is reared in the season.

This is one of the most suspicious of our. birds, and
the most difficult to be approached. It is constantly on the
lookout for danger ; and its long neck, keen eyes, and deli-

THE LEAST BITTERN. 403

cate organs of hearing, enable it to detect the approach of
a hunter long before he can get within gunshot.

About the middle of October, it leaves New England, in
small detached groups, for the South.

ARDETTA, GRAY.

Ardetta, GRAY, List of Genera, App. (1842), 13. (Type Ardea minuta^ L.)

Bill slender, acute ; both mandibles about equally curved ; legs very short ; tarsi

less than middle toe; inner toe much longest; claws long, acute; tarsi broadly

scutellate anteriorly.

Tail of ten feathers; neck short; body much compressed; head smooth; the

occipital feathers somewhat lengthened ; the lower neck bare of feathers behind ; no

plumes ; plumage compact, lustrous ; uniform above ; sexes differently colored.

ARDETTA EXILIS. — Gray.
The Least Bittern.

Ardea exilis, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 648. Wils. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814)
87. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 77; V. (1839) 606.
Ardea (ardeola) exilis, Nuttall. Man., H. (1834) 66.
Ardetta exilis, Gray. Gen. (1842).

DESCRIPTION.

Head above and the back dark glossy green; upper part of neck, shoulders,
greater coverts, and outer webs of some tertials, purplish- cinnamon; a brownish-
yellow scapular stripe. Female with the green of head and back replaced by
purplish-chestnut; iris yellow.

Length, thirteen inches; wing, four and seventy-five one-hundredths ; tarsus,
one and sixty one-hundredths; bill, above, one and seventy-five one-hundredths
inches.

This, the smallest of our Ardeidae, is a rare summer
inhabitant of New England. It is only seen in pairs or
solitary individuals, and, unlike most of our birds in this
family, seems persistently solitary in its habits. I have
never met with an individual alive, and will give a short
extract from the description by Audubon of its habits. He
says, " Although the Least Bittern is not unfrequently
started in salt marshes, it gives a decided preference to
the borders of ponds, lakes, or bayous of fresh water ; and
it is in secluded situations of this kind that it usually forms
its nest. This is sometimes placed on the ground, amid the

404 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

rankest grasses, but more frequently it is attached to the
stems several inches above it. It is flat, and composed of
dried or rotten weeds. In two instances, I found the nests
of the Least Bittern about three feet above the ground, in a
thick cluster of smilax an-d other briery plants. In the
first, two nests were placed in the same bush, within a few
yards of each other. In the other instance, there was only
one nest of this bird, but several of the Boat-tailed Grakle,
and one of the Green Heron, the occupants of all of which
seemed to be on friendly terms. When startled from the
nest, the old birds emit a few notes resembling the syllable
qua, alight a few yards off, and watch all your movements.
If you go towards them, you may sometimes take the female
with the hand, but rarely the male, who generally flies off,
or makes his way through the woods.

" The food of this bird consists of snails, slugs, tadpoles
or young frogs, and water lizards. In several instances,
however, I have found small shrews and field-mice in their
stomach. Although more nocturnal than diurnal, it moves
a good deal about by day in search of food. The flight of
this bird is apparently weak by day ; for then it seldom re-
moves to a greater distance than a hundred yards at a time,
and this, too, only when frightened in a moderate degree,
for, if much alarmed, it falls again among the grass, in the
manner of the Rail : but in the dusk of the evening and
morning, I have seen it passing steadily along, at the height
of fifty yards or more, with the neck retracted, and the legs
stretched out behind in the manner of the larger Herons."

The eggs of this species are usually four in number:
they are nearly oval in form, and are of the size, and almost
exactly the form, of eggs of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, ex-
cept with regard to color; the present species being con-
siderably paler. It has been found to breed in all the
New-England States, but seems to be more of a southern
species, and it is not abundant anywhere north of the
southern portions of the Middle States.

THE BITTERN. 405

BOTAURUS, STEPHENS.

Botaurus, STEPHENS, Shaw's Gen. Zool., XI. (1819) 592. (Type Ardea stel-
laris, L.)

Bill moderate, scarcely longer than the head ; bill outlines gently convex, gonys
ascending; tarsi very short, less than the middle toe ; broadly scutellate ; inner
lateral toe much longest; claws all very long, acute, and nearly straight.

Tail of ten feathers; no peculiar crest; plumage loose, opaque, streaked; sexes
similar.

BOTAURUS LENTIGINOSUS. — Stephens.
The Bittern ; Stake-driver.

Botaurus lentiginosus, Stephens. Shaw's Gen. Zool., XI. (1819) 596.

Ardea (botaurus) lentiginosa, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 60.

Ardea minor, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 35. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838)
296.

DESCRIPTION.

Brownish-yellow, finely mottled and varied with dark-brown and brownish-red ; a
broad black stripe on each side the neck, starting behind the ear; iris golden yellow.

Length, twenty-six and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, eleven ; tarsus, three
and sixty one-hundredths inches ; bill, above, two and seventy-five one hundredths
inches.

Hob.— Entire continent of North America.

Perhaps none of our Herons are more generally known
than this species ; for it is common in all New England as a
summer resident, and in some localities, particularly the
northern, is quite abundant. It arrives from the South
from about the last week in March to the 10th of April,
according to latitude, and remains in the meadows, where it
makes its home until the middle of October. It seems to
be more diurnal in its habits than most of our other Herons,
and seems always employed in the pursuit of fishes, frogs,
and other reptiles and insects, of which its food consists.

It breeds in communities, sometimes as many as a dozen
pairs nesting within the area of a few rods. The nests are
placed on low bushes, or thick tufts of grass, sometimes in
low, thickly wooded trees ; and are composed of coarse
grasses, twigs, and a few leaves. I know of no other place
in New England where these birds breed in such abun-
dance as in the neighborhood of the Richardson Lakes, in
Maine. There, in some of the tangled, boggy, almost im-

406 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

penetrable swamps, these birds have several heronries, which
they have inhabited for years. When their haunts are
approached, the birds rise with a guttural note, like the
syllable qudk, and alight in some tall tree, from which they
silently watch the intruder.

The eggs are usually four in number. Their form is
generally ovoidal, and their color a rich drab, with some-
times an olive tinge. I know of no species that exhibits so
little variation in the size of its eggs as this ; for in a large
number of specimens in my collection from half a dozen
different States, east and west, the only variety of dimen-
sions is from 1.92 by 1.50 inch to 1.88 by 1.48 inch.

In the mating season, and during the first part of the
period of incubation, the male has a peculiar love-note, that
almost exactly resembles the stroke of a mallet on a stake ;
something like the syllables ' chunk-a-lunk-chunk, quank-
chunk-a-lunk-chunk. I have often, when in the forests of
Northern Maine, been deceived by this note into believing
that some woodman or settler was in my neighborhood,
and discovered my mistake only after toiling through swamp
and morass for perhaps half a mile. But one brood is
reared in the season by this bird in New England ; and, by
the first week in August, the young are able to shift for
themselves.

BUTORIDES, BLYTH.

Butorides, BLYTH (1849), Horsf. (Type Ardea Javanica.)

Bill acute, rather longer than* the head, gently curved from the base above;
gonys slightly ascending; legs very short; tarsi scarcely longer than the middle
toe; broadly scutellate anteriorly; lateral toes nearly equal; head with elongated
feathers above and behind; these are well defined, lanceolate, as are the inter-
scapulars and scapulars; the latter not exceeding the tertials; neck short; bare
behind inferiorly; tibia feathered nearly throughout; tail of twelve feathers.

BUTORIDES VIRESCENS.— Bonaparte.
The Green Heron; Fly-up-the-Creek.

Ardea virescens, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 238. Wils. Am. Orn., VII.
J1813) 97. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 274.

Ardea (botaurus) virescens. Nutt, II. (1834) 63.
Butorides virescens, Bonaparte. Consp. Av., II. (1855) 128.

THE GREEN HERON. 407

DESCRIPTION.

" The Green Bittern is eighteen inches long, and twenty-five inches in extent;
bill black, lighter below, and yellow at the base; chin, and narrow streak down the
throat, yellowish-white; neck dark vinaceous-red ; back covered with very long,
tapering, pointed feathers, of a hoary green, shafted with white, on a dark-green
ground ; the hind part of the neck is destitute of plumage, that it may be the more
conveniently drawn in over the breast, but is covered with the long feathers of the
throat and sides of the neck that enclose it behind; wings and tail dark glossy
green, tipped and bordered with yellowish-white ; legs and feet yellow, tinged before
with green, the skin of these thick and movable; belly ashy -brown; irides bright-
orange.

" The crested head very dark glossy green. The female, as I have particularly
observed in numerous instances, differs in nothing, as to color, from the male;
neither of them receive the long feathers on the back during the first season." —
WILSON.

The above description of this beautiful bird is so* compre-
hensive and accurate, that I cannot do better than to pre-
sent it in this volume ; and the account of this bird's habits,
by the same author, is so interesting and full, that, being
unable to add to it any thing of value, I give it as below : —

" The Green Bittern makes its first appearance in Pennsylvania
early in April, soon after the marshes are completely thawed.
There, among the stagnant ditches with which they are intersected,
and amidst the bogs and quagmires, he hunts with great cunning
and dexterity. Frogs and small fish are his principal game, whose
caution and facility of escape require nice address and rapidity of
attack. When on the lookout for small fish, he stands in the water,
by the side of the ditch, silent and motionless as a statute ; his
neck drawn in over his breast, ready for action. The instant a fry
or minnow comes within the range of his bill, by a stroke, quick
and sure as that of the rattlesnake, he seizes his prey, and swallows
it in an instant. He searches for small crabs, and for the various
worms and larvae, particularly those of the dragon-fly, which lurk
in the mud, with equal adroitness. But the capturing of frogs
requires much nicer management. These wary reptiles shrink into
the mire on the least alarm, and do not raise up their heads again
to the surface without the most cautious circumspection. The Bit-
tern, fixing his penetrating eye on the spot where they disappeared,
approaches with slow, stealing step, laying his feet so gently and
silently on the ground as not to be heard or felt ; and, when arrived
within reach, stands fixed, and bending forwards, until the first

408 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

glimpse of the frog's head makes its appearance, when, with a
stroke instantaneous as lightning, he seizes it in his bill, beats it to
death, and feasts on it at his leisure.

" When alarmed, the Green Bittern rises with a hollow, guttural
scream ; does not fly far, but usually alights on some old stump,
tree, or fence adjoining, and looks about with extended neck;
though, sometimes, this is drawn in so that his head seems to rest
on his breast. As he walks along the fence, or stands gazing at
you with outstretched neck, he has the frequent habit of jetting the
tail. He sometimes flies high, with doubled neck, and legs
extended behind, flapping the wings smartly, and travelling with
great expedition. He is the least shy of all our Herons, and
perhaps the most numerous and generally dispersed ; being found far
in the interior, as well as along our salt marshes, and everywhere
about the muddy shores of our mill-ponds, creeks, and large rivers.

" The Green Bittern begins to build about the 20th of April :
sometimes in single pairs, in swampy woods ; often in companies ;
and not unfrequently in a kind of association with the Qua-birds,
or Night Herons. The nest is fixed among the branches of the
trees ; is constructed wholly of small sticks, lined with finer twigs ;
and is of .considerable size, though loosely put together. The female
lays four eggs, of the common oblong form, and of a pale light-blue
color. The young do not leave the nest until able to fly ; and, for
the first season at least, are destitute of the long-pointed plumage
on the back : the lower parts are also lighter, and the white on
the throat broader. During the whole summer, and until late in
autumn, these birds are seen in our meadows and marshes, but
never remain during winter in any part of the United States."

A large number of this* bird's eggs, lying before me,
exhibit a variation of only from 1.56 by 1.20 inch to 1.49
by 1.15 inch in dimensions. But one brood is reared in
the season ; and, by the 20th of September, the old and
young leave New England for the South.

NYCTIARDEA, SWAINSON.

Nyctiardea, SWAINSON, Class. Birds, II. (1837) 354. (Type Ardea nycticorax,
Linn.)

Nycticorax, STEPHENS, Shaw's Gen. Zool., XI. (1819) 608. Same type.

THE NIGHT HERON. ''.' 409

Bill very stout; culm en curved from base; the lower outline straight, or a little
concave; end of upper mandible gently decurved ; tarsi short, equal to the middle
toe; the scales more than usually hexagonal inferiorly; outer lateral toe rather
longer; no unusual development of feathers, excepting a long, straight occipital
plume of three feathers, rolled together; neck short, moderately feathered behind.

The Night Herons, with a certain resemblance to the Bittern, differ in the much
stouter and more curved bill, the lower edge of which is straight, instead of rising at
the end ; the tarsus is equal to the middle toe, not shorter, and is covered anteriorly
below by small hexagonal scales, instead of large transverse scutellae; the claws
are much shorter and more curved; the tail has twelve feathers instead of ten.

NYCTIARDEA GARDENI.— Baird.
The Night Heron ; Qua-bird.

Ardea nycticorax, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. (1813) 101. Aud. Orn. Biog., HI.
(1835)275; V. 600.

Ardea (botaurus) discors, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 54.

DESCRIPTION.

Head above and middle of back steel-green; wings and tail ashy-blue ; under
parts, forehead, and long occipital feathers white ; sides tinged with lilac.

Bill very thick at the base, and tapering all the way to the tip. Culmen nearly
straight for half its length, then considerably curved ; lower outline of bill nearly
straight; gonys proper slightly concave ; legs short, but stout; the tarsus equal to
the middle toe ; covered throughout with hexagonal scales, the anterior largest, but
those on the upper portion much larger, and going entirely across ; tibia bare for
about one-fifth; lateral toes nearly equal; the outer rather longest; claws small;
considerably curved ; tail short, of twelve broad, rather stiff feathers.

Head with the occipital feathers elongated, and with two or three very long,
straight feathers (as long as the bill and head) springing from the occiput. These
are rolled up so as to appear like a single cylindrical feather; back of the neck
covered with down, but not provided with long feathers ; interscapular feathers and
scapulars elongated and lanceolate, the webs scarcely decomposed.

The upper part of the head, including the upper eyelids, the occipital crest, and
the interscapular region and scapulars, dark lustrous steel-green ; the wings and tail
are ashy-blue; the under parts, the forehead, and the long occipital feathers, are
white, passing into pale ashy-lilac on the sides and on the neck above ; this color, in
fact, tingeing nearly the whole under parts. The region along the base of the bill,
however, is nearly pure, as are the tibia. The bill is black ; the loral space green ;
the iris red; the feet yellow; the claws brown.

Length, about twenty-five inches ; wing, twelve and fifty one-hundredths ; tai-
sus, three and fifteen one-hundredths; bill, above, three and ten one-hundredths
inches.

Hab. — United States generally.

The Night Heron is pretty generally distributed through-
out New England as a summer resident. It seems to pre-
fer the neighborhood of the seacoast, but is found in many

410 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

sections quite abundant in the interior ; as, for instance, Dr.
Wood says, " I know of a swamp some fourteen miles from
here (East Windsor Hill, Conn.) where thousands breed." —
" I have counted eight nests on one maple-tree," &c. This
species is most commonly found during the daytime perch-
ing in high trees in swamps and thick woods, and seems to
feed almost entirely by night. As soon as it begins to grow
dark, it begins its flight ; and if we stand in a large meadow,
or by a pond or other sheet of water, we may sometimes
hear the notes of several, as they are engaged in their
search for prey. The call of this bird resembles the sylla-
ble quack, which gives the bird the name of Squawk in
many localities. The nest of this species is placed in a fork
of a tree in a swamp : it is constructed of coarse twigs and
leaves, and is very loosely put together. As above remarked,
several of these structures may be found on one tree ; and,
after the young are hatched, their noise, as they scream for
food, is almost deafening. I once visited a heronry of this
species in Dedham, Mass. As many as a hundred pairs
were breeding in the area of an acre ; and, as Wilson truly
says, " The noise of the old and young would almost induce
one to suppose that two or three hundred Indians were
choking or throttling each other."

Another larger heronry that I visited last season in
company with my friends, F. G. Sanborn and H. A. Purdie,
occupied an area of several acres. The locality was a
swamp, in which were growing cedar-trees. These were
rarely over thirty feet in height ; but their dense and twin-
ing branches were occupied often by the nests of two or
three pairs in a single tree. The reader may judge as to the
multitude of parent-birds that were flying in wild confusion
over our heads, and may fancy the effect of all their guttural
cries. We ascended to a number of the nests, and found
them occupied by eggs, both freshly laid and others, far
advanced in incubation, and chicks from one day old to
Borne half grown. As the work of ascending to the filthy

THE NIGHT HERON. 411

nests was not of the pleasantest, we limited our investiga-
tions to the securing of a few of the most recently laid
eggs.

The eggs of the Night Heron are laid about the 20th of
May. They are usually four in number, and their general
form is an elongated ovoidal. In a great number of speci-
mens, the color is generally bluish-green, sometimes a light
pea-green or greenish-yellow. Their dimensions vary from
2.15 by 1.50 inch to 2.05 by 1.40 inch. About the latter
part of August, the young birds are found in deep woods,
and by many are esteemed as excellent eating, as they are
plump and fat. They leave for the South early in October.

Mr. William Endicott, who visited the same heronry, gives
the following description of it : " The first thing which
called the attention of the explorer was the whiteness of
the ground, owing to the excrements of the birds ; the air
hot and close was loaded with its keen, penetrating odor ;
the fine particles of it, floating in the air and coming in con-
tact with the perspiring body, made one smart all over.
There was also a smell of the decaying fish which lay
around ; some dropped by accident by the old birds (who,
I believe, never stoop to pick them up again), and much
more disgorged when their tree was assailed. These fish
were mostly such as could not be obtained in the ponds and
rivers. I once saw a piece of a pout, and once a fragment
of a pickerel, but most of the remains were those of herrings.
The light-green eggs were usually four in number ; but I
have seen five and six repeatedly, and once seven, in a nest.
The young are downy, soft, helpless things at first, but soon
gain strength enough to climb to the upper branches, where
they hang on with bill and claws, and are fed by their
parents till nearly full-grown."

412 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY,

SUB-ORDER GRALL^E. WADERS.

Feathers of the head and neck extending over the entire cheeks to the bill ; bill,
when much longer than head, slender at the base ; sometimes thick and shorter than
the head; young running about and feeding themselves as soon as hatched.

The preceding characteristics indicate, in a general way, the characteristics of
the Grallce as distinguished from the Herodiones: they are usually much smaller
birds, and more especially inhabitants of the open sandy shore. Few or none of the
species nest on trees or bushes, the eggs being generally laid in a cavity scooped
out in the sand.

The sub-order is divided by Bonaparte into two tribes, Cursores and Alectorides
(by Burmeister into Limicolce and Paludicolce) : the first having the hind toe elevated,
small, or wanting; the second having it lengthened, and inserted on a level with the
rest. Additional characters tire as follows : —

LIMICOLCE. — Species living on the shore, and generally probing the ground or
mud in search of food'; bill and legs generally lengthened and slender; bill hard at
tip, softer and more contracted at base ; anterior toes connected at base more or less
by membranes, and with very short claws ; hind toe very short, elevated, or wanting ;
wings long, pointed ; outer primaries longest, and reaching to or beyond the tip of
tail, which is stiff.

PALUDICOLCE. — Species living in marshy places among the grass, feeding from
the surface of the ground ; bill hard to its base, where it is not contracted ; toes cleft
to the base, lengthened, with very long claws ; hind toe lengthened, and on same
level with the rest; wing short, rounded, not reaching the tip of the soft tail; outer
primaries graduated.

Tribe LIMICOL^.

Birds living on the shore or in open places, usually small species, with rounded
or depressed bodies, and slender bills of variable length, having a more or less dis-
tinct horny terminal portion, the remainder covered with soft skin, in which are
situated the elongated, narrow, open, and distinct nostrils ; the feathers of the head
are small, and extend compactly to the base of the bill ; they are similar in character
to those of the neck and body; the wings are long, acute, and, when folded, reach-
ing to or beyond the tip of the tail ; the posterior or inner secondaries are generally
as long as the outer primaries; the primaries are ten in number; the three outer
longest and about equal ; the tail is stiff, short, broad, and rounded or graduated ;
the feathers usually twelve, sometimes more ; the legs are slender and delicate, but
corresponding with the bill in proportions; a large portion of the tibia below is bare
of feathers ; the covering of the legs is parchment-like, not horny, generally divided
anteriorly and behind into small half rings, laterally more in hexagons ; the claws
are delicate, sharp, and gently curved; the hind toe is very small, scarcely touching
the ground; sometimes wanting; there is usually (except in Calidris, Tringa, &c.)
a rather broad basal membrane between the outer and middle toes, sometimes
between the inner and middle ; this web occasionally extends toward the ends of the
toes. — BURMEISTER. !

1 See Introduction.

THE GOLDEN PLOVER. 413

FAMILY CHARADRIDJ2. THE PLOVERS.

Bill rather cylindrical, as long as the head, or shorter; the culmen much indented
opposite the nostrils, the vaulted apex more or less swollen and rising, quite distinct
from the membranous portion; legs elevated; hind toe rarely present, and then rudi-
mentary; the outer and middle toes more or less united by membrane.

CHARADRIUS,

Charadrius, LINN^US, Syst. Nat. (1735).

Plumage yellowish-gray, spotted; tail transversely banded ; no collar on neck;
tarsi and lower thighs uniformly reticulated.

CHARADRIUS VIRGINICUS. — BorcJcausen.
The Golden Plover; Bull-head.

Charadrius pluvialis, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. (1813) 71. Nutt. Man., II. (1834) 16.
Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 623.

Charadrius Virginicus, " Borckausen and Bechstein." Licht. Verz. Doubl. (1823).
Charadrius marmoratus, Audubon. Orn. Biog., V. (1839) 575.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill rather short; legs moderate; wings long; no hind toe; tarsus covered before
and behind with small circular or hexagonal scales; upper parts brownish-black,
with numerous small circular and irregular spots of golden-yellow, most numerous
on the back and rump, and on the upper tail coverts, assuming the form of trans-
verse bands generalh' ; also with some spots of ashy-white ; entire under parts
black, with a brownish or bronzed lustre, under tail coverts mixed or barred with
white ; forehead, border of the black of the neck, under tail coverts, and tibiae, white ;
axillary feathers cinereous; quills, dark-brown; middle portion of the shafts white,
frequently extending slightly to the webs, and forming longitudinal stripes on the
shorter quills ; tail dark-brown, with numerous irregular bands of ashy-white, and
frequently tinged with golden-yellow; bill black; legs dark bluish-brown.

Younger. — Under parts dull-ashy, spotted with brownish on the neck and
breast, frequently more or less mixed with black ; many spots of the upper parts
dull ashy-white; other spots, especially on the rump, golden-yellow.

Total length, about nine and a half inches ; wing, seven inches ; tau\ two and a
half inches.

Hob. — All of North America, South America, Northern Asia, Europe.

THIS beautiful and well-known bird passes through New
England in the spring and fall migrations, but does not
pause here, in either, longer than two or three days. It
arrives from the South about the 25th of April or 1st of
May, in small flocks of fifteen or twenty, and frequents the

414 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

beach on the seashore and marshes in its neighborhood,
where it feeds on small shell-fish and animalcules, and such
seeds as it may find at that early season. It is, at this
period, thin in flesh, but its plumage is perfect ; and it is
more desirable for cabinet preservation then than in the
fall. It is irregular in its visits in the spring migrations ;
being quite plenty in some seasons, and in others quite rare.
It passes to the most northern portions of the continent to
breed ; none being found in the season of incubation in the
limits of the United States. The flocks separate into pairs ;
but they breed in small communities, two or three pairs
being found in the area of an acre. The nest is nothing
but a hollow in the grass or moss, on the open plain,
scratched by the female: in this she deposits four eggs,
which are oblong-pyriform in shape, of a creamy-bun7 color,
sometimes with an olive tint; and are marked irregularly,
chiefly at their larger end, with spots and confluent blotches
of umber and obscure spots of lilac. In dimensions, they
average about 2.10 by 1.40 inch. It is in the fall migra-
tions that these birds are most actively pursued by sports-
men. The great flight arrives about the 25th of August,
sometimes a little earlier or later, if we have a driving
north-east storm. The gunners make it a point to be on the
plover grounds the last week in August and first week in
September : if they get no plovers then, they usually aban-
don the hunt for the season. In the fall of 1865, these
birds did not alight in New England in any numbers, but
were seen seven or eight miles out at sea, flying at a great
height, in immense flocks, towards the South, and not a
dozen birds were killed in localities where thousands are
usually taken. When the flights are conducted during a
storm, the birds fly low ; and the gunners, concealed in pits
dug in the earth in the pastures and hills over which the
flocks pass, with decoys made to imitate the birds, placed
within gunshot of their hiding-places, decoy the passing
flocks down within reach of their fowling-pieces, by imitat-

THE KILL-DEER PLOVER. 415

ing their peculiar whistle, and kill great numbers of them.
' I have known two sportsmen to bag sixty dozen in two days'
shooting; and instances are on record of still greater num-
bers being secured. The flesh of this bird is very delicate
and fine-flavored ; and the birds are in great demand in all
our markets, bringing equally high prices with the favorite
Woodcock. The Golden Plover feeds on grasshoppers,
various insects, and berries, but is seldom found in the inte-
rior of New England ; the pastures, fields, sandy hills, and
dry islands near the seacoast, being its favorite resorts.

-EGIALITIS, BOIE.

jEgialitis, BOIE, Isis (1822), 558. (Type Charadrius hiaticula, L.)
Plumage more or less uniform, without spots ; neck and head generally with
dark bands ; front of the legs with plates arranged vertically, of which there are
two or three in a transverse series.

This genus, as far as North America is concerned, is distinguished from Chara-
drius by the generally lighter color and greater uniformity of the plumage, by the
absence of continuous black on the belly, and by the presence of dusky bands on
the neck or head ; the size is smaller ; the tarsi, in most species, have the front plates
larger, and conspicuously different in this respect from the posterior ones.

JEGIALITIS VOCIFERUS.— Cassin.
The Kill-deer Plover.

Charadrius vociferus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 253. Wils. Am. Orn., VII
(1813) 78. Nutt. Man., II. 22. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 191; V. 577. lb.,
Syn., 222. 7&., Birds Am., V. (1842) 207.

jEgialtes votiferus, Bonaparte. List ( 1 838 ).

DESCRIPTION.

Wings long, reaching to the end of the tail, which is also rather long ; head above
and upper parts of body light-brown with a greenish tinge ; rump and upper tail
coverts rufous, lighter on the latter ; front and lines over and under the eye white ;
another band of black in front above the white band ; stripe from the base of the
bill towards the occiput brownish-black; ring encircling the neck and wide band on
the breast black; throat white, which color extends upwards around the neck;
other under parts white ; quills brownish-black with about half of their inner webs
white, shorter primaries with a large spot of white on their outer webs, secondaries
widely tipped or edged with white; tail feathers pale-rufous at base; the four mid-
dle light olive-brown tipped with white, and with a wide subterminal band of black ;
lateral feathers widely tipped with white ; entire upper plumage frequently edged

416 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

and tipped with rufous ; very young have upper parts light-gray, with a longitudinal
band on the head and back, black ; under parts white.

Total length, about nine and a half inches ; wing, six and a half inches ; tail,
three and a half inches.

Hob. — North America to the Arctic regions, Mexico, South America.

This species is. pretty generally distributed throughout
New England as a summer resident. It is not common in
any localities, but seems to be found in pairs all along our
seacoast; and, although occasionally breeding in the inte-
rior of these States, in the neighborhood of large tracts of
water, it is almost exclusively found, during the greater
part of the year, in moist fields and meadows and sandy
pastures, within a few miles of the sea. Wilson describes
its habits as follows : —

" This restless and noisy bird is known to almost every inhabi-
tant of the United States, being a common and pretty constant
resident. During the severity of the winter, when snow covers
the ground, it retreats to the seashore, where it is found at all
seasons ; but no sooner have the rivers opened, than its shrill
note is again heard, either roaming about high in air, tracing the
shore of the river, or running amidst the watery flats and meadows.
As spring advances, it resorts to the newly ploughed fields, or level
plains bare of grass, interspersed with shallow pools ; or, in the
vicinity of the sea, dry, bare, sandy fields. In some such situation
it generally chooses to breed, about the beginning of May. The
nest is usually slight, a mere hollow, with such materials drawn in
around it as happen to be near, such as bits of sticks, straw, peb-
bles, or earth. In one instance, I found the nest of the bird
paved with fragments of clam and oyster shells, and very neatly
surrounded with a mound, or border, of the same, placed in a very
close and curious manner. In some cases, there is no vestige
whatever of a nest. The eggs are usually four, of a bright rich
cream or yellowish-clay color, thickly marked with blotches of
black. They are large for the size of the bird, measuring more
than an inch and a half in length, and a full inch in width, taper-
ing to a narrow point at the great end.

"Nothing can exceed the alarm and anxiety of these birds
during the breeding season. Their cries of kill-deer, kill-deer, as

THE KILL-DEER PLOVER. 417

they winnow the air overhead, dive and course around you, or run
along the ground counterfeiting lameness, are shrill and incessant.
The moment they see a person approach, they fly or run to attack
him with their harassing clamor, continuing it over so wide an
extent of ground, that they puzzle the pursuer as to the particular
spot where the nest or young are concealed ; very much resem-
bling, in this respect, the Lapwing of Europe. During the even-
ing, and long after dusk, particularly in moonlight, their cries are
frequently heard with equal violence, both in the spring and fall.
From this circumstance, and their flying about both after dusk and
before dawn, it appears probable that they see better at such times
than most of their tribe. They are known to feed much on worms,
and many of these rise to the surface during the night. The
prowling of Owls may also alarm their fears for their young at
those hours ; but, whatever may be the cause, the facts are so.

" The Kill-deer is more abundant in the Southern States in win-
ter than in summer. Among the rice-fields, and even around the
planters' yards, in South Carolina, I observed them very numerous
in the months of February and March. There the negro boys fre-
quently practise the barbarous mode of catching them with a line,
at the extremity of which is a crooked pin, with a worm on it.
Their flight is something like that of the Tern, but more vigorous ;
and they sometimes rise to a great height in the air. They
are fond of wading in pools of water, and frequently bathe them-
selves during the summer. They usually stand erect on their legs,
and run or walk with the body in a stiff, horizontal position : «they
run with great swiftness, and are also strong and vigorous in the
wings. Their flesh is eaten by some, but is not in general esteem ;
though others say, that, in the fall, when they become very fat, it
is excellent.

" During the extreme droughts of summer, these birds resort to
the gravelly channel of brooks and shallow streams, where they can
wade about in search of aquatic insects : at the close of summer,
they generally descend to the seashore in small flocks, seldom more
than ten or twelve being seen together. They are then more serene
and silent, as well as difficult to be approached.

The eggs of this species are four in number. They are
oblong-pyriform in shape, creamy-buff in color, with numer

27

418 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

ous spots and blotches of dark-brown, chiefly at their greater
end. They vary in dimensions from 1.65 by 1.10 inch to
1.50 by 1.08 inch ; but one brood is reared in the season.

JEGIALITIS WILSONIUS.— (Ord.) Cassin.
Wilson's Plover; Bing-neck.

Charadrius Wilsonius, Ord. Ed. Wils. Orn., IV. (1825) 77. Nutt. Man., II.
(1834) 21. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 73; V. (1839) 577. Ib., Birds Am., V.
(1842) 214.

DESCRIPTION.

Smaller than the preceding; bill rather long and robust.

Male. — Front, and stripe over the eye, and entire under parts, white; front with
a second band of black above the white band ; stripe from the base of the bill to the
eye and wide transverse band on the breast, brownish-black ; upper parts of head
and body light ashy-brown, with the feathers frequently edged and tipped with pale-
ashy ; back of the neck encircled with a ring of white, edged above with fine light-
reddish ; quills brown, with white shafts ; shorter coverts tipped with white ; outer
feathers of the tail white, middle feathers dark-brown ; bill black ; legs yellow.

Female. — Without the band of black in front, and with the pectoral band dull-
reddish and light ashy-brown ; iris reddish-brown.

Total length, seven and three quarter inches ; wing, four and a half inches ; tail,
two inches.

Hob. — Middle and Southern States on the Atlantic, and the same coast of South
America.

This species is found in New England only as a somewhat
rare visitor in the autumn, after it has reared its young in a
more southern locality. I think that it seldom passes north
of the southern coast of Cape Cod ; but it is there occa-
sionally seen in the early part of September, gleaning its
food of animalculae and small shell-fish and insects on the
sandy beach of the ocean.

The Wilson's Plover is more southern in its habits than
either of the succeeding species ; but it breeds abundantly
on the seacoast of New Jersey. The nest is nothing but a
hollow scratched in the sand, above high-water mark, with
a few bits of seaweed or grass for its lining. The eggs are
laid about the first week in June. They are, like those
of the other Waders, pyriform in shape ; and, when placed
in the nest, their small ends are together in the middle of
the nest. They almost exactly resemble the eggs of the

THE SEMIPALMATED PLOVER. 419

Kill-deer Plover, but are some little smaller; varying in
dimensions from 1.40 by 1.05 to 1.34 by 1.02 inch. The
spots and markings are similar to those of the other, but
are less thickly distributed: some specimens have obscure
spots of purple and lilac, and the brown spots vary from
quite blackish to the color of raw-umber.

2EGIALITIS SEMIPALMATUS. — (Bern.) Cabanis.
The Semipalmated Plover; Ring-neck.

Charadrius semipalmatus, Nuttall. -Man., II. 24. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838)
256; V. 579. 76., Birds Am., V. (1842) 218.
^Egialtes semipalmata, Bonaparte. List (1838).
uEgialitis semipalmatus, Cabanis. Cab. Journ. (1856), 425.
Tringa hiaticula, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. (\813) 65.

DESCRIPTION.

Small; wings long; toes connected at base, especially the outer to the middle
toe ; front, throat, ring around the neck, and entire under parts, white ; a band of
deep-black across the breast, extending around the back of the neck below the white
ring; band from the base of the bill, under the eye, and wide frontal band above
the white band, black ; upper parts light ashy-brown, with a tinge of olive ; quills
brownish-black, with their shafts white in a middle portion, and occasionally a lan-
ceolate white spot along the shafts of the shorter primaries ; shorter tertiaries edged
with white ; lesser coverts tipped with white ; middle feathers of the tail ashy olive-
brown, with a wide subterminal band of brownish-black, and narrowly tipped with
white ; two outer tail feathers white, others intermediate, like the middle, but widely
tipped with white ; bill orange-yellow, tipped with black ; legs yellow. Female simi-
lar, but rather lighter-colored. Young without the black band in front, and with
the band across the breast ashy-brown; iris, dark-hazel.

Total length, about seven inches ; wing, four and three-quarters inches ; tail, two
and a quarter inches.

Hob. — The whole of temperate North America; common on the Atlantic.

This pretty and well-known species is abundant in New
England in the spring and fall migrations. It arrives from
the South by the latter part of April, in small flocks of
eight or ten individuals ; some following the course of large
rivers, like the Connecticut ; others haunting the shores of
large ponds and meadows ; but the greater number follow-
ing the seacoast, where they feed, like the others of this
genus, on small crustaceans, shell-fish, and the eggs of fish
and other marine animals.

420 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Although I found a single pair with their nest on the
island of Muskegeet, Mass., in June, 1866, this bird gener-
ally breeds in the most northern parts of the continent.
Audubon, in describing its breeding habits, says, —

" As soon as one of us was noticed by a Ring Plover, it would
at once stand still, and become silent. If we did the same, it
continued, and seldom failed to wear out our patience. If we
advanced, it would lower itself, and squat on the moss or bare rock
until approached, when it would suddenly rise on its feet, droop its
wings, depress its head, and run with great speed to a considerable
distance ; uttering, all the while, a low rolling and querulous cry,
very pleasing to the ear. On being surprised when in charge of
their young, they would open their wings to the full extent, and
beat the ground with their extremities, as if unable to rise. If
pursued, they allowed us to come within a few feet, then took flight,
and attempted to decoy us away from their young, which lay so
close that we very seldom discovered them ; but which, on being
traced, ran swiftly off, uttering a plaintive peep, often repeated,
that never failed to bring their parents to their aid. At Labrador,
the Ring Plover begins to breed in the beginning of June. Like
the Piping Plover, it forms no nest ; but, whilst the latter scoops a
place in the sand for its eggs, the Ring Plover forms a similar
cavity in the moss, in a place sheltered from the north winds, and
exposed to the full rays of the sun, usually near the margins of
small ponds formed by the melting of the snow, and surrounded by
short grass. The eggs, like those of all the family, are four, and
placed with the small ends together. They are broad at the larger
end, rather sharp at the other ; measure 1£ inch in length, 1|
inches in their greatest breadth; are of a dull-yellowish color,
irregularly blotched and spotted all over with dark-brown of dif-
ferent tints."

Early in September, sometimes by the 20th of August,
small flocks of these birds appear in New England, and
they remain here as late as the first week in October : they
are now fat and delicate, and are esteemed excellent for the
table.

THE PIPING PLOVER, 421

JEGIALITIS MELODUS. — (Ord.) Cabanis.
The Piping Plover.

Charadrius melodus, Nuttall. Man., II. 18. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 154;
V. 678.

JEgialtea melodus, Bonaparte. List (1838).
jEgialitis melodus, Cabanis. Jour. (1856), 424.
Charadrius hiaticula. Wils. Am. Orn., V. (1812) 30.

DESCRIPTION.

About the size of the preceding; bill short, strong.

Adult. — Forehead, ring around the back of the neck, and entire under parts,
white, a band of black in front above the band of white ; band encircling the neck
before and behind black, immediately below the ring of white on the neck behind ;
head above, and upper parts of body, light brownish-cinereous ; rump and upper tail
coverts lighter, and often nearly white; quills dark-brown, with a large portion of
their inner webs and shafts white; shorter primaries with a large portion of their
outer webs white ; tail at base white, and with the outer feathers white ; middle
feathers with a wide subterminal band of brownish-black, and tipped with white ;
bill orange at base, tipped with black; legs orange-yellow.

Female. — Similar to the male, but with the dark colors lighter and less in extent.

Young. — No black band in front; collar around the back of the neck ashy-
brown; iris brown.

Total length, about seven inches; wing, four and a half inches; tail, two inches.

Sab. — Eastern coast of North America ; Nebraska (Lieut. Warren); Louisiana
(Mr. G. Wurdemann).

This pretty and well-known species is pretty abundantly
distributed along the coast of New England as a summer
resident. It arrives from the South about the 20th of April
in small flocks, and soon selects its breeding-residence on
some tract of ocean beach ; dividing, early in May, into pairs,
which, however, associate somewhat together through the
whole season. It occasionally penetrates into the interior,
and has been known to breed on the borders of a pond
twenty miles from the seaboard ; but generally, in New Eng-
land, it seldom wanders far from the shore, where it is one
of the most beautiful and interesting of our Waders.

It seems to prefer sandy islands a short distance from the
main land for its breeding-place. I have found numbers
breeding on the island of Muskegeet, off the southern coast
of Massachusetts, and have found it on many others of our
islands of similar character.

422 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

The nest is nothing but a hollow in the sand scraped by
the female bird : it sometimes has a slight lining of pieces
of grass or seaweed ; but usually the eggs are deposited on
the bare sand. These are four in number, abruptly pyri-
form in shape, and a beautiful light creamy-buff in color,
with thinly scattered spots of black and brown, and some-
times a few obscure spots of lilac. They average smaller in
size than either of the preceding, varying from 1.30 by 1 inch
to 1.20 by .95 inch in dimensions. They do not resemble
the others, being much more finely marked ; and their small
ends are more rounded.

The breeding habits and general characteristics of this
so much resemble those of the preceding species that the
same remarks will apply to both.

SQUATAROLA, CUVIEK.

Squatarola, CUVIEK, Regne Anim., I. (1817). (Type Tringa squatarola, Linn.)
A rudimentary hind toe ; legs reticulated, with elongated hexagons anteriorly, of

which there are five or six in a transverse row; fewer behind; first primary longest;

tail slightly rounded.

SQUATABOLA HELVETICA. — Cuvier.
The Black-bellied Plover.

Tringa helvetica, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 250.
Sguatarola helvetica. Cuvier, R. A., (1817).

Charadrius helveticw, Audubon. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 280. 7i., Birds Amer.,
Y. (1742) 199.

Charadrius apricarius, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. (1813) 41.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill and legs strong; wings long; a very small rudimentary hind toe; around the
base of the bill to the eyes, neck before and under parts of body, black; upper
white, nearly pure and unspotted on the forehead ; sides of the neck and rump tinged
with ashy, and having irregular transverse bars of brownish-black on the back,
scapulars, and wing coverts ; the brownish-black frequently predominating on those
parts, and the rump also frequently with transverse bars of the same ; lower part of
the abdomen, tibia, and under tail coverts, white ; quills brownish-black, lighter on
their inner webs, with a middle portion of their shafts white, and a narrow longi-
tudinal stripe of white frequently on the shorter primaries and secondaries; tail
white, with transverse imperfect narrow bands of black ; bill and legs black ; the
black color of the under parts generally with a bronzed or coppery lustre, and pre-

THE BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. 423

senting a scale-like appearance; the brownish-black of the upper parts with a
greenish lustre.

Younger and winter plumage. — Entire upper parts dark-brown, with circular
and irregular small spots of white, and frequently of yellow, most numerous on
the wing coverts ; upper tail coverts white ; under parts white, with short longi-
tudinal lines and spots dark brownish-cinereous on the neck and breast; quills brown-
ish-black, with large longitudinal spots of white on their inner webs, and also on the
outer webs of the shorter primaries.

Young. — Upper parts lighter, and with the white spots more irregular or
scarcely assuming a circular shape; narrow lines on the neck and breast more
numerous; iris black.

Total length, about eleven and a half inches ; wings, seven and a half inches ;
tail, three inches.

Hob. — All of North America. The seacoasts of nearly all countries of the
world.

This beautiful bird is almost of the same habits and
characteristics as the Golden Plover described on a preced-
ing page. It arrives and departs at nearly the same time
in spring, and, like that species, breeds in the most northern
sections of the continent. Wilson, in speaking of its breed-
ing in Pennsylvania, says, —

" This bird is known in some parts of the country by the name
of the Large Whistling Field Plover. It generally makes its first
appearance in Pennsylvania late in April ; frequents the countries
towards the mountains ; seems particularly attached to newly
ploughed fields, where it forms its nest of a few slight materials, as
slightly put together. The female lays four eggs, large for the
size of the bird, of a light-olive color, dashed with black, and has
frequently two broods in the same season. It is an extremely shy
and watchful bird, though clamorous during breeding-time."

About the 10th or 15th of September, or a fortnight later
than the Golden Plover, it returns on its southern migra-
tion; and the same means are employed for its destruc-
tion as for that bird : these birds are called by the gunners
by the name of Beetle-heads, and are esteemed as being
nearly as palatable and delicate as the other species.

424 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

FAMILY EUEMATOPODID.ZE. THE OYSTER-CATCHERS.

Bill as long as the head, or twice as long, compressed; culmen but little
indented, and the bill not vaulted beyond the nostrils, which are quite basal.

ELEMATOPUS, LINN^US.

Hamatopus, LINNAEUS, Syet. Nat. (1735). (Type H. Ostralegus, L.)
Bill longer than the leg, twice as long as the head; mandibles much compressed,
sharp-edged, and truncate at end; hind toe wanting; legs reticulated, with five or
six elongated plates in a transverse series ; meshes larger anteriorly ; a basal mem-
brane between middle and outer toes; toes enlarged laterally by a thickened
membrane; tail even; first primary longest.

HJEMATOPUS PALLIATUS.— Temm.
The Oyster-catcher.

Hcematqpus palliatus, Temm. Man., II. (1820) 632. Aud. Orn. Biog., III.
(1835) 181; V. 580. Ib., Birds Am., V. (1842) 236.

Hamatopus ostralegus, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 15.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill long, straight, flattened vertically; wing long; tail short; legs moderate,
rather robust; toes margined; outer and middle united at base; head and neck
brownish-black, with a slight ashy tinge in very mature specimens ; upper parts of
body light ashy-brown, rather darker on the rump; upper tail coverts and wide
diagonal band across the wing white ; quills brownish-black ; tail feathers at base
white, with their terminating half brownish-black ; under parts of body and under
wing coverts white ; bill and edge of eyelids bright orange-red ; legs pale-reddish ;
iris bright-yellow.

Total length, about seventeen and a half inches ; wing, ten ; tail, four and a half;
bill to gape, three and a half; tarsus, two and a quarter inches.

FT1HIS bird is of rare occurrence on the seacoast of New
_L England as a summer visitor. I am not aware that it
breeds here ; but it may, as it is said to be found all along
our coast from Maine to Florida. Wilson, in describing its
habits, says, —

"The Oyster-catcher frequents the sandy sea-beach of New
Jersey, and other parts of our Atlantic coast, in summer, in small
parties of two or three pairs together. They are extremely shy ;

THE OYSTER-CATCHER. 425

and, except about the season of breeding, will seldom permit a per-
son to approach within gunshot. They walk along the shore in a
watchful, stately manner ; at times probing it with their long,
wedge-like bills, in search of small shell-fish. This appears evi-
dent, on examining the hard sands where they usually resort
which are found thickly perforated with oblong holes, two or
three inches in depth. The small crabs, called fiddlers, that
burrow in the mud at the bottom of inlets, are frequently the
prey of the Oyster-catcher; as are muscles, spout-fish, and a
variety of other shell-fish and sea insects with which those shores
abound.

" The Oyster-catcher will not only take to the water when
wounded, but can also swim and dive well. This fact I can assert
from my own observation, the exploits of one of them in this way
having nearly cost me my life. On the sea-beach of Cape May,
not far from a deep and rapid inlet, I broke the wing of one of
these birds, and, being without a dog, instantly pursued it towards
the inlet, which it made for with great rapidity. We both plunged
in nearly at the same instant ; but the bird eluded my grasp, and I
sunk beyond my depth : it was not until this moment that I recol-
lected having carried in my gun along with me. On rising to the
surface, I found the bird had dived, and a strong ebb current was
carrying me fast towards the ocean, encumbered with a gun and
all my shooting apparatus. I was compelled to relinquish my bird,
and to make for the shore with considerable mortification, and the
total destruction of the contents of my powder-horn. The wounded
bird afterwards rose, and swam with great buoyancy."

The eggs of this bird are most generally a creamy-drab
color, with numerous blotches and spots of blackish-brown.
Their form is ovoidal ; and their dimensions vary from 2.30
to 2.12 inch in length by from 1.62 to 1.50 in breadth.

STREPSILAS, ILLIGEK.

Strepsilas, ILLIGEB, Prodromus (1811). (Type Tringa interpres, L.)
Upper jaw with the culmen straight from the nasal groove to near the slightly
upward bent tip; the bill tapering to a rather blunt point; no membrane between
the anterior toes; hind toe lengthened, touching the ground; legs transversely
scutellate anteriorly; reticulated laterally and behind; tail rounded.

426 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGT.

The nasal groove is very broad and shallow, obtuse anteriorly, and not extend-
ing beyond the middle of the bill; the lower edge of upper jaw ascends slightly
from the middle to near the tip.

STEEPSILAS INTEEPRES.— flliger.
The Turnstone.

Tringa interpres, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 248. Wils. Am. Orn., VII.
(1813) 32.

Strepsilas interpres, Illiger. Prod. (1811), 263. Nutt., II. 30. Aud. Orn. Biog.,
IV. (1838) 31. lb., Birds Am., V. (1842) 231.

DESCRIPTION.

Upper parts rather irregularly variegated with black, dark-rufous, and white;
head and neck above generally white, with numerous spots and stripes of brownish-
black on the crown and occiput; space in front of the eye white, usually surrounded
with black ; throat white, on each side of which is a stripe of black running from
the base of the bill downwards and joining a large space of the same color (black)
on the neck before and breast; abdomen, under wing coverts, under tail coverts,
back, and rump, white ; quills brownish-black, with their shafts white ; tail white at
base, with its terminal half brownish-black, and tipped with white ; greater wing
coverts widely tipped with white, forming a conspicuous oblique bar across the
wing; bill black; legs orange; in winter, the black of the upper parts is more
apparent, and the rufous is of less extent and of lighter shade; iris hazel.

Total length, about nine inches ; wing, six ; tail, two and a half inches.

Hob. — Shores of the Atlantic and Pacific, throughout North America. One of
the most widely diffused of birds, being found in nearly all parts of the world.

It is only on the seacoast, and in very small numbers
even, that this bird is found in New England as a spring
and summer visitor. It occasionally is found in company
with some of the Sandpipers and other beach-birds; but
usually appears alone, or in parties of two or three, on the
beach, or on the shores of sandy rivers that empty into
the ocean, near their outlets. It is almost always actively
employed in turning over the pebbles and small stones with
its strong, sharp bill, beneath which it finds small marine
animals and eggs, on which it principally feeds. It also
eats greedily, according to Wilson, on the eggs of the
Horse-shoe, or King Crab, and small shell-fish, and occa-
sionally wades into the water for a shrimp or other small
animal that is left in a shallow pool by the retiring waves.
It breeds on the most northern sections of the continent,

THE TURNSTONE. 427

building its nest in the Hudson's Bay country, early in
June: this nest is nothing but a slight hollow scratched
in the earth, and lined with a few pieces of grass or sea-
weed. The eggs are four in number : they are of an olive
color, sometimes a drab ; and are marked with spots and
blotches of reddish and black, chiefly at the greater end,
where they are confluent, and nearly cover and conceal
the ground-color. Their form is abruptly pyriform; and
their dimensions average about 1.55 by 1.15 inch.

It is rarely that we find two specimens of this bird in the
full plumage, or marked alike : they exhibit all the varieties,
from almost entirely gray on their upper parts, to the
plumage described above.

428 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY,

FAMILY KECURVIROSTRID^E. THE AVOSETS.

Legs covered with hexagonal plates, becoming smaller behind ; anterior toes all
connected more or less by membrane; bill much lengthened and attenuated; the
groove along the side of the upper mandible not extending beyond the middle;
gums denticulated only at the base.

In addition to the features above mentioned, these birds are essentially charac-
terized by the excessive length of the legs, with a very long, slender neck and slen-
der elongated bill. Of the several genera assigned the family, but two belong to
the United States, with the following features: —

RECUKVIROSTBA. — Hind toe present; toes webbed to the claws; bill recurved
at tip.

HIMANTOPUS. — Hind toe wanting; a short web between middle and outer toes
at base; bill straight.

RECURVIROSTRA, LINNAEUS.

Recurvirostra, LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat. (1744). Gray. (Type R. avocetta, L.)
Hind toe rudimentary; anterior toes united to the claws by a much emarginated

membrane; bill depressed, extended into a fine point, which is recurved; tail

covered by the wings.

v

RECURVIROSTBA AMERICANA. - Gmelm.
The American Avoset.

Recurvirostra Americana, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 693. Wils. Am. Orn.,
VII. (1813) 126. Nutt. Man., II. 78. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 168. Jb., Birds
Am., VI. (1843) 247.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill rather long, depressed; wings long; legs long; tarsi compressed; tail short.

Adult. — Head and neck pale reddish-brown, darker on the head, and fading
gradually into white; back, wing coverts, and quills, black; scapulars, tips of
greater wing coverts, rump and tail, and entire under parts, white, the last frequently
tinged with reddish; bill brownish-black; legs bluish.

Young. — Very similar to the adult, but with the head and neck white, frequently
tinged with ashy on the head and neck behind; iris carmine.

Total length, about seventeen inches ; wing, eight and a half to nine ; tail, three
and a half; bill to gape, three and three-quarters ; tarsus, three and a half inches.

THIS bird is a rare summer visitor in New England
I am unacquainted with its habits, having never met
with one alive ; and I must avail myself of the observations
of others. Wilson says, —

THE AMERICAN AVOSET. 429

" In describing the Long-legged Avoset, the similarity between
that and the present was taken notice of. This resemblance
extends to every thing but their color. I found both these birds
associated together on the salt marshes of New Jersey, on the 20th
of May. They were then breeding. Individuals of the present
species were few in respect to the other. They flew around the
shallow pools exactly in the manner of the Long-legs; uttering
the like sharp note of click, click, click ; alighting on the marsh or
in the water indiscriminately ; fluttering their loose wings, and shak-
ing their half-bent legs, as if ready to tumble over ; keeping up a
continual yelping note. They were, however, rather more shy,
and kept at a greater distance. One which I wounded attempted
repeatedly to dive ; but the water was too shallow to permit him to
do this with facility. The nest was built among the thick tufts of
grass, at a small distance from one of these pools. It was com-
posed of small twigs of a seaside shrub, dry grass, seaweed, &c.,
raised to the height of several inches. The eggs were four, of a
dull-olive color, marked with large, irregular blotches, of black, and
with others of a fainter tint.

Audubon, who found it breeding in the neighborhood of
Yincennes, in the State of Indiana, describes the nest and
eggs as follows : —

"The nests were placed among the tallest grasses, and were
entirely composed of the same materials, but dried, and apparently
of a former year's growth. There was not a twig of any kind
about them. The inner nest was about five inches in diameter, and
lined with fine prairie grass, different from that found on the islets
of the pond, and about two inches in depth, over a bed having a
thickness of an inch and a half. The islets did not seem to be
liable to inundation ; and none of the nests exhibited any appearance
of having been increased in elevation since the commencement of
incubation, as was the case with those described by Wilson. Like
those of most Waders, the eggs were four in number, and placed
with the small ends together. They measured two inches in length,
one inch and three-eighths in their greatest breadth, and were
exactly, as Wilson tells us, ' of a dull-olive color,' &c. To this I
have to add that they are pear-shaped and smooth."

430 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

FAMILY PHALAROPODID^E. THE PHALAROPES.

Feathers of breast compact, duck-like ; legs with transverse scutellse before and
behind; toes to the tips with a lateral margin, more or less indented at the joints,
the hinder with a feeble lobe ; bill equal to or longer than the head, the lateral groove
extending nearly to the tip.

PHALAROPUS, BRISSON.
Membrane of toes scolloped at the joints.

PHALABOPUS HYPERBOREUS.— Temm.
The Northern Phalarope.

Tringa hyperborea, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 249.

Phalaropus hyperboreus, Temm. Man., II. (1820) 709. Aud. Orn. Biog., III.
(1835)118; V. 595.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill short, straight, pointed ; wings long ; tail short ; legs short.

Adult. — Neck encircled with a ring of bright-ferruginous, and a stripe of the
same on each side ; head above and neck behind sooty-ash ; back, wings, and tail,
brownish-black, paler on the rump, mixed with bright-ferruginous on the back ; tips
of greater wing coverts white ; sides and flanks ashy, frequently mixed with red-
dish ; throat, breast, and abdomen white ; bill and legs dark ; iris dark-brown.

Young. — Entire upper parts brownish-black; many feathers edged and tipped
with dull yellow and ashy; under parts white; tips of greater wing coverts white.

Total length, about seven inches; wing, four and half; tail, two and a quarter;
bill, one ; tarsus, three-fourths of an inch.

rilHE Northern Phalarope is rarely found on the seacoast
A of New England in the spring and autumn migrations ;
appearing in the former about the 10th of May, and in the
latter about the 25th of August. The migrations are per-
formed by the birds in small flocks out at sea ; and it is only
when they are driven into shore by heavy winds and storms
that they are found here, and then scarcely more than two or
three birds are taken in a season. This species is equally a
swimmer and wader. When on the water, it has the appear-
ance of a small Gull or Tern, swimming with great elegance

THE NORTHERN PHALAROPE. 431

and ease, frequently dipping its bill into the water to secure
a small marine animal or fly. Its motions are so graceful
when thus employed, that the bird has been compared to a
swan ; and all writers agree that it is one of the most beauti-
ful of our aquatic birds.

On the shore, it frequents small pools or ponds of water,
near the coast, in which it wades and swims with equal
facility ; frequently uttering a shrill cry similar to the sylla-
bles creet cree teet. It is said that the same pairs are faith-
ful to each other for successive seasons. I know not how
true this may be ; but it seems not improbable, from the
fact, that, in their winter homes on the shores of the Gulf
of Mexico, they are most often seen in small parties of three
or four, often by pairs. This species breeds in the most
northern sections of the continent. It builds its nest about
the first week in June, in the Hudson's Bay country : this
is constructed of a few pieces of grass and moss, put loosely
together, and placed in a tussock of grass or moss. The
eggs are usually four in number. They vary in color from a
brownish-drab to light-olive, and are thickly covered with
large blotches and spots of dark umber : their form is abrupt-
ly pyriform, and their dimensions vary from 1.12 by 1.02
to 1.06 by .98 inch.

432 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

FAMILY SCOLOPACIDJE. THE SNIPES.

Legs with transverse scutellae before and behind ; toes not margined broadly to
the tips, with or without basal membrane; hind toe generally present; bill generally
longer than the head, the groove extending beyond the middle.

Sub-Family SCOLOPACIN^.

Bill swollen at the end, and covered almost to the tip with a soft skin, the edges
only of the rather vaulted tip horny ; the end of the upper bill generally bent a
little over the tip of lower; the jaw-bone in typical genera finely porous, and per-
forated by vessels and nerves, imparting a high degree of sensibility to the bill,
enabling it to find food in the mud; after death, the end of bill is usually pitted;
legs rather stout; the naked portion of the tibia much abbreviated; the hind toe
well developed and generally present ; the toes usually without basal membrane
(except in Macrorhamphus, &c.).

PHILOHELA, G. R. GRAY.

Philohela, GRAY, List of Genera (1841). Gmelin. (Type Scolqpax minor.)
Body very full, and head, bill, and eyes very large ; tibia short, feathered to the
joint; toes cleft to base; wings short, rounded; first three primaries very narrow,
and much attenuated ; the fourth and fifth equal and longest ; tarsi stout, shorter
than the middle toe ; hind nail very short, conical, not extending beyond the toe*;
tail of twelve feathers.

The present genus, embracing a single species, the American Woodcock, is much
like Scolopax, with the European Woodcock as type, in color and external appear-
ance. The most striking difference is seen in the wings, which are short, rounded,
the fourth and fifth primaries longest, and the outer three attenuated ; while in Scolo-
pax the wings are long, the first primary longest and more attenuated.

PHILOHELA MINOR. — Gray.
The American Woodcock.

Scolqpax minor, Wilson. Am. Orn., VI. (1812) 40. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835)
474.

Rusticola minor, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 194.

Scolopax (microptera) minor, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 194.

Philokda minor, Gray. List Genera (1841).

DESCRIPTION.

Bill long, compressed, punctulated and corrugated near the end; upper mandible
longer than the under, and fitted to it at the tip ; wings moderate, three first quills
very narrow; tail short; legs moderate; eyes inserted unusually distant from the

THE AMERICAN WOODCOCK. 433

bill ; occiput with three transverse bands of black, alternating with three others of
pale yellowish-rufous ; upper parts of body variegated with pale-ashy, rufous, or
yellowish-red of various shades, and black ; large space in front, and throat, reddish-
ashy ; line from the eye to the bill, and another on the neck below the eye, brownish-
black; entire under parts pale-rufous, brighter on the sides and under wing coverts;
quills ashy-brown; tail feathers brownish-black, tipped with ashy, darker on the
upper surface, paler and frequently white on the under; bill light-brown, paler and
yellowish at base ; legs pale-reddish ; iris brown.

Total length, about eleven inches; wing, five and a quarter; tail, two and a
quarter; bill, two and a quarter; tarsus, one and a quarter inches.

Hob. — Eastern North America.

THE Woodcock is a common summer inhabitant of the
three southern New-England States, and is not rare in
most sections of the others. It is one of the earliest of our
spring arrivals ; appearing by the 10th of March, and some-
times much earlier, even before the 25th of February.
When it first arrives, it is partially gregarious ; being found
in small companies of four or five, in the area of a few
rods. It frequents low swampy woods and thickets at this
season, where, during the day, it remains concealed, only
moving about, in its search for food, in the night.

It begins its nocturnal rambles by early twilight, and only
retires to its swamp at daybreak. If we stand, in the even-
ing, in the neighborhood of a, swamp, or low tract of woods,
we sometimes hear two or three individuals moving about
in the undergrowth, uttering their note, chip^per, chip-per
chip, sometimes varying it to bleat or bleat ta bleat ta; or
see them, against the evening sky, flying rapidly from one
swamp to another. About the first week in April, after
separating into pairs, the Woodcocks begin their duties of
incubation : the female scratches together a few leaves, on
a slight elevation in some meadow or swamp, and this forms
the nest. I have noticed that the locality most often selected
is in a small bunch of bushes, or fcmall birches or alders, in
the midst of a meadow. The eggs are three or four in num-
ber : their ground -color is usually a rich creamy-drab,
sometimes with a slightly olive tint ; and they are marked,
more or less thickly, with coarse and fine spots and blotches

434 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

of two shades of brown, and obscure spots of lilac. They
are less pyriform than the eggs of any other birds in this
group, being often almost exactly ovoidal. They exhibit
great variations in size, some specimens from Bristol County,
Massachusetts, averaging 1.80 by 1.25 ; and others, from
the south and west, averaging only 1.45 by 1.15 ; others
from Western Massachusetts average about 1.50 by 1.20,
being nearly rounded; and one from J. P. Norris, found
in Chester County, Pennsylvania, is abruptly pyriform, being
in dimensions 1.45 by 1.20 inch.

Both birds assist in incubation ; and they are so unwilling
to leave the nest at this time, that I have known of an ox-
team being driven within a foot of a bird, without starting
her from the nest. The food of the Woodcock consists of
worms and animalculae, which it secures by thrusting its bill
into the soft earth, and beneath the dead leaves and grass
in swamps and other wet places.

The tongue of the bird is coated with a thick saliva ; and
the worms sticking to it are drawn out and devoured. The
holes where the bill is thus thrust in the earth are called,
by gunners, "borings;'" and the presence of the bird is
detected by them, as none of our wood-birds make any simi-
lar. The old bird, if shot in the summer, when she has
young, often has her mouth full of small worms ; and this
proves that she feeds her chicks until they are nearly full
grown. The flight of the Woodcock is rapid, and always is
accompanied by a sharp twitter. When the bird is flushed,
it ascends quickly to the height of the trees ; and, after
hovering a few seconds, it alights on the ground, within a
few rods of the point from which it first flew.

In the latter part of July, and during the month of
August, while the birds are moulting, they retire to the
most secluded localities ; and it is difficult to find them
at that season. In September, during the continuance of
dry weather, they frequent cornfields and ditches ; and I
have seen them searching for worms in the mud in a sink

WILSON'S SNIPE. 435

spout, within a few yards of a house. At the latter part of
September, and during October, they are in their prime ;
and I know of no more exciting sport, and one that is so
generally satisfactory, than fall Woodcock hunting. By
the 10th of November, none of these birds are to be found
in New England.

GALLINAGO, LEACH.

Gallinago, "LEACH, Catal. British Birds (1816)." Gray. (Type Scolopax
major, L.)

Lower portion of the tibia bare of feathers, scutellate before and behind, reticu-
lated laterally like the tarsi ; nail of hind toe slender, extending beyond the toe ;
bill depressed at the tip ; middle toe longer than tarsus ; tail with twelve to sixteen
feathers.

The more slender body, longer legs, partly naked tibia, and other features, dis-
tinguish this genus from Scolqpax or Philohela.

GALLINAGO WILSONII. — Bonaparte.
The Snipe; Wilson's Snipe; English Snipe.

Scolopax Wilsonii, Nuttall. Man., II. 185. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835)322;
V. (1839) 583. lb., Birds Amer., V. (1842) 339.
Gallinago Wilsonii, Bonaparte. List (1838).
Scolopax gallinago, Wilson. Am. Orn., VI. (1812) 18. Not of Linnaeus.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill long, compressed, flattened, and slightly expanded towards the tip, pustu-
lated in its terminal half; wings rather long; legs moderate; tail short; entire upper
parts brownish-black; every feather spotted and widely edged with light-rufous,
yellowish-brown, or ashy-white ; back and rump transversely barred and spotted
with the same; a line from the base of the bill over the top of the head; throat and
neck before, dull reddish-ashy; wing feather marked with dull brownish-black;
other under parts white, with transverse bars of brownish-black on the sides, axil-
lary feathers and under wing coverts and under tail coverts; quills brownish-black;
outer edge of first primary white ; tail glossy brownish-black, widely tipped with
bright-rufous, paler at the tip, and with a subterminal narrow band of black ; outer
feathers of tail paler, frequently nearly white, and barred with black throughout
their length; bill brown, yellowish at base, and darker towards the end; legs dark-
brown; iris hazel.

Total length, about ten and a half inches; wing, five; tail, two and a quarter;
bill, two and a half; tarsus, one and a quarter inch.

Hob. — Entire temperate regions of North America; California (Mr. Szabo).

The Snipe is equally well known, and as great a favorite
with sportsmen, as the preceding species. It arrives from

436 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

the South at about the same time, and has many of the
habits and characteristics of the other bird. It is found
in New England only as a spring and autumn visitor,
very rarely breeding here, but passing the season of incuba-
tion in higher latitudes. It frequents the fresh-water
meadows, where it usually lies concealed during the day,
only moving about in dark weather and in the night. In
the spring, while with us, it appears to be pairing; and,
although associating in small detached flocks, they are most
often found in pairs by themselves. It is during this
season that the male performs his well-known gyrations in
the air : he ascends to a considerable height, early in the
evening, and, almost in the manner of the Night-hawk,
described on a preceding page, dives towards the earth,
uttering his bleating cry, and peculiar rumbling sound.
This species breeds sometimes in the northern portions of
New England. It forms a loose nest of grass and a few
leaves, on the ground, in a bog or wet swampy thicket ;
and, about the first week in May, the female lays three or
four eggs. These are more pyriform in shape than the pre-
ceding, and average about 1.44 by 1.15 inch in dimensions.
Their color is an olivaceous-drab, marked with spots of
brown, which are, at the greater end, confluent into blotches,
which almost entirely hide the ground-color.

The Snipe has been known to breed in Massachusetts ;
but the occurrence is very rare, and can be regarded only
as accidental. By the 25th of August, it returns to the
meadows of New England in small parties of three or four;
but it is not abundant much before the 10th or 15th of Sep-
tember, and then is not found in great numbers, unless
we have had two or three sharp frosts. The time when
sportsmen most expect to find them in numbers is after a
north-easterly storm, when the wind veers around to the
south-westward. Then the meadows are hunted diligently,
and generally with success. I have bagged twenty-four
birds in an afternoon's shooting, within ten miles of Boston,

WILSON'S SNIPE. 437

and have known that number to be exceeded in favorable
weather. The Snipe lies close to the ground when ap-
proached ; and, being a bird of strong scent, as the expres-
sion is, is winded to a considerable distance by a good dog.
It is easy to imagine the excitement the sportsman experi-
ences, when, with a good dog, he enters a large meadow,
and sees him suddenly come to a point ; when, walking up
to the Snipe, and flushing it, the report of his gun, as he
shoots the bird, startles from their lurking-places perhaps
a dozen others, who fly but a short distance, uttering their
peculiar squeak or scaip, and then alight in the grass, prom-
ising him an abundance of shooting for the day.

The Snipe, when first flushed, rapidly doubles and twists
in a quick, zigzag flight, which it continues for several rods,
when it takes a more direct course, almost always against
the wind. The sportsman, knowing this habit of the bird,
reserves his fire until it has stopped twisting, when his aim
is generally successful!, Sometimes two birds rise at the
same time, when it requires considerable coolness and expe-
rience to secure both. I once got three double shots in
succession, securing all six birds : but such an occurrence
and good luck are rare ; and we must be satisfied, in most
shooting, to get but single birds.

The Snipe, like the Woodcock, probes in the soft earth
for worms and animalcules, which it feeds upon : it also
eats the larvae of water-insects, and leeches, and occa-
sionally captures grasshoppers and other insects in the wet
grass in which it almost entirely resided. It is very diffi-
cult of approach in cloudy and windy weather; but, in
warm, bright days in the fall, it is quiet, and lies until
approached quite near. It remains with us until the
ground is frozen in the meadow, when it moves to the
Southern States, where it passes the winter.

438 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

MACRORHAMPHUS, LEACH.

Macrorhamphus, " LEACH, Catal. Brit. Birds, 1816." Gray. (Scolopax grisea.)
Gmelin.

General appearance of Gallinago. Tarsi longer than middle toe; a short web
between the base of outer and middle toe.

The membrane at the base of the toes will at once distinguish this genus from
Gallinago, though there are other characters involved.

MACRORHAMPHUS GRISEUS. — (Gm.) Leach.
The Red-breasted Snipe ; Gray Snipe.

Scolopax grisea, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 658, No. 27.
Scolopax Noveboracensis, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. (1813) 45. Aud. Orn. Biog.,
IV. (1838) 285. /&., Birds Amer., VI. (1843) 10.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill long, compressed, flattened, and expanded towards the end, and, in the same
space, punctulated and corrugated; wing rather long; shaft of first primary strong;
tail short; legs rather long.

Adult. — Upper parts variegated with dark-ashy, pale-reddish, 'and black, the lat-
ter predominating on the back; rump and upper tail coverts white, the latter
spotted and barred transversely with black ; under parts pale ferruginous-red, with
numerous points and circular spots of brownish-black on the neck before, and
transverse bands of the same 'on the sides and under tail coverts ; axillary feathers
and under wing coverts white, spotted and transversely barred with black ; quills
brownish-black ; shaft of first primary white ; tail brownish-black, with numerous
transverse bands of ashy-white, and frequently tinged with ferruginous, especially
on the two middle feathers ; bill greenish-black ; legs dark greenish-brown.

Younger. — Entire under parts dull- white, strongly marked with dull-ashy on
the neck in front, and transverse bands of the same on the sides ; axillary feathers
and under wing coverts white, spotted with brownish-black ; upper parts lighter
than in the adult.

Total length, about ten inches; wing, five and three-quarters; tail, two and a
quarter ; bill, two and a quarter ; tarsus, one and a quarter inch.

Hob. — Entire temperate regions of North America.

This handsome bird is found in small numbers in the
marshes along our coast, in the spring and autumn migra-
tions. It seldom penetrates into the inland waters of New
England, but prefers the salt marshes. I think that it is
much more of a beach bird than the Common Snipe ; for it
is often found on the beach of the seashore, while the
other is never seen there, so far as my experience goes. It

THE RED-BREASTED SNIPE. 439

is never found in such numbers here as Wilson speaks of
in the following description, but is seen in small bunches
of six or eight : —

" The Red-breasted Snipe arrives on the seacoast of New Jer-
sey early in April, is seldom or never seen inland : early hi May,
it proceeds to the North to breed, and returns by the latter part of
July or beginning of August. During its stay here, it flies in
flocks, sometimes very high, and has then a loud and shrill whistle ;
making many evolutions over the marshes ; forming, dividing, and
re-uniting. They sometimes settle in such numbers, and so close
together, that eighty-five have been shot at one discharge of a mus-
ket. They spring from the marshes with a loud, twirling whistle,
generally rising high, and making several circuitous manoeuvres in
the air before they descend. They frequent the sand-bars and mud
flats, at low water, in search of food ; and, being less suspicious of
a boat than of a person on shore, are easily approached by this
medium, and shot down in great numbers. They usually keep by
themselves, being very numerous ; are in excellent order for the
table in September; and, on the approach of whiter, retire to
the South.

" I have frequently amused myself with the various action of
these birds. They fly very rapidly, sometimes wheeling, coursing,
and doubling along the surface of the marshes ; then shooting high
in air, there separating and forming in various bodies, uttering a
kind of quivering whistle. Among many which I opened in May,
were several females that had very little rufous below ; and the
backs were also much lighter, and less marbled with ferruginous.
The eggs contained in their ovaries were some of them as large as
garden peas. Their stomachs contained masses of those small snail
shells that lie in millions on the salt marshes. The wrinkles at the
base of the bill, and the red breast, are strong characters of this
species, as also the membrane which unites the outer and middle
toes together."

28

440 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Sub-Family TRINGIN^E. — The Sandpipers.

Bill shorter than the naked leg, widened or rather spoon-shaped at the end, with
the edges not bent over; roof of mouth excavated to the tip; no groove along the
culmen; ear behind the eye; tail without bands?

TRINGA, LINN^US.
Tringa, LINN.EUS. Syst. Nat, (1735). (Type T. canuius, L.)

DESCRIPTION.

Size moderate or small ; general form adapted to dwelling on the shores of both
salt and fresh waters, and subsisting on minute or small animals, in pursuit of
which they carefully examine and probe with their bills sandy or muddy deposits
and growths of aquatic plants, rocks, or other localities; flight rather rapid, but
not very strong nor long continued; bill moderate, or rather long, straight or
slightly curved towards the end, which is generally somewhat expanded and flat;
longitudinal grooves, in both mandibles, distinct, and nearly the whole length of the
bill; wings long, pointed; the first primary longest; tertiaries long; secondaries
short, with their tips obliquely incised; tail short; legs moderate, or rather long,
slender; the lower portion of the tibia naked, and with the tarsus covered in front
and behind with transverse scales; hind toe very small ; fore toes rather slender,
with a membranous margin, scaly and flattened underneath, free at base.

This genus comprises a large number of species of all parts of the world,
some of which are very extensively diffused, especially during the season of their
southern or autumnal migration. Generally, these birds are met with in flocks, fre-
quenting every description of locality near water, and industriously searching for
the minute animals on which they feed. The species of the United States are mi-
gratory, rearing their young in the north, and, in autumn and winter, extending to
the confines of the Republic and into South America. The colors of the spring and
autumnal plumage are different in nearly all species, though that of the two sexes is
very similar.

TRINGA CANUTUS. — Unnceus.
The Gray-back; Robin Snipe.

Fringa canutus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 251.

Tringa cinerea, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 673. Wils. Am. Orn., VII.
(1813) 36.

Tringa islandica, Audubon. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 130. 75., Birds Am., V.
(1842) 254.

Tringa rufa, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. (1813) 57.

THE GRAY-BACK. 441

DESCRIPTION.

Large; bill straight, rather longer than the head, compressed, slightly enlarged
at the tip; upper mandible with the nasal groove extending to near the tip; legs
moderate; tibia with its lower third part naked; neck moderate; wing long; tail
short; toes free at base, flattened beneath, widely margined ; hind toe slender, small;
entire upper parts light-gray, with* lanceolate, linear, and irregular spots of black,
and others of pale-reddish; rump and upper tail coverts white, with transverse nar-
row bands and crescent-shaped spots of black; under parts light brownish-red,
paler in the middle of the abdomen ; under tail coverts, tibial feathers, flanks, axil-
lary feathers, and under wing coverts white, generally with spots and transverse
bars of brownish-black; quills brownish-black, with their shafts white; tail light
brownish-cinereous (without spots or bars); all the feathers edged with white, and
frequently with a second sub-edging of dark-brown; bill brownish-black; legs
greenish-black.

Young and Winter Plumage. — Upper parts brownish-ashy, darker on the back,
every feather having a sub-terminal edging of brownish-black, and tipped with dull
ashy-white; rump white, with crescents of black; under parts dull ashy-white,
nearly pure on the abdomen, but with numerous longitudinal lines, and small spots
of dark-brown on the breast and neck; sides with crescent-shaped and irregular
spots of brownish-black ; an obscure line of dull- white over and behind the eye.

Total length (from tip of bill to end of tail), about ten inches; wing, six and a
half; tail, two and a half; bill from gape, one and a half; tarsus, one and a quarter
inches. Female larger?

This is the largest of the Sandpipers of the United States, and appears to be
restricted to the shores of the Atlantic in this division of the continent of America.
We have never seen it from the Pacific Coast.

In the United States, this bird is known as the Red-breasted Snipe, or sometimes
as the Graj'-backed Snipe, though we have never heard the name "Knot" applied
to it, which appears to be a common appellation of the same species in Europe, and
is given by American authors. This is one of the few species of birds which appears
to be absolutely identical with a species of Europe, and is of very extensive diffu-
sion over the world, especially in the season of southern migration.

The bird has received a variety of names, of which the very first appears to be
that adopted at the head of this article.

This species appears in New England only in the migra
tions in spring and autumn. It is only seen on the shore,
and with us only in small flocks of eight or ten. I have
had no opportunities of observing its habits, and will give
the description by Wilson : —

" In activity it is superior to the preceding, and traces the flow-
ing and recession of the waves along the sandy beach with great
nimbleness, wading and searching among the loosened particles for
its favorite food, which is a small, thin, oval, bivalve shell-fish, of a
white or pearl color, and not larger than the seed of an apple.

442 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

These usually lie at a short depth below the surface ; but, in some
places, are seen at low water in heaps, like masses of wet grain, in
quantities of more than a bushel together. During the latter part
of summer and autumn, these minute shell-fish constitute the food
of almost all those busy flocks that run with such activity along the
sands, among the flowing and retreating waves. They are univer-
sally swallowed whole; but the action of the bird's stomach,
assisted by the shells themselves, soon reduces them to a pulp. If
we may judge from their effects, they must be extremely nutritious ;
for almost all those tribes that feed on them are at this season mere
lumps of fat. Digging for these in the hard sand would be a work
of considerable labor ; whereas, when the particles are loosened by
the flowing of the sea, the birds collect them with great ease and
dexterity. It is amusing to observe with what adroitness they fol-
low and elude the tumbling surf, while, at the same time, they seem
wholly intent on collecting their food.

" The Ash-colored Sandpiper, the subject of our present account,
inhabits both Europe and America. It has been seen in great
numbers on the Seal Islands, near Chatteaux Bay ; is said to con-
tinue the whole summer in Hudson's Bay, and breeds there. Mr.
Pennant suspects that it also breeds in Denmark, and says that
they appear in vast flocks on the Flintshire shore during the winter
season. With us they are also migratory, being only seen in
spring and autumn. They are plump birds ; and, by those accus-
tomed to the sedgy taste of this tribe, are esteemed excellent
eating."

ARQUATELLA, BAIRD.

TEINGA MARITIMA.— Brunnich.

The Purple Sandpiper.

Tringa maritima, Brunnich. Orn. Bor. (1764), 54. Nutt. Man., II. 115. Aud.
Ora. Biog., III. (1835) 558. /£., Birds Am., V. (1842) 261.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill rather longer than the head, straight, compressed; nasal groove long; wings
long; tail short, rounded; legs moderate; toes free at base, flattened underneath and
slightly margined; hind toe small; entire head and upper parts dark smoky-brown,

THE CURLEW SANDPIPER. 443

with a purple and violet tinge, strongest on the back and scapulars ; under parts
from the breast white, generally with longitudinal spot of dark-ashy ; wing coverts
more or less edged and tipped with white ; quills brownish-black, edged with white ;
middle tail feathers brownish-black, outer feathers lighter, with their shafts white ;
axillaries and under wing coverts white; bill yellow at base, dark at tip; legs
yellow.

Total length, about eight to nine inches ; wing, five ; tail, two and a half; bill
from gape, one and a quarter; tarsus, one inch; iris orange.

Sab. — Eastern North America; Europe.

This species is not uncommon on our shores during the
spring and autumn migrations, where they are active and
busy in their search for small shell-fish, and crustaceans,
which constitute their principal food. They have all the
characteristics of the Spotted Sandpiper while with us, and,
from their preference to rocky beaches and shores, are often
called Rock Snipes. They proceed to the most northern
portions of the continent to breed, where, according to Dr.
Richardson, they lay four eggs, which are " pyriform, six-
teen and a half lines long, and an inch across at their great-
est breadth. Their color is yellowish-gray, interspersed
with small irregular spots of pale brown, crowded at the
obtuse end, and rare at the other."

TEINGA SUBARQUATA — Temm.
The Curlew Sandpiper.

Tringa sularquata, Temm. Man., II. (1820) 609. Nutt. Man., II. 104. Aud.
Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 444. /&., Birds Am., V. (1842) 269.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill rather longer than the head, slender, compressed, slightly curved towards
the tip, which is somewhat expanded; both mandibles grooved; wing long, pointed;
tail short; legs long, slender; toes moderate, marginated and flattened underneath.
Upper parts brownish-black, nearly every feather edged and spotted with bright
yellowish-red, rump ashy-brown, upper coverts of the tail white, with transverse
bands of brownish- black ; wings ashy-brown, shafts of primaries white ; under parts
fine dark-yellowish rufous ; sides, axillaries, and under tail coverts, white ; under
surface of wing white; tail pale brownish-ashy, with a greenish gloss; bill and legs
greenish-brown.

Young. — Upper parts much more ashy, and with little of the red of the preced-
ing; under parts entirely dull-white, tinged with yellowish on the breast and sides;
an obscure line over the eye ashy-white ; outer feathers of the tail nearly white.

444 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Total length, about eight and a half to nine inches ; wing, five ; tail, two and a
quarter; bill, from gape, one and a quarter to one and a half; tarsus, one to one and
a quarter inches ; iris hazel.

Hob.— Atlantic coast of the United States, rare; Europe; Asia; Africa.

This is undoubtedly the most rare of all our shore birds.
I found a single specimen in a bunch of Sandpipers shot on
Cape Ann, in the autumn of 1865, for sale in the principal
market in Boston. This is the only instance that has come
to my own knowledge of its being found here. Audubon
speaks of two ; and other writers, of a few more in different
years.

TRINGA ALPINA var. AMERICANA. — Casrin.
The Red-backed Sandpiper; Grass-bird.

Tringa alpina, Linnseus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 249. Wils. Am. Orn., VII. (1813)
25. Nutt. Man., II. 106. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 580. /&., Birds Am., V.
(1842) 266.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill longer than the head, wide at base, curved, slightly widened and flattened
towards the end; nasal groove and another groove in the under mandible long
and very distinct; wings long; tail short, with the two middle feathers longest and
pointed ; legs rather long and slender, lower half of the tibia naked ; toes moderate,
free at base, flattened underneath and slightly marginated ; claws much compressed,
hind toe small ; upper parts yellowish-red, mixed with ashy, and every feather hav-
ing a lanceolate, ovate, or narrow spot in the centre, most numerous on the back and
rump ; front, sides of the head, and entire under parts, ashy-white ; nearly pure-white
on the abdomen and under tail coverts ; a wide tranverse band of black across the
lower part of the breast ; neck before and upper part of the breast with narrow
longitudinal spots of brownish-black; under wing coverts and axillary feathers
white ; quills light ashy-brown, darker on their outer edges, with their shafts white ;
tail feathers light ashy-brown ; middle feathers darker, outer nearly white ; bill and
legs brownish-black ; sexes alike ; iris dark-hazel.

Winter Plumage. — Entire upper parts dark-ashy, nearly black on the rump, and
upper tail coverts; throat, abdomen, axillaries and under wing coverts, white;
breast pale-ashy, with longitudinal lines of dark-brown.

Total length, eight to eight and a half inches ; wing, five ; tail, two and a quar-
ter, bill, from gape, one and a half; tarsus, one inch.

Hob. — Entire temperate regions of North America.

This is a rather abundant species on our shores in the
spring and autumn migrations. It appears here about
the last week in April or first week in May, and frequents

THE PECTORAL SANDPIPER. 445

the beach, where it has all the habits and activity of the
other Sandpipers, running along the edge of the surf, and
gleaning in the waves and on the sands its food of small
marine animals. It mixes with the other species, but is
readily distinguished from them by the brightness of its
plumage. It is in best condition for cabinet preservation
in the vernal migration. It passes leisurely to the most
northern sections of the continent, where it passes the
breeding season. Maggillivray describes the breeding habits
as follows : —

" The nest is a slight hollow in a dry place, having a few bits of
withered heath and grass irregularly placed in it. The eggs, four
in number, are ovato-pyriform, an inch and four-twelfths in length,
eleven-twelfths in breadth, oil-green or light greenish-yellow, irregu-
larly spotted and blotched with deep-brown; the spots becoming
more numerous toward the larger end, where they are confluent.
The young, like those of the Golden Plover and Lapwing, leave
the nest immediately after exclusion, run about, and, when alarmed,
conceal themselves by sitting close to the ground and remaining
motionless."

This species, when it returns in the autumn, late in Sep-
tember, is very fat, and is considered delicate and palatable
as food.

ACTODROMAS, KAUP.
TEINGA MACULATA. — Vieillot.
.'• The Pectoral Sandpiper.

Tringa maculata, Vieillot. Nouv. Diet., XXXIV. (1819) 465.
Tringa pectoralis, Nuttall. Man., II. 111. Aud. Orn. Biog., HI. (1835)601;
V. 582. /&., Birds Am., V. (1842), 259.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill rather longer than the head, compressed, slightly depressed and expanded at
the tip; nasal groove long; wings long; legs rather long; tibia with nearly its lower
half naked ; toes free at base, flattened underneath and slightly margined ; tail rather
short; middle feathers pointed ; entire upper parts brownish-black; all the feathers
edged and tipped with ashy and brownish-red; rump and upper tail coverts black,
eome of the outer feathers of the latter edged with white ; line from the bill over

446 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

the eye ashy-white ; throat, abdomen, under wing coverts, axillary feathers, and
under tail coverts, white ; breast and neck before ashy-white ; all the feathers darker
at base, and with partially concealed lanceolate or pointed spots of brownish-black ;
quills brownish-black; shaft of first primary white, of others brown; secondaries
tipped and edged with white ; tertiaries edged with dull reddish-yellow; bill and
feet dark greenish-black ; iris dark-hazel.

Total length, about nine inches; wing, five and a quarter; tail, two and a half;
bill to gape, one and one-eighth ; tarsus, one inch.

Hob. — The entire coasts of North America; South America ; Europe.

This well-known species is pretty abundantly distributed
along our coast in the spring and autumn migrations, when
it appears in small flocks, in May, in the former seasons,
and in August and September in the latter. It has all the
habits of the other Sandpipers, but is more often seen in
the marshes and meadows, particularly in the autumn, than
the others, where it eagerly pursues the various insects
which are found there, particularly the grasshoppers and
crickets, that furnish food for so many of our passing birds.
This species is best known to our gunners by the name of
the Grass-bird. It is a favorite with them because of its
fine flavor on the table ; and it is found in considerable
abundance in our markets, where it meets a ready sale at a
very remunerative price.

TRINGA BONAPARTII. — Schlegel.
Bonaparte's Sandpiper.

Tringa Schinzii, Nuttall. Man., II. 109. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 629.
Jb., Birds Amer., V. (1842) 275.

Tringa Banapartii, Schlegel. Rev. Grit. Ois. Eur., (1844) 89-.

DESCRIPTION.

Smaller; bill slightly arched towards the tip, which is somewhat enlarged and
flattened, about the length of the head ; grooves in both mandibles long and nar-
row;' wings long; secondary quills obliquely incised at the ends; tail rather longer
than usual in this group, with the feathers broad ; legs rather long and slender ; toes
free at base; hind toe very small; upper parts light ashy-brown; darker on the
rump ; nearly all the feathers with ovate or wide lanceolate central spots of brownish-
black, and many of them edged with bright yellowish-red ; upper tail coverts white ;
under parts white, with numerous small spots of dark-brown on the neck before,
breast, and sides, somewhat disposed to form transverse bands on the last; quills
brownish-black, darker at the tips; shaft of outer primary white, of others light-
brown; middle feathers of tail brownish-black; outer feathers lighter, and edged

THE LEAST SANDPIPER. 447

with ashy-white; under wing coverts and axillaries white ; bill and feet greenish-
black; iris hazel.

Total length, about seven inches ; wing, four and three-quarters ; tail, two and a
quarter; bill, one; tarsus, rather less than an inch.

Hob. — North America, east of the Rocky Mountains.

This bird also is often known to sportsmen by the com-
prehensive name " Grass-bird." It is less abundant than
the preceding, but has all its habits. It appears in small
flocks of eight or ten, and frequents the marshes and marshy
shores in preference to the sandy beach. In such localities,
it feeds upon various insects and aquatic animals, and lar-
vae of aquatic insects ; and is often seen in fresh-water
meadows, at a considerable distance from the shore, busy in
search of this variety of food. Nuttall says it lays four
eggs, smaller than those of the T. alpina, of a yellowish-
gray color, spotted with olive or chestnut-brown.

TEINGA WILSONIL— Nuttall.
The Least Sandpiper; Peep.

Tringa pusilla, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. (1812) 32. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838)
180. 76., Birds Am., V. (1842) 280.

Tringa Wilsonii, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 121.

DESCRIPTION.

The smallest of all known species of this group found in North America; bill
about as long as the head, slightly curved towards the end, which is very slightly
expanded ; grooves in both mandibles to near the tip ; wing long ; tertiaries nearly
as long as the primaries; tail short; middle feathers longest; outer feathers fre-
quently longer than the intermediate; legs long; lower third of the tibia naked;
toes long, slender, margined, and flattened beneath ; hind toe small ; upper parts with
nearly every feather having a large central spot of brownish-black, and widely mar-
gined with ashy and bright brownish-red; rump and middle of the upper tail
coverts black; outer coverts white, spotted with black ; stripe over the eye, throat,
and breast, pale ashy-white, with numerous small longitudinal spots of ashy-brown ;
abdomen and under tail coverts white ; quills dark-brown, with the shafts of the
primaries white; tertiaries edged with reddish; middle feathers of the tail brownish-
black; outer feathers light ashy-white; under surface of wing light brownish- ashy,
with a large spot of white near the shoulder; axillary feathers white; bill and legs
greenish-brown, the latter frequently yellowish-green.

Total length, from tip of bill to end of tail, about five and a half to six inches ;
wing, three and a half to three and three-quarters ; tail, one and three-quarters ; bill
to gape, three-quarters ; tarsus, three-quarters of an inch.

Hub. — Entire temperate North America.

448 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

The Least Sandpiper or " Peep " is so well known on
our shores that any description is almost superfluous. It
makes its appearance early in May, in small parties of
five or six, and quickly proceeds to the most northern
sections of the continent, where it breeds, and then im-
mediately returns to our shores, where it remains until
early in October, when it passes on to the South. Au-
dubon, in describing its' breeding habits, says, " That
this species is naturally disposed to seek alpine sections
of the country for the purpose of reproduction, I obtained
abundant proof whilst in Labrador, where I found it plen-
tiful, and breeding on the moss-clad crests of the highest
rocks, within short distances of the sea." On finding the
nest, he says, —

" Four beautiful eggs, larger than I had expected to see pro-
duced by birds of so small a size, lay fairly beneath my eye, as I
knelt over them for several minutes in perfect ecstasy. The nest
had been formed first, apparently, by the patting of the little
creatures' feet on the crisp moss, and in the slight hollow thus
produced were laid a few blades of slender, dry grass, bent in a
circular manner; the internal diameter of the nest being two
inches and a half, and its depth an inch and a quarter. The eggs,
which were in shape just like those of the Spotted Sandpiper, T.
macularius, measured seven and a half eighths of an inch in length,
and three-fourths of an inch in breadth. Their ground-color was a
rich cream-yellow tint, blotched and dotted with very dark umber,
the markings larger and more numerous toward the broad end.
They were placed with their broad ends together, and were quite
fresh. The nest lay under the lee of a small rock, exposed to all
the heat the sun can afford in that country."

It is during the latter part of August and the greater
part of September that this species is most abundant in
New England, where it generally confines itself to the sea-
coast, but sometimes penetrates to the large tracts of water
in the interior, gleaning there its food of small shell-fish,
crustaceans, and insects in the pools of water and on the

Plat

•

"Virginia Hail.

Purple Sandpiper.

Or e ni Blue Ser on

Turnstone .

Semipalmatecl PloTer

THE SANDERLING. 449

sands and flats. It associates in large flocks at that season,
and often with other birds.

CALIDRIS, CUVIER.

Calidris, CUVIER, Anat. Comp., V. in chart (1805). (Type Trlnga arenaria, L.)
General characters of Tringa, but without hind toe; bill straight, rather longer
than the head and tarsus, widened somewhat or spoon-shaped at the end; tail doubly
emarginate; toes short; middle one scarcely two-thirds the tarsus.

CALIDRIS ARENARIA.— llliger.
The Sanderling.

Tringa arenaria, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat, I. (1766) 251. Aud. Orn. Biog. /6.,
Birds Am., V. (1842) 287.

Calidris arenaria, llliger. Prod. (1811), 249. Nutt. Man., II. (1834) 4.

Charadrius calidris, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 255. Wils. Am. Orn., VII.
(1813) 68.

Charadrius rubidus. Gm., I. (1788) 688. Wils. Am. Orn., VII. (1813) 129.

DESCRIPTION.

No hind toe ; front toes moderate or rather long, flattened underneath ; distinct-
ly margined with a membrane ; bill rather longer than the head, straight, rather
thick ; ridge of upper mandible flattened ; nasal groove deep, and nearly as long as
the upper mandible, not so distinct in the lower; both mandibles widened and flat-
tened at the tip ; aperture of the nostril large, and covered with a membrane ; wing
long; tail short, with the middle feathers longest; under coverts long as the tail;
legs moderate; lower third of the tibia naked; upper parts light-ashy, with lanceo-
late, hastate, and ovate spots of brownish-black on the top of the head, on the back,
scapulars, and shorter quills ; rump and upper tail coverts with fine transverse lines
of black ; under parts pure-white ; shoulders brownish-black, without spots ; quills
brownish-black, with their shafts white, and much paler on their inner webs ; greater
wing coverts widely tipped with white; middle feathers of the tail ashy -brown,
edged with white ; outer feathers paler; bill and legs greenish-black; sexes alike;
iris brown.

In spring plumage, the head, neck, and breast are tinged with pale yellow-
ish-red, and spotted with dark-brown ; back and scapulars edged and tipped with
yellowish-red ; rump and under tail coverts ashy-brown ; under parts of the body
pure-white.

Total length, seven and three-quarters to eight inches ; wing, five ; tail, two ; bill,
about one inch; tarsus, about one inch.

Hab. — Entire temperate regions of North America, South America, Europe.

An abundant species on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the Republic, and
extending its range, in winter, into South America. We can find no reliable dis-
tinction between the American and the European bird, though specimens differ
quite materially in size and length of bill.

29

4:50 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

The Sanderlirig, most often called the " Beach-bird " by-
gunners, is pretty abundant on our shores in the autumn
migrations. It is rarely seen in spring, but seems to move
by us in passing to its northern breeding-grounds. Accord-
ing to Mr. Hutchins, it breeds on the coast of Hudson's
Bay, where it constructs > on the marshes, a rude nest of
grass, laying four dusky eggs, spotted with black, on which
it begins to sit about the middle of June. Early in Septem-
ber, sometimes by the 20th of August, it returns to our
shores, where it associates with the Sandpipers in small
flocks. It has all the habits and characteristics of these
birds, busily seeking in the retreating waves, and in the
pools on the beach, its food of small shells and crustaceans.
It is quite fat in the autumn, and is esteemed by many, a
fine-flavored bird for the table.

EREUNETES, ILLIGEB.

Ereunetes, ILLIGEK. Prod. (1811), 262.

The bill of our species of Ereunetes is quite stout, and considerably expanded, by
which it is readily distinguished from Actodromas Wilsonii, independently of the
semipalmated feet; the tarsus and middle toe are about equal; the tibia denuded
anteriorly for about two-thirds the length of tarsus ; the basal membrane of toes
is more scolloped out interiorly than exteriorly ; the notch externally not quite as
deep as to the first joint, although the membrane extends beyond the second.
There is a tendency to hexagonal subdivision in the bare portion of tibia anteriorly.
The tail is doubly emarginate.

EREUNETES PETRIFICATUS. — ttliger.
The Semipalmated Sandpiper; Peep.

Ereunetes petrificatus, Illiger. Prod. (1811), 262. (Proved identical with Tringa
semipalmata, Wils., by Cabanis.)

Tringa semipalmata, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. (1813) 181. Aud. Orn. Biog., V.
(1839) 111. 7&., Birds Am., V. (1842) 277.

Tringa (heterqpoda) semipalmata, Nuttall. Man., IJ. (1834) 136.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill about the length of the head, rather thicker than usual in this group ; both
mandibles somewhat expanded and flattened at the tip, and minutely punctulated,
as in the genera Scolopax and Gallinago ; wings long ; legs moderate, rather slen-
der; toes united at base by a membrane, which is large, between the outer and
middle toes, extending to the first joint; hind toe small; tail short, with the middle

THE SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. 451

feathers longest; outer feathers frequently longer than the third, presenting a doubly
emargiriate character to the tail ; under coverts nearly as long as the tail ; upper
parts light brownish-ashy, with lanceolate or ovate spots of brownish-black in the
middle of the feathers; rump and upper tail coverts black; front, band of the eye,
and entire under parts, ashy-white, with small spots on the breast of ashy-brown ;
quills brownish-black, lighter on their inner webs, and with their shafts white;
middle feathers of the tail brownish-black; outer feathers pale brownish-ashy;
under wing coverts and axillaries white ; bill greenish-black ; feet dark, the lower
part of the tarsus and toes frequently tinged with yellow ; upper parts, in summer,
mixed with light-reddish ; iris brown.

Total length, about six and a half inches ; wing, three and three-quarters ; tail,
one and three-quarters ; bill, from gape, three-quarters ; tarsus, three-quarters to one
inch.

This abundant little species is singularly variable in the length of the bill, so
much so, in fact, that a student with two specimens representing extremes in this
particular would deem it quite impossible that they could be identical specifically.

Hab. — Entire temperate regions of North America; South America.

The Semipalmated Sandpiper is so similar in its general
appearance and habits with the common " Peep," that it is
usually confounded with that bird by all our sportsmen. It
appears at the same time, associates with it, and altogether
might easily be 'mistaken for it, were it not for the semi-
palmation of this species. It breeds in the most northern
localities.

Mr. Hutchins says that it arrives at Severn Eiver, in the
fur countries, in great numbers, about the middle of May,
where it builds a loose nest of withered grass in a slight
hollow in the ground, early in June, and lays four white
eggs, spotted with black or dusky-brown. Like the " Com-
mon Peep," the flight of this bird is rapid and wavering,
almost exactly resembling that of the Snipe. It also has the
same soft call-note, 9 tweet 'tweet, that the other has, which
it utters frequently, both while on the strand and when
flying.

Sub-Family TOTANINJE. — The Stilts.

Bill as long as the head, or longer; the basal portion covered with soft skin; the
terminal portion (generally at least half) horny, and more or less attenuated and
pointed in Tutanece; the lateral grooves of bill extending to the horny terminal
portion ; the gape of mouth extending behind the base of culmen toes generally

452 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

connected by a basal membrane ; the tail always with distinct transverse bars in
North-American species, except in Heteroscelus.

This sub-family appears to differ from most Scolopacinee in the less degree of sen-
sitiveness in the tip of the bill, which is more horny, and not covered by soft skin
well supplied with nerves. The toes are almost always connected at the base by a
membrane ; this being the rule and not the exception, as in Scolopacince.

SYMPHEMIA, RAFINESQUE.

Symphemia, RAFINESQUE, Jour, de Phys. (1819). (Type Scolopax semipalmata,
Gmelin.)

Bill compressed, very thick, the culmen rounded ; the lower mandible scarcely
grooved ; the upper grooved to about the middle ; culmen slightly convex ; gonys
ascending ; bill cleft but little beyond base of culmen ; feathers of sides of both
mandibles falling short of the nostrils ; the lower rather farther forward ; chin feath-
ers reaching to beginning of nostrils ; bill longer than head, about equal to tarsus,
which is more than one and a half times the middle toe ; both toes webbed, the
emargination of inner web as far forward as the middle of basal joint of middle toe,
the outer reaching nearly to the end ; bare portion of tibia rather less than middle
toe without claw ; tail nearly even, or little rounded, not half the wings.

SYMPHEMIA SEMIPALMATA. — Hartlaub.
The Willet.

Scolopax semipalmatus, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 659. Wils. Am. Orn., VII.
(1813) 27.

Totanus semipalmatus, Audubon. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 510; V. 585. Birds
Am., V. (1842) 324.

Totanus (catoptrophorus) semipalmatus, Bonaparte. Syn. (1828), 328. Nutt.
Man., H. (1834) 144.

Symphemia semipalmata, Hartlaub. Rev. Zool. (1845), 342.

DESCRIPTION.

The largest American species of this genus ; bill longer than the head, straight,
rather thick and strong ; groove in the upper mandible extending about half its
length, in the lower mandible nearly obsolete; wings long; legs long, strong; toes
moderate, united at base by membranes, the larger of which unites the outer and
middle toe; hind toe small; tail short.

Adult. — Entire upper parts dark-ash color (without spots); the shafts of the
feathers brownish-black; rump and upper tail coverts white; under parts white,
tinged with ashy on the neck and sides ; axillaries and under wing coverts brown-
ish-black; primary quills white at base, and tipped with brownish-black; secon-
daries white, spotted with brownish-black ; tail ashy-white, the two middle feathers
strongly tinged with ashy; others spotted with dark ashy-brown; bill dark bluish-
brown, lighter at base ; legs light-blue.

Younger. — Entire plumage spotted, and transversely banded with brownish-
black ; iris brown.

Total length, about fifteen inches; wing, eight and a quarter; tail, three and a
quarter; bill, about two and a half; tarsus, about two and a half inches.

THE WILLET. 453

This large and handsome species is easily recognized, and is abundant on both
the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the Republic. There is very considerable differ-
ence of color between the adult and young birds ; but the white space on the wings
is a character always present and easily distinguished. It is the largest bird of this
group inhabiting the United States.

Hob. — Entire temperate regions of North America; South America.

This bird is not very abundant on the shores of New
England as a summer visitor and resident ; but it is taken
in considerable numbers in the autumn. It occasionally
breeds within our, limits, usually preferring a sandy island
to the main shore ; but it sometimes selects a locality in a
marsh for its nest, and has been known to breed in a rye-
field twenty-miles from the seashore.

The nest is built about the last week in May. It is
placed in a slight hollow in the sand or in a tussock of
grass, and is composed of grasses and weeds, arranged in a
heap, sometimes three or four inches in depth. It is hol-
lowed an inch and a half or more, and is sometimes lined
with softer pieces of grass or weeds. The eggs are four in
number: they are pyriform in shape, and are abruptly
pointed from the larger end. They are of a pale-olive color,
sometimes greenish-drab ; and are marked with blotches of
two or three shades of brown, which are confluent at the
larger end, and sometimes almost entirely hide the ground
color.

They vary in dimensions from 2.15 by 1.58 inch to 1.98
by 1.45 inch. When its breeding-place is approached, the
Willet flies to meet the intruder, and, coursing around over
his head, utters its shrill cries, like the syllables, 'pill-willet-
'tit pill willet, vociferously ; and sometimes darting down at
him, or alighting before him, it endeavors to lead him from
its nest by pretending lameness.

When the young are able to fly, the whole brood associate
with the parents in a flock, and frequent the pools and
ditches near the beach, where they busily wade about in the
water, searching for small shell-fish, aquatic insects, mol-
lusks, &c., on which they feed. When wounded, they take

454 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

to the water, and swim off with great activity. They all
leave New England in October, when they are exceedingly
fat and well-flavored.

GAMBETTA, KAUP.

Gambetta, KAUP, Entw. Europ. Thierw. (1829). (Type Scolopax calidris, L.
Gray.)

Bill much attenuated towards and tapering to the end, the extreme tip decurved ;
both culmen and gonys, however, bent upwards from the middle; the lateral
grooves of upper bill broad, shallow, and not extending to the middle ; that of lower
reaching about as far; feathers on side of both mandibles extend to about the same
point, but fall short of nostrils ; those on chin extend as far as middle of nostril ; bill
nearly as long as the tarsus, which is one and a half times the length of middle toe ;
outer toe webbed to first joint; the inner web very short; bare portion of the tibia
equal to the toes ; tip of tail about opposite the middle of outstretched tarsi ; legs
yellow.

GAMBETTA MELANOLEUCA. — Bonaparte.
The Telltale; Stone Snipe; Greater Yellow-legs.

Scolopax melanoleucus, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 659.
Totanus melanoleucus Audubon. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 68.
Gambetta melanoleuca, Bonaparte. Comptes Rendus (Sept., 1856).
Scolopax vociferus, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. (1813) 57.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill longer than the head, rather slender, curved towards the tip ; wings rather
long, first quill longest; tail short; neck and legs long; toes moderate, margined
and flattened underneath, connected at base by membranes, the larger of which
unites the outer and middle toe; hind toe small; claws short, blunt; grooves in both
mandibles extending about half their length ; entire upper parts cinereous of various
shades, dark in many specimens in full plumage, generally light with white lines on
the head and neck, and with spots and edgings of dull-white on the other upper
parts; lower back brownish-black; rump and upper tail coverts white, generally
with more or less imperfect transverse narrow bands of brownish-black; under
parts white, with longitudinal narrow stripes on the neck, and transverse cres-
cent lanceolate and sagittate spots and stripes on the breast and sides; abdomen
pure-white; quills brownish-black with a purplish lustre, shaft of first primary
•white ; secondaries and tertiaries tipped and with transverse bars and spots of ashy-
white; tail white, with transverse narrow bands of brownish-black, wider and
darker on the two middle feathers; bill brownish-black, lighter at the base; legs
yellow; iris dark-brown.

Total length, about fourteen inches; wing, seven and a half to eight; tail, three
and a quarter to three and a half; bill, two and a quarter; tarsus, two and a half
inches.

Hob. — Entire temperate regions of North America; Mexico. ;4>

THE YELLOW-LEGS. • 455

The Greater Yellow-legs is not common in New England ;
a few being taken annually.

Nuttall, in describing its habits, <fcc., says, —

" The Greater Yellow-shanks, or Telltale, so remarkable for its
noise and vigilance, arrives on the coast of the Middle States early
in April, and, proceeding principally by an inland route, is seen in
abundance as far north as the plains of the Saskatchewan, where, no
doubt, in those desolate and secluded marshes, far from the prying
eye and persecuting hand of man, the principal part of the species
pass the period of reproduction, re-appearing in the cooler parts
of the Union towards the close of August : yet so extensive is the
breeding range of the Telltale, that many continue to occupy
the marshes of the Middle States until the approach of cold
weather, in the month of November, breeding in their favorite
resorts, on the borders of bogs ; securing the nest in a tuft of rank
grass or sedge ; and laying four eggs, of a dingy-white, irregularly
marked with spots of dark-brown or black."

The vociferous vigilance of the Telltale has justly stig-
matized him with the present name ; for no sooner does the
gunner appear than his loud and shrill whistle of about four
rapidly repeated notes is instantly heard, as he mounts on
wing, and proves generally so good a warning to all the rest
of his feathered neighbors, and particularly the vigilant ducks,
that the whole, to the frequent disappointment of the fowler,
at once accompany their faithful and officious sentinel.

The food of the Telltale is similar to that of our other
shore birds. This it obtains by wading in the pools and
ditches, which it is almost constantly doing ; it being seldom
seen in the grass or running on the beach like the Sand-
pipers.

GAMBETTA FLAVIPES. — Bonaparte.
The Yellow-legs.

Scolopax flavipes, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 659. Wils. Am. Orn., VII.
1813) 55.

Tolanus flavipes, Audubon. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 573; V. 586. 75., Birds
Am., V. (1842) 313.

Gambetta flavipes, Bonaparte. Comptes Rendus (Sept., 1856).

456 • ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill rather longer than the head, straight, slender, compressed; wing long
pointed; tail short; legs long, lower half of the tibia naked; toes moderate, slen-
der, margined, the outer and middle united at base ; rump and upper tail coverts
white, the latter transversely barred with ashy-brown ; other upper parts ashy, many
feathers having large arrowheads and irregular spots of brownish-black, and edged
with ashy-white ; under parts white, with numerous longitudinal lines on the neck
before, and arrowheads on the sides, of dark ashy -brown; axillaries and under
wing coverts white, with bands of ashy-brown, very indistinct in many specimens,
but generally well defined ; quills brownish-black ; tail ashy-white with transverse
bands of dark-brown, middle feathers darker; bill greenish-black; legs yellow; iris
dark-brown.

Young, — Entire upper plumage tinged with reddish-brown; neck before with
lines much less distinct and pale-ashy.

Total length, about ten to ten and a half inches ; wing, six to six and a half;
tail, two and a half; bill, one and a half; tarsus, two inches.

Hob. — Eastern North America; western?

The Common Yellow-legs is well known on our coast as
a spring and autumn visitor. It does not pause here in its
northern migration, but passes at once to its breeding-home.
This is generally in high latitudes : there, early in June, its
nest is built and its young are reared. I am unacquainted
with its breeding habits and eggs, and can find no descrip-
tion of them in any book that I have access to.

Early in September, it returns to New England, where it
frequents the muddy flats and marshes on the seacoast, and
penetrates into the interior. It is also sometimes quite
abundant in the fresh-water meadows and on the shores of
large ponds. I have killed numbers while Snipe-shooting :
and they are almost equally well-flavored with that bird.
They congregate in small flocks, fly rapidly, uttering a loud,
shrill whistle, which being imitated by the experienced
sportsmen, the whole flock is decoyed within shot ; and, as
they fly compactly, quite a number often fall at a single dis-
charge of the gun.

Like the preceding, this bird is fond of wading about in
pools of water, where it secures for its food larvae of insects
and small crustaceans. With one or two of our other
Waders, it has the peculiarity of keeping its wings open
and elevated after alighting, as if it were uncertain of the

THE SOLITARY SANDPIPER. 457

firmness of its resting-place. I have sometimes thought
that it might be a habit caused by the bird frequenting flats
on which the mud was soft and yielding. This is one of
the handsomest of our Waders. In the autumn, it is fat,
and in poor plumage ; but in the spring it is in good condi-
tion for cabinet preservation.

RHYACOPHILUS, KAUP.

Mhyacophilus, KAUP, Sk. Entw. Europ. Th. (1829). (Type Tringa glareola, L.,
Gray.)

Bill slender, but widening a little towards the end ; lateral grooves of both man-
dibles extending to the middle of bill; nostril short; feathers on side of bill extend-
ing to about the same point and as far as beginning of nostrils; those of chin as
far as their end; both mandibles curved upwards slightly from middle; legs short;
bill about the length of tarsus, which is equal to middle toe ; bare portion of tibia
about two-thirds the toes ; tail about opposite the middle of toes when outstretched.

RHTACOPHILUS SOLITARIUS. — Bonaparte.
The Solitary Sandpiper.

Tringa solitaria, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. (1813) 53.

Totanus solitarius, Audubon. Birds Am., V. (1842) 309.

Totanus chloropygius. Nutt., II. 159. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 576; V. 583.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill rather longer than the head, straight, slender, compressed ; both mandibles
with narrow grooves ; wing long, pointed ; tail medium or rather short, rounded ;
legs rather long, slender; lower half of the tibia naked; toes long, the outer united
to the middle by a small membrane, flattened underneath, marginated; upper parts
greenish-brown, with numerous small circular and irregular spots of ashy-white;
upper tail coverts darker; under parts white; breast and neck before with numerous
longitudinal lines of greenish-brown; sides, axillaries, and under wing coverts
white, with numerous transverse narrow bands of dark greenish-brown ; under tail
coverts white, with a few transverse bands of dark-brown; quills brownish-black,
with a slight bronzed or reddish lustre on the primaries ; two middle feathers of the
tail greenish-brown ; other feathers of the tail pure-white, with about five transverse
bands of brownish-black ; bill and legs dark greenish-brown ; iris hazel.

Total length, about eight to eight and a half inches ; wing, five ; tail, two and a
•juarter; bill, one and a quarter; tarsus, one and a quarter inches.

Hob. — Entire temperate regions of North America; Mexico.

The Solitary Sandpiper is not very common in any part
of New England. It arrives from the South early in May
in pairs, and frequents the shores of our fresh-water ponds

458 OENITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

and streams in preference to those of the seacoast, where,
running about with great activity, it busies itself in search-
ing for the Iarva3 of various aquatic insects, of which its
food principally consists. Like the succeeding species, it
has the habit of nodding its head, and tipping up its body
and tail, which has given it the name of "Wagtail," or
"Teetler." Nuttall says that it is seen in Massachusetts
only at the commencement of cold weather. I have fre-
quently met with it, both on our seashores and in the
meadows around our fresh-water ponds, through the whole
summer. Several pairs reside through the season on the
borders of Punkapoag Pond, in Canton, Mass.; and they
undoubtedly breed there, although I have been unable to
find their nest. This species remains with us until late in
September. When flushed, it rises with a short, sharp
whistle, different from that of the Spotted Sandpiper, which
it resembles in almost every other respect.

TRINGOIDES, BONAPARTE.

Tringoides, BONAPARTE, Saggio di una dist., etc. (1831). (Type Tringa Jiypo-
leucus, L., Gray.)

Actitis, BOIE, Isis (1822), 560. Not of Uliger, Prodromus (1811).

Upper mandible grooved to the terminal fourth; the bill tapering and rather
acute ; cleft of mouth only moderate ; the culmen about five-sixths the commissure ;
feathers extending rather further on side of lower jaw than upper, the former reach-
ing as far as the beginning of the nostrils ; those of the chin to about their middle ;
bill shorter than the head, straight, equal to the tarsus, which is of the length of
middle toe and claw ; bare part of tibia half the tarsus ; outer toe webbed to first
joint; inner cleft about to the base; tail much rounded; more than half the wing.

TRINGOIDES MACULARIUS. — Gray.
The Spotted Sandpiper.

Tringa macularia, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 249. Wils. Am. Orn., VII.
(1813) 60.

Totanus macularius, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 162. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV.
(1838) 81. /&., Birds Am., V. (1842) 303.

Tringoides macularius, Gray, genera.

DESCRIPTION.

Small; bill rather longer than the head, straight, slender; long grooves in both
mandibles; wing rather long, pointed; tail medium, rounded; legs rather long;

THE SPOTTED SANDPIPER. 459

lower third of the tibia naked; toes long, margined, and flattened underneath;
outer connected with the middle toe by a large membrane; inner very slightly
connected to the middle toe; upper parts brownish olive-green, with a somewhat
metallic or bronzed lustre, and with numerous longitudinal lines, and sagittate,
lanceolate, and irregular spots of brownish-black, having the same lustre; line
over the eye, and entire under parts white, with numerous circular and oval spots
of brownish-black, smaller on the throat, largest on the abdomen; quills brown, with
a green lustre; primaries slightly tipped with white, and having a white spot
on their inner edges; secondaries white at their bases, and tipped with white; mid-
dle feathers of the tail same green as other upper parts ; outer tipped with white,
and with irregular bars of brownish-black; bill yellowish-green, tipped with brown;
feet reddish-yellow ; iris hazel.

Young less bronzed above, and under parts white, without spots.

Total length, seven and a half to eight inches ; wing, four and a half; tail, two ;
bill, one ; tarsus, rather less than one inch.

Hob. — Entire temperate North America; Oregon; Europe.

Perhaps none of our summer residents are distributed so
generally and so abundantly throughout New England as
the species now before us. Every pond and stream of
watervhas two or three pairs breeding on its shores ; and it
is as abundant in the most thickly settled as in the more
retired and secluded localities. It arrives from the South
about the first week in April ; and, separating into pairs, it
soon commences the duties of incubation. It manifests no
preference for a location near the seacoast to one in the
interior ; and I have found it breeding as abundantly in
the depths of the Maine forests as on the low sandy islands,
or in the marshes by our seacoast. The female, about the
third week in April, scratches a hollow in the sandy earth
by some pond, or sometimes in a grain-field or garden ; and,
lining it with a few pieces of straw or moss, lays four
eggs, which she adjusts with their small ends together
in the middle of the nest. These eggs are usually abruptly
pyriform, sometimes a little more lengthened ; and are of a
yellowish-buff color, marked with blotches and spots of
umber and sienna, thickest at their greater end, where they
are sometimes confluent. Occasionally, the primary color is
of a yellowish-drab tint, when the spots are much darker
than on the other shade. A great number of specimens in
my collection from many different localities exhibit a varia-

460 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

tion of size from 1.40 by 1 inch to 1.26 by .95 inch. I can
see no marked peculiarity in any series of specimens, except-
ing that those collected in the interior of Maine average
.a little larger than those from the seacoast.

The flight of the Spotted Sandpiper is generally low, its
wings being kept bent at an angle beneath its body. It has
a peculiar note, like peet-weet, peet-weet, easily recognized.

ACTITURUS, BONAPARTE.

Actiturus, BONAPARTE, Saggio, etc., (1831). (Type Tringa Bartramia, Wil-
son.)

Upper mandible grooved laterally to within the terminal fourth, the lower not
quite so far; culmen concave to near the tip, where it is slightly decurved; gonys
straight ; mouth deeply cleft, almost as far back as the anterior canthus ; the culmen
only about two-thirds the commissure, shorter than the head or tarsus, and about
equal to middle toe without claw; feathers extending much further forward on the
upper jaw than on the lower, although those of chin reach nearly to end of nostrils;
tarsus one and a half times middle toe and claw; the bare part of tibia aot quite
equal to the middle toe above; outer toe united at base as far as first joint; web of
inner toe very basal ; tail long, graduated, more than half the wings.

ACTITURUS BARTRAMIUS.— Bonaparte.
The Upland Plover ; Bartram's Sandpiper ; Field Plover.

Tringa Bartramia, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. (1813) 63. Aud. Birds Amer., V.
(1842) 248.

Tetanus Bartramius, Audubon. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 24.
Tringa (Euliga) Bartramia, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 168.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill about as long as the head, rather wide and flattened at base, curved at the
tip ; nostril with a large membrane ; nasal groove long ; wing long ; tail long for this
group ; legs moderate or rather long ; lower half of the tibia naked ; toes moderate,
the outer and middle toe united by a membrane, inner and middle free to the base,
hind toe small ; general color of the upper parts brownish-black, with a greenish lus-
tre, and with the feathers edged with ashy-white and yellowish, the latter especially
on the wing coverts; lower part of the back, rump, and upper tail coverts, brownish-
black; lateral coverts of the tail yellowish-white, with arrow-heads and irregular
spots of black ; wide stripe over the eye, and entire under parts very pale yellowish-
white, nearly pure-white on the abdomen ; neck before with numerous longitudinal
lines of brownish-black; breast and sides with waved and pointed transverse narrow
bands of the same ; axillary feathers and under wing coverts pure-white, with nume-
rous nearly regular transverse narrow bands of black; quills brownish-black, with
numerous transverse bands of white on their inner webs, very conspicuous on the
under surface of the wing; shaft of first primary white; middle feathers of the tail

THE UPLAND PLOVER. 461

%

same greenish-brown as the back, with irregular and imperfect transverse bands of
black; outer feathers pale reddish-yellow, edged and tipped with white, and with
several irregular transverse bands and a large subterminal arrow-head of black;
bill greenish-yellow, with the under mandible more clear yellow towards its base,
tip brownish-black; legs light-yellow ; toes darker; iris hazel.

Total length, about twelve inches ; wing, six and a half; tail, three and a half.

Hob. — Eastern North America, South America, Europe.

Everywhere in the interior of the States on the Atlantic, this is the most abun-
dant and best-known species of this group. Unlike nearly all others, this bird
prefers plains and cultivated fields, and is one of the species which has not decreased
in numbers on account of the extension of cultivation and the settlement of the
country. On the contrary, it appears to be quite at home in the farm lands, and
rears its young in the fields of grass and grain in the most populous rural districts
of the country.

This bird, commonly known as the " Upland Plover," is
not abundant in New England as a summer resident. It
breeds sparingly in all these States, arriving in pairs about
the 10th of April. It is less aquatic than most of the
other species in this order, and frequents old pastures,
stubble-fields, and cornfields, in preference to meadows and
flats. It begins to nest about the last week in May. It is
quite shy at all times, and difficult of approach, and I have
spent half a day in one pasture before I could find the nest ;
both old birds keeping up their shrill whistle, and flying
about me always out of gunshot. The nest is placed in a
slight hollow in the ground, an*d is constructed of a few
loose straws and leaves, arranged in a circular manner.
The eggs are four in number, sometimes three. They are
more ovoidal in form than most of our other Waders' eggs,
and almost exactly resemble those of the Woodcock, but
average considerably larger ; varying from 1.92 by 1.31 inch
(from Wisconsin) to 1.70 by 1.25 (from Massachusetts).
The primary color of some specimens is a buff, while others
are of a creamy-drab: they are marked with spots of two
shades of brown, and obscure spots of lilac.

By the middle of August, and from then until late in
September, these Plovers assemble in small flocks of eight
or ten individuals. They then frequent hilly pastures, both
on the seacoast and in the interior, where they feed on

462 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

t

grasshoppers, crickets, grains, and seeds. They are then in
good condition, and of delicate flavor on the table, and are
much pursued by sportsmen ; but, as they are swift-flying
birds, and very shy, it requires a more than ordinary shot to
bag many of them.

TRYNGITES, CABANIS.

Tringites, CABANIS, Jour, fur Orn. (1856), 418. (Type Tringa rufescens,
Vieillot.)

Upper mandible grooved to about the terminal fourth ; the lower not quite so
far; culmen and gonys about straight; mouth deeply cleft more than half-way to
the eye ; the culmen about two-thirds the commissure ; culmen much shorter than the
head, and about equal to middle toe without claw ; tarsus about one and one-sixth
as long as middle toe and claw ; bare part of tibia decidedly shorter than middle toe
without claw; toes cleft to the base, with only a very rudimentary web; upper jaw
feathered to the nostrils ; the side of the lower and beneath feathered much further,
or to the end of the nostrils ; the interspace of the rami entirely filled ; tail some-
what graduated, not hah0 the wing.

TRTNGITES RUFESCENS. — Cabanis.
The Buff-breasted Sandpiper.

Tringa rufescens, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 113. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835)
451. lb., Birds Am., V. (1842) 264.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill about the length of the head, straight, compressed, narrow at the point ;
nasal groove long; wings very long; first quill longest; tertiaries rather shorter;
tail moderate or longer than usual in this group ; legs rather long ; lower third of the
tibia naked; toes free at base, flattened underneath, and slightly margined ; hind
toe small ; upper parts pale and dull ashy-brown with a yellowish tinge ; every
feather with a large central, lanceolate, crescent-shaped, or oblong spot of black,
frequently with a glossy-green tinge, especially on the back and shorter tertiaries;
under parts light yellowish-red, or pale-fawn color; many feathers tipped with white,
and paler on the flanks and abdomen, on the breast with partially concealed small
spots of black; axillary feathers white; quills with their outer webs light-brown,
inner webs ashy-white, marbled with black and narrowly tipped with white; middle
tail feathers brownish-black ; outer feathers lighter, with transverse waved lines of
black, and tipped with white ; bill black ; legs greenish-yellow ; iris hazel. •

Total length, seven and a half to eight inches; wings, five and a half; tail,
three; bill, from gape, one; tarsus, one and a quarter inches.

Hob. — All of North America, South America, Europe.

This is a little bird of rather peculiar style of form, and of remarkable and hand-
some plumage. Its relationship appears to be to the preceding well-known species.
Both this and the preceding bird more habitually frequent plains and other dry
localities than any of the true Sandpipers.

THE MARBLED GODWIT. 463

The Buff-breasted Sandpiper, although not abundant on
the shores of New England, is by no means rare, in the
months of August and September, when it is returning
from its northern breeding-places. It is seldom seen here
in spring ; but it seems to pass over New England in its
northern flight. Of its breeding habits, nest, eggs, <fcc.,
we are ignorant. Audubon was of the opinion that it breeds
about the arctic seas, as he had seen a wing of this bird
that came from there ; but he knew nothing of its breeding
habits whatever.

In the autumn, while with us, it does not frequent the
beach as much as it does the marshes and flats in its vicin-
ity, where it is known as one of the " Grass-birds " to our
gunners. It feeds upon grasshoppers and other insects,
and becomes very fat; so much so, that skinning it for
cabinet preservation, at that season, is almost an impos-
sibility.

Section LIMOSE^E.

Bill longer than the tarsus, curving slightly upwards towards the end, where it is
thickened ; both mandibles grooved for nearly the whole length ; gape of mouth
Vjery short, not extending beyond the base of culmen.

LIMOSA, BRISSON.

Limosa, BRISSON, Orn. (1760). (Type Scolopax limosa, L.)

Bill lengthened, exceeding the tarsus, slender, and curving gently upwards;
grooved to near the tip ; the tip not attenuated, but pointed ; the lower almost as
long as the upper; culmen without any furrow; tarsus with transverse scutellas
before and behind, reticulated laterally; a short basal membrane between the middle
and outer toes ; tail short, even.

LIMOSA FEDOA. — (Linn.) Ord.
The Marbled Godwit.

Scolopax fedoa, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. (1813) 30.

Limosa fedoa, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 173. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1885) 287 j
V. 690.

464 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill long, curved upwards ; both mandibles grooved ; wings long ; tail short ; legs
long ; tibia with its lower half naked ; toes rather short, margined and flattened under-
neath ; the outer and middle toes united by a rather large membrane ; entire upper
parts variegated with brownish-black and pale-reddish, the former disposed in irregu-
lar and confluent bands, and the latter in spots and imperfect bands ; in many speci-
mens the black color predominating on the back, and the pale-red on the rump and
upper tail coverts ; under parts pale-rufous, with transverse lines of brownish-black
on the breast and sides; under wing coverts and axillaries darker rufous; outer
webs of primaries dark-brown, inner webs light-rufous; secondaries light-rufous;
tail light-rufous, with transverse bars of brownish-black; bill pale-yellowish, red at
base, brownish-black at the end ; legs ashy -black.

Total length, about eighteen inches; wing, nine; tail, three and a half; bill, four
to five; tarsus, three inches; iris, brown.

Hob. — Entire temperate regions of North America; South America.

A large and handsome shore bird, well known to sportsmen as the Godwit, and a
great favorite for shooting. From the collections of the surveying expeditions, it
appears to be equally abundant in the interior and on the Pacific as on the eastern
coast of the United States.

It is only in the spring and autumn migrations that the
Great Marbled Godwit is found in New England ; and at
those times it makes only a short stay, particularly in the
spring.

They arrive from the south early in May, and pass to the
most northern countries, where they pass the season of
incubation.

Of their breeding habits I am ignorant, and I have no
eggs in my collection to give a description here.

In the autumn, even as early as the middle of August,
flocks of ten or a dozen birds appear in the marshes on the
seacoast of Massachusetts ; and, these flocks uniting their
numbers, sometimes as many as a hundred birds are found
together. They are called by our sportsmen " Dough " or
" Doe " Birds ; and, as they are in good condition and well
flavored, they are in great repute, and are hunted with great
activity. The gunners, using decoys, conceal themselves in
the manner described in the account of the Golden Plover
on a preceding page, and secure great numbers. They meet
with a ready sale in our markets, at very remunerative
prices ; and I have known of two gunners realizing sixty
dollars as the proceeds of one day's shooting.

THE HUDSONIAN GODWIT. 465

At this, season, these birds associate with other species ;
and it is a common occurrence to bring to the ground, at
one discharge of the gun into one of these flocks, two or
three different species.

By the 20th of September, they have left our shores.
They are most abundant about the first week in that month.

LIMOSA HUDSONICA. — Swainson.
The Hudsonian Godwit.

Scokpax Hudsonica, Latham. Ind. Orn., II. (1790) 720.

Limosa Hudsonica. Sw. F. B. A., II. (1831) 396. Nutt. Man.,. II. (1834) 17&
Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 426 ; V. 592. Ib., Birds Am., V. (1842) 335

DESCRIPTION.

Smaller than the preceding; bill longer than the head; both mandibles grooved,
slightly recurved; wings long; legs moderate; membrane uniting the outer and
middle toe large.

Adult. — Upper parts brownish-black, with spots and transverse bars of pale-
reddish on the back ; rump brownish-black ; upper tail coverts white ; wing coverts
and shorter quills dark-cinereous ; primaries brownish-black ; under parts yellowish-
red, with transverse bars of brownish-black on the breast and sides and under tail
coverts, and frequently with the feathers on the abdomen widely tipped with white ;
tail black, with the base white, and narrowly tipped with white ; under wing coverts
and axillary feathers black; shafts of primaries white ; bill pale-yellowish at base;
tip brownish-black ; legs bluish-brown.

Younger. — Head and upper parts cinereous, irregularly marked on the top of the
head, and on the back, with brownish -black ; stripe before, and over the eye, white ;
under parts dull yellowish- white ; under wing coverts and axillaries black; rump
black; upper tail coverts white; tail black; base and tip white; bill yellow, tipped
with brownish-black; legs dark-brown; iris brown.

Total length, about fifteen inches ; wing, eight ; tail, three ; bill, two and three-
quarters to three and a half; tarsus, two and a half inches.

This species is less abundant than the preceding, seldom
more than a half-dozen specimens being taken in a season
on our coast. It associates with the other, and has all its
habits and characteristics. It is called, by the gunners, the
" Smaller Doe-bird."

Like the Greater Godwit, it breeds in the most northern
sections of the country. I have no specimen of its egg
by me, and can give no description of its breeding habits

here.

30

466 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

NUMENIUS, LINNAEUS.

LINNJEUS. Syst. Nat. (1746). (Type Scolopax arquata, L.)
Legs covered anteriorly with transverse scutellae, laterally and behind with small
hexagonal scales; bill very long, exceeding the tibia, and curved downwards for
the terminal half; the culmen rounded ; tip of bill expanded laterally, and club-
shaped ; grooves of bill not reaching beyond the middle ; tertials as long as pri-

NUMENIUS LONGIROSTRIS.— Wilson.
The Long-billed Curlew; Sickle-bill Curlew.

Numenius longirostris, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 24. Nutt. Man., II.
(1834) 88. Aud. Orn. Biog., IIL (1835) 240; V. 687. Ib., Birds Am., VI. (1843)
35.

DESCRIPTION.

The largest American species of this genus; bill very long, much curved; upper
mandible longer than the under, somewhat knobbed at the tip; wing rather long;
legs moderate; toes united at base; entire upper parts pale-rufous, tinged with
ashy ; every feather with transverse and confluent bands of brownish-black, most
numerous and predominating on the back and scapulars ; secondary quills, under
wing coverts, and axillaries, bright-rufous ; primaries with their outer webs brownish-
black, and their inner webs rufous, with transverse bands of black ; under parts
pale-rufous, with longitudinal lines of black on the neck and sides; tail rufous,
tinged with ashy, transversely barred with brownish-black; bill brownish-black;
base of under mandible reddish-yellow ; legs bluish-brown ; specimens vary to some
extent in the shade of the rufous color of the plumage, and very much in the length
of the bill ; the rufous color is probably more distinct in the young ; iris hazel.

Total length, about twenty-five inches; wing, ten to eleven; tail, four; bill, five
to eight; tarsus, two and a quarter inches.

Hob. — The entire temperate regions of North America.

This species is not very abundant on our coast in the
spring and autumn. Wilson, in describing its habits,

" Like the preceding, this bird is an inhabitant of marshes in the
vicinity of the sea. It is also found in the interior, where, from
its long bill, and loud, whistling note, it is generally known.

" The Curlews appear in the salt marshes of New Jersey about
the middle of May, on their way to the north ; and in September,
on their return from their breeding-places. Their food consists
chiefly of small crabs, which they are very dexterous at probing
for, and pulling out of the holes with their long bills ; they also
feed on those small sea-snails so abundant in the marshes, and on

THE SHORT-BILLED OB HUDSONIAN CURLEW. 467

various worms and insects. They are likewise fond of bramble-
berries, frequenting the fields and uplands in search of this fruit,
on which they get very fat, and are then tender and good eating,
altogether free from the sedgy taste with which their flesh is usually
tainted while they feed in the salt marshes.

" The Curlews fly high, generally in a wedge-like form, somewhat
resembling certain Ducks, occasionally uttering their loud, whistling
note, by a dexterous imitation of which a whole flock may some-
times be enticed within gunshot, while the cries of the wounded
are sure to detain them until the gunner has made repeated shots
and great havoc among them."

The eggs of the Long-billed Curlew are four in num
ber. They are pyriform in shape, and almost exactly
resemble the eggs of the Willet, but are considerably
larger ; their dimensions being 2.75 inch in length by 1.96
in breadth.

Along the shores of the northern side of Cape Cod, this
species is most abundant in the autumnal flight, where it
appears in flocks of fifteen or twenty. Like many others of
our shore-birds, it is taken, with the aid of decoys, by per-
sons concealed in pits ; and, being a delicate and well-con-
ditioned bird, it is in high esteem, and much sought for in
the markets where it is exposed for sale.

NUMENIUS HUDSONICUS. — Latham.
The Short-billed or Hudsonian Curlew.

. Scolopax boreahs, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. (1813) 22.

Numenius Hudsonicus, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 97. Aud. Orn. Biog., HI.
(1835) 283; V. 589. Ib., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 42.

DESCRIPTION.

Smaller than the preceding; bill about twice the length of the head; wings long;
tail short; legs moderate; head above brownish-black, with a longitudinal band:
other upper parts brownish-black, tinged with ashy, spotted with dull yellowish-
white, and lighter on the rump; under parts dull yellowish-white, with longitudinal
narrow stripes of blackish-brown on the neck and breast; under wing coverts and
axillaries pale ashy-rufous, transversely barred with black ; quills brownish-black,
with transverse bars of pale-rufous on the inner webs; tail brownish-black, with

468 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

transverse bars of pale ashy-brown ; bill brownish-black ; base of lower mandible
reddish-yellow; legs greenish-brown; specimens vary in the shade of the lighter
colors of the plumage and in the length of the bill; iris brown.

Smaller, and with the colors different from the preceding. This bird is repre-
sented as abundant in the northern regions of this continent, but is much less
frequent in the United States than the preceding.

Total length, about eighteen inches; wing, nine; tail, four; bill, three to four;
tarsus, two and a quarter inches.

Hab. — Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America; California (Mr. Cas-

This species is rare in New England. I have never met
with it alive, and will have to depend upon the observations
of others. Wilson says, —

" The Short-billed Curlew arrives in large flocks on the seacoast
of New Jersey early in May, from the South ; frequents the salt
marshes, muddy shores, and inlets, feeding on small worms and
minute shell-fish. They are most commonly seen on mud-flats at low
water, in company with various other Waders ; and, at high water,
roam along the marshes. They fly high, and with great rapidity.
A few are seen in June, and as late as the beginning of July, when
they generally move off toward the North. Their appearance on
these occasions is very interesting : they collect together from the
marshes, as if by premeditated design, rise to a great height in
the air, usually an hour before sunset; and, forming in one vast
line, keep up a constant whistling on their way to the north, as
if conversing with one another to render the journey more agree-
able."

Nuttall says, —

" From the middle of August to the beginning of September,
they arrive in the vicinity of Massachusetts Bay and other parts of
New England, frequenting the pastures as well as marshes, and
fatten on grasshoppers and berries till the time of their departure,
about the close of September."

THE ESQUIMAUX CURLEW. 469

NUMENIUS BOREALIS.— Latham.
The Esquimaux Curlew.

Numenius borealw, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 100. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835)
39; V. 590. Ib., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 45.

DESCRIPTION.

Much smaller than either of the preceding, but resembling N. Hudsonicus in color;
bill rather longer than the head, slender; wings long; tail short; legs moderate;
entire upper parts brownish-black, spotted with dull yellowish-rufous ; quills brown-
ish-black, uniform on both webs, without bars on either ; under wing coverts and
axillaries light-rufous, with transverse stripes of brownish-black; under parts dull-
white, tinged with rufous, with longitudinal narrow stripes of brownish-black on the
neck and breast, and transverse stripes of the same on the sides and under tail
coverts ; tail ashy-brown, with transverse bands of brownish-black ; bill brownish-
black; base of under mandible yellow; legs greenish-brown; iris dark-brown.

Total length, about thirteen and a half inches ; wing, eight and a quarter ; tail,
three; bill, two and a quarter to two and a half; tarsus, one and three-quarters
inches.

This small and interesting Curlew is merely a bird of passage in the United
States, to be met with in the spring and autumn. It is easily distinguished from
either of the preceding by its small size and its comparatively short and weak bill.
We have never seen it from the western countries of the United States.

It is only in the migrations that this bird visits New
England, and then only in small numbers. They make
their appearance by the last week in April, and pass to the
most northern sections, where they breed, and then return
here about the first week in September.

Says Nuttall, " On the 13th of June, 1822, Dr. Rich-
ardson discovered one of these Curlews sitting on three
eggs, on the shore of Point Lake. When approached, she
ran a short distance from the nest, crouching near to the
ground, and then stopped to watch the motions of her
encroaching visitor. The eggs, sometimes as many as four,
have a pyriform shape, and a siskin-green color, clouded
with a few irregular spots of bright umber-brown."

On their return in autumn, this Curlew has all the habits
of the two preceding species : like them, " they are remark-
ably gregarious, each company seeming to follow some tem-
porary leader ; and, on starting to fly, a sort of watch-cry
is heard, resembling the whistling pronunciation of the

470 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

word lee-lee. On their arrival from the North, they are
very fat, plump, and well flavored, and included, like the
preceding and the Marbled Godwit, under the general name
of Doe-birds : they are sought out by epicures, and enhance
the value of a table entertainment." They frequent the
marshes and adjoining pastures, where they feed much upon
grasshoppers and other insects and earthworms, which they
collect principally towards evening, or early in the morning.

Tribe

Species living in marshes, with elevated bodies, much compressed laterally;
usually with longer necks than most Snipe, with moderately long, strong, and stout
bills, also much compressed, and covered at tip by a horny investment; the remaining
portion membranous, with elongated nasal furrow, and narrow, more or less perfor-
ate, nostrils ; the lores are feathered uniformly as in the Limicolce ; the rest of the
plumage without the spotting of the Snipes ; wings rather short, more rounded than
pointed, and when folded do not reach beyond the short, soft, and feeble tail, in
fact, seldom to its base ; the outer two or three primaries generally abbreviated ; the
toes are very long, cleft to the base, thin, and generally with very long claws;
the same is the case with the hind toe, which is not only much longer than in the
Limicolce, but is generally inserted more nearly on the same level with the anterior
ones, touching the ground for most of its extent.

The species pick up their food on the surface, and do not probe the soft mud in
search of it.

The North-American species of this tribe are few in number, though very abun-
dant in individuals. Their habit of close concealment among the reeds and grass
of marshy places renders them very difficult of detection, except when their abodes
are more or less submerged.

Sub-Family RALLIN.E. — The Rails.

\
KALLUS, LINN^US.

Rallus, LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat.

Bill longer than the head, rather slender, compressed ; upper mandible slightly
curved; nostrils in a long groove, and with a large membrane; wings short; tertiary
quills long, frequently longer than the primaries; tail very short; legs moderate;
tarsus shorter than the middle toe, and covered on all sides with transverse scales ;
toes long and rather slender; inner toe rather shorter than the outer; hind toe short
and weak.

1 See Introduction.

THE CLAPPER BAIL. 471

BALLUS ELEGANS — Audubon.
Marsh Hen. .

Rcdlus elegans, Audubon. Orn. Biog., III. (1837) 27.
JRallus crepitans, Wilson. Am. Oru., VII. (1813).

DESCRIPTION.

Upper parts olive-brown, with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black, most
numerous on the back ; line from the base of the bill over the eye dull orange-yel-
low; space before and behind the eye brownish-cinereous; throat and lower eyelid
white; neck before and breast bright rufous-chestnut; sides and abdomen, and under
tail coverts, with transverse bands of brownish-black and white, the dark bands
being the wider; tibiae dull yellowish-white, with spots and transverse bars of ashy-
brown; upper wing coverts reddish-chestnut; under wing coverts black, with trans-
verse lines of white. Sexes alike.

Total length (from tip of, bill to end of tail), about seventeen inches ; wing, six
and fifty one-hundredths ; tail, three inches.

This beautiful bird is so exceedingly rare in New Eng-
land, that it can be regarded only as a straggler from its
southern home. It has all the habits of the following
species ; and its eggs exactly resemble those of the Clapper
Kail, but average about one-fifth larger.

EALLUS CEEPITANS. — Gmelin.
The Clapper Bail; Mud-hen.

RaUus crepitans, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 713. Wils. Am. Orn., VII.
(1813) 112. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 33; V. 570. /J., Birds Am., V. (1842) 165.

DESCRIPTION.

Upper parts light ashy-olive, with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black, most
numerous on the back; a line of dull yellowish-white from the base of the bill over
the eye; space before and behind the eye ashy; throat and under eyelid white;
neck before and breast pale reddish-yellow, or tawny, tinged with bluish-ashy on
the breast; sides, abdomen, under tail coverts, and tibiae, with transverse bands of
brownish-black and white, the former being the wider; upper wing coverts brown-
ish-olive ; under wing coverts black, with transverse lines of white ; iris pale-yellow.

Total length (to end of tail), about fourteen inches; wing, five and a half; tail,
two and a half inches.

This bird, so well known in the Middle and Southern
States, is rarely found in New England as a summer visi-
tor. It has been known to breed in the most southern
localities in these States ; but the instances are few, and it
can be called only an accidental species in New England.

472 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

It begins to build about the 10th of May. The nest is
placed on the ground in a marsh, sometimes in a tussock of
grass or on a pile of seaweed : it is constructed of a large
mass of dried grasses and weeds, and is but little hollowed.
The eggs are from five to seven or eight in number. Their
form is usually ovoidal, and their primary color dull creamy-
drab or dirty-buff. This is marked more or less thickly with
spots and blotches of different shades of brown and obscure
spots of lilac. The nearest in resemblance to these eggs
are those of the Woodcock ; but, when a number of each are
placed sicfe by side, the eggs of the latter may be readily
identified by their generally more pyriform shape. The
dimensions of the eggs of the Clapper Rail vary from
1.82 by 1.25 inch to 1.63 by 1.14 inch. The greater
number of spots are more of a purplish tint; and they
are generally rather sparingly distributed over the entire

The habits of this species are similar to those of the fol-
lowing ; but the Clapper Rail seems to prefer for its home
the marshes in the neighborhood of salt water.

RALLUS VIEGINIANUS. — Linnaeus.
The Virginia Bail.

Rallus Virginianus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 263. Wils. Am. Orn., VII.
(1813) 109. Nutt. Man., II. (1834) 205. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 41; V. 573.
/6., Birds Am., V. (1842) 174.

DESCRIPTION.

Much smaller than either of the preceding, but resembling them in form, and
resembling also R. elegans in colors; upper parts olive-brown, with longitudinal
stripes of brownish-black ; line from base of bill over the eye reddish-white ; throat
white ; neck before and breast bright-rufous ; abdomen and under tail coverts with
transverse bands of black and white, the former being the wider ; upper wing coverts
bright rufous-chestnut; under wing coverts black, with transverse lines of white;
iris bright-red.

Total length (from tip of bill to end of tail), aboyt seven and a half inches; wing,
four; tail, one and a half inches.

This handsome species is pretty generally distributed
throughout New England as a summer resident. Unlike

THE VIRGINIA RAIL. 473

the preceding, it locates itself in the fresh-water mead-
ows, where, in a tussock of grass or in a pile of drift-
weed, it forms its nest. This is nothing but a pile of
weeds or grass, which it arranges in a compact manner,
and hollows to the depth of perhaps an inch or an inch and
a half.

The eggs are from six to ten in number, usually about
seven. They are ovoidal in form, and generally seem to be
like a miniature of those of the Clapper Rail: some speci-
mens, collected in Cambridge, Mass., are of a deep-buff color ;
but none approach the color of the Carolina Rail sufficiently
to be mistaken for them. They are spotted with small
marks of reddish and brown, and with a few obscure spots
of lilac. They vary in their dimensions from 1.30 by .96 to
1.23 by .90 inch.

This species is undoubtedly more abundant in New
England, particularly in its southern portions, than most per-
sons generally believe. It is of very retiring habits ; and as
it selects the almost inaccessible meadows and boggy swamps
for its summer home, and, when approached, quickly retreats
into the farthest recesses, I am not surprised that it is in
most cases overlooked. I have found it breeding in many
localities in Massachusetts, and have no hesitation in call-
ing it one of the commonest of our G-rallatores. It feeds
only during the twilight and in early dawn, and remains
concealed in the grass during the greater part of the day.
Its food consists of various insects and worms, such as are
abundant in the localities which it frequents. It leaves New
England for the South by the 10th of September.

PORZANA, VlEILLOT.

Porzana, VIEILLOT, Anal., p. 61 (1816), 61. (Type Rdllus porzana, L.)
Bill shorter than the head, compressed, straight; nostrils in a wide groove, with
a large membrane; wings moderate; primaries longer than tertiaries; tail short;
tarsus about the length of the middle toe ; toes long ; inner toe slightly shorter than
the outer; general form compressed and slender; legs rather robust.

474 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

POBZANA CAROLINA.
The Carolina Bail; Ortolan.

RaUm (Crex) Carolinus, Bonaparte. Obs. Wils. (1825), No. 230. Nutt. Man.,
II. (1834) 209.

Ortygometra Carolina, Audubon. Birds Am., V. (1842) 145.

DESCRIPTION.

Space around the base of the bill, extending downwards on the neck before and
over the top of the head, black.

Male. — Upper parts greenish-brown, with longitudinal bands of black, and
many feathers having narrow stripes of white on their edges; behind the eye, sides
of the neck, and the breast, fine bluish- ashy, with circular spots and transverse
bands of white on the breast ; middle of the abdomen and under tail coverts white ;
sides and flanks with transverse bands of brownish-black and white; bill greenish-
yellow; legs dark-green.

Female. — Similar, but duller in colors.

Young. — Without black at the base of the bill or on the neck ; throat dull-white ;
breast dull yellowish-ashy ; upper parts tinged with dull-yellow ; iris chestnut.

Total length, about eight and a half inches; wing, four and a quarter; tail, two
inches.

This species, like the Virginia Rail, is probably more
abundant in our fresh-water meadows than is generally sup-
posed. It arrives in April, about the 16th ; and, separating
into pairs, takes up its residence in the inland marshes,
where it breeds, and remains until its departure for the
South, about the middle of October. Early in May the sea-
son of incubation commences. The nest is constructed of
pieces of straw and weed, arranged in a large pile, and hol-
lowed to the depth of an inch or more : it is usually placed
in a tussock of grass, or beneath a piece of turf. A speci-
men which I found in Dedham meadows was built beneath
some thick cranberry-vines, and I have known of others
being placed in small brier patches ; but generally the
fabric is built in an open meadow, usually on an elevated
tussock in a boggy tract of ground. The eggs vary from
five to eight or ten in number : their form is almost always
an exact ovoidal. Their color is a yellow-drab, with a faint-
olivaceous tint, different from the color of any of our other
Rail's eggs. They vary in dimensions from 1.35 by 1 inch
(Quincy, Mass.) to 1.15 by .85 inch (Albion, Wis.). The

THE YELLOW BAIL. 475

average size is about 1.26 by 1.92 (Cambridge and Need-
ham, Mass.).

After leaving New England and other northern breeding-
places, this species congregates in great numbers on the
shores of some of the southern streams and bays, where
they furnish much sport to the gunners of those localities.

PORZANA NOVEBORACENSIS.
The Yellow Rail.

Ortygometra Noveboracensis, Audubon. Birds Am., V. (1842) 152.
Rallus Nweboracensis Audubon. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 251.

DESCRIPTION.

Entire upper parts ochre-yellow, with longitudinal wide stripes of brownish-black
and transverse narrow stripes of white; neck and breast reddish ochre-yellow;
many feathers tipped with brown ; middle of abdomen white ; flanks and ventral
region with wide transverse bands of dark reddish-brown and narrow bands of
white ; under tail coverts rufous, with small spots of white ; under wing coverts
white; iris hazel.

Total length (from tip of bill to end of tail), about six inches ; wing, three and a
quarter; tail, one and three-quarters inches.

This beautiful bird is an exceedingly rare spring and
autumn visitor in New England.. I have, in a number of
years' shooting, been able to procure but two ; and have
not heard of more than two or three more being taken here.
It has all the characteristics of the other species, but prefers
the fresh-water meadows to the salt marshes.1 Dr. Richard-
son, in his " Northern Zoology," says, " This elegant bird
is an inhabitant of the marshes on the coast of Hudson's
Bay, near the mouth of the Severn River, from the middle
of May to the end of September. It never flies above
sixty yards at a time, but runs with great rapidity among
the long grass near the shores. In the morning and evening,
it utters a note which resembles the striking of a flint and
steel : at other times, it makes a shrieking noise. It builds
no nest, but lays from ten to sixteen white eggs among the
grass."

1 The specimens that I procured were found in fresh-water meadows early in
September.

476 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

FULICA, LINNAEUS.

Fuhca, LINN^US, Syst. Nat. (1735). (Type Fulica atra, L.)
Bill shorter than the head, straight, strong, compressed, and advancing into the
feathers of the forehead, where it frequently forms a wide and somewhat projecting
frontal plate ; nostrils in a groove, with a large membrane near the middle of the
bill; wings rather short, second and third quills usually longest ; tail very short;
tarsus robust, shorter than the middle toe, with very distinct transverse scales; toes
long, each toe having semicircular lobes, larger on the inner side of the toe; hind
toe rather long, lobed.

FULICA AMERICANA.— Gmelin.
The Coot; Poule d'eau; Mud-hen.

Fulica Americana, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 704. Aud. Orn. Biog., III.
(1835) 291; V. 568. Ib., Birds Am., VI. (1842). 138.
Fulica atra, Wilson. Am. Orn., IX. (1825) 61.

DESCRIPTION.

Head and neck glossy-black, with a tinge of ashy; under tail coverts white;
entire other plumage dark bluish-cinereous or slate-color, with a tinge of olive on
the back and darker on the rump ; edge of wing at shoulder and edge of first pri-
mary white; secondary quills tipped with white; rump frequently tinged with
brownish ; bill very pale-yellow or nearly white, with a transverse band of brown-
ish-black near the end; tip white; legs dull grayish-green. Female similar, but
with the tints lighter. Young like the adult, but with the under parts lighter;
abdomen frequently ashy-white ; back and rump dark olive-brown ; head and neck
lighter; iris reddish-hazel.

Total length, about fourteen inches ; wing, seven ; tail, two inches.

This species probably breeds in all the New-England
States, but not abundantly. It prefers the neighborhood of
some small muddy pond for its habitation ; and its nest is
usually built in an almost inaccessible bog. Of the charac-
ter of the nest, I am ignorant, but judge that it resembles
that of the other members of this family.

The eggs are from eight to twelve in number. Their
form is an elongated ovoid. Their color is a pale yellowish-
buff, or dirty-cream tint ; and they are marked with fine dots
and spots of dark-umber and obscure fine dots of lilac.
In all the specimens that I have examined, these dots are
pretty thickly distributed or sprinkled, but are in no case
confluent into blotches. Their dimensions vary from 2.10
by 1.35 to 2 by 1.28 inch.

NOTES. 477

This species is more abundant in the early spring and
autumn than in the rest of the season ; and I infer from
this, that it breeds principally in the northern countries.

Wilson describes its general habits in the following lan-
guage : —

" This species makes its appearance in Pennsylvania about the
first of October. Among the muddy flats and islands of the river
Delaware, which are periodically overflowed, and which are over-
grown with the reed, or wild oats and rushes, the Coots are found.
They are not numerous, and are seldom seen, except their places
of resort be covered with water : in that case, they are generally
found sitting on the fallen reed, waiting for the ebb of the tide,
which will enable them to feed. Their food consists of various
aquatic plants, seeds, insects, and, it is said, small fish. The Coot
has an aversion to take wing, and can seldom be sprung in its
retreat at low water : for, although it walks rather awkwardly, yet
it contrives to skulk through the grass and reeds with great speed ;
the compressed form of its body, like that of the Rail genus, being
well adapted to the purpose. It swims remarkably well ; and,
when wounded, will dive like a duck. When closely pursued in
the water, it generally takes to the shore, rising with apparent
reluctance, -like a wounded duck, and fluttering along the surface,
with its feet pattering on the water. It is known in Pennsylvania
by the name of the Mud-hen."

NOTES.

I continue Mr. Couper's valuable notes, made at Quebec,
Lower Canada : —

ARDEA HERODIAS. — The adult is never seen in this latitude. However,
in the fall, the young pass this way to the Atlantic States. They breed near
Eice Lake, in Upper Canada.

BOTAURUS LENTIGINOSUS. — The Bittern breeds here, and appears to
be common. It prefers savannas to lakes ; and, as plenty of food is found on
the latter, probably this species may visit higher latitudes.

NTCTIARDEA 6ARDENI. — Common. Breeds on the island of Orleans,
east of Quebec, and in the woods adjoining the St. Lawrence. This bird

478 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

suits its own convenience in building in this neighborhood; for the majority
of nests on the latter island are the architecture of our Common Crow.

CHARADRIUS VIRGINICUS. — Common during the fall. Breeds further
north. This species came on board a steamship, on the Atlantic, six hun-
dred miles out from Europe. .

JEGIALITIS SEMIPALMATUS. — Uncommon. Occurs in the spring, on its
way north to breed.

SQUATAROLA HELVETICA. — Uncommon. Occurs in spring only.
STREPSILAS INTERPRES. — Uncommon. Only in spring.
PHALAROPUS HTPERBOREUS. — Occasional. Common in Labrador.
PHILOHELA MINOR. — Not common. A few breed.

GALLINAGO WILSONII. — Abundant in the spring and fall. None breed
in this district : they go further north.

MACRORHAMPHUS GRISEUS. — Occasional. None breed.

TRINGA CANUTUS. — Occasional. None breed.

T. MARITIMA. — Accidental at Quebec.

T. MACULATA. — Common. None breed.

T. WILSONII. — Occurs in spring. None breed.

CALIDRIS ARENARIA. — Occurs in spring. Goes far north to breed.

EREUNETES PETRIFICATUS. — Occurs in spring only. None breed.

GAMBETTA MELANOLEUCA. — Occurs in immature plumage in the fall.

GAMBETTA FLAVIPES. — Occurs in the fall.

RHYACOPHILTIS SOLITARIUS. — Uncommon. Only noticed in the spring,
when on their way north to breed.

TRINGOIDES MACULARIUS. — Common. Breeds.
ACTITURUS BARTRAMIUS. — Rare. Occurs in the spring.
LIMOSA HUDSONICA. — Occurs in spring and fall.
NUMENIUS HUDSONICUS. — Occurs in the fall.
N. BOREALIS. — Visits Quebec in the fall.
RALLUS VIRGINIANUS. — Uncommon.
PORZANA CAROLINA.— Uncommon.

P. NOVEBORACENSIS. — This little Rail is found here in the fall, at
which season it is found in Snipe-grounds. There is no doubt that it breeds
further north than Quebec.

FULICA AMERICANA. — Uncommon.

NATATORES. 479

ORDER VI. — NATATORES. SWIMMERS.

Toes connected by membrane to the claws ; the feet fitted for
swimming ; lower part- of the tibia usually feathered to near the
joint, which is bare ; hind toe, however, usually elevated, and rather
small', except in Pelecanida ; fitted for an aquatic life, swimming
and diving freely ; rump with well-developed oil glands.

The order Natatores, as characterized above, embraces a large
number of species of very varied forms, all more or less aquatic in
their habits. A character common to all consists in the presence
of a membrane between the toes, usually extending to the claws.
This membrane, when found in the Grallatores, is confined more
or less to the basal joint, unless Phcenicopterus be an exception.
This genus has been variously placed in both orders, and it is still
a question where it really belongs. The internal anatomy resem-
bles that of the Natatores, as well as the lamellated bill and fully
webbed toes ; the external form however, as well as habits, bring
it nearer the Grallatores.

The order Natatores of most authors has been divided by Bona-
parte into two, — the Gavice and the Anseres : the former em-
bracing species which rear their young in nests, and belong to the
sub-class Altrices ; while the latter are Prcecoces, the young pro-
curing food for themselves almost from birth.

GAvm. — Bill without lamellae, and more or less entire ; feet
with the toes all connected by one continuous membrane ; or the
hind toe free, with the anterior continuously webbed.

ANSERES. — Bill with transverse lamellae along the edges ; hind
toe free.

480 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

SUB-ORDER ANSERES.

FAMILY ANATID^E.

The two jaws with transverse lamellae, alternating and fitting in each other;
upper mandible ending in an obtuse rounded nail ; a groove running along both
jaws to the nail; the feathers of the forehead extend forward on the culmen in a
rounded or acute outline; those on the side of lower jaw and on the chin extend
forward in a similar manner; commissure straight; legs short.

Sub-Family CYGNIN^:. — The Swans.
CYGNUS, LINN^US.

Cygnus, LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat. (1835). (Type Anas ofor, Gm.) Gray.

Neck very long; bill longer than the head (commissure longer than the tarsus),
the basal portion covered by a soft skin extending to the anterior half of the
eye ; the plane of the upper outline from eye to eye horizontal ; the lateral outline
extending nearly straight to the commissure, or even sometimes widening slightly ;
not half the width of the bill at tip; nostrils situated in the middle portion of
the bill ; lower portion of tibia bare ; the tarsus much shorter than the foot, much
compressed, covered with hexagonal scales, which become smaller on the sides and
behind; hind toe small, much elevated; the lobe narrow; tail of twenty or more
feathers, rounded or wedge-shaped; sexes similarly colored.

CYGNUS AMERICANUS.— Sharpkss.
The American Swan.

Cygnus Americanus, Sharpless. Doughty's Cab. N". H., I. (1830) 185. Aud. Orn.
Biog., V. (1839) 133. lb., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 226.
Cygnus ferus, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 368.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill as long as the head, broad, high at the base ; the feathers ending on the fore-
head in a semicircular outline ; nostrils far forward, the anterior extremity consider-
ably more forward than half the commissure ; tail of twenty feathers.

Adult pure-white ; bill and legs black ; the former with an orange or yellowish
spot in front of the eye ; less mature specimens with the head above tinged with
reddish-brown ; iris brown.

Length, fifty-five inches; wing, twenty-two; tarsus, four and twenty-five one-
hundredths; bill, above, four and twenty one-hundredths inches.

Hob. — Continent of North America.

THE AMERICAN SWAN.

481

The Common American Swan is equally abundant on both sides of the continent,
as well as throughout the interior; the young bird is brown instead of white; the
adult seldom, if ever, is without the yellow or orange space at the base of the bill,
which is otherwise black.

THIS beautiful bird is so extremely rare in New England
that it cannot properly be considered as belonging to
our fauna. Within a few years, perhaps three or four speci-
mens have been
taken in the waters
of Lake Champlain ;
and I believe a small
flock is recorded to
have been seen in
Lake Memphrema-
gog. These are
the only instances
known to me of its
occurrence in these
States. It retires to the most northern countries to pass
the season of reproduction. It nests on the ground, on
the islands and plains in the Hudson's Bay country. The
nest is constructed of a small collection of weeds and
dried grasses, loosely adjusted by the female. The eggs
are from six to eight or ten in number. They are broadly
ovoidal in shape, and of a pale olivaceous-green in color.
They vary in dimensions from 4.65 by 3 inches to 3.98 by
2.85 inch.

Sub-Family ANSERINE. — The Geese.
ANSER, LINNAEUS.

Bill as long as the head, mostly red or orange-colored ; the lamellae of upper
mandible project below the edge as conical points; nostrils opening behind the
middle of the commissure, the anterior edge only reaching to this point; tip of hind
toe reaching to the ground.

31

482 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

ANSEE HYPERBOREUS.-PaK<w.
The Snow Goose.

Anter hyperboreus, Pallas. Spic. Zool., VI. (1767) 25. Nutt. Man., II. 344.
Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 562. lb., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 212.
Anas hyperborea. Gm., I. 504. Wils. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 76.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Bill and legs red; color pure-white; primary quills black towards the
end. silvery-bluish gray towards the base, where the shafts are white ; the spurious
quills are also bluish; inside of wings, except primary quills, white; immature birds
have the head washed with rusty.

Young. — Head and upper part of neck white ; lower part of neck to the wings
dark-brown, passing on the sides of body into a more ashy shade ; rest of under
parts, concealed portions of the back, rump, and upper coverts, white ; the entire
scapular and scapular region is ashy-brown, each feather with faint reddish-brown
margin ; the upper surface of the wing is of a clear silvery-ash, but passing into dark-
brown on the ends of the quills ; the coverts, secondaries, tertials, and scapulars,
edged with white ; iris light-brown.

Length, about thirty inches; wing, sixteen and forty one-hundredths ; tarsus,
three and twelve one-hundredths ; commissure, two and ten one-hundredths inches.

This is another rare species on our New-England sea
coast. As a general thing, it is only seen during the winter ;
but we have, in the Massachusetts State Cabinet, a fine speci-
men that was taken in Boston Harbor, in July, 1863. It is
strictly a northern species, and hardly belongs to our fauna.

Dr. Richardson, in describing its breeding habits, says,
" It breeds in the barren grounds of Arctic America, in
great numbers. The eggs, of a yellowish-white color and
regularly ovate form, are a little larger than those of the
Eider Duck; their length being three inches, and their
greatest breadth two. The young fly in August ; and, by
the middle of September, all have departed to the south-
ward. The Snow Goose feeds on rushes, insects, and in
autumn on berries, particularly those of the Umpetrum
nigrum"

BERNICLA, STEPHENS.

Bernicla, STEPHENS, Shaw's Gen. Zool., XII. (1824) 45. (Type Anas ber-
ntcfo, L.)

Bill about as long as head or shorter; the commissure nearly straight; the teeth
of upper mandible concealed, except perhaps at the base ; bill and legs black.

THE CANADA GOOSE. 483

The American geese, with black bill and legs, exhibit very great variations in
size ; so much so, indeed, as to render it very difficult to distinguish them by this
character alone : the variation hi the shade of plumage in the same species is like-
wise considerable.

BEENICLA CANADENSIS. — Boie.
The Canada Goose.

Anas Canadensis, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 198. Wils. Am. Orn., VIII.
(1814) 52.

Anser Canadensis, Nuttall. Man., II. 349. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 1;

V. 607. 76., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 178.

Bernicla Canadensis, Boie. Isis (1826) 921.

DESCRIPTION.

Tail of eighteen feathers; head, neck, bill, and feet, deep-blacu.; a large trian-
gular patch of white on the cheeks behind the eye; the two of opposite sides
broadly confluent beneath, but not extending to the rami of lower jaw; a few
whitish feathers on lower eyelid; upper parts brown, edged with paler; under
parts light, with a tinge of purple-gray, sometimes a shade of smoky-brown; the
edges of the feathers paler; the color of the body of the feathers, though similar,
becoming deeper on the sides, tibia, axillars, and inside of wings ; the gray of the
belly passes gradually into white on the anal region and under coverts ; the upper
tail coverts are pure-white; the primary quills and rump are very dark blackish-
brown; the tail feathers are black; iris chestnut-brown.

Length, thirty-five inches; wing, eighteen; tarsus, three and ten one-hundredths;
commissure, two and ten one-hundredths inches.

This well-known bird passes through or over New Eng-
land in the spring and autumn migrations, appearing in the
former about the first week in April, and passing in flocks
until the 10th of that month. In the autumn, it returns as
early as the last week in September ; and from then until
the first of December, and even later, it passes in flocks in
its southern migrations. The Wild Goose, as the rule,
breeds in the most northern portions of the continent : it
sometimes passes the season of incubation in the limits of
the United States ; but the occurrences are very few of its
having been found to remain in New England. I under-
stand that it has bred on Martha's Vineyard, south of
Massachusetts, several times ; and I have been told of other
instances, but do not consider them to be well authenti-
cated. The nest is located in some retired place not far
from the water, generally among the thickest grass, and not

484 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

unfrequently under a bush. It is carelessly formed of dry
plants of various kinds, and is of a large size, flat, and
raised to the height of several inches. The eggs are usually

about six in number : they average three and a half inches
by two and a half, are thick-shelled, rather smooth, and of
a very dull yellowish-green color. The period of incuba-
tion is twenty-eight days. Wilson says of this bird : —

" Their first arrival on the coast of New Jersey is early in Octo-
ber; and their first numerous appearance is the sure prognostic
of severe weather. Those which continue all winter frequent the
shallow bays and marsh islands : their principal food being the broad,
tender, green leaves of a marine plant which grows on stones and
shells, and is usually called sea-cabbage ; and also the roots of the
sedge, which they are frequently observed in the act of tearing up.
Every few days, they make an excursion to the inlets on the beach
for gravel. They cross, indiscriminately, over land or water, gen-
erally taking the nearest course to their object ; differing, in this
respect, from the Brant, which will often go a great way round by
water, rather than cross over the land. They swim well ; and, if
wing-broken, dive, and go a long way under water, causing the

THE BRANT. 485

sportsman a great deal of fatigue before he can kill them. Except
in very calm weather, they rarely sleep on the water, but roost all
night in the marshes. When the shallow bays are frozen, they
seek the mouths of inlets near the sea, occasionally visiting the
air-holes in the ice ; but these bays are seldom so completely frozen
as to prevent them from feeding on the bars.

" The flight of the Wild Geese is heavy and laborious, generally
in a straight line, or in two lines, approximating to a point thus, > :
in both cases, the van is led by an old gander, who, every now and
then, pipes his well-known honk, as if to ask how they come on ;
and the honk of * All's well ' is generally returned by some of the
party. Their course is in a straight line, with the exception of
the undulations of their flight. When bewildered in foggy weather,
they appear sometimes to be in great distress, flying about in an
irregular manner, and for a considerable time over the same quar-
ter, making a great clamor. On these occasions, should they
approach the earth, and alight, — which they sometimes do, to rest
and recollect themselves, — the only hospitality they meet with is
death and destruction from a whole neighborhood already in arms
for their ruin."

BEENICLA BEENTA. — Stephens.
The Brant.

Anas bernida, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 198. Wils. Am. Orn., VIII.
(1814) 131.

Anser bernida, Nuttall. Man., II. 359. Aud. Orn. Biog., V. (1831) 24, 610.
75., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 203.

Bernida brenta, Stephens. Shaw's Zool., XII. (1824) 46.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill and feet, head, neck, and body anterior to the wings, primary quills, and
tail, black ; the secondary quills nearly black ; on each side of the middle of the
neck is a small white crescent, streaked with black ; the lower eyelids with a very
faint trace of white feathers ; the black of the jugulum is abruptly defined against
the bluish silvery-gray of the remaining under parts, the feathers of which have the
basal portions bluish-gray ; the axillars and insides of the wings showing a darker
tint of the same ; the gray of the belly passes gradually into white behind, the tail
being encircled all round and concealed by this color ; the back and wing coverts
are grayish-blue, with slightly paler edges ; the rump is of a similar, but darker and
more uniform blue ; the secondaries have some concealed whitish on the inner webs
towards the base ; iris dark-hazel.

Length, twenty-three and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, twelve and seventy,
five one-hundredths; tarsus, two and twenty-six one hundredths; commissure, one
and forty one-hundredths inches.

486 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

The Brant is found on our coast pretty abundantly at
the same seasons as the Canada Goose, which it resem-
bles very much in its general habits.

Having had but few opportunities of observing this
species in its wild state, I give the description, by Wilson, of
its general habits : " The Brant is expected at Egg Harbor,
on the coast of New Jersey, about the first of October,
and has been sometimes seen as early as the 20th of Sep-
tember. The first flocks generally remain in the bay a few
days, and then pass on to the South. On recommencing
their journey, they collect in one large body, and, making
an extensive spiral course, some miles in diameter, rise to a
great height in the air, and then steer for the sea, over
which they uniformly travel, often making wide circuits to
avoid passing over a projecting point of land. In these
aerial routes, they have been met with, many leagues from
shore, travelling the whole night. Their line of march very
much resembles that of the Canada Goose, with this excep-
tion, that frequently three or four are crowded together in
the front, as if striving for precedency. Flocks continue to
arrive from the North ; and many remain in the bay till
December, or until the weather becomes very severe, when
these also move off southwardly. During their stay, they
feed on the bars at low water, seldom or never in the
marshes ; their principal food being a remarkably long and
broad-leaved marine plant, of a bright-green color, which
adheres to stones, and is called by the country people, sea-
cabbage: the leaves of this are sometimes eight or ten
inches broad, by two or three feet in length. They also eat
small shell-fish. They never dive, but wade about, feeding
at low water. During the time of high water, they float in
the bay in long lines, particularly in calm weather. Their
voice is hoarse and honking, and, when some hundreds are
screaming together, reminds one of a pack of hounds in
full cry. They often quarrel among themselves, and with
the Ducks, driving the latter off their feeding-ground.

THE MALLARD. 487

Though it never dives in search of food, yet, when wing-
broken, the Brant will go one hundred yards at a stretch
under water, and is considered, in such circumstances, one
of the most difficult birds to kill. About the 15th or 20th
of May, they re-appear on their way north, but seldom stop
long, unless driven in by tempestuous weather."

This bird nests in the most northern portions of the con-
tinent. The nest is similar to that of the Canada Goose.
The eggs are from five to eight in number : they are ovate
in form, sometimes nearly oval ; and of a yellowish-white
color, sometimes darkened into a creamy-buff. Their di-
mensions vary from 2.90 by 1.92 to 2.78 by 1.84 inch.
They are very smooth to the touch, and the shell is thin
and brittle.

Sub- Family ANATIN^:. — The River Ducks.

The Anatince, or River Ducks, are easily known by their having the tarsi trans-
versely scutellate anteriorly, and the membrane or lobe of the hind toe narrow and
much restricted. The legs are longer than in Fuligulince, but shorter than in the
geese.

All the North-American River Ducks agree in having the crissum black. In all,
excepting Querquedula, there is a tendency to waved lines on the feathers of the
flanks, most conspicuous in the Mallard, Gadwall, and Green-winged Teal.

ANAS, LINNAEUS..

Anas, LINN^US, Syst. Nat. (1735). (Type Anas boschas, L., Gray.)
Bill longer than the head or the foot, broad, depressed ; the edges parallel to near
the end, which is somewhat acute ; nail less than one-third the width of the bill";
nostrils reaching to end of the basal two-fifths of the commissure ; feathers of fore-
head, chin, and cheeks, reaching about the same point; upper angle of bill about in
line with the lower; tail pointed, about two-fifths the wing.

ANAS BOSCHAS.— Linnceus.
The Mallard; Green-head.

Anas boschas, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat, I. (1766) 205. Wils. Am. Orn., VIII.
U814) 112. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 164. Ib., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 236.

488

ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

DESCRIPTION.

Male. — Head and neck bright grass-green, with violet gloss, the top of the head
duller; a white ring round the middle of the neck, below which and on the
forepart and sides of the breast the color is dark brownish-chestnut; under parts
and sides, with the scapulars, pale-gray, very finely undulated with dusky; the
outer scapulars with a brownish tinge ; forepart of back reddish-brown ; posterior
more olivaceous ; crissum and upper tail coverts black, the latter with a blue gloss ;
tail externally white; wing coverts brownish-gray, the greater coverts tipped first
with white, and then more narrowly with black; speculum purplish-violet, termi-
nated with black ; a recurved tuft of feathers on the rump ; iris dark-brown.

Female.— With the wing exactly as on the male; the under parts plain whitish-
ochrey, each feather obscurely blotched with dusky ; head and neck similar, spotted
and streaked with dusky; the chin and throat above unspotted; upper parts dark-
brown, the feathers broadly edged and banded with reddish-brown, parallel with the
circumference.

Length of male, twenty-three inches ; wing, eleven ; tarsus, one and seventy one-
hundredths ; commissure of bill, two and fifty one-hundredths inches.

The Mallard is found in New England only as a wan-
derer, and then only in the western sections in the spring
and autumn seasons ; a few are seen in the waters of Lake

Champlain, and oc-
casionally a small
flock is found in the
Connecticut River.
This is the original
of the Common Do-
mestic Mallard ; and
its habits are so well
known that I will
give no description
here.

This bird breeds in all sections of the United States,
more abundantly, of course, in the northern than in the
southern ; and less often in the eastern than in the inte-
rior and western. In most of the Western States, it is
one of the most abundant of water-fowls ; and it breeds in
all the meadows and by the ponds and streams throughout
those sections. The nest is built in a tussock of high grass,
or in a thick clump of weeds. It is composed of pieces of
grass and weeds, and is lined to the depth of half an inch

THE DUSKY DUCK. 489

with down and other soft material. The eggs are from ten
to fourteen in number : they are usually ovoidal in shape,
and vary in color from dirty yellowish- white to an obscure
olivaceous-green. Their dimensions vary from 2.42 by 1.75
(Albion, Wis.) to 2.26 by 1.68 (Nova Scotia).

ANAS OBSCURA.— Gmelin.
The Dusky Duck ; Black Duck.

Anas obscura, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 541. Wils. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814)
141. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 15. /&., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 244.
Anas (boschas) obscura, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 392.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill greenish ; feet red ; body generally blackish-brown ; the feathers obscurely
margined with reddish-brown ; those anteriorly with a concealed V-shaped mark,
more or less visible on the sides of the breast; head and neck brownish-yellow,
spotted with black ; the top of head and nape dark-brown, with a green gloss on the
sides behind; wings dull-blackish, with a dull-greenish gloss; speculum violet, ter-
minated with black ; inner tertials hoary gray towards tip ; axillars and inside of
wing white ; tail of eighteen feathers ; iris dark-brown.

Female similar, but rather duller; the light edges to the under feathers more con-
spicuous ; the sides of head without the greenish-gloss ; the speculum bluish, with
less violet.

Length of male, twenty-two inches ; wing nearly twelve ; tarsus, one and eighty
one-hundredths ; commissure, two and fifty-six one-hundredths inches.

Hob. — Atlantic region of North America; not yet detected on the Pacific, nor
in Europe.

This is the most plainly marked, as well as perhaps the largest, of our river
ducks, and excelled by none in the excellence of its flesh.

This species, generally but improperly known as the
Black Duck, is the most abundant of all our fresh-water
ducks. It breeds in all the New-England States, but is
found in the greatest abundance in the more northern por-
tions of them. The country around Lake Umbagog, Me.,
seems to be a favorite breeding-ground with this species ;
almost every patch of meadow having one or more of its
nests.

The nest is built about the last week in April or the first
in May. It is placed in a secluded locality in a tussock of
grass, or beneath a thicket of briers or weeds ; usually in a

490 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

meadow, near a pond or stream, but sometimes in a swamp
in which a small brook is the only water for miles around.
This species sometimes follows these small brooks up to
their sources ; and I once found one with a nest on a low
stump that overhung a small spring on the side of a hill, a
mile from any other water. The nest of this species is con-
structed of pieces of grass and weeds, which are neatly
arranged into a structure eighteen inches in diameter on
the outside, and three or four in depth. This is hollowed
for perhaps an inch and a half or two inches, and lined
with the down and feathers from the breast of the parent-
bird. The eggs are from seven to ten in number: their
form is usually ovoidal ; and their color varies from an
olivaceous-yellow to a dirty yellowish-white. If a dozen of
these, and an equal number of the eggs of the Mallard,
are placed side by side, it is almost impossible to identify
them, so closely do they resemble each other. The eggs
of the present species vary from 2.50 by 1.72 inch (Lake
Umbagog) to 2.26 by 1.65 (Weston, Mass.). They aver-
age about 2.34 by 1.74 (Nova Scotia). Early in Septem-
ber, the Dusky I)uck gathers in flocks of fifteen or
twenty. It is now so difficult of approach, that the experi-
enced gunner seldom attempts to secure it by stalking it.
The method by which the greater number are killed is as
follows : The sportsman, knowing the localities most fre-
quented by these flocks, — generally meadows in which
streams of water or small ponds are abundant, — builds a
bower near the water, about six feet square, and five or six
high, of the limbs of pines and othe'r dense foliaged trees,
in which he secretes himself at daybreak, armed with one or
two heavy double-barrelled guns, and provided with three
or four tame ducks. One of these ducks he anchors or
moors out in the water, half a gunshot from the bower.
The duck, soon becoming lonesome, begins to call, when, if
there are any wild ducks in the neighborhood, they answer
the call in an almost exactly similar note, and soon fly to

DAFILA. 491

meet the caller. The sportsman, watching the approaching
flock, holds one of the other tame ducks ready to throw ;
and, as soon as the wild ones approach near enough to see
the others, he throws towards the anchored duck the one
held in his hand, which is secured from flying off, by a
strong line fastened to its legs. The bird moored in the
water, seeing her mate flying towards her, immediately
redoubles her cries, when the Dusky Ducks, after flying back
and forth, alight beside her. As soon as they alight, they
gather together in a flock away from the decoy ; and it is
then that the sportsman pours in his first shot: he fires
when the birds are rising from the water, and is often
enabled to get four shots at the flock before it gets out of
gunshot. The excitement attending this shooting is better
appreciated when known. I have passed many "days in
bowers of this description, and have had my share of the
excitement. It is only early in the morning and late in
the afternoon that these birds can be shot in this manner ;
and, if they are much hunted, they will hardly approach one
of these bowers without great caution. This duck remains
with us through nearly the whole year, and moves south-
ward only in very severe winters. When the fresh ponds
are not frozen, it prefers them to the salt water; but in
winter it is most abundant in our bays and small creeks,
where it feeds on small shell-fish and other marine animals.
In autumn it is one of the best flavored of our water-
fowl, but in winter is not so good, having much of the
fishy taste of the sea-ducks.

DAFILA, LEACH.

Dqfila, "LEACH," Stephens, Shaw's Gen. Zool., XII. (1824) 226. (Type Anas
acuta.)

Bill long, narrow; considerably longer than the foot; nearly linear, but widen-
ing a little to the end, which is truncate, rounded ; nail small ; nostrils small, in the
basal third of bill; tail pointed; the two middle feathers lengthened, so as nearly to
equal the wings.

492 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

DAFILA ACUTA.— Jenyns.
The Pintail ; Sprigtail.

Anas acuta, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat,, I. (1766) 202. Wils. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814).
Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 214; V. 615. /&., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 266.
Dqfila acuta, Bonaparte. List (1838).
Anas (boschas) acuta, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 386.

DESCRIPTION.

Tail of sixteen feathers ; bill black above and laterally at the base ; the sides
and beneath blue ; head and upper part of neck uniform dark-brown, glossed with
green and purple behind ; inferior part of neck, breast, and under parts white ; the
white of neck passes up to the nape, separating the brown, and itself is divided
dorsally by black, which, below, passes into the gray of the back ; the back anteriorly
and the sides are finely lined transversely with black and white ; the wings are plain
and bluish-gray; the greater coverts with a terminal bar of purplish-buff, below
which is a greenish-purple speculum, margined behind by black, and tipped with
white; longest tertials striped with silvery and greenish-black; scapulars black,
edged with silvery; crissum and elongated tail feathers black; the former edged
with white.

Female with only a trace of the markings of the wing; the green of the specu-
lum brownish, with a few green spots; the feathers of the back are brown, with a
broad U or V-shaped brownish-yellow bar on each feather anteriorly ; sometimes
those bars appear in the shape of broad transverse lines.

Length, thirty inches ; wing, eleven ; tail, eight and sixty one-hundredths ; tarsus,
one and seventy-five one-hundredths; commissure, two and thirty-six one hun-
dredths inches.

Hob. — Whole of North America, and Europe.

This beautiful bird is pretty common on our shores ; and
it is much pursued, both for the beauty of its plumage
and for the excellence of its flesh. It breeds in the most
northern portions of the continent, where, Nuttall says, " it
lays eight or nine eggs of a greenish-blue color." It is seen
in most abundance in the autumn on our coast, where it
appears by the 10th of September, and remains until the
last week in October. Wilson says it is a shy and cau-
tious bird, feeds in the mud flats, and shallow fresh-water
marshes ; but rarely resides on , the seacoast. It seldom
dives, is very noisy, and has a kind of chattering note.
When wounded, they will sometimes dive, and, coming up,
conceal themselves under the bow of the boat, moving round
as it moves ; are vigilant in giving the alarm on the approach

THE GREEN-WINGED TEAL. 493

of the gunner, who often curses the watchfulness of the
Sprigtail. Some Ducks, when aroused, disperse in different
directions ; but the Sprigtails, when alarmed, cluster con-
fusedly together as they mount, and thereby afford the sports-
man a fair opportunity of raking them with advantage. They
generally leave the Delaware about the middle of March, on
the way to their native regions, the North, where they are
most numerous.

NETTION, KAUP.

Nettim, KAUP, Entwick (1829). Gray. (Type Anas crecca, L.)

Bill unusually narrow, longer than the foot; the sides parallel; the upper lateral

angle not extending back as far as the lower edge; nail very narrow, linear, and

about one-fifth as wide as the bill.

NETTION CAROLINENSIS.— Baird.
The Green-winged Teal.

Anas Carolinensis, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 533. Aud. Birds Am., VI.
(1843) 281.

Anas crecca, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 101. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1853)
219; V. 616.

Anas (boschas) crecca, Swainson. F. Bor. Am., II. (1831) 400. Nutt. Man., II.
(1834) 400.

DESCRIPTION.

Head and neck all round chestnut; chin black; forehead dusky; region round
the eye, continued along the side of the head as a broad stripe, rich-green, passing
into a bluish-black patch across the nape ; under parts white, the feathers of the
jugulum with rounded black spots; lower portion of neck all round, sides of breast
and body, long feathers of flanks and scapulars, beautifully and finely banded
closely with black and grayish-white ; outer webs of some scapulars, and of outer
secondaries black, the latter tipped with white ; speculum broad and rich-green ;
wing coverts plain grayish-brown, the greater coverts tipped with buff; a white
crescent in front of the bend of the wing; crissum black, with a triangular patch
of buffy-white on each side ; lower portion of the green stripe on each side of the
head blackish, with a dull edge of whitish below; iris brown.

Males vary in having the under parts sometimes strongly tinged with ferrugi-
nous-brown.

Female with the wings as in the male; the under parts white, with hidden spots
on the jugulum and lower neck; above dark-brown, the feathers edged with gray.

Length, fourteen inches ; wing, seven and forty one-hundredths ; tarsus, one and
fourteen one-hundredths ; commissure, one and sixty-eight one-hundredths inches.

Hob. — Whole of North America; accidental in Europe.

This beautiful little fowl is quite abundant in the spring
and autumn migrations in New England ; arriving in the

494 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

former about the 10th of May, and in the latter about
the second week in September, and remaining until the
middle of October. It frequents fresh-water ponds and
streams in small flocks, where it feeds on various water
insects, their larvae, the seeds of aquatic plants, and the
tadpoles of the different frogs. Its flesh is well flavored,
and, with the next species, is one of the most popular in all
our markets. I have often seen individuals of this species
associate with the ducks in a farmer's yard or duck-pond,
and have known them to come to the barn-yard with the
tame fowls, and eat with them the corn thrown out for their
food. .In the water, it is a graceful bird, moving about
with great activity. Its flight is rapid ; and accompanied
with a whistling murmur different from that of most of our
other ducks.

This bird probably breeds in the secluded lake districts
of the northern portions of New England, as it is found in
considerable abundance in localities in Nova Scotia and
Canada in the same latitude. It nests early in June, some-
times by the 20th of May.

The nest is placed on the ground, in a thick patch or
tussock of grass, usually in meadows within a few feet of a
small pond or stream. It is constructed of, first, a thick
layer of soft pieces of grass and weeds, on which is placed a
thin covering of the down and feathers from the breast of
the bird. The eggs are from five to eight in number : they
are usually ovoidal in form, sometimes nearly oval, and vary
in dimensions from 1.90 by 1.32 inch (Nova Scotia) to 1.73
by 1.22 inch. Their color is a dirty-white, with a slight
greenish tint.

QUERQUEDULA, STEPHENS.

Querquedula, STEPHENS, Shaw's Gen. Zool., XII. (1824). (Type Anas querque-
dula, L.)

Bill narrow, lengthened, a little longer than the foot, widening a little to the
end, which is obtusely rounded; the tail occupying about one-third the width;
the lamellae visible in the lateral profile; the upper lateral angle at the base of
bill extending rather further back than the lower edge.

THE BLUE-WINGED TEAL. 495

QUERQUEDULA DISCOES Stephens.

The Blue-winged Teal.

Anas discors, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 74. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838)
111. 7i., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 287.

Querquedula discors, Stephens. Shaw's Gen. Zool., XII. (1824) 149.

Anas (Boschas) discors, Swainson. F. Bor. Am., II. (1831) 444. Nutt. Man., II.
(1834) 397.

DESCRIPTION.

Male. — Head and neck above plumbeous-gray; top of head black; a white cres-
cent in front of the eye; under parts from middle of the neck purplish-gray,
each feather with spots of black, which become more obsolete behind; forepart of
back with the feathers brown, with two undulating narrow bands of purplish-gray;
feathers on the flanks banded with dark-brown and purplish-gray; back behind and
tail greenish-brown; crissum black; wing coverts and some of the outer webs of
scapulars blue; other scapulars velvet-black or green, streaked with pale reddish-
buff; speculum glossy-green ; the outer greater wing coverts white, as are the axil-
lars, the middle of under surface of the wing, and a patch on each side of the base
of the tail; bill black; feet flesh-colored; iris dark-hazel.

Female. — With the top of head brown, and the wing coverts blue and white, as
in the male ; base of bill, except above, chin, and upper part of the throat, dirty
yellowish-white; back brown, the feathers margined with paler ; under parts whit-
ish, with rounded obscure brown spots ; the jugulum darker.

Length of male, sixteen inches; wing, seven and ten one-hundredths ; tarsus,
one and twenty one-hundredths ; commissure, one and eighty-five one-hundredths
inches.

Hob. — Eastern North America to Rocky Mountains. Not yet found on the
Pacific coast nor in Europe.

This species is more often found in small creeks near the
seashore than the Green-winged Teal ; but it prefers the
small fresh-water ponds and streams to the salt water, and
is most abundant in mill-ponds, where the water varies in
depth in different days ; there it searches in the little nooks
and pools, among the half-submerged rocks and bushes, for
its favorite food of aquatic insects and the seeds of aquatic
plants. It arrives from the South in spring, by the latter
part of April, sometimes earlier, and remains lingering in
its favorite haunts until the first week in May. It proceeds
slowly to the North, where it breeds ; and it then returns
through New England, by the middle of September, to the
Southern States, where it passes the winter. It sometimes
breeds in New England. George A. Boardman, Esq., has

496 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

found it with young at Milltown, Me. ; and Giraud, in his
"Birds of Long Island," says that it breeds in that locality.
The greater number, however, pass to the more northern
countries, where they begin to lay early in June. The
nests are similar to those of the Green-winged Teal, and
are placed in similar localities. The eggs are from six to
ten in number. They vary in form from ovate to ovoidal,
and are sometimes nearly oval in shape : they are of a dirty
yellowish-white color, paler than that of the eggs of the
Green-winged Teal. They vary in dimensions from 1.95
by 1.35 inch (Wisconsin) to 1.74 by 1.30 inch (Labrador).
The surface of both these eggs, and those of the preceding
species, is covered with stains of a darker tint than the
primary color ; probably caused by the feet of the bird, or
by the decaying vegetation which forms the nests of both
species.

SPATULA, BOIB.

Spatula, BOIE, Isis (1822), 564. (Type Anas clypeata, L.)

Bill much longer than the head and spatulate, widening to the end, where it is
twice as broad as at the base ; nail long and narrow ; lamellae of the upper mandible
very close, delicate, and lengthened, projecting far below the lower edge; tail acute,
less than half the wing.

SPATULA CLYPEATA.— Bde. .
The Shoveller; Spoonbill.

Anas clypeata, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 200. Wils. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814).
Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 241. lb., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 293.
Spatula clypeata, Boie. Isis (1822), 564.
Anas (Spathulea) clypeata, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 375.

DESCRIPTION.

Head and neck green ; forepart and sides of the breast, with greater portion of
scapulars, and the sides of the base of the tail, white; rest of under parts dull pur-
plish-chestnut; crissum, rump, and upper tail coverts black, the latter glossed with
green; wing coverts blue, the posterior row brown in the concealed portion, and
,tipped with white ; longest tertials blue, streaked internally with white ; others vel-
vet-green, streaked centrally with white ; speculum grass-green, edged very nar-
rowly behind with black, and then with white.

Female with the wing similar, but with the blue of coverts and scapulars less

Plate

Old Squaw; or Lou ^-tailed Duok,.

Shoveller Euck.

Ore at Northern Diver.

Gannet.

Razor -"balled Aulc.

THE GADWALL. 497

distinct; head and neck brownish-yellow, spotted with dusky; the belly with a
decided chestnut tinge; iris reddish-orange.

Length, twenty inches; wing, nine and fifty one-hundredths ; tarsus, one and
thirty-eight one-hundredths ; commissure, three and two one-hundredths inches.

The Shoveller is a rare species on the coast of New Eng-
land ; but two or three are taken in a season, and it is
rarely that one is found here in the mature plumage. It
is as often found in fresh-water ponds and streams as in the
creeks and bays near the shore. It breeds in the most
northern portions of the eastern coast; but, according to
Mr. Audubon, it passes the season of incubation "from
Texas westward to the Columbia River, thence to the fur
countries." Says Nuttall, " Soon after March, according
to Baillou, they disperse through the fens in France to
breed, and select the same places with the Summer Teal ;
choosing with them large tufts of rushes, making a nest of
withered grass ,in the most boggy and difficult places
of access, near waters. The eggs are twelve to fourteen,
of a very pale greenish-yellow: the female sits twenty-
four or twenty-five days."

The Spoonbill feeds, like the other fresh-water ducks, on
various aquatic insects and tadpoles ; but, unlike the Teals,
eats but few seeds of aquatic plants. A specimen that. I
examined, killed in Plymouth County, Mass., had its stom-
ach filled with small pieces of some aquatic roots, and one
or two tadpoles : there were also fragments of small crusta-
ceans, but so small that it was impossible to identify them.

CHAULELASMUS, GRAY.

Chauklasmus, G. R. GRAY (1838). (Type Anas strepera, L.)
Bill as long as the head; the lower edge about as long as the outer toe, and
longer than the tarsus ; the lamellae distinctly visible below the edge of the bill.

CHAULELASMUS STREPEBUS. — Gray.
The Gadwall; Gray Duck.

Anas strepera, Linnaeus, Wilson, and others.

32

498 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

DESCRIPTION.

Male. — Head and neck brownish-white, each feather spotted with dusky; the
top of head tinged with reddish ; lower part of neck, with forepart of breast and
back, blackish, with concentric narrow bars of white, giving a scaled appearance to
the feathers ; interscapular region, outermost scapulars, and sides of the body, finely
waved transversely with black and white; middle wing coverts chestnut, the
greater velvet-black, succeeded by a pure-white speculum, bordered externally by
hoary-gray, succeeded by black; crissum and upper tail coverts black; longest ter-
tials hoary plumbeous-gray; innermost scapulars with a reddish tinge; inside of
wing and axillars pure-white; bill black; iris hazel.

Female. — With the bill dusky, edged with reddish; wing somewhat like that of
the male, but with the chestnut-red more restricted.

Length, twenty-two inches ; wing, ten and fifty one-hundredths ; tarsus, one and
sixty-four one-hundredths ; commissure, two and four one-hundredths inches.

The Gadwall is a rare autumnal visitor in New England,
and is seldom seen in the spring as it is passing to its
northern breeding-places. Audubon, in describing its habits,
says, —

" This species dives well on occasion, especially on being
wounded. At the appearance of danger, it rises on wing
— whether from the ground or from the water — at a single
spring, in the manner of the Mallard; and, like it also,
ascends almost perpendicularly for several yards, after
which 4t moves off in a direct course with great celerity. I
have never seen it dive on the flash of the gun ; but, when
approached, it always swims to the opposite part of the
pond, and, when the danger increases, flies off. On being
wounded, it sometimes, by diving, makes its escape among
the grass, where it squats, and remains concealed. It walks
with ease, and prettily, often making incursions upon the
land, when the ponds are not surrounded by trees, for
the purpose of searching for food. It nibbles the tender
shoots and blades of grasses with apparent pleasure ; and
will feed on beech-nuts, acorns, and seeds of all kinds of
gramineae, as well as on tadpoles, small fishes, and leeches.
After rain, it alights in cornfields, like the Mallard, and
picks up the scattered grains of maize."

The eggs of this species are from eight to twelve in num-
ber. Their color is a pale-drab, with a slight olivaceous tint :

THE AMERICAN WIDGEON. 499

their form is a long ovoid; and their dimensions average
about 2.15 inch in length by 1.50 inch in breadth.

MARECA, STEPHENS.

Mareca, STEPHENS, Shaw's Gen. Zool., XII. (1824) 130. (Type Anas Pene-
lope, L.)

Bill shorter than the head, and equal to the inner toe claw; the sides parallel to
near the end, which is rather obtusely pointed, the nail occupying the tip, and about
one-third as broad as the bill ; bill rather high ; the upper lateral angle at the base
not prominent, nor extending as far back as the lower edge; tail pointed, not half
the wings.

The North-American and European species of Mareca have the upper parts
finely waved transversely with black and gray or reddish-brown ; the under parts,
with the usual exceptions, snowy-white. The top of the head is uniform white or
cream-color; the neck more or less spotted; the middle and greater coverts are
white, the latter tipped with black ; the speculum is green, encircled by black ; the
tertials are black on the outer web, edged with hoary-white; the entire outer web of
one of them hoary.

MARECA AMERICANA. — Stephens.
The American Widgeon; Baldpate.

Anas Americana, Gmelin. Syst. Nat, I. (1788) 526. Wils. Am. Orn., VIII.
(1814) 86. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 337. lb., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 259.
Mareca Americana, Stephens. Shaw's Gen. Zool., XII. (1824) 135.
Anas (Boschas) Americana, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 389.

DESCRIPTION.

Male. — Tail of fourteen feathers; bill blue, the extreme base and tip black;
head and neck pale-buff, or faint reddish-yellow, each feather banded narrovrly with
blackish, so as to give the appearance of spots ; the top of the head from the bill is
pale unspotted creamy- white ; the sides of the head from around the eye to the nape,
glossy-green, the feathers, however, with hidden spots, as described; chin uniform
dusky; forepart of breast and sides of body light-brownish or chocolate-red, each
feather with obsolete grayish edge ; rest of under parts pure-white ; the crissum
abruptly black ; the back, scapulars, and rump, finely waved transversely anteriorly
with reddish and gray, posteriorly with purer gray, on a brown ground ; a little of
the same waving also on the sides ; the lesser wing coverts are plain gray ; the mid-
dle and greater are conspicuously white, the latter terminated by black, succeeded
by a speculum, which is grass-green at the base, and then velvet-black ; the tertials
ire black on the outer web, bordered narrowly by black, the outermost one hoary-
gray, externally edged with black ; the tail is hoary-brown ; the upper coverts are
black externally; the axillars are white; iris hazel.

The blackish chin appears to be found only in very highly plumaged birds. The
top of the head is sometimes pure-white.

The female has the head and neck somewhat similar, but spotted to the bill;
wings as in the male ; the black of tertials replaced by brown ; the gray of the lesser
coverts extending slightly over the middle ones ; back and scapulars with rather

500 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

broad and distant transverse bars of reddish-white, each feather with two or three in-
terrupted along the shafts; these are much wider and more distant than in the male.

Length, twenty-one and seventy-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, eleven ; tar-
sus, one and forty-two one-hundredths; commissure, one and eighty one-hundredths
inches.

Hob. — Continent of North America. Accidental in Europe.

This beautiful bird is found in small flocks of four or five
individuals in the spring and fall migrations, and is more
often found in the fresh-water ponds and streams in the
interior than in the salt water on the coast.

It breeds in the Hudson's Bay Country, early in June.
The nest is placed on the ground, as I am informed, in the
marshes and sterile plains of that country, and resembles
very much the nest of the common Black or Dusky Duck.
The eggs are from eight to twelve in number. They
resemble those of the Blue-winged Teal in form and color,
being a dirty yellowish-white. They average in dimensions
about 2.05 by 1.50 inch.

The food of this bird consists principally of the tender
leaves and roots of aquatic plants, which it obtains, when in
company with the Canvas-back, by stealing from that bird ;
the latter diving, and bringing it up from the bottom of the
water, and the Widgeon seizing it when he appears at
the surface.

AIX, BOIE.

Aix, BOIE, Isis (1828), 329. (Type Anas galericulata, L.)

Bill very high at the base, where the upper lateral angle runs back much behind
the lower edge of the bill ; nostrils very large, and scarcely enveloped by mem-
brane ; the feathers of the forehead reaching to their posterior edge ; nail very large,
and much hooked, occupying the entire tip of bill; lamellae depressed, broad, and
distant ; bill, from feathers of forehead, shorter than the head, and equal to the tar-
sus; head crested; claws short, much curved, and very sharp; tail, about half the
wings, vaulted, cuneate, but truncate at the tip; the coverts nearly as long as
the feathers.

AIX SPONSA.— Sole.
The Summer Duck ; "Wood Duck.

Anas sponsa, Linnseus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 207. Wils. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814)
97. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 52; V. 618. lb., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 271.
Aix sponsa, Boie. Isis (1828), 329.
Anas (Boschas) spvnsa, Nuttall Man., II. (1834) 394.

THE SUMMER DUCK.

501

DESCRIPTION.

Head and crest metallic-green to below the eyes ; the cheeks, and a stripe from
behind the eye, purplish ; a narrow short line from the upper angle of the bill along
the side of the crown and through the crest, another on the upper eyelid, a stripe
starting below and behind the eye, and running into the crest paralle. with the one
first mentioned, the chin and upper part of the throat sending a well-defined branch
up towards the eye, and another towards the nape, snowy-white ; lower neck and
iugulum, and sides of the base of tail, rich-purple; the jugulum with triangular
spots of white and a chestnut shade ; remaining under parts white, as is a crescent
in front of the wing bordered behind by black; sides yellowish-gray, finely lined
with black ; the long feathers of the flanks broadly black at the end, with a sub-
terminal bar, and sometimes a tip of white ; back and neck above nearly uniform
bronzed-green and purple ; scapulars and innermost tertials velvet-black, glossed on
the inner webs with violet; the latter with a white bar at the end; greater coverts
violet, succeeded by a greenish speculum, tipped with white ; primaries silvery-white
externally towards the end; the tips internally violet and purple; iris bright-red.

Female with the wings quite similar; the back more purplish; the sides of the
head and neck ashy ; the region round the base of the bill, a patch through the eyes,
and the chin, white; the purple of the jugulum replaced by brownish; the waved
feathers on the sides wanting.

Length, nineteen inches ; wing, nine and fifty one-hundredths ; tarsus, one and
forty one-hundredths ; commissure, one and fifty-four one-hundredths inches.

Hah. — Continent of North America.

This, the most beautiful of all our Ducks, is pretty abun-
dantly distributed through New England in the breeding
season. Wilson's description of its habits is so much
better than I can give, that I make a liberal extract from
it. He says, —

" The Summer Duck is equally well known in Mexico and many
of the West India
Islands. During the
whole of our winters,
they are occasionally
seen in the States
south of the Potomac.
On the 10th of Janua-
ry, I met with two on
a creek near Peters-
ourg, in Virginia. In
the more northern dis-
tricts, however, they are migratory. In Pennsylvania, the female
usually begins to lay late in April, or early in May. Instances

502 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

have been known where the nest was constructed of a few sticks
laid in a fork of the branches: usually, however, the inside of
a hollow tree is selected for this purpose. On the 18th of May,
I visited a tree containing the nest of a Summer Duck, on the
banks of Tuckahoe River, New Jersey. It was an old, gro-
tesque white oak, whose top had been torn off by a storm. It
stood on the declivity of the bank, about twenty yards from the
water. In this hollow and broken top, and about six feet down, on
the soft, decayed wood, lay thirteen eggs, snugly covered with
down, doubtless taken from the breast of the bird. These eggs
were of an exact oval shape, less than those of a Hen ; the surface
exceedingly fine-grained, and of the highest polish, and slightly
yellowish, greatly resembling old, polished ivory. The egg meas-
ured two inches' and an eighth by one inch and a half. On
breaking one of them, the young bird was found to be nearly
hatched, but dead, as neither of the parents had been observed
about the tree during the three or four days preceding, and were
conjectured to have been shot.

" This tree had been occupied, probably by the same pair, for
four successive years, in breeding-time : the person who gave me
the information, and whose house was within twenty or thirty yards
of the tree, said that he had seen the female, the spring preceding,
carry down thirteen young, one by one, in less than ten minutes.
She caught them in her bill by the wing or back of the neck, and
landed them safely at the foot of the tree, whence she afterwards
led them to the water. Under this same tree, at the time I visited
it, a large sloop lay on the stocks, nearly finished : the deck was not
more than twelve feet distant from the nest ; yet, notwithstanding
the presence and noise of the workmen, the Ducks would not aban-
don their old breeding-place, but continued to pass out and in, as if
no person had been near. The male usually perched on an adjoin-
ing limb, and kept watch while the female was laying, and also
often while she was sitting. A tame Goose had chosen a hollow
space, at the root of the same tree, to lay and hatch her young in.

" The Summer Duck seldom flies in flocks of more than three or
four individuals together, and most commonly in pairs or singly.
The common note of the Drake is peet,peet; but when, standing
sentinel, he sees danger, he' makes a noise not unlike the crowing

THE SEA DUCKS. 503

of a young cock, oe eelc ! oe eek ! Their food consists principally of
acorns, seeds of the wild oats, and insects. Their flesh is little
inferior to that of the Blue-winged Teal. They are frequent in
the markets of Philadelphia."

The eggs of the Summer Duck are of a dirty yellowish-
white color. Their form varies from ovate to nearly oval ;
and their dimensions vary from 2.20 by 1.55 (Wisconsin),
to 2.10 by 1.55 (Maine), and 1.98 by 1.45 (Massachusetts).

This species is easily domesticated, and soon becomes
very tame. It breeds in confinement, and soon acquires all
the habits of the domestic Mallard, but prefers a hollow
tree or stump for its resting-place.

Mr. 0. Brewer, editor of the " Boston Cultivator," has,
at his residence in West Roxbury, Mass., a large flock of
these birds, which he has raised himself; and they are cer-
tainly the most beautiful and interesting pets that I have
seen.

Sub-Family FULIGULIN^E. — The Sea Ducks.

The chief character of the Fuligulince, as compared with the Anatince, consists in
the greatly developed lobe or membranous flap attached to or suspended from the
inferior surface of the hind toe ; the feet are usually enormously large, the tarsi
short, the legs set far back, and the whole organization well fitted for swimming
and diving : many of the species live on or near the seacoast, although most of
them straggle more or less through the interior of the countries they inhabit.

FULIX, SUNDEVALL.

Fulix, SUNDEVALL, Kong. Vet. Ak. Hand. (1835). (As restricted.)
Bill longer than the tarsus, and about equal to the head, and to the middle toe
without the nail ; feathers of cheeks, chin, and forehead advancing but slightly, and
to about the same distance ; nostrils open, situated in the anterior portion of the
basal two-fifths of the bill, not reaching the middle ; edges of bill about parallel,
or widening to the tip ; profile gently concave to the nail, which is decurved ; nail
aot one-third the width of the bill, and forming only the central portion of its tip ;
tarsus about half the middle toe and claw; bill as long as the feet; tail short,
rounded, of fourteen feathers ; head and neck black.

504 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

FULIX MAEILA.— Baird. -.***

The Scaup Duck; Big Black Head; Blue Bill.

Anas marila, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat, I. (1766) 196. Wils. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814)
84.

Fuligula marila, Audubon. Birds Am., VII. (1843) 355. Gir. Birds L. Island,
(1844) 321.

DESCRIPTION.

Head and neck all round, jugulum and shoulders, lower part of back, tail, and
coverts, black ; the head with a gloss of dark-green on the sides ; rest of under parts
white ; feathers on the lower parts of belly and on the sides, the long feathers of the
flanks, the interscapulum, and the scapulars, white, waved in zigzag transversely
with black; greater and middle wing coverts similarly marked, but more finely and
obscurely; greater coverts towards the tip and the tertials greenish -black; the
speculum is white, bordered behind by greenish-black ; the white extending across
the whole central portion of the secondaries ; outer primaries and tips of all, brown-
ish-black; inner ones pale-gray; the central line dusky; axillars and middle of the
inferior surface of the wing white ; bill blue; the nail black; legs plumbeous; iris
yellow.

Female with the head brown ; the region all ro«nd the base of the bill white ; the
undulations of black and white on the feathers wanting, or but faintly indicated
above.

Length, twenty inches ; wing, nine ; tarsus, one and fifty-eight one-hundredths
inches ; commissure, two and sixteen one-hundredths inches.

Hob. — Whole of North America and Europe.

' This species is, although not abundant, generally met
with on our coast in spring and fall. It seldom penetrates
far inland, but prefers the bays and mouths of creeks on the
shore, where it has all the habits of the sea Ducks. I have
known of its being taken in small numbers on Punkapoag
Pond, Massachusetts, where it associated with the common
Dusky Duck. Giraud, in his " Birds of Long Island,"
speaks of it as being very abundant on our coasts ; arriving
from the North from the 10th to the 20th of October in
large flocks. My experience has been, that it is far from
being an abundant species ; and that it is more often seen
in flocks of not more than eight or ten birds than in larger
parties. Its habits, however, may vary in different localities ;
and it may be abundant, like many other species, in some
sections, when it is comparatively scarce in others.

It passes to the most northern countries to spend the

THE LITTLE BLACK-HEAD. 505

season of incubation on our coast ; but, in the interior, it is
an abundant breeder, — in the lake country, in Wisconsin,
and other localities in similar latitudes. It nests on the
ground ; forming, as I am told, a nest of grass and weeds in
a marshy swamp, very similar to the nest of the Mallard that
breeds in the same localities.

The eggs are from six to ten in number : they are of an
ovate form, sometimes nearly oval ; and are of a dirty pale-
drab color, with a slight tint of olivaceous.

They vary in dimensions from 2.32 by 1.60 to 2.26 by
1.52 inch (both sizes from Wisconsin). *

/

FULIX AFFINIS. — Baird.
The Little Black-head; Blue Bill.

Fuligula marila, Audubon. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 226; V. (1839) 614. Ib.,
Birds Am., VI. (1843) 316.

Fuligula minor, Giraud. Birds L. Island (1844), 323.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill blue; the nail black; head, neck, forepart of breast, and back anterior to
the shoulder, lower part of back, tail and its coverts, black ; the head with violet
purple reflections, changing occasionally to green ; the belly and sides, with axfllars,
and central portion of inner surfaces of wings pure-white; the lower part of the
belly, near the anus, undulated finely with black spots ; the interscapular region and
scapulars white, with transverse zigzag bands or lines of black, these lines much
further apart in the scapulars, which consequently are whiter; wings blackish; the
lesser and middle coverts sprinkled with grayish; the speculum is white, edged
behind by greenish-black, the color also of the tertials ; the white of the speculum
goes across the middle of the secondaries; iris yellow.

The female has the wing nearly similar; the black replaced by brownish; the
region round the base of the bill whitish; the marbling or mottling almost entirely
wanting.

Length, sixteen and fifty on e-hundredths inches; wing, eight; tarsus, one and
thirty-four one-hundredths ; commissure, one and ninety-four one-hundredths inch.

This species resembles the former in its general habits,
but is more abundant on our coast, where it is generally
known to our gunners by the name of " Blue-bill Coot."
It appears in our creeks and bays early in October, and
remains with us until late in November, and even later, if
the season is mild and open.

506 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

" The food of the Scaup Duck I have found to consist of
small fry, cray-fishes, and a mixture of such grasses as here
and there grow along the beds of our rivers." — AUDUBON.
It is an expert diver, and can remain a considerable time
under water. When wounded, it often dives, and, clinging
to the weeds or rocks at the bottom of the water, remains
there until dead ; and often the bird does not rise to the
surface until the whole warmth of it has left its body, when
the muscles, losing their contraction, permit the bird to float
off. Very often it does not come to the surface at all, when
thus wounded and dying, but remains like a stone on the
bottom until its parts become separated by the waves, or by
crabs or other crustaceans. Of the breeding habits and
nest of this bird I am ignorant. I have but a single egg in
my collection, from Youkon. This is ovoidal in form, of
a dirty pale-drab color, and is 2.25 inch in length, and
1.60 at its greatest breadth.

AYTHYA, BOIB.

Aythya, BOIE, Isis (1822). (Type Anas ferina, L.)

Very similar to Fuligula in general characters of shape ; the bill elongated, longer
than the head, and about equal to the middle toe with the claw; the bill more
slender in one species, the nail smaller and less decurved ; the bill higher at base,
and the upper outline nearly straight to beyond the end of the nostrils, which do
not quite reach the middle of the bill ; colors similar to those of Fuligula ; the head
and neck red; tail of fourteen feathers.

AYTHYA AMERICANA, — Bonaparte.
The Bed Head.

Anasferina, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 84.

Fuligula ferina, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 434. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1835)
198. /&., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 311.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill as long as the head, broad, blue, the end black ; the region anterior to the
nostrils dusky ; head, and neck for more than half its length, brownish-red, glossed
above and behind with violaceous-red ; rest of neck and body anterior to the shoul-
ders, lower part of back and tail coverts, black; beneath white, sprinkled with gray
and black anterior to the crissum ; the sides, interscapulars, and scapulars finely
lined with undulating black and white in nearly equal proportions, imparting a

THE CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 507

general gray tint; wing coverts bluish-gray, finely sprinkled with whitish; the
speculum, consisting of the ends of the secondaries, hoary grayish-blue, lightest
externally, and the innermost narrowly edged externally with black ; basal portion
of inner primaries somewhat similar to the speculum; tail of fourteen feathers; iris
orange-yellow.

This species, with a strong resemblance to the Canvas -back, is readily dis-
tinguished by the shorter, broader bill, absence of brown on the head, and a greater
predominance of black in the waved lines ; this being equal in amount to the white,
instead of much less.

Female with the head, neck, and forepart of body, brownish ; the region round
the base of the bill whitish.

Length of male, twenty and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, nine and fifty
one-hundredths ; tarsus, one and sixty one-hundredths ; commissure, two and thirty
one-hundredths inches.

Hob. — Whole of North America.

This handsome bird is pretty abundant on our shores,
where it usually prefers the small bays and estuaries of
creeks : it is also found in many of our large tracts of fresh
water, where it feeds on the tender leaves and roots of the
various aquatic plants, and small fish, and larvae of aquatic
insects. I found several specimens of both sexes in the Um-
bagog Lakes in June ; and I think it not impossible, that, if
it does not breed there, it will be found to breed in some of
the lake regions of northern New England. For it is ob-
served, in various localities, as late as the first week in June ;
and it can be hardly possible that all the birds thus observed
are barren.

The habits of this species so much resemble those of the
succeeding species, that the same remarks will apply to
both.

ATTHYA VALLISNERIA.— Bonaparte.
The Canvas-back Duck.

Anas vallisneria, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 103.
Fuligula valtisneria, Nuttall. Man., II. 430.
Aythya vallisneria, Bonaparte. List (1838).

Fuligula vallisneriana, Audubon. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 1. /J., Birds Am-,
VI. (1843) 299.

508 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill long, slender, and tapering; head all round and neck chestnut; the top of
the head and region arouhd the base of the bill dusky-brown ; rest of neck, body
anterior to the shoulders, back behind, rump and tail coverts, black ; under parts
white ; the region anterior to the anus, the sides, the interscapulars and scapulars,
White, finely dotted, in transverse line, with black, the white greatly predominating;
speculum bluish-gray, lighter externally; the innermost secondaries of the specu-
lum edged externally with black; iris carmine.

Female with the black and chestnut replaced by brown, the cheeks and chin
lighter, and some tinged with dull-rufous.

Length, twenty and ten one-hundredths ; wing, nine and thirty one-hundredths j
tarsus, one and seventy one-hundredths ; commissure, two and sixty-five inches.

The Canvas-back is rarely taken in New England. I
have seen a few that were killed in Punkapoag Pond, Can-
ton, Mass. J. A. Allen speaks of its being occasionally
found at the western part of the State ; and I once killed
one in Lake Umbagog, Me. It generally passes to its
northern breeding-grounds, and back to its winter home,
through the interior of the country, seldom by the seaboard,
at least north of Pennsylvania ; and, when found in New
England, is only a wanderer from the great flight.

Wilson, in describing its habits, says., —

" The Canvas-back Duck arrives in the United States from the
north about the middle of October : a few descend to the Hudson
and Delaware; but the great body of these birds resort to the
numerous rivers belonging to and in the neighborhood of the
Chesapeake Bay, particularly the Susquehanna, the Patapsco,
Potomac, and James Rivers, which appear to be their general
winter rendezvous. Beyond this, to the south, I can find no cer-
tain accounts of them. At the Susquehanna, they are called
Canvas-backs; on the Potomac, White-backs; and on James
River, Sheldrakes. They are seldom found at a great distance up
any of these rivers, or even in the salt-water bay, but in that par-
ticular part of tide-water where a certain grass-like plant grows, on
the roots of which they feed. This plant, which is said to be a
species of vallisneria, grows on fresh-water shoals of from seven
to nine feet (but never where these are occasionally dry), in long,
narrow, grass-like blades, of four or five feet in length : the root is
white, and has some resemblance to small celery. This grass is in

THE CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 509

many places so thick that a boat can with difficulty be rowed
through it, it so impedes the oars. The shores are lined with large
quantities of it, torn up by the Ducks, and drifted up by the winds,
lying, like hay, in windrows. Wherever this plant grows in abun-
dance, the Canvas-backs may be expected, either to pay occasional
visits, or to make it their regular residence during the winter. It
occurs in some parts of the Hudson ; in the Delaware, near Glou-
cester, a few miles below Philadelphia ; and in most of the rivers
that fall into the Chesapeake, — to each of which particular places
these Ducks resort ; while, in waters unprovided with this nutri-
tive plant, they are altogether unknown.

" On the first arrival of these birds in the Susquehanna, near
Havre-de- Grace, they are generally lean ; but such is the abundance
of their favorite food, that, towards the beginning of November,
they are in pretty good order. They are excellent divers, and
swim with great speed and agility. They sometimes assemble in
such multitudes as to cover several acres of the river, and, when
they rise suddenly, produce a noise resembling thunder. They
float about these shoals, diving, and tearing up the grass by the
roots, which is the only part they eat. They are extremely shy,
and can rarely be approached, unless by stratagem. "When wound-
ed in the wing, they dive to such prodigious distances, and with
such rapidity, continuing it so perseveringly, and with such cun-
ning and active vigor, as almost always to render the pursuit hope-
less. From the great demand for these Ducks, and the high price
they uniformly bring in market, various modes are practised to get
within gunshot of them. The most successful way is said to be
decoying them to the shore by means of a dog, while the gunner
lies closely concealed in a proper situation. The dog, if properly
trained, plays backwards and forwards along the margin of the
water ; and the Ducks, observing his mano3uvres, enticed perhaps
by curiosity, gradually approach the shore, until they are sometimes
within twenty or thirty yards of the spot where the gunner lies
concealed, and from which he rakes them, first on the water, and
then as they rise. This method is called tolling them in. If the
Ducks seem difficult to decoy, any glaring object, such as a red
handkerchief, is fixed round the dog's middle or to his tail ; and this
rarely fails to attract them. Sometimes, by moonlight, the sports-

510 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

man directs his skiff towards a flock whose position he had previ-
ously ascertained, keeping within the projecting shadow of some
wood, bank, or headland, and paddles along so silently and imper-
ceptibly as often to approach within fifteen or twenty yards of a
flock of many thousands, among whom he generally makes great
slaughter.

"Many other stratagems are practised, and, indeed, every plan
that the ingenuity of the experienced sportsman can suggest, to
approach within gunshot of these birds : but, of all the modes pur-
sued, none intimidate them so much as shooting them by night ;
and they soon abandon the place where they have been thus
repeatedly shot at. During the day, they are dispersed about, but,
towards evening, collect in large flocks, and come into the mouths
of creeks, where they often ride as at anchor, with their head
under their wing, asleep ; there being always sentinels awake, ready
to raise an alarm on the least appearance of danger. Even when
feeding and diving in small parties, the whole never go down at one
time, but some are still left above on the lookout.

" When the winter sets in severely, and the river is frozen, the
Canvas-backs retreat to its confluence with the bay ; occasionally
frequenting air-holes in the ice, which are sometimes made for the
purpose, immediately above their favorite grass, to entice them
within gunshot of the hut or bush, which -is usually fixed at a
proper distance, and where the gunner lies concealed, ready to take
advantage of their distress. A Mr. Hill, who lives near James
River, at a place called Herring Creek, informs me, that, one
severe winter, he and another person broke a hole in the ice, about
twenty by forty feet, immediately over a shoal of grass, and took
their stand on the shore in a hut of brush, each having three guns
well loaded with large shot. The Ducks, which were flying up and
down the river, in great extremity, soon crowded to this place, so
that the whole open space was not only covered with them, but vast
numbers stood on the ice around it. They had three rounds, firing
both at once, and picked up eighty-eight Canvas-backs, and might
have collected more, had they been able to get to the extremity of
the ice after the wounded ones. In the severe winter of 1779-80,
the grass, on the roots of which these birds feed, was almost wholly
destroyed in James River. In the month of January, the wind

511

continued to blow from W.N.W. for twenty-one days, which caused
such low tides in the river, that the grass froze to the ice every-
where ; and, a thaw coming on suddenly, the whole was raised by
the roots, and carried off by the fresh. The next winter, a few of
these Ducks were seen ; but they soon went away again : and, for
many years after, they continued to be scarce ; and, even to the
present day, in the opinion of my informant, have never been so
plenty as before."

The delicacy of the flesh of this bird for food is so well
known that any remarks here seem superfluous ; but I will
say that it does not greatly excel that of the Red Head, and
in my own opinion is not at all superior to that of the Teals
or Widgeon.

The Canvas-back breeds in the most northern portions of
the continent. I am ignorant of its habits in the season
of incubation, and have but one egg in my collection to
describe from. This is of an ovate form, nearly oval, of a
pale-blue color with an olivaceous tinge, quite smooth to
the touch, and quite thin and brittle. Its dimensions are
2.54 by 1.78 inch.

BUCEPHALA, BAIRD.

Clangula, FLEMING, Philos. Zool. (1828). (Type Anas clangula, L.) Not of
1822, which has Anas glacialis for type, according to G. R. Gray.

Bill, from feathers of forehead, about equal to the tarsus, and shorter than the
head ; high at the base ; lateral outlines tapering to the tip, where the nail forms
only the central portion, though rather large ; nostrils situated near the middle of
the bill; feathers of chin and forehead extending only moderately forward, a little
further than those of the cheeks ; tarsus rather more than half the foot ; tail moder-
ately long, about half the wing, and somewhat pointed ; of sixteen feathers.

BUCEPHALA ISLANDICA. — Baird.

to

Barrow's Golden Eye.

Fuligula ( Clangula} Barrvwii, Nuttall. Man., II. 444.

Fuligula clangula, Audubon. Orn. Biog., V. (1839) 105. 76., Birds Am., VI.
(1843).

512 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

DESCRIPTION.

Head and neck all round bluish-violet, occasionally with green or purplish re-
flection ; a large white patch anterior to the eye, occupying the entire side of the bill,
and running up in a point on the forehead ; lower neck and under parts generally
white; a narrow white patch on the middle wing coverts; the greater coverts black,
tipped with white, which is continuous with the white secondaries, but separated
from that on the middle coverts ; anterior scapulars white, edged externally with
black; the posterior ones black, with white central streak; rest of upper parts black,
as are the sides behind, and including the tibia; long feathers of the flank white,
tipped and edged above with black. *

Length, twenty-two and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, nine and fifty one-
hundredth s; tarsus, one and fifty-eight one-hundredths inches; commissure, one and
eighty one-hundredths inches.

Hob. — Iceland, and northern parts of America. In winter, not rare on the St.
Lawrence.

This' species is found in considerable numbers on our
north-eastern coast, in the winter months. It breeds in the
arctic portions of the continent, but has all the other habits
of the succeeding species.

BUCEPHALA AMERICANA. - Baird.
The Golden Eye ; Whistle Wing.

Anas clangula, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 62.

Fuligula (Clangula) clangula, Bonaparte. Syn., (1828) 393. Nutt. Man., II.
441.

Fuligula clangula, Audubon. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 318. Ib., Birds Am., VI.
(1843) 362.

Clangula Americana, Bonaparte. Comp. List (1838). Eyt. Mon. Anat. (1838)
167.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill black; head and upper part of neck glossy-green; the under surface opaque
velvety purplish-black ; an elliptical patch along the base of upper mandible ante-
rior to the eye, lower part of neck, under parts generally, and sides, middle and
greater wing coverts, the innermost secondaries (and tertials, except the innermost
three or four), white ; the white on the wing is in a continuous patch, although there
is a concealed black bar on the bases of the greater coverts ; the inner scapulars are
white, margined externally with black ; posteriorly, however, they are black, streaked
centrally with white ; the inner scapulars and tertials, and the whole back, rump,
and lesser wing coverts, are black ; the primaries and tail black, with'a hoary gloss ;
the under side of quills and lower greater coverts are plumbeous-gray ; the rest of
the under wing and the axillars are sooty-brown; the long white feathers of the
flanks are edged superiorly with black ; iris golden yellow.

Female with the head and neck above snuff-brown, without white patch ; white
of wing less extended; the middle coverts only touched with white; there is a ten-

THE GOLDEN EYE. 513

dency to a black bar across the tips of the greater coverts ; the white of the wing
sometimes well defined.

Length, eighteen and seventy-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, eight and fifty-
one-hundredths ; tarsus, one and fifty one-hundredths ; commissure, two inches.

Hob. — Whole of North America.

This handsome species is a common spring and autumn
resident in New England ; and in mild winters is often seen,
both in the bays and rivers on the coast, and in the lakes
and ponds in the interior, when they are open. It breeds
in the northern portions of New England, particularly in
the lake country of Northern Maine. I have found it, in the
breeding season, in Lake Umbagog, and in the Magalloway
River; but, although I searched carefully for its nest, I
could not find it. This might have been, and probably was,
owing to the nature of the nesting-place ; for I saw several
pairs, a^d the localities were those which this bird selects
for the purpose of incubation.

The nest of this species is built in a hole, in a tall dead
tree, or in the top of a tall stub, which is hollowed sufficiently
for its reception. The pines and hemlocks often die ; and,
standing for years, the bark drops off, then the limbs, until
the body is at last left, a single straight, smooth, white shaft,
often from forty to fifty feet high, and two or three feet thick
at its base. At last, in a fierce storm or gale, the shaft either
breaks off close to the ground, or at sometimes the height
of twenty or more feet ; leaving, in the top that remains
standing, a huge rent, sometimes a foot or even more in
depth. In this the Golden Eye nests ; building of grass,
leaves, moss, and down from its own breast, a warm struc-
ture, in which she lays from six to ten eggs. These are
generally very rounded in form, of a greenish-blue color,
and average from 2.40 by 1.75 inch to 2.36 by 1.78 inch
in dimensions. The loud whistling 06 the wings of this
species, as it passes through the air, has given it the name
of the "Whistler." The bird feeds on small fish and
various aquatic plants, and, when living in the interior, is

33

514 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

a fine-flavored fowl for the table ; but, when killed on the
coast, its flesh is fishy and strong. It is a bird of very
rapid flight, and is rather shy and difficult of approach.

BUCEPHALA ALBEOLA. — Baird.
The Buffle-head ; Dipper ; Butter-ball.

Anas atteola, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 199. Wils. Am. Orn., VIII
(1814) 51.

Fidigula ( Clangula) atoeola, Bonaparte. Syn. (1828) 394. Nutt. Man., II. 445.
Fuligula albeola, Audubon. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 217. /&., Birds Am., VI.

(1843) 369.

DESCRIPTION.

Male. — Bill blue: head and neck anteriorly, dark-colored; the region in front
of the eye and on the sides of the collar behind, rich-green, this color shading into
purplish on the upper and under surfaces of the head ; a broad patch on each side
of the head from the posterior border of the eye, and meeting its fellow on the nape,
the lower neck all round, under parts generally, wing coverts (except the lesser)
and most of the secondaries, and the scapulars, white; the latter narrowly edged
externally with black; rest of upper parts, except as described, black; passing
gradually on the upper tail coverts into pale-gray; axillars and under wing coverts
sooty-brown, more or less tipped with white ; iris hazel.

Female. — With the entire head, neck, and upper parts almost black ; an elongated
patch behind and below the eye (not reaching it); the outer webs of some second-
aries, and the under parts, white; the jugulum, sides, and anal region, plumbeous-
gray.

Length, fifteen inches ; wing, six and sixty-five one-hundredths ; tarsus, one and
twenty-five one-hundredths ; commissure, one and forty-four one-hundredths inch.

This very common and well-known bird is abundant on
our coast in the spring and autumn. It associates with
most of the other Sea Ducks in our bays and creeks, but, in
the interior, is seen only in pairs, or in small flocks of
three or four individuals. It is an expert diver ; and one
finds difficulty in shooting it when there are two or three
individuals together, from its habit of diving at the flash of
the gun. I have seen it at times, particularly after a severe
storm, in small fresh-water ponds, in the interior ; and, at
such times, it is quite tame and unsuspicious, or possibly
fatigued from its efforts in the storm. It feeds on small
fish and crustaceans, which it is very expert at catching.
When several birds are together, one always remains on the

% THE HARLEQUIN DUCK. 515

surface while the others are below in search of food, and, if
alarmed, it utters a short quack, when the others rise to the
surface ; and,., on ascertaining the cause of the alarm, all
dive and swim off rapidly to the distance of several hundred
feet. The Buffle-head breeds in the northern portions of
the continent. It nests in the holes of dead trees, like the

preceding. The eggs are from five to eight in number.

i

HISTRIONICUS, LESSON.

Histrionicus, LESSON, Man. d'Ornith., II. (1828) 415. (Type Anas histrionica, L.)
Bill very small ; the culmen shorter than tarsus, tapering rapidly to the rounded
tip, which is entirely occupied by the nail ; nostrils small, in the anterior portion of
posterior half of bill ; the centre about opposite the middle of commissure ; a well-
marked angle at the postero-superior corner of the bill; the lateral outline con-
cave behind, the feathers on forehead extending a little beyond it; those of chin not
reaching further than those of the sides, and much posterior to the nostrils ; lateral
outline of edge of bill nearly straight; a membranous lobe at the base of the bill;
tertials bent outward, so as to cross the edge of the wing ; tail more than half the
wing, considerably pointed, of fourteen feathers.

HISTRIONICUS TORQUATUS.— Bonaparte.
The Harlequin Duck.

Anas histrionica, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1758) 127. Wils. Am. Orn., VIII.
(1314) 139.

Fuligula ( Clangula) histrionica, Bonaparte. Syn. (1828), 394. Nutt. Man., II. 448.

Fuligula histrionica, Audubon. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 612; V. (1839) 617. /&.,
Birds Am., VI. (1843)374.

DESCKIPTION.

Male. — Head and neck all round dark-blue; jugulum, sides of breast, and upper
parts, lighter blue, becoming bluish-black again on the tail coverts; the blue of
breast passes insensibly into dark bluish-brown behind ; a broad stripe along the
top of head from the bill to the nape, and the tail feathers, black ; a white patch
along the entire side of the base of bill anterior to the eye, and passing upwards
and backwards so as to border the black of the crown, but replaced from above the
eye to the nape by chestnut; a round spot on the side of the occiput; an elongated
one on the side of the neck ; a collar round the lower part of the neck, interrupted
before and behind, and margined behind, by dark-blue; a transversely elongated
patch on each side the breast, and similarly margined ; a round spot on the middle
wing coverts, a transverse patch on the end of the greater coverts, the scapulars in
part, a broad streak on the outer web of tertials, and a spot on each side the rest of
the tail, white; sides of body behind chestnut-brown; secondaries with a metallic
speculum of purplish or violet-blue ; inside of wing, and axillars, dark-brown ; iris
reddish-brown.

516 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. ^

Female. — With the head and body above, dark-brown ; the chin more plumbeous ;
the lower part of neck, breast, and under parts generally, except the central region
(which is white), duller and lighter brown; a whitish patch in front of the eye, and
a rounded spot just behind the ear. ' --^y*

Length, seventeen and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, seven and seventy
one-hundredths ; tarsus, one and forty-eight one-hundredths ; commissure, one and
fifty-four one-hundredths inches.

Hob. — Northern seacoast of northern hemisphere.

The Harlequin Duck is very rare in Southern JTew Eng-
land, and is seldom met with here south of the most north-
ern portions on its coast. There it is pretty abundantly
seen as a winter visitor. It greatly resembles the following
in its general characteristics. Its nest and eggs are thus
described :

" The nest is composed of dry plants of various kinds, arranged
in a circular manner to the height of three or four inches, and lined
with finer grasses. The eggs are five or six, rarely more, measure
two inches and one-sixteenth by one inch and four and a half
eighths, and are of a plain greenish-yellow color. After the eggs
are laid, the female plucks the down from the lower parts of her
body, and places it beneath and around them."

HARELDA, LEACH.

" Harelda, LEACH (1816)," Gray. (Type Anas glacialis, L.)
Bill shorter than the head and tarsus, tapering laterally to the end ; the nail
very broad, occupying the entire tip ; lateral profile of lower edge of upper mandi-
ble straight to near the end, then rising suddenly to the prominent decurved nail ;
nostrils large, in the posterior half of the bill, their centre about opposite the middle
of the commissure; tertials long, lanceolate, and straight; tail pointed, of fourteen
feathers, the central feathers very long, equal to the wings ; bill with almost no pos-
terior lateral upper angle ; the feathers of the sides advancing obliquely forwards ;
feathers of chin reaching beyond the middle of the commissure, or almost to the
anterior extremity of nostrils ; tail of fourteen feathers.

HARELDA GLACIALIS. — Leach.
The South Southerly; Old Wife; Long-tail.

Anas glacialis, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 93, 96.
Fuliffula (Harelda) gladalis, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 453.
Fuligula gladalis, Audubon. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 103. /&., Birds Am., VI.
(1843) 379

THE SOUTH SOUTHERLY. 517

DESCRIPTION.

Male in summer. — Bill black, orange-yellow towards the tip; head, neck, and
breast, very dark blackish-brown; the head above, back, rump, and middle tail
feathers, black ; the whole side of the head from the bill and to behind the eyes and
the sides of the body, pale bluish-gray ; the portion of the cheek patch immediately
around and behind the eye with a longitudinal streak each side the occiput; the
under parts generally, and the more external tail feathers, white ; feathers on the
fore part of the back, with the scapulars, broadly edged with light reddish-brown ;
under wing coverts and axillars brownish-chocolate; no white whatever on the
wing.

Male in winter. — Differs from summer dress in having the head and neck white
to the jugulum and interscapular region; the gray of the cheeks persistent, and a
broad patch of black on the sides of the neck behind this ; the scapulars are pale
pearl-gray; iris white.

Female. — Lacks the long points to the tail and scapulars; the head and neck
dusky, with a whitish patch around the eye and on the sides of the neck behind.

Length, twenty and seventy-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, eight and ninety
one-hundredths ; tail, eight ; tarsus, one and thirty-eight one-hundredths ; commis-
sure, one and sixty-two one-hundredths inches.

The Long-tailed Duck, so common in Massachusetts Bay
in the fall and spring migrations, breeds in the most north-
ern portions of the continent.

Audubon, in describing the nest and eggs, says, —

. " The nest was placed under an alder-bush, among rank weeds,
not more than eight or nine feet from the edge of the water, and
was formed of rather coarse grass, with an upper layer of finer
weeds, which were neatly arranged, while the down filled the bot-
tom of the cavity. [This was on the 28th of July, 1833. The
young birds had left this nest.] The number of young broods in
sight induced me to search for more nests ; and in about an hour
I discovered six more, in one of which I was delighted to find two
unhatched eggs. They measured two inches and one-eighth long,
by one and four and a half eighths broad ; were of a uniform pale
yellowish-green, and quite smooth."

In the months of September and October, this bird is
most abundant in New England. It gathers in immense
flocks, and frequents the bays and inlets on the shore,
where, keeping up its peculiar cry or chatter, the noise
Df the flock is sometimes to be heard at the distance of
a mile. It is in this season, that the gunner, with his

518 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

sail-boat or float, pursues these birds with great activity.
On approaching one of these large flocks, it is customary to
steer the boat to the windward of it ; for they, like most
other fowls, always rise to the windward. When, therefore,
the gunner arrives within gunshot, he fires into the flock
while it is in the water ; and when it rises, and flies to the
windward, often directly over his boat, he pours into it
sometimes three or four other charges before it gets out
of shot. It is a difficult bird to kill ; and, when wounded, it
always dives and clings to the bottom, where it dies. I once
brought down seven birds out of a flock at one discharge,
when they dove, and I did not secure one. Its flesh is oily
and strong, and is in no repute for the table.

MELANETTA, BOIE.

Feathers extending nearly as far forward on the sides of the bill as the nostril,
leaving the edges only free from the base ; bill very broad ; nail broad and almost
truncate.

MELANETTA VELVETINA. — Baird.
The Velvet Duck; White-winged Coot.

Anasfusca, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 137.

Fuligula (Oidemia) fusca, Bonaparte. Syn. (1828), 390. Nutt. Man., II.
(1834) 419.

Fuligula fusca, Audubon. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 354. Jb., Birds Am., VI.
(1843) 332.

DESCRIPTION.

Male. — Bill very broad, wider towards the tip than at the base; feathers extend-
ing far along the side of the bill, and on the forehead, for nearly half the commissure,
running in an obtuse point about as far forward as the lower corner of the outline of
feathers on the side, both reaching nearly to the posterior border of the large, open,
nearly rounded nostrils ; culmen horizontal a little beyond the frontal feathers, then
abruptly bent downwards, nearly perpendicularly, to the much-depressed, nearly
horizontal portion ; a sharp indented ridge along the base of culmen, ending in a
trihedral tubercle; color black; a white elongated patch around and a little behind
the eye, and a large white speculum on the wing, composed of white secondaries
and tips of greater coverts ; bill black at base and lateral edges ; red elsewhere ; iris
bright-yellow.

Female. — Somewhat similar, but lighter beneath ; a large whitish patch on the
side of the head behind the eye, but none around it ; wings with white speculum,
somewhat as in the male ; bill also similar, but less swollen and elevated at base.

THE VELVET DUCK. 519

Length, twenty-one and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, eleven and thirty
one-hundredths ; tarsus, two and eight one-hundredths. ; commissure two and
eighty-two one-hundredths inches.

Hob. — Along both coasts of North America to the north.

The Velvet Duck, or " White-winged Coot," as it is com-
monly called on our coast, is a very abundant species, in the
autumn and through the greater part of the winter, in
the bays and inlets along our whole shores. It is one of the
Sea Ducks ; and, although occasionally found in small num-
bers in the large bodies of water in the interior, it is sel-
dom seen in large flocks in any other localities than the
salt waters of the seacoast. There it is taken in abun-
dance from the first week in October until the middle of
December. The sportsmen, with decoys made of wood,
painted to resemble these fowls, anchor their small boats
in localities where the Coots are known to pass ; and, from
early dawn unfil late in the forenoon, and frdm late in the
afternoon until night, keep up a constant fusillade on
the swiftly moving flocks. I have known two gunners to
secure, in one day's shooting, thirty pairs of these birds;
and this large number is often exceeded.

The "Coots" are hunted more for the excitement of the
thing than for the sake of their flesh ; for, living as they do,
entirely on fish and a few mollusks, their flesh is strong
and oily, and far from pleasant. This species breeds in
Labrador and other northern localities. " The nests are
placed within a few feet of the borders of small lakes,
a mile or two distant from the sea, under the low boughs
of the bushes of the twigs of which, with mosses and
various plants matted together, they are formed. They
are large, and almost flat, several inches thick, with some
feathers of the female, but no down, under the eggs,
which are usually six in number, 2f inches' in length by
1% in breadth, and of a uniform pale-cream color tinged
with green."

520 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

PELIONETTA, KAUP.

Feathers not extending on sides of the bill; nail pointed anteriorly; colors black,
with a triangular white patch on the top of head and another on nape ; bill red,
with a rounded black lateral spot at base.

PELIONETTA PEESPICILLATA. — Kaup.
The Surf Duck ; Sea Coot ; Butter-bill Coot.

Anas perspidllata, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 49.

Fuligula (Oidemia) perspicillata, Bonaparte. Syn. (1828), 389. Nutt. Man.,
H. 416.

Fuligula perspicittata, Audubon. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 161. , /£., Birds Am.,
VI. (1843) 337.

DESCRIPTION.

Male. — Tail of fourteen feathers ; bill but little longer than the head, the feathers
extending forward half-way from the base to the tip, and opposite the posterior border
of the nostril ; the bill abruptly decurved or gibbous anterior to the end of the
feathers ; nostrils open, nearly semicircular or stirrup-shaped, the straight portion of
the outline antero-inferior ; sides of bill swollen at the base so as to be further apart
above than below ; color, entirely black throughout, with a greenish lustre above,
duller beneath ; a triangular white patch on the top of head, the base extending
between the posterior outline of the eye and reaching forward to a point a little
beyond the posterior line of the bill, the outlines rounded laterally and anteriorly;
the patch is separated from the eye by a narrow superciliary black space ; there is a
second triangular white patch beginning on the nape as a straight line the width of
the other patch, and running backwards for more than two inches ; these triangular
spaces are thus base to base; iris yellowish-white.

Female. — Bill as long a.s that of the male, but not swollen at the base, where the
sides approach each other above ; the feathers of forehead do not extend one-third
the distance from base to tip of bill ; the middle of nostril not quite as far as the
middle of the bill ; nostrils linear, acutely pointed anteriorly ; color brown ; lighter
on the neck ; sides and beneath the under surface of the body whitish ; an obscure
whitish patch at the base of the bill, and another on the side of the head behind
the eyes.

Length of male, nineteen inches; wing, nine and forty one-hundredths ; tarsus,
one and sixty-three one-hundredths; commissure, two and thirty-seven one-hun-
dredths inches.

Hob. — On and near seacoast of North America, quite far south in winter; acci-
dental in Europe.

The Surf Duck, or " Butter-bill Coot," as it is usually
called on the coast, is equally abundant with the preceding.
Like all the Sea Ducks, this bird is an expert diver. I have
followed a flock of Sea Coots for hours in a small yacht,
with a good breeze, and have been unable to get within

THE SCOTER. 521

gunshot of them, and without their taking wing even at that.
As soon as I arrived within two or three gunshots' distance,
the whole flock sank beneath the surface like so many
stones ; and, swimming under water for almost a quarter
of a mile, appeared at the surface in a locality where I least
expected to see them : sometimes immediately astern of my
boat ; at others, in a direction at right angles to the course
which I supposed they had taken.

Audubon, in describing a nest that he found in a boggy
marsh near the Gulf of St. Lawrence, says, —

" The nest was snugly placed amid the tall leaves of a bunch
of grass, and raised fully four inches above its roots. It was
entirely composed of withered and rotten weeds, the former being
circularly arranged over the latter; producing a well-rounded
cavity, the borders of which were lined with the down of the bird,
in the same manner as the Eider Duck's nest ; and in it lay five
eggs, which were two inches and two and a half eighths in length,
by one inch and five-eighths in their greatest breadth. They were
more equally rounded at both ends than usual, the shell perfectly
smooth, and of a uniform pale -yellowish or cream color."

OIDEMIA, FLEMING.

Oidemia, FLEMING, " Philos. Zool. (1822)." (Type Anas nigra, L.)
Bill much swollen at base, the terminal portion much depressed and very broad;
nail broad, occupying the terminal portion of the bill; nostrils situated anterior to
the middle of the commissure ; feathers of the chin running forwards as far as the
nostrils ; color black with or without small patches of white.

OIDEMIA AMERICANA. — Swainson.
The Scoter.

Anas nigra, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 136.

Fuligula Americana, Audubon. Orn. Biog., V. (1839) 117. /&., Birds Am., VI.
'.1843) 343.

DESCRIPTION.

Male. — Tail of sixteen feathers; bill much swollen on the basal third; the basal
portion of culmen convex, and rapidly descending; the terminal portion of bill
much depressed ; the anterior extremity of nostrils half-way from the lateral or upper
feathers at the base of bill to the tip; the swelling at base of bill divided by a fur-
row along the median line ; the frontal feathers extend slightly forward in an obtuse

522 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

point; bill of female not very dissimilar, lacking the swelling at the base; color
entirely black all over, without any white ; bill black along the edges and tip ; the
swollen basal portion red to beyond the nostrils.

Female. — Brown; lighter on sides of head, throat, and under surface of body,
where the feathers have each an obscure dusky spot.

Length, twenty-three and eighty one-hundredths inches ; wing, nine and twenty
one-hundredths ; tarsus, one and seventy-eight one-hundredths; 'commissure, two
and fourteen one-hundredths inches.

This species is also known on the coast by the name of
Coot. It is far less abundant than the other, but has all
the habits of that bird. It also associates with it, and is a
very expert diver ; sinking beneath the surface of the water,
at the flash of a gun, before the shot reaches it. I know
nothing of its breeding habits, and have no eggs by me for
description.

SOMATERIA, LEACH.

tiomateria, LEACH, in Fleming's Philos. Zool. (1822). (Type Anas mollissima, L.)
Bill much compressed, tapering to the tip ; the nail enormously large, and forming
the terminal portion of the bill, and much decurved; the feathers of forehead
advancing forward in an acute long point, separating on each side a frontal exten-
sion or linear process, or the feathers of the cheek may be said to extend a
considerable distance along the commissural edge of the bill; nostrils situated
anterior to the middle of the commissure; tail rather pointed, but short, of fourteen
feathers.

SOMATERIA MOLLISSIMA. — Leach.
The Eider Duck.

Anas mollissima, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 122.

Fuligula (Somatena) mollissima, Bonaparte. Syn. (1828), 388. Nutt. Man., II.
(1834) 407.

Fuligula mollissima, Audubon. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 344; V. 611. lb., Birds
Am., VI. (1843) 349.

DESCRIPTION.

Tail of fourteen feathers ; prevailing color white ; the under surface and sides of
body, hinder part of back, rump, and tail, black; wings white on both surfaces,
except the quills, which are black ; narrow margin inferiorly of the frontal process
of bill and the forehead violet-black, this color bifurcating opposite the middle of the
eye, and continued broadly on each side the head to the nape, the color extend-
ing a little below the eye ; the white below and behind the black glossed with trans-
parent emerald-green ; the interspace white ; iris brown.

Length, twenty-six inches ; wing, eleven and twenty-four one-hundredths ; tar-
sus, one and eighty-two one-hundredths ; commissure, two and fifty-three one-hun-
dredths inches.

THE KING EIDER. 523

This is another of our Sea Ducks that is very abundant
in the bays 'and inlets of our coast during the fall and win-
ter months, and until April in the spring.

The history of its
habits and distri-
bution is so well
known, that any ac-
count here is hard-
ly needed.

It breeds in abun-
dance in Labrador
and other northern
portions of the con-
tinent, and a few pass the season of incubation on the
islands in the Bay of Fundy ; this being the nearest point
to our coast that it breeds in at present, although it is said
to have formerly reared its young on the islands off Cape
Ann in Massachusetts, and off the coast of Maine.

The nest is placed on the ground beneath the shelter of
a low bush or thick bunch of weeds or grass. It is con-
structed, first, of a thin layer of grasses and weeds, on
which the female deposits a thick layer of down, which she
pulls from her breast. This is deeply hollowed ; and in this
warm receptacle, the eggs, from six to eight or ten in num-
ber, are deposited. These are of a dirty pale-green color,
and their form is varied from ovate to a sharply pointed
ovoidal. Their dimensions vary from 3.22 by 2.10 inches
to 2.82 by 1.98 inch.

SOMATEEIA SPECTABILIS. — Leach.
The King Eider.

Anas spectabilis, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 195. Gm., I. 567.
Fuligula (Somateria) spectabilis, Bonaparte. Syn. (1828), 389. Nutt. Man., IT.
1834) 414.

Fuligula spectabilis, Audubon. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 523. lb., Birds Am., VI.
.'1843) 347.

524 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

DESCRIPTION.

Body and wings black ; the portion anterior to the shoulder joint, interscapular
region in part, most of neck and throat, white ; the jugulum with a creamy tinge ; a
narrow border to the frontal processes of the bill and their interspace ; small space
round the eye and a V-shaped mark on the chin black; top of head and nape
bluish-ash, slightly spotted with black; middle wing coverts, tips of secondaries,
axillars, and most of under surface of wing, with a patch on each side of the rump,
white; sides of head glossed with transparent emerald-green; the scapulars have
the black tinged with slate.

Length, twenty-one and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, ten and seventy one-
hundredths ; . tarsus, one and eighty-six one-hundredths ; commissure, two and
fifty-three one-hundredths inches.

The King Eider is a rare species on our coast in the
winter months. It is a more northern species than the pre-
ceding, and seldom reaches as far south as the coast of
Massachusetts. It is of similar habits with the other Sea
Ducks, and breeds in the most northern sections of the
country. The eggs found by Captain James Clark Ross,
R.N., measure 2-| inches by If, have a smooth shell, and are
of a uniform dull-greenish color.

Sub-Family ERISMATURIN^E.

The most prominent character of the Erismaturince is found in the very rigid tail
feathers with the much abbreviated coverts, which leave the greater portion of the
tail exposed. There are peculiarities in the nail at the end of the bill in Erismatura
not found in the other sub-families.

ERISMATURA, BONAPARTE.

Erismatura, BONAPARTE, Saggio, etc. (1832).

Bill broad, rather high at the base, much depressed, and bent upwards ; upper
lateral angle of bill running back on the forehead some distance, farther than the
lower edge of the bill; nostrils reaching to the middle of the bill, rather small; por-
tion of nail seen from above very narrow and linear ; bent abruptly downwards and
backwards at the tip, so as to be invisible from the upper surface ; tarsi very short,
scarcely more than one-third the long feet; tail very stiff, of eighteen feathers;
the coverts above and below very much abbreviated, so as to expose the greater
part of the tail; the feathers narrow, linear; the shafts very large, and channelled
on the under surface near the base ; wings very short, and incurved at the end.

THE BUDDY DUCK. 525

ERISMATURA BUBIDA. — Bonaparte.
The Ruddy Duck ; Dipper Duck.

Anas rubida, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 128, 130.
Anas (Fuligula) rubida, Bonaparte. Obs. Wils. (1825), 268.
Fuligula ( Gymnura) rubida, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 426.
Fuligula rubida, Swainson. F. Bor. Am., II. (1831) 455. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV.
(1838) 326. Ib., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 324.
Erismatura rubida, Bonaparte. List (1838).

DESCRIPTION.

Bill grayish-blue ; top of head and nape black ; sides of head below the eyes,
with the chin, pure opaque-white ; lower part of neck all round, and the entire upper
parts, with upper portion of sides, chestnut-red ; under parts generally lustrous gray-
ish-white, with an occasional brownish tinge; crissum pure-white; wings brown,
without speculum, finely and almost inappreciably sprinkled with gray; tail nearly
black ; iris Razel.

Female with the entire upper parts dark -brown ; the back and wing coverts finely
sprinkled with grayish ; the under parts brownish-white, tinged with greenish-brown
across the lower part of neck ; the brown of the head comes down below the level
of the eye, and there is an obscure dusky stripe parallel with its lower outline, from
the commissure.

The continuity of the white of the under parts is interrupted by the occasional
appearance of the basal brown of the feathers, owing to the shortness of the white
tip, which thus gives rise to the appearance of dusky transverse bands.

Length, sixteen inches ; wing, five and eighty one-hundredths ; tarsus, one and
twenty-six one-hundredths ; commissure, one and eighty one-hundredths inches.

Hob. — Whole of North America; abundant throughout the interior.

This pretty little Sea Duck is not very common on our
coast. It visits us only late in the autumn, and remains
until early spring, frequenting the bays and inlets along the
shore, where it feeds on small fish and mollusks, which it
obtains by diving. It is so expert a diver that sportsmen
recognize it by the name of " Ruddy Diver " and " Dipper ; "
and all attest to the difficulty with which it is shot.

Sub-Family MERGING. — The Sheldrakes.

Bill very slender, narrow, compressed, terminated by a conspicuous nail ; edges
much serrated, the serrations projecting; tarsi much compressed; the scales anteri-
orly large and transverse, becoming smaller and smaller on the sides and behind;
tail feathers eighteen in North-American species.

526 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

The Mergina, or Fishing Ducks^ are represented in the United States by three
well-established species, placed by modern systematists in as many genera. Two
of these, however, are so nearly alike that I prefer to consider them as the same : the
third is sufficiently distinct.

MERGUS, LINN^US.

Mergus, LINNJEUS, Syst. Nat. (1735). (Type M. castor, L.)

Bill longer than the head, mostly red ; serrations conical, acute, recurved ; crest

occipital, pointed, or depressed; tarsus about two-thirds the middle toe; tail about

half the length of wings.

MERGUS SERRATOR.— Linnets.
The Red-breasted Merganser.

Mergus serralor, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 208. Wils. Am. Orn., VIII.
(1814) 81. Nutt. Man., II. (1834) 463. Aud. O'rn. Biog., V. (1839) 92. /&., Birds
Am., VI. (1843) 395.

DESCRIPTION.

Feathers of the forehead extending on the bill in a short obtuse angle, and fall-
ing far short of the end of those on the sides ; the outline of the latter sloping rapidly
forwards, and reaching half-way from the posterior end of the lower edge of bill to
the nostrils, and far beyond those on the side of lower jaw; nostrils narrow, pos-
terior ; their posterior outline opposite the end of basal third of commissure.

Male. — Head with conspicuous pointed occipital crest; head and upper part of
neck, all around, dark-green; under parts reddish-white; jugulum reddish-brown,
streaked with black ; sides conspicuously barred transversely with fine lines of black ;
feathers anterior to wing white, margined with black ; white of wing crossed by two
bars of black ; iris red.

Female. — Head with compressed occipital crest; chestnut-brown; body above
ash ; beneath reddish-white ; the black at base of secondaries exposed ; outer tertials
white, edged with black.

Length, twenty-three and twenty-five one-hundredths inches; wing, eight and
sixty one-hundredths; tarsus, one and eighty one-hundredths; commissure, two
and seventy-six one-hundredths inches.

jjab. — Whole of North America and Europe.

This species is quite abundant on our coast in the autumn
and winter months. It does not appear to be gregarious to
a great extent ; for seldom more than three or four individu-
als are observed together. It is an expert diver, swimming
to a great distance beneath the water £fc the least alarm,
and, when appearing at the surface, usually only thrusting
its head out to reconnoitre. I have seen it swimming, with
only the bill and upper part of its head above water, in the

THE GOOSANDER. 527

wake of a boat from which it had been wounded : and it
actually followed for a considerable distance before it was
discovered. I have noticed, in other Sea Ducks, this trait
of following behind a boat, and conclude that it is done for
concealment.

I am not aware that this species breeds in New Eng-
land. It breeds in localities in the same latitude with
the most northern sections of these States ; but I am
inclined to think that it is less of a southern species than
the succeeding.

It is described as selecting for its nesting-place a small
island, usually in the neighborhood of the sea, sometimes
in the interior. " The nest is very large ; at times raised
seven or eight inches on the top of a bed of all the dead
weeds which the bird can gather in the neighborhood.
Properly speaking, the real nest, however, is not larger
than that of the Dusky Duck, and is rather neatly formed
externally of fibrous roots, and lined round the edges with
the down of the bird." There are usually about eleven
eggs. These are generally nearly oval in shape, sometimes
ovoidal. They are of a pale yellowish-drab color, much
darker than those of the Sheldrake. They vary in dimen-
sions from 2.63 by 1.82 inch to 2.48 by 1.75 inch.

MERGUS AMERICANUS. — Cassin.
The Goosander ; Sheldrake ; Fish Duck.

Mergus merganser, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 68. Nutt. Man., II. (1834)
460. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 261. /&., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 387.
Mergus Americanus, Cassin. Pr. A. N. Sc. (1853), 187.

DESCRIPTION.

Feathers of the forehead extending on the bill in an acute angle for half the dis-
tance between those on the sides and the nostril ; outline of those on the sides nearly
vertical, and reaching only a little beyond the beginning of lower edge of bill, but as
far as those on the side of lower jaw; nostril large, far forward, its middle opposite
the middle of the commissure.

Male. — Head without conspicuous crest; head and neck green; forepart of back
black; beneath salmon-color; wings mostly white, crossed by one band of black:
sides scarcely barred transversely ; iris carmine.

528 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Female. — Head with a compressed occipital crest; head and neck chestnut,
above ashy; beneath salmon-colored; white of greater coverts with a terminal bar
of ashy (sometimes wanting); the black of base of secondaries entirely concealed;
outer tertials ash.

Head without conspicuous crest, though one is visible in life. Head and most of
neck all round very dark green ; rest of neck and the body generally, except the
upper part, creamy-white, deepening to salmon-red beneath. Lower part of back,
rump, and tail feathers, plumbeous ; forepart of back, interscapular region, and inner
scapulars, black.

Length, twenty-six and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, eleven ; tarsus, one
and eighty-four one-hundredths ; commissure, two and ninety one-hundredths inches.

Although this species is found on our coast through the
autumn and winter months, where it has all the habits of
the other Sea Ducks, it breeds in the neighborhood of fresh-
water lakes and streams far in the interior. It is one of
the most abundant summer residents in the lake region
of Northern Maine, and about the Umbagog Lakes and Rich-
ardson Lakes it is the most common Duck.

There, in the top of some tall stump, or in a high forked
branch of a dead pine, it builds its nest. In many localities
on the borders of these lakes, the spring inundations or
some other causes have destroyed whole acres of gigantic
hemlocks, which, standing for years, become, in consequence
of the bark falling off, perfectly smooth and difficult of
ascent. When such trees are broken at the height of thirty
or forty feet from the ground, leaving a jagged top, no better
nesting-place can be found ; because it not only secures the
bird and eggs from the attacks of predaceous animals, but
it guarantees to the nest a perfect security from any inunda-
tions that may arise. This nest is built of leaves, moss, and
pieces of grass, which are arranged in a deep layer, on which
a thin covering of down from the breast of the bird is placed.
This is hollowed to the depth of two or three inches, and it
is ready for the eggs. These are from seven to twelve in
number. Their form is almost always exactly oval. Their
color is a pale creamy-white ; sometimes a little darker,
almost a very pale buff. They vary in dimensions from
2.80 by 1.80 inch (Milltown, Me.) to 2.50 by 1.70 inch.

THE HOODED MERGANSER. 529

LOPHODYTES, REICHART.

Lophodytes, REICHART, Syst. Av. (1852).

Bill shorter than the head, black; serrations compressed, low, short, inserted
obliquely on the edge of bill ; the point truncated, and not recurved nor acute ; tail
more than half the wings; tarsi short, half the feet; head with a much compressed,
vertical, circular, and erect crest.

But a single species of this genus is known to naturalists.

LOPHODTTES CUCULLATUS — Eeichart.
The Hooded Merganser.

Mergw cucullatus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 207. Wils. Am. Orn., VIII.
79. Nutt. Man., II. 465. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 246; V. 619. Ib., Birds
Am., VI. (1843) 402.

Lophodytes cucullatus, Reichart. Syst. Av. (1852).

DESCRIPTION.

Head with an elongated, compressed, semicircular crest; anterior extremity of
nostril reaching not quite as far as the middle of commissure; frontal feathers ex-
tending nearly as far as half the distance from lateral feathers to nostril ; the latter
much beyond the feathers on side of lower mandible ; bill shorter than head.

Male. — Bill black; head, neck, and back, black; under parts and centre of
crest white ; sides chestnut-brown, barred with black ; white anterior to the wing,
crossed by two black crescents ; lesser coverts gray ; white speculum with a basal
and median black bar ; black tertials streaked centrally with white ; iris yellow.

Female. — With a shorter and more pointed crest; the head and neck reddish-
brown; the back without pure-black; the sides without transverse bars; the white
of wings less extended.

Length, seventeen and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, seven and ninety one-
hundredths ; tarsus, one and twenty one-hundredths ; commissure, one and ninety-
eight one-hundredths inches.

Hob. — Whole of North America.

This beautiful bird is less common than either of the
other Mergansers on our coast and in our bays and inlets,
in autumn, winter, and early spring. In the summer, it
resides in the interior, where it breeds by the lakes and
other bodies of fresh water ; building its nest in holes in
high dead trees, or on the tops of stubs, thirty or forty feet
from the ground, exactly like the Sheldrake. The eggs are
from nine to twelve or fourteen in number, usually about
ten. They are of a clear-white color, although their surface
is, in some specimens, stained by the moisture from the

34

530 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

feet of the bird. They are very thick-shelled, and, when
struck together, sound almost like balls of ivory. They are
more spherical in form than the eggs of any other duck that
I have seen, and are but little more pointed at one end than
at the other. Their dimensions vary from 2.30 by 1.75
inches (the longest and narrowest specimen in a large num-
ber in my collection) to 2.10 by 1.80 inches (the shortest
and broadest specimen in the same) : the usual size is, on
the average, about 2.13 by 1.70 inches. I am not aware
that any nest of this bird has been found south of Lake
Umbagog.

When the nest of this species is approached, the female
remains quiet, and flies off only when alarmed by blows on
the trunk of the tree on which her nest is built. She then
flies silently, and alights in the lake, near which the nest is
usually built, and watches the intruder from a safe distance,
without making any outcries or disturbance. If the tree is
surrounded by undergrowth so thick that she cannot see the
intruder from the water, she flies silently over and around
him, always at a safe distance. The male never shows him-
self on such occasions ; and I think it likely that he separates
from his mate at the commencement of the period of in-
cubation, and remains by himself until the young are able
to provide for themselves.

When living in the neighborhood of fresh water, this bird
has many of the habits of the other Mergansers, and then
feeds on aquatic insects and their larvae, and is an expert
fisher and diver.

When the female is suddenly surprised, while with her
young in a stream or pond, she gives a guttural, chattel ing
cry, when the whole brood dives and swims off under water
to the shore, where they conceal themselves in the aquatic
herbage. While they are thus retreating, the mother simu-
lating lameness, almost exactly like some of the shore-birds
on the beach, flutters before the intruder, using every arti-
fice to decoy him from the neighborhood of her young,

THE HOODED MERGANSER.

531

when she takes wing, and flies off. If, however, she have
sufficient notice of the approach of a person before he
reaches gunshot she swims rapidly off, with her whole brood
paddling behind her,
until she turns a
point or neck in
the pond or stream
where she happens j
to be, when, silently I
creeping into shore, J
she, with her brood, fj
hides herself in the
herbage on the land
until the danger is
past. When about two-thirds grown, these young Mer-
gansers, like the young of most of the other fowls, are
excellent eating. They are called " Flappers," because of
their habit of flapping their wings on the water to aid their
escape from pursuers.

This species, in passing with its young from one body of
water to another, often, while flying, carries them singly in
its mouth ; and I have been told, that even after it has been
shot and has fallen to the ground, it not unfrequently holds
» the chick. Mr. George A. Boardman informs me that the
female of the Summer Duck often encroaches on the nest
of this Merganser ; and he once witnessed an attempt of the
latter to drive the other from her domicile, of which she
had taken possession, and in which she was engaged in the
duties of incubation. He watched them, and noticed, that,
when the Wood-duck left the nest, the Merganser took
possession of it ; and, whpn she left it, the other did the
same.

532 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

SUB-ORDER GAVLE.

1 FAMILY SULIDJE. THE GANNETS.

Bill rather long, straight, sides compressed, very strong, tapering to the point,
which is a little decurved; nostrils hardly observable; wings very long; tail long
and cuneate; toes long, and all joined by full webs; gular sac moderate.

SULA, BRISSON.

Sula, BRISSON, Ornith. (1760). (Type Pelecanus bassanus.)

Bill rather longer than the head, straight, stout at the base, with the sides com-
pressed, grooved near the tip, which is a little curved, the cutting edges serrated
irregularly; nostrils basal and scarcely perceptible; wings lengthened; tail rather
long and much graduated; tarsi short and stout; toes long, and joined together by
full webs; claws moderate, the middle one serrated; gular sac rather moderate.

These birds usually frequent almost inaccessible rocky islands, where they con-
gregate in great numbers during the season of reproduction, at other times migrat-
ing along the coast. Their flight is rapid, powerful, and long-continued.

SULA BASSANA.— Brisson.
The Common Gannet; Solan Goose.

Pelecanus bassanus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. (1766), 217.

Sula bassana, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 495. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 222.
Ib., Birds Am., VII. (1844) 44.

DESCRIPTION.

General color of the plumage white; bill bluish-gray; bare space around the eye
and on the throat blackish-blue ; primaries brownish-black, first longest.

Adult. — The color of the plumage generally is white, the head and hind neck
being of a fine buff-yellow ; alula and primaries brownish-black ; shafts white for
about two-thirds their length from the base, thence gradually becoming dark-brown ;
bill pale bluish-gray, greenish at the base, the lines on the upper mandible blackish-
blue; bare space in the region of the eye, and down the centre of the throat
blackish-blue; iris white; tarsi, toes, and their webs, blackish-brown; the lines of
scutellse on the tarsi and toes green ; claws bluish-white. The female resembles the
male, but is rather smaller. The young have the head, neck, and upper plumage
dark-brown, each feather terminating with a triangular white spot ; under plumage
grayish-white, the feathers broadly margined with grayish-brown.

THE COMMON GANNET. 533

Length, thirty-eight inches; wing, nineteen and fifty one-hundredths ; tarsi, two,
and twenty-five one-hundredths ; tail, ten inches.

Hab. — Atlantic coast, from Labrador to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Gannet breeds in almost incredible numbers on some of the rocky islands
near the coast of Labrador. When the breeding season is over, it wanders as far
south as the Gulf of Mexico. Its mode of flight is powerful, and at times graceful.
Its food consists of fish, principally herrings ; these are obtained by plunging from
on high, often remaining under water for a minute or more at a time.

THIS species is quite common on our coast in the autumn
and spring, and through the greater part of the winter.
Audubon, in describing its breeding habits, says : —

" The newly finished nest of this bird is fully two feet high, and
quite as broad externally. It is composed of seaweeds and mari-
time grasses, the former being at times brought from considerable
distances. Thus, the Gannets breeding on the rocks in the Gulf of
St. Lawrence carry weeds from the Magdalene Islands, which are
about thirty miles distant. The grasses are pulled or dug up from
the surface of the breeding-place itself, often in great clods, con-
sisting of roots and earth, and leaving holes not unlike the
entrances to the burrows of the Puffin. The nests, like those of
Cormorants, are enlarged or repaired annually. The single egg,
of a rather elongated oval form, averages 3^ inches in length,
by 2 inches in its greatest breadth ; and is covered with an
irregular roughish coating of white calcareous matter, which, on
being scraped off, leaves exposed the pale greenish- blue tint of the
under surface."

534 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

FAMILY GRACUL1DJE. THE CORMORANTS.

Bill rather moderate, culmen concave, tip much hooked and acute ; nostrils not
perceptible; wings moderate and pointed; tail rather short and rounded; tarsi
short; toes long and all joined by full webs; gular sac capable of considerable
expansion.

GRACULUS, LINN^US.

Graculus, LINN.EUS, Syst. Nat. (1735). (Type Pelecanus carlo, L.)
Bill rather slender, of moderate length, with the culmen concave, hooked at the
tip, the sides compressed and grooved; nostrils not visible in the adult; wings mod-
erately long and pointed, second and third primaries longest; tail moderate and
graduated at the end; tarsi short and much compressed; toes long and full-webbed;
a leathery pouch at the base of the lower mandible, which can be much distended.

These birds exist abundantly in all parts of the globe. They are mostly found
on the seacoast, breeding on rocky ledges difficult of access, and also on trees.
They are exceedingly expert in catching fish ; being very active in the water, and
capable of remaining under its surface for a great length of time.

GRACULUS CARBO.— Gray.
The Common Cormorant.

Phalacrocorax carlo, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 479. Aud. Ora. Biog., III.
(1835) 458. Ib., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 412.
Graculus carbo, Gray. Gen. of Birds (1845).

DESCRIPTION.

Bluish-black ; feathers on middle of occiput and hind neck elongated ; gular sac
yellow, at the base of which is a broad band of white ; linear feathers on the head
and neck white; a patch of white on the sides; third primary longest; tail of four-
teen feathers.

Adult. — Plumage in general black, glossed with greenish-blue ; the feathers of the
upper part and sides of the back and wing coverts are dark-ash, with bronzed reflec-
tions, and bordered with greenish-black; primaries and tail feathers grayish-black,
secondaries grayish-brown ; bare space around the eyfe dull-olive, under the eye red ;
the gular sac yellow, encircling the lower part of which is a broad band of white ;
numerous linear filamentous white feathers are distributed over the head and neck ;
on the side, over the thigh, is a patch of elongated linear white feathers ; upper man-
dible grayish-black, with the edges yellowish-white, lower dusky yellowish-white at
the base; iris bluish-green; eyelids with dusky margins; tarsi, feet, and claws
grayish-black.

The bill is strong and powerful, the ridge is smooth, but the sides of both mandi-
bles are rugose.

Length, thirty-seven inches; wing, fourteen; bill, three and fifty one-hundredths ;
tail, six and fifty one-hundredths inches.

THE DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT. 535

The female resembles the male, but is smaller.

Hob. — Labrador, and along the coast as far south as New Jersey in winter.

These birds are abundant on the coast of Labrador, where large numbers assem-
ble for the purpose of reproduction, forming -their nests upon the inaccessible ledges
of rocky cliffs.

Their mode of flight is swift and strong. Their food is obtained by diving and
pursuing it beneath the surface, where they make rapid progress by the aid of .their
wings.

THIS species is pretty common on our coast in the latter
part of autumn and during the winter. It is not gre-
garious, but is seen singly or, at most, in pairs. It is shy,
and difficult of approach, and seems ever on the alert for
danger. The Grand Menan is the most southern breeding-
place of this bird in our neighborhood. There it builds a
large nest of seaweeds on shelves of steep cliffs or in crev
ices of the rocks. The eggs are usually three in number.
They are of a bluish-green color which is covered, over
nearly their whole surface, with a calcareous deposit. They
are of an elongated ovate form, and average in dimensions
about 2.90 by 1.75 inch. They are, in their various sizes,
impossible of identification from the succeeding species.

GEACULUS DILOPHUS.— Gray.
The Double-crested Cormorant.

Phalacrocorax ditophus, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 483. Aud. Orn. Biog., III.
(1835) 420; V. (1839) 628. /&., Birds Am., Yl. (1843) 423.
Graculus dilqphus, Gray. Gen. of Birds (1845).

DESCRIPTION.

Greenish-black; behind each eye a recurved crest of loose feathers ; gular sac
orange; second quill longest; tail of twelve feathers.

Adult. — The plumage of the head, neck, lower part of the back and entire under
surface is greenish-black, the feathers of the upper part of the back, the wing-
coverts, the scapularies and tertiaries, grayish-brown or dark-ash, the margins of
•which are greenish-black ; primaries blackish-brown, lighter on the inner webs ; the
secondaries dark grayish-brown ; tail black, as are also the shafts ; running from
the bill over the eye is a line of white filamentous feathers, — there are also a few of
the same character sparsely distributed over the neck ; behind each eye is a tuft of
rather long slender feathers, erect and curving forwards ; bare space in the region
of the eye, and gular sac, orange ; upper mandible blackish-brown, with the edges
yellowish; lower yellow, marked irregularly with dusky; iris bright-green: legs,
feet, and claws black, claw of the middle toe pectinated.

536

ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Length, thirty-three inches ; wing, thirteen ; tail, six and seventy-five one-hun-
dredths inches.

Hob. — Atlantic coast from Labrador to Carolina; fur countries; Pacific coast
from Washington Territory to California.

This species resorts in large numbers to the low islands off the coast of Labrador,
which are their breeding stations : they construct their nests on the surface of the
rocks, not on the shelves of precipices.

I once witnessed a large migrating flight of these birds to the South, along our
seacoast. They passed in great flocks, which succeeded each other frequently during
the entire day : each flock formed a widely extended front, the individuals being
side by side. Their mode of flight was by alternate flapping of the wings, and their
sailing for a short distance, the effect of which was peculiar and striking. — GEORGE
W. LAWRENCE.

I think that this species is more northern in its habits
than the preceding, as it is seldom seen on the coast of New
England except in the winter months, and then only in
small numbers. Unlike the preceding, it does not breed
south of the coast of Labrador ; and, in nesting, does not
frequent high precipices, but prefers low rocky islands. The
nest is similar to that of the other : and the eggs, although
averaging smaller, are hardly recognizable from those of
the Common Cormorant; an ordinary large one of the
present being of similar form and size with the other.

THE SKUA-GULLS. 537

FAMILY 'LARIDJ2. THE GULLS.

Bill generally shorter than the head, straight at the base, and more or less curved
at the end; nostrils linear; head ovate; neck short; body rather full and compact;
wings long and pointed; legs of moderate length, strong, and covered anteriorly
with transverse scales ; feet fully webbed, the hind toe small and elevated.

Birds of this family frequent the shores of the ocean, but often wander to great
distances from land; they are incapable of diving, but swim buoyantly. Their food
consists principally of fish and Crustacea; but some of the larger species feed occa-
sionally on the flesh of cetaceous animals, and devour the young and eggs of some
species of sea-birds.

The family of Laridce is divisible into four sub-families, with the following char-
acters : —

LESTRIDIN^E. — Basal half of upper jaw with a horny covering, distinct from the
tip, and under which the nostrils open considerably beyond the middle of the bill ;
bill abruptly and much decurved at the tip ; tail cuneate ; body full, stout.

LARIN^E. — Covering of the bill continuous ; anterior extremity of nostrils gen-
erally reaching to the middle of the bill; culmen considerably decurved towards the
tip; body robust; tail generally even.

STERNIN^E. — Covering of bill continuous ; nostrils opening in the basal third of
the bill; culmen gently curved to the tip of the lengthened and attenuated bill;
body rather slender; wing lengthened ; tail usually deeply forked.

RHYNCHOPIN.E. — Bill excessively compressed, like the blade of a knife; lower
jaw much longer than the upper; the point obtuse; body slender; tail forked.

Sub-Family LESTRIDINJE. — The Skua -Gulls ; the Jcegers.

Bill strong and much curved at the end, the base covered with a membranous
cere; wings lengthened; tail cuneate, with the two central feathers projecting.

These hardy birds inhabit the high latitudes of both hemispheres. There are
four Arctic species found both in Europe and North America. They are piratical in
their habits, appearing to derive their subsistence mainly from the labors of others.
They chase and harass various species of Gulls, compelling them to disgorge a por-
tion of their food, which they dart after, and seize before it reaches the water.

STERCORARIUS, BRISSON.

Stercorarius, Brisson. Ornithologie (1760).

Bill rather strong; the culmen straight, and covered at the base with a smooth
cere, the end curved ; nostrils linear, and more open anteriorly ; wings pointed ; first
quill longest; tail of moderate length; the two middle feathers elongated; tarsi
strong, and covered with prominent scales; claws sharp and much curved; feet
fully webbed; hind toe short, and but little elevated.

638 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

STERCORARIUS POMARINUS. — TemmincTe.
The Fomarine Skua.

Lestrispomarinus, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 315. Aud. Birds Am., VII. (1844)
186.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Front, crown of the head, back, wings, and tail, blackish-brown; sides
and back part of the neck bright-yellow ; throat and entire under plumage white,
with a band of brown spots extending across the upper part of the breast ; sides
and lower tail coverts barred with brown ; shafts of quills and tail feathers white ;
bill greenish-olive, black at the tip; legs and feet black; the middle tail feathers
extend beyond the others for about two inches ; they are rounded at the end, and of
a uniform breadth throughout.

Young birds have the plumage of the upper parts blackish-brown ; of the lower,
grayish-brown, with the feathers of the abdomen and lower tail coverts margined
with dull-ferruginous ; tarsi and base of the toes and webs yellow.

Length, twenty inches; wing, fourteen; tail, eight to nine; bill, one and three
quarters ; tarsus, two inches.

FT! HIS species is not uncommon on our north-east coast in
JL the autumn and winter months. " It subsists on putrid
and other animal substances thrown up by the sea, and
also on fish and other matters which the Gulls disgorge
when pursued by it. It also devours the eggs of sea-birds."
It breeds in the Hudson's Bay country and other northern
localities ; nesting " in elevated spots in the marshes, or
upon rocks ; making a coarsely interlaced nest of the sur-
rounding moss and herbage; laying two or three very
pointed eggs, of a grayish-olive, marked with a small num-
ber of blackish spots." — NUTTALL.

STERCORARIUS PARASITICUS. — TemmincTc.
, The Arctic Skua.

Larusparasiticus, Linnseus. Syst. Nat., I. (1756) 226.
Stercorarius parasiticus, Temminck. Man. d'Orn., II. (1820) 796.
Lestris Richardsonii, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 319. Aud. Birds Am., Til.
(1844) 190.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult.— Upper part of the head blackish-brown; nape and sides of the neck
yellowish - white ; remainder of upper plumage blackish -brown; wings and tail
darker; shafts of the primaries white; under plumage white; bill bluish at the base,
black at the point; tarsi and feet black; the central tail feathers extend beyond the

THE GULLS. 539

others about three inches ; they taper slightly, varying but little in breadth until near
the end, where they are abruptly acuminated, differing in this particular from all the
other species.

Length, twenty to twenty-two inches ; wing, thirteen and a half; tail, eight and
a half; bill, one and four-twelfths ; tarsi, one and three-quarter inches.

Hob. — Arctic America; breeds in the Barren Grounds; coast of the United
States from New York northward.

This species is much more common on our coast in
winter than the other. Its habits are the same, and its
breeding-place is also in the far north. Its eggs are three
in number. They are broadly ovoidal in form, and much
resemble the eggs of the Laughing Gull. Their primary
color varies from a greenish-drab to the predominating
olivaceous-green. This is marked with spots and blotches
of various shades of brown, thickest at the greater end,
and some spots of obscure-purple. The dimensions vary
from 2.25 by 1.60 inch to 2.18 by 1.54.

Sub-Family LARIN^E. — The Gulls.

Bill differing considerably in strength and form; generally straight, with the
sides compressed ; the culmen straight at the base, with the end curved ; nostrils
lateral and oblong ; wings long and pointed ; tail usually even, in two or three cases
pointed or forked; tarsi rather strong; fore-toes united by a web; hind toe short and
elevated.

These birds vary much in size, some being quite small, while others rank among
the largest of marine birds. They are not peculiar to any region, but are found
abundantly over the world. They congregate in great numbers on the sand-bars at
the entrance of inlets and large bays. In winter they migrate in search of food,
frequenting harbors and ascending rivers.

The above general descriptions of the habits of our Gulls
are so comprehensive and terse that I will add nothing at
length to them here. They feed on fish (which they often
seize in their bills in the water), various aquatic animals,
and dead animal matter thrown up on the shores or floating
on the waves. They attack and kill wounded birds, and
eat them, and also drive aquatic birds from their 'eggs and

540 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

young, which they eat. They are, in the water, almost pre-
cisely what the Crows and Jays are on the land.

LARUS MARINUS. — Linnaut.
The Great Black-backed Gull.

Larus marinus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 225. Nutt. Man., II. (1834) 308.
Aud. Birds Am., VII. (1844) 172.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — The head, neck, entire under plumage, upper tail coverts, and tail
are pure-white; the back and wings are of a dark-slate color; the primaries are deep
black, largely tipped with white, as are the extremities of most of the quills; the
bill is gamboge-yellow, with an orange-red spot near the end of the lower mandible ;
legs and feet pale-yellow; iris white.

Young. — Head, rump, and under plumage grayish-white, with streaks of light-
brown ; back and wings mottled with brownish-ash and grayish-white ; primaries
blackish-brown, having the tips edged with white; tail white, spotted with brown,
and having a broad subterminal band of the same color; bill brownish-black, yel-
lowish at the base; legs and feet yellow.

Length, about thirty inches ; wing, twenty ; tail, nine ; bill, two and ten-twelfths ;
tarsus, two-twelfths of an inch.

Hob. — North Atlantic, Labrador; as far south as Florida in winter.

The Black-backed Gull is of frequent occurrence on our
coast in the autumn and winter months ; and, according to
Mr. George A. Boardman, a few breed as far south as the
islands in the Bay of Fundy. Audubon describes its
breeding habits as follows : —

" The nest of this species is usually placed on the bare rock of
some low island, sometimes beneath a projecting shelf, sometimes
in a wide fissure. In Labrador, it is formed of moss and seaweeds
carefully arranged, and has a diameter of about two feet ; being
raised on the edges to the height of five or six inches, but seldom
more than two inches thick in the centre, where feathers, dry grass,
and other materials, are added. The eggs are three, and in no
instance have I found more. They are two inches and seven-
eighths in length by two inches and one-eighth in breadth ; broadly
ovate ; rough, but not granulated ; of a pale earthy greenish-gray
color, irregularly blotched and spotted with brownish-black, dark-
umber, and dull-purple."

THE HERRING GULL. 541

LARUS AEGENTATUS. — BriinnicJi.
The Herring Gull ; the Silvery Gull.

Larus argentatus, Briinnich. Orn. Bor. (1764), 44. Nutt. Man., H. (1834) 304.
Aud. Birds Am., VII. (1844) 163.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Head, neck, under parts, rump, and tail, pure-white ; back and wings
light pearl-blue ; the first six primaries are marked towards their ends with black,
which begins on the first at about half its length from the end, and is rapidly les-
sened on the others until it becomes only a subterminal bar on the sixth ; the pri-
maries all tipped with white; on the first quill it is about an inch and a half in
extent, crossed near the end with a black bar, on the second quill there is a round
white spot on the inner web near the end ; secondaries and tertiaries broadly ending
with white ; bill bright-yellow, with an orange-red spot near the end of the lower
mandible ; legs and feet flesh-colored ; iris white.

Young. — Mottled with light grayish-brown and dull-white; primaries blackish-
brown ; bill brownish-black, yellowish at the base.

Length of male, twenty-three inches; wing, eighteen; tail, seven and a half; bill,
along ridge, two and a half; depth at angle, thirteen-sixteenths ; tarsus, two and
a half. Female a little smaller than the male, but similar in plumage.

Hah. — Atlantic coast from Texas to Newfoundland; Western States; Ohio and
Mississippi Rivers.

This species is abundant on our coast in the autumn,
winter, and until late in spring, and many individuals are
seen through the whole summer. I found several appar-
ently breeding about the Umbagog Lakes, in Maine ; and
have no doubt that it incubates in various localities in New
England, both on the coast and in the interior. It breeds
in the greatest abundance in Labrador and other northern
countries, where it nests like the preceding, and sometimes
in trees. The birds which I saw about Lake Umbagog prob-
ably had nests in trees, as they frequented a tract of dead
pines and hemlocks inaccessible to me on account of inun-
dation, and they frequently alighted in their tops. The
eggs of the Herring Gull are so different in form, color, and
markings, that hardly any description can be intelligible.
A great number of specimens in my collection vary in
form from abruptly ovate to a lengthened ovoidal. Their
color varies from a pale-cinereous to an olivaceous-drab ;
and their markings from thickly spattered blotches of

542 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGt.

black to different browns and obscure - purples. Their
dimensions vary from 2.85 by 2.05 inch to 2.65 by 1.85
inch. Large specimens of this species cannot be distin-
guished from small ones of the preceding.

CHROICOCEPHALUS, EYTON.

Chroicocephalus, EYTON, Cat. Brit. Birds (1836).

Bill moderate, rather slender, much compressed; upper mandible straight at base,
more or less curved at the end ; nostrils lateral and longitudinal ; wings long, nar-
row, and pointed; tail moderate, usually even; tarsi rather slender; feet webbed;
hind toe small and elevated.

These Gulls are of medium or small size: in their spring attire, the head is
clothed with a dark-colored hood ; but in the winter it becomes white, with a dusky
spot behind the ear. These birds are very handsome, the dark and light colors of
their plumage forming a beautiful contrast.

CHROICOCEPHALUS ATRICILLA. — Lawrence.
The Laughing Gull.

Lams atridtta, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 225. Bon. Syn. (1828), No. 294.
Nutt. Man., II. (1834) 291. Aud. Birds Am., VII. (1844) 136.
Larus ridibundus. Wils., IX. (1824) 89.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult.— Head and upper part of neck blackish lead-gray, extending lower in
front; upper and lower eyelids white posteriorly; lower part of neck, entire under
plumage, rump, and tail, pure-white ; in spring, a beautiful roseate tint exists on the
breast and abdomen; back and wings grayish-lead color; the first six primaries are
black, beginning on the first at about two-thirds of its length from the point, and
regularly becoming less on the others, until, on the sixth, it is reduced to two spots
near the end ; tips in some specimens white, and in others black to their points ; bill
and inside of the mouth dark-carmine ; iris bluish-black ; legs and feet deep-red ; in
winter the head becomes white, intermixed on the crown and hind neck with brown-
ish-gray.

Length, seventeen inches ; wing, thirteen ; tail, five ; bill, one and three-fourths ;
tarsus, two inches.

Hob. — Texas to Massachusetts.

This handsome bird is a resident on our coasts through
the summer, but is not at all abundant. It nests in the
marshes, making only a loose structure of a few pieces of
seaweeds or grasses, which it places in a sandy, elevated
spot, where the tides do not reach. The eggs are three in
number. Their form is usually ovoidal, sometimes ovate.

BONAPARTE'S GULL. 543

Their color is an olivaceous-drab, sometimes a grayish-
green. This is covered, more or less thickly, with blotches
and spots of different shades of brown and purple, and
obscure markings of the same.

Their dimensions vary from 2.28 by 1.65 inch to 2 by 1.50
inch. Some specimens have numerous irregular streaks
of umber-brown over the surface at the greater end, and
others have large confluent blotches of the same color.

CHROICOCEPHALUS PHILADELPHIA. — Lawrence.
Bonaparte's Gull.

Larus Bonqpartei, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 294. Aud. Birds Am., VII. (1844)
131.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Head and upper part of neck grayish-black, this color extending rather
lower on the throat than on the neck behind ; lower part of neck, under plumage,
rump, and tail, white ; back and wings clear bluish-gray ; first primary black on the
outer web ; inner web of the first primary, both webs of the second, and the outer
web of the third, white ; the inner web of the third, and all the other primaries, are
of the same color as the back ; the six outer primaries have their ends black for the
extent of about an inch on the central ones, but less on the first and sixth, — they
are all slightly tipped with white ; shoulders, anterior borders of the wings, and outer
webs of the primary coverts white; bill deep black; inside of mouth carmine; iris
hazel ; legs and feet orange, with a reddish tinge.

The young have the head white, intermixed on the occiput and hind neck with
dark-gray ; a round spot of dark-plumbeous behind the eye ; the smaller wing
coverts brown ; the outer webs of several of the primaries, and a subterminal band
on the tail, black.

Length, fourteen and a half inches; wing, ten and a half; tail, four and a quar-
ter; bill, one and one-eighth; tarsus, one and five-sixteenths inch.

Hob. — Texas to Nova Scotia, Mississippi River, fur countries, Pacific coast of
North America.

This species is pretty common on our coast, and is often
found in the neighborhood of large tracts of water in the
interior.

RISSA, LEACH.

Rissa, LEACH, Steph. Gen. Zool., XIII. (1825) 180. (Type Laras tridactylw, L.)

Bill rather long, strong, and much compressed; culmen straight at base, curved

from the nostrils to the tip ; nostrils lateral and longitudinal ; wings long and

pointed; tail even; tarsi rather short; toes slender and united by a full web; hinc1

toe rudimentary or very small.

544 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

RISSA TRIDACTYLA. — Bonaparte.
The Kittiw.ake Gull.

Larus tridactylus, Linnseus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 224. Nutt. Man., II. (1834)
298. Aud. Birds Am., VII. (1844) 146.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Head, neck, entire under plumage, rump, and tail, white ; back and
wings light bluish-gray; the ends of the five outer primaries, and the outer web of
the first, black ; the fourth and fifth have small white tips ; bill greenish yellow ; iria
reddish-brown ; legs and feet brownish-black, with a green tinge.

Young. — The head is white, marked on the hind head and neck with bluish-
gray; a spot of the same color over the ears; a narrow crescent of black in front of
the eye ; wings and shoulders marked with black ; primaries black ; tail white, with
a subterminal black band; bill black; rest of the plumage same as in the adult.

Length, about seventeen inches; wing, twelve ; tail, five and three-quarters,
bill, one and a half; tarsus, one and three-eighths inches.

Sab. — Fur countries; Labrador; southern coast in winter.

This species is not common on our coasts through the
summer months. Audubon says it breeds as far south as
the island of Grand Menan, off the entrance of the Bay
of Fundy ; and it probably also incubates on other islands
off the coast of Maine. The nest is composed of sea-
weeds, which are arranged in a large pile, and placed on
a ledge of rock in a crevice, or on a jutting shelf. This nest
is occupied for successive years ; and it receives additions in
every season. The eggs are three in number. Their form
is usually ovoidal : their color varies from a creamy-drab,
with a very slight olivaceous tint, to a delicate gray. On
this are scattered blotches of different shades of brown,
and obscure spots and blotches of lilac. Of >these egg's —

A C?O

as of all the eggs of Gulls and Terns — it is difficult to
give descriptions by which specimens could be identified.
The above description, however, answers for all the eggs
of this species in my collection. The dimensions vary from
2.20 by 1.60 inch to 2.04 by 1.55.

THE MARSH TERN. 545

Sub-Family STERXIN^. — The Terns.

Bill rather long, usually slender, straight, sometimes with the upper mandible
curved at the tip, which is acutely pointed ; nostrils linear and pervious ; wings
elongated ; primaries long and pointed, secondaries of moderate length ; tail rather
long and in most species forked ; tarsi slender; anterior toes have their webs emar-
ginate, hind toe small ; claws moderate, curved and acute.

These birds are mostly found on the seacoast and neighboring bays, occasionally
on rivers and lakes: they assemble in large numbers on the sand bars and points at
the mouth of inlets, are much on the wing, and are remarkable for their buoyant
and easy flight. Their food consists of small fishes and Crustacea, which they
obtain by hovering over and suddenly darting down upon : although they thus seize
their prey while in the water, they only occasionally swim or rest upon its surface.

STERNA, LINN^US.

Sterna, LINN^US, Syst. Nat. (1748).

Bill more or less strong, about the length of the head ; the upper mandible slightly
curved to the tip, which is narrow and acute, the lower straight, with the junction
of the crura about the middle; the nostrils lateral and linear, with the frontal feath-
ers extending to the opening; wings long, primaries narrow and tapering, the outer
quill longest ; tail rather long and more or less forked ; tarsi short ; toes small and
slender, with the webs emarginate; hind toe short; claws slightly arched and acute.

STERNA ARANEA. — Wilson.
The Marsh Tern.

Sterna aranea, Wilson. Am. Om., VIII. (1814) 143.

Sterna Anglica, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 269. Aud. Orn. Biog., V. (1839) 127.
/$., Birds Am., VII. (1844) 81.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Upper part of the head, occiput, and sides of the head upon a line with
the lower eyelid, black; back and wings light bluish-gray; primaries hoary on the
outer webs and ashy-gray on the inner, becoming lighter towards the base ; tail
same color as the back, but paler, and with the outer feather nearly white ; a line at
the base of the upper mandible, neck in front and entire under plumage, pure-white ;
bill deep-black ; iris brown ; legs and feet black.

Length, thirteen and three-quarters inches; wings in extent thirty-four, from
flexure ten and a half; tail, four; bill, one and three-eighths; tarsus, one inch.

Hob. — Coast of the United States as far north as Connecticut.

I include this species in our New-England Terns on the
above authority. I have not met with it myself, and know
nothing of its habits. Wilson says, —

35

546 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

" This species I first met on the shores of Cape May, particularly
over the salt marshes, where it was darting down after a kind of
large black spider, plenty in such places. This spider can travel
under water, as well as above, and, during summer at least, seems
to constitute the principal food of the present Tern. In several
which I opened, the stomach was crammed with a mass of these
spiders alone : these they frequently pick up from the pools, as well
as from the grass, dashing down on them in the manner of their
tribe. Their voice is sharper and stronger than that of the Com-
mon Tern ; the bill is differently formed, being shorter, more
rounded above, and thicker ; the tail is also much shorter, and less
forked. They do not associate with others, but keep in small
parties by themselves.

" This species breeds in the salt marshes. The female drops her
eggs, generally three or four in number, on the dry drift grass,
without the slightest appearance of a nest : they are of a greenish-
olive, spotted with brown."

STERNA CASPIA. — Pallas.
The Caspian Tern.

Sterna Caspia, Pallas. Nov. Com. Petr., XIV. 582. Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y.,
V. (1851) 37.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult — Forehead, crown, sides of the head, and occiput, black, glossed with
green ; this color extends below the eye, under which is a narrow white line ; back
and wings light bluish-ash ; the six outer primaries dark slate-gray on their inner
webs ; quill shafts strong and white ; tail and its upper coverts grayish-white ; neck
and entire under plumage pure white ; bill and inside of mouth bright vermilion ;
legs and feet black; bill very stout; tail not deeply forked.

In the young, the back, wing coverts, and tail, are mottled and barred with black-
ish-brown.

Length, twenty-one and a half inches ; extent of wings, fifty-one ; from flexure,
sixteen and three-quarters ; bill, from base, two and seven-eighths ; tail, six inches.

Hab. — Coast of New Jersey northward.

I include this species on the above authority. Its habits
are unknown to me.

STERNA WILSONII. — Bonaparte.
Wilson's Tern,

Sterna hirundo, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. (1813) 76. Nutt. Man., H. (1834) 271.
Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 74. Ib., Birds Am., VII. (1844) 97.

547

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Upper part of the head and hind neck deep-black, tinged with brown
on the front part of the head ; back and wings light grayish-blue ; first primary
with the outer web black, on the inner web grayish-black next the shaft, this color
increasing in extent towards the end, where it covers the entire web for about one
inch, rest of inner web white ; the next five primaries are hoary on their outer webs,
and blackish-gray on the inner next the shaft, occupying the entire web at the end ;
margin of the inner webs white ; central tail feathers very pale bluish-gray, the others
white on the inner webs and dusky-gray on the outer webs, deepening in color from
the central feathers until it becomes blackish-gray on the lateral ones ; sides of the
head, throat, rump, and under tail coverts, white ; breast and abdomen clear pearl-
gray ; bill coral-red, black near the end with the tip yellow ; iris hazel ; legs and
feet coral-red, not so dark as the bill ; claws brownish-black. »

Length, fourteen and three-quarters inches; wing, ten and three-quarters; tail,
five and three-quarters; bill, one and three-eighths; tarsus, three-quarters of an
inch.

Hob. — Texas to Labrador.

This is by far the most common species we have in New
England. It breeds in great abundance all along our coast,
both on the beach, on the mainland, and on the rocky and
sandy islands off our shores. In some localities, it is so
abundant that I have collected in the space of two hours,
in the area of about thirty acres, a half-bushel of eggs. In
most localities, it forms no nest, but drops its eggs on the
sand or on the bare rock. On the island of Muskegeet, I
found that it invariably scooped out a hollow of two or three
inches in the sand, in which it laid three or four eggs,
arranged them with their small ends together in the middle,
and built around them a loose nest of seaweeds and grass.
These eggs are so varied in color and markings, that no
description of them can be given by which they may be recog-
nized. In a great number in my collection, the predominat-
ing color is a reddish-drab, which is marked with numerous
spots and confluent blotches of different shades of brown,
and obscure blotches of cinereous. Many specimens are an
olivaceous-gray, with the same markings ; and others are a
creamy-buff. Their form is usually exactly ovoidal, and
their dimensions average about 1.55 by 1.25 inch.

This species is very irregular in its period of depositing
its eggs. I have found them as early as the last week in

548 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

May, and as late as the 12th of July. I have seen, in the
space of a square rod, eggs, in which the chicks were about
ready to break the shell, and others that were apparently
but just laid ; and, close beside them both, were squatting
young birds almost fully grown and feathered.

About the 15th of June is the period when the eggs of
this species are in the best condition in New England for
cabinet preservation ; the young then being, as a general
thing, scarcely formed.

Early in October, these birds begin to be scarce in our
latitude, and they spend the winter on the shores of the
southern gulf.

STERNA MACROURA. — Naumann.
The Arctic Tern.

Sterna macroura, Naumann. Isis (1819, 1847).

Sterna Arctica, Temm. Man. d'Orn., II. (1820) 742. Bon. Syn. (1828), No.
287. Sw. and Rich. F. B. A., II. (1831) 414. Nutt. Man,, II. (1834) 275. Aud.
Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 366. A, Birds Am., VII. (1844) 107.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Upper part of the head and hind neck black; back and wings light
grayish-blue; first primary deep-black on the outer web, dusky-gray on the inner
next the shaft, and over the entire web at the end, inner margin of inner web white ;
the next five primaries are bluish-gray on the outer web and on the inner web next
the shaft, this color extending over the entire web at the end, where it is blackish-
gray on the inner margin, the remaining part of inner web white; central tail
feathers and inner webs of the others white, the outer web of the outer tail feather
blackish-gray, the outer webs of the two next pale bluish-gray ; rump, sides of the
head, and under tail coverts, white ; under plumage bluish-gray, of a lighter shade
than the back; bill deep-carmine; iris brown; legs and feet dark-crimson.

Length, fourteen and* a half inches ; wing, ten and a half; tail, six and a half
inches.

Hob. — Coast of the New-England States to Arctic seas ; fur countries.

This species is almost, if not equally, as abundant on our
shores in summer as the preceding. It breeds, in our lati-
tude, in the same localities and at the same time as the
other ; and its eggs are so exactly similar, that any descrip-
tion of either is impossible, by which they can be identified.
The only method that I know of to obtain authentic speci-
mens of each is, either to visit localities in which either

THE LEAST TERN.

549

species is found by itself, or to wait until late in the season,
and, after finding a nest, observe carefully the bird that
hovers over it, and shoot her. It is a well-known habit
of these species to hover over
their eggs after being driven
from them : but this is generally
confined to the close of the sea-
son of incubation, or very dark
or wet weather ; and the student,
to avail himself of it, must be
on the spot at the proper time.
The moment a person approach-
es one of their breeding places,
the whole colony leave their eggs
or young, and fly to meet the
intruder. I have been on an
island of not more than thirty
acres area, where thousands of
these birds of both species, and also the following, were
breeding ; and their cries, 'kree 'kree 'kree, were so loud that
my companions within twenty feet of me had to shout at
their loudest to make their words intelligible.

The Arctic Tern, like all the others, leaves its 'eggs in
warm sunny days for several hours, depending on the sun
to assist in incubation. When one bird is shot, the others,
instead of flying off, only redouble their outcries, darting
down at the intruder within a few feet of his head ; and the
noise and confusion are so great, that one is almost bewil-
dered, and can hardly keep his wits about him sufficiently
to secure and properly identify his specimens.

STEENA FRENATA.— Gambel.
The Least Tern.

Sterna minuta, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. (1813) 80. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838)
175. /&., Birds Am., VII. (1844) 119.

Sterna argentea, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 280.

550 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — On the forehead is a triangular white spot extending to the eye ; crown,
occiput, and a line from the eye to the upper mandible, deep-black ; entire upper
plumage and wings clear bluish-gray ; first two primaries with the 'outer web and
half the inner next the shaft, grayish-black, ends of the same color, inner margins
white, the shafts of these two quills are black ; the other primaries same color as the
back, with the inner margins white ; tail same color as the back, except the outer
margin of the exterior feather, and the inner webs of the others at the base, where
they are white; entire under plumage silvery-white; bill pale orange-yellow; iris
hazel; legs and feet light orange-red.

Length, eight and three-quarters inches; wing, six and three-quarters; tail, three
and a half inches.

Hob. — Texas to Labrador; western rivers.

This handsome little bird is of similar habits, and is
almost as abundant as the preceding. It breeds in the same
localities, and, like the others, nests on the beach or bare
rocks. The eggs are three in number. They are a rounded
ovoidal in form, and a grayish-cream tint in color : they are
marked with spots and confluent blotches of different shades
of brown and obscure-lilac, and vary in dimensions from
1.25 by .90 inch to 1.15 by .91 inch. A large number of
specimens from both the Southern and Northern States
exhibit no appreciable difference either in size or markings.

*

HYDROCHELIDON, BOIE.

ffydrochelidon, BOIE, Isis (1822), 563.

Bill rather short, strong, the upper mandible curving slightly to the tip ; nostrils
basal, lateral, and longitudinal, the frontal feathers reaching nearly to the opening;
wings very long and pointed ; tail moderate and emarginate ; legs short ; the ante-
rior toes slender, with the webs deeply indented ; hind toe small ; claws slender and
acute.

HTDROCHELIDON PLUMBEA.— Wilson.
The Short-tailed Tern.

Sterna plumbea, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. (1813) 83.

Sterna nigra, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 282. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 535;
V. (1839) 642. 2b., Birds Am., VII. (1844) 116.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult.— Head, neck, breast, sides, and abdomen, black; lower tail coverts white;
under covering of wings ashy-gray; back and wings dark plumbeous-gray; the

THE SHORT-TAILED TERN. 551

first four primaries grayish-black, with their shafts white; bend of the wing edged
with white; tail same color as the back; bill brownish-black; iris brown; legs and
feet reddish-brown.

Young. — Back, wings, and tail, light-plumbeous, with the feathers of the back
margined with brown; top of the head and around the eye brownish-black; front
and under plumage white; tail short, and but slightly forked.

Length, nine and a half inches ; wing, eight and a half; tail, three and a half
inches.

Hob. — Texas to the New-England States, Mississippi River, and tributaries ; fur
countries.

This species is included on the above authority. Wilson
describes its habits as follows : —

" I examined upwards of thirty individuals of this species by
dissection, and found both sexes alike in color. Their stomachs
contained grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, &c., but no fish. The
people on the seacoast inform me, that this bird comes to them
only in the fall, or towards the end of summer, and is more fre-
quently seen about the mill-ponds and fresh-water marshes than
in the bays ; and add, that it feeds on grasshoppers and other
insects, which it finds on the meadows and marshes, picking them
from the grass, as well as from the surface of the water. They
have never known it to associate with the Lesser Tern, and
consider it altogether a different bird. This opinion seems con-
firmed by the above circumstances, and by the fact of its greater
extent of wing, being full three inches wider than the Lesser
Tern, and also making its appearance after the others have
gone off." ,

Audubon describes the bird as placing its nest on the top
of a broken tussock of the rankest grasses, of which the fabric
is itself composed ; it is of a flattish form, and about two
inches thick. It is enlarged or renewed every year, some
nests being found to be from four to six inches in height.
The eggs, laid early in June, are four in number, If by 1
inch in dimensions, and are of nearly an elliptical form,
being but slightly pointed at one end : their ground-color is
greenish-buff, spotted and dashed with reddish-umber arid
black, more abundantly towards the middle.

552

ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

FAMILY PROCELLARID^. THE PETRELS.

t

Bill more or less lengthened, compressed, and deeply grooved, appearing to be
formed of several distinct parts ; the tip is strong, much hooked, and acute ; the nos-
trils open from distinct tubes, either single or double, and are situated at the base of
the upper mandible.

All the birds embraced in this family are strictly oceanic, some of the smaller
species only being observed in bays near the ocean during or after a storm. They
vary greatly in size, some being quite diminutive, while others are equal in dimen-
sions to the largest known birds of flight.

Two sub-families, namely, Diomedeince and Procellarince, constitute this family,
the distinguishing characters of which are as follows : —

DIOMEDEINCE. — Bill very strong, curved, and acute at the end; nostrils short,
tubular, and situated on the sides of the upper mandible near the base.

PROCELLARIN.E. — Bill more or less strong, curved at the end, and pointed;
nostrils tubular, situated on the culmen, near the base, and opening forwards.

Sub-Family PROCELLARIN^E. The True Petrels.

The bill more or less strong, compressed, tip much hooked and pointed ; the nos-
trils tubular, to a greater or less extent, and situated on the basal part of the culmen;
generally of medium or small size, wandering in their habits, and capable of sus-
taining themselves on wing for a great length of time.

THALASSIDROMA, VIGORS.

Thalassidroma, Vigors, Zool. Jour. (1825).

Bill shorter than the head, slender and weak, the tip curved and acute, the sides
compressed and moderately grooved; nostrils at the base of the culmen tubular
and prominent; wings long and narrow, the second quill longest; tail forked or
emarginate; legs slender and very long ; tibia bare for a considerable space; ante-
rior toes rather short and slender, united by an indented web ; a short spur in place
of the hind toe.

THALASSIDROMA LEACHII. — Bonaparte.
Leach's Petrel.

Procellaria LeacUi, Temm. Man., II. (1820) 812.

Thalassidroma Leachii, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 326. Aud. Orn. Biog., IIL
(1835) 434. /&., Birds Am., VII. (1844) 219.

• 553

DESCRIPTION.

The plumage generally is sooty-brown, darker on the crown ; primaries and tail
brownish-black ; wing coverts and inner secondaries ashy-gray ; rump, feathers of
the sides adjoining it, and outer lower tail coverts, white ; bill black ; iris dark-brown ;
tarsi and feet black.

The female differs only in being rather smaller.

This is larger than Wilson's Petrel, and has a much stronger bill : it may be
readily known from it by its forked tail, and the interdigital webs being entirely
black.

Length, eight inches; wing, six and a half; tail, three; bill, two-thirds of an
inch ; tarsus, one inch.

THIS species is the most abundant of our Petrels. It is,
in fact, the only one that breeds here ; and all others
may be regarded as wanderers. About the first week in
June, in the latitude of the islands on the north-eastern coast
of Maine, it pairs. Breeding in communities, it soon begins
its nest. This is composed of weeds, short grasses, and
small pebbles, which are arranged in a flat structure, at the
end of a burrow constructed by the birds, or in the fissures
and crevices of rocks on the islands off our northern coast.
In this a single egg is deposited, which is of a pure-white
color, with an obscure lilac ring around one end, consisting
of fine confluent dots. It is nearly oval in form, and
averages in dimensions about 1.30 inch in length and .96
mch in breadth. A large number of specimens in my col-
lection exhibit a variation of from 1.35 to 1.24 inch in
length, and from 1 inch to .80 inch in breadth. These eggs
soon become discolored and dirty, from the nature of the
nest and the habits of the bird ; but originally they are pure-
white. Their shell is exceedingly fragile, and a little rough
to the touch, like that of the eggs of all birds of this class.

THALASSIDROMA WILSONII. — Bonaparte.
Wilson's Stormy Petrel.

Procettana pelagica, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. (1808) 90.

Thalassidroma Wilsonii, Bonaparte. Syn. (1828), No. 308. Nutt. Man., II.
(1834) 324. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 486; V. (1839) 645. /&., Birds Am., VIL
(1844) 223.

Oceanites Wilsonii, Bonaparte. Cons. Av. II. (1855) 199.

554 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

DESCRIPTION.

The general color of the plumage is dark sooty-brown ; primaries and tail black-
'ish-brown, the latter white at the base; some of the outer secondaries and the
secondary coverts grayish-ash, ending with grayish-white ; rump, sides of the abdo-
men and exterior lower tail coverts, white ; bill black; iris dark-brown; tarsi and
feet black, with the webs yellow except at the margin.

This species is somewhat smaller than T. Leachii, and more delicate in form ; the
bill is much weaker: it may readily be distinguished by the greater proportion of
white on the under tail coverts and on the sides at the base of the tail, together with
its much longer tarsi and yellow webs ; tail nearly even.

Length, seven and one-fourth inches; wing, six; tail, three-quarters; bill, seven-
twelfths inch ; tarsus, one and three-eighths inch.

Hob. — Off the Atlantic coast from the Gulf of Mexico to Baffin's Bay.

This species is rare on our coast, and, to my knowledge,
does not breed within the limits of New-England shores.
Audubon says, —

" Wilson's Petrel breeds on some small islands situated off the
southern extremity of Nova Scotia, called l Mud Islands,' but which
are formed of sand and light earth, scantily covered with grass.

Thither the birds re-
sort in great numbers
about the beginning of
June, and form bur-
rows of the depth of
two or two and a half
feet, in the bottom of
which is laid a single
white egg ; a few bits
of dry grass, scarcely
deserving the name of
a nest, having been placed for its reception. The egg measures an
inch and a half in length by seven-eighths of an inch in breadth ;
is almost equally rounded at both ends. ... On wing, this
species is more lively than the Forked-tailed, but less so than the
common Stormy Petrel. Its notes are different from that of the
Forked-tailed Petrel, and resemble the syllables Jcee-re-kee-kee.
They are more frequently emitted at night than by day."

THE GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 555

FAMILY COLYMBIDJE. THE DIVERS.

Bill more or less long and compressed; the nostrils are linear or rounded, and
eituated in a lateral groove ; tail rudimentary or short; tarsi much compressed ; an-
terior toes long, with the interdigital membrane more or less full, the outer longest;
hind toe short, free, with a hanging lobe ; claws broad, depressed, buried in the
body.

The species are remarkable for their powers of swimming and diving: their ease
and gracefulness on the water is in strong contrast with their awkwardness on land,

The following are the characters of the two sub-families, Colymbince and Podi-
cipince ; —

COLYMBINCE. — Bill long, rather strong, much compressed, with the point acute;
nostrils basal, linear; tarsi much compressed; toes long and webs full; tail short;
lores feathered.

PODICIPIN^E. — Bill generally long and father slender, compressed and pointed;
nostrils situated in a groove, oblong and narrow ; tarsi compressed ; toes long and
broadly lobed; tail wanting, or very rudimentary; lores naked.

Sub-Family COLYMBIBLE. — The Loons.

Bill about the length of the head, rather stout, much compressed, and acute ;
nostrils basal, linear, and pervious ; wings of medium size, narrow and pointed, first
quill the longest, reaching far beyond the scapulars ; tail short and rounded ; tarsi
very much compressed; entire tarsi and base of toes reticulated; toes long, the
anterior one's united by regular webs, the claw of the middle twice as long as broad ;
hind toe short, edged with a narrow membrane.

These birds excel all others in their rapidity of diving, and the great progress
they are able to make under water. Only one genus in this sub-family is recognized
by authors.

COLYMBUS, LINNAEUS.

Colymbus, LINN^US, Syst. Nat. (1735). (Type C. articus.)

As the characters of the sub-family include those of the single genus Colymbus, it
is not necessary to repeat them.

They are abundant during summer in the high northern latitudes, both on the
seacoast and on inland lakes; in winter, they migrate to the South. They are soli-
tary in their habits, keen-sighted, and very difficult of approach: their flight is
strong, rapid, and direct.

COLYMBUS TOEQUATUS. — Briinnich.
The Great Northern Diver ; the Loon.

Colymbus glacialis, Limweus. Syst. Nat., L (1766) 221. Wils. Am. Orn., IX.
(1824) 84. Nutt. Man., II. (1834) 513. Aud. Dm. Biog., IV. (1838) 43. lb., Birds
Am., VII. (1844) 282.

556 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill compressed, strong and tapering, outline of upper mandible nearly straight,
very slightly curved ; the lower mandible has a groove underneath, running front
the junction of the crura towards the point; the tail consists of twenty feathers.

Adult. — The head and neck are dark bluish-green, the upper part and side* of
the head glossed with purple ; there is a small transverse mark on the throat, com-
posed of white feathers of a quill-like form, distinct from each other, and placed lon-
gitudinally on each side of the neck ; lower down are larger patches of white, of the
same peculiar form, and running in the same direction ; these almost meet behind,
and in front are about one inch apart; the effect of these pure-white feathers, re-
lieved by the dark color of the neck, is very beautiful ; the upper plumage and wing
coverts are deep glossy-black, beautifully marked with pure-white spots, placed in
regular transverse rows, slightly curving downwards; these spots, on the upper part
of the back, are small and nearly round, but, as they descend lower on the back,
increase in size, and become quadrangular in form, being largest on the scapularies ;
on the lower part of the back, upper tail coverts, and sides (which are black), the
spots are small and round ; the sides of the neck, near the shoulder, are beautifully
lineated with black and white; the primaries, secondaries, and tail, brownish-black;
the under surface glossy-white, with a narrow band of dusky feathers crossing the
lower part of the abdomen, and marked with small white spots ; lower tail coverts
blackish-brown, tipped with white ; bill black; iris deep bright-red; tarsi and feet
grayish-blue externally, tinged on the inside with pale-yellowish red ; webs brownish-
black; claws black.

Young. — The plumage above is grayish-black, the feathers of the back mar-
gined with grayish-white, the under plumage pure-white ; bill yellowish, with the
ridge of the upper mandible dusky.

Length, thirty-one inches; wing, fourteen; tarsus, three and a quarter; bill,
three; height at base, one inch.

Hob. — Very generally distributed ; it is abundant on the Atlantic coast, in the
lakes of the interior, and the fur countries.

THE Great Loon is a rather common species on our coast
in the autumn and winter. It passes the season of re-
production in the neighborhood of large tracts and ponds of
fresh water in the interior, where it nests, about the middle
of June, on some low island, or in meadows, bordering the
lakes where it collects a large pile of grasses, sods, and
weeds, in which it forms a hollow of from fourteen to six-
teen inches in diameter, and four or five in depth ; lining it
with a few softer grasses and pieces of moss, if such are
obtainable. The eggs are two or three in number. They
vary in shape from almost exactly oval, usually about ovate
and occasionally very much lengthened, as will be seen by
the following dimensions of four specimens from different

THE RED-THROATED DIVER. 557

localities in Maine: 3.67 by 2.35, 3.85 by 2.15, 3.50 by
2.25, 3.50 by 2.25 inches. Their color is an olivaceous-
brown , sometimes an olivaceous-drab ; and one specimen is
of a reddish-brown, with but a slight olivaceous tint. This
primary color is sparingly marked with small spots and a
few larger blotches of blackish or very dark-brown. The
Umbagog Lakes, in Maine, are a favorite breeding locality
of this species ; and sometimes several pairs may be found,
within a hundred rods of each other, engaged in the duties
of incubation. When the nest is approached, the sitting
bird silently leaves it ; and, gliding through the grass, drops
into the water ; and, diving, swims below the surface to a
considerable distance from the shore, where, appearing
above it, she attentively watches the intruder.

The nest is built only a short distance from the water,
and is approached in different directions by paths through
the grass, beaten by the birds, or sometimes by muskrats
in their approaches to their winter homes. I once heard of
one of these Loons forming its nest in the top of an aban-
doned muskrat's nest, and of another that placed it in the
top of a low stump of a pine. Usually, it is laid on the mud
or earth, in thick grass or weeds.

COLYMBUS SEPTENTRIONALIS. — Linnceus.
The Red-throated Diver.

Colymbus Septentrionalis, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 519. Aud. Orn. Biog., Ilf.
(1838) 20 ; V. (1839) ,625. /£., Birds Am., VII. (1844) 299.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Front, sides of the head, upper part of the throat, and sides of the neck,
clear bluish-gray ; upper part of the head of the same color, intermixed with black-
ish spots; the hind neck streaked longitudinally with white on a greenish-black
ground, the white feathers being raised above the others; on the lorepart of the
neck is a large longitudinal patch of deep reddish-brown ; upper plumage brownish-
black, slightly tinged with green, and on the upper part of the back and lower part
and sides of the neck streaked and mottled with white ; wings and tail brownish-
black; under plumage pure-white, with a band across the hind-part of the abdomen,
and the lower tail coverts, brownish-gray ; bill bluish-black ; iris bright-red ; tarsi
and feet brownish-black externally, on the inside pale flesh-color; claws yellowish
at the base, dusky at the end.

558 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

Young. — Upper part of the head and hind-neck dull-gray, streaked with grayish-
white ; back and wings blackish-gray, profusely marked with oval-shaped white
spots, there being two on each feather, smallest on the upper part of the back and
largest on the tertiaries ; quill feathers and tail blackish-brown, the latter edged
with white ; sides of the neck white, speckled minutely with gray ; under plumage
silky-white, crossed on the lower part of the abdomen by a dusky band ; bill bluish-
gray, dusky on the ridge and flesh-colored at the base.

Length, twenty-seven inches ; wing, eleven and a half; tail, two and a half; bill,
two and a quarter ; tarsus, two and three-quarters inches.

Hob. — During the winters as far south as Maryland; inhabits as far north as the
arctic seas ; found also on the Pacific coast.

This bird, although pretty common on our coast during
the winter, is much more northern in its breeding habits
than the Loon ; seldom passing the season of incubation
south of Labrador, where it begins to lay early in June.
The nests are placed on small islands in fresh-water ponds,
a short distance from the sea. " These nests consist merely
of a few blades of rank grasses loosely put together, and
are quite flat, without any down to warm or conceal the
eggs at any period of incubation." They are placed within
a few feet of the water, and are approached by well-beaten
paths, like those of the preceding. The eggs are usually
three in number. They exactly resemble those of the
Loon in form, color, and markings, but are much smaller ;
varying from 3 to 2.65 inches in length, and from 1.90
to 1.75 inch in breadth.

Sub-Family PODICIPIN^. — The Grebes.

Bill generally long, compressed on the sides, and pointed ; lores usually naked ;
Aostrils placed in a groove, oblong and narrow. Wings short, the second quill
longest, shorter than the scapulars ; the tail is represented by a tuft of downy feath-
ers; tarsi much compressed and rather short; toes long, the outer longest, broadly
and evenly lobed, most so on the inner side ; claws short, broad, and obtuse ; tarsi
with plates on the sides, in front with a single, behind with a double, longitudinal
series of projecting scales; toes and their lobes plated above.

The plumage is very soft, and on the under surface silky : they are remarkably
active on the water, and when alarmed remain below the surface, exposing only
the bill.

THE RED-NECKED GREBE. 559

PODICEPS, LATHAM.

Podiceps, LATHAM, Ind. Ornith. (1790), 780. (Type Colymbus cristatus, L.)
Bill long, slender, tapering, and pointed; nostrils situated in a groove, small,
linear, and pervious; wings short and narrow, second primary a little the longest,
emarginjfte near the ends ; tail a tuft of loose feathers ; tarsi short, much compressed,
the edges covered with small scutellae, and the sides with broad transverse scutellae ;
toes long, the outer longest, flattened, with the sides lobed, the most on the inner
side, and at the base united by webs ; hind toe short and broadly lobed, claws small,
depressed, and obtuse.

These birds mostly frequent the fresh-water rivers and interior lakes ; but they are
also found near the seacoast. They are very expert swimmers, but make progress
with great difficulty on land ; their flight is rapid and direct. In the breeding season,
the head is ornamented with ruffs and elongated tufts, which disappear when they
assume their winter garb.

PODICEPS GEISEIGENA.— Gray.
The Bed-necked Grebe.

Podiceps rubricottis, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 253. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835)
617 ; V. (1839) 520. /&., Birds Am., VII. (1844) 312.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Upper plumage blackish-brown, with the upper part of the head and
hind-neck black ; primaries ashy-brown, secondaries mostly white, a few of the inner
ones dark-ash; cheeks and throat ash-gray; a white line extends from the lower
mandible under and beyond the eye; forepart and sides of the neck rich brownish-
red ; lower parts silvery- white, with the sides dusky ; bill black, paler at the end,
and bright-yellow at the base ; iris carmine ; tarsi and feet externally greenish-black,
internally yellow.

Young. — The upper plumage is blackish-brown, darker on the head ; throat and
abdomen white; sides of the head and forepart of neck brownish-ash; abdomen
Bilky-white ; sides dark brownish-ash ; bill bright-yellow.

Length about eighteen inches ; wing, seven ; bill, one and three-quarters ; tarsi,
two inches.

Hob. — Fur countries and in the Atlantic States, as far south as Pennsylvania, in
winter.

The Red-necked Grebe is common on our coast in winter,
where it is commonly called " The Diver," from its habit of
diving at the flash of a gun. It feeds, like all other birds
of this family, on small fishes and marine animals, which it
obtains by diving ; and such is its expertness and powers
of endurance in this respect, that I have known it to remain
certainly a minute beneath the surface, if not longer. It is

560 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

shy, and difficult of approach ; and, when apprehending
danger, it immerses its body, and swims with nothing but
its head above the surface. This trick I have noticed in
other allied species ; and it is, I think, common in all birds
of this class. It breeds in the most northern portions of
the continent, where it forms the same kind of nest " as
that of the Crested Grebe, and lays three or four eggs."
Audubon describes an egg in his possession as being two
inches in length by one and a quarter inch in breadth, and
of a uniform pale greenish-white.

PODICEPS CRIST A.1US.— Latham.
The Crested Grebe.

Podiceps cristatus, tfuttall. Man., II. (1834) 250. And. Orn. Biog., III. (1835)
695. 76., Birds Am., VII. (1844) 308.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Front, upper part of the head, and long occipital tufts dark umber-
brown, the base of the tufts brownish-red ; the ruff is bright brownish-red on the
upper portion immediately under the tufts and anteriorly, on the hind-part brownish-
black; upper plumage dark umber-brown ; humeral feathers white ; primaries umber-
brown; secondaries mostly white; throat and sides of the head white; forepart
and sides of the neck adjoining the ruff brownish-red ; under plumage silvery-white ;
sides dusky, tinged with reddish-brown; bill blackish-brown, tinged with carmine;
bare loral space dusky-green; iris bright-carmine; tarsi and feet greenish-black
externally, greenish-yellow internally ; webs grayish-blue.

Young. — Upper part of head dark-brown ; hind-neck brownish-gray ; back and
wings brownish-black ; humeral feathers white ; primaries dark umber-brown on the
outer webs, paler on the inner; lower parts silvery-white, sides brown; upper man-
dible brownish-black, pale at the end, and yellow on the sides at the base ; lower
mandible yellow, with the sides dusky.

Length, twenty-three and one-half inches ; wing, seven and three-quarters ; bill,
two and one-sixteenth ; tarsus, two and a half inches.

This is not uncommon as a summer resident in northern
New England; and, according to Mr. George A. Boardman,
it breeds about the lakes in the neighborhood of Calais,
Me. The nest is placed in a retired spot, in a swamp or
marsh, near the water ; and is constructed, according to Dr.
Richardson, of " a large quantity of grass, placed among
the reeds and carices." The eggs are generally four in

THE HORNED GREBE. 561

number. They are, when first laid, of a white color ; but
they quickly become dirty and stained by the habits of the
bird and the nature of the nest. They are of an ovoidal
form, and average about 2.16 by 1.48 inch in dimensions.

PODICEPS CORNUTUS. — Latham.
The Horned Grebe.

Podiceps cornutus, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 254. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835)
429 ; V. (1839) 623. /&., Birds Am., VII. (1844) 316.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Upper part of the head, cheeks, throat, and ruff, glossy-black ; a broad
band running from the bill over the eyes, and the elongated occipital tufts behind
them, yellowish-red, deepest in color adjoining the bill ; upper surface brownish-black ;
the feathers margined with gray; primaries brownish-ash ; secondaries mostly white,
some of the outer one dark-ash ; the fore -neck and upper part of the breast bright
chestnut-red, sides of the same color, intermixed with dusky ; abdomen silky-white ;
bill bluish-black, yellow at the tip ; loral space bright-carmine ; iris carmine, with an
inner circle of white ; tarsi and feet dusky-gray externally, dull-yellow internally,
and on both edges of the tarsus.

Young. — The whole upper plumage grayish-black, darkest on the head, feathers
of the back with gray margins ; throat, sides of the head, a broad space on the sides
of the neck, nearly meeting behind, breast, and abdomen, silvery- white ; sides and
lower part of abdomen dusky.

Length, about fourteen inches; wing, five and three-quarters; bill, one; tarsi,
one and three-quarters inch.

Hob. — Generally distributed from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast.

The Horned Grebe is not uncommon in our lakes and
rivers, and in the waters on our coast, in the spring and
autumn. It breeds in more northern localities than New
England, but is not invariably an arctic breeder. Audubon
says, —

" Although the greater number of these birds go far
northward to breed, some remain within the limits of the
United States during the whole year ; rearing their young on
the borders of ponds, particularly in the northern parts of
the State of Ohio, in the vicinity of Lake Erie. Two nests
which I found were placed at a distance of about four yards
from the water's edge, on the top of broken-down tussocks

36

562 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

of rank weeds; the materials of which they were com-
posed of the same nature, and rudely interwoven to a
height of upwards of seven inches. They were rather
more than a foot in diameter at the base ; the cavity only
four inches across, shallow, but more finished with finer
plants, of which a quantity lay on the borders, and was
probably used by the bird to cover the eggs when about to
leave them. There were five eggs in one nest, seven in
the other. They measured one inch and three-quarters
in length by one inch and two and a half eighths. Their
shell was smooth, and of a uniform yellowish-cream color,
without spots or marks of any kind."

A single egg in my collection, from Wisconsin, is of an
ovoidal form ; measures 1.85 by 1.20 inch in dimensions.
It is of a dirty-white color, the shell being covered by a
calcareous deposit. On scraping this, the shell is of a
bluish-white tint.

PODILYMBUS, LESSON.

Podilymbus, LESSON, Traite d'Ornith. (1831), 595. (Type Colyrribus podi-
ceps, L.)

Bill shorter than the head, snout much compressed ; the culmen much curved to
the tip, which is acute ; nostrils situated in the anterior part of abroad groove, oval
and pervious ; wings short, second quill longest, the outer quills emarginate at the
end; tail a tuft of downy feathers; tarsi short, and very much compressed; anterior
toes long, flattened, the outer longest, and broadly margined, the inner sides the
most, hind toe short and moderately lobed; claws small, depressed, oblong, and
obtuse

PODILYMBUS PODICEPS.— Lawrence.
The Pied-bill Grebe.

Cdymbus podiceps, Linnaeus. S. N. (1766), 223.

Podiceps Carolinensis, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 259. Aud. Orn. Biog., IE. (1835)
359; V. (1839) 624. /&., Birds Am., VII. (1844) 324.

DESCRIPTION.

Adult. — Upper plumage very dark brown; primaries dark-ash; secondaries ash
on the outer webs, and white on the inner; bill pale-blue, dusky on the ridge of the
upper mandible, both mandibles crossed with a broad black band, including the nos-
trils ; chin and throat marked with a conspicuous black patch nearly two inches in
extent; cheeks and sides of the neck brownish-gray; lower part of the neck, upper

THE PIED-BILL GREBE. 563

part of the breast, and the sides, dull rusty-brown, spotted and rather indis-
tinctly barred with brownish-black; lower part of breast and abdomen grayish-
white, mottled with dusky spots; iris brown; tarei and feet grayish-black.

Young. — The throat is white and the bill without the transverse black band, the
under plumage more silvery-white; in other respects the same as the adult; some
specimens, probably the birds of the year, have whitish lines on the sides of the
head.

Length, fourteen inches; wing, five and a quarter; bill, seven-eighths; tarsijs,
one and a half inch.

Hab. — Atlantic States generally; Texas and New Mexico; California and
Oregon.

This is the most common Grebe in New England, where
it is a summer resident. It undoubtedly breeds in all these
States, as it is frequently taken in the breeding season ; but
its nest, owing to the secluded habits of the bird, is very
rarely found. It is described as being similar to that of the
preceding species. The eggs, five in number, are covered
with a calcareous deposit, which gives them a dirty yellow-
ish-white color : on scraping this off, the shell beneath has
a bluish-white tint. The form of the egg is exactly ovoidal.
Specimens in my collection, from Illinois, measure about

2.17 inches in length by 1.45 inch in their greatest breadth.
Another, from Wisconsin, is only 1.95 inch in length, and

1.18 inch at its greatest breadth.

564 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

FAMILY ALCID^E.

Bill without lamellae along the edges ; usually shorter than the head, compressed,
and pointed; anterior toes connected fully by a continuous membrane; hind toe
often entirely wanting; the outer as large as the middle; the claws higher than
broad; legs inserted far back; wings short, concave.

The Alcidce are readily distinguished from the Colymbidce by the absence of hind
toe, the continuous webbing of the toes, the compressed claws, and other characters.
The species are all exclusively marine, usually arctic, only coming southward in
winter. Owing to their boreal residence, they are little known ; and several species
doubtless yet remain to be discovered.

Sub-Family ALCIN^E. — The Auks.
ALGA, LINNJEUS.

Aka, LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat. (1758).

General form short, broad, and strong; wings short; tail short; bill about as
long as the head, feathered at base, much flattened laterally, wider, and somewhat
hooked at the end ; upper mandible with oblique transverse grooves ; wings short
and feeble; tail short, pointed; legs and feet short and strong; toes fully webbed.

ALCA TORDA. — Linnceus.
The Razor-billed Auk.

Aka torda, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1758) 130. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835)
112; V. 428.

DESCRIPTION.

Much smaller than the preceding; general form short and heavy; bill rather
long, densely feathered at base, flattened laterally ; upper mandible with three to five
curved transverse grooves ; under mandible with three or four transverse grooves ;
feathers on side of upper jaw reaching far beyond the middle of the commissure, and
nearly as far as those of the lower jaw; wing moderate, pointed; tail short, gradu-
ated, with the middle feathers longest and pointed; legs short, strong; a narrow
but very distinct line of white on each side from the base of the upper mandible to
the eye ; head and entire upper parts brownish-black, more clearly brown on the
throat and neck in front, and darker on the back ; secondary quills narrowly tipped
with white ; entire under parts white ; bill black, with a single transverse band of
white on both mandibles; feet black.

Total length, about seventeen inches; wing, eight to eight and a half; tail, three
and a half; bill to gape, two and a half inches.

Hob. — North-eastern coast of America; Newfoundland, Labrador, and south ia
winter to New Jersey; also, arctic regions of Old World.

THE RAZOR-BILLED AUK. 565

This well-known species is very abundant on the north-eastern coasts of North
America, and appears to be quite identical with the bird of the northern regions of
the Old World. It wanders southwardly in the winter, and is occasionally noticed
on the coasts of the Middle States on the Atlantic. This bird may always be recog-
nized by the conspicuous white line in front of the eye, which is present in all ages
and stages of plumage.

THIS species visits our coasts, in small numbers only, in
the winter months. It breeds in the most northern por-
tions of the continent, the nearest breeding-place to New
England being the islands in the Bay of Fundy. Audu-
bon, in describing the breeding habits of this bird, says, —

" When the Auks deposit their eggs along with the Guillemots,
which they sometimes do, they drop them in spots from which the
water can escape without injuring them : but when they breed in
deep fissures, which is more frequently the case, many of them lie
close together ; and the eggs are deposited on small beds of pebbles
or broken stones, raised a couple of inches or more to let the water
pass beneath them. When they lay their eggs in such a horizontal
cavern, you find them scattered at the distance of a few inches
from each other : and there, as well as in the fissures, they sit flat
upon them, — like Ducks, for example ; whereas, on an exposed
rock, each bird stands almost upright upon its egg. Another thing,
quite as curious, which I observed, is that, while in exposed situa-
tions, the Auk seldom lays more than one egg; yet, in places of
greater security, I have, in many instances, found two under a sin
gle bird. The eggs measure at an average 3| by 2£ inches, and
are generally pure-white, greatly blotched with dark-brown or
black ; the spots generally forming a circle towards the larger end.
They differ considerably from those of the Common and Thick-
billed Guillemots, being less blunted at the smaller end."

It is a matter of great difficulty to distinguish the eggs
of this species from those of the Murre and Foolish Guille-
mot. In a large number of each in my collection, I can
discover no characteristic peculiar to either so persistent
as to distinguish it. The exception noted by Audubon, of
the small end being less sharpened than the others, is

566 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

the principal ; yet this is not invariable, and it cannot be
depended upon as a sure means of identification.

MORMON, ILLIGER.

Mormon, ILLIGER, Prod. (1811), 283.

General form short and heavy, and adapted to swimming and diving with great
facility, and to limited power of flight; bill short, entirely horny, much flattened
laterally, and nearly as high as long; measured on the side obliquely rugose and
laminated; a portion at the base punctulated; nostril in the edge of and in the
second lamina of the upper mandible ; wing moderate or rather weak, first quill
usually longest; tail short; legs short; toes, three only, directed forwards, rather
long, fully webbed; claws large, curved; plumage very compact.

MORMON ARCTICA. — llliger.
The Puffin.

Alca arclica, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 211.

Mormon arctica, Illiger. Prod. (1811). Aud. Orn. Biog., III. 105.

DESCRIPTION.

Smaller than either of the preceding, but much resembling the two last species
in form and color; a short, blunt process over each eye, and a narrow transverse
process under it; bill much flattened laterally, horny; upper mandible composed of
two parts, that at the base narrow, and covered with minute spots or granulations,
terminal part with about four curved ridges at its base, and two or three curved
descending grooves near the end; under mandible smooth at base, and with about
three grooves near its end ; wing rather short and weak ; tail short ; legs and feet
strong; throat black, uniting with the same color of the upper parts of the body;
large space on each side of the head and entire under parts, from the throat, white,
frequently tinged with ashy about the eyes; entire upper parts (and throat) brown-
ish-black, darker, and frequently clear black on the back; head above frequently
dark-ashy, separated by a well-defined line from the black of the other upper parts ;
bill and feet orange-yellow ; sides, under the wings, ashy-black ; iris light-blue.

Total length, about twelve and a half inches ; wing, seven and a half; tail, two
and three-quarters inches.

This bird is not uncommon on the coast of northern New
England as a winter visitor, and a few breed on the islands
about Grand Menan. The. nest is placed in a burrow in the
earth, dug by the birds. " In all the burrows that commu-
nicate with each other, a round place is scooped out on one
side of the avenue in the form of an oven ; while, in those
which are single, this ovenlike place is found at the end.
All the passages are flattish above and rounded beneath, as

THE GUILLEMOT. 567

well as on the sides. In many instances, two birds are
found sitting each on its egg in the same hole. Both birds
work in digging the hole, using their bills and feet: they
also sit alternately on their egg, although the female engages
more industriously in this occupation, while the male labors
harder at the burrow. But one egg is laid : this is at first
pure-white ; but it soon becomes soiled and stained, and
appears to be a dirty yellowish-white. Its form is a pure
ovoidal. A number of specimens in my collection are from
2.48 to 2.30 inches in length, and from 1.70 to 1.65 inch in
their greatest breadth. Some specimens are marked with
spots and blotches of brownish-red, — the proportion of
marked ones being about two in five.

Sub-Family URIN^E. — The Guillemots.

URIA, MOEHRING.

a, MOERHING, Av. Gen. (1752), (Type Colymbus grylle, L.)
General form short and robust; head moderate; bill rather long, straight, some-
what compressed, pointed, angle of the under mandible distinct ; nostrils in a groove
at base of upper mandible, the membrane of which is covered with short velvet-like
feathers; wings short, pointed ; tail short; legs short and robust; tarsus shorter than
the middle toe, compressed ; toes rather long, fully webbed ; claws rather strong,
curved.

URIA GRILLE.— Latham.
The Guillemot.

Atca grylle, Linnseus. Syst. Nat., I. (1758) 130.

Uria grylle, Audubon. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 148; V. 627.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill straight, pointed; wing rather short, weak; first quill longest; tail short;
a large oval transverse space on the wing white, which is also the color of the under
wing coverts and axillary feathers, outer edge of the wing and shoulder brownish-
black; all other parts of the plumage brownish-black, with a greenish tinge, and
darker on the back ; bill black ; feet red.

Younger. — Under parts, neck, and rump, white ; head above and back dark-
brown; large space of white on the wing.

Total length, about thirteen inches ; wing, six and half; tail, two inches.

568 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

This species is pretty abundant on our coasts ; and it is
said to breed on rocky islands, from Mount Desert eastward.
It can therefore be considered as a resident of north-eastern
New England through the year. It is found all along
our shores in the winter, but not in any great abundance ;
and it is less common on the shores of Massachusetts, than
on those of Maine. Like the other Auks and Guillemots,
it is an expert diver ; and it obtains its food by diving and
swimming beneath the surface of the water: this food, as
with the others, consists principally of fish, which it seizes
in its bill, and swallows whole. It also eats various small
marine animals and their eggs ; and, like the others, picks
up such floating garbage as may come in its way.

The eggs, three in number, are placed on the bare rock
or earth, usually in fissures of cliffs or almost inaccessible
ledges. These are exactly ovoidal in form, and vary in
color from a pale greenish-white to a pure pearl-white.
This is covered irregularly with spots and blotches of dif-
ferent shades of brown and black, thickest at the great end,
where they are usually almost confluent into a ring around
J;he whole egg. Besides these spots, there are others of an
obscure-purple scattered over the egg, that appear as if they
were beneath the outside of the shell. The dimensions of
the eggs of this species vary from 2.40 by 1.60 inch to 2.25
by 1.50 inch.

UEIA LOMVIA. — Brunnich.
The Foolish Guillemot; the Murre.

Una lomvia, Briinnich. Orn. Bor. (1764), 27.
Colymbus troile, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 220.

DESCRIPTION.

Bill rather long, pointed, compressed ; from the lateral feathers longer than the
tarsus, or than the inner toe and claw ; a narrow line under and behind the eye
dark-brown ; head above, and entire other upper parts, brownish-black ; sides of the
•lead, and entire under parts, white ; sides of the body under the wing with trans-
verse stripes of ashy-brown ; under wing coverts white, secondary quills tipped with
white; bill blackish-brown, paler at base ; tarsi and feet dark greenish-brown ; sum-

THE FOOLISH GUILLEMOT. 569

mer plumage, with the entire hind and upper parts of body, dark sooty-brown;
under parts white ; head and orbital region dusky, without white stripes.

Total length, about fifteen inches; wing, seven and a half; tail, two inches.

Hob. — Northern coasts of America; Northern Europe and Asia.

This bird is rather common on our coast in the winter
months, and is said to breed in small numbers about the
Bay of Fundy. As a general thing, however, it passes the
season of incubation in more northern localities, and is very
abundant on the coast of Labrador, where, on the low
islands, it breeds, laying a single egg, like the Razor-billed
Auk, on the bare rock or gravel. It is impossible to de-
scribe the egg of this species in a manner that will lead to
its being distinguished from that of the Murre or Razor-
billed Auk.

Audubon makes the following observations, which are, of
course, of more value to the collector than to the student,
who has no opportunities of visiting the breeding-grounds
of these birds. He says : —

" The Foolish Guillemot lays only a single egg, which is the
case with the Thick-billed Guillemot also. The Razor-billed Auk
lays two, and the Black Guillemot usually three. This is confirmed
by the fact, that the Foolish Guillemot, which lays only one egg,
plucks the feathers from its abdomen, which is thus left bare over
a roundish space, just large enough to cover its single egg. The
Thick-billed Guillemot does the same. The Auk, on the contrary,
forms two bare spots, separated by a ridge of feathers. The Black
Guillemot, to cover her three eggs, and to warm them all at once,
plucks a space bare quite across her belly."

One peculiarity which I notice in the eggs of this species
and those of the Murre is, that they are generally some-
what pyriform in shape : but this is not persistent ; and the
same rock may contain a deep-green egg with brown spots
and blotches, a light-blue one with hardly any marks, and
cream-colored ones, drab, reddish-white, and bluish-white,
some with only a few spots and blotches, and others thickly
marked. It may also have pyriform eggs, ovoidal, ovate,

570 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

and almost oval ones. The only means of perfect identi-
fication of either of these species is to visit their breeding-
places, and secure the parent birds on their nests. , *.,

The dimensions vary from 3.50 by 2.15 inches to 2.95 by
by 1.78 inch.

URIA RINGVIA. — BrunnicJi.
The Murre.

Uria ringvia, Briinnich. Orn..Bor. (1764) 28.
Una troile, Audubon. Orn. Bor., III. (1835) 142.

DESCRIPTION.

About the size of, or rather larger than, the preceding; bill rather long, pointed,
compressed ; from the lateral feathers, longer than the tarsus, or than the inner toe and
claw; wings rather short ; tail very short ; a narrow line of white encircling and run-
ning backwards behind the eye and over the ear ; head and entire upper parts dark-
brown, with a tinge of ashy ; under parts white ; sides with transverse stripes of
ashy-brown; under wing coverts white; bill black; feet greenish-black; winter
plumage, with the throat and all other under parts, white; the white line behind the
eye frequently wanting, and different in length in specimens.

Total length, about seventeen inches ; wing, seven and a half to eight inches ;
tail, two inches.

Hob. — Northern America, Northern Europe, and Asia.

The same remarks are applicable to this as to the Foolish
Guillemot. It is northern in its habits, and is more abun-
dant on the coast of Maine than farther south.

MERGULUS, RAY.

Mergulus, RAY, Syn. Av. (1713), 125.

Small ; general form short and heavy ; head rather large ; bill short, thick ; upper
mandible curved, slightly lobed on its edge ; membrane of the rounded nostril large ;
wings moderate or rather short, pointed ; first quill longest; tail short; feet rather
short.

MERGULUS ALLE. — Linnwus.
The Little Auk ; the Sea Dove ; Dovekie.

Alca alle, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 211.
Uria alle, Audubon. Orn. Bor., IV. (1838) 304.

DESCRIPTION.

Small; head, breast, and entire upper parts, brownish-black, inclining to fuligi-
nous on the head and breast; under parts from the breast white; a narrow line of
white over the eye; secondaries tipped with white; scapulars edged with white;

THE LITTLE AUK. 571

under wing coverts dark-ashy; flanks with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black ;
bill black ; feet pale-reddish ; webs of toes dark ; winter plumage and young, with
the throat and other under parts, white, extending somewhat on the sides of the
neck.

Total length, about seven and a half inches ; wing, four and a half; tail, one and
a quarter inch.

One of the most abundant of the sea-birds of northern America and Europe,
straying south in the winter occasionally to the coasts of the Middle States.

This curious little bird is not uncommon on our coast in
winter. In severe storms, it is occasionally blown far
inland ; and it has been killed in the Umbagog Lakes, in
the north-western part of Maine. I know but little of its
habits. Wilson says : —

" The Little Auk is said to be but a rare visitant of the
British Isles. It is met with in various parts of the North,
even as far as Spitzbergen ; is common in Greenland, in
company with the Black-billed Auk, and feeds upon the
same kind of food. The Greenlanders call it the Ice-bird,
from the circumstance of its being the harbinger of ice. It
lays two bluish-white eggs, larger than those of the Pigeon.
It flies -quick, and dives well, and is always dipping its bill
into the water while swimming or at rest on that element ;
walks better on the land than others of the genus. It grows
fat in the stormy season, from the waves bringing plenty of
crabs and small fish within its reach. It is not a very crafty
bird, and may be easily taken."

NOTES.

I conclude herewith Mr. Couper's notes on the foregoing
species, made at Quebec, Lower Canada : —

ANSER HYPERBOREUS. — Common on the St. Lawrence in the fall.

BERNICLA CANADENSIS. — This is our most common species. It goes
north and west to breed. They breed abundantly in the swamps of Illinois.
A few breed in Anticosti ; and I believe they are to be found breeding in
Labrador.

572 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY.

ANAS BOSCHAS. — Uncommon.

A. OBSCUEA. — This duck is very common here. It is truly a northern
species. It breeds in the swamps adjacent to this city.

DAFILA ACUTA. — Common in spring : a few visit us in the fall.

NETTION CAROLINENSIS. — Common. Breeds.

QUERQUEDULA DISCORS. — Uncommon.

SPATULA CLYPEAT A. — Uncommon.

MARECA AMERICANA.— The adult bird is seldom seen in this latitude.

AIX SPONSA. — Sometimes common. Breeds.

FULIX MARILA. — The young are abundant on the St. Lawrence during
autumn. They breed north-west of Quebec.

F. AFFINIS. — Occasional specimens are shot at Sorel and Three Rivers.
It is more abundant in Western Canada.

F. COLLARIS. — Occasional.
AYTHYA AMERICANA. — Occasional.

BUCEPHALA AMERICANA. — Very common in spring and fall. Breeds
in Canada.

B. ISLANDICA. — Adult birds are occasionally shot on the lakes. The
young are abundant on the St. Lawrence during the early part of winter. I
have seen the adult on Lac a la Philip in July.

B. ALBEOLA. — Common in spring and fall.

HISTRIONICUS TORQUATUS- — Common on the north shore of the St.
Lawrence. A beautiful adult male was shot in the spring, on the Montmo-
renci River, near Quebec.

HARELDA GLACIALIS. — Occasional near Quebec. Common on the
upper lakes in spring and fall.

PELIONETTA PERSPICILLATA. — Very common in the fall at MilM
Vaches, lower St. Lawrence.

SOMATERIA MOLLISSIMA. — Common on the north shore of the St.
Lawrence. Breeds on islands in the river below the Saguenay.

MERGUS AMERICANUS. — Common. Breeds.
M. SERRATOR. — Common in spring and fall. " .

LOPHODYTES CUCULLATUS. — Adult is occasionally seen. Young visit
the St. Lawrence in the fall. Breeds on the margins of northern lakes.

LARUS ARGENTATUS. — Common on the St. Lawrence in spring and
fall. Breeds on our mountain lakes.

NOTES. 573

LARUS DELAWARENSIS. — The young are occasionally seen hovering
over the river, opposite the city, in autumn. Breeds in Labrador.

CHROICOCEPHALUS PHILADELPHIA. — The young of this Gull are com-
mon in the St. Lawrence during autumn. Adult rare. They are supposed
to breed on the islands of the St. Lawrence.

STERNA WILSONIL — The young are common in the autumn. Adult
birds are occasionally seen on their way to the upper lakes.

COLTMBUS TORQUATDS. — Common on all our northern lakes. Breeds.

URIA LOMVIA. — This species makes an occasional foolish visit to the fresh
waters of the St. Lawrence. In the fall of 1866, hundreds were destroyed
by the inhabitants, who sold them to hucksters to exhibit on the market as
an article of food.

APPENDIX.

I HERE append the following list of additional species, which occur
or have occurred within the limits of New England. As will be
perceived, the greater number can be regarded only as occasional
or accidental visitors ; and, indeed, some of the species are deemed
by ornithologists as of doubtful existence, — as, for instance, Small-
headed Flycatcher, Wood Wren, &c.

I am under special obligations to Mr. Henry A. Purdie for
many valuable suggestions and facts in relation to the times of
arrival, distribution, breeding habits, &c., of many of the species
described in the body of the work, and mentioned in the Appendix.
Reference has been made to the following works : —

BIRDS OF MASSACHUSETTS. By W. B. O. Peabody. 1839.

BIRDS OF LONG ISLAND. By J. P. Giraud. 1844.

BIRDS OF VERMONT. By Zadock Thompson. 1853.

CATALOGUE OF BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASS. By F. W. Putnam.
Published in Proceedings of Essex Institute. Vol. I. 1856.

CATALOGUE OF BIRDS FOUND AT NORWAY, ME. By A. E. Verrill.
Published in Proceedings of Essex Institute. Vol. III. 1862.

CATALOGUE OF BIRDS FOUND AT CALAIS, ME., and about the Islands
in the Bay of Fundy. By George A. Boardman. Published in Pro-
ceedings of Boston Society of Natural History. Vol. IX. 1862.

CATALOGUE OF BIRDS FOUND AT SPRINGFIELD, MASS. By J. A. Allen.
Published in Proceedings of Essex Institute. Vol. IV. 1864.

CATALOGUE OF BIRDS OF MASSACHUSETTS. By E. A. Samuels. 1864.

CATALOGUE OF THE BIRDS FOUND IN THE VICINITY OF WATERVILLE,
ME. By Professor C. E. Hamlin, in Report of Maine Board of Agri-
culture. 1865.

CATALOGUE OF BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND. By Elliott Coues, M.D.
Published in Proceedings of Essex Institute. Vol. V. 1867.

NOTES ON SOME OF THE RARER BIRDS OF MASSACHUSETTS. By J. A.
Allen. Published in American Naturalist. Vol. III. 1869.

Article by John Burroughs in Atlantic Monthly. June, 1869.

576 APPENDIX.

CATHARTES AURA. Turkey Buzzard. — Accidental. One taken at
Calais, Me., — George A. Boardman; two in Massachusetts, 1863.

CATHARTES ATRATUS. Black Vulture. — Accidental. One taken at
Swampscott, Mass., in November, 1850, by S. Jillson; one at Glou-
cester, Mass., on Sept. 28, 1863, by William Huntsford ; one in Hudson,
Mass. ; others seen, — S. Jillson; one near Calais, Me., — G. A. Board-
man.

FALCO SACER. Jer Falcon. Iceland Falcon. — Eare winter visitor, al-
most accidental in southern portions. One killed at Seekonk Plains,
Mass., about 1840, by Jillson ; one taken in the winter of 1864-5, near
Providence, R.I., by Mr. Newton Dexter. The two species heretofore
considered distinct — viz., Falco Candicans and F. Islandicus — are
now considered as belonging to the present species.

ARCHIBUTEO SANCTIJOHANNIS, Black Hawk; and ARCHIBUTEO LA-
GOPUS, Rough-legged Hawk. — J. A. Allen gives, in his article on the
"Rarer Birds of Massachusetts," the following extract, from a letter
written by Dr. William Wood, in relation to these species, to prove that
they are identical : —

" I have," he says, " all shades of color, from the light to the black,
and I am unable to find the dividing line ; both have the same measure-
ments, the same claws and bill, the same habits, come and leave at the
same time, and hunt together. I have them almost black, with the faint
markings of the lighter bird, showing, to my mind, that the lighter mark-
ings become extinct as the black increases, or as the bird increases in age.
Those who claim that they are distinct say, that in some localities the
Rough-legs are common, and no Black Hawks are to be seen. This
proves nothing. The young of the Red-throated Diver are very common
in Long-Island Sound, yet the adult is never seen there. So it is with
the Crested Grebe: the young are found here in winter, never the
adult."

In another letter, Dr. Wood says: " The Rough-legged Falcon and
Black Hawk are the same. I have taken and examined, I presume, forty
specimens. They are the same bird, but not of the same age. The black
is the adult. So gradually do they become more black till jet-black is
reached, that I will defy any one to draw the separating line."

STRIX PRATINCOLA. Barn Owl. — Given by Thompson, on authority
of Dr. Brewer, as being not only found in Vermont, but also breeding
there. This is, of course, incorrect. Accidental visitor from the South.
One taken in Lynn, Mass., about 1863, by Mr. James Teal; one taken
at " Sachem's Head," Conn., Oct. 28, 1865, — Dr. William Wood; one
at Springfield, Mass., May, 1868, — J. A. Allen.

APPENDIX. 577

NTCTALE ACADICA. Saw- Whet Owl. — The following account of the
breeding habits of this little owl is kindly furnished me by Richard
Christ, of Nazareth, Pa. : —

'* This, the smallest of all our owls, is also the most rare, but a single
specimen being seen in a period of several years. It is very tame when
found, permitting one to approach very close to it before flying away.
I am inclined to think that it sees less in the daytime than any other
species of our owls, for one can touch it without being noticed, the bird
taking flight more from alarm to its sense of hearing than any other
cause.

It generally frequents stone quarries or piles of rocks, beneath which
it takes shelter ; and it is from this habit that the bird here is known by
the name of " stone owl." On the 25th of April, 1867, 1 was so fortunate
as to find the nest of one of these birds. It was placed or located in the
hollow of a tree, about twenty feet from the ground ; the entrance to the
hole was very small, scarcely two inches in diameter. On climbing the
tree and looking into the hollow, I discovered sitting on the bottom what
I supposed might be a small owl. Uncertain as to the truth, I introduced
a small stick into the hole, and turned the bird over upon her side, she
making no struggle whatever, but remaining perfectly still as if dead.
I discovered that she was sitting upon a single egg. Supposing that she
had but just commenced laying, I left her, and did not molest her again
for several days ; on the fifth day after, I again examined the nest, and
found the bird on her egg, none other having been laid. I enlarged the
hole, and took the egg, leaving the owl quietly sitting on the rotten chips
which formed the bottom of the nest.

The egg was white, with a bluish tint, like many of the other owls1
eggs, nearly globular in form, and considerably smaller than the egg of
the Red or Mottled owl."

CENTURTJS CAROLINUS. Red-bellied Woodpecker. — Given in Allen's list
as accidental. He " saw one, May 13, 1863 ; and it has been taken sev-
eral times in Connecticut, but occurs in New England only as a straggler."
Accidental summer visitor, and only in more southern portions.

ARGTTRIA MACULATA. — A South American Humming Bird, a single
individual of which was captured in Cambridge, Mass., August, 1865,
by Mr. William Brewster. Entirely accidental.

TYRANNUS DOMINICENSIS. Gray King Bird. — Entirely accidental ; from
the South. One shot in Lynn, Mass., October, 1869, by Charles I.
Goodale.

EMPIDONAX FLAVIVENTRIS. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. — A not com-
mon spring and autumn migrant in southern, and summer resident in

578 APPENDIX.

northern sections. Is generally found in thick undergrowth in swampy
localities. It is said to have a more musical note than other species of
this genus ; and, according to William Brewster, of Cambridge, its song
somewhat resembles that of the Wood Pewee, but it is not so prolonged,
and much more subdued,

TURDUS N2EVIUS. Varied Thrush. — But one instance on record of
its capture in New England ; at Ipswich, Mass., December, 1864. Acci-
dental ; from the West.

SAXICOLA CENANTHE. Stone Chat. — Not as yet, I believe, actually ob-
tained within the limits of New England ; but as it has, according to
Coues, been found in Nova Scotia, Labrador, and on Long Island, it
may occur. The species is a straggler from Europe, and entirely acci-
dental.

POLIOPTILA C.ERULEA. Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher. — An accidental sum-
mer visitor to southern portions of New England. No recent instance
of its occurrence on record.

LOPHOPHANES BICOLOR. Crested Titmouse. — An accidental species,
same as the preceding.

TROGLODYTES AMERICANUS. Wood Wren. — I have never met with this
species ; but was induced to include it in my list of Massachusetts birds,
published in 1864, because several collectors and others had informed me
that it was occasionally found here. Thompson and others include it in
their catalogues, and its egg is even said to have been found by Dr.
Brewer. I doubt that the species is well established, and have no knowl-
edge of an authentic specimen in any collection.

GEOTHLTPIS PHILADELPHIA. Mourning Warbler. — Chiefly a rare spring
and autumn migrant ; but it breeds in northern and elevated portions of
New England. A nest said to belong to this species, found by Mr. John
Burroughs about the head-waters of Delaware River, in the Catskill
Mountains, N.Y., is thus described by him in the "Atlantic" for June,
1869 : —

** It was placed in a bunch of ferns, and about six inches from the
ground. It was quite a massive nest, composed entirely of the stalks
and leaves of dried grass, with an inner lining of fine, dark brown roots.
The eggs, three in number, were of light flesh-color, uniformly specked
with fine brown specks. The cavity of the nest was so deep that the
back of the sitting bird sank below the edge."

According to this writer, the song of this bird resembles that of the
Maryland Yellow Throat. Like that species, it gives a preference to
damp places.

APPENDIX. 579

PEOTONOTAEIA CITEEA. Prothonotary Warbler. — But one occurrence
in New England, — male bird, obtained in October, at Calais, Me., by
G. A. Boardman. Accidental. A southern species.

HELMINTHOPHAGA CHEYSOPTEEA. Goldea-winged Warbler. — As stated
by Mr. H. A. Purdie, in the "American Naturalist," Vol. III. p. 497,
Massachusetts is probably about the northern limit of this species, and it
is a not uncommon summer visitor in that State, instead of a spring and
autumn migrant. He also mentions the discovery of the nest in West
Newton, by Mr. C. J. Maynard, thus confirming his belief that this
warbler nidified with us.

In the same volume of the above magazine, pp. 575-6, Mr. J. A. Allen
thus describes the nest found by Mr. Maynard : —

The nest was placed " on the ground, in a tract of coarse weeds and
ferns, near a swampy thicket, and'but a few rods from a public highway.
It was placed entirely above the surface of the ground, and the birds
seem to have made no special effort to conceal it. It was composed ex-
ternally of dried oak-leaves and the bark of the grape-vine, and rather
roughly lined with fine grass and a few horse-hairs. He says it is large
for the size of the bird, and somewhat reminds one of the nest of the
Maryland Yellow Throat. It is a little smaller at the top, where the
internal diameter is less than two inches, while in the middle it is two and
a quarter. The eggs were five in number, including a Cow Bunting's
egg that these watchful parasites had introduced."

These eggs are described as varying from 66.100th inch in length by
55.100th inch in breadth to 66.100th inch by 53.100th inch, and being
more or less spotted and blotched with brown, over a white ground
color.

HELMINTHOPHAGA CELATA. Orange Crowned Warbler. — Accidental.
One obtained at Springfield, Mass. ; others seen, May, 1863, by J. A.
Allen. A western species.

SEIUEUS LUDOVICIANUS. Large-billed Water Thrush. — Very rare, if
not accidental, summer visitor. One taken at Norway, Me., May,
1865, by Irving Frost; one at Waterville, Me., 1865, — Professor
C. E. Hamlin; one on Mount Tom, Mass., April 28, 1869, by J. A.
Allen.

DENDEOICA CJEEULEA. Blue Warbler. — Perhaps an accidental summer
visitor to extreme southern portions of New England. No recent in-
stances on record of its occurrence.

DENDEOICA MACULOSA. Black and Yellow Warbler. — The following
description of a nest and eggs of this species is kindly furnished me by

580 APPENDIX.

Mr. R. Deane, of Cambridge, Mass. The specimens were found at
Upton, Maine, June 10, 1870 : —

" The nest was placed in a forked branch of a low spruce about three
feet from the ground, on a rising piece of land leading from a wood path.
The nest, which contained four eggs, was constructed of dry grass, spruce
twigs, roots, &c., and was lined with fine black roots, the whole being
quite a coarse structure for so dainty a looking Warbler.

"The eggs were more spherical than any Warbler's I have seen, the
ground being a creamy white, and blotched sparsely over with large
spots of lilac and umber.

"The dimensions are as follows: .62 by .52 inch; .61 by .52 inch;
.62 by .50 inch ; .63 by .52 inch."

MYIODIOCTES MINUTUS. "Small -headed Flycatcher." — Although Dr.
Brewer informed Mr. Peabody that " it has been found in Ipswich, Mass.,
and that he picked up a specimen, evidently just dead, on the step of his
door in Brookline, Mass.," I think that its occurrence in New England
must be regarded as very doubtful, even if the species exists, which many
naturalists deny. Some one of the species of Empidonax, as Dr. Coues
remarks, was probably mistaken for it.

MYIODIOCTES CANADENSIS. Canada Flycatcher. — This species probably
more often nests on the ground and in damp situations than elsewhere.
A nest found in Lynn, Mass., some years since, by George Wells, is thus
described, Vol. VI. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist.: "The nest was
found in low swampy ground, and was built at the foot of a tussock of
thick grass, on the ground. It was constructed almost entirely of leaves
of the white pine, so loosely arranged that it was found necessary to sew
them together, in order to preserve it. The eggs, five in number, in
shape are an oblong ovoid, 3.4ths of an inch in length by 9.16ths in
breadth ; their ground color is a bluish-white, irregularly marked with
dots and small blotches of reddish-brown."

PYRANGA JESTIVA. Summer Red Bird. — Accidental summer visitor to
southern portions. Two taken in Lynn, Mass., April 21, 1852, by S.
Jillson ; one taken in Framingham, Mass., May ; one in Amherst, Mass.,
August, 1867.

COLLYRIO EXCUBITOROIDES. White-rumped Shrike. — Said by Nuttall
to have been seen in Massachusetts in winter. Doubtful.

VIREO PHILADELPHICUS. Philadelphia Vireo. — Very rare summer visi-
tor; only one instance of its occurrence on record. Waterville, Me.,
— Professor C. E. Hamlin.

APPENDIX. 581

CHONDESTES GRAMMACA. Lark Finch. — Entirely accidental ; but one
instance of its occurrence recorded, — S. Jillson, Gloucester, Mass.,
1845. A western species.

CENTRONYX BAIEDII. Baird's Sparrow. — Accidental. One specimen
obtained at Ipswich, Mass., by C. J. Maynard, Dec. 4, 1868. A north-
western species.

MELOSPIZA LINCOLNII. Lincoln's Sparrow. — Accidental ; but five in-
stances of its capture on record. Three at Springfield, Mass., by Mr.
J. A. Allen, May, 1860, 1863, 1864; two at Hudson, Mass., by S. Jill-
son, May, 1867, 1868.

PASSER DOMESTICA. European House Sparrow. — Introduced from
Europe, and will probably become generally distributed, at least in the
more southern portions of New England.

GUIEACA CJERULEA. Blue Grosbeak. — Accidental visitor from the
South ; but one instance of its occurrence on record, — George A.
Boardman, Calais, Me., 1861, when several were seen.

CARDINALIS VIRGINIANUS. Cardinal Grosbeak. Red Bird. — Accidental
visitor from the South ; but three recent instances of its occurrence.
Four specimens taken near Springfield, Mass., in October, 1866. Seen
by Mr. W. H. Niles, at Belchertown, Mass., October, 1868; and at
Southampton, Mass., May 5, 1869.

XANTHOCEPHALUS ICTEROCEPHALUS. Yellow-headed Blackbird- — Acci-
dental visitor from the West. One taken in Watertown, Mass., in
October, 1869. _t

LAGOPUS ALBUS. White Ptarmigan. — Rare winter visitor in northern
New England.

HERODIAS EGRETTA. Great White Heron. — Accidental visitor from the
South. Several instances of its capture in southern portions of New
England.

FLORIDA CJERULEA. Little Blue Heron. — Of rare occurrence. Specimen
taken in Barnstable, Mass., in spring of 1861. Accidental; from the
South.

NTCTHERODIUS VIOLACEUS. Yellow-crowned Night Heron. — Accidental
visitor from the South. One taken in Lynn, Mass., by Mr. N. Vickary,
October, 1862.

IBIS ORDII. Glossy Ibis. — Accidental visitor from the South. Two
recent instances of its occurrence recorded, — Nantucket, September,
1869, one specimen ; New Hampshire, in October, 1858, by Dr Palmer.

682 APPENDIX.

HIMANTOPUS NIGRICOLLIS. Black-necked Stilt. — But one or two occur-
rences, in our limits, on record. A southern species.

PHALAEOPUS WILSONII. Wilson's Phalarope — Given in Dr. Coues' list
as "Very rare, perhaps only accidental, and chiefly during its migra-
tions."

PHALAEOPUS FULICAEIUS. Eed Phalarope. — Occurs rarely, along the
coast, during its migrations.

MICEOPALAMA HIMANTOPUS. Stilt Sandpiper. — Exceedingly rare
summer visitor. Two specimens obtained at Rye Beach, N.H., by Mr.
William Brewster, late in Augusts of 1868-69.

PHILOMACHUS PUGNAX. Buff. — One or two instances given by Board-
man. Accidental visitor from Europe.

6ALLINULA GALEATA, Common Gallinule ; and G. MAETINICA, Purple Gal-
linule. — Are both rare visitors from the South.

ANSEE GAMBELLII. American White-fronted Goose- — Given in Dr.
Coues' list as ** Very rare, and perhaps accidental, in winter."

BEENICLA HUTCHINSII. Hutchinson's Goose. — Given in Dr. Coues' list
as " Chiefly spring and autumn migrant. Not abundant."

NETTION GEEGGA. English Teal. — A wanderer from Europe. But one
or two instances of its occurrence on record.

FULIX COLLAEIS. Eing-necked Puck. — Spring and autumn. Not com-
mon.

CAMPTOLJEMUS LABEADOEIUS. Labrador Duck.— Rare winter visitor.

MEEGELLUS ALBELLUS. Smew Very rare. Have seen a specimen

that was killed in Massachusetts Bay, as I was informed ; and Mr. Chas.
W. Lovett, Jr., of Boston, assures me that he once met with one at
Point Shirley, Mass. A straggler from the northern parts of the Old
World.

SULA FIBEE- Booby. — Entirely accidental; but two instances of its
occurrence, and those not recent. A southern species.

PELECANUS FUSCUS- Brown Pelican. — Accidental; from the South.
jQnly one specimen obtained, Brant Point, Nantucket ; others seen, —
J. A. Allen.

PELECANUS EEYTHEOETNCHUS. American Pelican. — Has been taken
in New England. "One or two instances." Calais, Me., — G. A.
Boardman. Accidental.

STEECOEAEIUS CEPPHUS. Buffon's Skua, Long-tailed Jager. — A not
uncommon fall and winter visitor.

APPENDIX. . 583

LAEUS GLAUCUS. Glaucous Gull. Burgomaster Gull. — A very rare winter
visitor.

LAEUS LEUCOPTEEUS. White-winged Gull. — A rare winter visitor.

LAEUS DELAWAEENSIS, Eing-billed Gull. — Not uncommon in winter.
Breeds on the coast of Maine rarely.

STEENA ACUFLAVIDA. Cabot's Tern. — Accidental ; from the South.
One obtained at Chatham, Mass., August, 1865, by Mr. Nathaniel
Vickary.

STEENA FULIGINOSA. Sooty Tern. — Has been met with on Muskegeet
Island, Mass., in the breeding season. A southern species.

STEENA PAEADISEA. Eoseate Tern. — Summer visitor to southern por-
tions of New England.

PEOCELLAEIUS GLACIALIS. Fulmar Petrel. — Given by Coues as "A
rare winter visitant along the coast."

THALASIDEOMA PELAGICA. Stormy Petrel. — Rare in winter off the
coast.

PUFFINUS MAJOE. Greater Shearwater. — Not uncommon in winter off
the coast.

PUFFINUS ANGLOEUM, Hank's Shearwater; and P. FULIGINOSUS, Sooty
Shearwater. — Are occasionally met with in winter off the coast.

MOEMON CIEEHATA. Tufted Puffin. — Very rare, and probably acci-
dental ; in winter, on south-eastern coast of Maine. A north Pacific
species.

COLTMBUS AECTICUS. Black-throated Diver. — Is' given in several lists
as occurring in winter. Given in Putnam's list as " common in young
plumage in winter, rare in adult plumage." I have never met with an
undoubted specimen. Its occurrence in New England must be con-
sidered rare.

UEIA AEEA. Thick-billed Guillemot. — Not uncommon in winter.

INDEX OF COMMON NAMES.

American Avoset, 428.

Bittern, 405.

Creeper, 190.

Goldfinch, 288.

Osprey, 55.

Raven, 355.

Swan, 480.

Widgeon, 499.

Woodcock, 432.
Auk, Little, 670.

Razor-billed, 564.
Avoset, American, 428-

B.

Bald Eagle, 51.
Baldpate Duck, 499.
Baltimore Oriole, 348.
Barrow's Golden-eye Duck, 511.
Belted Kingfisher, 125.
Bittern, American, 405.

Least, 403.
Blackbird, Cow, 339.

Crow, 352.

Red-winged, 341.

Rusty, 350.
Bluebird, 175.
Blue Jay, 364.

Snowbird, 314.
Bobolink, 335.
Brant, 485.

Bull -head Plover, 413.
Bunting, Black-throated, 327.
Bunting, Cow, 339.

Henslow's, 306.
Snow, 296.
Butcher-bird, 268.
Buzzard Hawks, 34.

c.

Canada Flycatcher, 247.
Goose, 483.
Grouse, 378.
Jay, 366, 372.

Canvas-back Duck, 507.
Carolina Dove, 375.
Cat-bird, 172.
Cedar-bird, 266.
Chat, Yellow-breasted, 209.
Chatterer, Bohemian, 264.
Chewink, 332.
Chick-a-dee, 182.
Chimney Swallow, 116.
Coot, American, 476.
Butter-billed, 520.
White-winged, 518.
Cormorant, Common, 534.

Double-crested, 636.
Cow Blackbird, 339.
Creeper, American, 190.

Black and White, 201.
Crossbill, Red, 291.

White-winged, 293.
Crow Blackbird, 352.
Crow, Common, 357.

Fish, 363.
Cuckoo, Black-billed, 85.

Yellow-billed, 83.
Cuckoos, 82.
Curlew, Esquimaux, 469.

Hudsonian, 467.

Long-billed, 466.

Short-billed, 467.
Curlew Sandpiper, 443.

D.

Dipper, 525.

Diver, Great Northern, 555.

Red-throated, 657.
Dove, Carolina, 375.
Dovekie, 570.
Ducks, River, 487.

Sea, 503.
Duck, Baldpate, 499.

Barrow's Golden-eye, 511.

Big Black-head, 504.

Black, 28, 489.

Buffle-head, 614.

Butter-ball, 514.

Canvas-back, 607.

[585]

586

INDEX OP COMMON NAMES.

Duck, Dipper, 514, 525.
Dusky, 28, 489.
Eider, 522.
Gadwall, 497.
Golden-eye, 512.
Harlequin, 515.
King Eider, 523.
Little Black-head, 505.
Long-tailed, 516.
Mallard, 487.
Old Wife, 516.
Pintail, 492.
Red Head, 506.
Ruddy, 525.
Scaup, 504.
Scoter, 521.
South Southerly, 516.
Spoonbill, 496.
Sprigtail, 492.
Summer, 600.
Surf, 520.
Velvet, 518.
Whistle-wing, 512.
Wood, 600.

E.

Eagles, 49.
Eagle, Bald, 51.

Golden, 49, 81.

Gray, 51.

White-headed, 51.

F.

Falcons, 7.
Finches, 283.
Finch, Bay-winged, 303.
Grass, 303.
Pine, 290.
Purple, 285.
Sea-side, 308.
Sharp-tailed, 307.
Flicker, 105.

Flycatcher, Acadian, 143.
Canada, 247.
Great-crested, 131.
Green-crested, 143.
Least, 141.
- Olive-sided, 135.
Pewee, 133.
Traill's, 140.
Wilson's Black-cap, 246.
Wood Pewee, 137.

G.

Gannet, Common, 532.
Godwit, Hudsonian, 465.

Marbled, 463.
Goldfinch, American, 288.
Goosander, 527.
Goose, Canada, 483.

Goose, Snow, 482.
Solan, 532.
Goshawk, 22.
Grebe, Carolina, 562.
Crested, 560.
Horned, 561.
Pied-billed, 662.
Red-necked, 559.
Greenlets, 270.
Grosbeak, Pine, 283.

Rose-breasted, 328.
Ground Robin, 332.
Grouse, Canada, 378.
Pinnated, 380.
Ruffed, 388.
Spruce, 378.
Guillemot, Common, 667.

Foolish, 568.
Gull, Bonaparte's, 543.

Great Black-backed, 540.
Herring, 541.
Kittiwake, 544.
Laughing, 542.

H.

Harrier, 46, 81.
Hawk, Black, 45.

v Broad-winged, 40, 81.

Cooper's, 27.

Duck, 7, 16.

Fish, 65, 81.

Gos, 22, 81.

Great-footed, 7, 16.

Marsh, 46, 81.

Night, 122.

Pigeon, 16, 80.

Red-shouldered, 37.

Red-tailed, 35.

Rough-legged, 43, 81.

Sharp-shinned, 31, 81.

Sparrow, 19, 80.
Heron, Great Blue, 401.

Green, 406.

Night, 409.

Snowy, 398.

Hooded Merganser, 529.
Humming-bird, Ruby-throated, 111.

Indigo-bird, 330.

Jay, Blue, 364.
Canada, 31

J.

K.

King-bird, 128.
Kingfisher, Belted, 125.
Kites, 46.

INDEX OF COMMON NAMES.

587

Lapland Longspur, 300.
Lark, Meadow, 343.

Tit, 200.

Lesser Redpoll, 294.
Loon, Great Northern, 555.

Red-throated, 557.

M.

Mallard Duck, 487.
Marsh Hen, 471.
Martin, Purple, 260.
Maryland Yellow-throat, 205.
Meadow Lark, 343.
Mealy Redpoll, 295.
Merganser, Red-breasted, 526.
Mocking-bird, 167.
Murre, 568, 670.

N.

Night Hawk, 122.

Notes, by William Couper, 80, 368, 396,

477, 571.
Nuthatch, Red-bellied, 188.

White-bellied, 187.

o.

Oriole, Baltimore, 348.

Orchard, 346.
Osprey, 55.
Oven-bird, 218.
Owls, 60.
Owl, Acadian, 75, 81.

Barred, 73, 81.

Great Gray, 72, 81.

Great Horned, 60, 81.

Hawk, 79, 81.

Long-eared, 68, 81.

Mottled, 64.

Red, 64.

Saw-whet, 75, 81.

Screech, 64.

Short-eared, 70, 81.

Snowy, 77, 81.
Oyster-catcher, American, 424.

P.

Partridges, 393.
Passenger Pigeon, 373.
Peep, 447, 450.
Petrel, Leach's, 552.

Wilson's, 553.
Pewee, 133.
Pewee, Wood, 137.
Phalarope, Northern, 430.
Pigeon, Wild, 373.

Pine Finch, 290.

Grosbeak, 283.
Plover, Bartram's, 460.

Black-bellied, 422.

Field, 460.

Golden, 413.

Kill-deer, 415.

Piping, 421.

Semipalmated, 419.

Wilson's, 418.

Upland, 460.
Puffin, Arctic, 566.
Purple Finch, 285,

Q.

Qua-bird, 409.
Quail, Virginia, 393.

E.

Rail, Carolina, 474.

Clapper, 471.

Marsh, 471.

Virginia, 472.

Yellow, 475.
Raven, American, 355.
Red Start, 249.
Redpoll, Lesser, 294.
Mealy, 295.
Ring-neck, 419.
Robin, 154.

S.

Sanderling, 449.
Sandpiper, Bartram's, 460.

Bonaparte's, 446.

Buff-breasted, 462.

Curlew, 443.

Gray-back, 440.

Least, 447, 478.

Pectoral, 445.

Purple, 442.

Red-backed, 444.

Semipalmated, 450,

Solitary, 457.

Spotted, 458.
Scarlet Tanager, 251.
Sea Dove, 570.
Seed-eaters, 283.
Sheldrake, American, 527.
Shore Lark, 280.
Shoveller Duck, 496.
Shrike, Great Northern, 268.
Skua-gulls, 537.
Skua, Arctic, 538.

Pomarine, 538.
Skylarks, 280.
Snipe, English, 435.

Red-breasted, 438.
Robin, 440.
Wilson's, 435.
Snowbird, 314.

588

INDEX OF COMMON NAMES.

Snow Bunting, 296.
Sparrow, Chipping, 320, 372.

Field, 319.

Fox-colored, 325.

Savannah, 301.

Snow, 314.

Song, 321.

Swamp, 323.

Tree, 317.

White-crowned, 309.

White-throated, 311.

Yellow-winged, 305.
Stake-driver, 405.
Starlings, 335.
Summer Duck, 500.
Swallow, Bank, 258.

Barn, 254.

Chimney, 116.

Cliff, 256.

Eave, 256.

White-bellied, 257.
Swan, American, 480.

T.

Tanaa:er, Scarlet, 251.
Teal, "Blue-winged, 495.

Green-winged, 493.
Tell-tale, 454.
Tern, Arctic, 548.
Caspian, 546.
Least, 549.
Marsh, 545.
Short-tailed, 550.
Wilson's, 546.
Thistle-bird, 288.
Thrasher, Brown, 163.
Thrush, Brown, 163.

Golden-crowned, 218.
Hermit, 148.
Olive-backed, 152.
Song, 146.
Swainson's, 152.
Tawny, 150.
Water, 220.
Wilson's, 150.
Titlark, 200.
Titmice, 182.
Titmouse, Blackcap, 182.

Hudson's Bay, 185.
Towhee Bunting, 332.
Turnstone, 426.
Tyrant Flycatchers, 128.

V.

Virginian Partridge, 393.
Vireo, Blue-headed, 277.

lled-eved, 270.

Solitary, 277.

Vireo, Warbling, 273.
White-eyed, 275.
Yellow-throated, 278.

w.

Warblers, 199.
Warblers, Wood, 201.
Warbler, Bay-breasted, 228.
Blackburnian, 227.
Blackpoll, 233.
Black-throated Blue, 224.
Black-throated Green, 222.
Black and Yellow, 238.
Blue Yellow-backed, 203.
Blue-winged Yellow, 212.
Cape May, 240.
Chestnut-sided, 231.
Connecticut, 208.
Golden-winged, 214.
Hooded, 245.
Magnolia, 238.

Maryland Yellow-throat, 205.
Mourning, 207.
Nashville, 215.
Oven, 218.
Pine-creeping, 229.
Prairie, 241.
Tennessee, 217.
Worm-eating, 211.
Yellow, 237.
Yellow Redpoll, 240.
Yellow-rumped, 226.
Whippoorwill, 119.
Widgeon, American, 499.
Willet, 452.

Woodcock, American, 432.
Wood Pewee, 137.
Woodpecker, Banded Three-toed, 95.

Black-backed Three-toed,

94.

Downy, 89.
Golden-winged, 105.
Hairy, 87.
Pileated, 99.
Red-headed, 102.
Yellow-bellied, 96.
Wren, Golden-crested, 179.
House, 195.

Long-billed Marsh, 192.
Ruby-crowned, 178.
Short-billed Marsh, 194.
Winter, 177.

Y.

Yellow-bird, 288.
Yellow-breasted Chat, 209.
Yellow-throat, Maryland, 205.
Yellow-legs, Common, 455.
Yellow-legs, Greater, 454.

INDEX OF SCIENTIFIC NAMES.

Accipiter Cooperii, 27.

fuscus, 31, 81.

Actiturus Bartramius, 460, 478.
^Egialites melodus, 421.

semipalmatus, 419, 478.

vociferus, 415.

Wilsonius, 418.
^Egiothus canescens, 295.

linaria, 294, 371.
Agelaius Phoeniceus, 341, 372.
Aix sponsa, 500, 572.
Alaudidae, 280.
Alca torda, 564.
Ammodromus caudacutus, 307.
maritimus, 308.
Ampelis cedrorum, 265, 371.

garrulus, 264, 370.
Anas boschas, 487, 572.

obscura, 28, 489, 572.
Anseres, 479, 480.
Anser hyperboreus, 482, 571.
Anthus Ludovicianus, 200, 369.
Antrostomus vociferus, 119, .368.
Aquila Canadensis, 49, 81.
Archibuteo lagopus, 43, 81.

Sancti Johannis, 45.
Ardea herodias, 400, 477.
Ardetta exilis, 403.
Astur atricapillus, 22, 81.
Aythya Americana, 506, 572.
vallisneria, 507.

B.

Bernicla Canadensis, 483, 571.

brenta, 485.

Bonasa umbellus, 388, 396.
Botaurus lentiginosus, 405, 477.
Brachyotus Cassinii, 70.
Bubo Virginianus, 60, 81.
Bucephala albeola, 514, 572.

Americana, 512, 572.
islandica, 6*1, 572.
Buteo borealis, 35.
lineatus, 37.
Pennsylvanicus, 40, 81.
Butorides virescens, 406.

C.

Calidris arenaria, 449, 478.
Carpodacus purpureus, 285, 371.
Certhia Americana, 190, 371.
Ceryle alcyon, 125, 369.
Chaetura pelasgia, 116, 368.
Charadrius Virginicus, 413, 478.
Chaulelasmus streperus, 497.
Chordeiles popetue, 122, 368.
Chroicocephalus atricilla, 542.

Philadelphia, 543, 573
Chrysomitris pinus, 290. 371.
tristis, 290, 371.
Circus Hudsonius, 46, 81.
Cistothorus palustris, 192.
stellaris, 194.
Clamatores, 5, 125.
Coccygus Americanus, 83.

erythrophthalmus, 85.
Colaptes auratus, 105.
Collyrio borealis, 268, 371.
Colymbus septentrionalis, 557.

torquatus, 555, 573.
Contopus borealis, 135.

virens, 137, 369.
Corvus Americanus, 357, 372.
carnivorus, 355, 372.
ossifragus, 363.
Coturniculus Henslowi, 306.
passerinus, 305.
Cotyle riparia, 258, 370.
Cupidonia Cupido, 380.
Curvirostra Americana, 291, 371.
leucoptera, 293, 371.
Cyanospiza cyanea, 330, 372.
Cyanurus cristatus, 364, 372.
Cygnus Americanus, 480.

D.

Dafila acuta, 492, 572.
Dendroica aestiva, 237, 370.

Blackburnise, 227, 369.

Canadensis, 224, 369.

castanea, 228, 370.

coronata, 226, 369.

discolor, 241.

maculosa, 238, 370.

[589]

590

INDEX OP SCIENTIFIC NAMES.

Pendroica palmarum, 240.

Pennsylvaniea, 231, 370.
pinus, 229, 370.
striata, 233, 370.
tigrina, 240.
virens, 222, 369.

E.

Ectopistes migratoria, 373, 396.
Empidonax Acadicus, 143.

minimus, 141.

Traillii, 140.

Eremophila cornuta, 280, 371.
Ereunetes petrificatus, 450, 478.
Erismatura fubida, 525.
Euspiza Americana, 327.

F.

Falco anatum, 7.
Fulica Americana, 476, 478.
Fulix affinis, 505, 572.
marila, 504, 572.

G.

Galeoscoptes Carolinensis, 172.
Gallinago Wilsonii, 435, 478.
Gambetta flavipes, 455, 478.

melanoleuca, 454, 478.
Garzetta candidissima, 398.
Geothlypis Philadelphia, 207.

trichas, 205, 369.
Grallatores, 5, 397.
Graculus carbo, 534.

dilophus, 535.
Guiraca Ludoviciana, 328, 372.

H.

Haematopus palliatus, 424.
Halisetus leucocephalus, 51.
Harelda glacialis, 516, 572.
Harporhynchus rufus, 163.
Helminthophaga chrysoptera, 214.

peregrina, 217.

pinus, 212.

ruficapilla, 215.
Helmitherus vermivorus, 211.
Hirundo bicolor, 257, 370.

horreorum, 254, 370.
lunifrons, 254, 370.
Histrionicus torquatus, 515, 572.
Hydrochelidon plumbea, 650.
Hylatomus pileatus, 99.
Hypotriorchis columbarius, 16, 80.

Icteria viridis, 209.
Icterus Baltimore, 348.

Icterius spurius, 346.
Insessores, 108.

J.

Junco hyemalis, 314, 371.

L.

Lams argentatus, 541, 572.

marinus, 540.
Limosafedoa, 463.

Hudsonica, 465.
Lophodytes cucullatus, 529, 572.

M.

Macrorhamphus griseus, 438, 478.
Mareca Americana, 499, 572.
Melanerpes erythrocephalus, 102.
Melanetta velvetina, 518.
Melospiza melodia, 321, 372.
palustris, 323, 372.
Mergus Americanus, 527, 572.

serrator, 526, 572.
Mergulus alle, 570.
Mimus polyglottus, 167.
Mniotilta varia, 201, 369.
Molothrus pecoris, 339.
Mormon arctica, 566.
Myiarchus crinitus, 131.
Myiodioctes Canadensis, 247.

mitratus, 245.

pusillus, 246.

N.

Natatores, 6, 479.

Nettion Carolinensis, 493, 572.

Numenius borealis, 469, 478.

Hudsonius, 467, 478.

longirostris, 466.
Nyctale Acadica, 75, 81.

Richardsonii, 75, 81.
Nyctea nivea, 77, 81.
Nyctiardea gardeni, 409, 477.

o.

Oidemia Americana, 521.
Oporornis agilis, 208.
Ortyx Virginianus, 393.
Oscines, 5, 145.
Otus Wilsonianus, 68, 81.

P.

Pandion Carolinensis, 55, 81.
Parula Americana, 203.
Parus atricapillus, 182, 371.
Hudsonicus, 185, 371.
Passerculus Savanna, 301.
Passerella iliaca, 323, 372.

INDEX OF SCIENTIFIC NAMES.

591

Pelionetta perspicillata, 520, 572.
Perisoreus Canadensis, 366 371.
Phalaropus hyperboreus, 430, 478.
Philohela minor, 432, 478.
Picoides arcticus, 94.

hirsutus, 95.
Picus pubescens, 89.

villosus, 87.

Pinicola Canadensis, 283, 371.
Pipilo erythrophthalmus, 332.
Plectrophanes lapponicus, 300.
nivalis, 296, 371.
Podiceps cornutus, 561.

cristatus, 560.

griseigena, 559.
Podilymbus podiceps, 562.
Poocaetes gramineus, 303, 371.
Porzana Carolina, 474, 478.

Noveboracensis, 475, 478.
Progne purpurea, 260, 370.
Pyranga rubra, 251, 370.

Q-

Querquedula discors, 495.
Quiscalus versicolor, 352, 372.

Rallus crepitans, 471.

elegans, 471.

Virginianus, 472, 478.
Raptores, 4, 6.
Rasores, 5, 378.
Recurvirostra Americana, 428.
Regulus calendula, 178, 369.

satrapa, 179, 369.
Rhyacophilus solitarius, 457, 478.
Rissa tridactyla, 544.

s.

Sayornis fuscus, 133.

Scansores, 4, 82.

Scolecophagus ferruginous, 350, 372.

Scops asio, 64.

Seiurus aurocapillus, 218, 369.

Noveboracensis, 220.
Setophaga ruticilla, 249, 370.
Sialia sialis, 175, 369.
Sitta Canadensis, 188, 371.

Carolinensis, 187.
Somateria mollissima, 522, 572.

spectabilis, 523.
Spatula clypeata, 496, 572.
Sphyrapicus varius, 96.
Spizella monticola, 317, 371.

pusilla, 319, 371.

socialis, 320, 371.
Squatarola Helvetica, 422, 478.

Stercorarius parasiticus, 538.
pomarinus, 538.
Sterna aranea, 545.

Caspia, 549.

frenata, 549.

macroura, 548.

Wilsonii, 546, 573.
Strepsilas interpres, 426, 478.
Strisores, 4, 110.
Sturnella magna, 343.
Sula bassana, 532.
Surnia ulula, 79, 81.
Symphemia semipalmata, 452.
Syrnium cinereum, 72, 81.
nebulosum, 73, 81.

T.

Tetrao Canadensis, 378, 396.
Thalassidroma Leachii, 552.

Wilsonii, 553.

Tinnunculus sparverius. 19, 80.
Tringa Alpina, var. Americana, 444.

Bonapartii, 446.

cauutus, 440, 478.

maculata, 478.

maritima, 442, 478.

subarquata, 443.

Wilsonii, 447, 478.
Tringoides macularius, 458, 478.
Trochilus colubris, 111, 368.
Troglodytes sedon, 196.

hyemalis, 197, 371.
Tryngites rufescens, 462.
Turdus fuscescens, 150, 369.

migratprius, 154.

mustelinus, 146.

Pallasii, 148, 369.

Swainsonii, 152.
Tyrannus Carolinensis, 128, 369.

u.

Uria grylle, 567.

lomvia, 568, 573.
ringvia, 570.

V.

Vireo flavifrons, 278.
gilvus, 273.
Noveboracensis, 275.
olivaceus, 270, 371.
solitarius, 277.

z.

Zenaidura Carolinensis, 375, 396.
Zonotrichia albicollis, 311, 371.
leucophrys, 309, 371.