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FORTHE PEOPLE

FOR EDVCATION
FOR SCIENCE

LIBRARY

OF

THE AMERICAN MUSEUM

OF

NATURAL HISTORY

itu

A

NOTICE.

The accompanying volume is the first of a
series contemplated in the plan of the state
zoologist on the zoology of Minnesota.

The plan contemplates pubHshing reports
on even- class of animals, so far as represented
in the state, as soon as reliable data and the
material necessarv- for ti-nstworthy reports are
at the disposal of the state zoologist.

Until otherwise notified you are respectfully
requested to address all zooligical publications
S2nt in exchange for the publications ol the Geo-
logical and Natural History Survey of Minne-
sota to

STATE ZOOLOGIST,

University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis,

Minnesota, U. S. A.

The Geological and Natural Hisiory Survey of

Minnesota.

FIRST REPORT

OF THE

STATE ZOOLOGIST,

ACCOMPANIED WITH

NOTES OX THE BIRDS OF MINNESOTA,

By Dr. P. L. HATCH.

HEXEY F. XACHTEIEB, State Zoologist.

Tvi.aa.e, 1S32,

MINNEAPOLIS:

HARRISON & SMIIH. PRINTERS.

1892.

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

To the President of the Board of Regents of The University of Min
nesota:

Sir. — I have the honor herewith to transmit to your honor-
able Board my first report as State Zoologist.

Nearly all of the matter originally intended for this report
has been crowded out by Dr. Hatch's "Notes on the Birds of
Minnesota," which for several reasons I felt constrained to sub-
mit at present in their original form, and which accompany
my general introduction.

Dr. Hatch was years ago requested to write a report on the
birds of Minnesota, by Professor Winchell, when the State Geol-
ogist had charge of all the divisions of the survey. For this
and other reasons I have not assumed any editorial responsi-
bilities and privileges, but simply those of a transmitter.

A report on the birds of Minnesota is now in process of pre-
paration, and just as scon as the ornithologist has important
data, not yet in hand, at his disposal, and the mass of notes
and material collected during the past thirty years has been
thoroughly sifted and arranged, it will be submitted for publi-
cation. Very respectfully.

Your obedient servant,

HENRY F. NACHTRIEB.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION.

The Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota,
was established by a legislative act approved by the Governor
of the State March 1st, 1872. "There is no question," to quote
the words of the State Geologist, "but one of tlie prime motives
of the law was to introduce another auxiliary force into the
State University, by making it a center whence should radiate
information concerning the natural features of the state, and
toward which should gravitate all collections of natural history
that should otherwise be brought to light." Taking the state-
ment in its most comprehensive sense, it is undoubtedly true ;
and the fact that the State Geologist has always been enrolled
with the faculty of the University in the catalogue, and that
the law explicitly makes the Board of Regents the director of
the survey, fully justifies the statement in regard to the rela-
tion of the survey to the University, and indicates an element
of excellence not to be found in the laws creating similar sur-
veys in other states.

At the time the present survey was organized it seemed de-
sirable for various reasons to pay more attention to the geology
of the state than to the botany and the zoology, and accord-
ingly a geologist was appointed to take charge of the survey
work. This was in accordance with the spirit of the times.
And in accordance with an established custom, the geologist of
the survey was generally called the State Geologist, an appel-
lation that common usage has given the weight of a title,
though it never was officially conferred as such. For many
years the ' 'Natural History Survey. " existed only in the wisely
formulated law, for which excellent and comprehensive law we
owe thanks to Dr. Wm. W. Folwell. who was at that time pre -
sident of the University.

Later on the importance and necessity of beginning the botan-
ical and the zoological work was now and then recognized in the
appearance of papers relating to the flora and fauna of the state.
Naturally, however, the botanical and zoological work was not
prosecuted with the same vigor and accuracy as the geological,
for the day had gone by when one man could master all sciences.
And the geologist of to-day finds problems enough in geology
to engage all his time and tax all his energy and genius.

It was the recognition of these facts as well as the desire to
make a more efficient •' auxiliary force" of the survey contem-
plated in the law that prompted the Board of Regents to relieve
the State Geologist of the excess of requirements and put the

4 FIRST REPORT

botanical and the zoological work of the survey under the
charge of. respectively, the professor of botany as State Botanist
and curator of the botanical museum, and the professor of
animal biology as State Zoologist and curator of the zoological
museum.

The present State Zoologist was appointed by the Board of
Regents about three years ago. Nothing was done during the
first two years, other University duties taking me abroad one
year, and sickness making work impossible the other. Last
summer (1891) a party of three spent not quite four weeks on
Lake Vermilion, as much as the funds remaining after purchas-
ing apparatus and chemicals would permit. The exceedingly
bad and disagreeable weather reduced this time to about two
weeks. Nevertheless, some valuable data and experience were
gained that are of value for the future.

It has been a surprise to me that so few of our "posted" citi-
zens know anything about the existence of a law creating The
Geological and Natural History Survey, and to dispel a little of
this ignorance where it ought not to be. I quote here the sec-
tions relating to the Natural History division of the Survey.

"Section 1. It shall be the duty of the board of regents of
The University of Minnesota to cause to be begun as soon as
may be practicable, and to carry on a thorough geological and
natural history survey of the state.

Section 3. The natural history survey shall include, first, an
examination of the vegetable productions of the state, embra-
cing all trees, shrubs, herbs and grasses, native or naturalized
in the state ; second, a complete and scientific account of the
animal kingdom as properly represented in the state, including
all mammalia, fishes, reptiles, birds and insects.

Section 6. It shall be the duty of said board of regents to
cause proper specimens, skillfully prepared, secured and la-
beled, of all rocks, soils, ores, coals, fossils, cements, building
stones, plants, woods, skins and skeletons of animals, birds,
insects and fishes, and other mineral, vegetable and animal
substances and organisms discovered or examined in the course
of said surveys, to be preserved for public insiDection, free of
cost, in the University of Minnesota, in rooms convenient of
access and properly warmed, lighted, ventilated and furnished
and in charge of a proper scientific curator; and they shall
also, whenever the same may be practicable, cause duplicates in
reasonable numbers and quantities of the above named si)eci-
mens, to be collected and preserved for the purpose of ex-
changes with other state universities and scientific inslitu
tions. of which latter the Smithsonian Institution at Washing-
ton shall have the preference."

STATE ZOOLOGIST. 5

Certainly no zoologist will complain that this law is too nar-
row and irrational, for section 3 alone commands for him a
field so wide as to call for all lines of zoological investigation.
There are, however, certain lines of investigation universally
recognized as coming particularly within the scope of such
state surveys. But even such investigations almost invariably
demand others that at first sight seem foreign.

The intensely practical man is almost always really the most
unpractical, and the greatest obstacle to progress. He will pooh
— pooh the investigation of the habits and life history and
structure of an unpalatable sucker or the '•insignificant'"
stickle back and demand the investigation of the bass and
other food fish only, entirely loosing sight of the fact that the
one serves as food for some of his favorite fish and the other
wages ruinous war against them.

Many similar examples clearly show up the folly of trying to
consider only that which we can immediately utilize, and usu-
ally convince the short-sighted that we can not intelligently
and successfully manage the one in ignorance of the other.
Too many of us forget that what we now call applied science
was at one time considered pure science, and that it is a ques-
tion whether the Edisons or the Webers, Paradays and Frank-
lins have done most for the comfort of mankind, and wiiether
the zoologists, who through years of patient work gathered
the life histories of many of our parasites, thus dispelling the
dark cloud of superstition and suggesting a rational treatment
for many diseases and giving to every one the simplest means
of protection, should not be classed among the most practical.

If the results of the patient work of honest investigators of
past generations are to-day wielded by the most mechanical
laborer, what is to keep the work of the so called scientist
from becoming a tool for the comfort and happiness of future
generations ? Indeed are we not reminded on all sides that
the more thorough our knowledge of the things and phe-
nomena about us becomes through observation and experi
ment, the better do we utilize them and the more uniform and
generally accepted become our interpretations. And does the
intellectual work and triumph mean nothing to any or all of us?

The universe is a whole and not a collection of absolute in
dependents, and no line or kind of work, however purely
scientific it may appear at the time, can be carried on without
sooner or later becoming evident and universally tangible in
some practical form.

6 FIRST REPORT

Still, while we recognize that the investigation of one animal
points to the necessity of investigating others, that one sub-
ject always leads to another and one problem inevitably sug-
gests one or more others, we must admit that certain lines
of zoological investigation were hardly contemplated in the
organization of the survey, and more properly come under
the purview of the University. As a matter of fact, we must
somewhat circumscribe the work of a state survey, always,
howev^er, with the understanding that exigencies may arise
demanding a widening of the circle.

In accordance with the view indicated above, the present
plan of the State Zoologist contemplates primarily the scienti-
fic investigation of all those animals of direct economic im-
portance, and. in accordance with section 6 of the law, the
collecting and placing on exhibition in the museum represen-
tative specimens of the animals of the state in such a way as
to give them an educational value rather than a mere display
value.

The museum has been furnished with new cases, and the
fauna of the state can be placed on proper exhibition just as
fast as the material is collected and prepared and the necessary
money is placed at the disposal of the curator.

The importance, or rather the necessity of at once beginning
the formation of a representative collection of the animals of
the State, will certainly not need urging when the present con-
dition of the museum is taken into account.

Strange as it may seem, it is nevertheless true that not-
withstanding the fact several papers have been published on a
few groups of animals found in the state, the museum practi-
cally has none of the material upon which these papers were
based. Indeed in some cases there apparently was not even
an attempt made to preserve the specimens that served for the
description of new species, and we have absolutely nothing
here for comparison. Comment on such methods of work is unnec-
essary. Of the collection here now, many specimens are not even
good show specimens. Many are without any data whatever,
and many have only the name of the taxidermist added, while
others have data so obviously out of place that they are
practically valueless. Many of the really valuable things
have been badly damaged by moths and other injurious in-
sects, and the fire of two years ago and neglect previous to
that time more or less injured ever3^thing. An amusing group
is quite a collection of animals purchased to represent the

STATE ZOi>LOGIST. 7

fauna of Minnesota at the New Orleans Exposition. As one
looks at the pronghorn, the grizzly, the three-toed sloth, the
iguana, the toucans, the bird of paradise, etc., etc., the ques-
tion naturally arises, when did Minnesota have such a fauna,
and how were the animals preserved ? It is to be hoped the
exhibition at the coming World's Fair will not repeat this
ludicrous spectacle. The facts noted above in connection with
the fact that some animals formerly abundant in Minnesota no
longer even merely visit the state, and some of those still
within our borders are being rapidly driven out of the state,
certainly point to the necessity of at once beginning to collect
and properly preserve, with data, representative specimens of
the fauna of the state. In accordance with this conviction,
and a desire to enlist the cooperation of all those favorably
located in the state, directions for collecting, preserving and
shipping specimens of animals are now being prepared for
gratuitous distribution to all interested in the work of the
survey.

It must not be supposed, however, that we are attempting
to build up a general museum. Such a museum is impractical
at present and doubtfully desirable. At present we are
aiming at a comprehensive local state collection.

The most valuable portion of any museum is always that
which is not prepared for display but is set aside in proper
rooms for reference and comparison. Of such a collection we
have as yet hardly a beginning. The working collection, how-
ever, has been begun and an earnest effort will be made to
preserve in proper form and keep accessible all specimens that
serve as the basis for descriptions of new species or varieties
or that show interesting modifications or illustrate facts of
distribution and habit. In a few years this so-called working
collection will be far more valuable than the fine specimens on
exhibition and will require much less room, money and care.

The groups of animals to which special attention is at pres-
ent being given by the field workers are : — the fishes, the
birds, the reptilia and batrachia, and the mammals. Other
classes are by no means neglected. Some lines of investiga-
tion, however important, can not be undertaken at present for
the want of laboratory facilities at the proper place. A lake-
side, or rather fresh-water biological station, is an imperative
necessity, and such a laboratory under the care of the Univer-
sity ought to be established now. In addition to being a place
for investigators it could be a resort for the "science teachers"'

8 FIRST REPORT

of the state, where, during the summer vacations, they could
gain that knowledge of facts and methods at first hand so
much needed by many of them to enable them to properly
teach botany, physiology and zoology. The mere associa-
tion of such teachers with the students carrying on original
investigations would be of incalculable value.

For a number of years marine biological stations, usually
called zoological stations, have offered opportunities for the
study of marine life in various parts of the world and have
annually attracted great scientists from all civilized countries.
The enthusiasm and satisfaction with which their work has
been received in every civilized community, and the practical re-
sults traceable to their influence are a sufficient justification for
their existence. Indeed to-day they are just as much a nec-
essity as the university laboratories. While the number of
marine biological stations has increased to ten or more, the
establishment of fresh -water biological stations has been
attempted in but few places, so that to-day only one or two
properly equipped are in existence in Europe, and none in
this country. The reasons for the preferences thus indicated
may briefly be stated to be: — (1) Man's desire to discover, and
to see that about which he knows nothing from direct observa-
tion. (2) The fact that hitherto the problems in zofdogy have
been largely morphological problems, and these point to the
seas for solutions. For in the oceans we see the vast original
home with a uniformity and constancy of environment and
gradual transitions not met with elsewhere. Moreover the
oceans are so densely populated that t -e patient and thought-
ful investigator has never been disappointed.

There is, however, abundant evidence on hand in the works
of great men showing that not even all the morphological
problems are to find their solutions in the study of only marine
forms, and that what we would expect on a priori grounds
actual observation and investigation demonstrate. And while
the conditions of life in the ocean may be characterized as
quite uniform, those on land and in fresh-water must be char-
acterized as very variable, and consequently demanding more
varied adaptations and thus naturally leading to a higher
development. In view of this it becomes evident that the
problems relating more particularly to the physiological side
of living things are to be solved principally at fresh-water
stations and not at marine stations. The fresh-water biologi-
cal laboratory therefore has a special field of work in phys-

STATE ZOOLOGIST. 9

iology and enough in morphology and embryology to keep it
from becoming perniciously exclusive. Aside from the nec-
essity of such a laboratory for the survey work it must be said
that no state offers more to such a station than our own. We
have all the natural conditions in the way of lakes and streams
and geographical position. In a country of such great dis-
tances it is impractical for many to go to the marine stations.
Others who feel that in the future they will have to deal with
land and fresh-water forms think it a waste of time and money
to study marine life. A sojourn of several months at a well
equipped inland station would convince such of their mistake
and prepare them for better work. To our army of teachers
such a station at one of our principal lakes could offer an
opj)ortunity during the summer months of becoming ac-
quainted with the modern methods of teaching the biological
sciences by being taught themselves how to make the most
out of the material and apparatus at their command. From
lectures and demonstrations and through association with
advanced students and investigators they would gather the
general principles and laws of biology as known at the time
and would unconsciously catch the spirit that would place
them in the proper attitude toward the biological sciences.
The time for establishing a fresh-water biological laboratory
in Minnesota is ripe, and no citizen can more effectually per-
petuate his name than by endowing and equipping such a
laboratory as indicated, and his investment can not be made
more safely and profitably than under the care of the Univer-
sity of Minnesota.

HENRY F. NACHTRIEB,

State Zoologist,
University of Minnesota.
June 1. 1892.

The Geological and Natural History Survey of

Minnesota.

NOTES OX

THE BIRDS or MINNESOTA,

WITH

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

By P. L. HATCH, M. D.

PREFATORY STATEMENT.

As the author intimates in his Preface, the manuscript for the "Notes''
was begun several years ago and has been ready for publication for
some time.

The work represented by the "Notes,'' was begun a number of years
ago, when the State Geologist, Prof. N.H. Winchell, still superintended all
the wck of The Geological and Natural History Survey. It is therefore
but just to Prof. Winchell (and to myself also), to state that in calling
upon Dr. Hatch for his manuscript and seeing it through the press, I
have (for reasons that will become evident in future publications), not
assumed any editorial responsibilities, but have, as State Zoologist,
simply discharged a duty the "Survey" owes the author, who years ago
was requested by Prof. Winchell to write this report and who has spent
much time and money upon it.

It has been impossible to refer any portion of the proof to the author
or to consult him in regard to style of type, etc. For this reason special
care was taken in reading the proof, and as the manuscript had all
"passed"' before the author forwarded it to me from the far west, and I
had the tlnal proof carefully compared with the manuscript, the author
will not, I trust, be misrepresented. Naturally, however, .some things
will appear that the author would have eliminated or modified. Circum-
stances and time would not permit, and I trust this will to some extent
mollify the critics.

It is a matter of no small regret that the bird material, upon which
this report is based, is not the property of the "Survey"' and is not acces-
sible for reference and comparison. All of it ought to be here, properly
preserved and labelled. But 1 have considered this subiect elsewhere
and need not consider it any further here.

HENRY F. NACHTRIEB,

State Zoologist,
University of Minnesota.

PREFACE.

It is due to myself as well as the public, that I should say
the great delay in the publishing of this volume has been from
causes beyond my personal responsibility. I have regretted it
on account of some misapprehensions that have arisen, but it
is said that "All is well which ends well," and half of the
quotation is assuredly true in this case, for this ends it.

The magnitude of the task so zealously conceived and under-
taken, was greatly understimated, yet the earnest employment
of all of my opportunities enabled me to approximate my
ideal for a time, when an interruption of several years occur-
red, after which it became impossible to maintain more than is
shown by the completed work.

The classification is that established by the American Orni-
• thological Union, and published in 1886. Each species given
has its corresponding number, and except in occasional in-
stances, the descriptions mostly correspond with those given
in the Pacific Railroad Reports, and the measurements are in
inches and hundredths of an inch.

While I have aimed to make it as nearly correct in its state-
ments of facts observed as is possible, I do not flatter myself
that errors have not found their way into this record through
so many years of observations, which others may ultimately
correct. P. L. HATCH.

August 16. 1892.

Older PYGOPODES.

Family PODICIPID.E.
.ECHMOPHORIS OCCIDENTALIS (Lawrence). (1 )

WESTERN GREBE.

Although during the period in which I have been an observer
of the birds in Minnesota very few of this species have been
seen by myself, nor reported by others whose observations
could be implicitly relied upon. I am able to record enough to
give it "a name and a place" in the fauna of our state. I first
met with an individual specimen in the collection of a German
living in St. Paul in 1859, and in 1861 I saw one amongst the
collections of Mr. Shrocder of the same city; but it first came
into my hands by my own gun in May of 1869, on the Red
River, and again in 1870 through the kindness of Mr. J. J.
Jamison, an eastern gentleman of amateur scientific proclivi-
ties who was shooting ducks in the autumn of that year at Big-
stone Lake. It was alone, and entirely unsuspecting to all
appearance. It was a mature male, and in good plumage,
meeting all the measures given in the descriptions of the ninth
volume of the Pacific Railroad Reports. Not until the spring
of 1883 did I see one again, and then in the same locality, or
within a few miles of it, on the Red River near Moorhead. It
has been several times reported without any verifications, one
of which was presumptively reliable, but as the party did not
regard its identification of sufficient importance to give me an
opportunity to endorse his own, I made no record of it amongst
my notes. In 1872, while collecting extensively in Santa Clara
county, California, I found it common for the species in Drink-
water Lake, a sort of lagoon some 12 miles south of San Jose
and a few miles within the limits of Sacramento, and in several
other kindred localities; but exceedingly common in March at

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 5

Old-town, San Diego. Although the eggs have often been
found on the Pacific coast, none have ever come to my notice
here.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper part of head and nape of neck, fuliginous black; back
and wing- coverts grayish- black, the feaihers margined with
gray; primaries light, ashy -brown, darker at the end and
white at the base; secondaries white, marked with ash on the
outer webs (occasionally white); space between the bill and
eye gray; throat, sides of neck, and entire under plumage,
silver-white; sides marked with grayish-black; bill dusky, or
nearly black, except the cutting edges and end, w^hich are
yellow; iris orange; tarsi and feet grayish-black externally,
flesh color, internally.

Length, 28; wing, 8; bill, 3; tarsus, 3.

Habitat, Western North America, eastward to Manitoba.

COLYMBIS HOLBOILLII (Reinhart). (2.)

RED- NECKED GREBE.

It is my pleasure to say that I am indebted to Mr. J. N. San-
ford, of Elbow Lake, in Grant county, for my first knowledge
of the presence of this species of the Grebe family in the state,
and accompanying the information so much esteemed, he sent
through me to the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences
four eggs in prime condition for preservation, which he had
obtained in his vicinity in July, 1880. These eggs measured
1.95 by 1.23: 2.00 by 1.25: 1.85 by 1.15 and 1.90 by 1.20. The
color when so fresh was a rather pale, greenish-white and was
uniform. The nest was described as being near to the water,
and consisting of coarse, rank marsh Aveeds, placed on a bunch
of the same materials in a marshy locality. He has been a
close observer of the water birds especially, and has contributed
some interesting and valuable facts respecting the breeding
habits of several species found in his section. Since those
days my opportunities for learning more of the local habits of
the species have been good. Without being abundant any-
where in Minnesota, it is nevertheless not to be accounted rare,
for its species in the sparsely settled districts characterized by
wet, pondy prairies. I have found it in my own county at such
times as to make it reasonably certain that it breeds in such
localities as are largely secluded, and embracing ponds and
small lakes bordered by reedy marshes. I find individuals of
this species in Fillmore, Carver, Otter Tail and Grant counties.

6 NOTES ON THE

and have many reports of its presence in several others. As
long since noticed by bird observers, the young of the Red-
necked and Crested Grebes resemble each other so much as to
make their differences impossible to define.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper plumage blackish brown, the upper part of the head
and neck behind, black; primaries ashy- brown; secondaries
mostly white, except a few of the inner ones which are dark
ash; cheeks and throat ash gray; a white line from the lower
mandible under and beyond the eye; forepart and sides of neck
rich, brownish red; lower parts silvery white, sides dusky; bill
black, pale at the end, and bright yellow at the base; iris car-
mine; tarsi and feet externally greenish black, internally yel-
low.

Length, 18; wing, 7; bill, 1.25; tarsus. 2.

Habitat, North America at large.

Note. Since writing the above I have learned more of the
local habits of this Grebe and can add that its food is mostly
aquatic worms and lai'vte with some minnows. It is no
trivial thing to bag one of them on account of his unremitting
vigilance, and his expertness in diving and remaining seem-
ingly a long time submerged, which however is not so long as
it seems, for when he returns to the surface he only exposes
the bill and enough of the head to bring his eyes into use while
the body is kept completely concealed. The power to do this
continuously for a considerable time, belongs to the entire
family, and to few if any others so perfectly. In this sub-
merged condition they will swim so gently and so evenly as to
elude the observation of most persons until they have learned
to detect them, after which there is little difficulty.

C0LYMBU8 AIRITUS L (3.)
HORNED GREBE.

Although not universally distributed throughout the state,
the Horned Grebes are fairly common in many sections. Pools,
ponds and sloughs in open districts and bottom lands are its
favorite localities for breeding Hence, I am not surprised to
have Dr. Hvoslef report it as breeding in the vicinity of Lanes-
boro, Fillmore county, along our southern borders, and would
have expected Mr. Washburn to do so along the Red River, as
Dr. Coues* had done several years earlier. Indeed I have
had individuals sent to me by hunters from a dozen or more
localities, most of which have been in prairie regions to the
north and west of Minneapolis and St. Paul. It breeds occa-
sionallj^ in the vicinity of Waseca * * and at Bigstone Lake.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 7

*** The earliest record I have of its arrival in spring is
April 23d, but reliable observers give a much earlier date.
The nesting is begun by the 20th of May. The structures are
quite bulky, and consist of old reeds principally, placed on a
tussock of the same material and rudely embracing surround-
ing erect stalks. Not infrequently they are entirely sur-
rounded with water, but more often on the wet land a few feet
from the shores of a slough. The excavation is exceedingly
superficial, but contains from 7 to 10 eggs, originally grayish
or yellowish white, that soon become very much soiled by the
rotten reeds and filthy feet of the denizen. The young take
to the water at once. The fact that they have been seen swimming
with the parent as early as the first week in May, and at the
tenderest age as late as the 3rd of August, suggests more than
one brood in a season. I have no conclusive evidence that they
do not breed twice. They linger quite late in the autumn, but
are so infrequently observed that the proximate date of their
migration southward is still unknown to me.

Like the other species of the genus, they have the faculty of
depressing their bodies below the surface of the water in which
they are swimming, at will, in the presence of danger. A good
field glass will find at such times only the bill and eyes above
the water.

*Birds of the N. W., p. T32.

**Edward Everett. Notes from Waseca.

***Correspondence of Mr. L. Froman.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS

Upper part of head, cheeks, throat and ruff, glossy black; a
broad band from the bill over the eye, and the elongated oc-
cipital tufts behind them, yellowish-red. color deepest next the
bill; upper surface brownish-black, each feather margined with
gray; primaries brownish- ash. secondaries mostly white, some
of the outer ones dark ash; fore neck and upper jDart of breast
bright chestnut-red, sides of the same color, mixed 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 inter-
nally, and on both edges of the tarsus.

Length. 14; wing, 6; bill, 1; tarsi, 2.

Habitat, Northern America.

The foregoing is the descriptioD of the vernal plumage, the
autumnal being much less striking. In the former they are
sometimes found in considerable flocks, disporting themselves
in the bays of our lakes and in the streams which supply
them. Their smooth, rapid natation and wholesale diving
at such times is marvelous and eminently characteristic.

2z

8 NOTES ON THE

I have never as yet found them in flocks in autumn, but always
in family parties and pairs, and almost never at that season upon
the wing. They seem to follow the water courses and migrate
southward about the first week in November. Their move-
ments are made in the earliest part of the morning and at twi-
light in the evening, swimming silentl}'" along, close under the
overhanging banks and reeds singly, from five to twenty yards
apart. When suddenly surprised, instead of takiug to wing
they dive, and after swimming considerable distances deep
under the water they rise close to the shore, where, concealed
by debris, or grass and reeds, with only the bill and eyes ex-
posed, they remain until all danger has disappeared. None
but the closest observers can know for themselves when or how
they leave us in fall migration. Their food consists largely of
water beetles, larvae and "small fry."

COLYMIU S NIUKKOLLIS CALIFOKNK rS(HEERMANN)(4)
AMERICAN EARED GREBE.

I list the Eared Grebe upon specimens found mounted in
collections from time to time through many years of local
observation, two of which are uow in the collections of the
Academy of Sciences at Philadelphia, I think. All were re-
putedly obtained within the limits of Minnesota.

Having met with the species at San Diego, California, in 1870,
I had no difficulty in identifying them at once.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head and upper part of neck black; rest of upper parts
brownish-black; wings grayishbyown, with a broad patch of
white; throat, fore part and sides of neck dull black, its lower
jjart with some spots of the same; rest of lower parts glossy,
silvery white, excepting the sides of the body and rump, which
are light red; bill black, tinged with blue; iris blood red. feet
dusky-gray externally, internally greenish- gray; tufts on sides
of head orange, yellower anteriorly, and posteriorly red.

Length. 13; wing. 5; bill, 1. tarsus, 1^.

Habitat, Mississippi river to Pacific and northward.

PODILYHBIS PODICEPS (L ) (6.)
PIED-BILLED GREBE

This is by far the most numerously represented species of the
Grebe family in Minnesota. There are few ponds, sloughs, or
lakes where ducks are found, that do not contain a few of
them. They arrive early, and they stay late, often until only
small openings in the ice remain before the final closing for the
long Minnesota winter. Breeding presumably in nearly all the

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 9

localities where found, they so effectually conceal their nests
that they are very rarely obtained. But where they have been
found the nest was uniformly formed of partially decayed
reeds, with perhaps a portion of coarse, sedgy grass in the
employment of which little architectural design is evident.
As in the case of the other Grebes, there is a redundancy of
material, but so rudely disposed as to lead any one in search of
the nest to suppose it to be a mere heap of drift from high
water in spring, the eggs having been left concealed by the
disposition of rotten reeds and grass over them. None I have
seen have contained more than five or less than three eggs of a
soiled, yellowish -white color. Pot-hunters "'of the baser sort"
call them Hell-divers, and only the downy-chinned variety spend
any ammunition on them, as they disappear with ghost-like
celerity on their approach. Only their bills rise agam until
the hunter is finally gone.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper plumage, very dark-brown; primaries, dark-ash;
secondaries, ash on the outer webs and white on the inner;
cheeks, and sides of neck, brownish-gray; chin and throat
marked with a conspicuous black patch nearly two inches in
extent; lower part of neck, upper part of breast and sides, dull
rusty-brown, spotted and rather indistiactly barred with
brownish-black; lower part of breast and abdomen grayish
white, mottled with dusky spots; bill pale-blue, dusky on the
ridge of the upper mandible, a broad black band across both
mandibles and including the nostrils; iris, brown; tarsi and
feet, grayish black.

Length, 1-4; wing, 5i; tarsus, 1\.

Habitat, both Americas.

With nothing economic, nor esthetic to commend it to the at-
tention of men. women or hunters, (who contemptuously call
it Dab-chick, Water-witch, or ••Hell-diver") it is left solely to
the heritage of the naturalist. I think the popular- cognomen
of • 'Water witch" should be preferred, their habits in diving
and concealing themselves affording a shadowy but plausible
reason for the choice. Mr. Holzinger gives this species as
breeding around Lake Winona, and Mr. Washburn found it
abundant at Ada and at Thief river. It is universally distri-
buted. The food consists of small fishes, aquatic worms and
plants.

10 NOTES ON THE

Family UBlNATOPilD^i: (The Loons.)

URINATOR IMBER (Gunner). (7 )
LOON.

I found this Loon abundantly represented for its species
when I came to the then territory of Minnesota in 1857. but
supposed that the general settlement of the country would soon
decimate them. In this I was mistaken, for there has been no
diminution of their relative numbers in any general section
which I know of, while in others, there has been an apprecia-
ble increase. The earliest openings in the lakes not infre-
quently are occupied by one of them, and there is no time during
the entire summer when they may not be seen in those lakes
known to be their favorite resorts. They are not found in the
smaller ponds ordinarily, preferring those more abundantly
supplied with fish and offering better security from the hun-
ter's gun by its expanse. Their weird, solitary notes, as well as
their dignified demeanor when undisturbed, give little intima
tion of their social vivacity after the young have become grown
and strong. Who would prove this must be willing to quit his
couch early, before the family has been broken by the depar-
ture of the male to his solitary haunts and the female has sent
the young hither and thither in search of their own food, which
takes place before the sun has been long risen. It has been
my privilege to witness some scenes of their matutinal jollifica-
tions, which have always occurred at the earliest dawn, and
have terminated with the advent of the sun. The night is
spent in proximity to each other on the water, somewhat re-
moved from the land. And in the earliest morning the notes of
parent male soon call out a response from the other members
of the family, when they all draw near, and after cavourting
around each other after the manner of graceful skaters for a
brief time, they fall into line, side by side, and lifting their
wings simultaneously, they start off in a foot race on the water
like a line of school children, running with incredible speed a
full quarter of a mile without lowering their wings or pausing
an instant, wheel around in a short circle, (in which some of
them get a little behind) and retrace their course to the place
of starting. This race, after but a moment's pause, is repeated
over and over again, with unabated zest, until by some undis-
coverable signal it ceases as suddenly as it began. Its terrain-

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 11

ation is characterized by a subsequent general congratulation
manifested by the medlj" of Loon notes. The walking or rather
running upon the face of the quiet lake waters, is a marvel of
pedal performance, so swiftly do the thin, sharp legs move in
the race, the wings being continuously held at about half
extent. Soon after this is over, the male parent takes to wing
to seek his food in some distant part of the same or some other
lake, which is soon followed by the departure of the female in
another direction, while the young swim away in various
directions to seek their supplies nearer the place of nightly
rendezvous. Their nests are not infrequently found, and
always either on the main land near the water or on the islands.
Occasionally one has been reported as found upon a muskrat's
pile. Several may nest quite near each other, particularly on
undisturbed islands. To construct them, a large quantity of
weeds and grass is gathered into a pile, into which a depres-
sion is made a foot or more in diameter, in which are deposited
usually three olivaceous, brown eggs, varying from 3^ to
nearly 4 inches in length. The earliest young have been seen
in the water by the second week in June. By the middle of
September, they have reached their full development. Most
of the members of this species are driven away by the 25th of
November, but occasionally an individual remains all winter,
as I have learned, notably along the St. Peter's river, where
numerous large springs have kept considerable areas free from
ice. Their very remarkable plumage is only fully attained at
their third year. The younger birds precede the others in mi-
gration from one to two weeks.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head and neck black, upper part and sides of head glossed
with purple; a small transverse mark on the throat composed
of white feathers, quill- like in form, distinct from each other
and placed longitudinally on each side of the neck; lower down
are large patches of white, of the same peculiar pattern, and
running in the same direction, nearly meeting behind, and in
front are about an inch apart; upper plumage and wing coverts
deep, glossy black, with pure white spots placed in regular
transverse rows, slightly curved downwards; these spots on
the upper part of the back, are small and nearly round, but
descending lower on the back, increase in size and become
quadrangular in form, being largest on the scapulars; 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 lineated with black and white; the primaries,
secondaries, and tail, brownish-black; the under surface.

12 NOTES ON THE

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, compressed, strong and tapering; outline of upper
mandible, nearly straight, very slightly curved; the lower
mandible has a groove underneath running from the junction
of the crora towards the point; the tail consists of twenty
feathers.

Length, 30; wing, 14; tarsus, 3; bill, 3; height at base, 1.

Habitat, north portion of Northern Hemisphere.

Though tish and frogs are preferably their food, they do
nicely without them when supplied with aquatic vegetation. If
undisturbed by being fired at, they will visit the same localities
daily during the season for their food.

Note. This interesting bird has increased in relative num-
bers on our larger lakes of late years, nothwithstanding the
greater number of persons who visit them, and on which boys
and sportsmen (?) are tacitly allowed to shoot nt them to their
heart's content, as they rarely hit them. I had supposed that
unless the firing was arrested, they would desert these favorite
resorts, like White Bear, Waseca, and Minnetonka. Mr. Wil-
liam. Howling and Son of East Minneapolis presented me with
the most beautiful and perfect specimen of Loon I have ever
seen a few years ago, except that the tip of the bill is hooked.
There are no indications of it having been produced by injury,
but the flexion downward is smooth and perfectly turned.
Query: — Is it a case of evolution avaunt?

IRINATOR ARCTICUS (L.). (9.)

BLACK-THROATED LOON.

In the local observations of this exceedingly rarely seen
Loon, we have an instance of the folly of making positive
declarations of the limitations of the habitat of species before
the fullest attainments from observations have been reached.
The extremely pernicious practice of ambitious writers in
anticipating the final testimonies of science in every depart-
ment of investigation, has led to evils enough to lead to its
abandonment long ago, but it is probable that the world will
have to wait for the Millennium before the truth can be waited
for till all the facts are in, and then, we devoutly hope the said
writers will be better employed. The conservative A. O. U.
have magnanimously allowed the Black-throated Loon to visit
the Northern United States in winter. From the winter of
1858 till that of 1869, eleven years, this very northern bird
came indisputably within the range of my field glass in five of
them, but I found it impossible to secure one for the reason

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA, 13

that it was always in, or near an opening in the lakes where
concealment in approaching near enough to secure it was
impossible. My hope of finding some venturesome individual
occupying such an opening in the Mississippi, as the Scoters
had done from winter to winter, was never realized, so the good
field glass must alone be credited with my observations. From
the time of my last date, the opportunity to see them was inter-
rupted by several winters absence, and the iDlaces in which I
had made my previous observations had come to be encroached
upon by approximate settlements to such an extent as to drive
them elsewhere I suppose. I am satisfied that they have been
seen by others who supposed them to be individuals of another
species, namely the Red-throated Divers.

The only mounted specimen that I have ever seen under cir-
cumstances to make me believe that it had been obtained within
my province of observations could not be vouched for as having
been gotten in it, and I have therefore waited some good for-
tune to learn more about this rarely seen Loon.

IRINATOR LIMME (Gunner). (11.)

RED THROATED LOON.

The Red-throated Loon is a fairly regular winter visitant of
our domains, and while lacking the necessary positive proof of
its breeding on the shores of Lake Superior within the borders
of Minnesota. I have abundant circumstantial reasons for
thinking it does.

It has been seen and. if I may trust the popular descriptions,
it has been killed, several times in the vicinity of Duluth by
pothunters in the period of presumptive incubation, yet I have
never known of the nests having been seen, and if they have
been seen they have not been recognized as other than the
common Loons although those of this species are much the
smaller of the two. Through exchange. I have come into the
possession of what are said to be those of this bird.

There are very considerable variations in the size of the eggs
of the entire genus, and in those of the Red -throats it is from
2.60 by 1.70 to 3.00 by 1.90. The color and markings are pre-
cicsely like those of the other species. I am informed ihat the
nests are even less mechanical in their structure, and, like those
of the others, are quite near the water, to which their beaten
paths lead from several directions.

14 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper part of the head, front, sides of head, upper part of
throat, and sides of neck, bluish-gray ; hind neck streaked
longitudinally with white on a greenish background, the white
feathers being, raised above the others; on the forepart 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 with and mottled with white; wings and tail
brownish black; under plumage pure white with a band across
the hinder part of the abdomen, and the lower tail coverts,
brownish gray; bill bluish black; iris bright ved; tarsi and feet
brownish black externally, internall}' pale flesh color; claws
yellowish at the base, and duskj" at the end.

Length, 27; wing, 11. .'0; tail, 2.50; bill, 2.2'!; tarsus, 2.75.

Habitat, northern part of Northern Hemisphere, migrating
southward in winter nearly across the United States.

Older LONGIPENNES.

Family LABID^.

RISSA TRIDACTYLA (L.)- (40.)

KITTIWAKE.

The Kittiwake is a regular spring and fall migrant, spend-
ing its winters far to the south, returning here from the 25th
of March to the 10th of April, remaining for only about eight
or ten days, and then passing on further north to breed. Cir-
cumstances connected with my observations of the gulls
migrating through the portion of the State where my principal
personal observations have been made, lead me to believe that
this species breeds on the islands of a number of our northern
lakes. I hope to be able to settle many facts in connection
with the gulls in the near future, which it has been impossi-
ble to do up to the present time. The young may be seen at
Bigstone lake, Mille Lacs lake and along the Red river as
early as the 15th of August in ordinary seasons, and always
the last week in October, in considerable numbers. As the
Kittiwake Gulls are known to breed ' ' as far south as Bird
Rock, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence " (Langille) there can be no
valid reason to doubt their doing so in the vicinities referred
to in Minnesota. Their food while with us consists of tish,
molluscs, aquatic larvas, and small water snakes.

Samuels (Birds of New England) says, "The nest is com-
posed of seaweeds arranged in a large pile, and placed on a
ledge of rock in a crevice, or on a jutting shelf, and is occupied
for successive years, receiving additional material every year.
The eggs are three in number. Their form is ovoidal; the
color varies from a creamy drab, with a very slight olivaceous
tint to a delicate graj'. On this are scattered blotches of

16 NOTES ON THE

different shades of brown, and obscure spots and blotches
of lilac." They measure usually about 2.20 by 1.60, but often
somewhat less.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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; fourth and
fifth have small white tips; bill greenish-yellow; iris reddish-
brown; legs and feet brownish-black, with a green tinge.

Length, 17; wing, 12; tail, 6; bill, 1.50; tarsus. 1.25.

Habitat, northern America.

LARUS ARGExNTATLS SMIl HSOMAM S Coles. (51.)

AMERICAN HERRING GULL.

This beautiful Gull arrives in the lower part of the State
about the first of April, and works its way northward so delib-
erately as to make it not improbable that individuals may be
seen almost any spring as late as the 10th of May. None
remain in the middle and southern parts of the State through
the summer, but there is scarcely a doubt left, in the absence
of absolute certainty, that they breed at Mille Lacs lake, and
other large northern lakes, within our boundary. Local obser-
vers report several different kinds of Gulls breeding on the
infrequented islands of those lakes, and Mr. Washburn found
from their size abundant reason for believing them to be this
species. In his visit to Otter Tail county in the latter part of
October he found them at Dead lake in considerable numbers
associated with other species of Gulls. "At Lake Mille Lacs,"
he says ' ' after the wind has been blowing from the east a day
or more, these Gulls and the two following species, viz. ; L.
delawarensis and L. Philadelphia, are plenty along the west
shore, flying up and down the beach, and occasionally alighting
to pick up soft lacustrine molluscs washed ashore with the
weed matter. About two miles from the southwestern shore
of the lake lie three barren, rocky islands that are much fre-
quented by Gulls in the breeding season.

"The larger of the three, called Stone island, (Spirit island
by the Indians) containing about three-fourths of an acre, and
with its top about 20 feet above the surface of the water, af-
fords on its rocky surface a nesting place for hundreds of Gulls. "

B'rom about the 20th of September this species begins to ap-
pear in the lakes in gradually increasing numbers, the last of

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 17

which do not leave us until late in October. While here they
spend much of the time in considerable flocks on the middle of
the ordinary sized lakes, except during- the prevalence of high
winds, when they are seen almost constantly on the wing. Dr.
Hvoslef reports it as having about the same local history in
Fillmore county, and Mr. P. H. Clague, of Herman, Grant
county, has long noticed them on the lakes in the vicinity of
that place.

The nest is said to consist of dried grass, lichens, moss,
small sticks, &c. . in profusion, deeply depressed in the center,
and contains three olivaceous drab eggs, varying to much
lighter shades, blotched and spattered with dark to light brown
and faint purple. They vary much in size and measurements,
averaging about 2. 50 by 2 inches. Many of them are quite in-
distinguishable from those of the other species of the same
genus.

The Herring Gull is a magnificent bird under any circum-
stances, but especially when leisurely floating upon the wing,
turning his head from side to side in his unremitting vigilance
to secure his food. As with the entire family, the telescopic
vision never fails to spy instantly the merest fragment within
possible range, for which it plunges with unerring aim.

In both migrations, embracing a considerable period in the
autumn, they are abundant in numbers and flocks, remaining
many times until completely frozen out of the lakes and streams
that supply them their special food.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head, neck, under parts, rump, and tail pure white; back
and wings light pearl-blue; first six primaries marked towards
their ends with black, which begins on the first about
half its length from the end, and is rapidly lessened on the
others until it becomes only a subterminal bar on the sixth;
primaries all tipped with white; on the first quill it is about an
inch and a half in extent, crossed near the end by 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 spot near the
end of the lower mandible; legs and feet flesh color; iris
white. (Young, mottled with light grayish-brown and dull
white; primaries and bill brownish-black, latter yellowish at
base. )

Length, 23; wing, 18; bill, 24-; tarsus, 2^.

18 NOTES ON THE

LARIS DELAWARENSIS Ord (54.)

RING-BILLED GULL.

The Ring-billed Gulls have become much more numerous
through a gradual increase since my first observation of them
in 1857.

They are the most abundant of their family, and extensively
distributed over the lacustrine regions of the commonwealth,
breeding in all places adapted to their habits. Prof. Clarence
Herrick reported them abundantly breeding at Lake Shatek in
the southwestern part of the State — Murray county I believe —
as early as any were reported to me from remote parts. Within
much less distant points, I observed that it was relatively
common and within a short period its extensive breeding has
been fully known.

They may be seen as early as the 10th of April in forward
seasons, but are more frequently later, but at once upon their
arrival seem to be as much at home as if no inclement season
had driven them southward six months before. At Bigstone,
and at Mille Lacs lakes, and doubtless at a large number of
other similar lakes amongst the thousands of the State, they
breed on the ground, and where available on elevated promon-
tories, but where the country is uniformly fiat, as in Grant
county where I have been to study their nidifications, they
seek sandy shores or even small ponds occasionally, in very
infrequented sections. Wherever it is they are gregarious.

Mosses constitute the bulk of the material of their nests,
with which there is employed more or less grass, and from
continuing to add a little new material every year, the nests
often become quite elevated and remarkably conspicuous
occasionally after several years.

About the first week in June the work of incubation com-
mences by the daily deposit of a grayish-green egg, until three
are layed.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head, neck, tail, and under parts, pure white; back and
wings light pearl-blue; first and second primaries black two-
thirds their length towards the end, the three next quills with
the black much less in extent, and on the sixth it is reduced to
a subterminal bar; the first quill is black at the end, above
which is a broad white band; the second quill black to its tip,
with a white spot on the inner web an inch and a half from the
end; the other primaries tipped with white; secondaries and
tertiaries ending in white; iris, yellow; bill crossed near the

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 19

end with a blackish-brown band, between which and the base
it is greenish-yellow; tarsi and feet greenish- yellow.

Length, 20; wing, 15; tail, 6; bill, 1.63; tarsus, 2.

Habitat, North America.

LARUS ATRICILLA L. (58.)

LAUGHING GULL.

The Mississippi River valley is a great thoroughfare of mi-
grating birds, some of which pass directly over its sources to-
ward Hudson Bay and still more northern regions. But all mi-
grants must occasionally rest their weary wings, and replenish
their empty stomachs, in doing which they leave a local record
for the vigilant observer. The present species is one of this
class, having been seen and obtained only in migration in the
autumn, and nothing more has come within my personal knowl-
edge of its local habits.

Years have sometimes passed without my having seen or
heard of them, and then again several will be reported, and I
may find one in the hands of the taxidermist, whose shelves
have contained one or two of them from time to time, ever
since I have resided within the State. Rumors have reached
me occasionally in years gone by, that their eggs have been ob-
tained in Cass county, but lacked assurance of their reliability;
but more recently I have received a communication from a
lady which makes it presumptively possible that the observa
tion is correct. She says, in speaking of a nest found, that the
eggs were three in number; ovoidal; grayish-green or drab;
blotched and spotted several shades of brown and purple; and
measured 2.30 by 1.65 inches.* I am not an expert in larine
oology, so that the coloration of the eggs has less value to my
presumption that the measures, which certainly correspond
with those given by the authorities. I believe we shall find it
does breed here.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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, i)ure
white; back and wings grayish lead color; the first six primar-
ies are black, beginning on the first 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

* Letter from Miss Loveland. 1880.

20 NOTES ON THE

points; bill, and inside of mouth dark carmine; iris bluish-
black; legs and feet deep red.

Length, 18; wing. 13; tail, 5; bill. If; tarsus, 2.

Habitat, Texas to Maine, and Middle American Pacific
Coast.

Dr. Coues in his Birds of the Northwest (p. G51) discredits
my report of the observation of this species, made to the Min-
nesota Academy of Natural Sciences in 1874. With just as
much reason he will discredit my reaffirmation now (as he has
done in the case of the Orchard Oriole in the same work) but
"the world still moves" and facts remain just as stubborn as
ever before he compiled that very valuable work.

LARUS PHILADELPHIA (Ord) (60.)

BONAPARTE'S GULL.

This beautiful little bird of its tribe reaches the principal
portions of the State early in April, the 10th being my own
earliest record, but it is often reported several days earlier at
Lake Shatek in Murray county, and in other more southern
localities. Individuals ai-e seen as late as the ^oth of May, and
there are the best of reasons for believing that some of them
at least breed on the islands of the larger inland lakes of the
northern counties and along the shores of Lake Superior.
Gulls are known to breed in considerable numbers in those
localities, their nests having been observed while occupied,
and this species corresponds to the general size and more
ostensible markings as popularly described by residents and
unscientific hunters who have resided in those sections for
many years. The earlier representatives reach the section
where my own opportunities are greatest often in the latter
part of August, and individuals are met occasionally as late as
the 5th of November, all of which would point to the probabil-
ities of the presumptions mentioned. Mr. Washburn found
them relatively common at Mille Lacs lake and Dead lake late
in October. He says "This graceful little Gull was seen almost
daily at Dead lake, and at other lakes throughout the countrj';
sometimes a single bird, more frequently a pair, or a flock of
six or eight. When one bird is wounded, or killed, the rest
hover for several minutes over the unfortunate comrade, when
several may be secured." For many years after coming to this
State I believe that none of the Gulls bred within its borders,
but imperfect observations led me slowly to the conviction that
this species did so to a limited extent on the shores of Lake

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 21

Superior; but it has only been within a few years that I have
felt any measure of assurance that they also breed about some
of the inland lakes.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head and upper part of neck grayish-black, this color extend-
ing 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 outer web;
inner web of the same, both webs of the second, and the outer
web of the third, white; inner web of the third, and all the other
primaries the same color as the back; the six outer primaries
have their ends black for the extent of about one inch on the
central ones, but less on the first and sixth, and they are tipped
with white slightly; 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.

Length, 14.50; wing. 10.50; tail, 4.35; bill, 1^; tarsus. 1.25.

Habitat, whole of Nort]i America.

STERNA TSCHEGRITA Lepechin. (64.)
CASPIAN TERN.

Until within a few years I have believed this Tern was only
a rather common migrant, but I have the evidence that the
species remains through the summer in many localities. Mr.
Lewis entertained this belief as long ago as in 1876, having
found the young birds .in a visit to Polk county in July. It has
been my privilege to do the same at a little later date, yet pre-
sumably too early for the migration of the young, and I am
therefore entertaining the confident expectation of finding the
nest in due time.

Usually, about the first of May, or possibly a little earlier,
the Caspian Tern makes its appearance, and for only a short
time is seen passing rapidly from lake to lake in search of its
favorite food, the fresh-water mussels, with which the margins
of the marsh-land streams and lakes abound. The flight is a
marvel of gracefulness, ease, and unwearied 'maintainance,
never failing to arrest the attention of any one at all interested
in the birds There is no marked difference in their numbers
in the autumnal southward movement, which commences
generally about the 20th of September, at which time, how
ever, individuals continue to be seen occasionally about the
larger lakes like Mille Lacs, Red lake, Shatek, etc. , until near

22 NOTES ON THE

the same date in the following month, or even a little laler,
when they are found to have disappeared entirely.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Forehead, crown, sides of head, and occiput black, glossed
with green, which color extends below the eyes and under
which is a narrow white line; back and wings light bluish-ash;
the six outer primaries dark slate-graj^ on their inner webs;
quill shafts 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 blackish-brown.

Length. 22; wing, 17; tail, 6; bill, 3.

Habitat, North America generally.

STERNA FORSTERI Nuttall. (69.)

FORSTER'S TERN.

I was much gratified, after long waiting and fruitless en-
deavor to find whether this species of Tern ever reared its
young within our State, to have a clutch of the eggs sent to
me from Douglas county. Poaching collectors had many
times claimed to have obtained them, but their finds, with a
few generous exceptions, have contributed very little to local
natural history or a sense of personal obligations. Their ex-
ceedingly brief appearance, beginning about the 25th of April
and lasting but a few days, comparatively, led me to appre-
hend that the instinct of incubation was indicating the i')roximity
of their summer habitat, which ever kept me in expectation that
it would ultimately be found near at hand. The nest was
reported to have been located on a muskrat house entirely
surrounded by water, and consisted of a moderate quantity of
reeds and coarse grasses, very slightly hollowed, and con-
tained three eggs, which were not pointed at the smaller end
like some others of the same family but were decidedly ovate,
light brown with a wash of palest green, blotched and spotted
with dark brown, was more marked at the larger end. The
average measure of the three was; 1.75 by 1.12. It was obtained
June 7th, and the eggs were apparently fresh.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper part, sides of head to a line just below the eye, and
hind neck, black; back and wings bluish-gray; primaries gray-
ish-white on the outer webs and dusky-gray on the inner next
the shaft, and over the entire web at the end; darker on inner

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 23

margin, the remaining portion of inner webs white; tail bluish-
gray, except the outer web of the outer tail feather which is
white, the inner web of this feather blackish-gray for about
two inches from the end; rump white with a slight tinge of pale
bluish gray; sides of head, throat, and entire under surface,
white; bill orange-yellow at the base, black near the end, with
the tip yellow; legs and feet red.

Length, 14.5; wing, 10.50; tail, 6; bill, 1.50; tarsus, 1.

Habitat, North America generally.

STERNA HIRLNDO L. (70 )
COMMON TERN.

From about the 20th of April until the first and second weeks
in October this species of the Terns may be occasionally seen,
but never in any considerable flocks, as in the same latitude on
the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

For a few days after their arrival, small flocks are met with
in the marshes embracing numerous ponds and lakes connected
by streams and sloughs, but in a few days they seem to have
all gone, yet the presence of one here, and there is unmistaka-
ble, though even after securing a male on three occasions I
have failed to flush the female or discover the nest in the sum-
mer months.

The taxidermists generally have an individual or tw^o in
their collections which they confound with two or three other
species as classified now, but can give no intelligent account of
where, when, or under what circumstances they were obtained.
I know nothing more of their local habits or their distribution.
Their usually accepted description is:

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 increas-
ing in extent towards the end, where it covers the entire web
for about one inch, the rest of the inner web white; the next
five primaries are hoary on their outer webs, and blackish-
gray on their inner next the shaft, and occupying their entire
web at the end; margin of the inner webs white; central tail
feathers very pale bluish- gray, the other white on their 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;

-3z

24 NOTES ON THE

legs and feet coral red, not so dark as the bill; claws brownish
black.

Length, 15; wing, 11; tail, 6; tarsus, 0.75.

Habitat, North America generally.

The galloping herd of itinerant ornithologists who have
been in immoderate haste to see their names in print, and
enjoy a share of immortality while still warm with enthusiasm,
have habitually reported this Tern as not breeding here to any
extent, but more careful and long continued investigations of
the local history of the species disprove their assumptions. I
am now able to say that while they do not breed here to the
extent that they do in some exceptional localities like those
described by Samuels in his "Birds of New England," p 547,
they are fairly common in the northern sections of the State.
On the fiat country approaching the Lake of the Woods they
are numerous all through the season of breeding, although I
could not give as much time to securing the eggs while in that
region in 1887 as I desired, yet enough were to be readily seen
to prove the past assumptions to be groundlessly made. The
variations in size were quite striking, but not to be compared
with the modifications of the markings.

STERNA ANTILLAKl 31 Lesson. (74 )
LEAST TERN.

I have been not a little surprised that so few individuals of
this species have come under my notice during the long years
of my local observation, and still more so that amongst so
many earnest collectors so very few have been observed.
Nevertheless, the species not only come to and migrate
through the State in considerable numbers, but the (supposed)
eggs have been obtained in several widely separated sections,
showing a general but not abundant distribution.

I have said "supposed eggs" because I do not feel entire
confidence in their identity for the reason that other Terns
were also observed, and the second year's plumage offers many
difficulties in identification without any extensive series to
compare with at hand.

Mj'^ inf amiliari ty with the Gulls and Terns makes me speak
with exceptional hesitation. With greater leisure, [ hope to
be able to speak with more confidence. I will say that I have
found very few individuals in the fall migrations that were
not in immature plumage, but I seldom fail of getting a por-
tion of the mature in spring.

I find the average time of their arrival in spring through
tliirty years has been April 27, and almost invariably is then

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 25

found along the Mississippi and its principal tributaries within
the State.

Later it has fallen under my notice in other localities, but
only at considerable intervals. I know nothing of its habits.

SPECIFIC CHARACT^ERS.

A triangular white spot on the forehead extending to the
eye: occiput, crown, and a line from the eye to the upper man-
dible, 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 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, 8.75; wing, 6.75; tail, 3.50.

Habitat, Northern South America, casually more northward
into British America.

Later opportunities for more careful observations have en-
abled me to say that the Least Tern is not the rare bird gener-
ally represented, but on the other hand may be called fairly
common throughout the later spring and summer till into Sep-
tember, and occasionally a few" remain even till the first part
of the following month.

Two clutches of the eggs have been brought to me, — one in
June, 1887, and the other in July, two years later. They were
cream-colored with a grayish tint, and marked with small and
larger spots of varying shades of brown, some of which were
confluent. One or two gave the least possible suggestion of a
lilac wash.

HYDROCHELIDON NIGRA SI RINAMENSIS Gmelin. (77.)

BLACK TERN.

Of all the Terns that visit the State this species is the most
abundant. Arriving from the 7th to the 10th of May they seem
to take possession of the whole commonwealth simultaneously.
This remarkable uniformity of their vernal appearance in
widely severed localities of latitude I have long observed.

Entirely insectivorous in their food, the first week or ten
days after their arrival they are almost incessantly on the wing,
in flocks of forty to a hundred, skimming the marshes, now
overflowed more or less, and bearing on the currentless waters
many kinds of insects, like crickets, grasshoppers, beetles and
spiders. Following this they are little seen except early in

26 NOTES ON THE

the morning or towards evening, as they are engaged in the
structure of their nests. These are constructed of such mater-
ials as abound about them, usually reeds, rushes, swamp
grasses, and moss, and are woven with considerable skill.
They are quite uniformly placed on floating debris, consisting
of similar materials to that employed in the structure of the
nests, although placed occasionally on a buoy of wood or bark.
The water in which these masses float is commonly from three
to four feet in depth, and completely surrounded by reeds and
wild rice. Breeding in communities, it is no uncommon thing
to find half a dozen nests very near to each other upon the
same float, and a single nest on one so small as to forbid the
presence of another. Considerable numbers build by the 25th
of May, as I have eggs I obtained before the end of the month,
but the larger part of them are deposited after the first of
June.

They lay from two to three eggs — occasionally but one — of a
smoky-yellow color, thoroughly splotched all over with dark,
umber-brown, more thickly in an undefined ring around the
larger end.

During the breeding period very little is seen of them, but
when the young are sufficiently developed to fly, they may be
seen in great numbers flying over not only these reedy marshes,
ponds and lakes, but more especially over the dry pastures,
hayfields and wheatfields, where insects and grasshoppers are
most abundant.

Silent, and apparently without suspicion, flitting here and
there like the swallows, often very near without seeming to
see one observing them, although he may have a gun in his
hand at the time, they spend most of their time in quest of
food — that universal stimulus to motion for all animate nature.
Few are seen in the country later than the 15th of August,
and then invariably it is the adult plumage. I have no record
of their presence later than the 19th of August.

In his Birds of the Northwest, p. 708, Coues says: "They
(the eggs) had to be closely looked after, for they were laid
directly on the moist matting, without any nest in any instance."
This observation having been made along the borders of my
special survey, and in the month of June, by so eminent a
naturalist, surprised me greatly until I received a communi
cation from Mr. E. W. Nelson, of Chicago, now of the Smith-
sonian Institution, who assured me that he had observed the
same thing in Cook county, where he resided, but only when

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 27

the birds had been disturbed repeatedly. I regret exceedingly
that the letter has been mislaid, or I would reproduce the
statement in his own language. This is by no means the only
instance of which birds have been known to forego the employ-
ment of a nest after having been presistently robbed of their
eggs by man or beast.

Dr. T. S. Roberts, of Minneapolis, reported to me his dis-
covery of several nests of this species on May 28, 1876; and on
the 14th of the following June, Messrs. W. L. Tiffany and John
Roberts, of the same place, secured six nests "on a sheet of
floating moss, or fresh reeds, in about three or four feet of water,
regularly woven of swamp grass, and each containing two or
three eggs."

Mr. Washburn found them in July, 1885, "Very common
throughout the Red River valley, about large sloughs and
lakes,— at Ada, and along Thief river in the vicinity of Mud
lake." Their distribution is nearly uniform where the food
conditions are found.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head, neck, breast, sides, and abdomen, black; lower tail
coverts white; under coverings of wings ashy gray; back and
wings dark plumbeous gray; the 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; length, 9.50; wing, 8 50;
tail, 3.50. Habitat, Temperate and Tropical America.

Family PHALACBOCORACID^^:.

PHALACROCORAX DILOPHUS Swainson. (120.)
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT.

While shooting ducks in the spring hunters very soon learn
to recognize the more obvious characteristics of this species of
the Cormorants; one of these characteristics is the peculiarity
of their flight. At the time referred to these birds are in con-
siderable flocks, resembling in the remote distance the larger
sized ducks and the black Brant until a good many times de-
ceived, but the observing sportsmen readily discover the
identity.

When frequently disturbed by the shooting at the ducks they
will occasionally become mingled with them in their flight from
one lake to another and are thus brought within easy range of

28 NOTES ON THE

the guns, when the taxidermists get them for mounting in such
numbers as to become a burden, while ordinarily they are a
hard bird to obtain, for they are exceedingly shy and vigilant.
Except when the water is frozen firmly, there is no time in the
year when they may not be seen in almost every general sec-
tion where the conditions are favorable to their habits of feed-
ing, but their nests are more restricted, and not infrequently
are associated with the Blue Herons in their long occupied
rookeries. Thousands of people visiting Upper Lake Minne-
tonka during a period of full iiO years have seen them thus
associated on "Crane Island," and the surprise of everj'body
has been that both the Cormorants and Herons did not abandon
the breeding place long years ago. Their reluctance to aban-
don it, however, has been as great as was that of the Sioux,
with the advantage over the aborigines that there were no
treaties in the way of their continued possession. The State
authorities have discovered the same fact and have tardily
recognized the obligation to protect them from weapons of
civilized warfare. Local observers in nearly all parts of the
State report them from "occasional" to "innumerable," accor-
ing to how near their breeding places the observations have
been made, especially after they have commenced preparations
for incubation. ,

The preparations for incubation are made about the 10th of
May in large communities, on islands in the lakes and ponds,
and almost impenetrable marshes, where are some large,
branching trees in which they mostly build their coarse but
substantial nests. These are usually bulky from having been
added to a little from year to year, and consist of land and wa-
ter weeds, portions of vines and some sticks, without )nuch
mechanism In their arrancjeinents, being piled together around a
deep depression, in which they lay three pale greenish or blu-
ish eggs, over the surface of which is spread a smear of cal-
careous material making them somewhat rough to the touch.
It is not an uncommon sight to see one or more of their nests
on the same tree on which are a number of the herons' nests,
with whom they have no neighbor jars apparently. Being
principally fish eaters they spend most of the time in the water
where their movements in pursuit of their prey are simply
marvelous in velocity. With their totipalmated feet folded
fiatly into mere blades while carried forward and when struck
out backwards opening to their utmost, and the half-spread
wings beating with inconceivable rapidity, they seem to fly

BIRDS OF MLNNESOTA. 29

through the waters at various depths in pursuit of their favor-
ite food, the fish.

By some cormorantic agreement, they distribute themselves
for feeding in such a manner as not to trespass upon each
other's domain during the breeding time, some individuals of
them going many miles away to feed. The females during this
period are allowed the nearer preserves and improve only the
earlier and later portions of the day to supply their necessities.

When the young are sufficiently grown they gather into im-
mense flocks in infrequented sections, and remain until the ice-
lid of winter has been closed over their supplies of food when
to appearance they do not go away, but are gone like the sea-
son— and how, when, and where?

In his communication to me of some observations made in
Murray county in 1877. Prof. C. L. Herrick says of this species
at lake Shetak: "The upper lake affords nesting places for in-
numerable Cormorants which are known as black loons." So
from all sources, or at least many, including Lanesboro in Fill-
more county from which Dr. Hvoslef says: ''Prom April 3d,
(1883), about fifty Cormorants were seen at the pond till the
12th of October. About the same date, but two years later,
Mr. F. L. Washburn found them at Dead lake in Otter Tail
county, fairly common for the species.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head. neck, lower part of back and under surface greenish-
black; feathers of upper part of back, wing coverts, scapulars
and tertiaries, grayish-brown, the margins greenish-black;
primaries blackish- brown, lighter on inner webs; secondaries
dark grayish-brown; tail black; a line of white filamentous
feathers running from the bill over the eye, and a few similar
ones 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 edges yellowish; the lower
mandible yellow, marked irregularly with dusky; iris bright
green; legs, feet and claws, black, middle toe claw pectinated.

Length, 33; wing, 13; tail, 6.75.

Habitat. Eastern coast of North America, breeding from
the Bay of Fandy northward; southward in the interior to the
Great Lakes and Wisconsin.

30 NOTES OX THE

Family PELEC AXID^^.

PELECAMS ERYTHRORHYNCHIS Gmelin (125.)

AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN.

This immense bird usually signals his arrival in the early
part of April by his characteristic notes from an elevation
beyond the range of vision except under the most favorable
circumstances. The sound of those notes is diflBcult to de-
scribe, but unforgetable when once certainly heard from their
aerial heights. I have sometimes scanned the heavens in vain
to see them, but am generally rewarded for my vigilance and
patience if the sky is clear, and if cloudy, also, when I watch
the rifts closely with my field glass.

They more commonlj' are in flocks of from thirty to fifty,
rarely more; but when materially less than the former number,
the flock has been divided, and they then fly lower. During
the incoming migration of the spring of 1864 it was not an
unusual thing to have them descend nearly' to the tops of the
trees, long before reaching a section for alighting. I secured
one at that time which was eleven feet in extent and weighed
twenty-two pounds. For more than twenty years after I
came here to reside they bred in Grant county in a large
community. Several of my ornithological friends visited the
place from time to time, first of which Mr. J. N. Sandford of
Elbow lake, who guided Mr. G. B. Sennett of Meadville, Pa.,
to the pelicanery subsequently, but after several j'ears' antici-
pation of seeing it with Mr. Sanford myself, professional
duties and ill health prevented, until, persecuted, robbed and
mercilessly slaughtered, they finally deserted their ancient
dwelling place, since which I have had no reliable evidence
that they bred within our borders. It is persistently claimed
by duck-hunters that they have renewed their limited breeding,
but exactly where, rumor has not decided. I think that there
is little reason to doubt that the pelicanery alluded to was the
only one within our borders, for wherever these easily identi-
fied birds were observed during the period of breeding in the
early morning and late in the day, the line of general flight
pointed to that same locality. Shortl}' after their arrival in
spring they pair for breeding, after which little is seen of
them until late in the autumn, when they begin to flock for
their late migration, which time depends entirely' upon the

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA, 31

question of the supply of their food, which is mainly small
fishes. These are abundant in the shallow streams, borders
of the lakes and ponds, until sealed up by the ice. Most
writers upon the habits of this unique species speak of the
use of the lower mandible and gular sac as a scoop, or dip net,
for gathering in their food. This seems possible, and even
probable, yet I am compelled to say that while I have often
observed their habit of dropping the inferior mandible slightly
beneath the surface of the water when the upper one seemed
only to rest on it, and thus allow the water to pass into the
mouth as they were swimming about in deep as well as shallow
water, I have never discovered the slightest evidence of their
receiving food at such times Like their renowued habit of
extending their mandibles in a series of yawning like motions
when standing upon the land, I have regarded the other as
essentially a sort of meaningless diversion. Perhaps to rinse
out the gular pouch. I am confident I could not have
been mistaken, as my observations were made when the birds
were under the most favorable circumstances for being
observed, and I have employed a superior field glass while
perfectly concealed from their sight. Whether seizing a
minnow, or a pickerel weighing three and a half pounds, as in
one instance, the fish is grasped transversely, when it is
tossed into the air and invariably received with its head fore-
most in its descent into the pouch.

The sac, or pouch, is a temporarj^ repository in which the
food is retained for a longer or shorter period as required for
supplies for digestion. The gular sac has no element of ' 'a
dip-net for catching prey", having no outlet for the water
"shipped." not even the pectinated rami of the bill of several
species of ducks. They are well known to seize great quanti-
ties of fish upon occasion, and it is equally well known that
their stomachs are relatively exceptionally small. The sac is
therefore an inexorable necessity for transportation in their
prolonged flights over frozen lakes and rivers, and has been
found on repeated occasions in possession of from one to several
fishes. One at least of the purposes of the sac cannot be
questioned.

In the latter part of May the old nests are slightly repaired
or added to of such materials as are easily obtained, and the
three to four eggs laid. They are very rudimentary, consist-
ing usually of dirt scraped together and overlaid with coarse
reeds, moss, &c., and are located quite near each other in close

32 NOTES ON THE

proximity to water, with little attempt at concealment. The
length of time after hatching before the young are taken to the
water I have not reliably ascertained.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

General plumage, pure white, (in breeding season with a
roseate tinge) ; crest and elongated feathers on the breast, pale
yellow; alula, primary coverts, and primaries, black, the shafts
of the latter, white for the greater part of their length, and
brownish-black at the end; outer secondaries, black, the inner
more or less white, the shafts of all white underneath. Bill,
yellow, with the edges and unguis, reddish; upper mandible
high at the base, but becoming gradually flattened to the end;
on the ridge just beyond the middle of the bill is a thin,
elevated bony process about one inch high, and extending
towards the end for three or four inches; lower mandible broad
at the base, with the crura separated nearly to the point,
underneath the lower mandible, beginning at the junction of
the crura and extending down the neck about eight inches, is a
large membranous sac, or pouch, capable of great expansion,
of the same color as the bill; bare space around the eye. bright
yellow; iris, white; legs and feet, yellow; claws, yellowish-
brown. The female ditfers only in the absence of the bony
projection on the upper mandible.

Length. 70; wing, 24.50; bill, 18.50; tarsus, 4.75; tail, 7.

Habitat, Temperate North America.

Note. I have no record of the earliest instance of their
nesting, but generally it takes place in the latter days of May,
several having been reported by the twenty-fifth. Some have
been known to occur even after the first of June. The nests
are very rudimentary, consisting in most cases of the dirt and
debris found at the place selected, which is on alluvial lands
quite near the water. There seems to be no attempt at con-
cealment whatever usually, and they will endure a great deal
of disturbance from intruders before they will finally abandon
the spot chosen for incubation. From two to four while eggs
constitute the "clutch,"' and the male shares the duties of the
lengthy incubency, as it would seem to be the conjugal duty of
all male birds, yet unfortunately some come very far short of
it. I have often conceived that the female cow-bird laid her
first egg in another bird's nest because her mate refused to
share her sacrifices. Later facts, and many isolated circum
stances have somewhat modified my opinions as to their aban-
doning the State for incubation.

Prof. Herrick, who is quite familiar with the bird life of Mur-
ray county, expresses himself as confident that they breed about
Lake Shetak, and later Mr. F. L Washburn, (now professor
at Corvallis, Oregon, I am informed), mentions some circum-
stances in his correspondence that Lake Traverse and many
other localities in the northwestern parts of the State have
been adopted as breeding places by the Pelicans. He states

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 33

that in 1885, from some cause not quite certain, they sought
new breeding quarters, having deserted the famous grand peli-
canry -'for many isolated localities never before occupied."'
Mr. Armstrong, of Herman. Grant Co., "found a solitary nest
near the town containing two eggs." Certainly these circum-
stances justify the conclusion that the Pelicans have not yet
deserted Minnesota as a breeding place.

PELECANUS FUSCUS L. (126.)
BROWN PELICAN.

Reasonably credible rumors from three different localities on
the western borders of the State add one Brown Pelican each
to the list of straggling visitors within our borders. I am very
familiar with them in sections where they abound, but have
never seen any within my present province.

Older ANSERES.

Family ANATID^.

MERGANSER AMERICANl S (Cassin) (129.)
AMERICAN MERGANSER.

This is the largest species of the true Fish Ducks. They
reach the larger lakes somewhat before the disappearance of
the ice. A narrow border may have yielded to the advancing
sun and invited the fish from under the frozen canopy into its
grateful rays, and thus offering the ducks their chosen food
in abundance, but if they have counted upon such a repast
they are liable to great disappointment, for the retreating
cold often returns with a vigor that closes again every opening
in the ice of the still waters of the lakes and ponds, when the
premature invaders will be compelled to seek their supplies
in the swift currents of the streams and rivers. At the time
of their spring migrations, they appear in considerable flocks,
and no inconsiderable numbers are killed by persons unfamil-
liar with their habits, and ignorant of their valuelessness for
food, at least such was formerly the case; but since the coun-
try has become more extensively occupied by settlement, and
been cultivated along the shores of their former haunts, they
have disappeared from the more frequented lakes, and are
now seldom seen except in the remoter districts. There they
still breed in comparatively fair numbers. They place their
nests in the forks of dead trees of the forest bordering the
water where the banks are low and flat, or upon ledges of
rock overhanging the water, in extremely secluded places.
The nest consists of grass, leaves, moss, etc., over which are
placed their own feathers in sufficient quantity for warmth to
be easily maintained while incubation is in process. The eggs
are about ten in number, and are of a cream white color, that
varies in different eggs of the same nest. In earlier days.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 35

when they bred in my own county, I found the young on the
ponds and small grassy lakes as early as the first week in
June, and as late as the last week of July, which warranted
the presumption that they rear more than one brood each
year.

Their food consists of fish, mussels, and occasionally the
stems and roots of aquatic vegetation. The flight of the Mer-
gansers, or Shelldrakes, as they are more commonly called in
this country, is not very unlike that of the Mallard, yet easily
distinguished by experienced sportsmen at a considerable dis-
tance. Although they have become quite rare in the southern
they are more readily found in the northern portions of the
State, where there are extensive are as yet wild enough to
meet all the requirements for their food and reproduction.
They linger in small family flocks in autumn as late as an
abundant supply of food is obtainable, and move away south-
ward in the night.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Feathers of the forehead extending on the bill in an acute
angle for half the distance between those on the sides and
nostrils; outline of those on the sides nearly vertical, and
reaching but little beyond the beginning of the lower edge of
the bill, but as far as those on the side of the lower jaw; nos-
trils large, far forward, their middle opposite the middle of
the commissure. Head and neck green; fore part of back
black; beneath salmon color; wings mostly white, crossed by
one band of black; sides faintly barred transversely.

Length, 26.50; wing, 11; tarsus 1.85; commissure, 2.90.

Habitat. North America generally.

:MERGANSER SERRATOR (L.). (130.)
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER.

This Merganser cannot be regarded as a common resident,
yet I have found it breeding within a few miles of both Minne-
apolis and St. Paul, and it is known to do so in several localities
to the west of our great timber belt, as in the vicinity of some
small lakes embraced in that forest. They arrive with the
earlier game ducks, and are frequently shot under the sup-
position that they belong to that class. As with the other
species of local ducks, they do not continue long in flocks, but
shortly pair off and resort to the more favorable sections for
breeding, where they build large, bulky nests on the ground.
The nests consist first of rushes, reeds, coarse weeds and

36 NOTES ON THE

grasses, with some roots. Over these is the true nest, com-
posed of fine roots chiefly, which is covered with a layer of
feathers. They lay about ten, light, dirty, drab colored eggs.
I have found but one while employed for nidification, although
several have come to my notice by finding the fragments of
shells associated with them. The young birds were in the
water of a draining ditch on the 9th of June. The species is
abundantly reported in both migrations, yet only a very few
individuals have seen these ducks during the summer, for the
obvious reason that, like all other locally breeding ducks,
they are rarely found on the wing. Hence Mr. Washburn's
statement that he found the species rather rare in the Red
River valley in July and August. They remain till very late
in November, and occasionally all winter, as I have repeatedly
seen them in open rapids on spring fed streams and the Mis-
sissippi.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Feathers of the forehead extending on the bill in a short,
obtuse angle, and falling 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
the bill to the nostrils, and far beyond those on the side of the
lower jaw. Nostrils posterior and narrow, their posterior
outline opposite the end of the basal third of the commissure.
Head with a conspicuous, pointed, occipital crest. Head and
upper part of neck all around dark green; under parts red-
dish-white; jugulum, reddish-brown streaked with black; sides
distinctly barred transversely with fine lines of black. Feathers
anterior to wing white, margined with black. White of wing
crossed by two bars of black.

Length, 23.25; wing, 8.60; tarsus, 1.80; commissure, 2 75.

Habitat. Northern North America.

LOPHODYTES CI CI LLATIS (L ). (131.)
HOODED MERGANSER.

Undisturbed in the quiet solitudes of its favorite feeding
places, especially during the mating season when the time is
more devoted to courting, the male of this species of ducks has
no peer for regal beauty in its family except the always to be
excepted male Wood Duck, {Aix sjjonsa). It is a permanent
resident, finding open water enouglf through the severest
winters to make its supply of fish-food possible. On the
coldest days I have many times observed it feeding in the
rapids at the foot of the falls of St. Anthony. At such times

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 37

they may occasionally be seen flying further up or down the
river in small parties.

Once in January, 1874, when the mercury had descended to
forty degrees below^ zero while a north wind was blowing
terrifically, I saw a flock of six of this species flying directly
into the teeth of the blizzard at their ordinary velocity of not
less than ninety miles an hour. The compactness of their
flocks of half a dozen to fifteen in their flight is characteristic,
and their directness fully equal to that of the Green-winged
Teal, (Anas caros inensis). About the third week in April, or a
little later, they disperse for incubation. They build their
nests but a short distance from the water, and like the Wood
Duck, in the hollows of trees, or upon the stubs of such as have
been broken off by the wind. One discovered by a duck -friend
of mine (to the location of which he called my attention many
years since ) was placed in as hallow cavity rotted out of a lean-
ing trunk some forty feet from the ground, and consisted of
w^eeds, grass and feathers, the latter completely concealing the
others. It contained thirteen perfectly white, subspherical,
thick-shelled eggs, that averaged 2.12 by l./O in measurement.
In one instance, a lady sharing my interest in birds and game,
while rowing with me, noticed what w^e supposed to be a Wood
Duck carrying her chick by the neck from a tree into the
water. We waited in vain some time to see if the bird would
not bring another young one. Reaching the middle of the
small lake, w^e saw the duck, by the aid of the field-glass, re-
sume the loving task, and discovered the bird to be a female of
the species under consideration. This was on the 18th of May.
Mr. Treganowan found the baby birds in Becker county, on the
17th of August, showing that in one instance at least, a second
brood presumptively was brought out in the same season. lam
not confident that this is universally the case however. The food
at this time embraces fish, molluscs, and aquatic insects. With
the crest fully extended, the male of this species, as already
intimated, presents a most beautiful view when swimming
leisurely on the undisturbed water, under the deep shadows of
the environing woods. He takes none of the burdens of incuba-
tion upon him, but at that time hides himself away between
the narrow banks of some solitary stream abounding with small
fish, to resume in due time his place at the head of his well
developed family. Like the other fish ducks, they stay as long
as the ice will let them on the shores of the lakes, whence they
go to open rapids, and late in November mostly drift more

38 NOTES ON THE

southward. According to Mr. Washburn, this species is very-
common at Lake Mille Lacs, and Dead lake. Dr. Hvoslef
finds them in February at Lanesboro, Fillmore county, in open
places in the Root river. Mr. Edward A. Everett, of Waseca,
reports them in January. Indeed, there are no sections where
the birds have been looked after by competent observers which
do not give reports of the Hooded Merganser. It must not be
inferred that they are as numerous a species as some otiiers
breeding here, but they may be said to be common residents,
large numbers of which go further north still to breed and
further south to winter.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head with an elongated, compressed, circular crest; anterior
extremity of nostril reaching not quite as far as the middle of
the commissure; frontal feathers extending nearly as far as
half the distance from the lateral feathers to the nostril; the
latter much beyond the feathers on the side of the lower mandi-
ble. Bill shorter than head. Bill, head, neck, and back, black;
center of crest and under parts white; sides chestnut brown,
barred with black; anterior to the wing white, crossed b}' two
black crescents; lesser coverts gray; speculum white with a
basel and median-black bar; tertials black, streaked with white
centrally.

Length, 17.50; wing. 8; tarsus, 1.20; commissure, 2.

Habitat. North America generally.

ANAS BOSCHAS L. (132.)
MALLARD.

When the comfortless days of March have long delayed the
departure of the winter, and the great lakes, and the little ones
too, begin to show a liquid margin into which sundry reptiles
and fishes have come to catch the first warm rays of the ad-
vancing sun, we look for the ducks to return, and first of all
generally, the Mallards. And should a sharp thaw be attended
by a warm rain, we never look in vain. The avaunt couriers
consisting of members of this species will more than likely
form the largest tlock of the entire season, and will come along
the cloudy curtains of the horizon after the manner of wild
geese, but with less of the wedge-shaped order of flight of the
latter and their ostentatious honkings. Sweeping around in
circles, the radius of which is many miles in extent, examining
the various streams and lakes for the larger openings in the
ice, they suddenly dip down to one as if to alight, when as ab-
ruptly they rise again and sweep away to another with a few

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 39

quacks of mutual advisement, or perchance of disappointment,
and are soon out of sight. In half an hour they are back
again to drop, one after another, into the open water of the
very lake beside which we may be carefully concealed. Here,
if undisturbed, they will spend the remainder of the day, but
when the night has come they quietly fly away to the meadows
and growing wheat fields or the oak openings where the mast
is an assured supply for their repast. At the earliest dawn of
the coming day, they return to the lakes for rest, mussels,
aquatic vegetation and security. As they breed extensively in
nearly every portion of the State adapted to their reproductive
and food habits, little difiiculty lies in the way of learning their
characteristic habits. I find that as a general thing their nests
are completed and occupied by the loth to the 20th of May.
As they deposit from ten to twelve eggs, and supposibly never
more than one in the same day, it is pretty near the first of
June before they are fully installed in the essential work of in-
cubation. Only rather coarse weeds and grasses are employed
in the structure of the nest, but it is lined with their own down
liberally. The eggs are of a dirty, greenish-white color. The
location of the nest may be on the veriest margin of the land
near the water, concealed in the reeds and rushes, or a mile
away, perhaps on the open prairie, hidden by the rank, un-
glazed tuft of grass which may be seen at a considerable dis-
tance. And again it is no unprecedented thing to find it
amongst the coarse bushes on a wooded hillside. The duck-
lings are taken to the water in a short time where the
brood may often be found without much difficulty, except the
sacrifices of an early rising in the morning. They linger in the
State until quite in autumn, growing and fattening on the
wild rice, mast, and extensive waste of the wheat fields. In
the latter place they are often in immense flocks, where the
hunters are congregated for their destruction as late and early
as the law allows them to maintain their slaughter. As matters
have been for many years, their number must have become
greatly reduced, and therefore we may well rejoice that our
legislature has provided some long needed protection to them.
To instance, not one alone of "crack sportsmen," but many
from abroad as well as at home have boasted of having killed
three and four hundred in a fall shooting, and in a single in-
stance upwards of one thousand. This is truly duck murder.
Thirteen thousand meandered, and therefore recorded lakes

4z

40 NOTES ON THE

and ponds, including all of the wild rice marshes, and wheat
fields, will prove inadequate to maintain the supply at this
rate. Thanks for legislation though late.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head and neck bright grass -green, with a violet gloss, top
of head duller; a white ring around 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, terminated with black; a recurved tuft of feath-
ers on the rump; iris dark brown.

Length, 28; wing, 11; tarsus, 1.70; commissure, 2.50.

Habitat, northern parts of northern hemisphere.

ANAS OBSCURA Gmelin. (133.)
BLACK.

My first local observation of the Black Ducks began in the
spring of 1862, during the spring migration. They were asso-
ciated with the Mallards, and were exceedingly shy, a single
one in the ftock often proving a sad defeat to the sportman's
purposes towards the other species. A few usually find their
way into the game markets, in both migrations, and it is seldom
that a season passes in which I have not observed their pres-
ence in one or both migrations. They are never abundant,
indeed they are rather rare, and in small flocks in the spring
migrations which are somewhat larger in the autumn. I have
never counted more than 15 in a single flock, and more com-
monly not to exceed half a dozen. I had been told that they
bred in the southern and western sections of the State long
before I had an opportunity to corroborate the statement, but
I have long since found them doing so in the valley of the Min-
nesota river, and in Kandiyohi county. Their nests were in a
tussock of rank grass or reeds, in a marsh which had been
overflowed during the prevalence of high water in spring, and
in one instance was found as early as the 15th of May with
three eggs in it. Another was shown me by a citizen wlio
resided but a short distance away, containing ten, greenish -
brown eggs. This was May 27th, which seems to indicate about
the same period of nesting as for the former. Their food in

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 41

spring consists largely of aquatic larvae, and of molluscs with
the succulent roots of fresh water vegetation; and in the
autumn of wild rice and domestic grains, to which should be
added considerable mast after the acorns have fallen. They
seldom resort to the smaller lakes and ponds after raising their
broods, but are found in the larger ones, and notably in the
vicinage of timber lands. Their distribution is not uniform by
any means, and about as difficult to ascertain as that of a great
number of avian species as sparingly represented. What pro-
portion of them go further north to breed it is difficult to even
conjecture, but doubtless much the larger. They disappear in
the fall migration somewhat earlier than do the Mallards. I
ought to have said before that the nest is a large, compact one,
and constructed of grasses and weeds, over which are imposed
the duck's own feathers.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill greenish; feet red; body generally blackish-brown; the
feathers obscurely margined with reddish-brown; those anteri-
orly with a concealed V-shaped mark, more or less visible
on the sides of the breast; head and neck brownish-yellow,
spotted with black; top of the head and nape, dark brown,
with a green gloss on the sides behind; wings dull blackish,
with a dull greenish gloss; speculum violet, terminated with
black; inner tertials hoary gray towards the tips; axillaries
and inside of wing w^hite ; tail of eighteen feathers; iris dark
brown.

Length, 22; wing, 12; tarsus, 1.80; commissure, 2.56.

Habitat, eastern North America, west to Utah and Texas.

ANAS STREPERA. L. (135.)
GADWALL.

No species of the Duck family is a more regular resident,
often reaching the State by the 25th of March, and found on
favorite streams late in November. They are quite a numerous
species and fly in compact flocks of about a dozen, rarely more,
which is easily recognized by the experienced gunner at con-
siderable distance by the distinctive character of their move-
ments on the wing. Like the Mallards and many other species
of the ducks, they live upon aquatic plants, both blades and
roots, larvae, water beetles, moUusks, wild rice, and the vari-
ous grains of the farmer's fields, to get which they fly long
distances both at night and during the day.

The nests are found on the ground, in marshes skirting

42 NOTES ON THE

streams of running water, and are composed of weeds, sticks,
grasses, and rushes as the location convenient!}" supplies them.
The eggs, eight to ten in number, are rather of a cream- white,
at least would be but for the dirt imparted by the soiled feet of
the brooding female.

As is the case with nearly every species of the family breed-
in the State, the distribution is subject to extreme variations
from year to year. In a local scarcity of Ring-necks and
Scaups, for instance, this species will abound during one sea-
son which may be followed in the next by its almost total ab-
sence, while one of those mentioned, or almost any other, may
be in force in any single section. This circumstance applies
equally with the Mallard.

The relative abundance of species may be best studied in the
return of expert duck-hunter's bags.

In the hunting season there are few portions of our State
where some of this species are not found. It has not yet been
my fortune to see the nest and eggs in situ, but I have the
latter in my collection obtained within a few hours ride of my
home by Mr. E. L. Hood, an expert oulogist in my employ-
ment.

Incredible numbers of this species are slaughtered for the fall
market and are regarded only second to the Mallard in value
for the table. It is a gamy duck and flies promptly at the ap-
proach of danger; is an exceptionally good diver and rapid
swimmer. It wanders a long distance from the water for nuts.
acorns, etc., in the cloudy, windy days of November. They re-
tire from this latitude generally during the last week in
October,

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head and neck brownish-white, each feather spotted with
dusky; 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; inter- scapular region, outermost scapulars, and
sides of body, finely weaved transversely with black and
white; middle wing coverts chestnut, the greater, velvet-
black, succeeded by a pure white speculum, bordered exter-
nally by hoary gray; innermost scapulars with a reddish
tinge; crissum and upper tail coverts black; longest tertials
hoary plumbeous gray; inside of wing and axillaries pure
■white; bill black; iris hazel.

Length, 2-; wing, 10.50; tarsus, 1.65; commissure, 2,04.

Habitat, United States. Nearly cosmopolitan.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 43

ANAS AMERICANA Gmelin. (137.)
BALDPATE.

In the spring of 1864 the Baldpates were more numerous
than any other species migrating along the Mississippi
through Minnesota.

It was observed by sportsmen and universally commented
upon as most remarkable in the history of duck-shooting.
The following year only a few were met wnth in the same
localities, and never since as many relatively, but some years
they are common while scarce in others. Subsequently, by
extensive conference with intelligent and observing sports-
men, and a close watch of the markets, I satisfied myself that
the variation in local numbers was balanced within the
longitudinal boundaries of the State; that when scarce along
the region drained by the Mississippi they were abundant
along that of the Minnesota river, and vice versa, through the
following years.

It has been a common observation that the Baldpates and
Pintails almost uniformly arrive more or less commingled,
which is also the case in their autumnal migrations. Both
species arrive a little later than some others, and are seldom
found in the larger lakes, but in the ponds and streams. Their
food consists largely of roots of various aquatic plants. The
Baldpates breed on the extensive marshes of the northern
counties of the State, where Mr. Lewis and Mr. Treganowan
found them in June and July. The nest possesses no dis-
tinctive characteristic and contains variously from six to
twelve dirty, cream white eggs.

Mr. Washburn found it common and breeding at Otter Tail
and Thief river. Dr. Hvoslef notes its arrival in Fillmore
county from the 12th to the 20th of April, but says nothing of
its breeding there, nor have I seen its nests in the section of
my greatest opportunity for personal observation. I found it
already beginning to be common in Grant and Big Stone coun-
ties late in August.

specific characters.

Tail of fourteen feathers; bill blue, the extreme base and tip
black; head and neck pale buff, or faint reddish-yellow, each
feather banded narrowly with blackish, giving the appearance
of spots; top of head from bill, pale unspotted creamy -
white; sides of head from around the eye to tlie nape glossy-
green, the feathers however, with hidden spots, as described;

44 NOTES ON THE

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; crissum abruptly black;
the back, scapulars and rump, finely waved transversely anter-
iorly with reddish and gray, posteriorly with purer gray on a
brown ground; a little of the same waving on the sides also;
lesser wing coverts, plain gray; middle and greater, conspicu-
ously^ white, the latter terminated by black, succeeded by a
speculum which is grass-green at the base, and then velvet-
black; tertials black on outer web, bordered narrowly by
black, the outermost one hoary-gray, externally edged with
black; tail hoary-brown; upper coverts black externally; axil-
lars white; iris hazel.

The blackish chin appears to be found only in very highly
plumaged birds, and the top of the head is sometimes pure
white.

Length, 22; wing, 11; tarsus, 1.40; commissure, 1.08.

Habitat, North America.

ANAS CAROLINENSIS Gmelin. (139.)

GREEN- WIJ^GED TEAL.

When the first flock of Ducks of the spring has arrested the
attention of the amateur, or the keen eyed sportsman, he
looks for the two Teals next. And that well trained eye knows
each of the two species at a glance by its flight. Within the
duck kingdom the Green-wings have no equal in speed on the
wing, and onl^' one superior for beauty. A little incident in
my personal experience, gave me a realizing sense of the
former. On an occasion when duck-shooting in a pass,
not many miles from my home, I was standing behind a
bush as high as my head, when I discovered a flock of this
species coming from another lake. So directly were the ducks
coming toward me that they seemed to be only poising on their
vibrating wings when I fired at the leader, and his head drop-
ped instantly, for he was as dead as he ever could be, and
mine dodged to one side just in time to have the plumage of
the bird brush my ear as it went by like a ball from a steel
eight pounder, and only reached the ground at a distance of a
hundred and fifty feet beyond. It has been said that the
Green winged Teal flies at a velocity of one hundred and sixty
miles an hour. Judging it by that incident, I am read}- to
believe the estimate none too high. In 1876, they reached
nearly every portion of the State on the 5th of April, as re-
ports from most of them subsequently attested. But I have
records of my own showing of their arrival as early as the

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 45

17th of March. Their distribution for breeding, becomes con-
siderably restricted, but varies in the choice of localities in suc-
cessive years. In the one first alluded to their nests were found
in several places in Hennepin county, bat in the next I could
find or hear of none. In later years I found them breeding
along the Minnesota bottoms and in the marshes along Min-
nehaha creek, which constitutes the outlet of Lake Minne-
tonka.

Mr. Washburn found them "rather common, and breeding
at Otter Tail and Mille Lacs," in 1885. The nest is formed of
weeds, sedges and grasses, lined with considerable down.
Eight to ten eggs are usually laid, of a dingy creamy-white
color. It is almost a strictly vegetable feeder, wandering
some considerable distance from the water in search of ber-
ries, nuts, wild rice, etc.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head, and neck all around, 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
around, sides of breast and body, long feathers of flanks and
scajDulars, 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. Sometimes the under parts are strongly
tinged with ferruginous brown.

Length, 14; wing, 7.40; tarsus. 1.15; commissure, 1.68.

Habitat, North America generally.

ANAS DISCORS L. (140.)

BLUE-WINGED TEAL.

No other species of the Ducks is so cautious upon its arrival
as the Blue- winged Teal, a trait by which the old hunter deter-
mines its identity at once. In parties of eight to ten or a dozen,
they will circle around, descending again and again only to
rise again and go further up, or lower down the stream, to
repeat the same demonstrations of indecision, many times over,
and just as unexpectedly they suddenly drop out of sight

46 NOTES ON THE

between the treeless banks. They are, as a general thing,
several days later in their spring arrivals, and as much earlier
than the Green -wings in autumn. This is not true in every
migration, for I have once or twice known them to come a lit-
tle before the other, and several times simultaneously; but in
my observations extending over many years in succession, it
has proved a noticable characteristic in its migrations. They
are seldom seen on the large clear lakes; but on small ponds,
mud flats, and sluggish streams where various pond weeds
and aquatic roots afford, in abundance its favorite vegetable
food. Nesting late in May and early in June, they rear only
one brood so far as I have been able to ascertain. The struc-
ture is uniformly of grasses, lined quite liberally with down
from the female's own breast and is more commonly placed on
dry ground at least a hundred yards from the nearest water.
It is best found by carefully distinguishing the obscure path at
the water's edge, and tracing it to its unsuspectedly remote
seclusion. The search may prove the path to have been the
beaten runway of the muskrat to some other pond, but may
afterwards be distinquished by its having been so much more
frequented and soiled.

Tlie eggs are of the same general color as the Green-winged
Teals, namely, a dull, dingy, cream- white, and are a little
smaller in size, and about ten in number. Like the other
species they fly in very compact flocks of a dozen or less, and
at a terrific speed, only excelled by one other amongst all the
ducks known. Tenderest of all, they retire southward earliest
in the autumn, so that sometimes all have left the country by
the 25th of October, or first of November. They are found
breeding in every part of the State in ditt'erent seasons.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head and neck above plumbeous gray; top of head, black:
a white crescent in front of the eye; under parts from middle
of neck, purplish- gray, each feather with spots of black, which
become more obsolete behind; fore part of back with the feath-
ers 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 the scapulars, olue;
other scapulars, velvet-black, or green streaked with pale
reddish-buff; speculum, glossy-green; outer greater wing cov-
erts, white, as are the axillaries, middle of under surface of wing,
and a patch on each side of the base of the tail; bill, black:
feet, flesh-colored; iris, dark-hazel.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 47

Length, 16; wing 7.10; tarsus, 1.20; commissure, 1.85.

Habitat, North America generally.

Later observations have convinced me that as a species
they breed much more extensively throughout the State than
does the Green-winged Teal. In the lacustrine portions, like
the counties in the northwestern division of the Common-
wealth as well as in the southeastern, I have the fullest assur-
ances from my local observers to justify the opinion. I have
found them doing so in five or six localities in my own county,
(Hennepin.)

ANAS CYANOPTERA Vieillot. (141.)

CINNAMON TEAL.

On a few occasions since I have resided in the State I have
found one of these beautifal ducks amongst others brought
into the markets by hunters from the head waters of the Red
river. On one such occasion my attention was specially called
to "a hybrid duck" that proved to be one of these. I have
been accustomed to seeing them in Lower California, where they
are at home the year around. Of course those seen are rare
stragglers, but as an occasional individual may continue to be
seen, I will reproduce their brief description.

specific characters.

General color a rich, dark purplish chestnut; top of head,
chin and middle of bell3^ tinged with brown; crissum, dark-
brown; fore part of back, lighter with two or three more or
less interrupted concentric bars of dark brown; feathers of
rump and tail, greenish- brown, the former edged with paler;
wing coverts, and outer webs of some scapulars, blue, others
dark velvet-green, streaked centrally with yellowish-buff; edges
of wing coverts, white, as are the axillaries and middle of wing
beneath; feathers of uniform chestnut, without bands; specu-
lum, metallic green.

Length, 17.80; wing, 7.50; tarsus, 1.15; commissure, 2.

Habitat, western America.

SPATULA CLYPEATA (L). (142.)

SHOVELLER.

In driving across the high rolling prairie a few miles south-
west of Fort Snelling, I discovered a female of this species in
the distance, laboriously waddling through the grass less than
one foot in height, up a gentle slope. A familiar muskrat
pond of moderate size lay between me and the duck, from the
shores of which emerged numerous paths of the muskrats which

48 NOTES OX THE

could be indistinctly seen, even at that distance. These are
generally very irregular in their course, greatly increasing
the distance to any point they approach, and hence very mis-
leading to any one not aware of their habits. It occurred to
me at once that she was following such a devious way, as she
advanced so indirectly and apparently hesitatingly. She never
paused, however, until having arrived at a spot quite near a
solitary bunch, or patch of rank growth, when after a moment's
pause, and survey, she dropped her briefly elevated head and
disappeared in that patch of rank vegetation. Except the re-
stricted covert thus afforded, she could scarcely have selected
a more exposed location, as it was plainly in view for a dis-
tance of three-fourths of a mile in the direction from which I
saw her, and only a little less in any other one except directly
opposite my location, which was slightly interrupted by the
further elevation of the land. Marking down the location with-
out the slightest difficulty,! drove on to my destination, not very
far beyond, passing much nearer to the spot in my way, I did not
return for some two hours, but on doing so drove directly to
the spot and upon carefully parting the rank prairie grass,
avoided by the grazing cattle on account of its being the pro-
duct of a deposit of their offal late in the previous year, I at
once discovered the nest with five pale greenish-yellow eggs.*
They had the faintest tinge of olivaceous gray, and measured
on an average, a little more than 2 by 1.50 inches. Being called
to the same place again after ten days, I drove to the spot, and
drove the duck from her nest to find she had fourteen eggs,
settling the question of her depositing one each day after she
began laying. My discovery of the nest was on the 23d day of
May. In early seasons they occasionally arrive in their
spring migration by the 5th of April, but usually somewhat
later. More commonly they are then seen in small flocks only,
yet I have known them in an exceptional year to appear in
very large ones, but when such is the case I have observed
that such flocks do not remain long, but pass on north further,
suggesting that their destination is probably the highest lati-

•When referring to tlie liabits of the Shovellers in breedins. I should have said tliat
wliile they frequently ;ro .so far from the water to build tlieir nests, such is not their
unifortii eustoni, for more fre(inentlv tlie nests are to be found ((uite near it. "neof
tlieni I found in a eUiinn of rushes within a yard of running water, and another in the
middle of a broad niarsli. iialf a mile from water deep enou^rli for tlie duck to swim In.
Tliestrueture consists of sueli materials as are most easily obtained at and near tlie
spot. Tlie one tirsi mentioned, on tlie open prairie, consisted entirely of dried firass,
overlaid witli featliers from tlie liird's own Iireast : wliile the latter two were eon -
struoted of ruslies and reeds. They otherwise are like most duck nests, rather firmly
built of a liberal supply of material The market stalls bear testimony that nearly
all sections are represented Ijy this species, at least in the game season.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 49

tudes in which the species breed, and further intimating that
the smaller flocks which follow are subdivisions of larger ones
which have begun to disintergrate before reaching us here.
Their movements at these times do not materially differ from
those of the Black Ducks on the wing, but the preponderance
of white in the color easily distinguishes them at all ordinary
distances and there can be no reason for mistaking them. They
soon pair, and soon seek their grounds for breeding their
young. Their food is, as their long, pectinated bills fore-
shadow, aquatic insects, larvae, tadpoles, worms, &c., which
are obtained mostly in shallow waters. I have often flushed
them from muddy pools and frogponds by the roadside before
the nesting had begun, but never afterwards I think.

The distribution of the Shovellers is entirely determined by
the character of the ponds and pools which afford their pecu-
liar food. In the early autumn, if the frosts are delayed, as
once until the middle of Octooer, they live almost exclusively
upon crustaceans and small molluscs, especially snails, which
abound at that season about the shallow lakes and ponds.

They disappear very soon upon the advent of the first crisp
frosts, be that, as in one year, August 30th, or September 30th.
Their flesh is white and excellent, yet for some unexplainable
reason is not popular in the average local markets, notwith-
standing the high esteem in which it is held at the seaboards.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head and neck green; forepart and sides of breast, greater
portion of scapulars, and of the base of the tail, white; rest of
under parts dull purplish 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 velvet green, streaked centrally with white;
speculum grass- green, edged very narrowly behind with black,
and then with white.

Length, 20; wiDg, 9.50; tarsus, 1.40; commissure, 3.

Habitat. Northern Hemisphere.

DAFILA ACUTA (L.). (143.)
PINTAIL.

When the steady advance of the sun has banished the ice
from the lakes and every pool is ringing with the monotonous
peepings of the frogs, the Pintails will be found in considera-
ble numbers on the mud flats of the open level prairies, and ex-

50 NOTES ON THE

tensive marshes, where for the time the tadpoles have attracted
them by their abundance. But they were here before that
time, having followed closely upon the track of the Mallards
and other early ducks

In large and medium flocks, they will then be found along the
recently opened streams, and in the woodlands where they
spend much of their time in search of acorns, insects, snails,
and larvae of different kinds, which are under the wet leaves
and on the old decaying logs with which the forests abound.
Under these circumstances, they scatter widely, so that the
first one encountered will seem to be a wanderer, but a little
distance away another will be flushed, and so until several
have flown off before the flock will rise as a whole, and perhaps
not even then if no gun has been fired to simultaneously disturb
them. Yet, when in the water they rarely scatter much, but
swim very compactly as a flock, uttering a low chattering note
as they move evenly along over the quiet surface. If driven to
wing, they rise as compactly as they swim, a circumstance in
their habits which has been noticed through their history, and
has been made available and profitable by the pothunters. I
have no reliable evidence that they breed in the southern por-
tions of the State, but find them doing so limitedly in the mid-
dle, and commonly in the northern. They have been found
with the young in July in several localities, and samples of
their eggs which were taken from their nests in early June in
Becker county have been sent to me by Mr. Blanche of Detroit.
Mr. Treganowan reported the presence of the species in Kan-
diyohi county in June and July, and Mr. Lewis in early August
at Big Stone. Near Herman in Grant county, a German farmer
saw them at ditterent times during the summer, and shot some
of them in August which he had mounted, that established
their identity. I was many years ago told that this species was
breeding in Medina in my own county, but never having found
them breed myself, I took this statement with some qualifica
tion until I found the adult birds myself, following which the
eggs were brouglit to me from the same vicinity by Mr. J. C.
Bailey, who resided there for many years.

They are among the shyest of the Duck family, and might
elude common observation for a long period in any section
while fairly represented. About the second week in October,
often somewhat earlier, they begin to leave us in this locality,
and are all gone by the first of November.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 51

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail of sixteen feathers; bill black above and laterally at the
base; the sides and beneath, blue; head and upper part of neck
uniformly dark brown, glossed with green and purple behind; in-
ferior part of neck, breast, and under parts white; the white of
the neck passes up to the nape, separating the brown, and it-
self is divided dorsally by black, which below passes into the
gray of the back; sides, and back anteriorly are finely lined
transversely with black and white; wings, plain bluish gray;
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.

Length, 30; wing, 11; tail, 8.60; tarsus, 1.75; commissure,
2.86.

Habitat, North America.

AIX SPONSA (L.). (144.)
WOOD.

Peerless amongst its entire family for its indescribable beauty
stands the Wood Duck. The nearest to a rival in the Duck
kingdom is the Mandarin Duck of Asia. But the difference be-
tween the two makes comparison odious. It is at once the
Prince of Ducks. The most truthful and esthetic description
of the mature male could reach no nearer the limning reality,
than the coldest prose could paint the rainbow. Science, after
all her most imposing assumptions, would sit down and weep
before the task, in blank despair. The impotence of all at-
■ tempts has smirched the skirts of hope by what has been as-
sayed in its systematic as well as its vernacular nomenclature.
Aix Sponsa! Shades of Linnaeus, weep cold, clammy tears for
thine irremediable dereliction! Wood Duck! Summer Duck!

Arriving simultaneously with the other earlier species, none
other braves the last rigors of the departing winter in the clos-
ing days of a Minnesota March with greater spirit. And when
they come, like the rains of the tropics, they pour in until
every pool in the woodlands has been deluged with them. This
may sound strangely and exaggerated to ears unfamiliar with
the history of bird life on the borders of civilization, yet such
has heretofore been my personal observation at the very loca-
tion of our city. Wilson and other writers who have described
the habits of the Wood Duck have uniformly stated that "they
seldom fly in flocks of more than three or four individuals to-
gether, and most commonly in pairs or singly." A little later

52 NOTES ON THE

than the time in spring of which I have written such state
ments become true, for after a short time following their ar-
rival, they are only seen in smaller flocks, and then only in
pairs, after which, by the first of May, not at all. for the pairs
have entered upon their mission of reproduction. Audubon's
description of their nidifications, so often quoted, tells it so ex-
tremely well that it would be in almost bad taste to undertake
another. He says: "In Louisiana and Kentucky, where I have
had better opportunities of studying their habits in this respect,
they generally pair about the first of March, sometimes a fort-
night earlier. I never Jcnew one of these birds to form a nest
on the ground, or on the branches of a tree. They appear at all
times to prefer the hollow, broken jDortion of some large branch,
the hole of our laige Woodpecker {Piats principalis), or the de-
serted retreat of the fox squirrel ; and I have frequently been
surprised to see them go in and out of a hole of any one of
these, when their bodies while on the wing seemed to be nearly
half as large again as the aperture, within which they had de
posited their eggs. Once only I found a nest (with ten eggs)
in the fissure of a rock on the Kentucky river, a few miles be-
low Frankfort. Generally, however, the holes to which they
betake themselves, are either over deep swamps, above cane-
brakes, or on broken branches of high sycamores, seldom more
than forty or fifty feet from the water.

"They are much attached to their breeding places, and for
three successive years I found a pair near Henderson, in Ken-
tucky, with the eggs, in the beginning of April, in the
abandoned nest of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

"The eggs, which are from six to fifteen, according to the age
of the bird are placed on dry plants, feathers, and a scanty
portion of down, which I believe is mostly plucked from the
breast of the female. They are perfectly smooth, nearly
eliptical, of a light color, between buff and pale green, two in-
ches in length by one and a half in diameter. No sooner has
the female completed her set of eggs than she is abandoned by
her mate, who now joins others, which form themselves into
considerable flocks, and thus remain apart till the young are
able to fiy, when old and young of both sexes come together.
and so remain until the commencement of the next breeding
season.

"In all of the nests I have examined I have been rather sur-
prised to find a quantity of feathers belonging to birds of
other species, even those of the domestic fowls, and particu-

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 53

larly those of the Wild Goose and Wild Turkey. On coming-
on a nest with eggs, when the bird was absent in search of
food, I have always found the eggs covered with feathers and
down, although quite out of sight, in the depths of a Wood-
pecker's or Squirrel's hole.

"On the contrary when the nest was placed on the broken
branch of a tree it could easily be observed from the ground,
on account of the feathers, dead sticks, and withered grasses
about it. If the nest is placed immediately over the water,
the young, the moment they are hatched, scramble to the
mouth of the hole, launch into the air with their little wings
and feet spread out and drop into their favorite element; but
whenever their birthplace is some distance from it. the mother
carries them to it one by one in her bill, holding them so as
not to injure their yet tender frame. On several occasions
however, when the hole was thirty, forty, or more yards from
a bayou or other piece of water, I observed that the mother
suffered the young to fall on the grass and dried leaves
beneath the tree, and afterward led them directly to the
nearest edge of the next pool or creek. At this early age, the
young answer to their parents' call with a mellow pee, pee,
pee-e, often and rapidly repeated. The call of the mother at
such times is low, soft, and prolonged, resembling the sylla-
bles peee, pe-ee. The watch note of the male, w^hich resembles
hoe-eek, is never uttered by the female; indeed, the male him-
self seldom uses it, unless alarmed by some uncommon sound,
or the sight of a distant enemy, or when intent on calling
X^assing birds of his ow^n species."

I may be pardoned for my enthusiasm over this mag-
nificent duck, when I state that I have enjoyed better op-
portunities for carefully studying its habits than of any
other species, and the capture of a male in the per-
fection of his vernal plumage, was my first attainment
in wing shooting some thirty years ago. Without a single
stain of blood on it to mar its wondrously beautiful adornment,
Mr. Wm. H. Howling, of my city, mounted it for me in the
perfection of taxidermic art, so that now after so long a time
it is in excellent condition and on the shelves of the museum
of the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences. It was
immortalized in the interests of science in its tragic death, at
a spot now embraced in the heart of this great and phenom-
enal city. Since that evening, how many occasions for observ-
ing the species have I recorded amongst my notes on the

54 NOTES ON THE

ducks of the commonwealth I In the denser portion of the vast
forest which embraces the inlets and bays of many clear and
beautiful lakes, I have cautiously sought a quiet covert toward
the evening of a warm day, from which to observe this
charming species in spring. Perfectly concealed in the
thickets within a yard of the deeply shadowed water, with my
field glass in hand, I have many times watched them by
hundreds, until the darkness hid them from my sight. These
occasions were in the season of their love, when the matchless
plumage of the males was displayed as at no other time in
their entire history. With the crest elevated, and like a
coronet on the head which is drawn backward as proudly as
the swan's, each male, an undisputed monarch of the mirror
lake, glides here and there, in and out in his ingenious and
undisguised endeavors to outdo every other in his imperial
display, until the seething resplendence seems to be one
moving scene of grace and indescribable beauty. During this
wondrous spectacular exhibition of motion, the woodland
echoes have frequently borne away the characteristic and
impassioned notes of the rival lovers, o-o-o-eek, o-o-o-eek:
Thus completely concealed as I was they would approach me
closer and closer as the shadows deepened until verily I could
have touched the nearer birds with a coachman's whip.

At such times, by the aid of my constantly adjusted glass, I
could have numbered the very barbs of the primaries while they
paused to redress a recreant feather. I have found the nest of
this duck as early as the 15th of April, yet I think the average
of the nesting is not entered upon until about the 10th of May,
or a little later. Irdeed, one instance came under my notice
where the location was selected on the twenty seventh of that
month, but it is more than probable that the bird had been
robbed of another of earlier date. That they rear two broods
occasionally seems very certain from their being found at dif-
ferent times with a young brood as late as July third, to the
tenth of that month. The location and character of the nest
have been given by the quotation from Audubon. Those eggs
which it has been my fortune to obtain have been pale green,
buff colored, and variously from six to fourteen in number.
Many flocks of this species linger until very late in the autumn.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head and crest metallic green to below the eyes; the cheeks
and a stripe from behind the eyes 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

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 55

stripe starting below and behind the eye and running into the
crest parallel 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, snow white; lower neck
and jugulum, and sides of the base of the tail, rich purple; the
j ugulum with triangular spots of white and a chestnut shade;
remaining under parts white, as in 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 subterminal bar, and sometimes a tip of
white; back and neck above nearly uniform bronze, 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 red.

Length, 19; wing, 9.50; tarsus, 1.40; commissure, 1.55.

Habitat, North America.

My numerous correspondents have uniformly mentioned this
species as common, and breeding in their localities, if in the
timbered lands. Dr. Hvoslef only mentions them thus com-
mon, but says nothing of their nesting at Lanesboro or vicinity.

Mr. Lewis found their nests at several points in the north-
ern sections he visited, and always under the Audubon con-
ditions.

Mr. Washburn, always accurate and circumstantial, says,
abundant, and breeding at Devil's lake."

AYTHYA AMERICANA. (Eyton). (146.)

RED HEAD.

Amongst the numerous sportsmen who have long resided in
Minnesota, the great paradise of duck-shooters, not one will
be found who does not know the Red head at sight, and few of
them will fail to identify him under all the various circumstan-
ces in which he is ever met with. Introduce the subject of
duck-hunting, and " ten to one "' he will refer to this species
next to the first one mentioned, and will ask if any other game
duck is so capricious in the numbers of its annual representa-
tion, while at the same time he narrates their incredible abund-
ance during the spring or fall of some year and their scarcity
in the year following perhaps. This has truly been a remark-
able characteristic in the case of this well known species. To
some extent this is characteristic of all species of ducks, but
in few if any, as emphasized as in the history of the Red-
heads. They arrive about as early as any others, and dis-
appear very little earlier than the latest.

5z

56 NOTES ON THE

In the spring of 1863 they were never so numerous, both in
spring and in fall migration; and in the following year they
were almost unrepresented

Again they were abundant in 1867, and comparatively scarce
in the following year, and so during their entire recorded
local history they have varied in their numbers.

They do not remain with us usually to exceed about two
weeks, when all have moved off to still more northern latitudes
for incubation. Nothing could be more characteristic of their
habits while with us, than their seeking the mouths of the
streams where they debouche into the lakes. When not on the
wing or in the woods feeding upon the mast, we know where to
look for them, especially on a cloudy, windless day. The only
reason I have for thinking that they breed in the northern
counties is, that they have been seen in several places in June,
and again in early August.

Although he found them common in October at different
places in Otter Tail county, Mr. Washburn makes no mention
of them in his August observations in the same section, from
which I am left to presume that there could not have been any
indications of their breeding there. Mr. Lewis extended his
explorations much farther north, and finding the males occa-
sionally, very reasonably concluded that the species bred to
some extent within our borders.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill as long as 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 shoulders,
lower part of back and tail coverts, black; beneath white,
sprinkled with gray and black anterior to the crissum; sides,
interscapulars, and scapulars, finely lined with undulating
black and white in nearly equal proportions, imparting a gen-
eral gray tint; wing coverts a bluish-gra}'. finely sprinkled
with whitish; speculum, consisting of the ends of the secondar-
ies, hoary grayish-blue, lightest externally, and the innermost
narrowly edged externally with black; basal portion of the
inner primaries somewhat similar to the speculum; tail of
fourteen feathers; iris orange-yellow. The Red heads are
easilj'^ distinguished from the Canvasback by the shorter and
broader bill, absence of brown on the head, and a greater pre-
dominance of black in the waved lines.

Length, -0.50; wing, 9.50; tarsus, 1.60; commissure, 2.80.

Habitat, North America.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 57

AYTftYA YALLISNERIA. (Wilson). (147.)

CANVAS-BACK.

Although so famous among sportsmen and epicures at the
seaboard, this species loses its preferments in our waters, and
upon our Minnesota tables, taking a second place in both. As a
general thing they appear to reach us about the same time as
the Redheads do, but this is not always the case for, as inti-
mated when speaking of the latter, it may abound when the
Canvas-back entirely fails to put in an appearance, as in 1863.
In the following year — that is, in 1864 — the Red heads were
barely represented, while the present species were exceptionally
common for the species. Again in 1886, they were common in
the autumn, but sparingly represented in the precading spring.

When observed in the spring migration, they remain about
two weeks, and are then found on lakes, streams and
marshy ponds, feeding upon aquatic vegetation, crustaceans,
molluscs, insects and larvae of different kinds. They never
appear to scruple about appropriating a small fish that comes
in their way upon occasion. They return from the north
ordinarily about the first week in October, and after a stay of
about two weeks, or a little more, move on southward.

SPECIFIC characters.

Bill long, slender and tapering; head all around and neck
chestnut; top of head and region around 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;
region anterior to anus, sides, interscapulars and scapulars,
white, finely dotted in transverse lines Avith black the white
greatly predominating; speculum bluish-gray lighter extern-
ally; innermost secondaries of the speculum edged externally
with black; iris carmine.

Length, 20; wing, 9.30; tarsus, 1.70; commissure, 2.65.

Habitat, nearly all of North America.

I have always been incredulous as to the special claims of
this duck for the table, and having enjoyed ample opportunities
for comparisons, which not only embrace different species, but
the same species inland and on the seaboards of both coasts, I
do not hesitate to say that whether obtained in one or the other
section, the culinary preparation being equal, the Canvas-back
is equally desirable for eating, and that but for • 'the seaboard
fashion" in the case, this duck would, instead of having the
first place in epicurean distinction, have one much nearer
to the second. Duck-meat, like a good many other things, is
affected very much by the "environments" when eaten. A
good cook is the chief one of those, and a good appetite stands
next. To under value the Canvas-bacK is an inland "fasnion."

58 NOTES ON THE

AYTHYA MARILA NEARCTICA Stejneger. (148.)
GREATER SCAUP DUCK.

The comon name, Blue-bill, is the only one known to the
vernacular of our local sportsmen. Amongst the earlier mi-
grants of its sub-family, the Blue-bills come to us in the first
ranks of the duck hosts of late March. It seems as if "when
one comes, all come." but the number vary, like some other
species, with the seasons, sometimes overshadowing any,
indeed every other species for a short time. At these times
they frequent all waters, pools by the wayside — shallow
lakes, ponds, streams and marshes, but still discover to the
critical observer, a preference for estuaries. These afford
them such food as the high waters bring down from the inun-
dations of the higher lands.

They fly in very close, compact flocks, which, however large
upon their first arrival, are soon broken into smaller ones of
about a dozen to twenty, and are much on the wing when the
weather is cloudy and windy. When on the water at consider-
able distance, their identification is not ordinarily diflicult, on
account of their huddling together very closely, and their
habit of constantly diving. They are about the tamest of the
wild ducks, and almost the stupidest also, for after having
been repeatedly fired into, and driven to wing, they will return
by a short circle to nearly the same locality until a consid-
erable portion of the flock has been killed.

During the last week in April, and the first in May they dis-
appear, after which only an occasional male is seen through
the summer in the low wet marshes. They build their nests of
reeds and grass, on the ground in remote marshes and swamps,
about the second week in May, and deposit eight to ten eggs
colored pale drab, and dingy with a wash of olivaceous. The
first nest to which my attention was called by Mr. Lewis, was
located within three miles of this city, near a sluggish stream
connecting two lakes. It contained but three eggs on the thir-
teenth of May, but was not disturbed until containing eight,
only one of which I was permitted to retain. I think there are
relatively few that breed as far south as where my personal
observations have been principally made, but they are as com-
mon as any other species about Lake Superior during the sum-
mer in the marshes.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. * 59

Mr. Washburn states that they are reputedly regular summer
residents, and breed near Fergus Palls in rather limited num-
bers. He regarded them as a moderately represented species
in the breeding season, the larger proportion going further
north. In each of my personal explorations in Wright, Meeker,
and Kandiyohi counties, I have carefully sought for informa-
tion respecting the nidifying habits of this species in those
sections, and have been so far rewarded as to find their eggs in
the possession of several persons residing there, and obtain
such detailed descriptions as to the location of the nests, and
general habits of the Blue-bills as leaves no doubt of their
breeding there, though nowhere numerously. I was shown
the deserted nest in one instance, but their well known resem-
blance to those of the Mallards in both location and structure,
robbed the observation of all value in the absence of the eggs
and the duck. In every shooting season the variation of the
measures of the Blue- bills has arrested the attention of sports-
men as well as naturalists, yet very few have overlooked their
persistent habits enough to confound them with the Little
Black-heads (A. afiinis). Under my notes of measurements for
thirty years the variations in this species have never exceeded
20.75 inches in length; wing, 9.25; nor fallen below 17.50 and
8, while the Little Black-heads have been between 17.50 in
length; with the wing, 8; and 15, in length, with the wing,
7 . 25. I have never doubted the specific distinction of these
two ducks since I became more familiar with their habits,
although inclined to do so before; but I cannot account for
intermediate forms, or rather intergrading measurements, by
any proportionate hybridism, as has been so stoutly obtained.
Although they are here so assuredly during the entire season,
their habits do not make them specially observed to any marked
extent, until they begin to gather into appreciable flocks late
in the autumn; often into November, after which they remain
but a short time.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head and neck all around, jugulum and sho alders, lower part
of back, tail, and coverts, black; head with a gloss of dark
green on sides; rest of under parts white; feathers on lower
parts of belly and side, the long feathers of the flanks, inter
scapular and scapulars w^hite, waved in zigzag transversely
with black; greater and middle wing coverts similarly marked
but more finely and obscurely; greater coverts towards the
tips and the tertials greenish black; speculum white, bordered
behind by greenish black; white extending across the whole of

60 . NOTES ON THE

the central portion of the secondaries; outer primaries and tips
of all, brownish-black; inner ones pale gray; the central line
dusky; axillars and middle of the inferior surface of the wing,
white; bUl blue; nail black; legs plumbeous; iris yellow.

Length, 20; wing, 9; tarsus. 1.60; commissure, 2.15.

Habitat, North America generall3\

Since the previous was penned. I have recovered some of my
most valuable notes which had mysteriously disappeared some
time ago. amongst which is an account of discovery of a full
nest of this species in the latter part of May, 1877, but a short
distance from my cottage at Lake Minnetonka. It was built on
the side of an obsolete, half destroyed old muskrat house, in
the middle of a reedy lake or pond< formerly a bay-like prong
of the greater lake itself It was composed of reeds almost en-
tirely, over which were some grasses, and over this a layer of
the duck's own feathers. Ten pale, drab colored, dirty eggs,
with just a perceptible wash of olivaceous, constituted the
clutch, none of which showed any signs of being addled. The
Blue-bills breed in all portions of the State I doubt not, much
more frequently than generally hitherto supposed.

The reckless presumptions, or rather assumptions of carpet-
concluders, as to the habits of species about which little was
formerly known, have deterred many from earnest, expectant
investigations in sections where the decree had precluded all
hopes of finding them at all. Over ambitious writers have an-
ticipated science by gratuitous conclusions upon very small
data for very large inferences. We feel sorry for them when
sleeping truth has finished her nap. The world is round, and
still moves unconcernedly' on.

AYTHYA AFFIMS (Eyton). (149.)

LESSER SCAUP DUCK.

It has been often observed that although the Greater Scaup
Ducks may come to us in the spring or fall migration in great
numbers, the Lesser Scaup Ducks are just as likely to be only
sparingly represented, and when on the other hand, the former
are barely represented, this species will as possibly be found
abundant; yet this is by no means a rule, for I have not only
known them to both be here in exceptional numbers, but to be
equally reduced to a mere representation. I find by referring
to my records of the dates of arrival of the birds in spring,
that as a general thing, the species under consideration, has
been slightly later in arriving at this locality, say three to five
days. Like the former, they seek the runniDg streams, or
rather their estuaries, on first reaching this latitude, but very
soon resort to the swampy marshes and shallow ponds and
pools. Their food is more restricted to larvae, worms, and

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 61

crustaceans than is that of the others, and they are a little
more shy and suspicious. Its presence here through the sea-
son of reproduction, although by no means abundant, indeed I
may say rare, shows beyond question that it breeds here to
some extent at least, but to what is only conjecture until their
differentiation from the other species is more thoroughly un-
derstood. Persons entitled to the highest confidence by their
integrity have expressed themselves certain that they have re-
peatedly seen the female and young in the marshes in July,
but science wants a "certainty" which is more certainly as-
sured than that. Dr. Coues tells us in his Birds of the North-
west, that he found them "breeding along the upper Missouri
and Milk river," at least which "appeared to be of this species,
as were the several specimens examined."" Their presence
there would by no consideration justify an assumption that
they most likely breed here, for there is a marked difference in
the climate of the two localities.

Comparatively few of those persons who have taken pains to
report local observations of the water birds of the State, have
recognized the species definitely, but Mr. Washburn has as fol-
lows: "^ aflinis, or Little Black-head, appears to be by far
the more numerous representative of the family Fuliginae in
the fall. I found them very numerous indeed at Dead lake be-
tween October 10th and 20th. Many were shot, varying some-
what in size and coloration, none measuring over 17.25, and one
16. There colors too, varying from brownish-black to jet-black,
and specimens that were but little marked, to those having
much wavy black in fine lines on back and sides. Undoubtedly
there are intermediate examples between Affinis and Marlla.
This subject, and the study of hybridism among Anatidae and
Fuliginae, I trust I shall be able to investigate in the future.
October 11th an adult female affinis secured in Otter Tail
county, measured 16.50, 7.50, 2.50; and another from the same
place measured 17.25, 7.75. 8."'

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill blue; nail black; head, neck, forepart of breast, back
anterior to shoulder, lower part of back, tail and its coverts,
black; head with violet-purple reflections, changing occasion-
ally to green; belly and sides, with axillaries. and central por-
tion of inner surfaces of wings pure white; lower part of belly
near anus, undulated finely with black spots; inter scapular
region and scapulars white, with transverse zigzag bands or
lines of black which are much further apart in the scapulars,

62 NOTES ON THE

which consequently are whiter; wings blackish; lesser and
middle coverts sprinkled with grayish; speculum white, edged
behind with greenish-black, which is also the color of the ter-
tials; white of speculum crosses the middle of the secondaries;
iris yellow.

Length, 16.50; wing. 8; tarsus, 1.35; commissure 2.

Habitat. North America generally.

These Ducks are frequently more numerous than any other
species in the fall, not excepting the Buffle-heads. They re-
tire southward about as much in advance of the Blue- bills as
they arrive later in spring.

AYTHYA rOLLARIS (Donovan). (150.)

RING-NECKED DUCK.

In the spring of 1861, and again in 1867, this species seemed
to overshadow every other in numbers, and there have been few
years in which it has not had a fairly common representation.
They arrive about the same time in spring as do the Greater
Scaups, but seek the lakes and ponds rather than the streams.
Their movements on the wing are quite characteristic, and
enable those familiar with the tlight of different species of
ducks, to single them out very readily. In one respect they
remind us of the Golden-eyes. On rising from the water,
their flight, always vigorous, is attended with a whisting
sound, so distinct as to assure their identity even while yet
invisible to the eye, and when visible, the flocks are easily
determined by their loose, scattered mode of arrangement.
They are more suspicious, and vigilant than some other mem-
bers of the genus, and give the gun a wide birth after discov-
ering that it is loaded. They are good divers, and feed upon
minnows, crayfish, tadpoles, aquatic roots, insects, and grains
or seeds, according to their prevalence at the season. The
larger part of them move northward before the first of May,
but some remain here to breed, their nests having been occa-
sionally found as far towards the southern border of the State
as Heron lake in Jackson county, in Hennepin and Becker coun-
ties, and in the vicinity of Big Stone lake, thus indicating a wide
distribution. As early as the summer of 1863, reports reached
me of their being seen during the breeding season along the
Minnesota river, and again in 1869, a farmer residing near
Rice lake in Anoka county, who claimed to know most of the
prominent species of game ducks, insisted that the Ring necks
stayed around the lake all summer, as he had flushed one of
them several times in a marsh bordering it. In driving back and

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 63

forth to my cottage on Lake Minnetonka during many succes-
sive summers, I noticed now and then in the early mornings,
an occasional solitary duck flying along the course of Minne-
haha creek that looked in the distance like the male of this
species.

Afterwards Mr. T. S. Roberts found the nest at a point not
very remote from where I had noticed those males, as he
informed me. Since then I have found this species breeding
in several localities in the vicinity of Minneapolis, and in
Kandiyohi county. I am satisfied that it does so generally
throughout the State. Of the seventeen eggs I have had the
opportunity to see in the nest and in the possession of a col-
lector in my employment, the average measurements were.
2.25 by 1.60 inches. They were white, with a pale wash of
green, that varied considerably in intensity, being deepest
before they had been blown. The nests were variously placed
from on a muskrat house, as in the case of the one found by
Mr. Roberts, to a flat spot in the thick rice bordering a small
lake, as found by my collector.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill blackish, with a basal and subterminal bar of bluish-
white; head, neck, and body all around anterior to the
shoulders, back and tail -coverts, black; the head glossed with
green above, on the sides with purplish- violet; the back green-
ish; middle of neck with a narrow chestnut ring, subcontin-
uous above; under parts, and space immediately anterior to
the shoulder white; space anterior to the black of the
crissum, and the sides, very finely waved with black; scapulars
very slightly sprinkled with dots of grayish; wings plain
grayish-brown; speculum, consisting of the terminal half of
most of the secondaries, grayish plumbeous, the innermost of
them tipped with white; point of chin white.

Length, 18; wing, 8; tarsus, 1.30; commissure, 2.10.

Habitat, North America.

Since writing the above, I have recovered some notes
mislaid, in which I find that both of my assistants, Messrs.
Lewis and Treganowan, have recognized their breeding in Big
Stone and Becker counties. The former upon finding them
frequently in the breeding season, and the latter having found
the nest in Becker in 1879. Mr. Washburn found them well
represented among the ducks, breeding at Mud lake in Otter
Tail county. Mr. J. M. Holzinger says in a communication to
me in 1887, that this species is more abundant at Winona than
A. afflnis, but he makes no mention of its local breeding

64 NOTES ON THE

habits. When there shall have been a more extended explora-
tion of the northern portions of the State, during the mid-
summer, I feel confident that it will be found that the Ring
necks breed there as commonly as in any other locality or
district of its entire range.

GLAICIONETTA CLANGl LA AMERICANA

(BONAP.). (151.)

AMERICAN GOLDEN- EYE.

This Duck returns with rather moi'e than ordinary regularity
as a migrant but is rarely observed here in the season of
breeding. Small flocks may be seen occasionally in winter,
especially at times of exceptionally severe weather. They are
almost uniformly amongst the earliest to reach us in the
spring, while the lakes and streams are yet sealed with ice.
except spots along the shores and where the currents are
more rapid in the streams.

The whistling of their wings in flight is a generic character-
istic, and is often heard before the duck is visible. They
remain but a short time, but in autumn they sometimes
reappear as early as the second week in October, when they
remain in flocks of a dozen to twenty, about as late as any of
the other species, after which they principally disappear. In
early times small flocks remained in the spring-holes along the
Minnesota river bottoms and below the Falls of St. Anthony
all winter, which they may still do in wild, and unfrequented
sections. On the 3d of February, 1886, one of the coldest
days experienced during that winter, they were seen on the
river at Lanesboro in Fillmore county, by Dr. Hvoslef, and by
others who reported them from several widely different sec-
tions. Neither of my earlier lieutenants ever met the Golden-
eye except rarely in the colder winters, and Mr. Washburn
found them there in the sections he visited even in the spring
migrations. He saw a few individuals at Dead lake, but they
were universally in immature plumage.

I have been assured by local sportsmen at Herman in Grant
county, that "a few Whistlers" have been seen near there late
in the breeding season, and from similar assertions by those
who seemed to know the species under its common name of
Whistler, I am compelled to believe that laggards may occa-
sionally be overtaken by the impulse and urgency of ovular ex-
pulsion, and rear a brood within our borders. I find this im-

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 65

pression thoroughly rooted in the minds of several experienced
observers whose opportunities have been exceptionally good,
and have extended through a longer residence than mine.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill, black; head, and upper part of neck, glossy green; un-
der surface opaque velvety purplish- black; an elliptical patch
along the base of the upper mandible anterior to the eye, lower
part of the neck, under parts generally, sides, middle and
greater wing coverts, innermost secondaries, and tertials (ex-
cept the innermost three or four) white; white on wing a con-
tinuous patch, although there is a concealed black bar on the
bases of the greater coverts; inner scapulars white, margined
externally with black; posteriorly however they are black,
streaked centrally with white; inner scapulars and tertials, and
the whole back, rump, and lesser wing coverts, black; prima-
ries and tail black with a hoary gloss; under side of quills and
lower greater coverts plumbeous- gray; rest of under wing
and axillars sooty- brown; long white feathers of flanks edged
superiorly with black; iris, golden-yellow.

Length, 18.75; wing, 8.50; tarsus, 1.50; commissure, 2.

Habitat, North America.

GLAUCIONETTA ISLANDICA (Gmelin). (152.)
BARROWS GOLDEN-EYE.

If the measurements given by systematists were reliably
specific, I could report this species with more confidence, but
those, as well as all of the specific characters given definitely,
grade into each other so completely that I do not feel like
speaking with the confidence I otherwise would in many, or
rather several instances. Still, one specimen obtained in 1877,
and another in 1881 were well made out; both having been
brought in from beyond the Big Woods by sportsmen who
called them "Whistlers." Last year one was sent me from
near the Iowa state line which was a typical bird, and Dr.
Hvoslef has a female of this species in excellent plumage.

I must conclude that they are rare, but less so than I once
supposed. I think it quite possible that amongst those reputed
to remain in open waters through the winter, this species may
yet be found most represented.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head and neck all around a bluish violet, occasionally with
green, or purplish reflections; 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 underparts generally

66 NOTES ON THE

white; a narrow white patch on the middle wing coverts;
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; posterior ones black, with a white central streak;
rest of upper parts, sides behind, and tibia, black; long feath-
ers of the flank white, tipped and edged above with black.

Length, 22.50; wing, 9.50; tarsus, 1.60; commissure, 1.80.

Habitat, Northern North America.

CHARITOXETTA ALBEOLA (L.). (153.)

BUFFLE-HEAD.

Occasionally, during the entire summer, individuals of this
species have been seen along the shores of the larger lakes
bordered by timber, as also along the Minnesota river in the
vicinity of Shakopee. Such has been my confidence that to a
limited extent they breed here, that I have left no opportunity
unimproved to discover the final proof in the finding of a
veritable nest. But for this testimony I must still wait, not-
withstanding the oft repeated assurances of several persons
that they have found them. In one instance my hopes had
been nearly realized when I found the nest to be that of the
Wood Duck {Aix sponsa). In another, where the species was
apparently well known and excellently described, proved to be
quite another, the nest of which was on the ground, which
however was so elevated that in passing to it the female
appeared to go into a hollow limb immediately in front of it.
They reach the principal portions of the State oftentimes
before there are lakes enough open to allow them to get to
their chosen food, the mussels and bmall fry. The flocks in
spring migration are usually small compared with those of late
autumn, averaging no more than ten to twenty ducks, while at
the later one, they often exceed five times those numbers.
They are incessant divers, and very fleet in their movements
under the water, seizing minnows like the true fish ducks,
which element of food becomes evident in the deterioration of
their flesh for the table.

The principal northern migration of the species is over by
the 1st of May, flocks of three or four, and even only pairs re-
maining a little latei:.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill blue; head and neck anteriorly, dark colored; region in
front of the eye, and on the sides of the collar behind, rich

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 67

green, which shades 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, meeting its fellow on the
nape, the lower neck all around, under parts generally, wing
coverts (except the lesser) and most of the secondaries, and
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.

Length, 15; wing, 6.65; tarsus, 1.25; commissure, 1.45.

Habitat, North America.

CLANGULA HYEMALIS (L.). (154.)
OLD-SQUAW.

In local popular parlance this species is variously called by
the following names: Old-wife, Old-squaw, Old South-southerly,
Long-Tailed Duck. I heard of this Dack through the leading
sportsmen for several years before I saw it, after which it
soon became familiar to me. But it remains here for a short
time only in either migration, arriving amongst the earliest
migrating species, and disappearing entirely in a very few
days. In fall they reach the State only a short time before
the whole sub family moves southward.

They usually remain very distinct, in flocks of from a dozen
to fifty and sixty. Their movements are so characteristic
on the wing, that having observed them attentively once, they
need never be mistaken for any other species afterward.
They are only a little better for the table than a narrow-
billed Fish Duck.

From the local observations of casual observers I should be
led to suppose that this species might remain in Kandiyohi and
Big Stone counties considerably longer in both migrations than
I should be able to vouch for from authentic sources beyond
my personal notice.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill, black, orange-yellow towards the tip; head, neck, and
breast, very dark blackish-brown; head above, back, rump
and middle tail feathers, black; whole side of head from the
bill to behind the eyes and sides of the body, pale bluish-gray;
portion of cheek patch immediately around and behind the eye,
with a longitudinal streak each side of the occiput, under parts
generally, and the more external feathers, white; feathers on
the forepart of the back, and scapulars, broadly edged with

68 NOTES ON THE

light reddish-brown; under wing coverts and axillars, brownish-
chocolate; no white on the wing; iris, white.

Length, 21; wing, 9; tail 8; tarsus, 1.50; commissure, 1.60.

Habitat, Northern Hemisphere.

HISTRIONICUS HISTRIONICl S (L ) (155 )
HARLEQUIN DUCK.

This peculiarly marked duck is found on Lake Superior in
the winter, and has been obtained once in Grant county, whence
it was brought here by Mr. Norris on his way to New York
where he purposed to have it mounted for his private collec-
tion. On two other occasions a specimen found its way into
the hands of a taxidermist in St. Paul, and those of another
residing in Minneapolis temporarily. These could be only
stragglers in migration.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head and neck all around, dark blue; jugulum, sides of
breast, and upper parts, lighter blue, becoming bluish-black
again on the tail coverts; the blue of the breast passes insensi-
bly into dark bluish- brown behind; a broad stripe along the
top of the head from the bill to the nape, and the tail feathers,
black; a white patch along the entire side of the base of the
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
around the lower part of the neck, interrupted before and
behind, and margined behind by dark blue; a transversely
elongated patch on each side of the breast, 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 the tertials. and a spot on each side,
the rest of the tail, whitv-; sides of body behind, chestnut-
brown; secondaries with a metallic speculum of purplish or
violet-blue; inside of wing and axillars, dark brown; iris, red-
dish-brown.

Length, 17. EO; wing, 7.70; tarsus, 1.50; commissure, 1.55.

Habitat, northern North America.

SOMATERIA SPECTABILIS (L ) (162.)
KING EIDER.

A pair of these ducks was obtained in Grant county by Mr.
Emery Armstrong, of Herman, in October, 1885. After con-
siderable correspondence. I learned that one of them was sent
to Philadelphia, and the other to some friend in Michigan.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 69

The same gentleman says that he has seen quite a number of
them flying over the level prairies in the vicinity of Herman,
and he has shot several without suspecting it was a rare species
in the State. The section mentioned where those were obtained
is a level prairie for a long distance, and abounds with shallow
ponds so much exposed as to make them the safest of resorts
for water birds in general, with which it verily swarms in their
flocking seasons. It was through Mr. Washburn's courtesy
that I learned of this pair of King Eiders having been obtained.
As the locality is a favorite hunting resort of mine, and Mr.
P. H. Clague resides there, a friend who loves ducks (to eat)
as well as I do ( to list, ) 1 propose to settle this regal question
if it takes a good many duck- seasons to do it in.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Body and wings, black; the portion anterior to the shoulder
joint, interscapular region in part, most of neck and throat,
white; jugulum. with a creamy tinge; a narrow border to the
frontal process of the bill and their interspace, small space
around the eye and a V-shaped mark on the chin, black; top of
head and nape bluish-ash, slightlj' spotted with black; middle
wing coverts, tips of secondaries, axillars, most of under sur-
face of wing, and 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, 21.50; wing, 10.70; tarsus, 1.85; commissure, 2.53.

Habitat, northern North America.

OIDEMIA AMERICANA Swainson & Richardson. (163.)
AMERICAN SCOTER.

Only occasionally observed about our smaller inland lakes,
these Ducks are not uncommon in the vicinity of Duluth on
Lake Superior in pairs or quite small parties. Sportsmen
familiar with the seacoast Ducks tell me they sometimes meet
the Scoters, or "Coots" in considerable numbei'S on the shores
of Mille Lacs lake. In the winter of 1867 and '68, and again in
1874 and '75, I found several of them in openings where spring-
brooks entered the streams, as I did also in the turbulent rapids
below the Falls of St. Anthony. I have in a few instances seen
individuals of both sexes in the collections of the local taxider-
mists. I am informed by Mr. Holzinger of Winona, that one
specimen is in the possession of Professor Heaton, of the Nor-
mal school at Winona, which he obtained on the Mississippi,
just above that city. My observations embrace only the sea-

70 NOTES ON THE

sons of migration and occasional winters. The absence of white
in contrast with the uniform black, identifies the species very
readily.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail of sixteen feathers; bill much swollen on the basal
third; basal portion of culmen. convex, and rapidly descend-
ing; terminal portion of bill much depressed; anterior extrem-
ity of nostrils half way from the lateral or upper feathers at
the base of the bill to the tip; .swelling at base of bill divided
by a furrow along the median line; frontal feathers extending
slightly forward in an obtuse point; color entirely black all
over, without any white: bill black along the edges and tip, the
swollen basal portion red to beyond the nostrils.

Length, 23.80; wing, 9.20; tarsus, 1.80; commissure, 2.14.

Habitat, coasts and larger lakes of North America.

OIDEMIA DEGLANDI Bonaparte. (165.)
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER.

The White-winged Scoters are not often seen before the third
week in October or even a little later than that, and very
rarely in any considerable numbers. A few of them get into
the market at such times, but are so unsaleable that they are
liable to remain on hand some time. Occasionally they are
jDurchast'd and mounted by the taxidermists. Later they are
only found in open shallow streams where the rapidity of the
current prevents the formation of ice, and in spring-holes near
large water courses. More commonly but a pair is found in
one locality during the winter. Their food consists of molluscs,
crustaceans and fish, the lattc-r predominating. In open
winters they leave the State by the 15th of March. I have no
record of their presence later than the 25th of that month.
Mr. H. W. Howling, of East Minneapolis, has a pair of these
Ducks mounted in his possession which he has kindly per-
mitted me to examine very recently. The male had the "white
elongated patch around and a little behind the eye" excessively
developed. It reached nearly to the top of the head. The
female had besides the "whitish patch on the side of the head
behind the eye," another rather obsolete one in front and be-
low the eye.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill very broad, wider towards the tip than at the base;
feathers extending 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

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 71

the 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 downward, nearly perpendicularly to the much depressed,
nearly horizontal portion; a sharp, indented ridge along the
base of the 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 the base
and lateral edges red elsewhere; iris bright yellow.

Length, 21.50; wing, 11.30; tarsus, 2.10; commissure, 2.80.

Habitat, northern North America.

ERISMATIRA RUBIDA (Wilson). (167.)
RUDDY DUCK.

The habits of this species are such as to make it a little dif-
ficult to gather much information of them until a good fortune
has exposed some of their peculiarities to us, as it were by
accident. I must allow myself to quote a paragraph from
Langille, "Our Birds in their Haunts."" a charming, delight-
ful, and reliably instructive work which ought to have a place
in every bird-lover"s library in America. Some of his descrip-
tions are word paintings which rival Audubon's colors. When
speaking of this unique duck (pp. 471.2) he says: — "An
anomaly of its kind is this little creature.

"Some fifteen inches long, and 21.50 in extent, it has a pecu-
liarly short, and almost round appearance. The long and
gradual curve of the crown, joined to a bill rather short, broad
and much depressed is a marked feature; the rather long and
broad tail, with scarcely any coverts above or below, is decid-
edly out of order for a Duck; the broad tip of the wing, so
apparent in flight, would seem more in place for a Coot, or a
Gallinule; striking seasonal change of plumage in the male
would do for a Gull, or a Grebe; the large egg, with granulated
shell, might be mistaken for that of a Goose; while its diving
propensities would do credit to a Dabchick. Look at that ele-
gant male, as he floats on the smooth surface of some fresh
water channel in the breeding season 1 Almost as motionless as
a wooden decoy, he holds his large and full spread tail straight
up, often catching the wind just in the right direction, and
thus using that appendage for a sail. Jet black over the
crown and down the back of the neck, cheeks clear white, the
remaining upper parts a bright, glossy, dark- red, he is a well
deflned object even in the distance. The female (which the

-6z

72 NOTES ON THE

male resembles precisely, from fall till spring) is a dark
brownish-gray, the throat and broad stripe through the eye
lighter, both sexes being white, or mottled with gray under-
neath.

' 'The young are a little lighter than the female. Except in its
sojourn in the south in winter, where it may be seen in im-
mense flocks, especially in Florida, it is generally in small
flocks after the manner of the Buffle-head.

' 'When rising from the water, it runs on the surface for some
distance, and generally against the wind. If it cannot com-
mand a fair open space for flight,, it will dive, using its tail
either as a rudder, or as a paddle in a vertical motion, and will
hide itself away among the grass and sedges. When on the
wing, it flies low along the surface of the water, with a rapid
beat of its broad wings, making a short, plump figure, quite
uncommon for a Duck; and it generally flies quite a distance
before alighting."

It arrives from the south not far from the second week in
April, possibly a week or ten days earlier, for as has already
been intimated, their low unheralded flight, along between the
banks of the streams, and usually late in the twilight, or ex-
tremely early in the morning, almost precludes the possibility
of arriving at precise data as to the time of their arrival or
departure. That they do resort to the larger lakes occasion-
ally is conceded, yet never have I seen them anywhere but on
the creeks, or smaller ponds, except in migration along the
Mississippi, when they kept close to the surface. I can recall
no time either when by any means they could be driven more
than thirty or forty feet into the air, and then only to drop
down again as soon as beyond immediate danger. If disturbed
by the approach of the gunner, when concealed from him by
the banks or a short bend in the stream their feet and wings
may be heard in their flight, but they will remain unseen as
a general thing. When suddenly surprised, as is sometimes
the case, as when gunners come upon them simultaneously
from opposite directions, they will dive, and immediately re-
verse their direction of submarine escape, and only return to
the surface close under the bank amidst debris or reeds, and
very much scattered, thus escaping unscathed.

Nesting is begun in May, from the first week of which they
have as apparently disappeared as if they had migrated, all to
devote themselves to the great mission of reproduction. I
have never personally had the pleasure of finding the nest

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 73

with eggs in it, but have been quite content to discover the fe-
male and very young, in the third week in June. Others have
on several occasions obtained the eggs and female with them.
The nest is built very loosely of grasses and reeds, or rather
coarse weeds, and is placed on the ground close to the water
and well concealed by sedge, or other rank vegetation. More
frequently it is located in a dense growth of wild rice.

The eggs are white with a tinge of stone color, and large for
the relative size of the duck. No species of its kind more ef-
fectually conceals its nest and eggs, seldom leaving them
without covering the latter with feathers and debris. They
retire from our latitude by the last week of October oftentimes,
yet I have found them still later In exceptional seasons. Dr.
Hvoslef reports them at Lanesboro on the 20th of that month.
I found them"Common at Herman at a little later date in 1886,
and Mr. Washburn reports them the same at Dead lake in Ot-
ter Tail "between the 10th and 26th the year previous."

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 around, entire upper pans, and upper portion of
sides, chestnut red; under parts generally lustrous grayish-
white, with an occasional brownish tinge; crissum pure white;
wings brown, without speculum, finely and almost inappre-
ciably sprinkled with gray; tail nearly black.

Length, 16; wing, 5.80; tarsus, 1.25; commissure, 1.80.

Habitat, North America.

CHEN HYPERBOREA (Pallas). (169.)
LESSER SNOW GOOSE.

In its favorite localities during the autumn especially, this
species eclipses any other of the Goose kind for numbers.
When visiting Grant county in October, 1884, in company with
my son. where we were joined by our friend Mr. P. H. Clague
for a grand Goose hunt, we met this species in force. Any-
thing like accurate estimates of numbers in a given flock of
any kind of birds must be practically impossible, yet, approxi-
mation enough to convey a good general idea has been reached
by Wilson and others, by subdividing. At a glance the mass
may be instantly halved, quartered, eighthed, and sixteenthed,
when its count becomes possible in many cases. By such a
method of calculation I made an estimate of a flock containing
quite nearly 300 geese, and checking down the different flocks

74 NOTES ON THE

during one day's observation, I arrived at the conclusion that
within an area of five miles in diameter, we saw not less than
5,000 Snow Geese, without having recounted any flocks, as they
confined themselves through the bright, sunny day to the same
bodies of water, as a consequence of which, not a White Goose
was killed, by any of us during the day. The hunters call
them White Brant. The sight of one of those animate clouds
of floating snow on which the dazzling rays of the sun are
pouring on a bright October day, can be neither described nor
forgotten. The Snow Geese make but a comparatively short
stay in this latitude in the spring, bu-t seek those most northern
by the loth to the 20th of April generally. The measures of
all which I have obtained, and found in the markets, have
placed them within the lesser species as recognized by the
Check List of the American Ornithological Union, not one in
ten exceeding twenty-seven inches in length, with the wing
sixteen. The Blue Goose, about which there has been some
controversy, and which it has been my good fortune to secure
several times, is beyond a doubt in my own mind, the young of
the species under consideration, the measures essentially
agreeing with theirs.

When speaking of them in his reports from Mille Lacs, and
Crow Wing, Mr. Washburn says: "Very abundant on the
prairies west and south of Fergus Falls." And again speaks
of "Chen coerulescens, Blue Goose,'" as being often killed dur-
ing the open season near the same place.

Mr. Herrick found "immense numbers of the Snow Geese at
Lake Shatek, the source of the Des Moines river." I might
add other reports from Waseca, Big Stone, Kandiyohi, White
Bear, and other localities, without increasing the measure of
knowledge of the species. They are exceedingly wary, and
hard to get. Their food in the autumn consists largely of wild
rice with several species of berries. However, earlier they
depend upon aquatic and marsh vegetation, including some
snails and insects.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill and legs, red; color pure white; primary quills black
towards the end, silvery bluish-graj' towards the base where
the shafts are white; spurious quills also bluish; inside of
wings except the primary quills, white.

Length, 27; wing, 16; tarsus, 3; commissure, 2.

Habitat, North America.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 75

CHEN HYPERBOREA NITALIS (Forster). (169a.)
GREATER SNOW GOOSE.

In nearly every migration from the north of the Lesser Snow
Geese there has been occasionally an individual shot where
the measures have been greater than those given for the species,
some of which reach the figures given for the Greater species,
yet in habits I have discovered no difference whatever between
them. I wait for more light on the specific differences upon
which the classification rests The measures hitherto given by
all authorities have been:

Length, 30; wmg, 16.30; tarsus, 3.12; commissure, 2.10.

Habitat, whole of North America.

ANSER ALBIFRONS GAMBELI (Hartlaub). (171a.)
AMERICAN WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE.

In the summer of 1876, I found a mounted specimen of the
male of this species in high plumage, in the collection of Mr.
Shroeder. a taxidermist of St. Paul. He could tell me nothing
about its history except that he obtained it of a local sports-
man in the previous spring. Since then I have met with occa
sional small flocks of them, both in spring and autumn, in the
height of the anserial migrations, and have received reports
from a number of observers in different sections of the state.
Mr. James Thompson, of Lanesboro, shot one on his mill pond
on the llth of April, 1883. Mr. Clague, to whom reference has
already been made, residing at Herman, in Grant county, has
shot several near that place, and Mr. John Cutter, of Minne-
apolis, has bagged them at Big Stone, and on the Minnesota
bottoms within an hour's ride of his residence. Yet they should
not be regarded as by any means common.

I am quite familiar with the White-fronted Goose in its
favorite region on the Pacific coast, where it is rather the
choicest of its kind for eating, and where immense numbers are
brought into the markets of Sacramento, Stockton and San
Francisco. It was of this species that the largest number was
obtained at a single shot of a "California Duck Gun" which
has ever been recorded. Hunted constantly in the "Tules" as
they have been for many years, they have long since become
shy, and exceedingly difficult of approach. To meet this, an
ox is trained to obey the sutta voce commands of the gunner
as he walks beside him, keeping step with the forelegs by

76 NOTES ON THE

which he is concealed from the geese on the "sloughs" along
the San Joachim and Sacramento rivers, or along the bays.
The approach is so slow that the ox naturally feeds much of
the time, while the gunner, peeping over the back, and under
the neck of the ox, watches the movements of the flock until
they bring all the relationships right to serve the purpose
most effectually, when he carefully turns the gun into position,
fires a pistol, carried for that end, the countless flock rises,
and when a little above the water, trigger is pulled, and then
follows the "rain of geese," till between the killed and the
wounded, it sometimes seems as if the whole flock must have
been exterminated by that terrific shot.

Fifty drams of Duck powder behind a pound of Goose shot,
well directed under such circumstances, ought to show results.
Sometimes it does.

An instance of considerable local interest occurred which
will illustrate the results of swivel gun shooting upon the
White-fronted Geese.

A citizen of Sacramento, many years since, published an
offer of a Panama hat worth 825, to the person who would
beat his record with a single shot at Geese. He had killed
nearly fifty. For fifteen years the hat remained unclaimed,
when a claimant proved his right to it by showing seventy-
five Ducks of this species killed by a single shot on the ' 'Tules"
of the San Joachim, near the Suisan bay. They are seldom
numerous in the spring migration, indeed some years almost
unobserved, but rarely fail of returning in the autumn during
October in large and numerous flocks. Their habits while
with us are not characteristically unlike most other members
of its family.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail of sixteen feathers; bill and legs red; along sides of
bill and forehead, white, margined with blackish-brown behind;
rest of head and neck grayish- brown, paler on jugulum; back
bluish-gray, the feathers anteriorly tipped with brown, sides
similarly colored: breast and belly grayish white, blotched
irregularly with black; anal region, sides behind, and beneath
the tail, with upper coverts, white; secondary quills and ends
of primaries dark-brown, remaining portion of primaries and
coverts silvery ash; shafts of quills white; greater coverts
edged with white; tail feathers brown tipped with white;
axillars and under surface of wings ashy-plumbeous.

Length, 28; wing, 16.30; tarsus, 2.90; commissure, 2.05

Habitat, North America.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 77

BRANTA CANADENSIS (L). (172.)
CANADA GOOSE.

About the twentieth of March the Canada Geese come in
large flocks, and at once possess the open, prairie lakes, and
those embraced in extensive marshes. Their honkings at once
enlist the interest of everybody who is waiting impatiently
for the spring. The long, triangular flock will soon have
everybody out of doors gazing at it wherever it passes. It is
not much to be wondered at surely if those honkings are
melody in mor^— than one sense to the people of this latitude
after a six-months bird silence, because of its announcements
and its prophecy. Arriving uniformly in the first half of the
day, we feel quite assured then that they have come to stay
for a time at least, while tho&e reaching us later, and during
the night, pass directly on further north. Unlike most other
wheat producing countries, Minnesota grows very little that is
sown in the fall, and hence has little inducements to offer
these birds in this respect upon their arrival, but her
meadows, and the products of what has just been planted in
wheat, soon supply them abundantly, and they drift about
hither and yonder till about the 25th to the 30th of April,
when they disappear as if they had been spirited away as
mysteriously as the swallows formerly disappeared upon the
approach of winter. They have paired and entered upon their
great mission of nidification, a little removed from the ponds
in the marshes, or on the " high-and-dry " islands in the lakes
and larger water courses. The nests are formed of such
materials as are in the locality chosen, more frequently sticks,
coarse weeds, and grass, and are lined with feathers. They
lay from eight to ten eggs which are too well known to need
description. Nests have been found with the full complement
of eggs in them as early as May 1st, but it is generally later
than that. The male shares the confinement of incubation, at
least while the female seeks her accustomed food. Nothing
can exceed the devotion of both parents not only until the
young are fully grown, but until " they are of age " the follow-
ing spring.

Their fondness for the succulent blades of the volunteer
wheat, and the soft grains of the waste of the preceding crop,
costs them their lives by thousands in the fall months, when
they are shot from holes in the ground surrounded by artificial
decoys.

78 NOTES ON THE

If it was not for their pulling the young wheat out of the
ground, and thus destroying it entirely, as they do where the
ground is very friable, they would do little if any harm, as
snipping off the luxuriant blade rather contributes to the de-
velopment of the roots, and thus to the perfection, and final
quantity of the grain. To the same end, in fall-wheat countries,
the farmer often grazes his wheat fields in early spring. Hot,
dry "northers" in the great valleys of the Pacific Coast, will
sometimes scorch the wheat fields in late winter until there is
not a blade of the beautiful green to be seen, but if not so far
advanced as to involve the first "joint," the undisturbed roots
will soon throw out the blades again, and a better crop will fol-
low for the premature firey grazing. They are great mast
eaters, consuming incalculable quantities of mast in fall and
spring both.

Their habits have been so often described in detail, that it
would seem to be a work of supererogation to refer to them, but
that of their manners in the season of pairing and in the de-
fence of their young, is so striking that I will refer to them by
a quotation from "Our Birds in Their Haunts," (Rev. J. H.
Langille. M. A. ) which is a quotation by the author of that
work. It says: "It is extremely amusing to witness the court-
ship of the Canada Goose in all its stages; and let me assure
you. reader, that although a gander does not strut before his be-
loved with the pomposity of a turkey, or the grace of a dove,
his ways are quite as agreeable to the female of his choice. I
can imagine before me one who has just accomplished the de-
feat of another male, after a struggle of half an hour or more-
He advances gallantly toward the object of his attention, his
head scarcely raised an inch from the ground, his bill open to
its full stretch, his fleshy tongue elevated, his eyes darting
firey glances, and as he moves he hisses loudly, while the emo-
tion which he experiences causes his quills to shake and his
feathers to rustle. Now he is close to her who in his eyes is
all loveliness, his neck bending gracefully in all directions,
passes all around her, occasionally touching her body, and as
she congratulates him on his victory (over all competitors, H.)
and acknowledges his affection they mutually move their heads
in a hundred curious ways." The same author has previously
described its courage and strength in the defence of the
mate and young so graphically that I allow myself the
further quotation which follows. Speaking of an ex-
ceptionally large one that "returned three years in sue-

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 79

cession to a large pond a few miles from the moutli
of Green river in Kentucky, and whenever I visited the nest it
seemed to look upon me with utter contempt. It would stand
in a stately attitude until I reached within a few yards of the
nest, when suddenly lowering its head, and shaking it as if it
were dislocated from the neck, it would open its wings and
launch into the air flying directly at me. So daring was this
fine fellow, that in^wo instances he struck me a blow with one
of his wings on the right arm, which for an instant I thought
was broken. I observed that immediately after such an effort
to defend his nest and mate, he would run swiftly towards
them, pass his head and neck several times over and around
the female, and again assume his attitude of defiance." This
description is no more graphic than true, as I have had personal
opportunity to verify it. I regard this species as amongst the
most interesting and remarkable of the bird kingdom. Senator
R. B. Langdon resides across the street from my office, and
has an enclosure in which he keeps deer, antelopes and a flock
of wild geese, the habits of each and all of which I have had
ample opportunity to observe in years of confinement. The
deers (two are added by birth each year, the latter part of
June) and the geese manifest a great interest in the many
children who visit their park. If one of their number runs a
race along the iron fence which incloses them, both the deers
and geese will at once join in the race, the latter with
wings at half extent, and gabbling and cackling so much like
the rollicking children that it is difficult to decide "which is
which.'" If any of the ruder children turn and threaten to use
sticks or clubs, the deers will gallop away, but the geese will
instantly drop their heads, rustle their feathers, and rush up to
the fence so resolutely as to send their persecutors flying, and
does a bolder boy return, they will form a line of battle, and
commence the ominous shaking of their heads, until one would
suppose they would become un jointed. In such an attitude,
with the suggestion of the bare possibility that they might
possibly fly over the fence in their anger, even the boldest will
consult the better part of valor and run away.

To say in a report like this that myriads of this species
have annually visited the State to either breed here or, after
two or three weeks, pass further north to do so, may seem an
exaggeration, but what more temperate language would more
nearly convey a just idea of their numbers? Yet it must be
conceded that in the southern half of the State, their numbers

80 NOTES ON THE

have materially diminished since the population has so greatly-
increased, and railroad connections with all of the other States
have made it possible for hundreds of "crack- shots" to be on
their haunts the moment the law allows them to be taken.
Remoter sections submit them to less vernal persecutions, and
there the numbers remain more nearly the same as those of
several decades now gone. On their first arrival in any
section, they spend much time on the wing reconnoitering, but
soon become settled down to their work of eating, rather than
flying. I suppose that there are sections where none of
them ever breed, but I do not know of a county where I have
been in summer, and had an opportunity to consult intelligent,
observant residents, where I have not had good reason to
believe that they were breeding to some extent at least. The
country at large is eminently favorable to their nidification,
and their habits during that season protect them from obser-
vation, while the enforcement of the statutes by the State
Sportingmen's Club attend to their enforcement.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail of eighteen feathers; head, neck, bill and feet deep
black; a large triangular patch of white on the cheeks behind
the eyes; the two of opposite sides broadly confluent beneath,
but not extending to the rami of the lower jaw; a few whitish
feathers on the lower eyelid; upper parts brown edged with
paler; under parts light, with a tinge of purple-gray, some-
times a shade of smoky brown; edges of the feathers paler;
color of the body of the feathers though similar, becoming
deeper on the sides, tibia, axillars, and inside of the wings;
the gray of the belly passes gradually into white on the anal
region and under coverts; upper tail coverts pure white;
primary quills and rump are very dark blackish-brown; tail
feathers black.

Length, 35; wing, 18; tarsus, 3.40; commissure, 2.10.

Habitat, North America generally.

BRANTA CANADENSIS HITCHINSII (Swainson &
Richardson). (172a).

HUTCHINS'S GOOSE.

It is a difficult matter to convince the casually observing
sportsman that there are really two varieties of the " Common
Wild Goose," while he will readily concede a considerable vari-
ation in the size of different specimens of the species. The two
seem to be thoroughly mingled in their autumnal migrations,
with an immense preponderance of the Canadas, but in spring

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 81

very few of this species are noticed. Arriving presumably
about the same time, these are believed all to pass further
north to breed, and return to us about the first of October, or a
little earlier. I cannot estimate their relative numbers in
either migration, neither do I know of their having any dis-
tinguishable habit which enables me to identify them until they
are in my hands. This is also true of their specific characters,
only differing from Canadensis in the measurements, which
grade into each other through occasional individuals as has
been abundantly demonstrated.

BRANTA BERNICLA (L.). (173.)
BRANT.

While this species is not an abundant one within our bound-
aries, it is relatively a fairly represented one. Appearing in
small flocks simultaneously with the others about the 25th to
the 30th of March, they remain about three weeks, in the lakes,
ponds, and estuaries of sluggish streams, where considerable
numbers of them are shot for the market, after which they
move on to much higher latitudes to rear their young. Speci-
mens of the Brant may be found in the collections of the tax
idermists, and different scientific societies in the State which
have been secured in the migrations frojn year to year, repre
senting both sexes and age. In autumn they reach the north-
western portions of the State in considerable flocks about the
first of October and remain as late as any others before pass-
ing further to the south to winter. Mr. Washburn, who visited
the region of the Mille Lacs lake, and Otter Tail lake, in the
interests of this department of the Natural History Survey of
the State, extending his observations from the 9th of October
to the 10th of November, 1885, found these birds "quite numer
ous near Fergus Palls," and similar reports reached me from
Grant, and Bigstone counties.

It is rarely the case that some of them cannot be found in
the game stalls of the City Market during the periods of their
usual presence and migrations.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill, feet, head, neck, primary quills, tail, and body anterior
to the wings, black; secondary quills nearly black; on each
side of the middle of the neck, a small white crescent, streaked
with black; lower eyelids with a very faint trace of white
feathers; black of the jugulum abruptly defined against the

'82 NOTES ON THE

bluish silver-gray of the remaining under parts, the feathers
of which have the basal portions bluish gray; axillars and
inside of wings showing a darker tint of the same; the gray of
the belly passes gradually into white behind, the tail being en-
circled all around and concealed by this color; back and wing
coverts grayish-blue with slightly paler edges; rump, similar,
but darker and more uniform blue, the secondaries have some
concealed whitish on the inner webs towards the base.

Length, 23.50; wing, 12.75; tarsus, 2.26; commissure l.-AO.

Habitat, northern parts of Northern Hemisphere.

BRANTA NIGRICANS (Lawrence). (174.)
BLACK BRANT.

Several stragglers of this Pacific Coast species have been
brought in during the past ten years, by parties visiting the
Red river valley in the fall shooting sea.son. If they are any-
thing more than stragglers, they must still be regarded very
rare. Their identity I can vouch for, from a long familiarity
with them in Sacramento and Santa Clara counties, California.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head, neck, and body anterior to the wings deep black,
passing into dark sooty plumbeous on the rest of the body,
this color beneath extending nearly to the anus, and above
shading insensibly into the black of the rump; middle of the
throat with a white patch extending round on the sides, and
somewhat streaked with black; no white on the eyelids; sides
of rump and base of the tail, with upper and under tail coverts
concealing the tail, and space across the anus, white; primary
and secondary quills and tail, black; feathers on the sides of
the body beneath the wings like the belly, but with white tips.

Length. 29; wing, 13.80; tarsus, 2.30; commissure, 1.50.

Habitat, Arctic and Western North America.

OLOR COLIMBIANI S (Ord). (180.)
WHISTLING SWAN.

Many years ago this species was believed to be a regular
summer resident of the Red river valley, and not without rea-
son, for they were occasionally met with as late as the tenth
of May in spring, and as early as the twentieth of August.
But these instances have proved to be very rare, and when
they were reported to me some important observations regard-
ing their identity were wanted in their later appearance.
Having never observed them personally, I have been left to the
conclusion that they were the young of the Trumpeters, a

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 85

species long ago known to breed here limitedly in the region
referred to. That the Whistlers, however, are met with here
occasionally during the early and late migrations, we are equally
assured by their having Deen obtained at those times for taxi-
dermists to mount. Mr. Howling kindly called my attention.
to them many years ago in his collections.

Mr. Shroeder, a taxidermist long known in St. Paul, had
one obtained on the Red river which I was permitted to ex-
amine, but of the special history of which he could give me
nothing. When passing over, in their early spring migrations,
I have several times had my attention called to them by their
peculiar notes, some time before I could see them at their
great elevation. With my glass I could not only determine
that they were Swans, but readily count them, which has been
once thirty-one, and on another occasion only three, when they
were not thirty yards above the forest trees amid which I
discovered them. These times have usually been in March,
and only once in the first days of April. They must breed as
a rule far to the north of our national line.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill as long as the head, broad, high at the base; feathers on
the forehead ending in a semicircular outline; nostrils far
forward, the anterior extremity considerably more forward
than half the commissure; color pure white; bill and legs
black; the former with an orange or yellowish spot in front
of the eyes. Immature birds with the head above tinged with
reddish- brown. Tail feathers twenty.

Length. 55; wing. 22; tarsus, 4.25; bill, 4.20.

Habitat, North America generally.

OLOR BUCCINATOR (Richardson). (181.)
TRUMPETER SWAN.

When the long embargo of a subarctic winter has terminated
and the waning drifts of the remaining snows have been reduced
to narrow borders of the forest and fences, despondent hearts
from hopes deferred will wake to new consciousness of exist-
ence, like another resurrection. The senses all feel the won-
drous change, and catching the impulse of nature's wide
outreachings, accept their new responsibilities. The babbling
of the brook once more set free, the cawing of the crow, the
cheery chink, chink of the returning woodpeckers, aj^peal to
every sentiment of gratitude in the reverent heart, and the
cup of peaceful joy is filled to overflowing.

84 NOTES ON THE

The quickened ear hears the honkings of the Pelicans and
Geese against the very heavens, and still far above them the
trumpetings of this snowy Swan. Their gracefulness of flight,
the daring, giddy hight, conspire to fill the soul with adoration
for the wonderful, the beautiful. From their exalted pathway
of the air, they rarely descend until over the most unfre-
quented districts, where before, they have reared their young.
Extremely shy, descending in majestic circuits they do not
hastily alight, until the section has been most thoroughly
reconnoitered and found devoid of man, their cruellest of foes.

They live mostly upon vegetation both terrestrial and
aquatic, and about the first of May nest-building is begun.
The structure is loosely formed of weeds, reeds, grass and
such other materials as are found convenient to the location
and is superficially lined with down from their own bodies.
They lay eight to ten pale green eggs. Incubation lasts four
weeks, soon after the completion of which, the young follow
the parents into the water. Formerly the nests wore occasion-
ally found at different places all over the State, but of late, none
have been reported from any. Still the young of the year are
to be seen in the vicinity of the the Red river very nearly
every year after the middle of October. The latest recorded
date of my personal observations, before their final disappear-
ance was November 17th, but I have learned that individuals
have been seen still later, which suggests that they were
laggers from accidents or gunshot wounds.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill broad and longer than the head; the feathers ending on
the forehead in a semi-elliptical outline; nostrils with the an-
terior extremity as far forward only as half the commissure;
tail of twenty-four feathers; color pure white throughout; bill
and legs entirely black; bill without any red spot at the base.
Less mature specimens with the head above tinged with
reddish- brown.

Length, 60; wing, 24; bill, 4.50; tarsus, 4.60.

Habitat, principally the interior of North America.

V

Order HERODIONES.

Family ABDEID^.

BOTAURUS LENTIGINOSUS (Montagu). (190.)
AMERICAN BITTERN.

Variously called Bittern, Shidepoke, Pumper, Stakedriver,
&c., &c., according to local custom, this familiar Heron is relat-
ively as well represented here as any other of its family.
They reach us as early as the first week in April. By the 25th,
they have become paired and their nests are constructed soon
afterwards. They consist of small sticks, coarse grass, with
more or less leaves of sedge brush and are placed directly on
the ground in the most inaccessible bog marshes and sloughs.
Preferably a tuft of willowy sedge is chosen that gives the nest
a slight elevation, yet not uniformly so, for I find them not in-
frequently placed between the bogs in the marshes that are de-
void of all kinds of brush. A rank bunch of grass that springs
up in these places, will most naturally be the place to look for
them first, however. The eggs are usually four in number, of
a striking drab color, with more or less olivaceous. Sometimes
their nests are found in small communities but as a general
thing that custom is locally disregarded. The notes of the
Bittern are remarkable and are heard only during the period
of pairing and nesting. They have been variously described
by writers as they sound to their ears and have been rendered
into dunk-a-doo, pump-ah-gah, ponka-gong, kunk-a-ivhulnk,
chunk-a-lunk, and quank-chunk-a-lunk-chunk, all of which seem
to me to convey as nearly a correct idea as may be obtained, as
I have heard them at different times. But one must have
heard them to understand how well any of them really de-
scribes their "song."

The attitude of the prairie-hen cock in booming, the turkey
gobbler in gobbling is no more extreme or characteristic than
is that of the Bittern in the act of disgorging himself of his in

86 NOTES ON THE

expressibly infelicitous love notes. Standing perfectly erect
and entirely motionless, the bill pointed exactly toward the
zenith, the head is seen to be very slowly sinking while the
body correspondingly assumes the horizontal position and the
neck becomes sigmoid by its double flexion, it suddenly shoots
forward and a little downward and laboriously pumps out the
amorous utterances, doubtless to the entire satisfaction of the
waiting ear, whether the mate's or another masculine repre-
sentative of his species that accepts it as a challenge to come
over and get most ingloriously thrashed. Aspectively the per-
formance is suggestive of strangulation until "kunk-ah-
whulnk" has all been ejected. If any other performance
could match this in uncouthness to eye or ear, it has not been
mine to witness it with either of those senses. The food con-
sists principally of frogs, in the seizure of which their heron-
like manner of remaining motionless for long periods that the
unapprised reptiles may unconsciously come within easy reach,
is a pretty sure guaranty that they shall have enough to eat as
long as the frogs last. It is seldom that more than one indi-
vidual is seen in any one immediate locality, when it must have
been discovered at a distance while in its perpendicular atti-
tude, or by some sudden surprise, for they drop the head down
so slowly as to allude observation, and then run at a rapid pace
through the grass, weeds, reeds and rushes to a considerable
distance in some unexpected direction, and there remain hidden
until all danger of discovery is past before resuming their
watch for frogs and small snakes. One may pass very near
where they are concealed without flushing them, as they are
capable of judging very accurately whether they are actually
under the eye of the intruder or not.

By the first week in August the young have attained the gen-
eral appearance of the adults, and when the frogs disappear
they do likewise.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper mandible black; the lower greenish-yellow; lores and
eyelid yellow; iris bright yellow; upper part of head depressed,
with the plumage there deep blackish-brown; long, yellowish-
browm feathers on the neck behind shaded with darker; throat
whitish, streaked with dark brown; from the posterior and
lower part of the auriculars, a broad patch of black passes di-
agonally across the neck; back deep brown barred and mottled
with many specks and streaks of brownish-yellow; quills black
with a leaden gloss, and tipped with ocherous brown; legs and
feet yellow, washed with pale green; middle claw pectinated;
beneath pale yellowish-brown streaked with darker brown.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 87

Length, 27; wing. 11: tarsus. 3.60; bill, 2.75.

Habitat, Temperate North America.

The Bittern is almost universally distributed wherever the
food supply is found. In an hour's ride within my own county,
a half dozen may be readily seen by any one acquainted with
their habits, by overlooking a meadow a quarter of a mile away.
He will notice what seems to be a stake in the ground rising
but little above the grass. If he has a field glass, he will at
once be able to make out the head and neck of his bird, but let
him not think to see that head go down, or even move, should
he wait half an hour, and how much longer I cannot say, for
my time for observing the habits of birds has ever been too
precious to stay his attitude out, but if he has a friend with
him, or better a trained bird dog. the observer may send him
forward, while he holds his game under his lens and he will
soon see how the stake sinks out of sight and then he may
trace the stealthy movements to another spot whence the stake
will again appear.

BOTAURUS EXILIS (Gmelin). (191.)
LEAST BITTERN.

It is not a little remarkable that a species like this can
remain so long unrecognized or supposably so rare when
actually so common. For long years I watched for the Least
Bittern before I had the pleasure of having it in my hands, and
when I was rewarded I had the additional pleasure of knowing
how and w^here to look for more of them. I have of late years
found them common in their favorite haunts about ponds em-
braced in high reeds and flags, portions of which stand in the
water. Not half a mile from the business center of my city is
a pond of this character, where this species has been a regular
summer resident since first I observed it nearly twenty years
ago. An early visit to this pond long before sunrise, has
always resulted in the catching of a glimpse of one or more of
them along the borders of their covert. \nd I could add a
score to the number of different localities where these birds
may be found in their season, within three or four miles of the
first. They come to the State a little later than the Greater
Bitterns, generally the second week in April, and have begun
building their nests by the 10th of May following. These are
more commonly suspended from the reeds above high water
mark. Fairly within the mass are frequent clusters or tussocks
of the same, that afford the chosen supports for the nest while
augmenting the concealment. Several coarse stalks are em-
braced in the platform, which consists of dried grass so wound
7 z

88 NOTES ON THE

about the former as to preclude the possibility of its slipping,
and into and around about which is built up the whole struct-
ure consisting thus of coarse, reedy grass, into which are
woven fine, jointed green grasses, not severed from their roots
in the submerged ground. But they are not always placed in
this manner, for it is not unusual to find them directly on the
ground, on the edge of a fioating bog in shallow water, or oc-
casionally in a sedgy bunch or bush of dwarf willows. The
nest is loosely built, very little dished, and contains four to
five white eggs, with a faint wash of green.

They rear two broods, the last of which is strong enough to
fly well by the second week in August, and they all quit the
country by about the fifth of September. Their food consists
largely of leeches, to which are added lizzards, tadpoles,
snails and young frogs. I have never found fishes among their
ingesta, but have too much respect for the taste of the bird to
doubt that they sometimes constitute a good share of a round
meal.

Note. The circumstance of my never having met with the
species for so many years after my residence in the State had
begun, recalls the fact that only two or three of my volunteer
assistants and correspondents have mentioned it. Mr. Holz-
inger. of Winona, says: "This bird is little seen, but has recently
been found breeding around Lake Winona."'

In this place I will say that I have never found the Least
Bittern breeding in communities. However, I can easily im-
agine local temporary causes which might impel them to do so,
and since it is a common thing for them to be closely associated
with several species of blackbirds and other species of herons
in their nidification, it seems as if it might be expected that
they will sometimes be found breeding in communities.

Their habits are decidedly nocturnal, and their migrations
are begun and terminated between two days, after the manner
of another but featherless biped who quits his wonted "banks"
for more northern latitudes, without the slightest regard for
seasons.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Back and head above, dark, glossy green; upper part of
neck, shoulders, greater coverts, and outer web of some ter-
tials, purplish -cinnamon; a brownish yellow scapular stripe;
bill slender, acute, both mandibles about equally curved; legs
very short; tarsus less than middle toe; inner toe much the
longest, claws long, acute; tarsi broadly scutellate anteriorly;
body much compressed; head smooth; occipital feathers some-
what lengthened; lower neck behind bare of plumage; tail of
ten feathers.

Length, 13; wing, 4.7.5; tarsus, 1.60; bill, about 1.7o.

Habitat, temperate North America.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 89

ARDEA HERODIAS L. (194/)
GREAT BLUE HERON.

Crane island is situated in the upper portion of upper "Lake
Minne tonka, and has received its name from the circumstance
of its being the breeding and roosting place of the ' ' Blue
Cranes," as this species is popularly called. How long it has
been thus occupied is not even traditional, for it was a heronry
earlier than the Indian traditions began. About the 10th to
15th of April, and occasionally a little earlier, these birds begin
to arrive in small parties, at once seeking their old roosting
place. A steady increase in their numbers continues for about
a week, when the whole clan seems to have reached the
heronry, and early in the mornings they may be seen flying far
away in all directions till all have departed. An hour before
the sun sets, they begin to return, but it will be some time
after dark before the last have arrived. They gather into
clusters, or loose parties in sections to which they resort, after
having satisfied their hunger, and enter into matrimonial nego
tiations in which rivalries and jealousies lead to some severe
contests between the males. By the first week in May all of
these matters are settled, and the nesting begins from the 5th
to the 10th of May. The structures consist of sticks, twigs,
coarse and medium weeds of different kinds, very roughly and
loosely disposed, with barely depression enough to retain the
eggs, three to four in number, light bluish green in color, all
of which is placed in the forks of a tree at about sixty feet ele-
evation. The island on which the tree stands, at some day in
the remote past, was evidently densely covered with lofty elms,
sugar maples, oaks and basswoods, but the excrement accumu-
lating from year to year, and age to age. . has destroyed them
until the number left standing has become few and considerably
scattered. Since that lake has become a great summer resort,
and is constantly plied with some twenty or thirty steamers of
various sizes (with whistles loud enough to be heard quite dis-
tinctly fifteen miles away), three or foar times as many full
sailed yachts, to which may be added two or three hundred
row-boats, constantly flitting back and forth at all hours of the
day and far into the nights, it is a standing surprise that these
birds (and their copartners, the cormorants, whom I had like
to have forgotten to mention in this connection), still continue
to return year after year to the same familiar spot. However,
it must be confessed that from these disturbing causes, to which

90 NOTES ON THE

should be added a long-continued practice of firing pistols at
them from the steamers* decks to see the females rise in clouds
from their nests, and the robbing them of their eggs by men
and boys by the employment of telegraph pole climbing irons
to reach them, their numbers became so sensibly reduced as to
call in special legislation, some five or six years since, or all
would have been destroyed or driven entirely away. I have
taken all measures within my reach to ascertain the area daily
visited by the "cranes" and cormorants brooding and roosting
in this group, and while not absolutely certain of the exact
dimensions, I can safely say it covers a circle the diameter of
which is not less than eighty miles. In England it is said that
all roads lead to London, so when I see or hear of individuals of
these species flying regularly /?'om the direction of Minnetonka
in the morning, until nearly nine o'clock, and after four in the
afternoon till dark, towards it, uniformly, I conclude that they
belong there. The nearest heronry to this of which I have
any reliable knowledge is about 190 miles from here. They
rear but one brood in a season here now, if ever they did before.
Their food is frogs, fish, snakes, mice, water beetles and slugs.
From the 15th to the 20th of October they go away to the south
in small flocks.

There is another heronrj'^ somewhere in the southeastern
part of the State, which I have not yet succeeded in locating,
but I think it is somewhere perhaps in Dodge, Olmsted or
Freeborn county. A large one has long been located in
Douglas or Grant county, I am credibly informed by duck-
hunters. In general their distribution is co-exlensive with the
State, yet there are considerable sections where they do not
go on account of the deficiency of appropriate food.

Mr. Washburn found them common throughout his explora-
tions at Mille Lacs and in the different sections of the Red
River valley.

Mr. Lewis found it in nearly every place he visited in the
north and western parts of the commonwealth.

If intelligently cooked, the flesh of the entire Heron family
is excellent eating, including the unprepossessing and most
unpopular Bittern, as I can bear positive testimony, for by the
courtesy of Mr. Wm. Tiffany I breakfasted with him upon it
once many years ago. If there is anything which forever
settles the question of man's evolution from animals lower than
the monkeys, it is the attainment of prejudices respecting his
food. His employment of the imagination in the domains of

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 91

scientific investigation has unduly developed it, and hence his
reason dictates his stomach, but very poorly.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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; bill yellow, dusky at the base
and greenish above; forehead and central part of crown white,
encircled laterally and behind by black, of which color is the
occipital crest and its two elongated feathers; neck, light
smoky cinnamon-brown, with a tinge of purple; chin and throat
whitish; the feathers along the central line of the throat to the
breast, white, streaked with black and reddish-brown, except
on the elongated feathers of the breast; body bluish- ash above
and on the sides; the under parts including the tuft of feathers
on each side of the breast and belly to the crissum, sooty-black,
much varied along the middle line with white; tibia and edge
of the wing rufous; quills black, becoming more plumbeous
internally until the innermost secondaries are ash, like the back;
the elongated tips of the scapular feathers have a whitish shade;
tail bluish-slate color; bill yellow, dusky green above; loral
and orbital spaces light green; iris yellow; feet olivaceous,
paler above the tibiotarsal joint; claws black.

Length, 42; wing, 18.50; tarsus, 6.50; bill, 5.50.

Habitat, North America.

ARDEA EGRETTA Gmelin. (196.)
AMERICAN EGRET.

In my list of species observed fifteen years ago I gave this
one as an occasional. I had found a representation of it in
private collections only, since which time I had met with it in
flocks of half a dozen or less a few times, and individuals still
more frequently. They have been killed along the bottoms of
the Minnesota river occasionally ever since Fort Snelling was
located, and within the last ten years, one has been obtained
on the Red river as far north as Moorhead. A friend of mine
brought in a fine male from Big Stone lake last spring (1888)
which he has mounted in good order.

No nests nor young have been reported, but their observa-
tion in the warmest days of July lends plausibility to the con-
jecture that they may breed here.

Still, I think it more probable that they are generally strag-
glers from flocks located below, along the Mississippi or along
the Missouri river.

92 NOTES ON THE

I have never found them later than the 25th of August, j-et
sportsmen are confident of having seen them in the distance on
fiat prairies west of the Big Woods as late as the same date in
September.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill slender, yellowish to the tip. culmen nearly straight,
more convex terminally than the gonys; middle toe more than
half the tarsus, outer toe longest, claws moderate, considerably
curved; tarsus broadly scutellate anteriorly; head smooth;
back, in breeding season with a series of plumes longer than
the tail, and curving gently downwards; tail of twelve broad,
stiifened feathers; back of neck well feathered; feet black;
colors pure white at all times.

Length. 40; wing, 17; bill. 5; tarsus, 6.

Habitat. America, chiefly south.

ARDEA CANDIDISSIMA Gmelin. (197.)
SNOWY HERON.

We must consider this species as in a measure a straggler,
so infrequently has it been seen under circumstances of cer-
tain identification.

I have seen them several times when from their smaller size,
I could scarcely doubt their being this species, but they were
too cautious for me to secure any. I found one in Mr. Howl-
ing's collection many years ago and two others since, the lat-
ter of which came to him from the Red River country "some-
where." Sportsmen claiming to know the species well, insist
that they meet considerable numbers of them in both spring
and fall shooting along the Minnesota River in occasional
years, but I am ajiprehensive that they confound the other
species with it, (A. Egretta), notwithstanding their assur-
ances that they can distinguish them. That a few visit us is
certain however, and that they go somewhat beyond the lati-
tude of St. Paul and Minneapolis cannot be disputed, but sev-
eral years have intervened between any observations of their
presence by myself or others. They are described as follows:

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill compressed; culmen slightly concave in the basal two-
thirds, terminally more convex than the gonys; middle toe
three-fourths the tarsus; tibia bare for nearly one-half; occiput
with a full crest of loosely fibred feathers as long as the bill;
feathers on lower part of throat somewhat similar; middle of
back with a series of plumes, with the fibrilla3 distant and
lengthened, plumes recurved at the tip, where the fibrillar of

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 93

opposite sides are horizontal, but approximated in a verticle
plane; they reach nearly to the tip of the tail, sometimes be-
yond it; bill black, yellow at base, including the loral region
and around the eye, as well as a larger basal portion of the
lower mandible; legs black; lower part of tarsus behind and
the toes yellow; color of plumage throughout pure white.

Length. 24; wing, 10.20; tarsus, 3.80; bill, 3.15.

Habitat, Temperate and Tropical America.

ARDEA TIRESCENS L. (201.)

GREEN HERON.

A common summer resident, found along those of our inland
streams which meander the meadows and the marshes with a
sluggish current, after the 10th of April. It is seldom that an
hour's hunt along their rank grassy, reedy borders does not
give one a sight of one or two of them. They commence
building as early occasionally as the first of May in small com-
munities, but usually about the 5th. a loose, bulky, flat nest of
sticks, twigs and leaves, placed in the tops or branches of
small trees in thickets. They lay about four pale-blue eggs,
sometimes only three and sometimes five. They rear two
broods usually.

Their food embraces frogs, fishes, slugs, cray-fish. worms,
&c., which they obtain abundantly enough to make them re-
main in a single spot for hours when undisturbed, under which
circumstances their maneuvers may be watched with a glass
with great satisfaction, provided a position has been attained
without the knowledge of the bird. This is no easy task, for
their telescopic eyes take in every moving thing possible con-
siderable distances away. More frequently one will find him
standing in several inches of water, close to that which is still
deeper, and as motionless as if he were grown there, with his
head resting back upon his breast, and woe betide the reptile or
fish that ventures within the radial possibilities of that neck
and unerring bill. He never strikes by guess, and rarely with-
out securing his victim, which is swallowed invariably head
foremost, in the twinkling of an eye. He does not ordinarily
thresh the ground with his game as the Greater Bittern often
does, to reduce it to flexibility, or fractures, in order to swallow
it, but selects the size best adapted to the capacities of his
throat. When fishing for frogs specially his methods are
somewhat modified. Instead of retaining his fixed attitude,
which the frogs soon learn to j-ecognize when their heads are

94 NOTES ON THE

above water, he takes advantage of the moment when, with
their heads immersed, each is seeking a spot in which to hide,
and steps promptly but cautiously along to a favorable posi-
tion, and assuming his wonted attitude with his neck drawn
back over the breast, and when an inquisitive head rises, the
same fatal stroke brings Johnny Crapeau's favorite "to bag."
Communal as they often are in breeding, they always hunt sol-
itarily, and seem to individually have a sort of squatter's pre-
emption over a given territory, returning to it daily through
the entire season. The young having become full grown by
the first to the tenth of August, they may subsequently be often
seen going forth in the early morning in families supposably,
and returning at evening by the same routes in like parties.
I have never seen them later than the 25th of October, They
seem all to disappear at nearly the same time.

Dr. Hvoslef reports them at Lanesboro and vicinity early in
April and late in October, but mentions the discovery of no
nests or heronries.

Mr. Lewis reports them common in all of the northwestern
portions of the state as far as Pembina. Mr. Clague finds
them occasionally in the lower portions of Grant county. The
most frequented locality I have known for this small heron, is
a low boggy marsh through which Minnehaha Creek flows, by
which are thus connected Lakes Amelia and Mud, the former
of which is partly and the latter entirely within the city limits.
Careful observations at the twilight of either end of the day
will find them there uniformly. I wish to say that they do not
universally breed in communities in Minnesota, for in every
instance in which I have found them doing so, I have failed to
find other nests or birds. Instances have occurred under my
observation, where in the entire absence of trees, or bushes
of any size, they have placed the nest, composed of coarse dry
weeds and reeds, and cat-tails, on a tussock in a reed-hidden
quag-mire. Indeed, in common with many other species of
the birds, thej' manifest great capacity to adapt their habits to
extreme circumstances when necessary. One nest, built high
and dry above the water in a pond, on the top of a muskrat's
house, was pointed out to me, .so secure from human intrusion
that no attempt was made by the birds at concealment.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill acute, rather longer than head, gently curved from the
base; gonys slightly ascending; legs short, tarsus scarcely
longer than middle toe, broadly scutellate anteriorly; lateral

I

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 95

toes nearly equal; head with elongated feathers above and
behind; these and interscapulars and scapulars lanceolate; neck
short, bare behind inferiorly; tibia feathered nearly through-
out; tail of twelve feathers; top of head and body above, glossy
green; coverts edged with brownish yellow; neck dark purplish
chestnut; chin and central line of throat white; body beneath
plumbeous ash.

Length, 15; wing, 7.50; tarsus, 2; bill, 2.40.

Habitat, Canada and Oregon, southward to northern South
America.

NVCTICORAX NYCTICORAX NJ:VIUS (Bodd^rt). (202.)
BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON.

I find this common species much more frequently in the tax
Idermists' shops than in its haunts, although I do so occasion-
ally when on their grounds at twilight, and I find they breed
regularly very near to if not still within the city limits. Their
nocturnal habits protect them from observation, but it is
known that they roost during the day in the tamarack swamps
and come forth at twilight to seek their food along the borders
of streams, ditches and on the marshes. The nests are
constructed about the tenth of May, or a little later, in the
tamarack swamps, on the trees, and are formed of sticks.
More than one may occupy the same tree, but the only night-
heronry I have ever seen had not to exceed a half dozen nests,
unless I failed to see them, which might have been the case
with all of my diligence, for they were well concealed in the
thick branches of the trees which stood in a foot or more of
water near one of our smaller lakes, or ponds, as the people
from Maine call them. This breeding place has long been
broken up. I find through one of my most reliable and inde-
fatigable correspondents in the southern part of the State that
this species is quite common there . He met them in nearly all
of the summer months of their summer residence there. (J.
McClintock). j\Ir. Lewis, jDerfectly familiar with all of their
habits, reports them common through Becker and Polk coun-
ties, and believes them nearly universally distributed through-
out the northern and western divisions of the State. It cannot
be called a numerous species in any other than a relative
sense here. At Thief river there is a heronry of the species,
which, if carefully observed during a season or two, might be
of much value in making numerical estimates. (Washburn).

Their food does not differ materially from that of other
herons I think.

96 NOTES ON THE

They retire southward by the second week of October.

I omitted to say that the eggs are somewhat variable in
color from bluish green to greenish-yellow, and generally four
in number.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head above and middle of back, steel -green; wings and tail
ashy-blue; underparts, forehead and long occipital feathers,
white; sides tinged with lilac; bill ver}' thick at base and taper-
ing 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 and stout; tarsus equal to
middle toe. and covered with hexagonal scales, those anterior
largest, but those on the upper portion much larger, and
extending entirely across; tibia bare for one fifth; lateral toes
nearly equal, the outer rather longest; claws small, consider-
ably curved; tail short, of twelve broad, rather stiff, feathers;
head with the occipital feathers elongated and with two or
three very long, straight feathers (long as bill and head)
springing from the occiput; these are rolled up so as to appear
like a single C3iindrical feather; back of neck covered with
down, but not provided with long feathers; scapular and inter-
scapular feathers elongated and lanceolate; the webs scarcely
decomposed; upper part of head. ui)per eyelids, occipital,
crest, scapular and intor.scapular region, dark lustrous steel
green; wings and tail ashy -blue; under parts, forehead and
long occipital feathers, white passing into pale, ashy-lilac on
the sides and neck above, as also tinging nearly the whole
under parts; the region along the base of the bill, however,
nearly pure as on the tibia; bill black; loral space green; iris
red; feet yellow and claws brown.

Length, 2o; wing. 12.50; tarsus, 8.15; bill, about 3.10.

Habitat, America.

NYCTICORAX VIOLArElS (L ). (203.)
YELLOW CROWNED NIGHT HERON

The first time 1 met the Black-crowned Night Heron in the
State was in Mr. William Howling's taxidermal shop in 1864 I
think, when standing beside it was a Yellow-crown. Although
I began to meet the former from time to time, it was several
years before I saw another of the latter, till I found it again in
a private collection in St. Paul. I have never taken the bird,
but in all the instances in which I have seen these specimens,
I have ascertained that they were collected here, and under
precisely the same circumstances in which the others were
found. I know nothing more of the bird locally than I did

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 97

twenty years ago. I can only count it an occasional straggler,
presumably individuals "which become mixed with the other
species in migration.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Neck and body uniform grayish-plumbeous; head bluish ash;
hood and a broad patch on the side of head yellowish-white;
scapular and interscapular feathers dusky, edged with grayish-
plumbeous.

Length, 24; wing, 12; tarsus. 3.75; bill, about 2.75.

Habitat, semi-tropics.

Older PALUDICOL^.

Family GKl ID^l^l

GKl'S A^MEKICANA (L.). (20^.)
WHOOPING CRANE.

While yet the prolonged winter maintains its relentless hold
upon the northland, and deep snows conceal the demarking
shorelines of the lakes and streams, the Whooping Crane may
be faintly heard, and often seen against the cold blue sky,
winging his dauntless way to some unknown open sea still
nearer the undiscovered pole. In the last days of February
sometimes, but oftener in the third week in March, flocks of
ten to twenty are seen, and occasionally on to the 15th of April
such flocks continue to arrive, only a few individuals of which
remain to breed in the remote portions of the State.

The only evidence I have that it breeds here is circumstan-
tial. Through a course of many years observation, individuals
of the mature white birds have been obtained or well identified
during every month from March to November inclusive, quite
a number of which have found their way into the collections of
museums and private individuals. Both the Minneapolis and
St. Paul Academies of Natural Sciences have them, and I think
there is one in the museum of the State University, but I do
not know when they were all obtained. Amateur oOligists have
several times brought me the eggs to purchase, claiming that
they were obtained in some part of the State, but I had doubts
about them which made them really of no value to me. Two
such were nearly four inches in length, with their reputed
color, markings, and warty roughened surfaces.

They inhabit the most out-of the-way morasses and impene-
trable swamps, with little else but a knowledge of the local
habits of the larger waders to stimulate careful research by
competent observers.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 99

I have noticed a single individual at different times during
the summer, a mile distant from my nearest approach, spearing
frogs, snakes, &c., and as many times resolved to resort to a
mud boat that could be poled over the bogs and mire, believing
that due search might be repaid with a nest and eggs. When
moving to any considerable distance, they mount up to great
elevations, but ordinarily in their haunts, they fly barely above
the top of the reeds, brush, &c. Fish, frogs, slugs, worms,
tadpoles, snails, snakes enter into their bill of fare. Individ-
uals of this species linger into November once in a while, if the
fall is rather prolonged.

In 1883 they entered the State on March 25th, and in 1864,
February 27th, when we had an unusually early spring.

"A few birds of this species shot near Fergus Falls.'*
(Washburn) .

Dr. Hvoslef says that he met them in March, 1886, at Lanes -
boro; but makes no reference to their remaining through the
summer.

Mr. Treganowan reported them constantly seen in the
summer months in Pembina county, but nowhere numerous.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill deep, compressed; lower mandible as deep along the
gonys as the upper opposite to it; gonys convex ascending;
commissure straight to near the tip, thence a little decurved
and crenated; color pure white; primary and spurious quills
with their shafts black; space in front of the eyes and extend-
ing backward between them to a point on the occiput, and
below them involving the whole cheek to a point behind the
ears, blackish; this space having the feathers reduced to stiff
hairy black shafts, but concealing the warty and granulated
skin; feathers on middle of nape above plumbeous-dusky.

Length, 52; wing, 24; tarsus, 12; commissure 6.

Habitat, interior of North America.

GRUS MEXICAN A (Muller) (206.)

SANDHILL CRANE.

The rapid settlement and extensive cultivation of the lands
of the State has somewhat modified the habits of this species
of the Cranes. Twenty-five years ago, they bred extensively
in several of the southwestern counties, where now they are
seldom seen except in migration.

They still breed in the northern and western sections, where
the uninhabited prairies are large and flat, affording all the

100 NOTES ON THE

conditions of food and protection. They reach us the first
week in April, four years out of five, and commence incubation
by the first week in May. They generally gather loosely
together some dried, coarse grasses and weeds for the nest, in
which they deposit from two to four drab-brown, rough-
shelled eggs.

In many instances, the indications of a nest are ridiculously
small, and not infrequently entirely wanting. I have never
known them to rear more than one brood in a single summer,
but there are cases in which for some reason the nesting has
been exceptionally delayed, and quite young birds are seen
late in July. The earlier birds, although yet unable to fly, will
give a man a lively race to overtake them when they are six
weeks out of the shell. In Noble and Jackson counties, some
ten or twelve years ago, the Sandhill Cranes reared their
young in great numbers, on the dry flat prairies, where many
of them were often taken before they were grown enough to
fly. Rev. Mr. Mitchell, of St. Paul, then residing in this Cit}',
passed through that section at the time that the young were in
this stage of development, and ran one of them down, which
he brought home with him, and subsequently made it a
present to me. I kept it until it was two years of age, and
took great pleasure in studying its peculiar habits and tract-
ability. It was a great joker in its way, always getting the
better end of things. Nothing possible that it could swallow
failed to get into its maw, from a pocket knife, double-ten nail,
teaspoon, spools of thread, and bits of tin, to a dozen large
sized marbles. Of course, these were after a time regurgi-
tated, as all indigestible matters are with many of the birds of
other orders also. He was fond of toads in the absence of
frogs and fishes, and did not object to small chicken when he
did not get a supply of his favorite food. By keeping his
wings cropped. I was enabled to allow him considerable lati-
tude, and he would often enjoy a pose on one foot, while the
other was drawn close to his body, seeming to be asleep until
something unusual aroused him. Immediately upon discover-
ing him, big dogs and little dogs would dash at him to seize
him, till noticing his apparent indifference, the smaller ones
would desist, but the larger ones, more selfreliant would
venture in the radial reach of his bill, after which they in-
variably changed their minds, finding they had no further use
for "Sandie." a name given him by Mr. Mitchell, upon his
capture.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 101

My faith in his ability to defend himself against dogs became
so strong that upon the application of several parties with
v:'cious canines, to show what their special dog could do, I
challenged any and all. one at a time, to attack him. One of
the largest in the city was allowed to open the tournament in
the presence of many witnesses. Sandie was taken out onto
the lawn in front of my home, and after various comical
familiarities in the way of eating unheard of things offered
him, posed quietly on one foot, and having closed his eyes as
an expressive hint that he was satisfied for the time to suspend
performances, when we all withdrew a little distance, and a
bouncing dog — a cross between a mastiff and Newfoundland —
was shown the stilted biped, and stayed not a moment in his
"going for him." Sandie. whose whole demeanor was under
the closest notice, partially opened his windward eye, but
remained standing upon the single foot, without in the
slightest changing his position, his doubly curved neck, head
and bill, drawn well back upon his body, till the onrushing
dog was within a half of a yard of him, when his closed,
acutely pointed bill and head shot out like an arrow from a
bow, and the ferocious canine doubled up into the shape of a
letter "C," and peeling for home, howling as if in the agonies
of an attack of colic, left the sponge high in air, never again
to challenge a Sandhill Crane to combat. Never afterwards
would any one who witnessed the short '-miir' permit his dog
to give or accept a challenge from Sandie. Sometime after
this I presented him to the Central Park Museum, in New York
City, where it was my great privilege to see him after a number
of years, and again several j^ears later, on my way to Europe
in 1882. found him without any indications of increasing age
or infirmities, and Mr. Conklin, the manager who received him
from me originally, assured me that Sandie was all right, and
appeared to greatly enjoy the considerable numbers of his
species associated with him in that paradise of bird incar-
ceration.

SPECIFIC CHARACTEKS.

Bill compressed; lower mandible not as deep towards the
tip as the upper; gonys nearly straight, in the same line with
the basal portion of the bill; commissure decidedly curving
from beyond the middle to the tip, where it is even, not
crenated; color bluish-gray; primaries and spurious quills
dark plumbeous-brown; the shafts white; cheeks and chin
whitish; entire top of head bare of feathers, warty and granu-

102 NOTES ON THE

lated, thinly beset with short scattered black hairs; feathers of
occiput advancing forward in an obtuse angle, the gray feath-
ers along this point and over the auricular region, tinged with
plumbeous.

Length, 48; wing, 22; tarsus, 10; commissure, 6.

Habitat, interior of North America

I found immense flocks of Sandhill Cranes in the Sacramento
valley, not far from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada moun-
tains, in 1870, about the middle of Februarj'. But not any
larger are found there than in the flat prairies along the Red
river in northern Minnesota, two months later in the spring.
There are times at that season of the year when their hoarse
cronkings may be heard almost continuously in some localities.

At the time of mating, the males have a habit of rising to
immense elevations, and beating large circles while they main-
tain their notes for hours at a time. These can be distinctly
heard after the bird has risen to such a height as to be beyond
the range of the best human vision.

Family RALLID.E.
KVLAl'S ELEGANS Audubon. (208.)

KING RAIL.

For many years after I became a resident of the State, my
duties called me daily considerable distance into the country in
various directions, and not infrequently in the night. In my
solitary rides I became familiar with almost every sound habitu-
ally heard in the darkness, one of which came uniformly from
certain marshy water courses, and the borders of reedy ponds
near which I passed. At such times my ears were the princi-
pal organs of sense, and I noticed amongst the many sounds,
one that seemed to formulate the syllable greek, repeated four
to five times in succession, with the heaviest emphasis on the
first utterance, which diminished with each repetition, the last
being considerably less emphatic, yet still fairly distant.

Its resemblance in some respects to the notes of the Vir-
ginia Rail, suggested to me the King Rail, but I could neither
find one myself in all my explorations nor could I learn of any
one else finding the first individual of that species, until in the
summer of 1875, Mr. George W. Tinsley brought me one for
identification. He obtained it on the first day of August, on
the Minnesota river bottoms, some ten to twelve miles south of
Minneapolis. It proved to be an adult male in remarkably fine
plumage. He sought for the female and nest or young, but in

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 103

vain, for if there were either, the concealment was too com-
plete. The location abounded with wild rice and reeds, as those
in which 1 had so often heard its notes did. Since then I have
secured several, and have had it reported by different corres-
pondents from widely severed sections of the province with
which my investigations are specially concerned. The earliest
record of its observance is May 5th, and I think will not soon
be found much earlier, for from an average in my personal
notes I find they arrive about the twelfth to the fifteenth.

The exact date it is impossible to arrive at, as their move-
ments are in the night. That they breed in many sections can-
not be reasonably doubted after having been observed so many
times in June and July, although no nests nor young broods
have yet been found. They appear to have all gone from those
localities where hitherto found, by the fifth to the tenth of Sep-
tember, although from the variability of the seasons from year
to year, instances may occur in which they will be met with
still later. Their food is principally leeches, worms, snails,
and aquatic insects, but in the season when seeds and grains
are ripe, they fatten readily upon them, as we are informed by
several writers. This is the largest species of the Rails in the
United States, as well as the most beautiful.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper parts olive brown, with longitudinal stripes of brown-
ish-black, most numerous on the back; line from the base of
the bill over the eye. dull orange-yellow; space before and be-
hind the eye brownish- cinerous; throat and lower eyelid white;
neck before and breast, bright rufous-chestnut; sides, abdomen,
and under tail coverts, with transverse bands, of brownish -
black and white, the dark bands being the wider; tibia dull
yellowish- white, with spots and transverse bars of ashy brown;
upper wing coverts reddish- chestnut; under wing coverts
black, with transverse lines of white.

Length, 17; wing, 6.50; tail, 3.

Habitat, United States.

RALLUS YIRGINIANUS L. (212.)
VIRGINIA RAIL.
This bird is very generally distributed over the country where
the conditions exist for its maintenance. No one can tell just
how or when they arrive, but either very early in the morning
or late in the twilight at evening. Like its congeners, it is
somewhat of a nocturnal sjDecies and makes its pilgrimages, as
well as its local excursions in the gray of the morning or in the

-8z

104 NOTES ON THE

gloaming of the evening. They are found to have arrived
about the first of May with great uniformity, and after about
three weeks the nests are built, and consist of a pile of weeds
and grass of considerable bulk, having only about an inch in
exavation, sometimes a little deeper, into which they deposit
eight to ten eggs. I should say that when the first egg is layed
the depression is very slight indeed, but the male continues to
build up the structure around the female, or she rearranges
the material so as to increase the elevation around herself, or,
which is the more probable, the weight of her narrow body
upon the loose, light materials, continues to deepen the excava-
tion for sometime after she begins to occupy it. The color of
the eggs is a dark, dirty buff, blotched with different shades
of brown, or a reddish and brown. Their habits confine them
to swamps, marshes and meadows difficult to approach, and
are therefore less frequently discovered. From these consider-
ations we are justified in the presumption that they may be
much more numerous than at first appears. Except in unusu-
ally favorable seasons they leave in their autumnal migrations
early in September, but they are occasionally seen as late as
the L'5th of that month. During the summer I find them about
the reedy bays of most of the lakes in different seasons and not
infrequently along the marshy borders of several streams
within an hour's ride of my home. Examples of this species
are often to be seen mounted, in the shops of the taxidermists,
representing both sexes and the young of the year.

Although Mr. Washburn made his explorations of the Red
river valley between the 28th of July and the 12th of Sep-
tember, for some reason or other he failed to find these Rails,
although he met with Soras in abundance everywhere. Mr,
Holzinger reports them as frequently seen about Lake Winona.
I am not a little surprised that so careful an observer as Dr.
Hvoslef did not mention their presence at Lanesboro.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Much smaller than either the King or the Clapper Rail, but
resembles them both in form and the former in color. Upper
parts olive-brown with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black;
line from the base of the 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 black being the wider; upper wing coverts bright rufous-
chestnut; under wing coverts black, with trransrerse lines of
white.

Length, 7.50; wing. 4; tail, 1.50.

Habitat. North America.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 105

PORZANA CAROLINA (L). (214.)
SORA.

"Thin as a Rail" is a very common expression, without
much sense or significance until a genuine Rail has been
looked upon, after which its figurative applicability receives
a new force. The relative depth and breath of the body when
seen explain it all. Everything is adapted to the place in
which Infinite Wisdom placed it; the laterally expanded Goose,
as well as the laterally contracted Rail. The one with its
webbed toes for a natatorial life; the other with its immoder-
ately elongated, disenthralled toes to run, squirrel-like over
the lightest drift-wood and expanded lily pads on the water.
The casual straggler, with only his cane in his hand, in lan-
guid idleness sitting down on a log near an expanse of the
water-lillies about sunset, will see more of these birds in a
half hour of observation, than a collector will in ten days of
constant tramping. Tail erect, the bird is seen tripping along
the debris of ttie shore, and onto the frail, floating lily-pads,
pausing not a moment before an open space, but dropping
into the water, swimming unconcernedly across to more lilies
or a point of drift, seizing an insect first on one side and then
on the other, till it disappears in the twilight, or beating a
circuit it returns again. In the mean time, more individuals
have come upon the scene, and there are a half dozen, busily
and cheerily searching for the wanted food, while they all
keep up a rather subdued "ca-toeep-eep, ca-iueep-eep-eep-ip-ip-ip'^
like a flock of young domestic chickens.

These birds reach Minnesota about the 25 th of April, and
begin to build by the second week in May. The structure con-
sists of weeds and grass in abundance, making a large pile for
the size of the bird, hollowed somewhat, and placed on a bunch
of coarse grass, in the marshes. They are said to be some-
times found under extremely different circumstances, as brier
patches, cranberry vines, or even under the current bushes in
a country garden, but if the full history of such cases could be
known, a sufficient reason would be revealed for the excep-
tions. The eggs are a yellow-drab, with the slightest tinge of
olive-green, and from five to ten in number.

Their food as has already been indicated, is made up of
different forms of aquatic insect life, to which must be added
small molusca, Crustacea, and seeds of different kinds. They
remain until late in October, very frequently. This is by far

106 NOTES ON THE

the most abundant species of the Rails which spend their sum-
mers in nearly all parts of Minnesota. In speaking of his
observations of this species in the Red river valley Mr. Wash-
burn says: — "They are extremely abundant everywhere in the
marshes and sloughs. During the summer, one only catches
occasional glimpses of them, although their crek. crok, crek, is
heard everywhere in the reeds. In September, however, I
find the young and old birds more easily observed, there being
more of them, and consequently they are less shy. They are
then seen running over the reedy surface of the ponds, and
slipping in and out among the rushes and reeds that fringe the
shores.'" The same gentleman found them still common in the
meadows of Otter Tail county between October 9th and Novem-
ber 10th. Mr. Westhoven told him he had often captured
them when mowing in the meadow, by placing his two hands
quickly over the spot in the grass where he had seen them go
down, the grass holding them effectually without injuring
them.

Few but those who are specially interested are apt to notice
the little busy Carolina Rails, so well concealed do they
keep themselves in the presence of man, but after one has the
secret of their habits he may easily find and make his notes
in their closest proximity.

In the early history of Minneapolis a fifteen minutes' walk
in almost any direction, just after sunset, would place the Rail-
hunter in its haunts, and again the same in the gray of the
morning. Amongst the later haunts in which I have found
it abundant for its kind is one along the northwestern shores
of Lake Calhoun (Mendoza?) where a narrow tamarack swamp
touches it for a distance of about 100 yards, and another about
a mile west of the Falls of Minnehaha.

Mr. Efell, who had been spending some time in the vicinity
of Moorhead late in the summer, became very much interested
in their local habits from finding their nests to be quite com-
mon in the cultivated fields, especially the corn fields; the
nest was degenerated to a simple depression in the soft earth,
with a slight lining of weeds, of which there were generally
an abundance. This seemed quite remarkable to one who
cannot see through evolution, but it shows that when we have
written up the natural history of the world, we shall need to
do it all over again every season or two.

BIKDS OF MINNESOTA. 107

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Space around the base of the bill extending downwards on
the neck before and over the top of the head, black; under
parts greenish-brown, with longitudinal bands of black, many-
feathers having narrow stripes of white on their edges; behind
the eyes, side of the neck and breast, fine bluish-ashy, with
circular spots and transverse bands of white on the breast;
middle of abdomen and under tail coverts white; sides and
flanks with transverse bands of brownish-black and white; bill
greenish-yellow; legs dark green.

Length, 8.50; wing, 4.25; tail, 2.

Habitat, temperate America.

PORZANA NOVEBORACENSIS (Gmelin). (215.)
YELLOW RAIL.

I introduce this Rail with the satisfaction of having seen
enough of them to regard them no longer as mere semi-occa-
sional strSigglers, but as rare summer residents. Mr. Shroeder,
of St. Paul, for many years the only taxidermist in that city,
had two specimens of them in 1865, and Mr. Howling of Min-
neapolis, secured one in 1869, since which I have found two
more in private collections. 1 have never seen one of them
alive. I could not learn who obtained those in the collections
of either of the taxidermists, but the others were secured by
two hunters* who supposed they were "some new kind of
snipe." I know nothing of their local habits except that those
referred to were obtained in the season when the other Rails
were breeding. I hope to learn more about them in other
localities in the State in due time.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 ven-
tral 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.

Length, 6; wing, 3.25; tail, 1.75.

Habitat, eastern North America.

Note. But one seen since the above was written ten years
ago.

* Jas. Smithson (since dead) and John R. Smith, of Lockport, N. Y.

108 NOTES ON THE

PORZANA JAMAICENSIS (Gmelin). (216.)
BLACK RAIL.

I record this southern species entirely upon a report that one
individual was taken last year in Fillmore county. Its descrip-
tion was so well given that, without seeing the specimen, which
was taken to some eastern collection before I had an opportu-
nity to examine it, I believe there can be no reasonable doubt
of its identity. Besides, it is a matter of record that it has been
obtained in Wisconsin several times, a good many years since.
(Birds of the N. W., Coues. )

SPECIFIC characters.

Smaller than the Sora, or any other North American Rail.
Head and entire under parts bluish ash, or nearly slate color;
darker and nearly black on top of head; abdomen and under
tail coverts with transverse bands of white; neck behind and
upper part of back dark reddish-chestnut; other upper parts
brownish-black with circular spots and irregular transverse
stripes of white; quills brownish-black, with small spots of
white; tail nearly same colors.

Length. 5; wing, 3.25; tail, 1.50.

Habitat, middle and southern states. L. B.R.

GALLINULA GALEATA (Lichtenstein). (219.)

FLORIDA GALLINULE.

This is another species which I found in the hands of Mr.
Shroeder as long ago as 1865. Since then I have had ample
opportunity to decide that although not common, it is a regular
summer resident, breeding in the Minnesota River bottoms at
Big Stone lake, and along the Red river.

It has been seen very rarely earlier than in June, when they
were unquestionably breeding, although in one or two instances
it has been observed in April, thereby showing that it migrates
in all probability as early as the Rails do, and possibly the
principal ducks. One nest obtained by a gentleman residing
at Fort Wayne, Indiana, (Mr. George), and brought in with the
bird, was constructed entirely of reeds, which constituted but
the upper portion of a mass that had been built up out of the
water. It contained ten eggs of a light brown color, spattered
and splotched with reddish- brown, more marked about the
larger end. Other nests have been described to me as having

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 109

been constructed of different materials, and placed on floating
debris. The newly hatched young resemble black chickens in
their appearance and notes. In their habits they resemble the
Rails.

Langille, in his work, "Our Birds and their Haunts, "page
403, says of the young of this Gallinule:— "These birds which
swim, dive, or run upon the lilly-pads with equal ease, are to
be associated with still waters, and with that queen of our
ponds and lakes, the sweet-scented water-nymph. No infant
of a royal household ever sported under a more beautiful can-
opy than is found by these Gallinule chicks beneath the snowy
wreath of odorous petals and central crown of gold, standing
like an elegant sunshade in that quiet nook, which mirrors the
bluff and the surrounding landscape." "

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Frontal plate large, obovate, terminating square on top
of the head; bill shorter than head, rather thick, compressed;
wing rather long; tail short; legs moderate; toes and claws
long and robust; head, neck, and entire under parts dark-
bluish cinerous, frequently' nearly black on the head and neck,
and generally lighter on the abdomen; a few feathers on the
flanks widely edged with white; shorter under tail coverts
black, longer ones white; upper parts brownish-olive, darker
on the rump; quills dark brown; tail brownish-black; frontal
plate and bill, bright red, tipped with yellow; tibia with a
bright red space on the bare portion next to the feathers;
lower portion of the tibia, tarsus and toes yellowish-green.

Length, 12.50; wing, 6.75; tail, 3; bill, 1.25; tarsus, 1.75-2.

Habitat, temperate and tropical America.

FLLICA AMERICANA Gmelin. (221.)
AMERICAN COOT.

A most abundant and universally distributed species, reach-
ing us but little if any later in spring than the Mallards,
breeding in extensive communities on inaccessible bogs, with
nests of half rotted reeds loosely built, in which they lay ten
or a dozen dirty-cream eggs, speckled and spotted with dark-
umber. This is the terse record of the Coot or Mud Hen, in
Minnesota.

From the Iowa line to the British possessions, the testimony
of observers is the same, that they are "abundant every-
where." Mr. Washburn's report of the ornithology of Otter
Tail county speaks of their presence in great numbers on a
little lake near Dead lake as late as the 26th of October (1885),

110 NOTES ON THE

even after the ice had formed, leaving only small patches of
open water into which they crowded in a dense black mass.
Quoting from his memorandum of the 21st, he says: — '-.Last
night was cold and still, and this morning it is a comical sisrht
to see them standing on the slippery surface of the ice. When
alighting, the impetus of their flight causes them to slide
along like a schoolboy on skates. A foot slips from under
one, down it goes, sprawling with outstretched wings, but soon
regaining its feet to try again. In the unfrozen spots, the
water was black with them, mingled with Ducks, the whole
looking like a compact black body, while on the edges of the
ice, large Mallards and Redheads stood looking with suspicion
towards the spot where I stood."

Rev. J. H. Langille's description of many of the habits of this
species is so nearly like the notes I find in my own note book,
that I should subject myself to the suspicion of plagiarism if I
did not either reword them, or quote him, so I accept the latter
alternative, with the cheerful acknowledgment that I think him
entitled to the copyright, for although the later written, they
are the better. He says in his "Our Birds in their Haunts,"
pp. 405-6; "Its breeding habitat is from Northern New Eng-
land, the Great Lakes, and corresponding latitudes, northward.
It breeds in such abundance as to be the characteristic bird on
St. Clair flats, where they are as common as hens in a farm
yard. The nest is in reedy pools or shallow water about rivers,
lakes and ponds, composed of dried grasses and sedges, after
the manner of the Rails and Gallinules. sometimes tied to the
tall clumps of sedges, and yet resting on a mass of floating debris;
sometimes resting on the dry ground near their water}' abodes.
On St. Clair flats it is a floating nest, anchored to the cat- tails
and sedges, resembling that of the Common Gallinule. but gen-
erally placed further out in the flooded marshes, towards the
channels and the lake.

"Some twelve inches in external diameter, and rising about
eight inches above the water, it is almost invariably built of
the dried and bleached leaves of the cat-tail; the saucer shaped
interior being often lined with fine marsh grass. Like that of
the Gallinule, the nest often has a gradual inclination on one
side, forming a convenience for the bird to enter from the water.
So free is the motion of this nest, that it may rise and fall with
the changes of water level, or rock in the storm with perfect
safety.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. Ill

'The eggs, some 9-14, 1.87x 1.27 to 2.00x1. 80, are slightly
tinged with brown being very minutely specked and spotted all
over with black, or dark brown, and so near the color of the
bleached material on which they are laid, as scarcely to be dis-
cernible at any considerable distance. The bird does not sit
very closely, but running on the debris or water for a few feet,
takes wing with a peculiar splatter, never rising high or flying
far. When swimming, the Coot will often allow an approach
within shot range, then starting on a run on the water it will
rise into the air gradually with a spatting, spattering noise,
which soon becomes very familiar and distinguishable to the
ear. Often shaking the large lobed feet when clear of the
water, it flies with the bill pointing down and the feet bending
upward, its broad wings differing from those of the Ducks; and
its near splash into the water being about as peculiar to itself
as is its noise on rising. Very properly do the western hun-
ters call this bird the " Splatterer. " When the black clouds
of a near thunder storm are overhead, its white bill in front of
its black head becomes very conspicuous, fairly gleaming with
whiteness. It is decidedly a noisy bird, its coo-coo-coo-coo-coo
being heard both day and night, the first note being prolonged
on a much higher key, while the rest are somewhat accelerated.
It will often quack similar to a duck, and has other notes too
unique and difficult of description to be given here.

' 'The Coot is quite playful on the water, and when the male
stretches his neck forward, partly elevates his wings like the
swan, and spreads his tail, showing the white underneath, he
is quite a beauty no doubt, in the eyes of the female."

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 primary,
white; secondary quills tipped with white; rump frequently
tinged with brownish; bill very pale, or nearly white, with a
transverse band of brownish black near the end, the tip white;
legs dull grayish green.

Length. 14; wing, 7; tail, 2.

Habitat, North America.

Older LIMICOL^.

Family PHALAPiOPODIJ:)^E.

CRYMOPHILUS FULICAlMUS (L ) (222.)
RED PHALAROPE.

The Phalaropes are chiefly distinguished from the other
families of the order to which they belong by their lobate feet.
There are only three species known in this country, and they
are divided into two genera. This one stands alone in its
genus, but is a companion of the Northern Phalarope in its
breeding only in the artic latitudes so far as is at present
known. It is only a transient migrant here, seen in its spring
migration about the 10th of May, and again in August, usually
not far from the 25th in its southern movements. I have
generally found them at those limes occupying sandy knolls in
the vicinity of the smaller lakes and ponds, yetnot infrequently
on the dry, cattle grazed prairies; notably in early times in the
vicinity of Fort Snelling and westerly from there upon the
highlands along the Minnesota river. When looking for them
I have seldom been disappointed in finding them very regularly
at these times and in these localities until in late years they
have sought more retired spots to avoid the pothunters, whose
bags bear testimony that they still visit us at the usual times
mentioned. They remain about from two to three weeks, when
the maternal impulse sends them to their chosen latitudes for
breeding in their spring migrations, and towards the south for
food in their autumnal

Should the time of their migration be characterized by ex-
tremes of the weather, they remain but a very short time. I
have seldom failed to find more or less of them in the hands of
those indefatigable taxidermists, Messrs. Wm. Howling and
Son, at these seasons, freshly procured for mounting to fill
orders from distant sections for museums, or for private
collections. Mr. Washburn's visits to the Red river country
were a little too earl}' for their presence.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 113

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill strong, flattened and widened towards the end; wings
long, tail short; legs short, plumage thick and compact like that
of the swimming birds; head above, space around base of bill,
throat and back, brownish-black; feathers of last edged broadly
with pale, ochre-yellow; wings and tail ashy-brown, paler on
the wing coverts; greater wing coverts widely tipped with
white; stripe on cheek white; entire under parts deep, brownish
red, inclining to purple on the abdomen, and with a glaucous
cast in very mature specimens; under wing coverts and axil-
laries pure white; bill greenish-yellow; feet dark-bluish.

Length, 7.50; wing, 5.25; tail, 2.75; bill, 1; tarsus, 0.75.

Habitat, northern parts of northern hemisphere, breeding in
the artic regions, and migrating south ia winter; in the United
States south to the Middle States, Ohio Valley, and Cape St.
Lucas. Chiefly maritime.

PHALAROPLS LOBATIS (L). (223.)

NORTHERN PHALAROPE.

About as well represented as the Red, the Northern Phala-
rope reaches us at the same time in May with the other, in
small parties of five or six, or even less in many instances, in
the vernal migrations. In the latter part of August, they
return with their numbers somewhat augmented, which are
still increasing somewhat until their final departure in Sep-
tember. Graceful in every movement, and extremely active
in procuring their food, which consists of small moUusks, insects,
worms, and crustaceans, they cannot fail to arrest the atten-
tion wherever seen. It affects pools, and ponds of water con-
taining different forms of aquatic insect life. A tender bird,
all leave on the first advent of the first decided fro&t, which has
occurred within my own memory several times, on the night of
August 31st and September 1st.

They are known to breed in the higher latitudes, but none
are known to do so this side of the British possessions.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Neck encircled with a ring of bright rufous, with 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 reddish; throat, breast, and abdomen white; bill, legs and
iris dark brown.

Length, 7; wing, 4.50; tail, 2.25; bill, 1; tarsus, 0.75.

Habitat, northern North America.

114 NOTES ON THE

PHALAROPLS TRICOLOR (Vieillot). (224 )
WILSON'S PHALAROPE.

Of all the shore birds which are ever seen about our ponds
and numerous lakes, Wilson's Phalarope is the most beautiful.
Reaching the lower borders of the State by the 25th of April,
they gradually spread over its whole extent where the food-
conditions invite them, and after about three weeks, build their
nests in canebrakes. and reed-embraced pools, in close prox-
imity to those of several other species of water birds. The
nests are constructed of fine reeds, grass, and invariably a little
moss, — sometimes principally of moss with no reeds and but
little grass, and is a loose structure, placed on a hummock of
moss, or in a tussock of reeds or grass.

They contain three to four olivaceous-drab colored eggs,
splotched all over with large spots of dark umber. These
colors vary exceedingly in different specimens.

The young are following the parent by the third week in
June, and are full grown by the first week in August. They
remain but little later than the other Phalaropes in the autumn
generally, although not very infrequently individuals have been
obtained in October.

Their chief food seems to be mollusca, but embraces excep-
tionally nearly everything eaten by the other Phalaropes. and
the different species of Snipe.

Their habits are so occult that it is no easy task to observe
them. Wading about in a busy, contented manner in a shal-
low pool, picking out its food nimbly, and unerringly, or
creeking a note repeatedly that is much more easily learned
than writtet, they seem the embodiment of beauty, grace, and
absolute contentment amidst the humblest circumstances of en-
vironment.

A good number of these birds have found their way into the
difierent taxidermal and scientific collections in the State, in
different stages of developement. and many more find their way
into the markets in snipe season during fall shooting.

My greatest diffuculty in getting the eggs of this species into
my records rightly has been the popular confounding of the
birds with the "snipes." I have insisted upon the bird accom-
panying the nests and eggs until in two instances I have at-
tained certainly, and in one fairly so, although I have never
had the great pleasure of securing them myself. Their local
breeding habits are above any question.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 115

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Larger than either of the other Phalaropes; bill, slender,
fattened; wings, long; tail, short; legs, moderate; tarsus, com-
pressed; plumage very compact; head above and neck behind,
light ashy; wide stripe behind the eye, reddish-black; neck be-
fore, and wide stripe running upwards onto the back, bright red-
dishbrown, darker on the sides of the neck; back, wings, and
tail, cinereous; darkest on the wings, and mixed with reddish
on the back; rump, and upper tail coverts, white; entire under
parts white, except the neck before, which is pale reddish; bill
and legs, black.

Length, 9.50; wing, 5.50; tail, 2.25; tarsus, 1.25.

Habitat, temperate North America.

Family RECURVIPvOSTIilD^.

RECURTIROSTRA AMERICANA Gmelin. (225.)
AMERICAN AVOCET.

These waders are less abundant in Minnesota than in either
of the Dakotas, but I have met them in their spring migrations
almost uniformly, and in small flocks occasionally in the autumn.
They arrive about the first week in May, sometimes a little
earlier, and mostly disappear in a few days, the majority
going either farther north, or west into the states mentioned,
where the general conditions are more favorable for their food.
Except in San Diego, California, I have found them mostly
about the shores of small lakes in dry sections, many of them
sandy, and without much if any timber. Nearly every dryland
lake has somewhere along its outline a marshy, muddy border
that affords just the kind of condition most likely to be charged
with an abundance of larvee and worms which constitute their
chief diet. However, during migration and the interval be-
tween their arrival and the nesting, I have found them along
the borders of running water, and the sandy, stony shores of
large lakes like Minnetonka, but only in pairs. At these times
they are not infrequently associated with the Stilts. The only
nest that I ever saw was on the shore, perhaps not more
than a yard from the water, and consisted of little more than a
moderate depression in the dry earth between tussocks of
coarse grass, with some fragments of grass and weeds laid
loosely around it. It contained four eggs the ground color of
which was an olivaceous-drab, but varying in intensity in the

116 NOTES ON THE

entire clutch, and marked very distinctly with different shades
of brown. They are less frequently seen in the fall than in the
spring, and are all gone sometime before the frost has cut off
their supply of food.

Since my first records of this species I have been told that
several specimens have been seen along the Minnesota bottoms
during summer, leaving a reasonable presumption that they
breed there limitedly; and rumor makes them occasionally seen
at the same season along the Red river in the vicinity of Moor-
head, but with how much assurance of being correct I cannot
say.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill rather long, depressed: wings long; legs long; tarsi com-
pressed; tail short; head and neck pale reddish-brown, darker
on the head, fading gradually into white; back, wings, coverts
and quills, black; scapulars, tips of greater wing, coverts,
rump and tail, and entire under parts, white, the last fre-
quently tinged with reddish; bill brownish-black; legs bluish.

Length, 17; wing, 9; tail. 3.50; commissure, 3.75; tarsus. 3.50.

Habitat. Temperate North America.

HLHANTOPrS MEXICANTS (Muller). (226.)
BLACK-NECKED STILT.

This wader has as nearly the same history in Minnesota as
the Avocet as any description could make it. Arriving simul-
taneously, they are found essentially in the same localities,
and breeding alike as to nesting and feeding. However. I will
say that this species is found more abundantly represented in
those places where the Avocets are least, and quite as well
represented in their main breeding locations on the Red river.
I have never seen its nest "in situ," but the eggs I have seen.
They are pale brownish-olive, and covered with dark brown
splotches, varied with lighter brown.

Mr. Lewis reports them common along the Red river from
spring till late in October. Mr. Washburn does not mention
them at either that section, or at MilleLacs Mr. Treganowan
notes them at Kandiyohi, and in Grant county in limited num-
bers, but not in the breeding season. It is quite evident that
migrants from the north in September, distribute themselves
over sections that are not visited by birds breeding here. It
is very sure that none have ever been observed in those .sec-
tions at other times than those of migrations. A few have
been seen at Duluth on Lake Superior (Laurie), and others in

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 117

Le Sueur county, (sent to this city for mounting), and they get
into the Snipe market occasionally in the fall. The latest
date at which 1 have any record of seeing them is October 15th,
(1874).

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Legs very long and slender; wings long; large space in front
of the head, spot behind the eye, and entire under parts, white,
frequently with a very pale reddish tinge; head above, neck
behind, back and wings, glossy black; rump and tail white, the
latter frequently tinged with ashy; bill black; legs red,

Length, 14; wing, 8.50; tarsus, 4; tail, 3; commissure, 3.

Habitat. Temperate North America.

Note. The Black-necked Stilts are much more common in
Minnesota than I formerly supposed, breeding in general sec-
tions in which the Avocets breed as evidenced by their
presence during the entire season of nidilication. After they
disperse to breed, they are seldom seen except by those speci-
, ally devoted to the critical study of their specific habits, and
then very infrequently as they are much devoted to their
special duties, and as it is well known that the male assumes
equal responsibility in covering the eggs in the intervals of
the absence of the female, and as the young are cared for much
longer than many other species look after theirs, their vigi-
lance in maintaining great secrecy would add greatly to the
difficulties in finding their nests. I have never seen it, but the
eggs have been sent to me under circumstances under which I
could have no doubt of them, and corresponded to the descrip-
tions of the acknowledged authorities.

Family SCOLOPACID^.

PHILOHELA MINOR (Gmelin). (228.)
AMERICAN WOODCOCK.

As early as the full tide of the Duck migration reaches us.
the Woodcock is here, and invariably in small parties of five or
six, rarely more. At this time it will be found in the low
brushlands bordering heavier growths on the southern side.
I have no record of its arrival earlier than the last week in
March, when it was obtained by Mr. J. C. Bailey near Whale
Tail lake, in the western part of Hennepin county, at a spot
long known to him as a favorite one for the Woodcocks. He
discovered it by having observed it about the same date in
former years, and being on the alert for its first arrival,
watched for it at twilight in the morning. Its habits are so
well known to sportsmen, that it would be time unprofitably
spent to refer to most of them here, but for the fact that all

118 NOTES ON THE

who are interested in the natural history survey of Minnesota
are not sportsmen. It is essentially a nocturnal bird, beginning
its movements in search of food at the early twilight and ter-
minating them only at the opening day. As the food consists
of animalcules, insects and worms chiefly, and the bill is long,
slim and slender, it must find pools of stagnant water, and soft,
muddy soil in which to secure it. When visiting such localities,
the boriugs of their bills in soft mucky places, will often attract
the experienced eye, and result in the early capture of a brace
of these birds. Often times during the spring and summer, I
have determined their presence in some favored locality by
hearing their notes in the night. These consist of several
forms or variations, the principal ones of which are more
nearly expressed by chip-ah, chip-ah, chip, and another some-
what resembling tweet, tiveet, tweet-ah, ticeet-ah, dc.

If not already mated when they reach this latitude, thej^ are
soon after, for by the fifth to the tenth of April the nests are
constructed, and the eggs laid. These arc from three to four
in number, of a creamy-drab, with a little shade of olivaceous,
more or less spotted with reddish-brown and lilac. Both sexes
participate in the sacrifices of incubation, and vie with each
other in faithfulness to the eggs and young, the latter being
fed by them until about full grown I think the new family re-
mains unbroken till their southern migration has taken place,
unless broken by their destruction.

I have found them as late as the fifteenth of October, yet I
am satisfied that this is exceptionally late for the larger part
of them. In every respect the Woodcock is unique. In struct-
ure, it certainly is so remarkable that the commonest observer
would at once recognize it. No other bird has its eyes so near
the top of its head, a characteristic so marked as to lead
to the identity by anyone who ever saw a plate of it, or even
had read a popular description of it. Its nocturnal habits are
such that it may be comparatively abundant in a given locality
without the slightest suspicion of its presence, until familiar
with its "borings" which may be numerous in the immediate
vicinity of the residence. For years this was the case with
a family residing near the banks of the Mississippi, within the
limits of this city. The borings had yearly been noticed near
the stable and attributed to worms, while the bird tracks asso-
ciated with them were credited to snipe that came to feed upon
them. As soon as an intimation of their real origin came to
the gentleman residing there, he began a series of careful

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 119

observations resulting in the discovery of several nests within
a hundred yards of his barn. For as much as five years after
the observation of the borings, part of which passed before
his knowledge of their real cause, these birds returned to the
same place, but new nests were constructed each season. He
was able to secure me all the eggs of Woodcock that I desired,
and allowed me full opportunity to share all his observations
during the last year of their return. The extension of the
* streets of the city demanding the removal of the barn, thicket,
and the soft, mucky springhole, put an everlasting end to
their return. One of the nests alluded to seemed to have been
constructed entirely of leaves, while another had a large mix-
ture of dried grasses. Still, in the larger number of instances
it consists only of leaves, with very little attempt at architec-
ture. The choice of the place for the nest is perhaps more
commonly a meadow rather than a thicket, and in a clump of
small willows, alders or birches, wherein are accumulated
many leaves of the previous year out of which to construct
them. The period of incubation is fourteen days. That time
is made equal to a much longer one, by the circumstances of
the male occupying the nest in the absence of the female to pro-
cure herself food. It was remarkable to me to see how tena-
ciously the sitting bird would cling to the nest in the immediate
presence of danger, allowing me to almost reach it with my
hand before slipping off and flying away. At other than the
time of incubation, they shift their feeding grounds in what
appears a most capricious manner, but really under the indica-
tions of the weather, a circumstance familiar to expert Wood-
cock hunters. Their flight is spirited and rapid, and attended
with a twittering note that is very characteristic. They have
a remarkable habit of poising a moment on their wings when
they have been flushed, in which position they are pretty sure
of death from the sportsman's shot, if he is accustomed to
shooting Woodcock, and it is the only position in which any
one except an expert will be likely to harm them, for they
drop out of sight as if killed when they disappear again.
They are rapid runners and hard to flush the second time, but
will stand for a dog to point as long as almost any other bird
in the sportsman's calendar. During the latter part of the
summer, they disappear until early in September, or even a
little later, it being their moulting season, when it is nearly
impossible to find them, indeed I must say that I have never
quite satisfied myself where they go,

9z

120 NOTES ON THE

But when they return in that month, instead of affecting the
former localities, they are generally found in cultivated fields,
amidst corn, grain shocks, etc., and occasionally in ditches in
the meadows. Itinerant collectors have failed to contribute
any information about this species in other sections of the
State, and I am left to sportsmen for facts concerning their
local distribution. Through them I have ascertained that
while nowhere extremely abundant, it is found in all sections
favorable for their securing food.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill long, compressed, punctured and corrugated near the
end; upper mandible longest, and fitted to lower at the tip;
wings moderate, first three quills very narrow; tail short; legs
moderate; eyes inserted unusually distant from the bill; occi-
put with three transverse bands of black, alternating with
three others of pale, yellowish rufous; upper parts of the 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 the base; legs pale
reddish; iris brown.

Length, 11; wing, 5.25; tail, 2.25; tarsus. 1.25.

Habitat, eastern province of North America, north to Brit
ish provinces, west to Dakota, Kansas, etc.

GALLINAGO DELICATA (Ord). (230.)
WILSON'S SNIPE.

In the last days of February, some sixteen years ago, the
Ducks, Geese, and this species of Snipe came into this latitude
as unseasonably as the farmers commenced sowing their wheat.
And cold as several "snaps" were subsequently, none of these
species left the country, appearing constantly afterwards on
the fields and in the marshes where the waters were open.
The Snipes are usually either preceded by the Geese and
Ducks somewhat, or being quite nocturnal in their habits, are
overlooked for more or less time after their arrival, which is
probably the case. Excepting the spring mentioned, and
another in which they were observed on the 27th of March,
they have never come under my notice, nor have they been re-
ported to me by others before the first of April.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 121

They come in small parties that resort to the ponds, and are
found in the meadows late in May, more frequently in pairs
than in these small flocks of half a dozen. A few are occasion-
ally seen as late as the 15th of May, but the most have disap-
peared by the end of the last week of April, or the first of May.

Sportsmen insist that they belong in Kandiyohi county, but
I do not fully credit the statement, although the lateness of
the date on which they have come under my own observation
here, make such a fact possible, especially in the northwestern
portions of our territory. No nests have yet been reported
within our borders. They return here in flocks of twenty to
thirty, or even more sometimes, about the 25th of August.
These flocks are gradually augmented until hundreds may be
flushed on their favorite feeding grounds by the 25th of Sep-
tember. Mr. Washburn found them abundantly represented
everywhere in favorable localities in the Red river valley, from
October 10th till the 25th, (when he left there), and Dr. Hvoslef
reports them in Fillmore county, November 8, (1885). Mr.
Lewis was always confident that a few remain in the south-
western section of the State all winter. The latest that any
have been seen in Hennepin county (latitude 45), is November
12th, 1868. Their habits while here are too well known to
need any description.

Since writing the above, many circumstantial proofs have
reached me that this species does breed considerably within our
limits, and I shall hope that before this report is finally closed,
I shall be fully assured that such is the case, for everybody in
general believes so.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill long, compressed, flattened, and slightly expanded
towards the tip, pustulated 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, 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 feathers marked with dull brownish-black;
other under parts white, with transverse bars of brownish-
black on the sides, axillary feathers, 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 tail feathers paler, frequently

122 NOTES ON THE

nearly white, and barred with black throughout their length;
bill brown, yellowish at base and darker towards the end;
legs dark brown; iris hazel.

Length, 10.50; wing. 5; tail, 2.25; bill, 2.50; tarsus. 1.25.

Habitat, Temperate North America.

MACRORHAMPHIS SCOLOPAC El S (Say). (232.)

LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER.

The migrations of this Snipe do not materially differ in any
respect from Wilson's. If anything, it is habitually the more
abundantly represented, especially in the fall migrations. Some-
times they reach us simultaneously with the earlier Ducks, but
more frequently they are in spring a little later. They tiy very
compactly, and are thus slaughtered in great numbers for the
market in the autumn. In the absence of positive proof I
nevertheless believe that they breed here more or less, as they
are occasionally met with until late in July when they are
moulting, and seek the most secluded and unapproachable
places. Scarcely a season passes in which I do not meet a
few solitary individuals in my own county, and wherever I go
I get the same report. It is often well into October before the
last of them are gone.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Rather smaller than the preceding; bill long, compressed,
flattened, and expanded towards the end where it is punctula-
ted and corrugated; wing rather long, shaft of first primary
strong; tail short, legs rather long; upper parts variegated
with dark ashy, pale reddish and black, the latter predomi-
nating 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, frequently tinged with ferruginous, especially on the two
middle feathers; bill greenish-black; legs dark greenish-brown.

Length, 10; wing, 5.75; tail, 2.25; bill, 2.25; tarsus, 1.25.

Habitat, Mississippi Valley and Western Province of North
America.

Note. After Dr. Coues had spoken so emphatically in the
rejection of the specific name of this species, in his Birds of
the Northwest, p. 477, and upon what seemed to be the best of
reasons, I am not a little surprised to find it adopted by the
American Ornithological Union.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 123

The extreme variations in the measurements of individuals
of the same species amongst the Limicoline birds is too well
known to be questioned, but fifty against one settles it till
another forty-nine shall arise to help him fight his battle over.
The tinkering with the nomenclature of the birds has been the
terror of the tyros.

MICROPALAMA HIMANTOPUS (Bonaparte). (233.)
STILT SANDPIPER.

This Sandpiper was one of the first of my trophies in my early
collections in the then Territory of Minnesota. In years after-
wards, I had made many a collecting tour before I had this bird
in hand again. Since then for some twenty-five years, it has been
my good fortune to meet them many times, but not every sea-
son of migration, nor even every year, and they are never com-
mon. Coming to us in the night, as do all of the scolopaceous
birds, they are easily overlooked for some time after their
arrival in most cases, but through the long series of observa-
tions I have recorded, I find that they have come under my
notice on the average about the fifth of April.

They remain but a short time before the last have disap
peared in a further northward movement. They come in
small flocks, and keep mostly about shallow ponds, and along
the smaller streams flowing through the marshes, but I have
found them on the sandy beaches of some of the larger lakes
on several occasions. Their food while here does not difller
from that of most other species of the family. They are shy,
and exceedingly vigilant, making it no easy matter to get
them. By the last week in August they begin to return to us
in appreciably larger numbers, and remain until about the first
of November. I have no record later than October 27th.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Legs long, slender; toes slender, united at base with web,
the outer of which is the larger; hind toe small; bill long, some-
what arched, slender, much compressed, expanded and flat-
tened at the tip, which is minutely punctulated and corrugoied,
pointed; tail short, middle feathers longest, outer feathers
frequently longer than the next, under coverts long; lower
half of tibia naked; upper parts brownish- black, nearly all the
feathers edged with ashy-white and yellowish-red; narrow
band from above the eye to the occiput, bright brownish-red,
inclosing the brownish- black of the top of the head; spot on
the ears the same red; rump and upper tail coverts white, with
transverse narrow stripes and pointed spots of brownish black;

124 NOTES ON THE

under parts ashy-white, tinged with pale reddish, with numer-
ous longitudinal stripes of brownish -black on the neck, and
transverse stripes of the same on the other under parts; axil-
lary feathers white; under wing coverts ashy- white; bill and
legs greenish-black.

Length, 9; wing, 5.25; tail, 2.25; bill, 1.75; tarsus, 1.75.

Habitat, Eastern Province of North America.

TRINGA CANUTUS L (234.)

KNOT.

There have been two or three years in succession when I
failed to find this rather rare Sandpiper, followed by as many
more when I wo aid get one or two of them, but for the last ten
years I find more of them in the market, brought ' ' from
beyond the Big Woods," than I find anywhere else.

They are found single in the spring migrations, or at most
in pairs, but in the late summer and fall they are invariably
mingled with other species. Their stay is very short in the
spring, but in the fall they remain until November. There is
little in their habits while with us to distinguisli them from
the other members of the family.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill straight, rather longer than the head, compressed and
slightly enlarged at the tip; upper mandible with the nasal
groove extending to near the tip; legs moderate; tibia with its
lower third naked; neck, moderate; wing, long; tail, short; toes,
free at base, flattened beneath, widely margined, hind toe small
jand slender; entire upper parts light gray, with lanceolate,
inear and irregular spots of black, and others pale-reddish;
^ump and upper tail coverts white, with transverse narrow
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, axillary 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 bars or spots, all
the feathers edged with white, and frequently with a second
sub edging of dark-brown; bill, brownish-black; legs, greenish
black.

Length, 10; wing, 6.50; tail, 2.50, commissure, 1.50; tarsus
1.25.

Habitat, nearly cosmopolitan.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 125

TRINGA MACULATA Vieillot. (239.)

PECTORAL SANDPIPER.

This familiar bird to the sportsmen is a common species dur-
ing its migrations, arriving in spring about the 1st of April, or
a trifle later, and remaining until about the first week in May.
They appear in very small scattered parties, or singly. While
with us they seem to become paired, as in shooting one, another
one is almost sure to flush, and quite certain to be if hunted
with a dog, when the two are found to represent opposite
sexes. They are usually found on dry meadows near to that
which is somewhat wet, and their food is principally crickets
in spring, interlarded with various dry-land larvae, small beetles
and ground worms. In the fall the grasshoppers are first
chosen, after which crickets and whatever other insects prevail
at the season. They remain almost unobserved by any one
except the sportsman until about the 20th of October before
moving away southward, but are not all gone very quickly then.

Never really abundant, but uniformly fairly common in their
migrations, and now well known to breed in nearly all portions
of the State to some extent. It was not until I had been on a
close lookout for their local habits in this respect for many
years that I obtained a nest with three eggs, in the neighbor-
hood of Herman. Having often seen some of these birds in the
market in June, in the earlier years of my residence here, I
could have no doubts of their breeding here, and I had read in
the Pacific Railroad Reports that "This species has been as-
certained to breed abundantly in Wisconsin by Professor T.
Kumlein, an energetic cultivator of zoological science, now
resident in that state," when I was directed to the locality where
the birds had been observed by a hunting friend of mine. It
was no small task to find the nest, but the reward was amply
satisfactory. It was placed directly on the ground, which was
hollowed out somewhat, and consisted of a small quantity of
dried grass, loosely disposed, and containing three eggs, col
ored yellowish-gray with spots of amber thickly scattered
around the larger end. Since then. I have received satisfac-
tory assurances that they have been found by others in several
sections of the State. Their habits, and their relative num-
bers, make observations of them during the incubating season
extremely difficult.

126 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill rather longer than head, compressed, slightly depressed,
and expanded at the tip; nasal groove long; wings long; legs
rather long; tibia with nearlj^ its lower half naked; toes free
at base, flattened underneath, and slightly margined; tail rather
short; middle feathers pointed; entire upper part brownish -
black, all the feathers edged and tipped with ashy and brown-
ish red; rump and upper tail coverts black, some of the outer
feathers of the latter edged with white; line from the bill over
the eye ashy- white; throat, abdomen, under wing coverts, axil-
liary feathers, and under tail coverts white; breast and neck
before, ashy white, all the feathei's darker at the base and
with partially concealed lanceolate or pointed spots of brown-
ish-black; quills brownish-black; shaft of first primary white, of
the others brown; secondaries tipped and edged with white;
tertiaries edged with dull reddish-yellow; bill and feet dark
greenish-black.

Length, 9; wing. 5.25; tail, 2.50; bill to gape, 1.12; tarsus, 1.

Habitat, North America.

TRINGA BAIHDII (Coues). (241.)
BAIRD'S SANDPIPER.

In the spring of 1875, Dr. T. S. Roberts stated that he had
obtained several specimens of this species, since which time
they have been collected by different parties on many occasions.
Mr. J. Ransom of Pelican lake, has sent several in the flesh,
all of which were spring birds, in good plumage.

There is no doubt of their habitual migrations through the
State, and in considerable numbers in the fall, reaching the
upper counties early in August, and passing on below, in the
latter part of September.

They are said to breed in Alaska, The description of the
species, of the habits of which I know nothing. I quote from
"Birds of the Northwest" by Coues. Adult Male. "Bill
wholly black, small and slender, slightly shorter than the
head, just as long as the tarsus, or as the middle toe and claw,
slightly expanded or lancet shaped at the end, the point acute;
grooves long, narrow, deep; feathers on side of lower mandible
evidently reaching further than those on upper. Upper parts
brownish-black (deepest on the rump and middle upper tail
coverts, and lightest on the neck behind), each feather bor-
dered and tipped with pale brownish-yellow, the tipping of the
scapulars broader and nearly white, their margining broad and
brightest in tint, making several deep scollops towards the
shafts of the feathers. Only the outer series of upper tail

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 127

coverts on each side varied with whitish. Middle tail-feathers
brownish-black, the others plain gray with paler margins.
Jugulum tinged with light, dull yellowish-brown, spotted and
streaked with illy-defined blackish markings, as are also the
sides under the wings. Throat and other under parts white,
unmarked. Feet black like the bill.

"Length, 7^; extent, 15^; wing, 4.9; bill, 0.85; tarsus and
middle toe and claw the same. "

TRINGA MINUTILLA Vieillot. (242. )
LEAST SANDPIPER.

Abundant everywhere in Minnesota during the migrations.
The numbers greatly reduced about the first week in May, but
no time during the remainder of the season when there is not
a fair representation until after the first sharp frosts. They
reach the locality where I live, about the 20th of April, in
backward seasons still later. Their first appearance here is in
flocks of ten to fifteen, which after about ten days more, grow
steadily less in numbers until the species entirely disappears
as flocks.

There is no week in all the summer when at least one indivi-
dual may not be seen in the course of a day's collecting in the
marshes, amongst the muddy, or sandy shored ponds and
sloughs, or along the pebbly beach of a clear pure lake.
Never more than one at a time until in August, when the num-
ber increases from time to time, until by the 20th, they are seen
in considerable flocks. Of course they are breeding, but just
where, how, and when, are the unanswered questions still
pending. Four eggs were brought to me in 1880, said by the
kindly donor to be those of the Least Sandpii)er, and I guess
that they were, but how am I to knoiu? The bird which covered
them had not been secured. They answered the description,
" Buffy-yellow, thickly spotted with brown and drab." But
there are others that have all of these characteristics. I am not
certain that I have ever seen the eggs of this species. But I
do not hesitate to say that the Least Sandpiper breeds nearly
everywhere in the State.

Dr. Hvoslef reports the species present at Lanesboro late in
May, and on the 4th of August, 1879. Mr. Washburn, who visi-
ted the Red river valley on the 28th of July, 1885, and re-
mained until the 12th of September, found them at Orookston
"in muddy fields, and on plowed ground, over which water
was standing; and again at Mud lake." He further remarlcs

128 NOTES ON THE

' ' they were very tame and could be shot at again and again,
returning to the same place, and walking unconcernedly about
on the mud among their dead and dying comrades, perfectly
oblivious in their search for food, of the author of so much
destruction." And I could add similar reports from other
localities if they were needed. The flocks increase in size until
they are driven away by the cold, but they never assume the
proportions which they do on the sea coast. The above was
written in 1880, since which the bird, eggs and nest have been
added to my personal collections, and obtained by several col-
lectors. The nest is located on dry knolls, or sand dunes near
the shore of a pond, and consists of a hollow in the friable
soil, into which is placed a moderate quantity of dried grass.
There are four pretty, creamy eggs, dotted and blotched with
dark-brown more pronounced near the larger end.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

The smallest of all known species of this group found in
North America; bill about as long as the head, slightlj" curved
towards the end, which is verj^ 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 frequently longer than the intermediate; legs
long; lower third of the tibia naked; toes long, slender, mar-
gined, and flattened beneath; hind toe small; upper parts with
nearly every feather having a large central spot of brownish-
black, and widely margined with ashy and bright brownish-red;
rump and middle of the upjier tail coverts, black; outer cpverts
white, spotted with black; stripe over the eye, throat, and
breast. i)ale 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; uuder 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.

Length, 5.50 to 6; wing, 3.50 to 3.75; tail, 1.75; bill to gape,
0.75; tarsus, 0.75.

Habitat, North and South America.

EREINETES PISILLUS (L.). (246.)

SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER.

A regular migrant, reaching the section where I reside about
the 25th of April, intimately associated with the Least Sandpip-
ers, they remiin about the smaller lakes and ponds for a short
time, and disappear so much like that species after three or

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 129

four weeks, that I strongly suspect that while they principally
go farther north to breed, some remain to do so with us.

For evident reasons already mentioned, if such is the case,
there is little occasion for surprise that the nests have not been
discovered. Their constant note, repeated in a subdued tone,
tioeet, tweet, is similar to that of the other species. Indeed, all
their habits are indistinguishable, and I am compelled to have
the bird in my hands to identify it with any feeling of certainty

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 slender;
toes united at the 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 feathers longest; outer
feathers frequently longer than the third, presenting a doubly
emarginate 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 parts of the tarsus and toes, frequently tinged
with yellow; upper part in summer, mixed with light reddish;
iris, brown.

Length, 6.50; wing, 3.75; tail. 1.75; bill from gape, 0.75;
tarsus, 0.75 to 1.

Habitat, Eastern Province of North America.

CALIDRIS ARENARIA (L ). (248.)
SANDERLING.

The Sanderling has long been a common bird on the sea
coasts, and I had not expected to be permitted to list it in Min
nesota, when Mr. W. L. Tiffany (then a resident of this city
and enthusiastically interested in birds) brought me an adult
male in the spring of 1875. Since then I have found it a rather
regular visitor in both migrations, but some years I am confl
dent that they fail to appear, or in one of the migrations at
least.

They are never numerous, but come to us about the middle
of April in company with the Sandpipers and Snipes. It is
usual to find them mating to some extent while here, but they

130 NOTES ON THE

are soon gone afterwards. An individual I obtained in July-
suggests the possibility of a few breeding here. All prejudged
conclusions as to the breeding limits of species are valueless.
And when emanating from persons assuming to be authori
ties in the matter they are often unjust to earnest, ambitious
young naturalists by reflecting shadows of doubt upon their
best work.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

No hina toe; front toes moderate or rather long, flattened
underneath; distinctly 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 flattened at the tip; aperture of the nostril large
and covered with a membrane; wing long; tail short, with the
middle feathers longest; under coverts as long as the tail; legs
moderate; lower third of the tibia naked; upper parts light
ashy with lanceolate, hastate and ovate spots of brownish black
on 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 the inner webs; greater wing coverts widely tipped
with white; middle feathers of tail ashy-brown, edged with
white; outer feathers paler; bill and legs greenish-black; sexes
alike; iris brown.

Length, 8; wing, 5; tail, 2; bill, 1; tarsus, 1.

Habitat, nearly cosmopolitan.

LIMOSA FEDOA (L.). (249.)
MARBLED GODWIT.

Fairly common for a few days in early Maj', these larger
birds of the Scolopacidse family are with us but a short time in
their migrations, especially in the spring. They are already
paired when they come in most cases, and are seldom found in
anything like flocks at this time, but when they return about
the 15th of August, or the 20th, as occurs more frequently per-
haps, they are generally in parties of five or six, rarely more.
They remain in autumn until the 20th of September if no severe
frosts appear, in which case they are all gone the next morn-
ing early, taking to wing before the dawn. Specimens were
not uncommon in the shops and private cabinets of !St. Paul
thirty years ago, and may still be found as common in the
museums of the academies and educational institutions from
the State University through. It is somewhat irregular in

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 131

respect to the lines of its passage through Minnesota, failing
to put in an appearance on some for two or three seasons in
succession, in one or the other migration, and appearing by a
fair representation in others.

Mr. Holzinger does not give them in the list of the Normal
School collection and Mr. Washburn makes no mention of them
in theRed river valley. On the undulating prairie lying be-
tween the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, near Fort Snelling,!
formerly found the Marbled Godwit without much uncertainty
in its autumnal migrations, rarely however in the vernal. In
what is now the northwestern section of the city where I reside
there are two or three shallow lakes, between and around
which are some rather sterile knolls. On several collecting
tramps I found a number of this species on them. At a little
distance, those on the highest looked to be much larger than
they really were, and were utterly unapproachable except by
strategy, as one of the number invariably remained on guard.
But when by any means one individual got within shot, and was
either killed or crippled, the others would fly within range in
their solicitude for the unfortunate one, when a second, usually
no doubt the mate, was most likely to share its fate.

The first week in September is the golden time for finding
them, and they are then much sought for by sportsmen familiar
with them. The flesh is very delicious eating. Their stay is
too brief for any but the initiated to secure them and when
others obtain them it is by the accidence of their association
with flocks of more common species. From the uniform late-
ness of their arrival in spring, and the early date of their re-
appearance in fall, or rather late summer, I hoped to have
found their nests long ago, but although I learned indirectly of
others having done so in 1864, I had no personal knowledge of
them until in the autumn of 1872, when I found three eggs, and
what was said to be the male and female associated with them,
in the St. Paul Academy's collection. Coues' "Birds of the
Northwest" was published two years -afterward, in which he
mentions seeing the same, so that it is probable that he saw
them before I had done so. and I quote briefly what he says.
' 'The only perfect set of eggs of the Godwit I have seen were
taken June 1, 1871, fifty miles northwest of Saint Paul, Minne-
sota; both parents were secured and deposited in the Saint
Paul Academy, where I examined them; so that the identifica-
tion is unquestionable. There are three eggs in this set,
measuring 2.30 by 1.60, 2.28 by 1.56 and 2.25 by 1.62. The

132 NOTES ON THE

color is a clear, light olivaceous-drab; the markings are small
and numerous, but not very strongly pronounced — there is noth-
ing (in this set) of the heavy blotching and marking usually
seen in wader's eggs. The spots are pretty evenly dis-
tributed, though rather larger in two instances, and more
numerous in the other instance, about the butt than elsewhere.
These markings are of various umber-brown shades, with the
usual stone-gray shell spots." Since those days it has been re-
ported that several nests have been obtained which I have not
seen, and I have had only one brought to me. The nest was
described as constructed exclusively of grass, in a superficial
excavation in the ground, on a dry prairie about 12 miles
southwest of this city, and was found on the 5th of June, 1879.
The eggs were three in number and essentially as described
above, except that the largest was not quite as long as the
longest given, and the shortest was a trifle shorter than the
shortest, while of the same width.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 underneath; 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 irregular and confluent bands, and the
latter in spots and imperfect bauds; in many specimens 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 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; iris brown.

Length, 18; wing, 9; tail, 3.50; bill, 4 to 5; tarsus, 3.

Habitat, North America.

LIMOSA H^MASTICA (L.). (251).
HUDSONIAN GODWIT.

I have never met with this bird in the flesh, but have found
it in several collections, leaving no question of its presence in
migration.

The first instance of its coming under my observation was
in t'le collection of Mr. Schroeder, of St. Paul, and subse-
quently in Mr. Howling's, of this city. It is found only as

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 133

associated with other flocks of its family, and so far as I have
been able to learn, has only been obtained in fall migrations.
I know nothing of its habits to distinguish it from the other
species of its genus. The description of the species is as
follows :

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Smaller than the preceding; bill longer than the head; both
mandibles grooved, slightly recurved; wings long; legs mod-
erate; membranes uniting the outer and middle toe large.
Upper parts brownish- black, with dots 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; iris
brown

Length, 15; wing, 8; tail 8; bill, 2.75 to 3.50; tarsus, 2.50.

Habitat, eastern, northern and middle America.

TOTANUS MELANOLEUCUS (Gmelin). (254.)
GREATER YELLOW-LEGS.

This bird is a typical wader, being almost constantly in the
puddles, pools and ditches in spring, in quest of its food, found
mostly in those places.

They rarely resort to strands and sandy beaches except in
passing from one of the former localities to another. It is gen-
erally about the 10th of April, when they appear about our
ponds and muddy lakes in considerable numbers, for a time,
and then disappear until the latter part of August when they
come back in force. In their fall migration, they not only
remain longer but resort in large flocks to the fields, where
wheat and corn have been grown, in which they find an abun-
dance of larvae, worms, and various species of insects in large
numbers. They are the terror of the sportsman, for as soon
as they discover anything suggestive of a man or a gun, they
set up a loud, shrill noise that awakens every game bird in
the region for a quarter of a mile around in all directions. The
"quack" by the ducks as they take to wing before having seen
any danger themselves, is the unwelcome farewell to the next
hour's sport. It takes no ordinary measure of strategy to bag
them after they have once been flushed.

134 NOTES ON THE

They remain often into November before taking final leave
for the milder latitudes. The Red river country is their
abounding region in their migrations, yet there is no section
which they do not visit in greater or lesser numbers. I have
them abundantly reported from Big Stone lake (Cutter), Her-
man, Grant county (Clague), Red River (Washburn). Lanes-
boro (Dr. Hvoslef), Lake Shetak (Herrick), Waseca (Everett).
Elbow Lake (Sanford). and many other localities indicating
their distribution. Mr. Washburn states that when he visited
the Red river region late in July and early in August, he
found both the Telltales (the sportsman's name for the Yellow-
legs), still non-gregarious, only one or two individuals being
seen in one place, which hints strongly at their being in prox-
imity to their breeding places, for in a very short time after-
wards they were seen in considerable flocks on the plowed
fields. On August 6th he says "many single birds observed
along the Thief river." On the 20th, I found them in large
flocks along the Minnesota river, ten to fifteen miles above St
Paul.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

•

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, con-
nected 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 im-
perfect transverse narrow bands of brownish- black; under
parts white, with longitudinal narrow stripes on the neck, and
transverse crescent, lanceolate and sagittate spots and stripes
on the breast and sides; abdomen pure white: quills brownish-
black with a jiurplish lustre, shaft of first primary white; sec-
ondaries and tertiaries tipped, and marked with transverse
bars and spots of ashy-white; tail white, with transverse nar-
row bands of brownish-black, wider and darker on the two mid-
dle feathers; bill brownish-black, lighter at the base; legs
yellow; iris dark brown.

Length. 14; wing. 7.50 to 8; tail. 3.25 to 3 50; bill, 2.25; tar-
sus, 2.50.

Habitat, America generally.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 135

TOTANUS FLA.VIPES (Gmelin). (255.)

YELLOW-LEGS.

From the first to the tenth of April the Yellow-legs appear
about the shallow pools and muddy ponds in small parties. In
these they wade about constantly for hours at a time when
unmolested, and when driven to wing, fly very swiftly away
in an irregular, Snipe-like manner, making a loud, whistling
note, illy adapted to concert melody. Their flight is wonder-
fully compact, the flock moving as if by one impulse through
all the gyrations incident to indecision where next to go,
which however often results in their return to the same pool
when the gunner has concealed himself effectually. From the
repeated observation of this phenomenon in many species of
bird life, I am convinced that in such cases only the individual
leading the flock takes the least cognizance of their surround-
ings, all others maintaining an instinctive attention to the mo-
tions of the leader alone. If by an exceptionally sudden sur-
prise the flock is momentarily deranged, in an instant the
former compactness is resumed as if nothing had occurred,
which would be impossible upon any other conceivable hypo-
thesis. The noisy, whistling notes of the species soon becomes
familiar to the gunner, which some of them learn to imitate
so well, that the deluded flock easily falls into the range of
his deadly missile. Their meat is scarcely less palatable than
the best of the Snipe kind. By the first of May most of them
have gone, probably much further north, to multiply by
reproduction and return here again about the first week in
September. I know nothing of their nidification habits, and
have never seen their eggs under circumstances to describe
them.

Mr. Washburn, (as have nearly all my correspondents)
met with some flocks late in October. He says: — "At Dead
lake, Octcber 23d, I saw a few flocks of these birds flying
south. They were very tame, and exceedingly fat. Although
repeatedly shot at, they would return again to me on my
imitating their call." Great numbers of them are usually
found in the markets and restaurants at this season, as well as
earlier. Most of them have gone southward by the first of
November, but I have some records of their remaining until
the middle of that month.

10 z

136 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill rather longer than the head, straight, slender, com-
pressed; wing long, pointed; tail short; legs, lower half of the
tibia naked; toes moderate, slender, margined, the outer and
middle united at the base; rump and upper tail coverts white,
the latter transversely barred with ashy-brown; the 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.

Length, 10 to 11; wing, 6 to 6.50; tail, 2.50; bill, 1.50; tarsus, 2.

Habitat, America in general.

TOTANUS SOLITARirS (Wilson). (256.)
SOLITARY SANDPIPER.

This little shorebird reaches us as late as the 10th of May;
rarely earlier, and always in pairs. They are at once found
running along the shores of ponds, lakes and streams, with
very little regard to solitude, as the din of all the vast flouring
and saw mills, with trains of cars passing on an average of
every ten minutes, to which vastly more confusion should be
added, does not in the least disturb them. Their food consists
of aquatic insects and their larvae, with minute mollusca enter-
ing in to vary the variety. In a short time, or about the 25th
of May, they principally disappear, evidently to nest and rear
their young, for only a few are seen, and then in unmistakable
solitude. This continues until early in August, when they
begin to seek the former localities in family parties of from six
to eight. As the summer passes into autumn, these families
become winged communities of thirty, forty, or more, which
increase in size to some extent until they leave, about the first
of October. They are universally distributed over the entire
State.

I have several times had the eggs of this species brought to
me, with all but positive assurance that the identification was
correct, and I hear of others in the possession of amateur
oOlogists, reputedly collected locally, but in the case of the
former, the eggs have either been those of the Spotted Sand-
pipers, of which I have a full supply of my own collection, or

i

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 137

there is no possible distinction between the eggs of the two
species. Nothing less than the simultaneous obtaining of the
bird with the eggs will satisfy me now. .

As in my first remarks respecting the species, I was at a loss
to see why it was named Solitary ui^il I learned for myself
the difiiculty of finding the birds at all during their breeding.
By going to those sections where they are most commonly
found at other times, very early in the morning, as I have done
many times to observe other birds, I have occasionally seen a
single Sandpiper of this species at the season of nesting.
Finally I discovered them between sunset and twilight, silently
running about as if not far from the rest of the family. Then I
resorted to the locality in the middle of the day, and "pros-
pected" every square yard of considerable territory, but never
yet have been rewarded by the discovery of the nest, or indeed
the birds either at such a time. In the early days of August
they begin to come out of their hiding places, and are more
and more frequently seen as the season advances, until in
September they are often on the wing in small flocks which
again increase in size until they leave for the winter. I must
conclude that the setting bird possesses the same instinct for
secreting the nest and eggs which is well known to be shown
in other orders of birds. On the approach of an intruder, the
bird slips silently off the nest and at once covers it with such
debris as surrounds it, and wends a dubious way rapidly to a
place of unquestioned safety.

I cannot resist the impulse of quoting from Coues' ' 'Birds of
the Northwest," page 500, where is to be found an example of
his almost peerless genius in the description of the minuter
traits of those humbler forms of bird life overlooked by less
observing ornithologists, in which this species has his attention
until immortalized. He says : "I generally found two or three
to half a dozen together; frequently one at a time; occasionally,
but not often, upwards of a score, that seemed, however, to be
drawn together by their common tastes in the matter of feeding
grounds rather than by any gregarious instinct. They are
moreover pretty exclusive in their own set; rather declining,
than encouraging, familiarity on the part of other waders;
though the Peetweets and others sometimes intrude their hoy-
denish society upon the more sedate and aristocratic members
of the long-legged circle. They should rightly, however, rather
embrace than merely endure such company, for they are easy
going, contemplative natures, and their sharp-eyed associates

138 NOTES ON THE

often do them good service in sounding alarms. These Tattlers
indulge on all occasions, a propensity for nodding like Lord
Burleigh, or the Chinese Mandarins in front of a tea shop, and
when they see something they cannot quite make out, seem to
reason with themselves, and finally come to a conclusion in this
way; impressing themselves heavily with a sense of their own
logic. They go through the bowing exercise with a gravity
that may upset that of a disinterested spectator, and yet all
through the performance so ludicrous in itself, contrive to pre-
serve something of the passive sedateness that marks all their
movements. This bobbing of the head and foreparts is the
correspondent and counterpart of the still more curious actions
of the Spotted Tattlers, or Tip-ups. as they are aptly called
from this circumstance; a queer balancing of the body upon
the legs, constituting an amusement of which these last named
birds are extremely fond. As often as the Tip-up, or Teter-
tail, as it is also called, stops in its pursuit of insects, the fore-
part of the body is lowered a little, the head drawn in, the legs
slightly bent, while the hinder parts and tail are alternately
hoisted with a peculiar jerk, and drawn down again with the
regularity of clock-work.

"The movement is more conspicuous in the upward than in
the downward part of the performance; as if the tail were
spring-hinged and in constant danger of flying up. needing
constant presence of mind to keep it down. It is amusing to
see an old male in the breeding season busy with this opera-
tion. Upon some rock jutting out of the water he stands,
swelling with amorous pride and self-complacency, puffing out
his plumage till he looks twice as big as natural, facing about
on his narrow pedestal, and bowing with his hindparts to all
points of the compass. A sensitive and fastidious person
might see something derisive, if not actually insulting in this,
and feel as one may be presumed to have felt when the savages
who attacked his ship in canoes showed the signs of contuma-
ceous scorn that De Foe records. But it would not be worth
while to feel offended, since this is only the entirely original
and peculiar way the Tip-up has of conducting his courtships."

Much has been said of these peculiarities of the Tip-ups, and
with much plausibility, but sad to relate, the ornithological ver-
dict is still unproclaimed as to what all the wonderful bowings,
and waggings, and puffings really are designed to express.

Dr. Coues further says: "The solitary Tattlers, that we have
lost sight of for the moment, are fond of standing motionless

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 139

in the water when they have satisfied their hunger, or of
wading about, up to their bellies, with slow measured steps.
If startled at such times, they rise easily and lightly on wing,
fly rather slowly a little distance with dangling legs and out-
stretched neck, to soon re-alight and look about with a dazed
expression. Just as their feet touch the ground, the long,
pointed wings are lifted till their tips nearly meet above, and
are then deliberately folded. The Esquimaux Curlews and
some other birds have the same habit. The Tattlers are usually
silent birds, but when suddenly alarmed, they utter a low and
rather pleasing whistle as they fly off, or even without moving."

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill rather longer than the head, straight, slender, com-
pressed, 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 under-
neath, 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.

Length, 8 to 8. 50; wing. 5; tail, 2.25; bill, 1.25; tarsus, 1.25.

Habitat, North America.

SYMPHEMA SEMIPALMATA (Gmelin). (258.)
WILLET.

The Willet is a summer resident of Minnesota, reaching this
latitude about the 20th of April in sparing numbers; never even
com nonly represented, yet quite uniformly so. They mani-
festly prefer sandy localities during their entire stay, in which
places they are more ordinarily found by collectors, yet they
are not confined to such by any means, for I have often dis-
covered them in extensive marshes, partly overflown with
water, feeding after the manner of the Yellow-legs and other
waders. They are paired by the first week in May, and build
their nests about the 25th; occasionally a little earlier, but
of tener a little later, according to the season. I have seen the

140 NOTES ON THE

nest in situ but once, but have reports from several others,
with the eggs. I am satisfied if careful search could be made
in grant or Otter Tail county in June more could be found than
further south, yet, the Willet must breed in occasional instances
in the most southern counties, for individuals are seen there
during the summer months when they should be breeding, as
they reappear in August with their progeny in the northern
sections, followed by their increasing presence below, approach-
ing the 1st of September. They remain about in families until
the latter part of October, when, after uniting the families into
small flocks, they move off to some lower latitude (Brazil?) to
escape our inclement winters.

The nests have been found quite remote from water of any
kind on the dry prairie south of the Minnesota river, and in
the bottom of that river.

It is constituted of grass and weeds, in a tussock of weeds,
or grass in some cases, and in others in a hollow in the ground
into which they have gathered and arranged very little mate-
rial of any kind. They have four pear-sha]ied, pale-olive eggs
marked with blotches of various shades of brown, more conflu-
ent about the larger end. They are very noisy birds when dis-
turbed during the breeding season, uttering vehemently, as near
as has yet been expressed, the syllables pil-wilet, it-pilwilet, in
shrill cries which arouse all the water fowls in the section in-
stantly.

Dr. Hvoslef met with these birds on the 26th of April in his
section. Mr. Lewis at Big Stone at the same date, and in June
in Douglas county, while I myself found them relatively com-
mon in Becker and Crow Wing counties in the last week in
May (1887).

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

The largest American species of its genus; bill longer than
the head, straight, rather thick and strong; groove iu the up-
per mandible extending about half its length, in the lower
mandible nearly obsolete; wings long; legs long, strong; toes
moderate, united at base by membrane, the largest of which
unites the outer and middle toe; hind toe small; tail short; en-
tire 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; ax-
illaries and under wing coverts brownish-black; primary quills
white at base, tipped with brownish-black; secondaries white,
spotted with brownish -black; tail ashy white, the two middle

1

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 141

feathers strongly tinged with ashy; others spotted with dark
ashy-brown; bill dark bluish-brown, lighter at the base; legs
light blue; iris brown.

Length, 15; wing, 8.25; tail, 3.25; bill, 2.50; tarsus, 2.50.

Habitat, Temperate North America.

BARTRAMIA LONGICAUDA (Bechstein). (261.)
BARTRAMIAN SANDPIPER.

Sub-common and resident. Arrives the first week in April in
small parties when they are found on the open pastures on dry
knolls, after the manner of the plovers. Its habits in these
respects confound it with the other species mentioned, hence
the popular name of Upland Plover. Sometimes for a short
time following their arrival they seem quite common, but by
the 10th of May they are manifestly diminishing in numbers,
and by the 25th only those which are to breed here are left, the
others having mostly passed on further north, and those re-
maining having paired, enter upon the structure of their nests
and depositing their eggs, which are three to four in number,
and vary exceedingly in the shades of color from creamy drab
to pure "buff, between which are all gradations of those two
colors They are spotted with diiferent degrees of brown and
almost obsolete lilac. Pew of the Wading Birds have so wide
a range of choice of location for their nest. One many years
since was in a closely grazed pasture near a rice marsh in the
northwestern part of the city in which I am writing, and was
a mere excuse for a structure of the kind, consisting of a pinch
of grass blades loosely strung around a slight depression in
the ground and partially under a tuft of rank grass where the
offal of the preceding year had made the cattle refuse to crop
it. Another discovered a few years later, with an incomplete
complement of eggs, was on the sandy, high plains west of
Fort Snelling, and had no covert, and still less grass distribu-
ted around the depression in the ground.

Competent observers assure me that they more commonly
build close to the hills of corn in the cornfields, where the in-
cidental protection leaves them less apparent motive to seek
concealment, yet the nest is much more bulky with grass and
weeds. Their food, as indicated by the contents of their crops
at this time in the year, consists chiefly of crickets, grasshop-
pers, small beetles and seeds of different kinds. These kinds
of food are abundant at that time of the year.

142 NOTES ON THE

In August the families begin to unite in flocks, and some
small ones are seen as late as the 1st of November, but as a
rule they have all disappeared by the 15th to the 20th of
October.

Wherever in the State that I have made collections, or only
observations, I have almost uniformly obtained facts enough to
satisfy me of their presence at least in one migration. Mr.
Washburn notes them as common in August in Otter Tail
county, as had Mr. Lewis still later in previous years.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill about as long as head, rather wide and flattened at the
base, curved at the tip; nostrils 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 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 lustre, and with the
feathers edged with ashy-white and yellowish, the latter
especially on the wing coverts; lower part of 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 yel-
lowish-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 same;
axillary feathers and under wing coverts pure white with num-
erous 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 tail same
greenish-brown as the back with irregular and imperfect trans
verse bands of black; outer feathers pale reddish yellow,
edged and tipped with white, and with several irregular trans-
verse bands and a large subterminal arrowhead of black; bill
greenish yellow, with the under mandible clearer yellow
towards its base, tip brownish-black; legs light yellow; toes
darker; iris hazel.

Length, 12; wing, 6.50; tail, 3.50.

Habitat, eastern North America.

TRYNG1TE8 SUBRT FICOLLIS (Vieillot). (262.)
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER.

Many times in my prolonged observations of the Sandpipers
had I thought that I had secured this species only to find
myself disappointed, when some of them were brought in for

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 143

me, which had been secured by a trio of young naturalists*
residing in my city This was in August, 1877, since which
time I have secured them in June, July and August, in several
years, settling the question of their local nidification. They
come to us early in April, in numbers enough to show that
many must go further north to breed. I have not been able to
obtain any information as to their distribution within our
limits which extend further north than Grant county, how-
ever I think they probably breed in the northern counties to
some extent. They are an extremely active species when on
the wing, and essentially ploverine in all respects, seeking
sandy barren prairies, where they live upon grasshoppers,
crickets and insects generally, and ants and their eggs speci-
ally. I have found them repasting upon minute molluscs on
the sandy shores of small and shallow ponds, in the warmest
part of the day, when they were apparently little more sus-
picious than the Solitary Sandpipers are notably. The flight
is in a rather compact form, dipping and rising alternately,
and with a disposition to return again to the neighborhood of
their former feeding places.

The latest record of their presence here in the autumn
which I find in my notes is October 23d. I have not seen
their nest or eggs yet.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill about the length of the head, straight, compressed, nar-
row 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 tibia bare;
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 ter-
tiaries; 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, tipped with white; bill black; legs greenish-yellow;
iris hazel.

Length, 7.50 to 8; wing, 5.50; tail,3;bill, from gape 1; tarsus,
1.25.

Habitat, North America.

*T. S Roberts. C. L. Herrick, R. S. Williams.

144 NOTES ON THE

ACTITIS MACULARI4 (L. )• (263.)
SPOTTED SANDPIPER.

Kennicott found these birds at the Lake of the Woods on
the 31st of May, but says nothing of their breeding there,
nevertheless, from an acquaintance with their habits over the
rest of the State generally, I have no doubt that they were. They
reach the southern parts about the second week in April, and in
exceptionally early springs, in the last days of March, (1864, )in
large numbers, and after distributing themselves universally
over the country, so that scarcely a stream of water of any magni-
tude from the outlet of a perennial spring in the wilderness,
to the Mississippi river, or lake of any size down to a pond or
a pool, can be found which has not its representation of the
species. About the 25th of April they begin nesting in all
sorts of places, from the margins of the water to the depth of
the brushlands and forests, wherever they can scratch a hollow in
the ground, not already provided, and when they have sparingly
lined the depression with grass, moss, or straws of almost any
available, flexible material, they deposit in them four yellow-
ish-buff colored eggs, blotched and spotted with " umber and
sienna" which often becomes confluent on the larger end.

Their nests are frequently found in May and June. Several
have been discovered in the wheat-fields, and corn-fields near
the small lakes south of Minneapolis, and a ramble of a couple
of hours in Grant county is rewarded with securing more or
less almost uniformly.

Dr. Hvoslef obtained them at Lanesboro on the 30th of May,
and I have private records as late as July 3d, so there can be
little doubt that they bring out two broods, or vary the time of
incubation almost unprecedentedly.

Early in August the families begin to be seen occasionally,
and later flocks, which gradually increase in size till about
their time for the fall migration, when they become larger, and
are almost constantly on the wing until they are all gone,
which is sometimes from October 25th to November 10th.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Small; bill rather longer than head; straight, slender; long
grooves in both mandibles; wing pointed, rather long; tail
medium, rounded; legs rather long; lower third of tibia naked;
toes long, margined, flattened underneath; outer connected to
the middle toe by a large membrane; inner very slightly con-
nected to the middle toe; upper parts brownish olive-green,

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 145

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 the base and tipped with white; middle
feathers of the tail same green as the 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.

Length, 7.50 to 8; wing. 4.50; tail, 2; bill. 1; tarsus, 1.

Habitat, North and South America.

NUMENIUS LONGIROSTRIS (Wilson). (264.)
LONG-BILLED CURLEW.

This widely distributed species is nowhere better represented
than in Minnesota,* or strictly speaking, in portions of it.
They reach this latitude variously from the 20th of March to
the first of May. usually about the 10th of April, and about the
middle of May they mostly move beyond the Big Woods (re-
ferred to previously), whence to the British possessions they
breed in different localities.

The nests, which I have not personally seen, are said to be
in general scolopacine in character, never in communities, and
located near, but not on wet lands or marshes as a rule. Not
far from the 25th of May, they lay four eggs, * 'clay colored,
with more or less olivaceous in some instances, and in others
decidedly buffy shade. The spotting is generally pretty uni-
formly distributed and of small pattern, though in many cases
there is larger blotching and even massing about the great end.
The color of the markings is sepia or umber, of different shades
in the buffy -tinged specimens, rather tending to chocolate. The
shell markings are commonly numerous and evident." (Coues.)
Early in August, the young have become strong enough for
flight, and small flocks of them begin to be seen in the sections
where the breeding has taken place. They gradually extend
their range southward with the advance of the season, until by
the first or second week in September, they have reached the
whole southern portions of the states, while continued acces-

* The above was true when written, but the Curlews of this species, once so common,
have become less so within the la?t decade, and now, having been driven back from
both coasts by civilization, are found in great numbers far inland on the dry plains,
where they are killed by scores and hundreds.

146 NOTES ON THE

sions from more northern regions have more than filled their
former places. By the middle of October, the northern, cen-
tral portions, or perhaps I should say, the western central,
longitudinal, have very large numbers of these birds, occupy-
ing the high or more sandy tracts. These afford them an
abundance of their favorite food, the grasshoppers, to which
may be added insects of several other species, like crickets and
beetles, with land snails, and some species of berries.

When moving from one section to another, and when in their
migrations they fly very high, and generally in a V-shaped
flock, with the point of the angle foremost, after the manner of
the geese, but not as persistently.

All leave the State by the lOth of October, a part of them a
little earlier oftentimes. Accounted a marsh bird along the
Atlantic coast, I find them quite as frequently on the dry prai-
ries, far removed from any considerable marshes or ponds.
They frequent plowed fields, and dry, extensive flats which
have previously been overflowed, and have become dry again.
This suggests earth worms, and certain forms of terrestrial
mollusca, as preferred food. Their nests have been found in
many sections, but uniformly on dry prairies so far as I have
known. Like most others of the family, the structure is very
primitive, consisting of a small quantity of grass, circularly
disposed in a hollow made by the bird in the ground, under the
lea of a few rank weeds, or a bunch of coarse grass. The
eggs are four in number, rather of a drab, or clay color. I
think they might sometimes be called buft'-colored. when hav-
ing a shade of olivaceous. They are uniformly spotted with
umber of several shades, more pronounced about the larger
end.

In form they are decidedly gallinaceous, differing in this
markedly from most Scolopacine species. They rear but a
single brood, the nest for which is built from the 20th to the
30th of May. In their fall migrations most of tiiem depart be-
fore the 25th of October, yet I have met with a few as late as
the 10th of November.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill very long, much curved; upper mandible longer, some-
what knobbed at the tip; wing rather long; legs moderate; toes
united at the base; entire upper parts paler rufous tinged with
ashy; each feather with transverse and confluent bands of
brownish-black, most numerous and predominating on the back
and scapulars; secondary quills, under wing coverts and axil-

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 147

laries bright rufous; primaries with their outer webs brownish-
black; inner webs rufous with transverse bands of black; under
parts pale rufous, with longitudinal lines 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 probably being
more distinct in the young; iris hazel.

Length, 25; wing, 10 to 11; tail, 4; bill. 5 to 8; tarsus. 2.25.

Habitat, Temperate North America.

Mr. Washburn in his report of the birds of the Red river
valley, covering his observations made between July 28th and
September 12th, 1885, says of this species: "I have been much
disappointed in not finding more of these birds. Only a few
individuals observed. Was informed by sportsmen in Ada that
they were not present this season in regions where they were
extremely abundant last year. They are found, too, farther
east near 'The Ridge' in larger numbers than close to the Red
river."

NUHEXIUS HUDSONICUS Latham. (265.)
HUDSONIAN CURLEW.

I formerly met with this species more frequently than of late
years, and why so I cannot explain to my own satisfaction.
They were always associated with the Long-bills, except upon
one occasion, when I found a flock of eight by themselves in
spring migration, it being then early in April.

Only a single bird was obtained, but a number found their
way into the taxidermist's collections. And from time to time
I have found specimens of this species in those places. They
are more f requentlyobtained in the autumnal than in the vernal
migrations, and except as above, invariably mingle with the
other species. I know nothing of their habits beyond the fact
of their presence in migration in very limited numbers.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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
transverse bars of pale ashy-brown; bill brownish-black, base

148 NOTES ON THE

offjlower mandible reddish -yellow; legs greenish- brown; speci-
mens vary in the shade of the lighter colors of the plumage,
and in the length of the bill; iris brown.
nLength, 18; wing. 9; tail, 4; bill, 3 to 4; tarsus, 2.25.
Habitat, North and South America.

NUMENirs BOREALIS (Forster). (266.)
ESKIMO CURLEW.

I find specimens of this species of Curlew occasionally in the
hands of the taxidermists, and have had them sent to me from
the Red river once, but have never, seen them alive. I was
ready to doubt their specific identity almost, until I read
Coues" account of his observations of them in the Missouri
region, in his Birds of the Northwest, pp. 510-512.

If they are so abundant along the Missouri, it seems most
probable that flocks may not altogether infrequently find their
way along the Mississippi, and up the St. Peters or Minnesota
rivers, and be regarded as rather small representatives of the
"Short Bills" by the hunters, who have more interest in them
as game than specimens for the cabinets of birdologists.

SPECIFIC characters.

Bill rather longer than the head, slender; wings long; tail
short; legs moderate; entire upper parts brownish-black, spot-
ted with dull yellowish rufous; quills brownish-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 longi-
tudinal 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.

Length. 13.50; wing, 8.25; tail, 3; bill, 2.25 to 2.50; tarsus, 1.75.

Habitat, eastern North America.

Family CHARADRIID^.

CHARADRIUS SQUATAROLA (L ) (270).
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER.

I know of no other species of Plover which is a more reg-
ular, and numerically uniform migrant in both spring and
autumn in the locality from which I write. They are only
moderately represented, arriving about the last of April in
flocks of ten to twenty, but do not seem to remain but three or

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 149

four days before they disappear, and I supposed for many
years that they all passed beyond the State line, but some
time in the summer of 1875, a clutch of four eggs were sent me
with the female, which proved to be a Black-bellied Plover.
It was obtained in the vicinity of upper Lake Minne tonka, in
my own county. Since then several nests have been reported
by persons competent to determine them, and I accept the
conclusion that this species breed to a limited extent in some
portions of the State. The nest differs in no particular from
those of the other species of the family.

A natural depression in the ground, of about the size desired,
is selected, or else one is scratched out by the female, and lined
with a few leaves, blades of grass, or moss, in which are de-
posited the orthodox four eggs. These are a creamy-buff color
with spots and confluent blotches of umber and obscure touches
of lilac, chiefly about the larger end. They reappear in mod-
erate flocks about the middle of September and are frequently
seen until the second week in October. They are offered in
the market in autumn, and are regarded good eating.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 longitudinal
stripe of white frequently on the shorter primaries and secon-
daries. Tail white, with transverse imperfect narrow bands
of black. Bill and legs black, and black color of the under
parts generally with a bronzed or coppery lustre, and present-
ing a scarelike appearance; the brownish-black of the upper
parts with a greenish lustre.

Length, 11.50; wing, 7.50; tail, 3.

Habitat, nearly cosmopolitan.

CHARADRIUS DOMINICUS Muller. (272.)
AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER.

A very abundant migrant, but a very uncertain one, sometimes
reaching us in spring in considerable flocks, and at other seasons
giving us the complete "go-by." They reach the State in the

150 NOTES ON THE

last week of April, and are all gone beyond our borders by the
5th of May. Not later than the last week of August they
return in force, as a general thing, when they remain till
October 25th to November 1st, gradually diminishing in num-
bers, however, after about the 25th of September. Indeed,
there is not more than ten days good shooting, before the
diminution of their numbers is visible.

As in the spring migration, they often elude any given local-
ity in the fall, evidently being capricious as to the special line
taken. Dr. Hvoslef reports them abundant during October,
1884, in Fillmore county. And so from most sections of the
entire field of my inquiries.

In their flights over the plowed fields, where they mostly
feed in autumn, they are a beautiful composite on wings, con-
stantly changing hues of colors as they alternately exhibit the
upper and the under parts in the rays of an October sun.
Grasshoppers are their ordinary diet, but when they resort to
the plowed fields it must be for larvae and other insects, as the
former are chiefly obtained on the grass lands.

We seldom see them when they are not mixed with other
species to some extent at least. I know very little of their
habits

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill rather short; legs moderate; wings long; hind toe want-
ing; 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 transverse bands generally; 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 back of the neck, under
tail coverts and tibia 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.

Length, 9.50; wing, 7; tail, 2.50.

Habitat, Arctic America.

My correspondents all report it occurring in the different
sections of the State much as above given.

BIRDS OP MINNESOTA. 151

^GIALITIS yOCIFERA(L.). (273.)

KILLDEER.

A common summer resident, reaching the State generally
amongst the earliest migrants of its family, if not the earliest
itself. In 1869 they came on the 18th of March, and in 1884,
on the 25th of that month, between which days in March are
nine-tenths of their arrival records for two decades.

At these times they are in parties of 5 to 7 or 8 individuals,
"roaming about high in air, tracing the shore of the river, or
running amidst the watery flats and meadows. As spring
advances, they resort to the newly plowed fields, or level
plains bare of grass, interspersed with shallow pools; or dry
sandy fields. In some such situation they generally choose 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, straws, pebbles
or earth. * * * In some cases there are no vestiges of a
nest. The eggs are usually four, of a bright rich cream, or
yellowish clay color, thickly marked with blotches of black.

* * * * Nothing can exceed the alarm and anxiety of
these birds during the breeding season. Their cries of
kill-deer, kill-deer, as they winnow the air over head, drive, and
course around you, or run along the ground counterfeiting
lameness, are shrill and incessant." (Wilson). No locality I
have visited in the State, where the conditions favoring their
habits exist, has failed to have a fair representation of these
familiar birds from March till late in October, and sometimes,
the tenth of November. In the early part of their residence,
they are seen in the small flocks mentioned, but after a short
time in pairs oxAj until in July, when the brood full grown,
with the parents, constitute small flocks again, in which they
are mostly seen until their departure for the winter. Dr.
Hvoslef reports them common for the species in the southern
part of the State, and Mr. Washburn found them the same in
the western, while it has been mine to find them fully up to
their observations in the central and northern to Duluth.
When thoroughly fattened they are fairly good eating in the
autumn.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Wings long reaching to the end of the tail, w^hich is also
rather long; head above and upper parts of body light- brown
with a greenish tinge; rump and upper tail coverts rufous.

-11 z

152 NOTES ON THE

lighter on Ihe latter; front, and line 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 a 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 their inner webs white, shorter primaries with a
large spot of white on their outer webs, secondaries widely
tipped or edged with white; tail feather j^ale rufous at base;
the four middle feathers light olive- brown tipped with white
and with a sub terminal band of black; lateral feathers widely
tipped with white; entire upper plumage frequently edged
and tipped with rufous.

Length, 9.50; wing, 6.50; tail, 3.50.

Habitat, temperate North America.

J:GIALIT1S SEMIFALHATA Bonaparte. (274.)
SEMIPALMATED PLOVER.

The lateness of the season when this Plover enters Minne-
sota, early suggested that it must breed here, but no nests
were fonnd for many years. Flocks of a dozen or less are
quite uniformly met with in the last week in April along the
streams, and about the jionds and lakes, more after the man-
ner of the Snipes than the Plovers, which affect the dry open
plains. After remaining where they are frequently seen for
about ten days, they disappear as abruptly as do the Swallows
in autumn, and are seldom seen again till August 20th to the
25th after which they remain until the early part of October
before taking final leave of us for the more genial climes, said
to be Brazil and Peru and South America. At this season
they gather into quite large flocks before retiring, which we
are told become much larger as they gradually work their
way southward. The nest is little more than a slight hollow,
excavated in the sand by the bird, near the shores of ponds,
and contains the stereotyped number, four eggs of a dull yel-
lowish color, spotted and blotched all over with varying
shades of darkish-brown. They are almost typically pyri-
form in shape. One nest was discovered near St. Paul in 1879,
by Mr. Gober, who sent the eggs away to some eastern oi3l-
ogist as a capital trophy, but not until I had an opportuity to
examine them, and see the female, obtained at the same time.
The other nest was obtained by a resident of Minneapolis, and
not far from the city, and still more recently with which the
bird was secured also. I hear of one, also found quite as near
the city, by a young man who. for some reason best known to

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 153

himself, is disinclined to let his oological acquisition lend its
rush light to the State Natural History Survey. Dr. Hvoslef
writes me that he obtained the species in Lanesboro on the
first and fourth of August, 1884. Mr. Lewis did not meet
with the nests in Becker county, but found the birds occasion-
ally in July and August. I have seen flocks still flying about
in one year as late at the 20th of October, but this was excep-
tional.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Small, wings long; toes connected at base, especially the
outer to the middle toe; front, throat, ring around the neck,
and entire upper 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 the middle protion, and occa-
sionally a lanceolate 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; the two outer tail feathers white,
others intermediate like the middle, but widely tipped with
white; bill orange -yellow, tipped with black; legs yellow. [~'j

Length, 7; wing, 4.75; tail, 2.25.

Habitat, Arctic and Subarctic America.

Family APHEIZID^E.

ARENARIA INTERPRES (L.). (283.)

TURNSTONE.

I can only record this species as extremely rare, as I have
but a few instances of its observation amongst my notes for
almost thirty years.

The earliest was in the fall of 1867, when I found it in a
collection of mounted birds, the individual having been ob-
tained recently in a flock of Sandpipers, on the Mississippi
river just below St. Paul.

I saw no more until 1874, which I obtained from another
flock of Sandpipers near Minneapolis, since which one or two
have come into our market in strings of scolopacine birds, and
always in autumn.

154 NOTES ON THE

It may be accounted rare, but not a straggler, for I am satis
fied now that it remains within the vicinity of where I have
met with it, as it was late in July in two instances. Their
habit of prodding under the stones along the beach of the
lake near which my summer cottage is located, interested me
exceedingly. The crop was abundantly stored with larvae and
insects that abound there. I think ^hat they remain about as
late in the autumn as do the average of the Sandpipers, before
retiring for the winter.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper parts variegated with black, dark rufous, and white;
head and neck above white, with numerous spots and stripes
of brownish-black on the crown and occiput; space in front of
eye white, 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 black on the
neck before the breast; abdomen, under wing coverts, under
tail coverts, back and rump, white; quills brownish-black,
with white shafts; tail white at base, with its terminal half
brownish-black, 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; the rufous of less ex
tent, and of lighter shade; iris hazel.

Length. 9; wing, 6; tail, 2.50.

Habitat, nearly cosmopolitan.

Order GALLING.

Family TETBAOXID^^.

COLINUS VIRGINIANIS (L ) (289.)

BOB-WHITE.

This species whose notes from the corn field or the fence
down by the woods, are a part of the legacies of childhood
memories, is following up the progress of agriculture steadily,
but is nowhere yet abundant. After a series of mild winters
it has several times become greatly increased in numbers, to be
again decimated by an exceptionally vigorous one.

However, the extension of agriculture throughout the State
generally, has increased the measure of their protection so
much, by affording a more reliable supply of food, and com-
fortable covert, that they give promise of a permanent aug-
mentation of their numbers.

For quite a number of years now, the notes of Bob-white
have grown familiar in the region where I reside, and the sight
of his form along the roadways through the less frequented
brushlands, as well as the denser woodlands, is by no means an
uncommon event during the summer and autumn. Their dis-
tribution is yet restricted to the more favorable localities, es-
pecially in the advanced sections of occupation. But each year is
contributing to make the special distribution less defined in
proportion to the increase of the agricultural appropriation of
the lands, as well as the prohibition of brushland fires. The
earliest record that I have of its nesting in the section where I
reside, is May 5th, and I think that not exceptionally early.
My correspondents in the lower counties give it a week earlier
and the greater abundance of the species there gives them
ample opportunities to know in this matter. Mr. J. C. Baillie
who has given their whole breeding habits great attention for
many years, has contributed more than any other to my own

156 NOTES ON THE

observations of this species. The nest varies considerably in
the amount, as well as the kind of material of which it is com-
posed. In the vicinity of meadows where grass is abundant-
it is constructed entirely of that material, necessitating con-
siderable bulk, but is nevertheless very perfectly concealed in
a thick tuft with the entrance at one side, somewhat after the
manner of the Oven Bird. When in the forest, the preference
is given to a little hollow under an old decayed log, where the
nest is constructed of leaves principally, or entirely.

In these cases, it has no covering, but when the eggs are
in process of being laid, the female covers them com-
pletely with leaves to conceal them in her absence. If those
ingeniously distributed leaves are disturbed by man or
animal before she returns, she will instantly dis-
cover the intrusion, and abandon her nest even though
no eggs have been broken or removed. Whether from
a perception of smell or the difference in the placing of
the leaves by the intruder I was never able to tell until upon
finding one a few years since, I removed each leaf carefully
with a pocket forceps, and after making all desired observa-
tions of the eggs, I replaced the leaves one by one as nearly
as I found them as possible, and repeated the process every
day or two, until the clutch was completed, without arous-
ing the maternal suspicions in the least. This result satisfied
me that she could smell an intrusion made without the use of
the forceps. Winds might disarrange the leaves during her
absence as much as I would, but leave no scent ujion them or
upon the eggs. The usual number is from 14 to 16. or even
18, but upon removing the seventh each time after it was
deposited, in one instance, a gentleman of extensive observa-
tion, who has contributed much valuable information upon the
habits of different birds, succeeded in obtaining 32 succes-
sively before the little dispenser had suspected her mathema-
tics. Their appearance is too familiar to require mention.
Although with its order a seed eater, that is not all.

The quail is another of the many maligned species of birds
that is entitled to the protection of the State as a friend to
agriculture. Although they may appropriate occasionally
some of the late planted berries of grain in spring they pay
soundly for it in the destruction of insects that are injurious
to grain, fruit and vegetables later. Nearly the entire food of
the breeding birds consists of larva and insects, and that of the
numerous brood exclusively so, for the other sources of sup-

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 157

ply are not yet developed. Of course during the late autumn,
winter and early spring, they depend upon seeds, grain and
buds, out only the unavoidable waste of the farm and garden.
During these seasons, if possible, they should have the great-
est measure of legal protection against hunters and trapi)ers.
for then must they become most available to them, being
driven by the necessities of food to the vicinity of outhouses,
barns, straw-stacks and dwellings. Their habits at the dif-
ferent seasons of the year afford one of the most interesting
studies of birdlife. Protect them and they rapidly become
tame and confiding.

In my early boyhood in western New York, I was led to
habits of observation of birds in winter, by this species more
than any other. Following the example of older observers,
whose interest was not as disingenuous as mine. I often
caught several of them at a time in a lath-trap of the figure
four kind, and in a few hours had them sufficiently domesticated
to eat freely of corn and wheat dropped down to them through
the slats, and within a week, upon setting them free, instead of
flying away never to return they were afterwards to be seen
daily feeding amongst the hens and the cattle in the barnyard.
I am happy to say that I never permitted my love for "quail
on toast" to appropriate one these who had thus confided in me.

It seems to be superfluous to give any sjiecific description
of this bird, yet for those whose opportunities have been less
favorable, from having long resided so far north where the
circumstances have been unfortunate for their multiplication,
I will say that the Quail measures about 10 inches in length;
the wing, 4.70; and tail 2.85. Their color is a bright reddish-
brown, streaked frequently with black, shading into gray.
The under parts are white with zigzag lines of black crosswise.
The throat of the male is much whiter than that of the female.
It is found in the middle and western states, including Canada
West and Minnesota to the Rocky Mountains.

I have learned from Rev. Mr. Gear, who was an army chap-
lain, stationed at several fortifications from time to time in the
earliest history of Minnesota, that there were no Quails here
until imported and set at liberty by the sportsmen amongst
the army officials on different occasions, but the want of food
and covert in severe winters prevented their material increase
in numbers until the advent of general farming.

Only one or two flocks have yet been seen as far north as
Red Lake Falls and at a few j)oints in the latitude of Otter Tail.

158 NOTES ON THE

DENDRAGAPUS CANADENSIS (L). (298.)

CANADA GROUSE.

The lumbermen of the forests east and north of Brainerd,
for years before I ever obtained one, repeatedly told of a
"patridge" in logging sections that was different from those
we ordinarily see.

By a good fortune, two Canada Grouse were sent to my
taxidermist, Mr. Wm. Howling, to be mounted many years ago,
one of each sex. which I had ample opportunity to examine.
Since then many more have reached me through the same
channel, and I have myself procured several. They are per-
manent residents of the northern half of the State, scattering
individuals reaching a south line of its habitat about sixty
miles northeast of Minneapolis. It is said to be a very dull,
stupid Grouse, easily obtained by almost any ignoble means
which lumbermen and Indian boys may adopt, and conse
quently subject to exceptional destruction where desired for
food. The flesh is not as desirable as the Ruffed or Pinnated
Grouse, yet the Indians of the section where it has most
abounded have made them relatively quite scarce of late years.
But as a whole, it is a common species in the sections named,
and not at all confined to the spruce swamps as we have been
informed hitherto. Its nest, consisting of moss and leaves, is
on the ground, with less effort at concealment than the other
members of the family manifested in the evergreen swamps of
the regions they inhabit, and are rather easily found. The
eggs, said to be about the same in number as those of the
Ruffed Grouse, are a dirty -cream color, blotched considerably
with dark-brown. Their note is described as a suppressed
cluck. Langille says of this species: "It is the aristocrat of
the family, stepping daintily on its moss-covered and deeply-
shaded apartments, feeding in the summer on such berries as
may be found in the forest, and in winter being content with
even the leaves of the evergreens."*

In his excellent report to me of the birds of Otter Tail,
Aitkin and Mille Lacs counties, Mr. Washburn says of this
grouse: ' 'This bird was reported to me as common north of the
centre of the State, and in the northeastern part. In Otter
Tail county, there being no pine or spruce, I did not expect to
find it, but was much disappointed in not meeting with it at

•Birds in their Haunts, p. 409.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 159

Mille Lacs, where there is more or less spruce. In a conversa-
tion with Mr. E. O. Garrison, of this latter place, he said that
from 1865 to 1868, the Spruce Partridge was quite common
about the lake, frequenting the spruce groves. He often met
with covies of six or more in his walks, and found them nest-
ing on mossy hummocks among the spruce. Since then, how-
ever, they seem to have been exterminated in that locality.
They are such a stupid bird, so very tame that they form an
easy mark for the arrow of the young Indian boy. They are
often captured alive by a noose fastened to a short pole. "

It is represented to be common north of Mille Lacs, and gen-
erally throughout the evergreen sections of northern Minne-
sota. Its habits exempt it from all suspicions of enmity to
agriculture in its widest sense. In confinement it fattens
quickly upon food that makes its flesh acceptable even to the
daintiest epicures

SPECIFIC CHAKACTERS.

Tail sixteen feathers; feathers above banded distinctly with
plumbeous; beneath uniform black, with a pectoral band of
white and white on 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 plumb-
eous-gray in the form of two or three well defined concentric
bars parallel to each other, one along the exterior edge of the
feather, and the others behind it; sides of the body, scapulars,
and outer surface of wings mottled like 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 are seen only on some of the greater coverts); no
white above except as described: under x^arts mostly uniform
black, feathers of sides of belly and breast broadly tipped with
white, which sometimes forms a pectoral band; a white bar
across the feathers at base of upper mandible, usually inter-
rupted 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; lower feathers of this are
banded terminally with whitish; feathers at base of bill, head,
below the eyes and beneath, pure black; quills dark brown,
without spots or bands, the outer edges only mottled with
grayish; tail feathers similar but darker, and tipped with a
band of orange- chestnut nearly an inch wide, obscured on the
central feathers; under tail coverts black, broadly barred and
tipped with white; the feathers of the legs mottled brown and
whitish; dirty white behind the tarsi; bill black.

Length, 16.20; wing, 6.70; tail, 5.50.

160 NOTES ON THE

B0NA8A UMBELLUS (L.). (300.)
RUFFED GROUSE.

Nowhere was the Ruffed Grouse more abundant than in all
the deciduous forests of this State, until mercilessly slaught-
ered by the pot-hunters. Almost any cluster of trees, particu-
larly if well interspersed with brush, to say nothing of the
extended forests of hardwoods stretching north and south and
east and west over the middle and southern portions of Minne-
sota, formerly contained its covey of "pheasants," as these
birds are popularly called. But their "glorious day is passing
away" as fast as about 300 dogs and 700 double-barrelled
breech-loading shotguns can accomplish their annihilation.
Improved game laws, which restrict the limits of the time in
which their destruction may be continued, may prolong their
represantation among the bird-fauna of the State somewhat,
but how much, time alone can demonstrate.

Not long after the first of May, the female seeks a retired
spot on slightly elevated ground or on a gentle declivity, and
under a more or less weathered log or in a bunch of thick
brush, she scrapes out a slight hollow in the ground, into
which she gathers a plentiful supply of leaves, which by
treading while turning round and round she shapes into a
loose nest, in which she drops about fourteen eggs.

Whenever she leaves her nest she carefully brings a good
supply of dry leaves and drops them over it in such perfect
imitation of the work of the wind that there is not the slight-
est indication of a nest left. For many years these birds
bred on the rear end of my "Cosy Nook Cottage" lot. on the
east shore of Lake Minnetonka, where I had an exceptionally
good opportunity to study their habits in the period of incuba
tion. I am satisfied that the male has no part in domestic
duties during this time but spends his time to a considerable
extent in the society of the other coxcomb shirks of his sex
— for at those times I have never seen one of them in the same
section. While yet laying, if the female hears footsteps ap-
proaching her. she steps off the nest and turns and places
leaves over the whole, one at a time, so rapidly that before
the spot has been reached all is perfectly concealed and she
has a chance to get from ten to twenty yards away where she
watches the intruder until he has clearly passed the nest, when

BIKDS OF MINNESOTA. 161

she will bound up with a whirl, and putting a tree between
herself and the invader, flies half a mile away before alight-
ing on the limb of a tree in safety.

Every chick will follow her the next day after the last one
is out of the shell, and they have all become nearly full grown
before the male resumes his place at the head of the family.

The covey remain together until pairing time in the next
spring when all the members are supposed to pair and set up
for themselves.

After the most careful observations I am entirely unable to
decide how the sound of the drumming is produced. Like the
question hoiu a bird flies, the answer is yet in the shadowy
distance if it has itself ever taken wing yet. I have heard all
of the arguments pro and con. and know from personal obser-
vation that not one of them will ' 'hold water. " Yet it seems
strange that phenomena so obvious to both the senses of
hearing and seeing and under the observation of so many
critical observers cannot be explained unanswerably.

It is a very universally distributed species, though less
abundant in those portions of the State that are occupied by
the Canada Grouse.* Everywhere else, as above intimated,
where the hunters have not ruthlessly "cleaned it out," (to
use their own expressive language,) the Ruffed Grouse is
abundant in its characteristic haunts.

From the southern line of the state to the Lake of the Woods
in the extreme north, I have the most reliable reports of the
species.**

Its drumming has been heard in Fillmore county as early as
the 28th of March, and in Hennepin county on the first of
April, from which I infer that the nesting may in some cases
be earlier than above given. Their patent diet of seeds, ber-
ries, grapes, and insects in summer, and ' 'the leaves of ever-
greens" in winter needs no repetition, but I have nowhere seen
any mention of the buds of the ironwood, (Ostrya virginica),
which constitutes almost their exclusive food in winter here.
Their general habits otherwise do not differ from those of the
species in other sections of its distribution. Farmers would
think better of them after examining the contents of the
stomachs of as large a number as I have at various seasons of
the year. They are as partial to most species of insects as are
domestic fowls.

*F. L. Washburn's Red River VaUey. Thief River, snd MiUe Lacs Rep.
**Dr. Hvoslef and Kennicotf s Lake of the Woods Rep.

162 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail of eighteen feathers; reddish- brown or gray above, the
back with cordate spots of lighter; beneath whitish, transverse-
ly barred with dull-brown; tail tipped with gray, and with a
subterminal bar of black; broad feathers of the ruff black.

Length, 18; wing, 7.20; tail. 7.

Habitat, Eastern United States.

LAGOPl'S LAOOPrS (L.). (301.)

WILLOW PTARMIGAN.

Having listed this bird from time to time on the fact of find-
ing it in several collections, and in the hands of the taxider-
mists, without having found it after many years of observation,
I had about concluded to regard it as a straggler, when I was
more fortunate and secured one at least 20 miles northeast of
Anoka. Since then I have obtained several, and have in my
possession as perfect a pair in winter plumage as I have ever
seen, mounted and presented to me by the Messrs. Howling,
on Christmas, 1890.

The entire plumage is white in winter except the tail which
is black, narrowly tipped with white, and the shafts of the
quills which are also black. The bill is very robust and arched,
and black, while the nails of the toes are black at the base, and
pale horn color at the tips. I have learned nothing of their
habits from personal observation. They must be accounted
rare in Minnesota. Their habitat as given by the A. O. U. is
"Arctic regions; in America south to Sitka, British Provinces,
and to Northern New York." To this we must add Minnesota.

TYMPANrCHUS AMEKICANUS (Reichenbach). (305.)

PRAIRIE HEN.

The local history of the Pinnated Grouse does not differ ma-
terially from that of any other prairie country recently brought
under civilization and cultivation. From the most reliable
sources within my reach, I learn that when the white man first
came to Minnesota, these birds were by no means common.
Rev. E. G. Gear, one of the earlier chaplains in the regular
army, stationed first at Fort Snelling and afterwards at Fort
Ripley, (or perhaps in the reverse order), was a very accurate
observer of all natural history phenomena, and especially so
in the department of birds.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 163

Enjoying a prolonged acquaintance with him, I availed, my-
self of his observations in those early times, to learn the habits
of the more common species especially. He stated that the
prairie hens were seldom seen at the first, but after the country
began to become settled considerably, they increased in num-
bers perceptibly from year to year. The Blackfoot Grouse,
{Fedloccetes phasianellus (Linn. ), were the dominant grouse- kind
of the territory, and very well represented in the openings, and
wherever there was much brush lands, but were never found
on the open, uncultivated prairies. This corresponds with my
own observations of the habits of the Pinnated Grouse in Illi-
nois, as far back as in 1836, the first summer of my residence
there.

I shall never forget the first boomings of the males at day-
break. My duties called me out at that early hour, and far on
to the prairies, six days every week, when I had ample oppor-
tunities to become familiar with the weird notes of the amorous
males. At that time I never could make out more than three
sources, rarely more than two, from which these boomings
seemed to come, but from year to year the numbers increased
until I am sure there were not less than as many dozens, and
whereas at the first, a bag of ten or twelve birds was a good
showing for an expert "on the wing," for one day, it was a
common affair afterwards for "a common shot" to bring in 50
to 60 birds after a very short day. and experts many times
boasted their one hundred.

The grain fields afforded both food and protection for them
until the farme;:s complained of them bitterly, but not half so
bitterly as they did afterwards of the bird-destroyers who ran
over their broad acres of wheat, oats and corn in the order of
their ripening. The farmers are proverbially hard — for sports-
men— to please. Just here I may best introduce some portion
of Mr. Washburn's report of his experiences when in the Red
river valley, and with special reference to this species. He
says:

' ' Extremely common in the prairie lands throughout the
valley, particularly near farming lands in the vicinity of wheat
fields. Replaced in a great measure by the preceding species
in the northern part of the State. Perhaps for the benefit of
the uninitiated, it would not be out of place to here give an
account of the modus operandi of hunting a bird which is an
object of such universal pursuit among sjDortsmen, and has be-
come an article of commercial importance; and this may pos-

164 NOTES ON THE

sibly be best accomplished by recalling the pleasant experiences
of a chicken hunt in the southwestern part of the State, par-
ticipated in by the writer, at the invitation of three others,
Mr. Rand, Mr. George Morrison, and Mr. DoUiver. It was
my first experience in western shooting, and the memory of
the hunt, and the thought of that pleasant company with which
it had been my good fortune to be united for two days, will
always be a source of pleasure. Two of that party we shall
never see again here, but I am not the only one who has been
made happy by their genial presence; there are many of us
who will never forget them.

' 'As a rule business men can spare but a day or two from the
city for a 'chicken hunt,' and these were no exception. A
telegram August 13th to New Richland, advised a well-known
and well-tried landlord there, that a party of four would be
down on the evening of the 14th; 'have good rooms ready; we
want you, your team and dog on the 15th.' Then, on the after-
noon before the auspicious 15th, the jolly company, with per-
haps three dogs tied in the baggage car, and a liberal supply
of ammunition in their carpet-bags, are transported, after two
hours' ride, to the little prarie town with its one street, a few gro-
cery stores, saloons, elevator, and one 'best' hotel. Here they find
everything in readiness, and after passing criticism on the dogs
of various other hunting parties, and a whispered, mysterious
conference with the landlord as to the location of the 'best
ground." the party retire to beds whose hardness is rendered
endurable only by anticipation of the morning pleasure. Then,
what seemed to be an hour's rest, rudely broken by the land-
lord who knocks at the door, with the announcement that *it is
three o'clock,'

"A hasty donning of shooting jackets, filling of cartridges
bags or belts, a still more hasty breakfast, prepared by the
much enduring, patient wife of the landlord, a selecting of the
right dogs from the crowd of creatures, old and young, good
and bad, that are kenneled in and about the house, a packing
of lunch into the wagon, not ommitting a good supply of water
for man and dogs, and we are off at a brisk pace, while the
dawn is first lighting up the east. The uncomfortable feeling
caused by being awakened so early from a sound sleep, and be-
ing obliged to leave a comfortable (?) bed is soon forgotten in
the novelty of our situation. As tho light grows brighter ob-
jects which looked indistinct and shadowy in the darkness, are
seen with more clearness and prove to be wheat stacks, or

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 165

clumps of trees, or log shanties, from which the sleepy farmers
are just emerging to milk the cows standing in the neighbor-
ing barnyard. As it grows lighter, occasional Teal are flushed
from little pools beside the road, and flocks of Mallards are ob-
served flying over the tall grass of prairie sloughs. Then
comes the sun gradually dispelling the mist which hangs low
in early morning, and warming the rather chilly air. Before
us stretch the hunting grounds, large wheat fields, from
which the grain has been removed, interspersed with meadows
of tall grass, numerous "sloughs," and farm houses where lo
cations are marked by rows of cottonwood trees. The driver
turns into the stable, there is a loading of guns, and the dogs
are let out of the wagon, two at a time in order that they may
not all tire before the day's sport is ended.

■ 'These creatures, at whom the day before, we grumbled for
being under foot and who stalked gloomily about with droop
ing tails and ears, today are transformed into difl'erent beings,
and have our pleasure in their own noses. Away they go,
coursing the stubble from right to left and vice versa, at a mo-
tion of the master's hand. Mark! One has stopped. He is
eagerly sniffing the ground, picking his way carefully along,
while his tail in rapid motion shows his excitement. The
other dog soon sees his companion's agitation and hastening to
him, catches the scent of the covey. Then both their tails go-
ing round and round they push slowly on, step by step until
suddenly the foremost dog stops, his head turned a little to one
side and his nose pointing downward. His tail has suddenly be-
come rigid. The other, the younger of the two, being some-
what of a tyro, and this being the first of the season, has in his
eagerness run too close to a chicken and when the bird flies up
from under his nose, the startled dog gazes after him and then
turns his head toward the wagon to see what action his master
will take. If he could hear his master's remarks at that mo-
ment he certainly would blush, if a dog could blush, with
shame. But he has found another and both dogs now stand
like marble statues, while we, all four, jump from the wagon
and with ready guns advance toward them amid cries of '-steady
Don, steady there? Hold him Grouse, steady sir!" Two are
to shoot the birds on the right as they rise, two will take the
birds on the left. Suddenly one of the covey, an old cock gets
up_a report— a few feathers floating on the morning air, and
the bird falls to the ground, where it soon flutters out its life.
This generally startles the rest of the birds and they rise in a

166 NOTES ON THE

body, six, ten. fifteen or even twenty. Eight fall, the rest fly
half a mile or more, and are marked down by the driver. If a
few stragglers remain behind, they meet their death a few
minutes later when they rise. With the aid of the dogs the
dead and wounded birds are found, thrown into the wagon and
we drive on in the direction taken by the remainder of the
flock. In this way several covies are found during the morn-
ing. Oftentimes the birds wnll not wait when in the stubble
for the hunters to approach, but when disturbed by the dogs
rise in a body and perhaps settle down again in tall meadow
grass a quarter of a mile off.

' ' This is an unlucky move for the birds, since when in the tall
grass they lie close, and can be flushed one at a time. I shall
never forget our experience with a large covey of twenty birds
that were flusned by the dogs, and marked down by the driver in
a grassy slough half a mile away. On driving over there the
dogs easily found the birds, and the four of us, standing in tall
grass, kept up a furious fusilade for a few minutes. The birds
rose one or two at a time from under our feet. A rustle in the
grass beside or behind one. was followed by the sight of a
Chicken that flew but a few rods, only to fall dead, and by its
fall perhaps to startle another one from the covert to share the
same fate. This particular morning was damp and so much
smoke was hanging low over the grass that it enveloped us in
a dense cloud and rendered firing a risky thing, for one could
not tell just where the others stood. At eleven the heat of the
sun obliges the sportsman to desist, and the team is driven to
some farmhouse where the horses are fed and the whole party
reclining in the shade of the cotton woods, discuss the morn-
ing's experiences and plans for the afternoon, and enjoy a
comfortable i^iesta.

"During the middle of the day the Pinnated Grouse leaves
the short stubble and seeks cool, damp resorts in the hollows
of the prairie, where it is not so easily hunted, not coming to
the wheat fields again until four or after.

"At that hour, the gunners start again, and from four till
seven, repeat with varied luck, the morning's performance.
At dusk putting on overcoats to keep off the chilly night air,
and counting the birds, which during noontime they had drawn
and stuffed with cool grass, they ride merrily back over the
now dark prairie to the hotel, where a bountiful supper awaits
them, and they compare notes with parties who went out in
other directions. The second day is a repetition of thefir.st.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 167

perhaps in another direction, and on the third the hunters
return home with their spoils, to distribute them among friends
not so fortunate as to own a gun and a dog, when the double
barrel is cleaned and put away, and business resumed. "

I have introduced this detailed and circumstantial extract
from Mr. Washburn's communication as one of the most faith-
ful descriptions of a Prairie Chicken hunt that I have ever
read, and as representing in all probability not less than two
or three hundred other similar and simultaneous parties of
hen-killers, conveniently entitled "sportsmen," found for
several weeks within the dominion of our young State. No
member of the bird family has ever received more universal
recognition than this denizen of the broad prairies. From
royalty to rags all classes have honored it with a place in the
memory if not in the "bag,'" or the stomach, as proof of which
we have only to point silently to the motley array of the won
drously improved double-barrelled shot-guns, ammunition,
pointers, setters, elegant trains of sportsmen's railroad coaches
side-tracked for days at a time in the vicinity of the bird's well
known haunts "far within our borders. Nothing short of a
national jubilee and half -fares, so moves the masses and the
classes as the dawning of the morn of the ' 'open season" for
shooting Prairie Chickens. Within the period of its history,
the species has borne many "common"" names, among which
Heath Hen, Prairie Grouse. Prairie Chicken, Boomers, Pinnated
Grouse, etc. , and it is now refreshing and restful to learn that
the decrees of exact science have finally settled upon "Hen."

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail of eighteen feathers; general color varied, but domi-
nantly 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 feathers on each
side of the neck, covering a bare space capable of inflation;
tail short, truncated, much graduated; lateral feathers about
two- thirds the middle; the feathers stiffened, nearly linear and
truncate, scarcely longer than the coverts, and about half the
length of the wing. Tarsi covered with feathers anteriorly
and laterally to the toes, but bare with hexagonal scutellas
behind; middle toe and claw longer than tarsus; toes margined
by pectinated processes. A space above the eye provided
with a dense, pectinated process in the breeding season, some
times separated from the eye by a superciliary space covered
with feathers. Bands on body transverse throughout; lan-
ceolate feathers of the throat black; upper ones with a central
yellowish stripe; eyelids, and a stripe from the nostril along

-12z

168 NOTES ON THE

side the head (interrupted above the eye), brownish yellow;
sides of head below, a dusky infraocular stripe, with the chin
and throat above, similar; feathers of the body above and below
brown, with a terminal and two transverse bands of well de-
fined white; the brown almost black and the white tinged with
rufous above; scapular feathers sometimes showing more
black; wings banded like the back; primaries grayish-brown,
marked only on the outer webs with light spots, shafts black;
tail feathers sometimes uniform brown, sometimes with rufous
transverse bars; under coverts marked like the back, with
more white sometimes; membrane above the eye and of the
sounding bladder, orange.

Length, 16.50; wing. 8.80; tail, 4.70.

Habitat, prairies of the Mississippi valley.

PEDIOCJ-^TES PHASIANELLl S CAMPESTRIS

RiDGWAY. (308b.)

PRAIRIE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE.

Thirty years ago the Sharp-tailed Grouse were distributed
over nearly the entire State, but were not popularly distin-
guished from the Pinnated Grouse. In co^nmon with the
latter, they were all called "chickens," and if an occasional
sportsman called attention to differences, the reply was ' ' they
are black foots.""

It seems difficult to satisfactorily account for the fact, yet
it nevertheless is such, that this species withdraws before the
advance of civilization and agriculture, as the other moves
along with it up to the occupation of a considerable proportion
of its agricultural area. Amongst the sportsmen of later years
have been some very observing amateur naturalists who have
noted this unmistakable retrocession of the species. With
characteristic pains, Dr. Coues approximatey traced the
southern lines of distribution of this species across Minnesota
in 1873, along the course of which an occasional " blackfoot "'
may still be found, but the representative numbers have de-
flected the aggregate line far to the north of west since that
time. In other words, the other species has overflowed and
buried it measurably out of sight for a considerable distance
north and east. This leaves the area over which both species
are in mutual possession much broader than formerly.

About the first of April, the booming of the males is heard.
Coues says in Birds of the N. W. , "at the rallying cry the
birds assemble in numbers of both sexes, at some favorable
spot, and a singular scene ensues as the courtship progresses.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 169

There is a regular "walk-around" as ludicrous to the disin-
terested observer, as some of the performances on the comic
stage. The birds run about in a circle, some to the right,
others to the left, crossing each other's path, passing and
repassing in stilted attitudes, stopping to bow, and squat, in
extravagant postures, and resuming their course, till one
would think their heads as well as their hearts were lost. But
this is simply their way." This is the inauguration of the
season, and very soon the nests are located in places almost,
but of course not quite, as various as the domestic hen, for the
latter does not always place it or the ground, while the former
always does. A moderate hollow is selected or made, and a
little grass is arranged in it after which a dozen or more rather
slimmer, and longer eggs than those of the Pinnated Grouse
but differing very little from them in color, are layed in it.
The young of this species have been seen just out of the nest
as early as the 5th of May, and as late as the 20th of June.

In sections of the northwestern and western portions of the
State they are still abundant, but I have neither seen nor
heard of any of them for several years in the southwest. Dr.
Coues has a lengthy and exceedingly interesting description
of this Grouse and its habits in his Birds of the Northwest,
pp 407-419, which may be consulted for further information by
those interested to learn.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail of eighteen feathers; colors white, black and brownish-
yellow; above with transverse bars; the wings with round,
white spots; beneath, pure white, with V-shaped blotches on
the breast and sides.

Length, 18; wihg, 8.50; tail, 5.25.

Habitat, more northerly" than the last species.

Family PHASIANID^E.

MELEAGRIS GALLOPATO L. (310.)
WILD TURKEY.

Thirty- three years ago the Wild Turkey was not a rare bird
in northwestern Iowa and southwestern Minnesota, and it has
been seen as late as 1871, in Minnesota, since which I have
received no report from it, and I am of the opinion that it has
now (1891) totally disappeared from our State. Possibly a
straggler may yet be recognized in the southwest extreme of

170 NOTES ON THE

the timber land of that section, and if so I trust that the
fact may find publicity through some channel. Grand and in-
spiring as is the sublime march of civilization, we cannot look
upon its tracks but with a degree of sadness and regret,
strown as it is with the annihilated forms of so many species
of birds, mammals and beautiful varieties of flowers.

The rear guard of that all-conquering force is pressed upon
by a herd of vandals speaking the dialect of gentlemen, but
wearing the habiliments of warfare on beings that can neither
employ diplomacy nor shoot back at their foes. Brave men
they are! It may be they have slain a majestic buffalo during
the course of a ripe old youth and manhood. Perhaps they
can claim to have "cleaned out the last chicken" or grouse in
an entire county, last Sundaij.

Older COLUMB^.

Family COLUMBID^E.

ECTOPISTES MIGRATORIIS (L.) (315).

PASSENGER PIGEON.

Wild pigeons have been seen in the vicinit}'' of Lanesboro,
Fillmore county, and Spirit 1 ake, Jackson county, the southern
line of the State, as early as the 27th of March, but this is
earlier than the average arrival in even those lower counties.
A review of 20 years gives about the 5th of April, as nearer
that time. And their first appearance has never been in such
vast flocks as have characterized their spring migrations in
Illinois and Indiana in the first years of their settlement by
the whites. Still there have been occasional years when con-
siderable flocks have located and nested in somewhat restricted
localities throughout the state. I well remember one when a
large flock roosted for some time in an extensive popular grove
but a few miles out of the city of St. Paul. It subsequently
became distributed over a very wide extent of eastern Minne-
sota, and the western part of Wisconsin adjacent. The country
generally throughout this district is to a great extent charac-
terized by such groves of poplar, red and black oak brush -
lands. In these, on limbs generally not more than seven feet
from the ground, they constructed their nests about the first
of May.

These were very frail structures and placed on a limb where
there was a horizontal branch. They consisted of a few long
sticks scarcely as large as a clay-pipe stem, on which were
distributed a scanty supply of twigs, or still smaller sticks,
with a few leaves overlaying the whole. Some nests had no
leaves at all. when the egg could be easily seen from underneath
it. In all of my examinations of them I seldom found more
than one egg in a nest. It was pure white, nearly oval.

Their food consisted essentially of acorns in the spring,
but a heavy tax was levied on the wheat and oats in late sum-
mer and fall. Of late years but few are seen in any of the dis-

172 NOTES ON THE

tricts which I have heard from. They have principally left the
country by the first of November, although straggling indi-
viduals remain as long as the abundance of mast is uncovered
by snow.

Wilson's estimate of the quantity of food they consume, is
one of the most wonderful revelations in the literature of orni -
thology. I. think it highly improbable that large numbers will
ever give material cause for anxiety to the agricultural interests
of Minnesota, yet I cannot be assured, for the migrations of the
species are exceedingly capricious.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail of twelve feathers; upper parts generally, including
sides of body, head, neck and chin blue; beneath purple
brownish red, fading behind with a violet tint; anal region and
under tail coverts bluish white; scapulars, inner tertials and mid-
dle of back, with an olive-brown tinge; 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 internally, 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 metalic golden-violet;
tibia bluish- violet; bill black; feet yellow.

Length, 17; wing. 8.50; tail. H.40.

Habitat, Eastern North America.
Note — The above was written many years ago since which it
has been further verified as correct in the older sections of
agricultural improvements, but restricted portions of several
northern countries have been somewhat annoyed by consider
able flocks both in spring and autumn in occasional years. I
have neither seen nor learned of any characteristic roosts.

ZENAIDIRA MACROIRA (L ). (316)
MOURNING DOVE.

For its species, the Mourning Dove may be said to be fairly
com'on throughout the brush-lands, and subcommon over the
dry prairies.

Its presence here from the 15th to the 20 of April, is soon
recognized by its sad cooing notes, heard from the back past-
ure, or along the wayside, through brushy sections in which
are small patches of grass They do not usually arrive here
in large parties, but often much as they remain through the
summer, in pairs.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 173

Oak acorns, berries of nearly all kinds, seeds and grains
constitute their food, of which they find an abundance, and in
the enjoyment of which they are essentially undisturbed by
the gunners.

Once here, if not mated when they come, they are so soon
seen in pairs that it would be diJHcult to say they were not so
when they came. A little after the first of May, perhaps not
far from the 10th, they devote themselves to nest-building. Gen-
erally on a high bush, or low tree, sometimes on a stump, a log,
or even directly on the ground, they (;onstruct a platform of
small sticks or twigs, on which they place some rootlets, or
stems of hay, on which may occasionally be found a few lichens,
or leaves.

Like the nestof the other, or Wild Pigeon, it is a rather frail
affair, and only hollowed enough to barely retain the two beau-
tiful white eggs which are to be entrusted to it. The general
habits of the species are so well known that it would be a work
of supererogation to attempt a detailed description of them.

They linger as long in the autumn as they can obtain their
food, which in some years is into November, but as a rule they
are mostly gone by the 25th of October.

I have neither visited any parts of the state, nor corresponded
with persons residing in different sections, where this species
has not been found fairly common.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail feathers fourteen; above, bluish, overlaid with light
brownish-olive, leaving the pure blue only on the top of the head,
the exterior of the wings, and the upper surface of the tail, which
is even slightly tinged with this color; entire head except the
vertex, sides of neck, and the underparts generally, light
brownish-red. strongly tinged with purple on the breast, be-
coming 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 be-
low the ear; tail feathers seen from below, blackish, the outer
web of the 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 gradation
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; bill black; feet yellow.

Length, 13; wing, 5.75; tail, 6.70.

Habitat, North America.

Older KAPTOEES.

Family CATHARTH)-^.

CATHARTES Al RA (L). (325.)

TURKEY VULTURE.

Amongst our earliest migrants, reaching the lower sections
of the State immediately after the lifting of the ice-embargo,
the Vultures are never seen in sufficient numbers to record
them more than fairly common in some partially restricted
portions of the country. After a few years of observation, I
learned to look for their appearance about the Hoth of March,
but have frequently been compelled to wait until the first day
of April. The first seen are more commonly a single pair,
attention having been drawn to them by their flying in large
circles while gradually making progress northwardly along
the general course of some considerable stream. A few days
later, a larger number is occasionally noticed, perhaps a flock of
half a dozen; rarely more, working their way to higher lati-
tudes. Formerly an average share of them remained along
the St. Croix, St. Peter, and Mississippi rivers to breed, but
with the general progress of improvements, and the employ-
ment of steam whistles on the steam boats and the mills, and
on the railways, they have, in common with many other form-
erly rather common species of the larger birds, become locally
much rarer. The earlier nests are built, if so meagre an
attemjit may be called building, about the middle of April,
(in 1864, April 10th), but later ones are occasionally found.
Mr. Lewis reports them as late as the 5th of May on Lake
Traverse, and the 15th of the last month in Becker county,
which is considerably further north. As intimated, the nests
are the merest apologies when attempted at all,; but in the
few instances of my own observation, they were only the
naked ledsre overhanfirinsr the water, on which were a few

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 175

sticks, and some coarse stalks of weeds, or reeds. In each
instance seen or yet heard from, only two eggs were found.
Their color was in general a dirty, yellowish white, with dif-
ferent shades of brown spattered, or splotched somewhat,
nearly all over, but more so about the larger end. Their food
does not differ locally from that reported of them everywhere.
Mr. "Washburn "found it very common for the species,
throughout the Red river valley." He made some consecu-
tive observations of their habits at Ada. Dr. Hvoslef thinks
that they come over our southern boundaries sometimes as
early as Feb. 1st, but if they do, I persume they go back again
promptly as a general thing. Next to this date he notes them
in this journal on Feb. 23d, and 28th. each, 1883, but not again
until March 27th of that year. No one familiar with their
form in flight need be mistaken in their identity. In dignity
of motion on the wing, they have few peers and no superiors.
And the sustained ease of their prolonged flight is equally
wonderful. Weariness is never once suggested. The separa-
tion and upward inflection of the extremeties of the primaries
when floating around their wide circles on the wing, carries an
idea of tension which soon dissipates upon prolonged observa-
tion. They remain in their favorite districts until driven
away by the frost which cuts off their supply of food.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Entire plumage brownish-black, darkest on the back and
tail above with a purplish lustre, many feathers having a pale
border; bill yellowish; head and neck bright red; plumage
commencing on the neck with a circular ruff of projecting
feathers; head and upper part of neck naked, or with a few
scattering hair- like feathers, and with the skin wrinkled;
nostrils large, oval, communicating with each other; tail rather
long and rounded.

Length, 30; wing, 23; tail, 12.

Habitat, temperate North America.

176 NOTES ON THE

Family FALCONID^.

ELANOIDES FORFICATIS (L. ). (327.)
SWALLOW-TAILED KITE.

For some time after I began to notice the birds here I re-
garded the Swallow-tailed Kite as a veritable rari avis, and
finding where one pair built their nest on the west side of Lake
Minnetonka, I made a careful note of everything pertaining to
their habits. Subsequently I found that the species was far
from being rare, indeed was comparatively common. My
mistake had been in looking for them on the prairies instead
of in the dense forests. Not one of all the species had been
found on any considerable prairie. In looking for the nest,
authorities directed me to the immediate vicinity of water.
Margins of lakes and running streams in or bordering large
bodies of tall timber were searched to the distance of a hun-
dred and fifty yards back from the water, but no nests were to
be found. In my extreme desire to gather knowledge of the
local habits of birds and having an opportunity to secure a
professional o<»logist, I employed him and sent him to the
eastern side of the lake mentioned, where, amongst a large
number of species I wished to Inarn more about, I was confi-
dent this one nested, for during the last days of May and in
early June I had year after year seen the male. He spent some
ten days there and brought me many items of deep interest,
but of my Swallow tailed Kite, nothing. It so happened that
he had fallen in with a friend of mine who was as profoundly
interested in birds as any of us, to whom he showed a clutch
of six eggs just obtained from a nest of these birds far back
in the dense forest of maple, oak, elm and basswood, on a tree
at an elevation of about sixty feet, all of which my friend very
innocently rehearsed to me a few days later. I had never
seen the egg at that time and regretted above words that I
could not have "received that which was my own", but deter-
mined to find the nest if possible, and did so. Everything
about its location seemed to preclude the presumption that
they would select the immediate vicinity of water. With the
key to the situation now in my hands. I never have since
thrown away precious time looking for their nests anywhere
but in the deep forests away from all running water. They

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 177

reach the State in pairs, often in the last days of March but
not usually later than the fifth of April, but do not build until
about the fifth or the tenth of May.

The nest is like most hawks' nests, rather bulky and consists
of sticks, twigs, grass and a few leaves, and is placed in a
fork of the tree about fifty to sixty feet from the ground.
The full complement is six cream-white eggs, considerably
splotched with iron-rust and speckled with dark brown.

After the young are grown they are met with in families in
their hunting excursion, when they extend them into small
prairies, openings in immediate proximity to forests, being
their natural territory, into which they glide instantly in the
presence of supposed danger. Openings in the timber afford
them their chosen food, insects of the larger varieties and
reptiles of the smaller species, from which they affect those
so large as to be called small prairies, that are however more
or less embraced by bodies of timber. Late in summer they
almost subsist upon grasshoppers alone, so abundant are they
habitually at that season almost everywhere in the State.
About the first of September they leave us for warmer lati-
tudes. Rarely some remain a little later, if severe frosts are
delayed.

Their flight is simply a marvel of grace, ease and velocity
that must be seen to be fully appreciated. When a "hopper,"
lizzard, or a diminutive snake is discovered by one of them, it
drops upon it more like a snowflake than a raptorial bird. Feet
and bill seem to seize the victim simultaneously, but it is in-
stantly relinquished by the foot, if an insect, and by the bill if
a reptile. Mr. Washburn, who found the species common at
Mille Lacs and otherwheres that he went, gives an account of
one of these birds, after being annoyed by a blackbird (possi-
bly by a purple martin), quick as a flash turning upon its back,
seizing its pestiferous assailant and bearing him remorselessly
away for an unexpected luncheon. It is not accounted a very
brave hawk, but it is a mistake that they will not fight if at bay
with a broken wing. The extremely pointed talons, although
not as powerful as are those of many others of the hawks, are
capable of inflicting severe w^ounds. when sustained by a very
cruel beak. They are not inclined to fight unless driven to it,
but their discretion is seldom wanting when danger comes, out
of which those long, pointed wings bear them with the speed
of an arrow.

178 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Wings and tail long, the latter deeply forked. Head and
neck, under wing coverts, secondary quills at their bases, and
entire under parts white; back, wings and tail black, with a
metallic lustre; purple on the wing coverts and back; green
and blue on the other parts; tarsi and toes greenish- blue; bill
horn color. As with most hawks, the male is the smaller.

Length, (of female), 23 to 25; wing, 16 to 17.50; tail, 14.

Habitat, Southern United States and north to Minnesota.

CIRCrS HIDSOMIS (L. ) (331).
MARSH HAWK.

This is undeniably the most abundant of the hawks which
visit the State, arriving often before the ice has entirely disap-
peared from the lakes. About the 20th of March the avaunt
couriers of the species may be seen solitarily reconnoitering the
marshes, but an unfavorable change in the meteorological con-
ditions may send them away for a few days, to return next time
in greater numbers. Late in April incubation is entered upon.
Their favorite nesting places are in sedgy, marshy meadows,
that have bunches, or tussocks of shrub-willows, in the center
of which they build a somewhat bulky nest of grass, in which
they lay four to live dingy bluish-white eggs. When the young
are sufficiently advanced, they make short pedestrian excur-
sions in the immediate vicinity of the nest, before the wings
are sufficiently developed for them to take to flight, under
which circumstances the solicitude of the parents is manifestly
very great. To one acquainted with the habits of the species
it is not ordinarily difficult to find the nest after the young are
partially erown. Their principal food consists of frogs, and
snakes are equally acceptable under all circumstances. They
catch occasionlly, a field mouse, moles and ground squirrels.

Their distribution is universal over the portions of the State
where the conditions are favorable to supply them with food.
Such a region is characteristic illy a country of lakes, a con-
siderable number of which have subsided, leaving both ex-
tensive and frequently limited areas in the most favorable con-
dition t<) make it the Marsh Hawk's paradise in the breeding
season.

And they yield their summer home only when the approach
of relentless winter compels them to do so, which, with the
hardier birds is not till in the ides of November. Occasionally

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 179

an individual refuses to leave the southern borders of the
State, and remains all winter, incredible as it may seem. I
have records of its presence there during each month of the
winter.

Noticing frequent reports of the Marsh Hawk's seizing small
birds, I have taken pains to ascertain their local habit in this
respect, but I have yet to record the first instance. I have
met with individuals in November, long after every trace of
either insect or reptilian life had disappeared, when presump-
tively, if ever, the urgencies of hunger should have revealed
this reserved proclivity, in the presence of several species of
sparrows, without preceiving the slightest disposition to inter-
fere with them.

Dr. Hvoslef records the presence of the Marsh Hawk near
Lanesboro on the 13th of January, 1886.

Mr. Lewis found them everywhere from Bigstone to the
northern boundaries of the State, and Mr Washburn says in
his Red river valley notes, "Extremely common. Found
everywhere in the vicinity of open country. The most abun-
dant representative of the family, pairs or single birds being
constantly seen hovering over the prairie and over the fields of
grain. The immense numbers of frogs which throng the
meadows and fields this season must afford them bountiful
nourishment.'*

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Form long and slender; tarsi long; ruff quite distinct on
neck in front; entire upper parts, head and breast pale-bluish
cinereous; back of head mixed with dark fulvous; upper tail
coverts white; under parts white, with small cordate, or has
tate spots of light feruginous; quills brownish-black, with
their outer edges tinged with ashy, and a large portion of the
inner webs white; tail light cinereous, nearly white on inner
webs of feathers, and with obscure transverse bands of brown:
under surface silky- white; under wing coverts-white. Young —
Entire upper parts dark umber-brown; upper tail coverts
white; under parts rufous, with longitudinal stripes of
brown on breast and sides; tail reddish brown, with about
three wide bands of dark fulvous, paler on the inner webs;
tarsi and toes yellow.

Length (^of female), 19 to 21; wing, 15.50; tail, 10.

Habitat, North America.

Note — At certain times of the day, notably mid-forenoon and
towards evening, I have repeatedly seen the young hawks while
yet unable to fly, scattered in different directions from one to
three yards from the nest searching for bits of food either

180 NOTES ON THE

scattered accidently by the parent in tearing it for them from
large snakes and frogs, or consisting of insects discovered by
the young birds themselves. The observation has proved a
valuable aid in searching for late nests.

ACCIPITER VELOX (Wilson). (332.)
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK.

This hawk is a familiar one in its migrations, being quite
common, and some of them remain during the winter. As soon
as the season for nidification arrives, to the casual observer
they seem to have left the country, but they retire to the un-
frequented sections, notably the borders of forests and thickets,
which no one less a "crank" than an industrious ornithologist,
would think of penetrating. I have secured a few nests, that
were all built in trees about fifteen to twenty feet from the
ground, and consisting of sticks and grass, lined with moss and
a few feathers. Some of them contained but two eggs, but as
one had five, I may reasonably suppose the former clutch was
incomplete. They build about the last week in April, having
arrived in the country about the first. The eggs are dingy-
whitish, irregularly splashed with different degrees of brown.
They begin to diminish in numbers about the middle of Sep-
tember, but, strange as the assertion may seem, it has been
impossible to say when they have all gone, for not a month
of the severest winters ever known in this high latitude has
failed to record its presence. For many years during my
earlier residence here, the practice of my profession took me
across the bleak prairies ver}'^ frequently in winter, on which
occasions I constantly saw flocks of Snow Buntings. At differ-
ent times their actions indicated the presence of a hawk, but
the idea of the possibility was not entertained until on one occa-
sion, when 1 was returning from one of those trips, with the
mercury at 43 below, as I afterwards learned, and with a wind
blowing furiously from but a few degrees west of north, I saw
one of this species coming before it with inconceivable velocity,
and oblivious of my presence, as I was in a sleigh, it sw^ept
close to the ground over the brow of a knoll close to me. and
seized a bunting out of a flock sitting so close that I had not
seen it. though directly in front of me. My astonishment was
boundless, but I had now the key to the actions of those flocks
I had so long observed. I was thoroughly familiar with the
Sharp shinned Hawk, having many times watched his peerless
accomplishments in hunting and seizing his prey, oftentimes

BIRDS OP MINNESOTA. 181

considerably heavier than himself, and the tragedy transpired
too near me to leave a doubt as to the identity of the assassin.
■ His prowess has no equal amongst Raptorial birds, attacking
without an instant's hesitation, birds and animals far exceeding
its own weight.* I have seen them do the things whereof I
make these statements. Wilson's account of its encounter
with a squirrel, and the outcome, was by no means a solitary
instance, for it has been witnessed on occasions since he des-
cribed it. I shot one within half a mile of the beautiful Falls
of Minnehaha on the 14th of Septemoer, 1869, that had the
denuded head of a large squirrel hanging firmly to one side of
its neck by the incisors, one eye destroyed, and a large hole
torn out o| the hawk's maw, of sufficient size to reveal its con-
tents of small birds partially digested, protruding. It must
have been an encounter of some weeks, or months, previous,
for the squirrel's skull had become perfectly bleached and pol-
ished, while the opening into the maw bore no signs of recent
inflammation. Mr. Washburn found it common in the Red River
valley, and along Thief river in August, while others report it
everywhere in migration.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 tibia, with transverse bands
of white; shafts of feathers with lines of dark brown; tail ashj'^-
brown tipped witli white, and with about four bands of brown-
ish-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.

Length (of female). 12 to 14; wing, 7.50 to 8; tail, 6.50 to 7.

Habitat. North America.

ACCIPITER COO PERI (Bonaparte.) (333.)

COOPER'S HAWK.

This is a very common species here, and is fairly distributed
over the openly timbered sections of the State. I have uni-
formly observed them early in April, and if any instance has
occurred of an arrival in March I have not been apprised of it.

* I once saw one of these hawks dash into a flock of wild pigeons, and strike a very-
large, old bird, fifty per cent heavier than itself. It was done when the assailant was
moving with its highest velocity, and with such deadly certainty that the stroke in-
stantly killed the pigeon, for the head and wings all dropped, and I as speedily dropped
the hawk, pigeon and all, by a well-directed shot. Incredible though it seems to me
now, the keen, long, curved talons had pierced to its vitals.

182 NOTES ON THE

Others claim to have seen several of them associated upon their
first reaching us, but I have never seen more than a pair to-
gether, and in no half-day devoted to collections have I ever
met with more than two pairs. They preferably frequent dis-
tricts where there is considerable open, scattering timber, con-
taining brush and thickets. These afford it Ruffed Grouse,
quails, squirrels and rabbits, of each and all of which they
are exceptionally fond. Although reputedly a terror to do-
mestic fowls in other sections of the country, I have never
known them to disturb them here. We undoubtedly have the
best of domestic cocks, and Minnesota enjoys a llrst-class rep-
utation for "crowing" (Crow Wing?) which may, or may not
account for the local exemption of the barnyards. Not far
from the 25th of April, they begin to build their nests in the
forks of large trees, elevated as much as the firmness of the
branching limbs will permit.* The nest consists of sticks
outwardly, lined variously with strips of bark, leaves, moss,
twigs and hay, and is quite bulky horizontally, with slight de-
dejjressions for the four dull white eggs. It has long since
been said that this species does not quit the nest after the first
egg has been deposited, and I am now satisfied that this is true
frequently enough to constitute a rule. It becomes possible
from the fact that both seexs equally share the incubatory
duties more faithfully than any other known species of the
hawks. A young bird is occasionally found in the nest ten
days before the last egg is hatched. Along the principal car-
riage way between Minneapolis and St. Paul, and not very far
from it. a pair of these hawks have built since 1874. It is not
a little remarkable that they should have escaped the shotguns
of the numerous boy-hunters of the two cities so long, to say
nothing of the hazards of hunting their quarry after the whole
family have taken the field. I have never seen them moving in
circles after the manner of many others of the larger species,
but directly forward, skimming close to the tops of the taller
trees until diverted by the discovery of prey, when it dashes
downward with tremendous velocity. Should it prove to be a
rabbit, and once under way for its hole, the chase becomes
amusing to see how the bird will strike when the rabbit passes
an opening, which indeed must be a narrow one if it escapes,
as they not infrequently do. If the game is a Ruffed Grouse,

♦While characteristic, this position of the iiest is not without frequout exception^. :is
I have known them t« occupy the forl<s of a large horizontal limb fifteen or more feet
from the triinii, and underneath the larger portions of the top.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 183

its life or death depends upon the distances between the trees
through which it is escaping, for while the Haw^k may fly the
swifter, the Grouse employs the trees for coverts successively
most ingeniously, until in a moment of seclusion it will drop
into the brush and dry leaves so suddenly, and remain so mo-
tionless as to elude the eye of its adversary completely.

Many of my correspondents in various sections of the State
have reported the presence of this species.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head above a brownish-black, mixed with white on the occi-
put, other 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 .

Length (female), 18 to 20; wing, 10 to 11; tail, 8.50.

Habitat, North America.

ACCIPITER ATRICAPILLUS (Wilson). (334.)
AMERICAN GOSHAWK.

I have no positive evidence that this hawk breeds in Minne-
sota, yet I believe it does to some extent. It is a winter visit-
ant in all the middle and southern counties, that arrives here
about the first of January. In the milder winters it often fails
to' come at all. and it returns northward very early in the
spring. The first individual that came into my hands here,
was a mature male that was taken by a farmer in his barn in
February in the act of capturing a hen which it had followed
in. The hawk was alive, uninjured and in good winter plum-
age, but he would not eat in captivity, and Tannerized himself
into a martyr to science.

In all, I have obtained half a dozen in various plumages,
mostly that of the young of the previous year. They leave
our latitude mostly in March. It is a beautiful species, not
easily forgotten after having been in the hands once, on
account of the delicacy of the markings of the feathers. The
flight, once observed, is so characteristic that the bird may be
quite reliably identified by it alone. I have never seen them
moving in circles, but in very direct lines; often high in the air
on cold days, but when hunting for Ruffed Grouse, Prairie Chick-
ens, and rabbits, all of which it will seize with the bearing of
a monarch of the wing, it flies comparatively low, but none the

13 z

184 NOTES ON THE

less direct until right upon its victim. If it misses the first
dash, the chase is by no means relinquished, but will be con-
tinued anywhere the pursued goes. I have known an instance
in which it followed a domestic fowl through an open window
of a farmhouse and under a bed. The severity of our winters
keeps the poultry housed too closely for them to do much dam-
age until the very last part of their stay in March.

Mr. Lewis observed them in the pineries so late in May as
to make it almost certain that they breed in the vicinity of
Mille Lacs, and further north in the State. Dr. Hvoslef
reported one in Fillmore county on tJie 19th of March, which
had doubtless begun its migration.

Of late years I rarely meet this hawk among the collections
of the taxidermists, or fresh specimens on the shelves of the
societies; a fact of common note with bird collectors. The
species evidently retires northward very early in the spring,
and before the temperature of the weather has allowed the
enthusiastic observer to reach fever point in his ambitions.
When I have found my way into the timbered sections early
after the winter has broken, I have found them sailing swiftly
along the brushy edges of the woods, or the borders of the
woodland streams, scarcely swerving in their course to seize
their prey, which was speedily borne into the trackless forest
to be consumed in undisturbed repose. They are a terror to
the early flocks of Wild Pigeons when they come, making sure
supplies of them under any circumstances conceivable.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head above, neck behind and stripe from behind the eye
black, generally more or less tinged with ashy; other under
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 appear-
ance; a conspicuous stripe over the eye and an obscure and
partially concealed occipital and nuchal band, white; entire
under parts mottled with white and light ashy-brown, every
feather with a longitudinal line of dark brown on the 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 under parts; under
surface very pale, nearly white, having about four ob.scure
bands of a deeper shade of ashy -brown, narrowly tipped with
"white; under tail coverts white.

Length (of female), 22 to 24; wing, 14; tail 10.50 to 11.

Habitat, North America.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 185

BUTEO B0REALI8 (Gmelin). (337.)

RED TAILED HAWK.

This is a fairly common species that comes the nearest to
being permanent of any of the commoner kinds of Hawks.
Winter has only commenced to relax its frigid grasp upon the
land when, flying at its highest altitudes, there may occasion-
ally be seen one of these bold birds going still further north.
When the drifts are all there is left of the snow and hope of
returning spring begins to prune her wings, the number of
returning Red -tails multiply, and anon, instead of all of them
passing over and onward, they pause in the forests and occa-
sionally within easy access of the farmer's barnyard. The last
days of February some years and not unfrequently the first of
March, have revealed instances of their return, but before the
twentieth I have seen considerable numbers of them. I am
satisfied that many individuals of them do not get far south
of the lower limits of the State to spend the rigorous portion
of the winter, for they are almost annually observed in the
border counties during each winter month and an exceptionally
early opening never fails to find them here promptly.

The nests are built early in April and along through the
entire spring — sometimes in March — in the forks of large
trees in the forests and are imposing masses of coarse sticks
overlaid with smaller ones and twigs, over which again are
spread leaves and mosses to considerable depth. It is so
massive and shows so little attempt at concealment, that hav-
ing been discovered, we see that nothing but its elevation has
kept us from seeing it at once when in the neighborhood of it.
They lay from three to four eggs of a dirty, yellowish-white,
with splotches of two shades of brown.

Prom 1867 until about 1876 I met with seven nests in the big
woods within two miles of the westerly shore of Lake Minne-
tonka. Their elevation was so great that but for some daring
lads living in the section, who climbed some of the trees con
taining them, for me, I might have been less confident of the
identity of some of them in the absence of the nest builders.
However, in several instances the male was seen frequently.
One clutch of the eggs was all that I had the heart to let the
plucky little climbers attempt to obtain, besides their woods-
man fathers knew some of the objections to invading those
nests after the young birds were out of their shells. While an
occasional nest may be found in that section still they are be-
coming less common.

186 NOTES ON THE

The flight of the Red-tailed Hawk is truly a marvel of dignity
and grace equalled by few and excelled by no other species of
bird. Who would have every sentiment of poetry in his nature
awakened and "see God in his works," let him watch its flight
lovingly and reverently one hour.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail bright rufous, narrowly tipped with white, and having
a subterminal band of black; entire upper parts a 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
rufous most numerous on the breast, and forming an irregular
band across the abdomen; under tail coverts and tibii^ gen-
erally clear yellowish-white, unspotted, but the latter fre-
quently spotted and transversely barred with rufous; under
surface of tail silvery-white.

Length (of female), 28; wing, 15 to lO; tail, 8.50.

Habitat, eastern North America.

BUTEO BOREALIS KRIDEKIl Hoopes. (337a )
KRIDERS HAWK.

My attention had for some time been called to a white hawk
by observing sportsmen, when one day Mr. G. W. Tinsley, a
leading one of them of Minneapolis, brought me one that he had
taken. Shortly another one was brought to me, which, after
careful examination I decided was something new. About the
same time I learned that Mr. Krider, of Philadelphia, while
spending the summer in this section, had obtained several
of these Hawks, and submitted them to Mr. Hoopes, of that
city. Hoopes named the variety as above. During some years
they are met with quite frequently, while in others I hear of
none. The plumage varies exceedingly in the individuals that
I have seen, but the presence of more or less white is its dis-
tinguishing characteristic for varietal recognition.

Having seen no nests, or seen no one who has, I can add no
further facts in the history of this variety of the Red-tailed
Hawk, except that they are less a prairie species than has
been represented by some writers. On the contrary, I find
them predisposed to neither prairies nor dense forests, but
sparsely timbered openings.

Note. Since writing the above, I have ascertained that this
variety of the Red- tails has been observed in the vicinity of
Lake Superior, at Red lake, Mille Lacs and Lake Traverse.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 187

It is undeniably difficult for me to regard Krider's Hawk as
a variety of the common Red- tailed Hawk.

I was much disappointed that Mr. Washburn did not meet
with it either in Crow Wing or Otter Tail counties, as his two
explorations extended over sufficient time for a careful ob-
servation of its habits had he found them in sufficient numbers.

All the specimens that I have had in my hands up to the
present time, have been males, where I have had an opportun-
ity to be certain as to the sex, and have averaged less in their
measure than B. borealis

The difference in the measure of white in the colors consti-
tutes the recognized distinguishing character of this variety of
the Red- tailed Hawks.

BUTEO BOREALIS CALLRrS (Cassin). (337&.)
WESTERN RED-TAIL.

A single specimen of this variety of the Red-tail is all I have
to justify its record within the boundaries of my investigations.
That it has been killed repeatedly along the Red river by
sportsmen I have no doubt from descriptions from them, but
while engaged in the exciting events of '"good wing shooting"
amongst the ducks, all thoughts of the solicitations of im-
portunate science are forgotten, to be only recalled by meeting
some one of her humble servants.

Between the facts and the fancies of the narrator, one of the
former here and another there, will build up considerable cir-
cumstantial proof in such a matter. While '"one swallow
doesn't make it summer," it makes one think about it. The re-
cords of the presence of the Western Red -tail in Illinois are
fully accepted.

The single specimen I refer to above was in unmistakable
plumage and from the vicinity of the Red river.

I am familiar with the species in its recognized habits where
its habits do not differ from the Red-tails of the eastern states.
My experience with one of them that I had winged in Santa
Clara county, California, in the spring of 1872, gave me a last-
ing respect for his indomitable courage which has been freshly
recalled by reading the Rev. J. H. Langille's account of carry-
ing one of the Eastern Red- tails home on the muzzle of his gun
which it had seized after being disabled for flight by winging.
I can conceive of nothing but the bird's recognition of his pro-
fession that spared him from a like proof of his valor.

My bird as readily accepted the proffered muzzle of the gun,
but in less time than it takes to wink he had ascended, "hand
over hand" and dealt nothing less than a baker's dozen of blows

188 NOTES ON THE

from the talons of his spare foot squarely on the first hand he
reached, every time piercing the flesh to the bone. Indeed one
barb of his cruel talons had reached through the tendons of
the hand and the skin of its palmer surface. It has required
several similar experiences to enable me to learn the value of
securing a specimen of a "living hawk." (A hint to the wise).

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Only distinguishable from B. borealis by its larger size,
greater extent of the dark color of the throat, and the preval-
ence of the rufous on the abdomen and tibiae.

Length (female), 23 to 25; wing, 16.50 to 17; tail. 9 to 10.

Habitat, western North America.

BUTEO LINEATUS (Gmelin). (339.)
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK.

While always met with in migration, its local habits confine
it much more exclusively to the timber, and the unfrequented
forests especially, which leads superficial observers to believe
it a more northern species than the Red-tail. This is a mis-
take for they are nearly as numerous as that species, and
almost indistinguishable except by the last circumstance, if
not in hand, or very well under observation. I have had but
one collector to assist me whose observations of the nest were
of sufficient value to be quoted, but his have corroborated my
previous impressions that this species builds a little more
artistic and notably a deeper nest. This hawk has now been
seen as frequently as the Red- tail during every winter month.
They arrive in their migratory movements about as early as
the others in spring, and remain as late in autumn. As already
intimated, their habits associate them with the forest mostly,
where they destroy Ruffed-grouse, rabbits and squirrels for
their food, onlj'' very rarely disturbing domestic poultry.

Whole sections of the State where pariries, or only quite
small, scattering trees and brushlands predominate, are almost
unvisited by this hawk. A trait of the species which has
been noticed before, has attracted my attention in two in-
stances of my own opportunities for observation, namely; the
equal share borne by the male in all the duties of incubation,
and rearing the young. He shares the collecting, and arrang-
ing of all materials in the structure of the nest, and instantly
occupies it in the absence of the female. A succession of ob-
servations have gone far towards establishing the conclusion

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 189

that the same bird occupies the nest continuously for twenty-
four hours, and after the young are developed enough to make
short flights, one parent at a time takes the special care of the
brood while the other pursues its chase.

At these times the smaller birds contribute no little to the
daily supply. Snipe, sandpipers, plover, blackbirds, larks,
sandwiched with frogs, snakes, etc., to crayfish and beetles.
They must be driven by extreme hunger if ever they attack
domestic fowls. The observing farmers soon learn to dis-
tinguish them from the Red-tails by their consideration for
their poultry, as well as their stronger predilection for the
woods.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Wing coverts from the flexure to the body fine bright rufous;
breast and other lower parts of 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, shorter quills and rump; quills
brownish-black with white spots on the outer webs, with bars
of a lighter shade of brown, and white on their inner webs;
tail brownish-black with about five transverse bands of white,
and tipped with white.

Length (female), 21 to 28; wing, 14; tail, 8.

Habitat, eastern North America.

BUTEO SWAINSONI Bonaparte. (342.)
SWAINSON'S HAWK.

Unlike either the Red-tailed or the Red-shouldered, this
hawk is essentially a prairie bird. It is never met with in
either of its migrations ; or if so too infrequently to have
attracted the attention of reliable observers who have noted
it in the southern counties of the States, notwithstanding they
extend their excursions occasionally into almost every open
district I have visited.

I have never obtained it earlier than the first of May. but I
have not visited the sections where it is ordinarily easiest
found, so early as that, which leads me to suppose that it may
arrive some earlier than that date. I confess that it is at best
but a conjecture, but I am strongly inclined to believe that the
larger portion of Swainson's Hawks come in from the west or
southwest, as they are invariably found in the northwestern
parts of the State before an occasional individual is seen in the
latitude of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They choose trees in

190 NOTES ON THE

the borders of the forest for constructing their nests in, if con-
tiguous to open, dry prairie, but will employ scattering ones,
or the ground along the course of streams running through
sections favoring the supply of their food, which consists
chiefly of small quadrupeds and grasshoppers.

The nest, like those of most of its genus, is constructed of
coarse sticks, on which rather smaller ones are placed, mixed
with twigs, over which are laid grass and some leaves. The
eggs bear similar colors to those of the Red-tails.

They are the most abundant Hawk in northern Dakota, and
scarcely less so in the sections of Minnesota immediately con-
tiguous. They retire somewhat earlier than do the Red-shoul-
dered and Red-tailed in autumn, the latest record I have being
October 17th.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill wide at base, compressed towards the tip, lobed, cere
large; wing long, third quill longest; tail moderate, rather
wide, even at the tip; tarsus feathered in front nearly half its
length, naked behind, the baie portion in front having about
twelve transverse scales; toes rather short, the claws strong;
entire upper parts dark brown, nearlj^ black in the middle of
many feathers, paler on the edges; quills brownish black, with
wide transverse bands of cinereous on their inner webs, becom-
ing paler and nearly pure white towards the base of the quill;
tail brown tinged with ashy, and having about ten to twelve
transverse bands of a darker shade of brown, the subterminal of
which is widest; tip edged with white; throat white, with lon-
gitudinal lines of dark brown; neck before and breast ashy-brown,
nearly the same color as the tail, some of the feathers edged
with reddish; other under parts white, nearly pure on the
under tail coverts, and with transverse irregular bars of rufous
on the tibia? and the flanks, and darker brownish-rufous on the
abdomen; under wing coverts white, with a few spots of trans-
verse stripes of brown; bill dark slate; tarsi, toes, and cere
yellow.

Length (of female). 21.50; wing, 16; tail, 8.50.

Habitat, western North America.

BI'TEO LATISSIMUS (Wilson). (343.)
BROAD-WINGED HAWK.

A little above the Falls of Minnehaha there is a limited
forest of dense timber, consisting of nearly all of the ordinary
varieties of deciduous trees. Through it run in several direc-
tions, obsolete wagon ways over w^hich thrifty undergrowths
of different kinds have formed arches high enough for a horse
and carriage to pass under. Along side of one of these through

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 191

which I was solitarily driving-, I discovered a hawk sitting on a
limb of a sapling, about eight feet from the ground, and not
more than thirty feet distant from me. With a charge of No.
12 shot, I secured him instantly without having drawn blood
through the feathers. Dropping mj- bird into a large, stiff
paper cornucopia with which I always provide myself, I was in
the act of laying my capture into my basket, when I descried
an immense Pish-hawk threading its devious way through the
tops of the lofty trees of the forest, with a living pickerel
trailing and writhing from one extended foot. Remaining mo-
tionless, and the hawk not seeing either me or my horse and
carriage, it spread its immense wings upwards in the act of
lighting on a large limb, sixty feet perpendicularly over me,
when I pulled trigger on a No. 8 charge and brought directly
to my feet both hawk and fish, the former of which was en-
tirely lifeless, but the fish was as lively as if just brought in
with a hook. I have mentioned these circumstances before in
connection with the Fish Hawk, and now again because the
first hawk was a Broad- wing, and the first I had ever had in
my hands. Both birds were duly and truly mounted, and are
in the museum of the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences,
after the lapse of twenty years, in good order, to the credit of
that faithful taxidermist, Mr. Wm. Howling of this city, (Min-
neapolis). The event and the whole beautiful scene in the
solitude of that charming forest, on a bright May day of 1867,
constitute the pinnacle of my delightful experiences in the
field of ornithology.

The Broad-wing Hawks arriv^e about the first of April, and
about the 20th begin to build their nests, some of which, how-
ever, are not occupied before the tenth of June. No other
species manifest less uniformity in time of commencement.
The average time is not far from the 5th of May I find.

The structure consists of medium- sized sticks externally,
over which are imposed finer ones, grass, leaves and feathers,
until it becomes as bulky as a Crow's nest, and is placed in the
main forks of a tree in the borders of the forest, about thirty
feet from the ground. They lay from two to five dirty white
eggs, over which are scattered blotches of reddish-brown.

It is not an aggressive species ordinarily, but if wounded
and at bay, or in the defence of its young, it has no superior,
and few peers for courage and persistence. It is fairly com-
mon from the borders of Iowa to Lake Superior. Rare in the
northwestern sections of the State.

192 NOTES ON THE

I should have said that 1 find it breeding frequently near the
city and about Lake Minnetonka and otherwheres in the Big
Woods.

Nests and eggs are not infrequently brought to me which
have been obtained but a short distance from the city. Mr.
Washburn found the species rather common in Otter Tail
county. That is a fairly representative county of a large
section in which I have had but little opportunity for personal
observation. The Broad- wing Hawk leaves us about the 20th
of October.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Entire upper parts umber-brown, feathers on the occiput and
back of the neck white at their bases; throat white with longi-
tudinal lines of brown and 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
transverse bands of reddish ferruginous tinged with ashy;
other under parts white with numerous sagittate spots of red-
dish on the flanks, abdomen and tibiae; 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.

Length (female). 17 to 18; wing, 11; tail. 6.50 to 7.

Habitat, eastern North America.

ARCHIBITEO LAOOPI 8 SANCTI-J0HANNI8 (Gmelin).

(347a. )
AMERICAN ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK.
This is not a very common hawk but is at the same time
not extremely rare. In its northern migration particularly, it
is occasionally seen about the edges of marshes and ditches
where it seizes frogs, snakes and wounded ducks. The first
one I ever saw was drawn into visible proximity to where I was
skulking for a shot at ducks on the wing. It must have discov-
ered one that had been previously wounded but which I did
not see until afterwards. They are in migration during the
last days of March and the first of April, none to my knowl-
edge having been seen later than the first of May. They
evidently go further to breed. An occasional individual has
been shot late in the autumn or early winter and been mounted
by the taxidermist. Mr. William Howling, of Minneapolis,
has had several in his collection at different times, but gener-
ally in immature plumage. My knowledge of this species is
mostly confined to my personal observations in the vicinity of
where I reside. None of my assistants have reported more
than a single identification.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 193

The dark, cloudy days of early spring and late autumn are
those in which to keep a good lookout for the Rough-legged
Hawk. He then flies low and always slowly, especially during
the day, and more commonly over swampy meadows in search
of his inglorious prey of frogs, mice, lizzards, snakes and
large insects, with an eye out for some unfortunate bird but
half killed by the hunter. They frequently extend their
search for food late into the twilight, which in our high lati-
tude is late indeed, manifesting an owl-like nature which is
further intimated by the full, soft plumage embracing the
legs, feathered to the toes in front. A favorite place for them
is located half a mile from my summer cottage at Lake Minne-
netonka, a spot I have habitually visited at both the seasons
when this species is still here and which consists of a morass
that was at no ancient period an arm or bay of the lake, when
it sustained a somewhat higher surface than now and in which
are denizened representatives of nearly all kinds of supplies
for them. They come to the marsh so quietly that except the
eye is kept on the field, they may have drifted slowly its
whole length and be vanishing through an opening in the
woods which leads to another swale or slough, when first
discovered, but if a little patience is exercised, they will
return to traverse the marsh again, when possibly a better
opportunity is enjoyed for observing them. Perchance, in-
deed probably, he will alight on a muskrat house in the middle
or on a dry limb overhanging the water, where he will remain
almost motionless for an hour at a time if unmolested. When
surprised suddenly they have a habit of screaming in a most
unmusical fashion as they sail heavily away into the forest for
safety. I hear from an amateur ornithologist residing at a
little distance from Red Lake Falls, Mr. L. Bothman, that a
nest of this species had been found near there, but with
neither bird nor eggs to settle the identification. I do not feel
justified in fully accepting the statement.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head above yellowish-white, with longitudinal stripes of
brown tinged with reddish, especially on the occiput; back,
scapulars and shorter quills pale-cinereous, with partially con-
cealed 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 dark
umber-brown; primaries edged externally with ashy, and with
a large space on their inner webs at the base, white with a
silky lustre; under parts white; throat with longitudinal

194 NOTES- ON THE

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 trans-
versely 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
sub-terminal band of black, and about two other bands of
black alternating with others of light cinereous; 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.

Length (female), 21 to 23; wing, 16 to 17; tail, 9.

Habitat. North America.

ARCHIBITEO FEHKIGINEIIS (Lichtenstein). (348.)

FERRUGINOUS ROUGH-LEG.

I am very familiar with this hawk in his characteristic
home, California, and was the more surprised to find that indi-
viduals of the species have several times straggled into Min-
nesota.

It is thoroughly a dry-prairie raptor, and lives upon small
rodents, reptiles and insects. It is rather a common hawk in
Dakota, especially in the western part where I found it perched
on prairie-dog's hills, or skimming leisurely along the ground
during the month of May of the present year (1887), but I
had no opportunity to look into their nests. On the other
coast they were very abundant, and voracious eaters, living
upon ground squirrels chiefly.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Largest of the genus, with the bill wide at base; wings
long; tarsi feathered in front to the toes; naked and scaled
behind; tibire and tarsi bright ferruginous, with transverse nar-
row stripes of black; entire upi)er parts dark-brown and light-
rufous, the latter predominating on the rump and wing coverts;
quills ashy-brown, with the greater part of their inner webs
white; tail above reddish- white, mottled with ashy-brown;
beneath pale yellowish- white; under parts white, with narrow
longitudinal lines and lanceolate spots on the breast reddish-
brown, and narrow irregular transverse lines of the same
color, and of black on the abdomen; flanks and axillary feath-
ers fine bright ferruginous.

Length (female), 23 to 25; wing, 17 to 17.50; tail, 9.

Habitat, western North America.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 195

AQUILA CHRYSAETOS (L). (349.)

GOLDEN EAGLE.

That this Eagle has ever reared its brood within our borders
I cannot say, but it is a well known fact that it visits different
parts of the State at intervals. The young of both sexes have
been obtained from time to time, and mounted for parties here,
and others to carry to the East.

I have seen no mature specimens amongst those which have
come under my observation, yet from the descriptions of spe-
cific characters which I have consulted, I am compelled to think
that some have been more advanced than the young of the year.
It has been repeatedly affirmed by some of the older fur traders
who were here before the Indians left, that instances of their
breeding on high cliffs of rocks on the north shore of Lake
Superior, were known, at the least, forty years ago. If this is
true, there are no conceivable reasons why they should not do
so still, for on the sea coast they have done so ever since the
original settlement of the country. The general inaccessibility
of their nesting places renders any special encroachment upon
them impracticable. When speaking of this bird in his de-
lightful work. Rev. J. Hibbert Langille says:

"Gra,nd as our common or White-headed Eagle is conceded
to be, he is but a commonplace and vulgar bird compared with
the present species. Indeed, the Golden Eagle is the noblest
bird of our continent. Disdaining carrion, except in extreme
hunger, and all ordinary pilfering and predatory habits, he
subsists, it would seem, on the noblest game, such as hares,
grouse, young fawns, and wild turkeys. Nor does he conde-
scend to chase his prey and capture it only after a hot pursuit,
after the manner of hawks and falcons, but detecting it afar
with his keen eye, swoops down upon it from some obscure
height, and takes it by surprise. Then, bearing it away to an
elevated point in a tree, or on a high rock, he plucks it clean,
and eats at his leisure. The loftiest mountains are his home,
and on the shelvings of their most rugged precipices he locates
his eyrie.

"Occasionally he may make a detour into the settled parts of
the country, soaring high, and in slow, wide and most majestic
circles; or if he pass from one mountain height to some other
in the distance, it is by the highest possible pathway in the
sky. If he be in certain stages of plumage, with good eyes,
and the light favorable, one may distinguish him as a great

196 NOTES ON THE

rarity, by the dark band on his white tail. But generally if
one would study him, he must go to the uninhabited and almost
uninhabitable parts of the earth, far above the ordinary planes
of animated nature, and there contemplate him in the sublimest
solitude. As he climbs to the very clouds, and penetrates be-
hind the veil of the storm, even the mountains are low down
in respect to him, and he seems to know and care but little
about the world."

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Large; tarsi densely feathered to toes; head and neck be-
hind, light brownish- fulvous, varying in shade in different spec-
imens, 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 v^ery dark, and nearly clear black
on the under parts of the body; primaries shining black;
secondaries purplish-brown; tibia? and tarsi brownish-fulvous,
generally mixed with dark -ashy; cere and toes yellow.

Length (female), 33 to 40; wing, 25; tail, 15.

Habitat, North America.

HALIiEETlS LEICOCEPHALIS (L. ). (852.)
BALD EAGLE.

This least understood, most honored, and most abused of
the entire class to which it belongs, has honored or dishonored
the North Star State, by making it emphatically the place of
his abode. No forest with a right to the name, but claims the
enviable or unenviable distinction of harboring the wiole
family of this species. Its harsh screams are familiar to the
woodman during the nidifying season, and many a cabin in the
solitudes of the deep, dark forests, has its young eagle chained
to its gable, or the convenient out-house. Its habit of breed-
ing year after year on the same filthy old nest, even after
having been repeatedly robbed of its eggs or young, gives
unusual opportunities for noting its habits.

Some of these birds seem to go a little further south, as is
indicated bj' their return in spring, but not all for they are
often observed through the entire winter. About the last
week in Feb. some of them commence preparations for nest-
ing by repairing the old structure, or building another en-
tirely new. Fragments of dry limbs a yard in length, and
from one to two inches in thickness are laid into the forks of a
large tree, at least forty feet from the ground, and more fre-
quently sixty feet. These are criss-crossed in a rude, but
really very ingenious manner, and secured in their position by

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 197

the abundant use of smaller ones interlocked, and further
secured by coarse fresh twigs, over which almost any availa-
ble material like hay, moss, leaves, and what-not, are deposited,
and more and more from year to year as its reoccupation is con-
tinued. They lay two dirty yellowish-white eggs, and when the
young are hatched, no sprigs in the bird kingdom are more
royally cared for until fairly able to take care of themselves.
In selecting their location for their nests in the ordinary
forest they almost uniformly choose a tree on a kind of obso-
lete island, so surrounded with morass that approach to it on
the ground is difficult or impossible, but where large islands
covered with large trees are found in considerable lakes, they
will prefer these. I have never found more than one brood
raised in one nest in a season. Their feeding habits are too
well known to call for any special mention.

Almost from the earliest observations of white men, and
from long before according to Indian tradition, they have
reared their young on the islands m Lake Minnetonka until
very recently. Fifteen years of personal observation in the
forest west of that lake have afforded me opportunity to locate
several nests, from which I have had the young eaglets
brought to me to "raise for pets" again and again. A well
earned and enduring respect for raptorial birds in general has
enabled me to decline all such proffers, but others have ac-
cepted them, so that for many years after I became a citizen of
Minneapolis it was no unusual thing to see individuals of the
species chained, like a monkey, to a box or outhouse in different
places in the city.

Mille Lacs, Otter Tail, Big lake, and many others, have had
the credit of being alike favorite breeding places of the Bald-
headed Eagle.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Large; bill large, strong, straight at base, rather abruptly
hooked; wings long; tarsi short; head, tail and upper coverts
white; entire other plumage brownish-black, generally with
the edges of the feathers paler; bill, feet and iris yellow.

Length (female), 35 to 40; wing, 23 to 25; tail 14 to 15

Habitat, temperate North America.

198 NOTES ON THE

FALCO RUSTIC0L18 GYRFALCO (L ) (354a)

GYRFALCON.

In the winter of 1874. I secured a straggler from its habitat
in its best winter plumage, and after satisfying myself of its
identity, notified the ornithologist of the Smithsonian of my
find, and at his request loaned him my specimen, which how-
ever. I had had mounted for the museum of the Minnesota
Accademy of Natural Sciences, of which I had the honor to be
president at the time. My diagnosis was endorsed, and its
variety given as Labradora, with the promise of having the
proof-sheet sent me of its notice in the large work on the
birds of North America, then nearly ready to publish. I
received the proof in due time, giving it as above, with the
additional statement that it was the first instance of its collec-
tion within the United States, but I was not a little surprised
on reading the work afterwards, to find the proof-sheet wanting
in the text, and the species referred to as occasionally being
found within the United States. A notice of the reasons for
the change in the advanced sheets would have been the least
that the common amenities of life would have called for. I
mention the circumstance that others may not be foolish enough
to allow their beautifully mounted birds to be dismounted,
gutted, and have their plumage clawed over for several months,
after which re-stufed, and sent back looking as if it was the
remains of an individual that had been through a picking-
machine and left in a dirty garret for preservation. If the
pinch lay in not having the first and only specimen of "Falco
Gyrfalco, variety Labradora," as given in the advanced sheet,
presented to the Institution, I can only say that having been
given to the Academy, I no longer had the right to so dispose
of it.

The winter of 1874 will be remembered as one of the severest
in the history of the great Northwest, and the specimen was
doubtless driven south for food. During the same winter the
Goshawks in mature plumage were often met with in the pine
forests of northeast Minnesota. One of the finest specimens
of the mature male of this fine hawk was found starved and
frozen in a woodpile, and another was brought to me alive that
had followed a hen into a farmers kitchen in the timberland.
where it was captured in magnificent plumage, and many more
of the young of the year were obtained by grouse hunters in the
deciduous forests.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 199

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Entirely white ; upper parts with regular transverse, and very-
distinct bands of brown, becoming somewhat crescent shaped
on the scapulars and rump, and slightly acuminate on the
shafts of the feathers; quills white and brownish black at their
tips; tail white, with about twelve transverse narrow bands of
brown; under parts with a few longitudinal lines of dark brown.

Length, 24; wing, 16.50; tail, 10.

Habitat, northern North America,

FALCO PEREGRINUS AXATUM (Bonaparte). (356.)

DUCK HAWK.

The typical species of all the true falcons, the Duck Hawk
is the last of its family to escape the recognition of the genuine
sportsman. Minnesota being the El Dorado of this species,
dotted all. over with its innumerable lakes, ponds and streams,
whither the duck kingdom repairs in the seasons of migration,
and to breed in many cases extensively, it may be asked why
should this hawk go further. He reaches us simultaneously with
the arrival of the ducks and geese, which varies somewhat with
the different seasons. It is more frequently in the last days of
March, or first in April, but I have known them to be here in
force by the 17th of the former month. The Duck Hawk never
goes long hungry, for while the birds of the water are in mi-
gration, his la,rder is at hand. Like others of its family which
build on inaccessible cliffs on the seashore, it takes to the trees
here, and constructs its nest of sticks, twigs, grass and leaves,
in which are dropped four reddish-brown eggs, which are
minutely spotted and blotched with a darker shade of the same.
The young of this species have been found on the wing by the
25th of May, although some pairs are only building or incu-
bating at that date. As compared with some others the Duck
Hawks are not a numerous species, but are fairly so for their
own. Their chief breeding section seems to be in the great
forest and lake region in the northern counties of the State.*
Their agility on the wing is simply marvelous, and their dart-
ing not a whit less so. When in proximity to their prey, they
seem almost insensible to danger, but when once they have
secured it, their discretion returns to dominate all their move-
ments, and they seek places of entire safety in which to devour

*Mr. Lewis found them breeding on the shores of several lakes in Becker and Cass
counties. At Leech Lake were two nests. In every instance they were constructed
on trees at considerable elevation, but no more diflBcult to reach than those of the
other species of large hawks.

-14z

200 NOTES ON THE

it. I was for several years a member of a gun club in the city
where I reside, and I well remember an incident in illustration
of the characteristics of this hawk which took place while we
were shooting at pigeons thrown from a trap. The firing was
rapid at the time, when a pigeon got away and circled around
over a cornfield directly behind the shooting stand. A little
out of good range, it nevertheless received the attention of a
dozen guns, during which time a Duck Hawk appeared in pur
suit of the escaping pigeon, and undismayed by the roar of the
guns, drove the bird directly over our heads, where of course
both birds were sacrificed. It proved to De a female in full
plumage. The event occurred on the 13th of August, 1875.

Sportsmen early learn that this hawk is exceptionally ob-
noxious to their amusement, be the game whatever it may, pro-
vided it is not larger than the bird in question. It is a remorse-
less marauder and murderer, killing for amusement after satis-
fying its hunger completely. It will attack small birds, and
as fast as it crushes the life of one out with its talons will drop
it and attack another. No man should be accounted a genuine
sportsman with the gun who does not instantly slaughter the
Duck Hawk at sight. These brigands of the wing understand
what their own standing is with this class of the genus homo,
and will give him a wide birth except when running down their
victims, when they are oblivious to all else.

They have usually left the State by the 25th of October, ex-
cept an occasional individual found in the southern counties,
where they remain far into November.

FALCO COLl MBARIl S L (357.)

PIGEON HAWK.

Being exceptionally familiar with this hawk in other sec-
tions, I am not a little disappointed to find them so extremely
rare here, although I have long known them to be accounted
only subcommon in the Mississippi valley. In 1862 I found a
specimen of this species in the mounted collection of a gentle-
man who was an expert in the identification of game birds, and
was making a study of their predatory enemies on wings. He
obtained it in the fall of the previous year while it was in the
act of seizing another bird, and was impressed with its unfamiliar
appearance enough to have it mounted without having known
its specific identity until I named it for him. In 1867 I found a
representative of each sex in Mr. Howling's collection, since

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 201

which I have seen but two individuals of the species, and those
had been already mounted. I pronounce it a rare species in
Minnesota. I have never yet seen a specimen of them alive,
much as I have been on the alert for them. Of course occa-
sional individuals pass through the country in migration or
those mentioned could not have been obtained, for they were
all killed within our borders. And all the conditions requisite
for their food are here, so that for aught apparent they might
breed here as highly favored as anywhere else, yet for some
reason they do not to any great extent at least so far as is yet
known. Their food is mostly comprised of small birds.

They reach this latitude early in April, sometimes not until
the middle, when they remain but a very short time. From the
statement of persons familiar with birds in general, one indi-
vidual has been met with in November, but the next latest date
that I have learned of was the twenty-fifth of October.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Entire upper parts bluish-slate color, each feather with a
black longitudinal line; forehead and throat white, other under
parts pale-yellowish, or 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 subter-
minal band of black, and with several other transverse narrow
bands of black; inner webs nearly white; cere and legs yellow;
bill blue.

Length (of female). 12 to 14; wing, 8 to 9; tail, 5 to 5.50.

Habitat, North America.

Note. — The Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter velox) has been
confounded with this species, on account of its having also
been popularly called the Pigeon Hawk, but it is very unlike it
in nearly all respects, and finds its systematic place in another
genus.

FALCO RICHARDSONII Ridgway. (358.)

RICHARDSON'S MERLIN.

This species so long regarded a variety of Columbarius, has
only, like the other, come under my notice in two skins ob-
tained in a collecting exploration near the head of Lake Super-
ior in 1875. They were listed as belonging to the other
species, but afterwards came under my examination when I
decided they were Richardson's Hawk. I am not at all certain
that one or two of those given under Columbarius were not of
this species, but not all. I subjoin Mr. Ridgways' description
of his newly named species.

202 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper plumage, dull earth-brown, each feather grayish-
umber centrally, and with a consiDicuous black shaft-line. Head
above, approaching ashy-white anteriorly, the black shaft-
streaks being very conspicuous. Secondaries, primary cov-
erts, and primaries margined terminally with dull white; the
primary coverts with two transverse series of pale-ochrous
spots; primaries with spots of the same, corresponding with
those of the inner webs. Upper tail coverts tipped and spot-
ted beneath the surface with white. Tail clear drab, much
lighter than the primaries, but growing darker terminally,
having basally a slightly ashy-cast, crossed with six sharply
defined, perfectly continuous bands (the last terminal) of ashy-
white. Head f rontallJ^ latei'ally and beneath — a collar j-ound the
nape (interrupting the brown above) — and entire lower parts,
white, somewhat ochraceous, this most perceptible on the
tibise; cheeks and ear coverts with sparse, fine, hair-like
streaks of black; nuchal collar, jugulum, breast, abdomen,
sides, and flanks, with a median linear stripe of clear ochre-
brown on each feather; these stripes broadest on the flanks;
each stripe with a conspicuous black shaft-streak; tibia3 and
lower tail- coverts with fine shaft- streaks of brown, like the
broader stripes of the other portions. Chin and throat only,
immaculate. Lining of the wings spotted with ochraeous-
white and brown in about equal amounts, the former in spots
approaching the shaft. Inner webs of the primaries with
transverse broad bars of pale-ochraceous — eight on the longest.

Wing, 7.70; tail, 5; culmen, 0.50; tarsus, 1.30; middle toe, 1.25;
outer, 0.85; inner, 0.70; posterior. 0.50.

Habitat, interior and western plains of North America.

FALCO SPARVERIl S L. (360.)
AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK.

Arriving not far " from the first day of April the Sparrow
Hawk is seen for a short time very frequently.

They feed much on mice, grasshoppers and crickets, but
relish a sparrow when secured. No intelligent farmer .wants
these hawks destroyed, so valuable are their habits in the
destruction of field mice especially. The pairing season is
usually about the middle of May. For the construction of
their nests holes of all sorts are employed, but more frequent-
ly that of a woodpecker, notably the Golden-winged, but
hollow trees with a large knot hole for entrance are the first
choice. Here there is a call for some substructure of sticks
and twigs, on which are imposed the grass, leaves, moss or
feathers, as the surroundings best afforded. As a rule they

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 203

seek locations considerably removed from dwellings, but do
not reject the outhouses when they are considerably separated
from the others. Indeed, one pair occupied a box used for a
dove roost. But who would find them in their most frequented
localities during the breeding season must go to groves of
timber bordering extensive meadows. They lay about four or
five eggs that are brownish-white, speckled all over with red-
dish-brown and frequently considerably blotched with a light
reddish.

As an indication of their value to the agriculturist, I will
introduce an excerpt from the pen of M. de Lautrie, who says:
"In 1863 I took five little Sparrow Hawks and put them in a
cage. The parent birds immediately brought them food, and I
was not surprised to see that it consisted of twelve mice, four
large lizards and six mole crickets. A meal of like size was
brought every day for a month. At one time there were
fifteen field mice, two little birds and a young rabbit. Last
year I made the same experiment with the same result, one
meal consisting of twelve small birds, one lark, three moles, and
one hedgehog. In one month the five baby hawks rid the
world, by actual count, of 420 rats and mice, 200 mole-crickets,
and 158 lizards.""

Need a word be added to satisfy the most incredulous that
the Sparrow -Hawk is a friend of man, and should be protected
by law?

Late in July and August, the young being grown, they be-
come widely distributed and remain exceedingly common till
about the first to the tenth of October.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Frontal band and space including the eyes and throat, white ;
spot on the neck behind, two others on each side of the neck,
and a line running downwards from before the eye. black. Spot
on the top of the head, 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 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 feathers 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 sometimes wanting.

Length, 11. to 12.; wing, 7. to 7.50; tail, 5. to 5.50.

Habitat, whole of North America.

204 NOTES ON THE

PANDION HALIAETUS CAROLINENSIS (Gmelin). (364.)
AMERICAN OSPREY.

About the middle of April this remarkable hawk-eagle is seen
perching on the projecting limb of a dry tree on the shore of
some lake or creek, and more freqiiently the latter, as the fish
are making their way to the marshes to spawn. Perhaps his
doubtful distinguishment from the eagle has scarcely been set-
tled, when down he drops, splash, into the water, out of which
he instantly rises with a large fish hanging by its head from
his talons, as he sails away to the forest at hand. He never
stays near the place where he gets his prey, but from a long
cherished memory of the persecutions of the bald eagle, at once
buries himself in the coverts of the thick, dark woods while
devouring it. I was once in such a forest in search of some
small birds, when my attention was arrested by what I sup-
posed to be an eagle with a large snake dangling by its head
from the talons of one foot. I instantly exchanged a shell
loaded with No. 12 shot for one charged with No. 8, and awaited
his ai)proach.

As I stood in a little open space, I expected nothing else than
that he would see me and turn his course, but remaining per-
fectly still, he continued to come directly towards me. and as-
sayed to light on the lower limb of a lofty tree directly over my
head, about sixty feet above me, when, just as his unengaged
foot grasped the limb, with both wings extended, I pulled
trigger, and speedily got myself out of the line of his gravita-
tion, when a monstrous Fish Hawk and a bouncing pickerel
simultaneously struck the ground at mj' feet. The hawk was
too dead to wag a toe or shrug a wing, but the fish flopped and
bounded like any other fish just out of water. One, I helped
my friends eat for dinner, and the other was a fews daj^s after
on the shelves of my private collection of birds, since pre-
sented to the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences.

About the first of May they begin to build their nests, which
are placed more commonly in a large tree on the bank of either
a large stream or a lake of considerable size. Occasionally
they go quite a little distance into the forest, where the trees
are very numerous and tall. Except in the hugeness of its
proportions the nest does not differ materially from the other
large hawks or from the eagles except in being a little less
bulky. It consists of large sticks, smaller sticks, grass with
bits of turf clinging to it, coarse weeds and fine weeds mixed
with somewhat finer grass.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 205

They usually have three eggs. Their color is exceedingly
variable, part of those I have in my possession being much
darker and more extensively blotched than others. But I
should call the average reddish-brown with a creamy shade

Almost universally distributed throughout the State this
hawk is nowhere abundant, Mr. Washburn found them only
"vSub-common" at Mille Lacs, although I am inclined to think
he would have found more of them a little later in the season,
as the young would then have been full grown, and on the
wing or "fishing" along the shores of the lake.

They linger in autumn as late as the fishing remains good
which is nearly November, but as the waters in the streams
and lakes become colder, the fish seek the deeper places, and
thus are out of the way of this their great enemy.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Wings long; legs, toes and claws very robust and strong.
Head, and entire under parts white: stripe through the eye,
top of head and upper parts of body, wings and tail, deep
umber brown, the 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 greenish yellow.

Length (female), 25; wing, 21; tail, 10.50.

Habitat, North America.

Family STBIGID^.

STRIX PRATINCOLA Bonaparte. (365.)
AMERICAN BARN OWL.

In 1858 I was informed that the Barn Owls were never seen
in Minnesota, and alter many years observation of the birds I
came to the conclusion that those who had been here before me
were right, when I obtained one specimen of the female, and
then another long period passed before I saw another that had
been shot by a man in the maple woods in the vicinity of Park-
er's Lake. Again several years passed, and I heard of some
having been obtained, but had some doubts as to the identity, not
having seen the birds ; but before very long I began to get one sent
me occasionally, and I had the pleasure of obtaining some my-
self, and getting statements from one or two persons who were
competent and reliable, who described them correctly, when I
received a carefully detailed description of the young which I

206 NOTES ON THE

followed up to the birds themselves, which had been obtained
from the nest in the Big Woods. They were able to fly a little
only, and were therefore easily caught, and soon became tame.

I have had no late additions to my specimens secured, but I
have settled it that although not largely represented, they are a
regular summer resident, lingering until quite late in iSovember
in some sections heavily timbered, but I cannot find that any
remain through the winters. Their plumage is not of sufficient
density to protect them in high latitudes. The breeding places
here are, as far as I have been able to ascertain, more fre-
quently in the coarse reeds of dry marshes where the musk-
rats have formerly built their houses, on the remains of which
the eggs are dropped with little if any attempt at building a
nest. But in one case the brooding place was in a rather
superficial hole in the side of a bank of earth a few feet in
height. The eggs are four in number, purely white and nearly
of the same measurements in either direction. Incubation
begins variously from April 20 to May 10, according to the
locality and the season.

In September, 1891, through the kindness of Mr. J. Fletcher
Williams, of St. Paul, I received a letter from Dr. Chas. A.
Gray, of Waterville, describing three birds of some new species
that had been found in a hollow tree in the vicinity, which from
a photograph accompanying proved them to be the Barn Owl.
but so strikingly like the European that I asked for further
descriptions in the way of measurements, &c., which settled it
specifically as the American Barn Owl. A more comical group
of birds I never saw, and I am under much obligation to Dr.
Gray for it.

My observations of this species in California for 17 years,
have confirmed me in the conviction that it is not particular
where it has its nest; for they occupy the holes of the ground
squirrels, a hole in the rocks, where such are easily found, but
preferably a hollow tree, no matter how deep the cavity, if of suf-
ficient diameter to readily turn about in. That it is a much more
common bird in Minnesota than I have felt at liberty to record
it I strongly suspect, but its nocturnal habits must leave a doubt
about that till more extensive observations have been made.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Entire upper parts pale fawn color or tawny brownish-yel-
low, frequently very pale, nearly every feather with a small
subterminal black spot, succeeded b}^ another of white; under
parts generally pale fawn color, but frequently a pure white

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 207

with small lanceolate and circular spots of brownish -black;
under coverts of wings and tail white; quills fawn color;
primaries with about five irregular transverse bars of brown-
ish-black; tail with about four or five bands of dark brown; face
white; spots of dark chestnut brown around the eyes; irides
brownish-black; bill, toes and claws, light yellowish.

Length (of female), 16; wing, 13; tail 5.50.

Habitat. North America, from New York and Minnesota,
southward through Mexico.

Family BUBONID^

ASIO WILSONIANUS (Lesson). (366.)
AMERICAN LONG-EARED OWL.

Although falling far short of being as common a species in
this State as the Great Horned Owl, {Bubo virginianus), it is
by no means rare. Its extremely reticent, and entirely noctur-
nal habits, have led many, conversant with the general habits
of the birds to suppose it to be a very unusual migrant here,
instead of a permanent resident. For the reasons already
suggested, little is yet known of its breeding habits. A few
nests have come within my observation, some of which were
found within what has since become a portion of our city limits.
Between Lakes Calhoun and Harriet, there is a Tamarack
swamp, very densely wooded, or was until thinned out by the
Lakewood Cemetery Company. In the forks of some of the
tallest members of the group, were some nests of the Long
eared Owl. The nests consist of green larch twigs, leaves and
grass. In the heart of the Big Woods are many small dried
swamps untouched by the woodman's axe. Not many of these
will need to be searched by one practiced in hunting birds'
nests in their season, before the labor will be rewarded by the
discovery of not only the nest of this species, but that also of
the Saw-whet Owl. But of that, more in its own place. The
eggs are four in number, and pure white.

The first brood is on the wing before April is gone, and the
last, by the first of August. Their food consists of mice, and
small birds. No other species of owl is so exclusively noctur-
nal in all of its habits. They are quite generally distributed
where there is heavy timber.

Mr. Washburn found them common at Thief River in Otter
Tail county, from which circumstance we may with abundant
reason, suppose them equally so in the northern sections of
the State generally

208 NOTES ON THE

Very many of this species find their way into the hands of
the taxidermists for mounting. Mr. Howling who has done
nearly all of the mounting of birds for me which I have had
done, has many times called my attention to the variations of
plumage of the Long-eared Owls, in connection with sex and
degrees of maturity. He has always preserved notes of the
different birds sent to him as far as possible, that I might have
the benefit of them.

In this way I have secured many invaluable opportunities
for information.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 pre
dominating. Breast pale fulvous with longitudinal stripes of
brownish-black; abdomen white; every feather with a wide lon-
gitudinal 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; interior 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.

Length (female), 15; wing, 11 to 11.50; tail, 6.

Habitat, temperate North America.

ASIO ACCIPITRINUS (Pallas). (367.)
SHORT-EARED OWL.

In my earlier observations of the birds of Minnesota, I
accepted the conclusion that the Short-eared Owl was decidedly
a rare species. Further observations have changed that con-
clusion. Their proclivity to marshy districts and building
their nests on and in the ground, misled me somewhat, but
since I have become more familiar with their feeding and
breeding habits, I believe them to be, at least, fairly common.
It has been truly said that what the Marsh Hawk is to the
marsh by day, this owl is by night. Essentially nocturnal in
its feeding, it is not absolutely blind in the daytime, but if
flushed from the ground where its colors largely conceal it, it
flies away in a confused manner, and then sails along quite
near to the ground till at a safe distance, and then drops sud-

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 209

denly down into its grassy covert again. Occasionally a
favored locality will harbor several of them in the tangled
grass during the day, to gather a harvest of small water-birds
during the night, as indicated by the feathers in the morning.
They tear open the breast and eat only that portion, leaving
the remainder to tell the tale of their distinctive habits. They
commence flying soon after sunset, and put in their best work
in hunting before the twilight has disappeared, but if not
eminently successful during that time, will work still far into
the night, as is shown by the shallaboo amongst the terns and
snipe.

Sticks, reeds, grass and feathers comprise the materials of
their nests, which are placed on the ground generally, but are
sometimes found in forsaken burroughs. Four white eggs are
laid in May. Whether they rear more than a single brood I
cannot tell, but the young are seen occasionally late enough to
make it highly probable that they do.

It is only occasionally taken, and then usually by hunters
who have little interest in ornithology. However it gets into
the hands of the taxidermist often enough to prove it fairly
common in most parts of the State. Mr. Laurie found it at
Duluth and Mr. Lewis at Red lake. Mr. Washburn does not
mention this species in either of his reports from Mille Lacs
and the Red river valley.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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; eartufts brown, edged with
fulvous; bill and claws dark; irides yellow.

Length (female), 15; wing, 12; tail, 6.

Habitat, North America.

210 NOTES ON THE

SYRNirM NEBrLOSrn (Forster.) (368.)
BARRED OWL.

Next to the Great Horned Owl, the Barred Owl is the most
numerous of any species of its family in Minnesota. Yet they
are less so here than in Illinois, or than formerly so there. They
are slightly (I think considerably) migratory in the southern
portions of the State, moving southward somewhat in severe
winters, but in the pine regions they are not so, for I have
obtained specimens from time to time from lumber camps
during the hardest winters we have ever experienced. During
the summer season many of them get distributed over the
entire prairie regions, when they are even more easily obtained
there than in the densest timber regions. I have found them
in the vicinity of Duluth with little difficulty and hunters
report them frequently met with in duck hunting, particularly
in spring shooting. Several nests have been discovered
within the vicinity of Princeton and two or three near the
north arm of Lake Minnetonka. They breed as early as any
other species, if Bubo virginianus is excepted, the eggs having
been once brought to me fresh on March tenth. They are
pure white, subspherical in form and from four to five in
number. The structure of the nest is quite bulky and is gen-
erally located in a fork of a tree fifty or sixty feet from the
ground. It consists of sticks and leaves principally.

The food of the Barred Owls consists chiefly of field mice,
reptiles and small birds. At the dawn of morning and again
at evening, "twilights mystic hour," it may often be seen
floating silently along the border of the woods or over the
meadows in quest of its humble game, so near the grass or
grain that the wings seem to rest upon it. It cannot be re-
garded as especially a woodland bird, for they are quite as
frequently met with far out on the prairies where not even a
bush can be seen for many weary miles.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 longi-
tudinal stripes of brown; tarsi and toes ashy- white, tinged
with fulvous, generally without spots but frequently mottled
with dark brown; quills brown with six or seven transverse

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 211

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.

Length, 18 to 20; wing, 13 to 14; tail, 9.

Habitat, eastern United States to Minnesota and Texas.

SCOTIAPTEX CINEREA (Gmelin). (370.)

GREAT GRAY OWL.

All statements to the contrary, and by whomsoever made,
this species is not so "far from common" in Minnesota as it
might be. A slip of the pen in the hastily prepared list of
birds, published by the Minnesota Academy of Natural
Sciences in 1874 made me say very common when speaking of
this species, and in my absence some one else read and cor-
rected the proof, who of course did not know that the word not
had been accidentally omitted, which was the case.

The Great Gray Owl is justly called an Arctic species, and is
really a more northern bird than the Snowy Owl {Nyctea
nyctea), yet it has a recognized record as a winter migrant in
Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey.
When I first visited Minnesota Territory between thirty and
forty years ago, I found several specimens of this huge owl in
a collection belonging to a gunsmith whose name I have lost.
which I was informed had been obtained in the immediate vi-
cinity. When in 1858 I removed to Minneapolis, I remembered
this amongst the earlier species of birds in which I conceived a
special interest. Before the close of the winter of 1859, I had
seen five, of which I obtained one myself, Mr. House two and
Mr. Henry two.

In 1874, when the Bulletin of the Academy of Natural
Sciences was published, Mr. Shroeder of St. Paul had two,
Mr. Howling of this city three and I had seen three in priv^ate
collections Since the date of that publication, I have only
seen a few specimens in the hands of sportsmen and the taxi-
dermist for mounting.

All observers admit that they are not seen as often of late as
formerly, in the lower portions of the State at least. Their
food is principally the same as that of the other owls so far as
I have been able to ascertain, and they retire northward in the
latter part of April. I have but one record so late as that date.

212 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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, irregular bands of ashy-
white; tail brown with five or six wide, irregular bands of
ashy white, mottled with dark brow'n; feathers of the disc on
the neck tipped with white; eye nearly encircled by a black
spot; radiating feathers around the eye. with regular trans-
verse narrow bands of dark brown and ashy white; bill pale
yellow; claw^s pale yellowish- white, darker at their tips; iris
bright yellow.

Length, 25 to 30; wing, 18; tail. 12 to 15.

Habitat, Arctic America.

NYCTALA TENGMALMI RI( HAHDSONI (Bonap.). (371.)
RICHARDSON'S OWL.

I believe this owl to be a more northern species, which vis
its the, State considerably in winter. I find it is more common
about the head of Lake Superior than in the middle and south-
ern counties. I have an individual sent me, sometimes
several, from different sections of my field every winter and I
have seen a number in Mr. Howlings' collection at different
times, but by far the larger portion have been from Duluth and
vicinity. It was taken in the dense woods west of Lake Min-
netonka as early as 1869, and persons residing in that region
who claim to be perfectly familiar with the Saw-whet or
Acadian Owl, {N. Acadica) assure me that this form is not
unfrequently seen in the colder weather of winter.

Its food principally is small birds, mice and insects. It is
enough larger than the Saw-whet to make its popular observa-
tion presumably correct.

I shall not be greatly surprised if the nest is found here ul-
timately, notwithstanding it has been considered so exclusively
arctic. It is strictly nocturnal in its habits, living upon small
birds, insects and mice.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

(From Stearns. )

"Above olivaceous chocolate brown, spotted with white; be-
neath, white, spotted and streaked with a brown similar to the
back, but a little darker; disk white; a white spot between the

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 213

bill and the eye; wings and tail with white spots on both webs,
the latter with from eight to ten pairs; bill light yellow; iris
yellow; tarsus feathered.

Length, 10; wing, 7.25; tail, 4.50.

Habitat, Arctic America.

NYCTALA ACADICA (Gmelin). (372.)
SAW-WHET OWL.

This species is quite common in restricted sections, and just
how restricted it is quite impossible to say until its distribution
can be further investigated. As far back as 1868, I frequently
visited a family residing 24 miles from the city and in the heart
of the Big Woods, who were familiar with this species under
its popular name. They assured me that it was a permanent
resident, breeding in woodpeckers' holes sometime in April.
Succeeding opportunities enabled me to confirm their state-
ments, and I found the bird quite common during that portion
of the autumn when luffed grouse shooting was the order of
the day. The nest is furnished with some grass, and feathers
occasionally. The eggs are very clear, almost translucent
white, and four to five in number. It is emphatically a noc-
turnal species, living upon small quadrupeds, birds and insects.
It has been reported to me by the lumbermen at several of the
logging camps in winter.

The larger portion of the earlier choppers were former resi-
dents of Maine, where they said that the Saw-whet was a com-
mon species, and that they knew that this was the same, not
only by its general appearance but by the saw-filing note it
kept up in March specially. This last is a striking character-
istic of the species, and very familiar to observing residents of
the sections where they breed. They are extremely cautious
and sly about their breeding, but at other times they seem quite
confiding. The nests are more commonly placed in the forks
of a sapling, but occasionally in the nest of another bird or in
a knot- hole in a larger tree, and consists of sticks, dry leaves
and feathers. The eggs are layed in early April, and are three
in number, nearly round in outline, and pure white. The food
of the Saw-whets is principally insects in summer, but they eat
almost anything when driven to it by hunger.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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

214 NOTES ON THE

concealed spots of white; face ashy- white; throat white; under
parts ashy-white, with longitudinal stripes of pale reddish-
brown; under coverts 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.

Length, 7.50 to 8; wing, 5.50.

Habitat, North America.

MEGASCOPS ASIO (L.). (373.)

SCREECH OWL.

This owl's presence in different portions of the timbered sec-
tions has been verified beyond a question, by its distinctive
notes for a great many years, yet it has only occasionally been
seen. When riding through the dark primeval forest which
formerly encompassed Lake Minnetonka, it was no unusual
experience in early .-spring, to hear one or more of these birds
screech in the distance, particularly if a few rays of a pretty full
moon found their way through the leafless branches. That
they breed here there can be no doubt, for they are here in
summer. But one nest has been found that I have had the
privilege of examining. It was in a hollow stump and con-
sisted of grass, leaves, plenty of moss, and some feathers.

It contained four, nearly round, polished, white eggs, having
been discovered about the 10th of May, but was not invaded
till the 16th.

The lumbermen claim that they hear their screechings at
times all winter in the pine forests about Mille Lacs, and other
logging sections.

Dr. Hvoslef reports them "occasional" at Lanesboro, but
does not state at what season of the year.

Mr. Washburn makes the same report from Devil's Lake in
August.

The nest is generally in a hole in a tree at varying elevations
from the ground, but has occasionally been found in other situ-
ations, notably about isolated old outhouses and barns. They
build about the first week in May.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper parts pale ashy-brown, with longitudinal lines of
brownish-black, mottled irregularly with the same and with
cinereous; under parts ashy- white, with longitudinal stri]ies of
brownish-black, and with transverse lines of the same color;
face, throat and tarsi ashy white, irregularly lined and mottled

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 215

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.

Length, 9.50 to 10; wing. 7; tail, 8.50.

Habitat, eastern North America.

BUBO YIRGINIANUS (Gemelin). (375.)
GREAT HORNED OWL.

A lad about ten years of age recently visited the Twin Cities,
who had never seen a good many things, among which this
famous Night King of the forest. He had read of the species,
but having never seen a forest, or even a forest tree in his
life, until on his way here it was not strange that he had
never looked upon, or heard the notes of this wonderful bird.
Let us imagine his surprise when he was halfway across a
narrow arm of a larch swamp) spanned by turnpike, walking
deliberately beside a friend, and heard in the darkness the
dismal, weird, hoo-o, hoo-o, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, of the Great
Horned Owl. The half-breathed half-uttered. ''Gosh!"' be-
comes eloquent in our imaginations, without the touch of any-
thing bordering on the profane. When I was a lad of the same
age, and accustomed to hearing those notes. I was spending
the night with a family of friends, in a densely wooded portion
of the country, at a time when the moon was ' full. ' Stepping
out of the door into the flood of the moonlight just before
retiring, I heard a characteristic hoot, a long distance away,
and boylike, hooted back to it. In an instant a response to me
came from a much nearer point, but in another direction, to
which I replied as promptly, and again received an answer;
and this reciprocal hooting for less than a quarter of an hour,
brought seven different owls of the kind simultaneously
within visible distance of where I stood, in the shadow of a
projecting limb of a lofty elm. While quietly contemplating
my success in deceiving and alluring such an unprecedented
number of owls, a boom from one of them that had, unheard,
perched immediately over my head, burst upon me so suddenly
that my courage forsook me, and I sprang incontinently from
my hiding place into the clear moonlight, where a glance up-
ward embraced the monstrous bird with every feather erect,
and eyes expanded, glaring down upon me, instantly following
which he spread his broad wings and sailed away into depths

16z

216 NOTES ON THE

of the dark forest out of my sight. He looked to me vaster in
all his proportions than all of my conceptions of Milton's
winged Apolyon, as he floated silently into the shadows of the
night.

These are the most numerous of the eleven or twelve species
met with within our borders, and the largest of the assured
permanent residents. They more commonly build their nests
in the forks of the loftiest trees of the woodlands, far from
habitations. It is constructed of sticks first, over which are
laid twigs. These are sometimes massed inconsiderable quan-
tities, and give the general dishing form to the structure.
Whithin it is lined with leaves, moss, and grasses, with occa-
sionally a few feathers from the owl's own body; but these may
be the mere accidental sheddings which have occurred while
occupying the nest. The eggs are white with a tinge of yel-
low, nearly spherical in form, and from three to four in number.

The period in which they enter upon their nesting varies
greatly with different pairs. I do not find much difference
from one year to another so far as the average time in which
they build is concerned, as they take no consideration of cold;
but I find the first nests begun earlier than in any other locality
in which I have ever observed them. My earliest personal
record is February 7th, and the latest April 7th, which I do not
think is as late as they .sometimes build, judging from the young
owls occasionally offered by country boys in the market for
pets. Their value to the farmer is slowly gaining acknowledg-
ment amongst farmers in all sections of our wheat growing
commonwealth from their great destruction of field mice espec-
ially.

The habits of the Great Horned Owls of working dire de-
struction amongst the domestic fowls that perch in exposed
places, has produced a most unreasonable prejudice against
the species by farmers, and hence he finds no mercy amongst
them, but it exposes a very reprehensible practice of leaving
their poultry to shift for themselves instead of providing
secure quarters for them in a house devoted to their welfare.
Even featherless bipeds have found that hens and chickens are
good eating, and it is not strange if the facilities of this species
for seizing and bearing them away so safely and securely
should have suggested the trial for themselves, and succeeding
so admirably, had perpetuated the practice. But the debit
column against this bird should not stand alone, for there is
another of credit, embracing rabbits, so destructive to young

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 217

fruit trees, skunks, more destructive to the poultry than the owls
are, mink, weasels, etc., which will more than balance the
account. Let the owls all live, and securely protect the poultry
from not only the owls, but the animals, too. The habits of
the species are too familiar to repeat them here, as the young
have been so frequently captured for pets and reared in cap-
tivity that little of interest can be readily added. But woe to
the unprotected poultry when one of these civilized marauders
assumes his liberty in a favorable hour. Neither Mr. Wash-
burn, nor any other observers have added anything to the
local history of this species.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 mot-
tled, and with regular transverse lines of pale ashy and red-
dish-fulvous, the latter being the color of all the plumage at
the base of the feathers; ear tufts dark brown, nearly black,
edged on their inner webs with dark fulvous; a black spot
above the eye; radiating feathers behind the eye varying in
color from nearl}^ 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 with 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 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.

Length (female), 21 to 25; wing, 14.50 to 16; tail, 10.

Habitat, eastern North America.

NTCTEA NTCTEA (L.). (376.)
SNOWY OWL.

Although never an abundant, or even a common species, the
Snowy Owl was formally seen in the middle and southern sec-
tions of the State much more frequently than in late years.
Two different causes have doubtless contributed to this de-
crease. In the early settlement of the country they were left

218 NOTES ON THE

quite undisturbed, but with the disti'ibution of subsequent set-
tlements, an occasional bird fell before the farmer's gun. The
old, mature bird, always war3^ grew cautious, and gave the
vicinity of dwellings a wide berth. After a time Minnesota
became a famous resort for deer and Ruffed Grouse shooting,
late enough for sportsmen to catch a shot at a Snowy Owl.
Taxidermists all over the land offered high prices for them to
mount, which brought every boy with a shotgun in his posses-
sion into the field for them in particular. The consequence
has been to send the wary old, mature individuals of the spe-
cies around some other way, or make them exceedingly
arboreal in their habits in winter. For many years now, not
less than nine in every ten of them seen or collected, have
been the young of the year. Indeed, it is only occasionally met
with in the sections alluded to, even in the first plumage now,
but in the northern, swampier, and more heavily timbered
sections, it is as well represented as ever, so far as I can learn
from others and from personal observation.

Sometimes earlier, but generally the first of these birds
arrive from the north about the 15th of November. They
remain until about the first of May. after which they are
seldom seen.

It is emphatically a Grouse Owl, as any one who examines
the ingesta will readily see. It hunts its prey mostly in the
twilight of evening and morning, but has equally good day
vision, though manifestly preferring cloudy days when much
exposed. The nearly complete white plumage is only attained
in the third or fourth year.

Mr. Lewis found them ' 'rather common for the species'" in
Becker county, and at Leech lake the 19th to 23d of Octo-
ber. Mr. Washburn met them "occasionally"' in Otter Tail
between October ninth and November tenth. Specimens of the
young were obtained during March and April, and in Novem-
ber of the present year (1887), within a few miles of Min-
neapolis and St. Paul.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill nearly concealed by projecting plumes; eyes large:
entire plumage white, frequently with a few spots or imperfect
bands, only on the upper parts dark brown, and on the under
parts with 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 the dark brown color varies
much in different specimens; frequehtly both upper and under

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 219

parts are very distinctly banded transversely, and sometimes
this color predominates on the back; plumage of the legs and
toes pure snowy white; bill and claws horn color; irides
yellow.

Length (female), 26; wing. 17 to 19; tail, 10.

Habitat. Northern portions of Northern Hemisphere.

SURMA ULUIiA CAPAROCH (Muller). (377a.)

AMERICAN HAWK OWL.

I have never seen the Hawk Owl in the flesh more than once,
but I have found it mounted in the collections of local taxider-
mists man}^ times since my residence in the State. It really
looks '-more a hawk than an owl," but its habits of hunting in
the day-time — notably cloudy, gloomy days — makes it seem so
more than do its looks. Its southern migration from its reputed
arctic home must be considerably into the winter, for all the
specimens I have known of having been taken have been well
on towards spring, and in March I believe, — possibly one in
early April, which is occasionally as much winter as is March.

As it breeds in New England, it may do so here. Its food is
birds and mice principally. None have been reported to me
as having been seen later than early April, as already inti-
mated.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 cir-
cular 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 -j^ello wish; irides yellow; color of upper
parts darker on the head, and the white markings more or less
numerous in different specimens.

Length (female), 16 to 17; wing, 9; tail. 7.

Habitat. Arctic America.

Note. — The Hawk Owl has come under mj^ eye so often since
writing the foregoing, that I cannot regard it as really rare
any longer. I have met with them in November three times in
eight years, within seven miles of Minneapolis, and found sev-
eral in the taxidermists' collections during the same period.

L. P. H.

Older COCCYGES.

Family ( LCULID^.

COCCYZUS AMERICANUS (L.). (387.)
YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO.

This widely distributed species had escaped my observation
long after the Black-billed Cuckoo had become exceedingly
familiar to me here, but in the spring of 1867 I met with a
pair on the 30th of April, in some brushland bordering the
heavy timber within a mile of the Mississippi river at Min-
neapolis. Having secured them both, I made exceptional
efforts to find others, which however proved unavailing, and I
was thus left to the presumption that they were probably
stragglers until the next year, when to my great joy, I found
them again on the 14th of May, in the timber but a short dis-
tance from one of our small, beautiful lakes, not two miles
from where I first saw the others a year earlier. This time
they were breeding. The nest, constructed of dry sticks,
loosely interwoven and covered with some moss and catkins
from the blossoming trees, was placed on a horizontal limb of
an oak about seven feet from the ground. It contained four
greenish-blue eggs.

From that time until the present, I have see them at irregu-
lar intervals, but it is not a common species in any section I
have personally explored.

A friend of mine, much interested in the habits of familiar
species, had the fortune to secure a nest at Lake Minnetonka,
under very simular circumstances, a year later. Mr. Lewis
says of this species, "Common at Pelican lake. Becker
county." He was familiar with the Black-billed Cuckoo, and
could scarcely have been mistaken between the two birds. Mr.
Howling as well as several others of our taxidermists have had
specimens in their collections from time to time. They are

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 221

not a very wild, or over-cautious bird and yet are more arbor-
eal in their habits than the Black- billed Cuckoos. They leave
the country soon after the first sharp frosts of autumn.

Their food consists largely of catterpillers, larvse, and
smaller forms of insects.

Whenever I have seen this bird it has invariably been in the
timber, where thickets prevail, and I have almost uniformly
found it on the ground apparently feeding upon insects and
larvse. It would slip into the thicket instantly, through open-
ings so small as to seem impossible to a bird of so great exten-
sion of its wings. As soon as well concealed, perhaps not
twenty yards away, it would remain perfectlj' motionless until,
with my field glass I could find and note it at my leisure, so
long as I made no advance.

I have been disappointei in not getting more reports of this
species from other sections of the State, and must think the
reason is its extreme shyness, and not its total absence. I
know of no other bird of its marked proportions which is so
difficult to observe, for the reasons mentioned.

It will be driven a mile without appearing in sight above the
brushy thickets it frequents, slipping alike through the peril-
ous meshes of a thorn-bush and a prickly ash. I have pursued
them in this manner until an opening compelled them to
expose themselves for a moment, when they would fly as near
the ground as possible to the next thicket, in which passage
lay my only opportunity in securing them.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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

Length, 12; wing, 5.95; tail, 6.35.

Habitat, temperate North America.

COYCCZUS ERYTHR0PHTHALMU8 (Wilson). (388.)

BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO.

This species is, and has ever been a more regular summer
resident than the Yellow- billed Cuckoo, reaching us about the
25th of April, often a little earlier or a little later. In common
with the other species of cuckoo, the male precedes the female

222 NOTES ON THE

about a week or ten days, and they mate very soon after her
arrival. Its habits differ from the other mostly in its prefer-
ence for open places, and cultivated fields, while that is more
reclusive, occupying the forests mainly.

The nest of this species is quite uniformly located in a bush
or small tree, and is constructed of roots, twigs, leaves, cat-
kins and moss.* They lay four eggs, also greenish-blue, but
of considerable darker shade than those of the Yellow-billed
Cuckoo.

The notes sent me by correspondents nearly all testify to
the presence of this bird during the season of incubation.

Mr. Washburn found it still in the Red river valley about
the first of September. It generally remains until from the
15th to the 20th of that month, and disappears as silently as it
came.

Dr. Hvoslef reports it at Lanesboro on the 25th of May, when
of course it was presumptively breeding. Professor Herrick
made a note of this species in his collections for the museum
of the State University in 1875. Indeed it is a common species
of its genus.

It prefers the vicinity of damp, shaded places, in the borders
of wooded tracts, more commonly, but is often found in the
fields and gardens, or on grass patches, surrounded by
thickets.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill entirely black; upper parts generally of a metallic green-
ish-olive, ashy towards 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 hoarj' 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 around the eye; iris hazel.

Length, 12; wing, 5; tail, 6.50.

Habitat, eastern North America.

•Several instances have now been reported to me, and I have observed one person-
ally, where the nest was placed on the trunk of a decaylnf: log, and the one I found
consisted only of dry sticks and catkins of the maple, while those reported embraced
roots, twlgri and grass in their structure. In another Instance I saw a Black-billed
Cuckoo sitting in the middle of an obsolete cow path in the woods, and as it did not
fly at sight of me, I approached it cautiously, thinking perhaps it was wounded, and I
could not have l)eeii more than ten feet from it when it threw out one wing and the
corresponding leg. and fluttered along just out of my reach until thirty feet away
before it disappeared in the tliicket, but I had not been deceived, for two character-
istic eggs liad been left completely exposed on the spot she left. All indications of a
nest were absent, and the eggs were fresh, as tlieir blowing afterwards proved.

I looked carefully for the remains of a nest possibly destroyed by an enemy, but I
could find none, nor was I successful In finding a mate near.

This was on tlie 14th of May, 1877. It was remarkable, and quite inexplicable to me.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 223

Family ALCEDIXID^.

CERYLE ALCYON (L.). (390.)

BELTED KINGFISHER.

This quaint fisherman is an early migrant, reaching Minne
sota about the first of April. In some springs it has come on
the 5th of March, (1883), then the 26th, once on the 29th, then
on the 15th of April, &c. Its autumnal disappearance is quite
as irregular; in one season going as late as Nov. 3d, in another,
Dec. 5th, and so on, but usually going about the last of October.

They mate soon after their arrival, and are soon engaged in
excavating a hole in the bank of a stream or lake, to the depth
of about six feet, where they often make a square angle, and
carry it a foot or two farther. There they enlarge it somewhat,
and build in the extremity a nest composed of grasses, leaves
and feathers.

This hole and nest is also used as a resting place at night,
after the young are matured. It is a little remarkable that a
family reared so associated together, can become completely
disorganized as soon as the young are fully developed, yet it is
a patent fact that by the first of September, all relations are
dissolved, and each individual henceforth fishes alone.

Nowhere that my investigations have been extended, has
this curious crank of the bird kingdom, been found absent from
his chosen haunts at the season of his summer visitations.

In the proper place I should have said that they lay six pure
white, nearly spherical eggs, which require sixteen days for
incubation.

Their clamatorial rattle, is too familiar to everybody to re-
quire notice. Like many another good fisherman, "poor
Alcie" is often compelled to retire on a light supply of fish
diet, but it does not take him as long to dry out and get warm
as it does the others. If the small fry are running lively, his
stone-like drop from an overhanging limb, is a pretty certain
antecedent to a rise with a minnow, crosswise in his bill; but
when he is compelled to wait fifteen, twenty and thirty minutes
for a single one to put in an appearance, he is not very certain
of his game. I have seen them strike half a dozen times before
securing one. His history would need a volume to half tell it.

224 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head with a long crest; above blue, without metallic lustre:
beneath with a concealed 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; primaries
white on the basal half, the terminal unspotted; tail with trans-
verse bands and spots of white.

Young with the sides of the 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, 12.75; wing, 6; tail short.

Habitat. North America.

Order PICI.

Family PICID^E.

DRYOBITES VILLOSrS(L) (393.)

HAIRY WOODPECKER.

The Hairy Woodpecker must be accepted as a permanent
resident with the qualification that he numerously visits more
northern sections in summer. Enough remain to retain per-
manent proprietorship for the family, however. Nesting
holes are excavated in old. partially decayed trees, at different
elevations as availability may determine, and some half a yard
in depth, in the bottom of which are deposited four or five
clear white, smooth, thin- shelled eggs, with somewhat of a
roseate tint. No soft materials underly them except fine chips
of rotten wood perhaps.

The nidification of this species is said to be more observable
in the northern counties, but certainly it is by no means com-
mon through the southern, or middle counties. Its winter dis-
tribution is restricted to the dense forests, notably the pine
districts.

In the latter days of February usually, individuals of this
species, often accompanied by a pair of the Downy Woodpeck-
ers make their appearance about our outhouses and shrubbery,
but they pay only brief visits until somewhat later, when they
are seen more frequently, and remain longer when they come.
When the genial suns of May have made the world once more
all beautiful, they disappear for nidification. Then they must
be sought for in the forest principally, although occasionally a
pair by some means, ignores specific conventionalities, and
builds in the end of a fence rail not a hundred yards from a
dwelling, or in a hole in a fruit tree not half that distance
away. They have been known to breed on the campus of the
State University as early as the 3d of May, but that is nearly
two weeks earlier than some enter upon nest building.

226 NOTES ON THE

Reports of their presence, come from every portion of the
wooded sections of the State heard from, which I have not per-
sonally visited. Dr. Hvoslef at Lanesboro. Prof. Herrick at
Lake Shetak, Rev. Mr. Laurie at Duluth, Mr. Washburn at
Mille Lacs, and in Otter Tail County, where he says; "Exceed-
ingly common, and permanent residents." He further states
that he "found it at Georgetown, Ada, and at St. Vincent."

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Wilsons' specific description of this common species is the
only one I have ever seen, and I but follow an almost uniform
example in giving it as follows: — "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, some-
times 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 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 stripe that joins the
black on the shoulder; back black, divided by a broad, lateral
stripe of white, the feathers composing which, are loose and
unwebbed, resembling hairs, whence its name; rump and
shoulders 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 shaf-
ted 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 mouth, flesh colored;
tongue pointed, beset with barbs and capable of being pro-
truded more than an inch and a half; the oshyodes in this
species, passes on each side of the neck, ascends the skull,
passes down toward the nostril, and is wound round the bone
of the right eye. which projects considerably more than the
left, for its accomodation. The great mass of hairs that cover
the nostril, appears to be designed as a projection to the front
of the head, when the bird is engaged in digging holes into
the wood."

This species, in common with two or three others of the fam-
ily, is popularly credited with sucking the sap of fruit and
ornamental trees, which, however, has been abundantly dis-
proved, but not until the name saij.mcker became a common
appellation. If there had been any just ground for the ungra-
cious charge, it should not fall upon this species, on account of

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 227

its unsocial habits, which mostly isolate it from the habitations
of man, but upon its near relative, the Downy Woodpecker,
which clings to the vicinity of our dwellings when they are
surrounded with shrubbery and trees.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head, back of neck, sides of back, wings, and central tail-
feathers black; stripe above and below the eye, the lower ex-
tending up the side of the neck; stripe down the middle of back,
side-feathers of tail, under parts and round spots in rows across
the wings, white; the male having two bright red spots in the
white stripes on the back of the head.

Length, 9; wings. 5; tail, 3.50; bill, 1.12; foot, 1.65.

Habitat. Middle portion of eastern portion of United States,
from the Atlantic to the Great Plains.

DRYOBATES PUBESCENS (L.). (394 )
DOWNY WOODPECKER.

This seems to be but a small edition of the other Dryobates
until we study his habits and characteristics somewhat atten-
tively, when we find he is a better carpenter, cutting his hole
into harder wood, leaving the entrance much more artistically
finished, and in giving the first few inches of its descent into
the tree, an inclination before it takes a perpendicular course
for the remaining foot. The excavation is made abundantly
capacious for the nest, and left as smoothly surfaced as if a
carpenter of a higher genus had performed the work. And
instead of dumping the chips at the entrance, he distributes
them at sufficient distance from the tree to prevent any signs
of house building for enemies to avail themselves of. In addi-
tion to these distinguishing traits, these birds are content to
remain about the districts of their habitual dwelling places for
nidification, and rearing their young. It is almost unparalleled
amongst its own family for its strength, energy, diligence, per-
severance, and absence of fear. The earliest I have succeeded
in securing eggs has been about the 25th of May, but I believe
it occasionally deposits them earlier. Late in fall, in winter,
and in early spring, this species is much associated with the
Titmice and Nuthatches in their rambles for food, both of
which it usually leads in the hunt. In severe winter weather
the whole group keep to the evergreen swamps very closely
until it relaxes, when they make up time in the deciduous for-
ests. On the whole, it is not quite as numerous as its near rela-
tive, but far more social.

228 NOTES ON THE

Mr. Washburn found that species • • exceedingly common,
both in Otter Tail and Mille Lacs," while this '-was not very
common." Lumbermen in the uninhabited pineries become
greatly attached to this woodpecker on account of its habit of
following them in their work. Considerable numbers of them,
associated with Nuthatches and Titmice, visit their camps al-
most daily. They are occasionally seen in the most central
part of the city in March on sunny days. They were reported
fairly common at Lanesboro in the severest part of the winter.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 head, the lower one 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 the 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, 6.25; wings, 3.75.

Habitat, northern and eastern North America.

PICOIDES ARCTICrS (Swainson). (400.)
ARCTIC THREE-TOED WOODPECKER.

This is not a common Woodpecker in any part of the State,
but more nearly so in the Lake Superior, and northern pinery
regions than the middle and southern districts. An occasional
individual migrating somewhat southerly in winter, gets into
the hands of collectors as far south as Minneapolis, as they
are to be seen in the collections of the taxidermists in both St.
Paul and Minneapolis, and have been ever since 1 have resided
here. The only specimens which I have obtained have been
one sent from Duluth*, and another from the pineries, some-
what east of Mille Lacs. They were both adult males. It has
been said that this species exhibits a preference for swamps,

• Prof. W. W. Cook wrote me that he shot a female of this species 3Iay 2a, 1881, near
Detroit, in Becker county, which contained large, well developed ova. It was in a
clump of dead pines tliat were full of holes.

Mr. Washhurn secured a specimen at Mille Lacs. I bear that the eggs of this bird
have been obtained recently in Mille Lacs, but have not seen them. Parties living In
the vicinity of Princeton seem to think it not a very rare bird in the sandy, pine
region, near that place, and that its habits In no way distinguish it from any other
Woodpeckers. The markings however do, so that there Is little reason to doubt Its
Identy upon their description, 1 think.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 229

but upon what authority I am unable to say. It is a well
known characteristic of all the Woodpeckers remaining over
winter, to resort to the thickets in the denser forests during the
rigorous periods of winter, where they secure the most complete
protection. But this does not constitute a specific character-
istic habit. Many species in several different orders of birds
do so, showing that it is not even a generic trait. So far as I
have been able to learn, this bird affects dry and preferably
elevated portions of coniferous forests. When collecting birds
at Lake Tahoe, in the Sierra Nevada mountains, in April and
May, 1870, at an elevation of nearly 8, 000 feet, this woodpecker
was rather a common species. Again, in the Cascade moun-
tains, east of Portland, I met with it no less frequently last
May. I have never heard its note, and know nothing of its
special breeding habits.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 con-
cealed white line from the eye a short distance backward, 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; exposed portion of the two outer
tail feathers (first and second) white; bill bluish black, and
the lower mandible grayish-blue; iris bluish-black.

Length, 9.50; wing. 5; tail 3.85.

Habitat, northern North America from the Arctic regions
south to the northern border of the United States; much fur-
ther south in the western parts, embracing Nevada and
California, along the mountain ranges.

PICOIDES AMERICANUS Brehm. (401.)
AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER.

I enter this species upon rumor, having never had the bird
in my own hands for indentification. I am credibly informed
that several specimens have been obtained on what is called
' 'the north shore, " that is of Lake Superior, a portion of the
western extremity of which extends into Minnesota.

I presume that they have been reported, and have received
a place in the proceedings of some eastern scientific journal
which I have not seen, as they were obtained, I understand,
for the museum of some institution of learning there. But the

230 NOTES ON THE

fact that they have been obtained at a lower latitude in Wis-
consin, adjoining us, and in Massachusetts, and that Richard-
son found them on that "north shore." I feel justified in this
instance to record the species upon rumor. I have not the
slightest doubt but what it belongs to our fauna, and that
future observers will find it not very rare.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Black above; the back with transverse bands of white to the
rnmp; 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 dark hazel.

Length, 8 to 9; wing, 4.45 to 4. HO; tail, 3.35 to 3.50.

Habitat, northern North America, from the arctic regions
southward, in winter to the northern United States.

SPHYRAPICl S VARUS (L.) (402.)
YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER.

This woodpecker is fairly common throughout the wooded
districts, arriving from the first to the fifteenth of April.
Those familiar with the species recognize its presence at once
by its hammering or drumming of its strong bills on the larger
limbs and trunks of partially dead trees. It is said to be a
diversion of which they are peculiarly fond, and not as for-
merly supposed, the zealous effort of a hungry woodpecker to
get a morsel to eat. Their note is exceptionally loud, spirited
and distinct, but less voluble than some of the other species.
Their food consists of larvae buried underneath the outer bark
of trees and insects of the smaller species, to which some add
the sap of trees of various kinds. This latter habit may pos-
sibly be the case when they are more thirsty than hungry. A
number of other species have been charged with destroying
valuable trees by tapping them too extensively for food. The
question has not yet been definitely settled and possibly may
not be for a good while. My own observations have inclined
me away from the sap-food theory.

They mate about the first of May and by the twentieth the
nest has been excavated in the trunk of a large tree, perfectly
sound or partially decayed, and from forty to sixty feet from
the ground in many cases, but occasionally much lower. As a

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 231

g-eneral thing it is located on the southerly side and directly
underneath a large limb, but not invariably so. Still I have
never yet met with an instance of its being on the north side
of the tree.

They seem to manifest no choice between the borders, or the
interior of the forests, onlj^ that the tree chosen more com-
monl}" is one of considerable size. Both sexes participate in
the excavation of the nest, which in a green or a very dry tree,
is sometimes a tedious and prolonged undertaking. The work-
manship in such cases is highly artistic, looking more as if a
carpenter of a higher order and genus, with modern tools, had
performed it. They lay four pure-white eggs. When the young
come out, and have become considerably grown, they creep
out onto the outside of the tree and larger branches daily until
strong enough to &y, after which the whole family hunt to-
gether until about the 10th of October, when they move ofl:
southward to winter. That they sometimes rear a second
brood in the same season seems almost certain, as I have found
young birds as late as the fifth of October, and Mr. M. W. Van-
denburg, of Fort Edward, N. Y. , who was visiting this city in
1S70, reported a young bird of this species on the 17th of that
month. But this is certainly very exceptional.

Mr. Lewis found them one of the most common woodpeckers
of Becker and Cass counties, breeding in June. Mr. Washburn
reported them as common at Georgetown, about the first of
August. Dr. Hvoslef mentions them as at Lanesboro, but does
not speak of their relative frequency. Prof. Herrick found
them at Lake Shetak, and Mr. Treganowan at Big Stone. But
I was a little surprised that Mr. U. S, Grant, assistant of Prof.
Winchell on the geological survey, did not find them in either
St. Louis. Lake or Cook counties, in the northeastern portion
of the state. His observations embraced the month of August,
when if the species is represented there at all. they certainly
must have fallen under his notice, as they were then moving
about supposably in family groups of five or six, embracing
parents and young.

Becker and Cass counties are nearly as far north as those
where Mr. Grant made his valuable observations, so that the
question of mere latitude gives no explanation for their absence.
Besides, it is well known that "Sir John Richardson found it
common in the fur countries," (N. A. Birds, p. 540,) very much
further to the north. Kennicott makes no mention of them at
the Lake of the Woods, although it was as late, when he was
there, as the bird has been reported in the Saskatchewan.

16z

232 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Fourth quill longest; third a little shorter: first considera-
bly 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 yel
lowish of the belly, and a stripe along the edges of the wing
coverts, white; a triangular broad spot of scarlet on the chin,
bordered on each side by black stripes from the lower mandi-
ble, 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. Iris dark hazel.

Length, 8.25; wing, 4.75; tail, 3.30.

Habitat, North America, north and east of the Great Plains.

CEOPHLffilS PILEATIS (L.) (405.)
PILEATED WOODPECKER.

This is a magnificent bird as seen in his own haunts in the
forest. I shall not soon forget the occasion, nor the scene
which embraced the species as the central figure. It was a
stirring, crisp, October morning in the heavy forest belt lying
west of Minneapolis about twenty miles, where I was putting
in a day amongst the Ruffed Grouse which then literally
abounded there. My attention was at first arrested by a ham-
mering that resembled that of the Woodpeckers except in its
being so much louder. It was, however, so continuous that I
determined to ascertain its source. I had a dog with me that
was coursing unrestrained through the woods. He evidently
had preceded me in an endeavor to investigate the source of the
hammering, and at the moment of my decision, had flushed the
bird, which came directly to a tree not more than twenty yards
distant from where I was standing as still as a statue. It did
not discover me, but in an attitude of suspense, and listening
to the footfalls of the dog, which had now no idea of where it
was, it gave me an exhibition of itself which Audubon would
have gone to Halifax to see, in which it remained motionless,
long enough to have been "taken with a slow plate." and in
which I can never more forget him. notwithstanding having
seen him many times since then in almost every other attitude
possible to even a woodpecker. Presently the dog drew nearer,
and then he began to prance around the trunk of the majestic

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 238

maple on which he had perched, in such a manner as to keep
the tree between himself and the dog, which brought him suc-
cessively into, and out of view, as the dog circled about us on
the scent of grouse with his eyes and nose downward, in total
forgetfulness of the woodpecker, which the latter did not fail
to perceive. A finer study in natural history I never enjoyed,
nor hope to, and it cost me a momentary severe struggle to
draw trigger upon such a central figure in such a scene.

In those days of sporting and collecting combined, I enjoyed
repeated opportunities for hearing their hammerings, and their
sonorous notes, that were distinct a mile away, when there was
no undue disturbance by the wind.

I never climbed to the hole in which the eggs are deposited,
but I have utilized the climbing son of a farmer residing in the
forest west of Minnetonka, who explored several for me from
time to time. The hole is excavated out of the trunk of a dead,
and partially decayed tree, and is usually about half a yard in
depth, much larger at the bottom than at the entrance, and
contains no materials except the chips of the excavation to a
limited amount. Onto these are deposited the five to six, clear,
large white eggs, which are brought out by the alternate incu-
bation of the two birds. This nest is first entered about the
first to the tenth of April.

The food of the Pileated Woodpeckers does not materially
differ from that of other woodpeeckers.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 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 of the head, replaced by black.

Length, 18; wing, 9.50; tail, 7.

Habitat, formerly the whole wooded region of North America;
now rare in all and extirpated in many.

234 NOTES ON THE

MELANERPES ERYTHROCEPftALl S (L.) (406.)
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER.

In the spring of 1869, I found these birds on the campus of
the State University as early as March 14th, and from that
time, an occasional one also in a cluster of burr oaks,
(Q. illicifoUa), on an elevated suburb of the city, until about
the first of May. after which they came in greater numbers,
and from the tenth to the fifteenth, constructed their nests.
They cannot be called a numerous species here, although fairly
represented in a good many sections. The date of their first
arrival varies exceedingly in different years. From 1858 to the
year before mentioned, no local records show them to have come
earlier than the twentieth of April, and there was one year
when none were seen until the twelfth of May, when they were
simultaneously observed at every point with which I had cor-
respondence. This unusual delay was not produced by the
infelicity of the season, for it was not an exceptionally cold, or
a specially late one. The cause remains a mystery to me.

About the twelfth of May they commence to excavate a hole
in a tree, either in the neighborhood of dwellings or. in the
woods, as the case may require, in which labor the sexes en-
gage with great industry and perseverance until the work is
done. The hole is about half a yard in depth, and is larger at
its extremity, from which to the entrance it is gradually tapered
to the smallest capacit}^ practicable for the entrance of the birds.
It is without lining of any kind, except a few chips left by the
carpenter, and in due time receives five or six very beautiful,
clear white eggs. The surface of the eggs is remarkably
polished — a characteristic common to the family, I think.
The observation of young birds as late as the first of July gives
a reasonable presumption that they rear two broods, but this
may be from having been robbed of the first nest, or the ex-
treme delay of the vernal migration.

Their habits are so well known that it seems useless to
record them here. Like nearly all other members of the
family they are under the charge of destroying trees by suck-
ing their sap — the most imbecile slander which ever lived half
so long. Their mouth parts have not a single adaptation to
such a use as that of snckiny, yet they may possibly eat the
inner bark, or alburnum, in botanical parlance. Still, I do not
believe they do even that, for the testimony of abundant ob-
servers Avorthv of our hiarhest confidence is that the boring is

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 285

only incidental, and unavoidable to their destruction of insects
which are the real destroyers of the trees, and whose work is
usually charged to the woodpeckers. They cannot equally be
defended against the charge of destroying fruit sometimes, but
we can afford them a reasonable apology when we credit them
with the destruction of so many of its worst enemies.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head and neck all around crimson red, margined by a narrow
crescent of black on the upper part of the breast; back, pri-
mary 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.

Sexes alike.

Length, 9.75; wing, 5.50; (tail not given).

Habitat, United States, west to the Rocky mountains, strag-
glers reaching Salt Lake valley; rare, or local east of the
Hudson river.

COLAPTES AURATIS (L ). (412.)
FLICKER.

At once the most abundant, and extensively distributed of
all of the woodpeckers which \'isit Minnesota. It reaches us
early in April, and remains until late in October, individuals
lingering not altogether infrequently into November. The
dates through a series of annual records give March 28th
April 1st, 5th, 8th. 10th, &c.

I have heard rumors of individuals of this species having
been seen at different times in the winter, but not sufficiently
authenticated for unqualified acceptance. As I have known to
be the case with several other even less hardy species, it is
possible that a wound might have disabled the bird temporarily
for its migratorial flight, and when able to endure it, find the
winter upon it so fully as to intimidate it for the effort. It
certainly is no place for such after the holidays. The places
chosen for the nest may be on the whole a little more elevated,
but otherwise their habits in no way differ from the others of
its family.

The nests are constructed, and the full five to six pure white
translucent eggs deposited by the 1st to the 10th of May.

None other bird of its entire order is so welcome, coming
back among the earliest after the severe, prolonged, irksome
winter has finally gone, with its cheery hurrah, the nearest
expression to which I can formulate being in hurric-ah, hur-

236 NOTES ON THE

ric-ah, hurric ah, repeated all the way from two or three, to
seven or eight times in rather deliberate succession. But their
common habits are too well known to require, or justify an
attempt to describe them in a report which aims principally to
establish identity, and characteristic local habits, more especi
ally of less familiar species.

Sometimes they levy a modest toll upon the shocks and
stacks of the farmer, and thus come under the shadow of his
anathemas, but their destruction of insects and worms is too
invaluable to bring them absolutely under his proscription.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Shafts, under surfaces of wings, and tail feathers, gamboge-
yellow; a black patch on each cheek; a red crescent on the
nape; throat, and stripe beneath the eye, pale lilac brown;
back glossed with olivaceous green; 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; bill slender, depressed at base, compressed;
culmen much curved; pointed, but not truncate; nostrils basal,
medium, oval, exposed; feet large; tail long, exceeding the
secondaries, feathers acuminate.

Length, 12.50; wing, 6.

Habitat, northern and eastern North America, west to the
eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains and Alaska. Occasional
on the Pacific slope from California northward.

Order MACEOCHTEES.

Family C APPii:\rULGID^.
ANTROSTOMUS YOCIFERUS (Wilson). (417.)

WHIP-POOR-WILL.

This -weird night-bird, so familiar and so dear to all who
have listened to its song in childhood, reaches southern Minne-
sota generally about the first of May, and the latitude of Min-
neapolis about five days later. It seems to be rather local in
its distribution, choosing high, dry land forests, bordering
lakes, streams, low lands and swamps, where its peculiar
forms of insect food presumably most abounds, which consists
largely of nocturnal moths and mosquitoes. Characteristic as
is its song, giving the bird its vernacular name as it does,
when an attempt is made to formulate it in words ears hear it
differently, so that instead of the time honored whip-poor-will,
whip-poor-icill, Langville hears chick- koorhee. If quite near
the bird at the time of its vociferations we often hear a
preceding "chuck" that is not included in either form of word-
ing. About the tenth of May the two characteristic eggs are
layed on the ground without any signs of a nest except a
slight hollowing of the earth, usually near an old decaying log.
The ground color varies greatly in the depth of its shade, but is
rather of a creamy-white in most cases and marbled or mottled
with scratches and blotches of light brown and lavender. The
eggs are nearly elliptical, giving either end nearly the same
form. The Whip-poor-will leaves us as a general thing about
the 10th of September, sometimes (1873) as late as the 20th, or
even later. It was still present in the vicinity of Lanesboro,
Fillmore county, on the 8th of October, 1884. as reported by
Dr. Hvoslef . When a small boy I lived two years near a piece
of heavily timbered woodland through which ran a stream of
water. This bird, with many of other species, occupied those

238 NOTES OX THE

woods during the entire summer. Almost uniformly, as soon
as it became dark, the Whip-poor-will came onto a log not
more than twenty yards from the rear of the house and poured
forth his song for an hour or two when he would disappear, or
rather his notes would be discontinued until after midnight,
then they would again ring out clear and sonorously until the
day dawned. I frequently caught sight of him in the bright
moonlight nights and a few times in the twilight before he
began his half-sad, half-cheery melody. They are rarely seen
in the day time and then only by accident. At such times I
have uniformly found them sitting either upon the ground or
on an old log but slightly elevated above it. They are then
apparently very stupid and*will allow one to approach quite
near them before flying, and when they do it is but a short
distance to where they will alight again. They are universally
distributed in timber and brush land over the State.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill remarkably small with tubular nostrils and the gape
with long, stiff bristles; wings long, .somewhat rounded,
second quill longest, the primaries emarginated; tail rounded;
plumage loose and soft. Bristles without lateral filaments;
top of 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. No
white on the tail of the female.

Length. 10; wing, 6.50.

Habitat, eastern United States to the plains.

CHORDEILES VIRGINIANl S (Gmelin). (420.)
NIGHTHAWK.

A very remarkable circumstance connected with this species
was its appearance in Fillmore county on April 5th, 1884, (Dr.
Hvoslef) and its disappearance again until May 12th. The
time of its arrival has varied considerably through all the years
of my personal observation of its habits here, but in no instance
have I retained a record of it before the 30th of April. As a
general thing, I have found them here first about the 10th of
May, and not unfrequently as late as the 20th. In the early
history of the city where I reside, great numbers of the night-
hawks could be seen at evening, or rather, beginning a little
before sunset, and extending quite into the twilight, evidently
feeding upon the abounding mosquitoes, which have become
almost extinct in the city of late years. On warm, cloudy days.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 239

a few of these peculiar birds may now be seen over the metrop-
olis, between the first of June and the 20th of August, when
they gather their young, now full plumaged, into flocks, and
move off so openly that the final flight is not difficult to recog-
nize.

Like its wonderful cousin, the Whip-poor-will, it builds no
nest, and seems to care little where the spot may be chosen to
deposit its two eggs, from an opening in the dense woods to
the corner of the cornfield or the back-pasture. The eggs are
dirty-white in color, and dotted all over with obsolete slate-
color and spots of lavender. The male divides the sacrifices of
incubation with the female.
In their search for food, which like the Swifts, is always on the
wing, they may be seen rising to immense altitudes, where they
course through the air in every direction, or descend to just
above the tops of the lof uiest forest trees, where they skim
about, the very emblems of the grace of motion. During the
mating and incubating season, the male has a habit of zigzaging
his way upward to a considerable elevation, uttering a note
which sounds like the syllable scape, slightly drawn out, and
repeated about every three seconds, till he has attained his
elevation, when he suddenly closes his wings, opens his capa-
cious mouth, encircled with strong bristles, and head pointed
directly downward, he descends with the velocity of a falling
stone, to near the earth, producing a bellowing sound which
culminates with a short, bold turn upward, from which, and
his bat-like crepuscular habits, he obtains the inelegant cogno-
men, "Bull- bat," in the middle and southern states. Of gen-
eral distribution throughout the state, they are quite restricted
to localities, presumably determined by the kinds and quantities
of their food.

Reports from local observers establish their fairly common
numbers in the Red river valley and the Mille Lacs regions,
according to F. L. "Washburn's Report.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 pri-

240 NOTES ON THE

maries with a white blotch midwaj' between the tip and carpal
joint, not extending on the outer web of the outer quill; a ter-
minal white patch. Female without the caudal white patch,
and the throat mixed with reddish.

Length. 9.50; wing, 8.20.

Habitat, northern and eastern North America.

Family MICROPOJ3ID.E.

( HiETlRA PELAUICA (L.). (423).

CHIMNEY SWIFT.

The Chimney Swallow has long been as well represented bj-
numbers as any other species relatively. They arrive from
the 15th to the 20th of April, at first in rather limited numbers,
as they are only the males, and at once select their gregarious
quarters for perching and building their nests. The rapidity
of their flight is such that there seems to be but a few hours
difference in their appearance in all the localities systematic-
ally reported. They pair at once after the arrival of the
females, and immediately commence building their very remark-
able nests.

For several years in succession, a moderately large chimney
in my own house was chosen by them for one district of the
city, where they congregated in such numbers as only the
appropriation of the whole length of a 55 foot chimney could
have served. Becoming too numerous for their quarters the
following year they selected a much larger one, devoted to
ventilation, in a house heated by hot air, and never used for
smoke, that was only a block distant. The second season it
was occupied, the attention of great numbers of persons was
called to their place of nightly rendezvous, and I undertook to
register the number of arrivals at the mouth of the chimney
from sunset until darkness made it no longer possible. To
approximate the actual number which spent the night there,
I had to keep a tally of all individuals which left the chimney,
and deduct the number from those that entered. According to
that computation, not less than 450 swallows, and unquestionably
over 500, spent their nights there. It being late in August,
it is supposable that the entire brood of the season might have
been matured enough to have been included. But they are
not sufficient for all of their hordes to be dependant upon
chimnies, as near my summer residence on Lake Minnetonka,
I found a like number quartered in a large hollow tree, in the

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 241

deep, dark forest which borders that beautiful lake. I appre-
hend that esthetics have much less to do with the question
w^here the chimney swallows stay, than does the quality and
quantity of their insect supply for consumption. The nest is
a prodigy of strength and construction against the elements.
It consists of bits of roots and dry twigs, effectually cemented
together with an animal secretion of the salivary glands of the
bird, and is glued with the same onto the side of the bricks.
The eggs, four to five in number, are the purest of white. The
departure of the species varies from September 1st to the 25th;
the last record in 1886 was October 5th, which was unpre-
cedented in their local history. They are reported from every
part of the State as abundantly represented.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail short, slightly rounded, the shafts stiffened and extended
some distance beyond the feathers in a rigid spine; first pri-
mary longest; legs covered by a naked skin, without any
scutellse or feathers; tarsus longer than middle toe; lateral
toes equal, nearly as long as middle; hind toe scarcely versa-
tile, or quite posterior, wnth the claw, less than the middle
anterior without it; toes slender, claws moderate; feathers of
the bill not extending beyond the beginning of the nostrils.
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. 5.25; wing. 5.10; tail, 2.15.

Habitat. Eastern North America.

Family TEOCHILID^E.

TROCHILUS COLIIBRIS (L.). (428).

RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD.

This is the only representative of the hummingbirds which
even straggles into the State so far as I am aware. It arrives
about the 20th of May, — somewhat earlier in an occasional
season, and semi-occasionally even five days later, and begins
at once to build its pigmy but beautiful nest, which, however,
is not made completely ready for occupation until the first
week in June. It is a marvel of bird architecture, consisting of
vegetable down of different shades of color, mixed with fine
scales of buds to make it firm, and elegantly overlaid with
lichens, thus making it assimilate irregular growths of wood .
It is usually saddled into a projecting limb of a bush, or shrub,

242 NOTES ON THE

the last one I met being on a rosebush at the border of the
main walk from the street into a neighbor's house. For the
exposed situation, it was a little exceptional, but it contained
two very tiny, translucent, pure-white eggs, the patent number
for the species. Its habits are too well known, and character-
istic, to require consideration, except to say that the species
has evidently greatly increased in numbers since I first came
to the country.

I have found it almost universally distributed, but much more
numerous about the fields, gardens and dwellings, than in the
wilder sections of the State. Individuals of the species linger
occasionally far into October, as in one or two instances, they
have made their appearance in April, and then disappeared
again until the usual time for their arrival. The latest depar-
ture recorded by any correspondent was Sept. 22. 1884, by Dr.
Hvoslef at Lanesboro.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail deeply forked, the feathers all narrow lanceolate acute;
uniform metallic green above; a ruby-red gorget with no con-
spicuous ruff; a white collar on the throat; sides of body green-
ish.

Length, 3.25; wing, 1.60; tail, 1.25; bill. 0.65.

Habitat, eastern North America to the plains.

Older PASSEKES.

Family TYIIA:N^KID^.

TYRANNUS TYRANNUS (L.). (444.)
KINGBIRD.

Everywhere one may g'o in this State he is sure of seeing the
kingbird, as he is abundantly represented in all sections from
about the first of May until the tenth of September. A few
occasionally linger a little later. The males arrive in spring
some ten days before the females, in parties of five or six. The
females come more numerously but more slyly. No time is to
be lost after they arrive in this latitude, so that unions for the
summer are hastily made, and the selection of a place where
to build the nest at once commenced upon. This decided",
which takes considerable time occasionally, the nest is soon
made, both working at it constantly until completed. It is var-
iously placed upon the wild plum trees, the corner of the log
stable, in an alder, on a stump. It consists of twigs, roots,
coarse grasses, mosses and weeds, and is lined with fine roots,
grasses and horse hair. About the 28th of May the eggs are
laid, and when the young birds open their five little mouths
the parents have lively work to keep them supplied until able
to secure food for themselves. The ground color of the eggs
is a delicate creamy white, with irregular spots of various
shades of brown and lavender.

The kingbird is a typical fly-catcher, seizing his food when
on the wing, which of course consists mostly of insects in
flight.

It has been remarked of this species, as of all the true fly-
catchers, that it seems to have been their special mission to
sieze only those insects which are in passage from one tree or
shrub to another, while the task of taking those which are con-
cealed in hidden places like the bark and foliage, is assigned

244 NOTES ON THE

to the woodpeckers, warblers, &c. In capturing an insect, the
kingbird dashes from his perch directly toward his game, till
near it, when he hovers a moment before he takes it as if to
decide whether it is the one he is looking for, but he generally
decides very promptly that it • is, and returns directly to his
former perch, unless, as is often the case, his winged morsel
has led him in a brief chase some distance from the former,
when he will occupy another perch. His courage in attacking
other birds, from a robin or a jay, to a crow, hawk or eagle, is
without a peer among the birds of the country. The enemy
seen, he "stays not on his going," but bends every muscle to
the flight. When near his foe, he rises above him, and pounces
down upon his devoted head, as if expecting to annihilate him.
How much suffering he may be able to inflict, is a question, but
certain it is his enemy acts as if he shared his brave aggressor's
expectations, and turns and dives and dodges in all directions,
until perhaps a mile away, the pugnacious little fellow leaves
him with this practical hint that he need not come that way
again, at least while the breeding season lasts that year.

He is the best of friends to the farmer and gardener, destroy-
ing countless numbers of insects especially prejudicial to those
industries His habit of taking the honey bees that come in
his way, which has made him enemies among the bee-culturists,
will need no special apology in Minnesota until honey has be-
come a larger interest, and then the thinking will have con-
ceded his value too well to make it necessary.

The kingbirds, already in their restricted families, gather
into loose communities in the latter part of the summer, and
mostly leave immediately after the frost appears, which
diminishes their food supply to such an extent as to justify
their departure to warmer climes in Mexico and Central
America.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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, Vermillion in the centre, white behind and before, par-
tially 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

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 245

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, forming a conspicuous terminable band about twenty-
five hundredths of an inch broad.

Length, 8.50; wing, 4.65; tail, 3.70; tarsus, 0.75.

Habitat, eastern North America from the British provinces
south to Central and South America; rare west of the Rocky
mountains.

MYI4RCH18 CRINITUS (L.) (452).

CRESTED FLYCATCHER.

The Great Crested Flycatcher is a regular summer resident,
arriving about the 10th of May. Although less abundant than
the Kingbird it is very widely distributed where there is tim-
ber. I hear of their presence in nearly every section of the
timbered regions which I have not been able to personally
visit, and I have visited none where I could spend a day or
two that I did not find him. and always under much the same
circumstances.

The perching places, which have uniformly been in the near
proximity to the nest, have been along the borders of rather
tall timber adjoining a clearing more or less removed from
thoroughfares and in the vicinity of lakes or streams.

The nests are almost uniformly in a hollow trunk or limb of
a tall tree, about sixty feet from the ground. For some reason
they seem to prefer the elm. but occasionally another species
is selected. During the period of incubation, indeed I may say
during the remainder of their local history, their habits have
little to make them differ from the Kingbird. Their food is
essentially the same and they retire in small parties about the
first to the tenth of September. They show the same charac-
teristic fighting qualities of the smaller cousin, but they do
not seem to work quite as liard to get a set-to as he does.

Mr. Lewis found them as far north as Red lake and Mr.
Washburn secured specimens at Thief river near Otter Tail
lake. But they are perhaps a little more fully represented in
the timbered sections bordering the streams and lakes of the
southern counties of the State.

246 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head with a depressed crest; third quill longest, second and
fourth little shorter; first a little longer than seventh, much
shorter than sixth; tail decidedly rounded, or even graduated,
the lateral feather about one-fourth 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
around the eye; sides of the breast and body tinged with oliva-
ceous; 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 yel-
low; primaries margined externally 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 mid-
dle tail feathers light brown, shafts paler; the rest have the
out«r web and a narrow line on the inner sides of the shaft
brown, pale-olivaceous on the outer edge, the remainder ferru-
ginous 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 webs of the quills along the shaft, or
else it is confined chietly to the outer feathers.

Length. b.7o; wing. 4.25; tail. 4.10; tarsus, 0.85 of an inch.

Habitat, eastern United States and Canada, west to the
Plains, south through eastern Mexico to Costa Rica.

Note. — Since writing the foregoing I have had opportunity
to observe this species more extensively, and I find them more
uniformly distributed than I then anticipated. I have obtained
the uniquely marked eggs within a mile of my residence. Their
ground color is butt', of a rather exceptionally rich tone, over
which is finely spattered light-brown very uniformly, embracing
both extremities. Over this again are scattered more sparsely
coarser dottings of a darker shade of brown, quite thickly
near the larger end. and at the smaller; after which over all.
are longitudinal scratches, the finer of which are irregularly
parallel, and heaviest from the bulge of the egg backward, but
not quite to the end. The scratching varies in intensity and in
the degree of regularity in different specimens. The nest is
composed of coarse grass, weeds, twigs, roots, and is lined with
finer grasses and a few horse hairs. The eggs are laid the
first week in June, generally, and occasionally a little earlier.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 247

SAYORNIS PHCEBE (Latham). (456.)
PHCEBE.

This plain but very much esteemed bird reaches us about the
first to the tenth of April. Dr. Hvoslef reports its arrival at
Lanesboro on the 24th of March, and at different points in
southern Minnesota it is recognized about the same date. It is
as widely a distributed species as we have, and remains as long
as its food supply holds out, which is generally about the 15th
of October. Few birds are more thoroughly welcomed not-
withstanding its lack of attractive feathers. Its disposition to
cling to the approximate vicinities of our habitations, together
with its plaintive notes, "jihebe-jihebee," in a subdued tone, some-
what drawn out at times, and again shortened into ''peweet,
peiveet," rapidly repeated in a more joyous manner.

The females are some ten days or more behind the males in
arriving, and the courtship is quite delayed, and undemonstra-
tive. But they arrange family matters in some way so as to
have the nest built about the first of May or a little before,
when the season favors. Bridges are not as numerous in Min-
nesota as in Massachusetts, neither does our population in the
rural districts disturb the bird by the numbers as much as
there, yet true to its record in that country, it finds the bridge
if there is one, but in its absence it accepts a great variety of
places in which to build, notably the window caps under the
porches of our summer cottages at the lakes, or in the open
stables, or in a nook in the boat-house. Five eggs is usually
the complement in a nest constructed of grasses, roots, moss
and hairs, cemented together and onto the substance it is built
upon, with bits of mud. It is lined with fine grasses, wool and
feathers. The eggs are white with a creamy tint, Some eggs
are thinly spotted over the larger end with reddish-brown.

Cottagers at Lake Minnetonka, or any other of our suburban
lakes, become greatly attached to this humble representative
of the birds that spend the summer in the groves and forest
bordering them. The first of its kind to seek those lovely
retirements, anticipating their arrival by several weeks, they
seem to welcome their coming, and at once begin their prepara-
tion of their own comfortable tenements under the shelter of
the projecting roof of the porches. Apparently the same
pairs return, and repair the old nest from year to year. Many
a time have I sat within a few yards of a nest built on the
plate, under the roof of my Cosy Nook Cottage, overlook-

17z

248 NOTES ON THE

ing the most beautiful lake in the whole world, and listened
to the unostentatious pe-wee, pe-ivee of the Phoebe Bird for an
hour at a time endeavoring to comprehend the lessons of its
sweet contentment with its lot however so humble it be
wherein consists all true human happiness.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Sides of breast and upper parts dull olive-brown, fading
slightly towards the tail; top and sides of head dark brown;
a few dull white feathers on the eyelids: lower parts dull yel-
lowish-white, mixed with brown on the chin, and in some indi-
viduals across the breast; quills brown, the outer primary,
secondaries, and tertials edged with dull white; in some
individuals the greater faintly edged with dull white; tail brown,
outer edge of lateral feather dull white, outer edges of 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 the sixth.

Length, 7; wing, 3.42; tail, 3.30.

Habitat, eastern North America, from the British Provinces,
south to eastern Mexico and Cuba, wintering from the South
Atlantic and Gulf states southward.

COXTOPIS BOKEALIS (Swainson). (459.)
OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER.

In the spring of 1874, my son, Dr. R. W. Hatch, obtained the
first specimen of this species in a grove of forest trees within
two or three miles of the city. I have since found them quite
numerous during the time of migration, but by no means so
afterwards. They reach here about the first of May generally.
I have once found them as early as April 116th, but in several
years it has been from one week to ten days later when I
caught my first glimpse of them, although in smy case they
might have been here some time before I saw them, for their
habits make it nececsary that they should be carefully sought
in restricted localities. In the year following my son's discovery
of the species, I obtained the nest and egg in a dry larch swamp
near to where the bird had first been found, a spot since embraced
in the beautiful Lakewood cemetery, on the shores and over-
looking one of our peerless suburban lakes. The nest, very
characteristic of the flycatchers, was constructed of much the
same materials as is employed in the structure of the king-
birds', and was placed on a horizontal limb of a medium sized
larch, at least a yard from the trunk and about fifteen feet

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 249

above the ground. It contained five creamy-white eggs, spotted
with two shades of reddish-brown, more pronounced about the
larger end, and averaging in measurements, .85 by .65 of an
inch. I omitted to say that the nest had but a very superficial ex-
cavation, leaving the form of the occuxjant very much as if
squatted on, and not in it. Owing to the breeding habits tak-
ing them to such deep shade, these denizens of the forest are
rarely seen by any but systematic observers who know some-
thing about- them. I see no reason to doubt their uniform dis-
tribution over the timbered sections of the entire State, but it
is not a little remarkable that they have never been reported
to me from but one locality, and then by a little boy in the Big
Woods, who sent me the bird and insisted that he could get the
eggs for me, but he never did.

Their food in most respects, is like that of the other Fly-
catchers, consisting largely of larvae during the rearing of
the young birds.

They leave the country in the autumn from the first to xhe
tenth of September.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 bod3^ res-
embling 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 center; on each side of the rump, generally con-
cealed by the wings is an elongated bunch of white silky
feathers; the wings and tail a very dark brown, the former
with the edges of the secondaries and tertials edged with dull
white; the lower wing coverts and axillaries grayish-brown;
the tips of the primaries and tail feathers rather paler; feet
and upper mandibles black, lower mandible brown; the young
of the year similar, but the color duller; the feet light-brown.

Length, 7.50; wing, 4.33; tail, 8.30; tarsus, 0.6.

Habitat, North America, breeding from the northern and the
higher mountainous parts of the United States northward. In
winter, south to Central America and Columbia.

250 NOTES ON THE

CONTOPUS YIRENS (L.). (461.)

WOOD PEWEE.

The Wood Pewee is a very common summer resident of all
the wooded districts of the State, reaching the southern por-
tions about the 10th of May, and a latitude of Minneapolis not
far from the twentieth. Mating and nest building have gener-
ally taken place by the fifth of June in this immediate locality,

In a series of nests which I have taken, extending through
many years, over nine-tenths have been found saddled upon an
old, moss grown and decayed limb as originally described by
Nuttall, the exception being in the forked twigs as mentioned
by Gentry in his correspondence with Coues and found in his
Birds of the Northwest, page 246. Of some 10 or 12 in my
possession there is not a single one that is not well described
by the former in the following words which I quote: "In a
nest which I have before me, which can be taken as a type,
the bulk of it is made up entirely of small stripes of liber
plucked from the trees and fence rails, tow and wool, arranged
in a circular manner, and pressed compactly together by the
body of the bird. One of the most prominent features of the
nest is its external coating of bluish-gray crustaceous lichens,
of the kind that are found upon the trunks of the trees, which
give it a very close resemblance to that of the humming bird,
which it nearly rivals in symmetry and beauty."

It is almost uniformly placed on poplars in this locality, and
elevated about twenty feet from the ground.

It is lined with finer samples of the same material as enters
into the main structure. They usually have four eggs, of a
beautiful cream color, with blotches and spots of lilac and
brown around the larger end. I have never seen more than
one brood in a season. Its resemblance in all respects to the
Phoebe is a little remarkable. Notably it prefers the deep,
dark woods, but I have often found it quite near dwellings, in
clusters of poplars, as in a dooryard of a farmhouse near Min-
nehaha Falls, where I have observed it for upwards of twenty
years. The note differs from that of the Phoebe considerably,
being much more sad or plaintive.

Mr. Washburn, in his notes sent me from the Red river
valley, says: ''Extremely common in the woodland every-
where. One cannot walk a dozen rods in the timber without
seeing several pairs. An interesting chapter might be written
on the habits of this bird.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA.' 251

"Its note is the most characteristic sound in the woodland,
and is best represented by the words pee wee, the two syllables
about equally accented, the first perhaps a little higher, the
last sometimes rising, sometimes falling, but always prolonged,
always plaintive, as though the bird wished you to know that
its particular lot was harder than that of any of its feathered
friends, but it meant to make the best of it. and would try to
be cheerful. I found young, almost full-grown, August 15th.
The old birds at this season, perched on the dead limb of some
lofty elm or oalc. utter from time to time their plaintive note,
making between times a hasty dash into the air to secure some
flying insect, then fly back to the perch. On beautiful Autumn
mornings, in woods of stately oaks, elms and poplars, where
dim shades are penetrated by occasional patches of checkered
sunlight, and whose silence was broken by the note of this
species, I found young birds waiting on perches for their par-
ent's return with some food, and filling the interim while she
is foraging, with a plaintive squeak uttered at intervals, and
sounding like the squeak of a mouse which has just felt the
wire of the trap squeezing his throat, though louder; occasionally
lowering their heads threateningly, and snapping their beaks
when some butterfly or dragonfly flew near them. Or. impa-
tient, they chase the mother bird, and one on either side strive
to force the morsel she has obtained from her mouth.

"At Georgetown they were abundant; very common indeed at
Ada, and I noticed them at Crookston, St. Vincent and along
the Thief river. "

Many writers attempt to express the notes of this bird, but I
confess to a great inability to get what seems to me to be any
material resemblance. Still, if they but partially succeed it
may help to identify the bird, and I would not therefore dis-
courage their attempts. Suffice it, who has heard Phoebe will
recognize a member of the family. After the period of incu-
bation and rearing the yoang is over, the old birds apparantly
are very seldom found together, a circumstance accounted for
on the inference of conjugal indifference, which is entirely
gratuitous, for the well known characteristic habit of feeding
of the whole family explains the circumstances more satisfac-
torily and leaves the "good name'" unstained. Whoever will
take sufflcient pains will always find the partner of the sum-
mer's sacrifices not very far away.

252 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

The second quill longest, the third a little shorter, the first
shorter than the fourth, the latter nearly forty 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 around 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 the sec-
ondaries, and tertials dull white; the edges of the tail feathers
like the back, the outer one scarcely lighter; upper mandible
black, the lower yellow, but brown at the tip.

Length, 6.15; wing, 3.50; tail, 3.05.

Habitat, eastern North America to the plains, and from
southern Canada southward.

E.MIMDONAXFLAVIVENTRIS Baiud (463.)
YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER.

This pretty flycatcher, about which ornithological literature
seems to be by no means prolific, has long been a regularly ob-
served summer resident of the State, especially in this locality.
It reaches the borders of the State in its spring migration as
late as the 20th of May, and this locality on the 25th. The
foliage of the forest has become so dense, and the other birds
bearing a general resemblance to it so numerous, that only an
expert may hope to identify it. and he only by considerable
labor. Its efforts at song are very humble, not essaying more
than a weak and quite infrequently repeated pee-a, and tillic.
Others have found the nest occasionally, but I have been less for-
tunate even after much careful search. In his recent work on the
birds in their favorite haunts. Rev. J. Hibbert Langille quotes
from the observations of Messrs. Dean and Pardie as to the
nest, in which those gentlemen say: "It was placed in the up-
turned roots of a tree; and a large dwelling it was for so small
and trim a bird. Built in and on the black mud clinging to the
roots, but two feet from the ground, the bulk of the nest was
composed of dry moss, while the outside was faced with beau-
tiful, fresh green mosses, thickest around the rim. or parapet.
The eggs are usually four in number and are white."

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 253

My personal observations of the feeding habits of this bird
differ a little from those generally given, in that I have found
them in the very tops of the trees at such times, giving little
heed to my presence so far below them. When on, or near the
ground, they are extremely reticent and equally shy. The nest
as repeatedly described to me by those who have discovered it,
is from five to seven feet above the ground, on a branch at the
first division from the trunk of a sapling, or in the forks of a
considerable bush. At the time of their first arrival, I have
found them almost common since knowing their habits, but
they become very shy indeed when once the incubation has
begun. They leave us simultaneously with the arrival of the
frosts in autumn.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Second, third and fourth quill nearly equal; first inter-
mediate between fifth and sixth; tail nearly even, slightly
rounded; tarsi long, above bright olive-green; crown rather
darker; a broad yellow ring around the eye; the sides of the head,
neck, breast and body, and a band across the breast like the back,
but lighter; the rest of the lower parts bright sulphur-yellow —
no white or ashy anywhere on the body — quills dark brown; two
bands on the wing formed by the tips of the primary and
secondary coverts, the outer edge of the first primary and of
the secondaries and tertials pale yellow or greenish-yellow;
the tail feathers brown, with the exterior edges like the
back. Bill dark brown above, yellow beneath; feet black. In
the autumn the colors are purer, the yellow is deeper, and
the markings on the wings of an ochry tint.

Length, 5.15; wing, 2.83; tail, 2.45.

Habitat, eastern North America to the plains, and from
Southern Labrador south through Eastern Mexico to Panama,
breeding from the Northern States northward.

EMPIDONAX ACADICrS (Gmelin). (465.)
ACADIAN FLYCATCHER.

I have been agreeably surprised to find that this species is
fairly common in Minnesota. The average time of arrival has
been May 20th, and they have habitually left in their southern
migration about the 10th of September. The confounding of
this species with E. traillii by so many experts early put me on
my guard, and I believe I have always been spared a final
doubt as to its identity. Prof. Baird's discrimination between
these two species has been completely verified by my local
observations. The nesting has been begun about the second
week in June, although I have had the nest, mother, and

254 NOTES ON THE

eggs as early as the fifth of that month on one occasion. As
to the location of the nest. I have found it somewhat varied, as
I have also the materials out of which it was constructed. The
first I ever obtained was near a creek in a thicket just in the
woods adjoining a plowed field, and but a short distance from
a dwelling. It was on ground elevated at least 20 feet above
the creek, and not more than 20 yards from a frequented high-
way. Another was obtained in a very open place in the deep,
dark woods, two miles distant from the first. The first named
nest met the description of what one writer describes as "loose
and rustic, even raggedly woven, etc.," while the second
was more compact and more firmly secured to the forked
limb on which it was built. The materials have all been
essentially the same, namely: Fine strips of bark, with grasses
woven together, without much display of ambition in bird
architecture. Careful measurements made the elevation of it
average seven feet. The eggs have invariably been three,
with a deep cream color, and mostly, but not always, spotted
near the greater end with brown. I find no proclivity to any one
kind of tree or bush, but they indiscriminately choose a sumach
an oak or a basswood. It has a very humble combination of
notes, hardly worthy to be called a song.

Dr. Hvoslef found it in the valley of the Root river on the
28th of May, and Mr. Washburn reports it common in the Red
river valley at nearly all points he visited late in August.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Second and third quills longest, and about equal; the fourth
a little shorter; the first about equal to the fifth, and about
0.35 of an inch less than the longest. Tail even. The upper
parts with the sides of the head and neck, olive-green, the
crown, very little if any darker. A yellowish white ring around
the eye. The sides of the bodj' 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 abdomen, lower
tail and wing coverts, and sides of body not covered by the
wings, pale greenish-yellow. Edges of the first primary, sec-
ondaries, and tertials, margined with dull yellowish-white,
most broadly on the latter. Two transverse bands of pale yel-
lowish 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, 5.65 to 6; wing, 3.00; tail. 2.75; (tarsus, f; bill. ;i).

Habitat. Eastern United States, chiefly southward, west to
the plains, south to Cuba and Costa Rica.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 2D0

EMPIDONAX PISILLIIS TRAILLII (Audubon) (466a).
TRAILL'S FLYCATCHER.

Traill's Flycatcher usually arrives in the latitude of Minne-
apolis not far from the 20th of May, and is abundantly repre-
sented for its species for ten or fifteen days, when the princi-
pal part move on further north to breed. Individuals are
occasionally met with so much later that if no nests had been
obtained I should feel assured of their breeding in this section
to some extent, but a few nests have been obtained by col
lectors, which upon examination I have pronounced those of
this interesting bird. Mr. Lewis who is familiar with the
habits of this species reports them common along the St.
Louis and Rainy Lake rivers in the northern sections of the
State during the months of June and July, from which
although he collected no nests he naturally inferred they bred
there. The nests I have seen were obtained under conditions
corresponding to those described as characteristic of this bird,
viz: — About swamps and lowlands and along streams, and were
without exception found in the forks of bushes and saplings,
and about seven to ten feet from the ground. They were com
posed externally of various fibrous materials mixed with
grasses, giving them a bleached gray appearance, the inside of
fine grass neatly adjusted, while there is a downy substance
distributed throughout the entire structure. The eggs were
creamy-white with the larger end somewhat spotted with
reddish-brown. The autumnal migration takes place from the
first to the tenth of September.

I am not a little surprised that Mr. Washburn did not meet
this species in his earlier explorations of a portion of the Red
river valley, as he made a careful observation of others of the
same genus.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Third quill longest, second scarcely shorter than fourth, first
shorter than fifth, about thirty -five hundredths of an inch
shorter than the longest; primaries about seventy- five hun-
dredths 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 neck; center of the
crown feathers brown; a pale yellowish- white ring (in some
specimens altogether white) around 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 with
individuals, the former sometimes faintly tinged with olive;
sides of the breast much like the back; middle of the belly

256 NOTES ON THE

nearly white; sides of the belly, abdomen and the lower tail cov-
erts sulphur yellow; the quills and tail feathers dark brown — as
dark, if not more so, as these parts in Contopus 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 rather lighter;
bill above dark brown, dull brownish beneath.

Length, 6 inches; wing, 2.90; tail, 2.(50.

Habitat, eastern North America, breeding from the middle
states northward; in winter south to Central America.

EMPIDONAX MINIMIS Baird. (467.)
LEAST FLYCATCHER.

The Least Flycatcher is the bravest of his genus, arriving in
spring, in one year, as early as the fifth of May, but as a gen-
eral thing it has been later by about five to ten days. It soon
becomes common along the Mississippi, and the borders of
swamps and low lands generally. During June, July and
part of August it may be seen at almost any time of the day
perching on the lower limb of a tall tree, peeping its charac-
teristic note, variously expressed by different observers as
''chebec," ''sewick," ''shebick/' etc., etc. It must be heard to be
understood. It is uttered rather sharper and more quickly
than any notes of the other Flycatchers. From its perch it
makes frequent dashes into the air. where it seizes an insect
and returns to the same place, repeating at brief intervals its
short, sharp, unmelodious ''chebeck:'' There is a general distri-
bution of this species over the entire State, from Duluth. where
I found it exceedingly common, to the Red river, and south to
the borders where it is no less common. Dr. Hvoslef records
it in Root river valley, and Mr. Lewis found it common along
the Rainy Lake river to the Lake of the Woods, where it was
"abundant on the islands."

Mr. Washburn found it still represented on the Red river as
late as about the first of September, but rare. Dr. Coues
gives it as more numerous along that stream during the breed-
ing season than he had found it any where else. (Birds of the
northwest pp. 254-5). I have known them to begin to build
their nests as early as the 18th of May, but that is about a
week sooner than tlie average. It is almost uniformly placed
in the forks of a sapling, — rarely in a bush, except when
found along the shores of streams running through marshy dis-

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 257

tricts, where only brush and shrubs are found, — and from ten
to fifteen feet from the ground where there are trees, and
rarely below seven where there are only bushes. It is very
compact, neat, and externally constructed of wood and weed
bark fibers, mixed with vegetable down in an artistic manner,
and lined with delicate fibers of the same in which the down is
prominent, and rarely a few hairs from the tails of horses and
cattle. In a few instances it has been placed on the upper
side of a leaning sapling, and in such cases it has never been
saddled over, or across it, but has been embraced in forks of
twigs or limbs rising from it and deeply imbedded in the sides
of it. The eggs are from three to four, in number, and are
pure white.

It lingers later into the autumn than the other members of
its genus, individuals not infrequently being met late in Octo-
ber, but the great southern hegira occurs from the 20th to the
30th of September.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 head tinged with ash; a ring around the eye,
and some of the loral feathers, white; the sides of the throat,
and across the breast, dull ash; the color on the latter some-
times nearly obsolete; sides of the breast similiar to the back,
but of a lighter tint; middle of the belly very pale yellowish-
white, turning to pale sulphur on the sides of the belly,
abdomen, and lower tail coverts; wings brown; two narrow
white bands on the wing formed by the tips of the first
and second coverts, succeeded by one of brown; the edge
of the first primary, and of the secondaries 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, 5 to 5.50 inches; wing, 2.65 or less; tail, 2.25 to 2.50.

Habitat, eastern North America, south in winter to Central
America, breeds from the northern states northward.

258 NOTES ON THE

Family ALAI DID^E.

OTOCORIS ALPESTRIS PRATICOLA Henshaw (4746 )
PRAIRIE HORNED LARK.

This bird is variously called the Prairie Lark, Shore Lark,
Sky Lark, and Horned Lark. Its characteristic locality would
scarcely justify the name of Shore Lark, as it is decidedly a
dry land bird. Either of the others would not be inappro-
priate. But the two pencils of erectile feathers so located on
the head as to completely simulate horns, are so distinguishing
as to justly entitle it to the name Horned Lark. This species
is extensively distributed over the entire open sections of the
Northwest, from Hudson's Bay to and below the southern line
of Missouri, and from New York to California.

Variations in size and the intensity of coloration have led
some ornithologists to the institution of several varieties. I
have met with individual representations of the whole series
within my province so many times that I have no use for these
varieties, even cum salis.

It nests very early, in the latitude of Minneapolis and St.
Paul. In favorable seasons I have met with nests as early as
the 9th of March, as I once flushed it from its nest at that date,
although it contained no eggs; but a week later I have met with
several with, on an average, two eggs. They sit so close at
such times that I have had my carriage wheel pass within ten
inches of the nest and not flush the bird. On one occasion, on
the open, rolling prairie, while walking cautiously in search
of possible nests, I had placed my foot directly over one. in
the act of putting it down, when the lark flitted out from under
it just in time to save itself, and the nest too, as the surprise
lengthened the falling step far enough to save the latter. In
all instances I have found that the ground had been hollowed
out for the nest to a depth sufficient to allow of a liberal lining
of grass and still leave the back of the brooding bird level with
the surrounding surface. Its colors, with this circumstance,
combine to protect the bird with its precious trust from the
rapacious hawks as well as the more rapacious oOligist. That
this species breeds occasionally three times I am confident.
The period of incubation reaches far into July occasionally.

Some individuals are to be seen at almost any time in the
winter, during an open "spell of weather." which is not a com
mon meteorological event, by the way. and the great winter

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 259

retreat for the rest cannot be exceedingly remote, for, if the
furrows in the plowed fields become exposed by the direct-
ness of the winter's sun, it will not be long before the cheery
notes of the males are heard here. The eggs, four to five in
number, are grayish and sprinkled with pale blue or brownish
spots. I think the young abandon the nest before quite able
to fly. and are left to shift for themselves when about three
weeks out of their nests. Little time is lost by the parents
in getting another brood under way. that the last may be suffi-
ciently matured for the winter's exigencies.

I never heard the European skylark sing with my own ears,
but have listened to descriptions of the song in prose and in
poetry, until I almost believed I had heard it, but I must hear
the veritable singer himself to be convinced that in anything
except perhaps volume he can a whit excel our own American
skylark.

My first enchantment occurred within the corporate limits of
this city — Minneapolis — when those limits were quite restricted
compared with them now, in June, 1868. I was riding along
with my field glass' in my hand, as has been my uniform custom
in the bird season for thirty years or more, when a male flitted
up from the ground about ten to fifteen feet into the air and
about thirty yards directly in front of me, simultaneously burst-
ing forth into song. While pouring forth such a volume that
it seemed as if he would have instantly burst if he should close
his extended mouth, he turned abruptly to the right and half
sailing away about fifty yards, again wheeled with a rapid flut-
ter of his wings that lifted him some thirty feet more, he gyrated
back at least a hundred yards, and thus flitting, sailing, singing,
he zigzagged right and left, mounting constantly higher and
higher, never pausing a moment for breath until he entirely
disappeared from unaided vision in as clear a sky as ever can-
opied the green fields in June. Still, the music, fainter and
fainter, but if possible sweeter and sweeter, was distinctly
audible, and my breath had been unconsciously suspended
while all consciousness was in the tips of my ears and points
of my eyes, now peering through the glass, when, after several
minutes of unmeasured time, his song suddenly ceased and he
closed his wings as a diver lays down his arms to his sides, and
head straight downward, descended with the velocity of a spent
bullet, until within a single yard of the ground, and no more
than that distance from the identical spot he had left, he
opened those wings and touched the grass as lightly as a
snowfiake annanoyed by the winds.

260 NOTES ON THE

The song cannot be expressed by any similation of words or
syllables, but is totally unlike any other amongst the song -
birds. With such a possibility within the reach of any song-
loving mortal, who would spend the last dime to hear a Nilsson,
and would not go a mile in the open, silent prairie, to hear
this peerless skylark? I pronounce an inexplainable paradox.

Heaven's richest boon to assthetic man are oftenest over-
looked or underheard. Awake, dear sleepers!

Note. The foregoing was written in 1874, at which time I
was not aware that anyone else had ever recorded observations
of its skylark like performances. I have been greatly de-
lighted to find that Langille has given a graphic description of
them in his "Birds in Their Haunts," page IS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Q Above, pinkish brown, feathers of back streaked with dusky;
a broad band across the crown extending backwards along the
lateral tufts; a crescentic patch from 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, under parts,
with outer edge of wings, and tail, white; chin and throat,
yello<v\

Length, 7.75; wing, 4.50: tail, 3.25; bill, above, 0.52.

Habitat, northeastern North America.

Family CORYID^E.

PICA PICA HIDSONICA (Sabine). (475.)
AMERICAN MAGPIE.'

The Magpie has not yet become as common as the Blue Jay
in Minnesota, but they are here and no check list can leave
them out. Since the first that came under my notice in 1869,
which was obtained in the timber of the Minnesota river
bottom, there have been but few seasons when they were not
seen by tho5>e competent to identify them, and several have
been obtained.

Mr. Washburn reported one at Mille Lacs lake last fall, and
several were described to me by parties who had never seen
them before.

That this rather rare species should have escaped the notice
of early observers is by no means surprising, for when isolated
from the flock individual birds of ihis species are as alert and
cunning as any other with which I ever had anything to do.

BIKDS OF MINNESOTA. 261

When hunted, their sub rosa vigilance in eluding the eye of
the persecutor is simply marvelous, in many respects like,
but outdoing the Cuckoo. In flocks, except after having been
repeatedly disturbed by being shot at they are quite the
opposite, and even become quite familiar after a time.

I once spent some eighteen months where the Magpies were
very numerous and bred abundantly on low branching oak
trees that were scattered amongst the hills. The nests, for
the size of the bird were extremely bulky, consisting of
sticks, twigs and mud, in the order named. "On this again is a
lining of fine twigs, hair, feathers and any proper material
which they can find. Over the whole, rising from the walls of
the nest, is a dome of twigs and sticks very ingeniously and
securely woven together and framing a shelter for the bird
while setting. There are two openings, opposite each other,
evidently to make room for the long tail of the bird, which
could never be brought within the nest. The eggs are five, of
a pale greenish, very thickly obscured with spots and dashes
of pale purplish brown, varying somewhat in intensity and
being somewhat thicker at the larger end." I have quoted the
description from Birds of the Northwest, pp. 213-14, for the
reason that it is so completely in accordance with my own
observations in the foot-hills along the Cossumnes river in
Sacramento county, California, where my sister so long resided.

Note. — When the foregoing was written, I followed Coues*
opinion that the Yellow- billed Magpies of that coast were but a
variety of the present species, but not without mental protest
(often expressed amongst local friends) which the American
Ornithologist's Union have confirmed in the Check List. I
have never seen the nest of the Black-billed Magpie, and had
supposed that the identity of the structures had been an im-
portant factor in determining the specific unity of the two
varieties. P. li. H.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail vei-y long more than half the total length, the feathers
much graduated, the lateral scarcely more than half the mid
die. First primary falcate, curved, and attenuated; bill about
as high as bro:id at the base; the culmen and gonys much
curved, and about equal; the bristly feathers reaching nearly to
the middle of the bill; nostrils nearly circular; tarsi very long,
middle toe scarcely more than two thirds its length. A patch
of naked skin beneath and behind the eye and the bill black.
General color black; the belly, scapulars, and inner webs of
the primaries, white; hind part of back grayish; exposed por-
tion of the tail feathers glossy-green, tinged with purple and

262 NOTES ON THE

violet near the end; wings glossed with green; secondaries and
tertials with blue; throat feathers spotted with white.

Length, 19; wing, 8.50; tail, 11 to 13.

Habitat, northern and western North America.

CYANOCITTA CRISTATA (L ). (477.)
BLUE JAY.

Nature has shown her caprice in dressing up even a crow in
regal plumage in the case of the Blue Jay. In few others of
the birds has there been such a wondrously beautiful display
of the colors where blue is predominant. The arrangement is
without a precedent. Still he is without friends. Go where
we may a deep seated prejudice exists against him, and he
seems to rather enjoy this distinction. The numbers in every
low timbered, or brushy section in Minnesota, are greater
than in any other portion of the United States with which I
am familiarly acquainted, and they are yearly increasing.
They brave the winter with entire indifference to the measure
of cold, and never are known to come out poor in the spring
eithei'. They live on anything and everything known to be
eaten by any and all the other species of birds, mammals,
reptiles or fishes, when pressed by any stress, but are epicures
when plenty abounds, taking such daintj- tit-bits as Canary
brains, and Mockingbird's eyes for an occasional dessert. Still
injustice to him I must say that he takes such as he can get
with no complaining as to quantity, or quality. In winter he
breakfasts on acorns perhaps, dines on cedar berries and bar-
berry. If the wind is troublesome, he will look up a few
cocoons of moths, and butterflies for tea. In the spring he
explores the back yards of dwellings, and if unsuccessful,
will content himself with a light cropful of the buds of the
lilacs and other shrubberj'. Later, his supplies are well
understood to embrace the eggs and young of the other birds,
not even excepting those of his own species.

Their notes are often very discordant, and doubtless con-
tribute to the popular prejudice against them. More commonly
the notes are a shrill cry, expressed best by the sylables, chaij-
chaycJiau. repeated in frequency according with the measure of
excitement the bird is under. Under ordinary circumstances
his notes may vary considerably, when they might be rendered
somewhat like ?nlhj, hilly, hilly, or piuilhilhj, pwilhilly, followed
in a minute afterwards by hweeo-hiveeo-hiveeo, or chillac-chillac-
chillac, after which comes a soft, sweet, metallic note, filled
with a sad pathos.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 263

Not unfrequently he will give a stirring note of alarm if he
discovers an enemy approaching, which resembles the harsh
rattle of the kingfisher. He is credited with imitating other
birds. With how much truth I cannot say, but if he does not,
it will be about the only mischievous thing he does not essay
to do.

About the last week in April he builds his nest in a second
growth red or black oak in a thicket, or a large bush about seven
feet from the ground. It is loosely built of small sticks, twigs,
and coarse roots, lined with a finer kind of the same, and leaves.
Four to five light-green eggs are laid, covered with light brown
spots. Instances occur in which two broods are brought out in
a season, but only one is the rule.

In no portion of the State where timber or brush are found,
is he not to be found from the Lake of the Woods to the Iowa
line. I cannot call them beneficial to agriculture, but should
be sorry to pass a long Minnesota winter without both seeing
and hearing them, as they have been so long identified with
the bird life of the country.

Note. The vicious habit of this species of eating the eggs
of its own, and of the other birds, has become more and more
evident as I have had further opportunities to observe. In
this, however, he has the precedent of so many other species,
that he can with plausibility plead as good reason for justifica-
tion as the rumseller, who sells his "liquid death" because, if
he did not, "the other fellow would." My indignation has been
at white heat on catching him at the destruction of the eggs of
some of the little fellows that were no match for him. So
widely is his character known amongst the feathered tribes of
his habitudes, that there has come to exist an unwritten edict
of outlawry against him, so that when he is caught in the act
of trespass, a recognized signal- call will enlist the entire deni-
zens of his section in a simultaneous pursuit of him. But he
soon disregards, or wilfully forgets all such protests, and re-
news his inglorious depredations upon the earliest opportunity.
I have never witnessed his destruction of the young birds, as I
have the butcher birds but am prepared to believe almost any-
thing I maj^ hear against him. As with instances among an-
other species of bipeds, neither talents nor external adornment
shields them from common contempt. Still, as with some bad
boys, we cannot but like them notwithstanding all their faults,
when we hear the cheery notes amid all the desolations of a
northern winter. The question of the jay's powers of mimicry
of the notes of numerous other birds, has long been at rest with
me, for I am an eye and an ear witness. His most wonderful,
and most successful demonstrations have been in imitating very
small birds like the Chickadee, Pewee, Winter Wren, several of
18 z:

264 NOTES ON THE

the sparrows, and indeed almost every known species of the
kind, whose combinations are not very long. It must be under-
stood that these performances are invariably en sutta voce, and
audible to only those who are embraced in his auditorium by
chances of fortuitous accident, which keeps the performer in
blissful ignorance of his presence. My first opportunity tran-
spired by my being placed in the covert of a fallen tree-top, to
which the leaves were still clinging, before daylight in the
morning to await a band of deer that w^ere to be driven near
there by a party of drivers acquainted with their "runs." I
had been there nearly two hours in almost breathless silence,
scarcely moving a muscle lest I might be discovered and while
thus waiting numerous birds had been twittering and flying
about the spot of my concealment ever since the daylight had
come, amongst which were many Blue Jays. Now, any experi-
enced hunter knows that if one of these irrepressible jays
catches sight of him, his chances of a shot at a deer that is any-
where near him are gone for that time, and having just before
received a preconcerted signal that some were approaching,
my attention was centered upon a number of these birds but a
little distance from me, ready to rob me of the fruits and con-
siderations of my mutual sacrifices, when I saw and heard such
a mimicry of many of the little birds before mentioned as no
language can describe. Only one individual was engaged, and
the notes which fell in showers like dewdrops, almost inaudible,
were among the clearest, most delicate, sweet and melodious
that ever found their way into a human ear. I was in an
ecstacy of wonder and surprise, and only sighed in silence that
every lover of bird- song could not share my delight.. I forgave
him everything I had ever seen, heard, or surmised against
him, and have never since harbored any but the kindest feel
ings toward him. If a diet upon canary brains and mocking
bird's eyes afford such inspiration, these songsters contribute
as much in their deaths as in their lives, and the regally plumed
Blue Jay should live forever. Since then I have his secret, and
I have many times been his auditor undiscovered, and I have
found that when undiscovered, he will jirolong these solo per-
formances considerable, constantly varying and modulating
them in the most pleasing manner.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Crest about one-third longer than the bill; tail graduated;
general color above light purplish-blue; wings and tail feath-
ers ultramarine-blue; the secondaries and tertials, the greater
wing coverts and the exposed surface of'the tail sharply
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-
wards and connecting with a half collar on the back of the

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 265

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, 12.25; wing, 5.65; tail, 5,75.

Habitat, eastern North America to the plains and from the
fur countries south to Florida and eastern Texas.

PERISOREUS CANADENSIS (L ) (484).
CANADA JAY.

When I first lived in the State the lumbermen used to tell
me a great deal about "the camp bird" as they called it, and
my curiosity was no little awakened to learn the identity of the
bird but I could persuade none of them to bring me one, as
their attachment to it forbid their shooting it, for it was so
unsuspicious and tame that it would often come to the door of
the cabin and eat the waste and crumbs thrown down to it. At
last a good fortune sent one to me and I at once discovered the
genuine Canada Jay. It is not a numerous species like the
Blue Jay but is a permanent resident along the Lake Superior
region and southward about a hundred miles, as I learn from
the aforementioned source. It has fallen into my hands in
the Big Woods on two occasions, and one or two individuals
have been obtained in Sherburne county some time since. Of
its habits I know nothing from personal observation, and must,
therefore, avail myself of the observations of others. I quote
Professor Samuels in his Birds of New England, page 367.
He says: — " 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
{Junco hyemalis) in a single day. I found these nests in an old
abandoned lumber road on the morning of June 20th; in the
afternoon, when I returned through the same path, every nest
was depopulated, and a xDair of these jays Avere lurking in the
trees shouting defiance to us while surrounded by the afflicted
Snowbirds that were uttering their cries of complaint and
sorrow. I emptied both barrels of my gun in the direction of
the jay, and I am inclined to think that they have killed no
birds since. The f amiliarty 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 companions, was obliged to wait until the storm

266 NOTES ON THE

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 anj^thing but a joke, particularly
when they flew off with the last piece of our soap." Audubon
says: — "It begins as earlj" as February 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 inter-
ior, which is flat, is formed of fibrous roots. The eggs, which
are four to six, are of a light gray color faintly marked with
brown.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail graduated; lateral feathers about one inch shortest.
Wings a little shorter than the tail. Head, neck and forepart
of breast, wliite. A plumbeous nuchal patch, becoming darker
behind, from the middle of the crown to the back, from which
it is separated by an interrupted, whitish collar. Rest of
upper parts ashy- plumbeous; the outer primaries margined;
the secondaries, tertials, and tail feathers obscurely tipped,
with white beneath smoky gray; crissum. whitish; bill and
feet, black.

Length, 10.70; wing. 5.75; tail, 6.00; tarsus, 140.

Habitat, northern New England, Michigan, Minnesota, and
Canada, northward to Arctic America.

CORVrS CORAX SINUATUS (Wagler). (486.)
AMERICAN RAVEN.

This bird is a permanent resident about Lake Superior, and
is common along the Red river and some of the more infre-
quented lakes in the northern portions of the state in summer
time, arriving quite early in March, and remaining very late in
the ?Lutumn. It is more frequently seen singly, yet occasionally
a pair will attract the attention floating on extended wings for
hours over some desolate section in search of food which is
preferably carrion, but there is nothing, either dead or alive,
they will not eat when pressed by hunger. Their flight is
rapid and long sustained. On the ground they have a very
dignified walk, with a characteristic of frequently opening the
wings as if it wearied them to retain them closed. It breeds
in the localities mentioned, quite early in the season. The
earliest I have any authentic record of is March l!5th. The

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 267

nests are exceedingly rude, and either on the inaccessible
cliffs, or in the loftiest trees of some very desolate section.
The eggs are usually four to six in number, two inches long,
light greenish blue, with light purple and yellowish-brown
blotches numerous about the larger end. Incubation lasts
about twenty -one days, and the young remain in the nest
several weeks before they are able to fly, fed at first on the
half digested food disgorged by the parents. Only a single
brood is reared in one season.

The raven is a much more common bird in northern and
western Minnesota than I formerly supposed, but is nowhere
so abundant as along the Pacific in the valleys of California
and Oregon. By the twenty fifth of March in most years,
they are often heard, but less frequently seen. Indeed they
are rarely seen in the vicinity of Minneapolis and St. Paul,
but, from Bigstone lake to the British Possessions they seem
to beconie increasingly common.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill long, very strong and arched; nasal feathers lengthened,
reach middle of bill; nostrils large, circular, and overhung by
membrane; gape without bristles; wings long and pointed,
when closed reach nearly to tip of tail, and far beyond under
coverts; fourth quill longest; third and fifth about equal;
second between fifth and sixth; first nearly equal to eighth;
tail short acd nearly even; tarsi longer than middle toe,
and scaled in front.

Length, 25 inches; Aving, 17; tail. 10.

Habitat, North America from arctic regions to Guatemala,
but local and not common east of the Mississsippi river.

CORVUS AMERICANUS Audubon. (488.)
AMERICAN CROW.

I find the Crow a much more common species than my earlier
observations had led me to expect. It is generally distributed,
yet not at all equally so. It is fairly common in Fillmore
county, and along the whole southern tier of counties, but the
numbers grow relatively less until reaching about the middle,
and especially until the great timber belt is reached. From
thence northward there is an increase, so that in Otter Tail
county thence eastward and northward their numbers are
greatly augmented, even to the Lake of the Woods, where I
learn they breed abundantly. Dr. J. C. Hvoslef of Lanesboro
in Fillmore county through which the Root river runs, writes

268 NOTES ON THE

me that "the crow is a resident in the deep valley of the Root
river even in the severest winters." In his immediate locality
they are "common, feeding about the slaughter houses."

Mr. Washburn, who spent from July 28th to September 12th
in the valley of the Red river in the interests of the survey
says: "I am rather puzzled to account for the actions of the
crow in this part of the country. I did not meet with them
until I reached Ada, and then I saw but a few, flying high in
the air. I was told at Georgetown, however, fifteen miles
north of Moorhead, that they are common in the spring. And I
was told too that they are seen at Ada in June when other
birds are nesting, but my informant had never seen a nest. As
autumn approached however, and my journey took me farther
northward, I met them more frequently.

"The Crow is certainly more common in the northeru part of
the valley than further south. I have learned that this bird
breeds jDlentif ully about the lakes of Otter Tail county, and in
immense numbers in the country about Mille Lacs lake, where
there is more or less pine. I assume that they find in the pine
sections, conditions more favorable for nesting than near the
Red river, and that accounts for their scarcity during July and
part of August; whereas, later in the season, when the young
crows can fly long distances, and when a change of food is
desirable, they flock upon the low land of the valley. In Sep-
tember, I ob.served large flocks of them near the track, north
and south of Crookston, and in riding across the country I met
them in large numbers on the meadow lands, catching and eat-
ing young frogs, which are exceedingly abundant here this
season."

The farmers are close observers of this bird, and have a prac-
tical knowledge of some of his more interesting habits. I can't
say quite so much for him in his defense, but I think a charita-
ble apology by recognizing how he was brought up, and
acknowledging his services in the destruction of noxious
ground larvae, are due before exterminating him altogether.
Like his regal cousin, the raven, he is a shrewd fellow, and
appreciates a joke as well as almost any other member of his
numerous family. A farmer in the Sacramento valley, Califor-
nia, found that the crow could count up to three with infallible
certainty, but four was too much for him, and he settled it in
this wise. Immense flocks of them were interested in the
botany of his cornfield, and did not replant his corn shoots
after examining the fibrous roots, and he was thoroughly mad

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 269

about it. He undertook to shoot them indiscriminately,
"guilty or not guilty." But they were too shrewd for him, as
some one or more on guard would give a warning note, just as
he had got nearly ready to give them a broadside of double B
shot. An unused shanty stood in the center of the field, and
as he could always approach them much more nearly when
with no gun, he arose very early in the morning, before day-
light, and put his double-barrelled gun in there and returned
home. After his breakfast was over, he walked very deliber-
ately across the field and into his shanty with very little atten-
tion from the crows.

Lighting his pipe, he sat down to let them forget his going
in there, and after waiting some time he peeped out of a hole to
see if they had not resumed their botanical investigations, as he
facetiously called their depredations. To his surprise, not a
crow was to be seen on his corn, but they were all perched at
respectful distances watching the shanty. He staid until noon
in vain, and went to his dinner thinking how he was to deceive
fchem. A thought struck him. So after dinner he took one of
his hired men with him into the shanty, and after staying
awhile sent him out to his woj'k in another part of the farm,
and waited for the crows, believing the departure of the man
would throw them off their guard, but all in vain. The next
day he took two men in, and after a short time one went away,
and a while after the second followed, and he thought "now I
surely will beat them," but not a crow came, till discouraged
he went home. Thinking the matter over in the night he
decided that as he had begun on that line he would see how
many the crows could count, and in the morning called in one
more man. One after another took their departure, the last
one wearing away an outside garment he had worn in himself.
To his great delight, very soon after the third man left the
crows began to light down in great numbers and in good range.
After all were down, and feeding, he suddenly flung open the
door, and as they rose, he gave them first one barrel and then
the other, and made the biggest crow shot on California
records, winging, killing and otherwise disabling something
over a score of birds. To his joy he found that by going into
that shanty every day with some of his men, without remain-
ing at all, not a Crow would light on his corn, but the first
day he failed to go there they poured down upon it as if no
such catastrophe had ever decimated their ranks. That farmer
says he knows that a Crow can count three.

270. NOTES ON THE

By the twentieth of April the nests are generally finished
and incubation fairly entered upon. The nest is placed in the
fork of a tall tree, pine where that kind of timber grows, and
consists of a thick course of sticks and twigs, overlaid by
moss, barks of different kinds, or dried grass, and well lined
with bark and leaves. Four eggs is usually the complement,
colored some shade of green and covered with splotches of
different shades of brown, and dusky. One brood only is
reared.

I am afraid I cannot add anything to the welfare of this
bird economically considered. The weight of testimony is all
against him. He must understand that the waste places of the
earth only are voted him henceforth and forever. In common
with all of the other members of the family he has got a bad
name.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill much compressed; curved from the base, rather more
so towards the tip; incumbent feathers of nostrils reach half
the distance from the base of the bill to the end of the lower
mandible, and not quite half way to that of the upper; 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 and has eight
scales anteriorly; 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 feather are a little loose, but lie
quite smoothly without the pointed, lanceolate character seen
in the ravens.

Length, 19 to 20; wing, 13 to 13.5; tail, 8.

Habitat, North America from fur countries to Mexico.

CORYUS OSSIFRAGrS Wilson. (490.)

FISH CIROW.

The appearance of this species in Minnesota of course was
accidental. On September 21st, 1869, I was driving in the
vicinity of this city near a small lake, when a flock of what I
calculated were not less than a hundred and fifty crows passed
over me from the north and lighted on a plowed field close to
the road along which I was driving. Several of our common
crows were feeding on the same field, which possibly was the
immediate cause of their alighting, but the contrast in size
arrested my attention before they stopped their flight. The
most ordinary observer could not have failed to see the differ-
ence in their sizes. Having my field glass with me I stopped

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 271

my carriage and enjoyed as good an opportunity for observing
them as I would ask, except to have them in my hands, which,
having no gun with me, I could not do. The resemblance in
general form, color and movement was such that had there
been none of the other species, and they had not lighted on the
same field, I might not have identified them, at least I could
not with the same certainty. I have never seen them since
with sufiicient certainty to list them, yet I believe I have
observed them in migration on one or two similar occasions.
I have little doubt that they visit Hudson bay occasionally at
least.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Fourth quill longest; second rather longer than seventh, first
shorter than ninth. Glossy-black, with green and violet re-
flections; the gloss of the belly greenish.

Length, 15^; wing, 10^; tail, less than 7 inches; tarsus
shorter than the middle toe and claw.

Habitat, said to be Atlantic coast from Long Island to Florida,

Family ICTEPvIJ3.E.

DOLICHONYX ORYZIVORUS (L.). (494.)
•BOBOLINK.

The Bobolink has shown greater variations in the dates of
its arrival in the vicinity of Minneapolis than almost any other
species of migrating birds. In the spring of 1870 it came on
the 5th of April. In 1865, none were seen until the 18th of
May, *As a general average the males appear between the
27th of April, and the 7th of May, followed in a few days by the
females. Their distribution is universal over the State in
sections affording their favorite meadows. Their habits are
always of exceptional interest to those who are observers of
birds. The morning one is seen first after arrival, others will
be seen, and generally upon a green grass -plat grazed very
closely by cattle, drawn there by the presence of different
species of larvse upon which they feed in the absence of all kinds
of seeds. While the females are still absent they sing but
little comparatively, but instantly upon their arrival the music
begins in earnest. Courtship is inaugurated at once by the
songster with a frenzied display of his powers of melody.
With the feathers of his black head slightly lifted, and those
of the yellowish- white neck thrown into a crest, the wings

272 NOTES ON THE

partially spread, and droopinof, displaying to the best possible
advantage the harlequin dress of boldly contrasted colors, he
pours out his devotions in song while waltzing around her on
the ground or mounting into the air above and in front of her,
he hovers over her, fairly bursting with the notes of his
ardent professions, until she flies from his demonstrations,
when he accej)ts the hint and follows her through fences and
bushes furiously until she yields to his persistence and from
thence through all the period of nestbuilding, incubation, and
rearing the brood they remain most truly united.

Early in June the nest is built in a tussock or depression in
the ground, which is further excavated by the birds, and con-
sists of dried grasses, rather slightly disposed. It is usually
in a meadow near a rivulet of clear running water, and con-
tains about five eggs of a brownish- clay color, with spots and
blotches of different shades of umber.

As soon as incubation is completed, the hitherto jubilant
male drops his singing and his gaudy dress, and assuming a
plain sparrow- like mantle, only lingers long enough to see that
the brood can care for themselves, when, with his faithful
com])anion, he spends the remaining summer in the quietest
ramblings conceivable. About the first of September, often as
early as the 25th of August, old and young gather into flocks
and begin to slowly work their way southward, feeding by day
and making their flights in the early dawn.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

General color in spring black; nape brownish cream; a patch
on the side of the breast, scapulars and rump white, shading
into light ash on the upper tail coverts and the back below the
interscapular region; the outer primaries sharply margined
with yellowish-white, the tertials less abruptly; the tail
feathers margined at the tips with pale brownish ash.

Length, 7.70; wing, 3.83; tail, 8.15.

Habitat, eastern North America to the Great Plains.

MOLOTHRIS ATER (Boddaert). (495.)

COWBIRD.

The Cowbirds are as fully represented throughout the State
as in almost any other with which I am equally well acquinted.
They reach us not far from the first of April, and retire again
about the 25th of October. In occasional springs I have seen
them as early as the 25th of March, and in others not before
the middle of April. And I have seen some of them remaining

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 273

in autumn until into December, but far more frequently until
the month of November, yet in either case in very limited
numbers.

It is more commonly found first after its appearance in spring,
along the streams, in small flocks, perched for half an hour at
a time or more, in the tops of scattering, leafless trees. These
little parties are doubtless the advance pioneers of the species,
on their way to still higher latitudes that move on shortly,
leaving the locality for others alike migrating, until the rear
comes to occupy the territory left them by some unwritten law
yet to be learned by curious mortals. These parties are not
unfrequently mixed somewhat with Red-wing Blackbirds.
When those Avhich are to remain during the summer have
come, they at once begin to associate with the herds of cattle
grazing the fields and commons. Very soon afterwards their
numbers increase preceptibly as the herds increase. I have
often noticed them scattered in small parties through an immense
herd, tripping sprily about their feet, and under their bellies,
feeding industriously upon some forms of food evidently asso-
ciated with the presence of the cattle. It seemed as if the life
and limbs of each individual were momentarily jeoparized by
the countless feet of the herd, yet in no instance did I ever
know of either life or limb suffering by the proximity. After-
wards during the warmest days of summer, these remarkable
birds may be seen often, perched along the backs of the cattle
while feeding, and when lying down chewing their cuds, em-
blems of contentment and repose. At such times I have re-
peatedly witnessed the approach of the bird, when it would
hop from the ground onto the head of the animal, walk un-
hesitatingly down along the face and pick in the angles of the
eyes for some time, evidently to the entire satisfaction of the
animal thus relieved of the annoying flies and midgets abound-
ing there.

About the time that the birds generally begin to lay their
first eggs, the females of this species are noticed to become
moody, and to separate themselves from the flocks. Flying
a.bout solitarily from thicket to thicket, and tree to tree, they
are found to be in the urgent necessities of finding a place in
which to deposit their matured eggs. Building no nests of
their own, of the instinct for doing which for some reason they
are deprived, they drop the imminent egg in the nest of some
one of the other species of birds, more commonly perhaps,
that of warblers and sparrows, or the vireos, but scarcely less

274 NOTES ON THE

frequently the sparrow or thrushes. I believe that the Cow-
bird is without the slightest preference as to what, or whose
nest receives her mysterious deposit, but her instincts have
taught her not to take such liberties with the nests of rapaci-
ous, nor pugnacious species, and as a matter of course the
unwelcome responsibility falls more commonly upon the weak
and timid. The thrushes therefore ordinarily escape, and
most of the vireos do so next in frequency, while the tiny
warblers, and the less vigilant sparrows, bear the imposition
more uniformly. Notably, the period of incubation for this
species is a little less, than for any one of those which are
thus imposed upon, thus increasing the probabilities of the
maintenance of the species. One of the most comical spec-
tacles ever falling under my observation in bird-life, has been
the appearance of a young Cowbird nearly large enough to
take to its wings, still sitting on {in was impossible) the nest
of the Maryland Yellow-throat, and the female of that diminu-
tive species in the act of feeding it. The tiny excavation
could scarcely afford room for its feet, to say notliing of its body,
and with its feathers Huffed so much as lo double its apparent
size, the mouth extended to its utmost, while the midget foster
mother, at the hazard of being swallowed herself bodily,
plunging her morsels far down the abyssal throat of the
ungracious usurper, who has unavoidably destroyed the
mothers own birdling in the process of its development.

Let that species of birds which has no foundlings to rear,
question this strange and exceptional provision of a beneficent
Creator for the perpetuation of another species. Great rules
are often revealed by their exceptions. The birds have no
decalogue. What poor little bird-mother, so long imprisoned
by her duties in obedience to the demands of her maternal
instincts, may not justly envy this one. which has all of the
pleasures, and none of the sacrifices of bird- life, except the
agonizing anxieties of the brief moment spent in extruding her
Qgg into another birds nest?

From all that I have learned from personal observations. I
conclude that the Cowbird lays about the same number of
eggs as the average of its family. It is not uncommon to
find two in the same nest, and only a little less so to find three.
I have recorded two instances of four, and one of five. It is
by no means certain in any case where more than one is found
that the same female deposited all of them. Indeed it is more
presumptive that if her instincts should send her to the same

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 275

nest to lay five eggs, she would try her bill and feet at building
a nest for herself exclusively.

These birds distribute themselves over the entire State, so
that they may be seen almost daily in their favorite localities
until late in the autumn as already mentioned, but at no time
in such vast numbers as Coues has described them in some of
the other western states. Their remarkable disappearance in
August which he speaks of (in his "Birds of the Northwest,'') has
never occurred here to my knowledge, although I have noticed
that they were less active during the period of their moulting.
Mr. Washburn found them common in his explorations of the
ornithology of the Red river valley in the middle of August,
and in Otter Tail county on the 17th of October.

My memorandum says for one year, "Very common Novem-
ber loth in the middle and western part of Hennepin county."

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Second quill longest; first scarcely shorter; tail nearly even,
or very slightly rounded; male with the head, neck and ante-
rior 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; bill short and stout, and about two-thirds the length
of the head; claws rather small.

Length, 8; wing, 4.50; tail, 3.40.

(Female light olivaceous all over, lighter on the head and
beneath; bill and feet black.)

Habitat, U. S. from Atlantic to Pacific oceans.

XANTHOCEPHALUS XANTHOCEPHALLS

(Bonaparte). (497.)

YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD.

Whatever their numbers in other western localities, the Yel-
low-headed Blackbirds are far from abundant in any portion
of Minnesota yet explored.

Neither are they even approximately uniformly distributed,
although all of the conditions favorable for them are found in
nearly every considerable portion of the State.

The males are so large and their markings so conspicuous
that they cannot escape attention even when their numbers are
very few, and they confine themselves so closely to their breed-
ing places that whoever finds them once is pretty sure of find-
ing them at the same places the next time he seeks them.

276 NOTES ON THE

Their spring arrival is later than any other species of the
family, being more frequently after, than before May first, and
generally the females and males arrive nearly, if not quite
simultaneously.

They seek marshy places where coarse, strong reeds abound,
and in water too deep or miry for approach except with a boat.
Here they build their nests in small communities, suspending
them by firm and very ingenious attachments to about four or
five of the firmest reed-stalks, but little above the surface of the
surrounding water. Coarse grasses and the leaves of the reeds
are used in its structure, in such a manner as to evince a high
degree of ingenuity in bird-architecture. It varys somewhat in
depth but is relatively a deep nest, with the border elevated
and thickened into a strong brim. These nests are finished, and
occupied by from four to six grayish-green eggs spotted all
over with reddish or umber brown, by tlie first or second week
in June. I have never known them to bring out more than one
brood, in caring for which the males have seemed to share all
incidental burdens. Their efforts at song are amusing, being
much more of a cachination which reminds one of those of a
precocious male chicken, making its first rather weak attempts
to crow.

After maturing their broods they become a little more dis-
tributed, but by no means generally, as do the other members of
its family, until preparing for migration, which takes place a
little earlier than the Red-wings. Like the latter they feed
principally upon wild rice which abounds along the course of
streams and in shallow ponds and lakes, but they are often seen
in the yards where cattle and dairy cows are herded, strolling
about as fearlessly as the Cowbirds, with whom they are greatly
prone to associate, apparently drawn by the scattering seeds,
grains and intestinal worms occasionally dropped in the offal.
For almost thirty years they have bred and fed in one locality,
long since within the earliest corporate limits of this city (Min-
neapolis) until their old reedy haunt became too valuable for
poor folks and was buried under the deep grading for city lots.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

First quill nearly as long as second and third, (longest)
decidedly longer than the third; tail rounded or slightly grad-
uated; general color black, including the inner surface of
wings arid axillaries, base of lower mandible all round, feathers
adjacent to nostrils, lores, upper eyelids and remaining space
around the eye; the head and neck all around, the fore part of

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 277

the breast, extending some distance down on the median line
and a somewhat hidden space round the anus, j^ellowish; a con-
spicuous white patch at the base of the wing formed by the
spurious feathers, interrupted by the black alula; female
smaller, browner; the yellow confined to the under parts and
sides of the head, and a superciliary line; a dusky maxillary
line; no white on the wing.

Length (of male), 10; wing, 5.60; tail, 4.50.

Habitat, western America from Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin
and north Red river to California, south to Mexico.

AGEL4IUS PH(ENICEliS (K). (498).

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD.

The Red-winged Blackbirds are an exceptionally abundant
species here. They reach the southern counties about the 20th
of March and the principal parts of the State about the 1st of
April. They come in small flocks generally and some springs
a single bird will appear several days in advance of the parties
to follow. They take to the reeds, and especially the cat-tails
of which they seem to be very fond, obtaining, doubtless, a
portion of their food from them. The males sing their brief,
melodious songs from the tops of the trees and bushes, which
being devoid of leaves, makes them conspicuous objects in
their black mantles with scarlet epaulets. Their notes are
limpid, sweet and resonant, and are amongsb the cheeriest of
the early spring. When not singing he keeps a constantly
repeated check, check, check, from which he frequently abruptly
presses into the liquid utterance of okle-ree-e-e-e-ee; o-kle-ree-
e-e-e-ee, during which his wings and tail are suddenly spread
and he bows and sidles as if receiving a regal introduction to
somebody allied to the queen. The males precede the females
about ten days. Mating immediately follows the arrival of the
latter and by the 10th of May they engage in building their
nests in communities in the meadows and swamps. Tussocks
of grass or low bushes standing in water are preferably
chosen, but proximity to the water will answer. Coarse
grasses are interlaced and woven into a strong, deep nest
which involves the stalks of grass and twigs, upon which they
are built. It is lined w^ith fine grasses and fibrous roots and
generally receives from four to five eggs of a light blue color.
They bring out two broods, and soon after the last is able to
fly strongly, gather into flocks. As the season advances these
flocks aggregate into larger ones until their numbers often
exceed all computation, feeding upon grain fields and wild

278 NOTES ON THE

rice. About October 25th they move southward, but their
numbers are immediately re-supplied by others from still
further north, so that to the casual observer there is little
diminution until considerably later. Indeed a few do linger
until near, or even into December in occasional autumns.

Mr. Lewis found them in myriads in Grant county in Sep-
tember, and still fairly represented on October 20th.

Mr. Washburn found them the most abundant of their fam-
ily in the Red river valley in August, and still numerous asso-
ciates with brewers and the rusty blackbirds in Otter Tail
on October 25th.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

General uniform lustrous velvet-black, with a greenish
reflection; shoulders and lesser wing coverts bright crimson,
or Vermillion red; middle coverts brownish- yellow, and usually
paler towards the tips; tail much rounded, the lateral feathers
half an inch shorter; fourth quill longest; first about as long as
fifth; bill large and stout, half, or more than half as high as
long.

Length, 9.50; wing, 5; tail, 4.15.

Habitat, North America in general.

STTRNELLA MAGNA (L.). (501.)
MEADOWLARK.

The accidents of early associations and the idiosyncracies of
Individ aal sensibility to the melody of bird-songs may account
for the diversity of the measure of welcome which di^erent
birds meet upon their arrival in spring, yet to me it remains
unexplained that comparatively so few seem to appreciate the
arrival and presence of the Meadowlark. Braving the cold,
rough winds incident to these northern latitudes in the early days
of April, he drops down suddenly onto some slightly elevated
object, like a stone, an old ant hill, a low shrub or bush, or in
the absence of all these, onto about the third rail of a worm
fence along the roadway, and bursts into song. A single note
of it reaching the ear of those who know him, between the
gusts of high wind, arrests all attention, until its most wel-
come source is ascertained. The females are never long behind,
and as the season advances, the song, at first broken into con-
siderable intervals, grows more and more frequent until the
nesting time draws near, when mounting higher objects, like a
stake in the fence, a high bush, or even the topmost branch
of a medium sized shade tree, he sings his clear, limpid song,

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA 279

broken into short intervals, during which he keeps nervously
twitching, jerking and expanding his somewhat abbreviated
tail, or dashing into the air, uttering a chuckling twitter, and
sailing off, prairie-hen like to another perch to repeat his
beautiful and delicious song. Nesting is usually begun about
the middle of May, occasionally earlier, and of tener later. Two
broods are reared in a season. They lay four to five white
eggs, speckled and blotched with reddish-brown or lilac.

The nest consists of coarse, dried grasses outwardly, and fine
grasses within, and is placed in an excavation in a tuft or tus-
sock of the ranker grass of the previous year, the tops of the
inner stalks of which are adroitly fastened together and con
cealed by other loose material mingled with and dropped upon
it, leaving an obscure opening on one side only. A more se-
cure or completely concealed home could scarcely be conceived
amidst so great exposure in the dry, elevated, open fields, con-
stituting their chosen local habitats. Their food consists of
insects and worms, for the obtaining of which their bills are
remarkably adapted, being very long, acutely tapered from the
base which is firm, deep and very strong, thus preparing them
to bore through the dry, compact soil of the uplands where
they remain.

Individuals of this species remain very late in the autumn,
especially in the southern counties — indeed, Dr. Hvoslef, of
Lanesboro, in Fillmore county, which borders Iowa in the south-
east, met this bird on the third of January, sitting on the fence
in the act of singing — a jolly fellow that. If he had been a
permanent resident we should have known that he was daft.
They are mostly given by the last of October.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Feathers above dark brown, margined with brownish-white,
with a terminal blotch of pale reddish-brown; exposed portions
of wing and tail with transverse bars of dark brown bars
which are confluent along the shaft on the middle tail feathers;
beneath yellow with a black pectoral crescent, the yellow not
extending on the side of the maxilla; eides, crissum, and tubise,
pale reddish brown, streaked with blackish; a light median
and suiDerciliary stripe, the latter yellow anterior to the eye;
and a black line behind.

Length, 10.60; wing, 5; tail, 3.70; bill above, 1.35.

Habitat, eastern United States.

19z

280 NOTES ON THE

STIIRNELLA MAGNA NEGLECTA (Audubon). (5016.)
WESTERN MEADOW LARK.

This species has been occasionally obtained in the Red river
valley for the last fifteen years, but is still rare. It has been
collected as far down as the Indian Reserve in Pipestone
county. I am very familiar with this bird, and its various
modifications of song as exhibited in the mountains, foot hills
and valleys of California where I spent about two j^ears in the
enjoyment of special facilities for observing them, as I was
making a collection of the birds from Trucker to Sonoma and
south to San Diego in 1871-2.

SPECIFIC CHARA.CTERS.

Feathers above dark brown, margined with brownish-white,
with a terminal blotch of pale reddish-brown; exposed portion
of wings and tail with transverse bands, which in the latter
are completely isolated from each other, narrow and linear;
beneath yellow, with a black pectoral crescent; yellow of the
throat extending on the sides of the maxilla; sides, crissum,
and tibia, very jmle reddish-brown, or nearly white, streaked
with blackish; head with a light median, and superciliary
stripe, the latter yellow in front of the eye, a blackish line
behind it; the transverse bars on the feathers above (less so
on the tail) with a tendency to become confluent near the
exterior margin.

Length, 10; wing, 5.25; tail, 3.25; bill, 1.25.

Habitat, western United States from Wisconsin, Minnesota,
Iowa to Pacific coast.

ICTERUS SPURirS (L.). (bOQ.)
ORCHARD ORIOLE.

This is a fairly common summer resident, arriving about the
middle of May and retiring southward about the first of Sep-
tember. Its song is clear, strong and thrush-like in melody.

The nests are usually constructed and incubation commenced
by the second week in June, and occasionally a little earlier.
The structure consists of green or nearly fresh wiry grasses
compactly woven and lined with finer grasses, inner bark of
coarse weeds and coarse hairs of cattle and horses. It is
usually suspended from a fork in a limb from seven to ten or
twelve feet from the ground. In the absence of the orchards,
from which it has received its common name in the east and
south, it seems to prefer a low tree of almost any species 'of
timber if somewhere about the size of a matured apple tree
and located on a somewhat elevated, dry sidehill with no rela-
tion to approximate water.

BIRDS OP MINNESOTA. 281

I have never known them to bring out more than one brood in
the season. After the young are sufficiently grown to fly they
disappear from their ordinary localities and are afterwards
less frequently seen, except by those familiar with their post
nidifying habits. Their distribution throughout the State is
universal. Mr. Washburn and many others report it common
in districts explored by them.

Note. — Authors differ as to the pensile character of the
Orchard Oriole's nest. In his Birds of New England, Samuels
on page 347 says: "It is not pensile, but is built on the
branch." Langille says an page 245 of his "Our Birds in
their Haunts:" — The nest is hungbythe upper edge to a limb."

I have never seen a nest on a limb, as the former states, and
from the entire mechanism of it I can not see how it could be
thus placed, but while always 7mng by the upper edge, I have
met instances when it received substantial support from a
fortuitous limb under it which was firmly secured to it.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill slender, attenuated, considerably decurved; tail moder-
ately graduated; head and neck all around, wings, interscap-
ular region of the back and tail feathers, black; rest of under
parts, lower part of back to tail, lesser upper wing coverts
and the lower one, brownish-chestnut; a narrow line across
the wing and the extreme outer edges of quills, white.

Length, 7.75; wing, 3.25; tail, 2.60.

Habitat, United States west to the Plains.

ICTERUS (iALBULA (L.). (507).
BALTIMORE ORIOLE,
Few of the birds spending their summers in Minnesota
arrive with more pronounced regularity than the Baltimore
Oriole. Years in succession he had not varied three days
from the tenth of May. The very characteristic note of the
male upon his first appearance will arrest the attention of
anyone enough to secure a careful search for him, when his
unmistakable plumage settles his identity for everyone. The
females usually arrive about three days later, rarely more, but
not infrequently have they come within twenty-four hours. In
the interval between the arrival of the sexes, the males have
a very peculiar, clear, strong, whistling association of about
three or four notes, which are at once exchanged for a beauti-
ful, pathetic variety, when she has come. They sing quite
volubly, and voluptuously while pairing, and only less so dur-
ing incubation, but become comparatively silent afterwards,
until they retire southward not far from the 30th day of August.

282 NOTES ON THE

Thirty years ago, when the populatioa of the entire State
was only about the same as that of one of her chief cities now,
this species was correspondingly represented by fewer num-
bers, but unlike some other species, civilization has favored its
multiplication probably tenfold. I have no doubt that a hun-
dred nests might be found in the corporation of Minneapolis
(after extra-limiting half that number of promising additions)
and possibly double that figure, while along the highway be-
tween it and St. Paul, in a distance of five miles, one- fourth as
many more would be possible to be found. I have found no
arboreal portion of the State except the coniferous or the
swampy, where the species is unrepresented.

They commence building their nests about the 20th of May,
for the most beautiful description of which I shall offer no
apology for quoting Nuttall: "There is nothing moreremarka
ble in the whole instinct of our Golden Robin tjian the ingenu-
ity displayed in the fabrication of its nest, which is in fact, a
pendulous, cylindrical pouch of five to seven inches in depth
usually suspended from near the extremities of the high, droop-
ing branches of trees such as the elm, the pear, or appletree,
wild cherry, weeping willow, tulip- tree, or buttonwood. It is be-
gun by firmly fastening natural strings of the fiax of the silk-weed
or swamp hollyhock, or stout, artificial threads around two or
more forked twigs correspond! ng 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 intended, 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 external 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 some-
times a considerable difference in the manufacture of these
nests, as well as in the materials which enter into the compo
sition. 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 labor-
ious task nearly without the aid of his consort, who, however,
in general is the principal worker."

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 283

Their eggs, usually four, sometimes six, are flesh- colored,
and not unfrequently with a bluish shade, with lines of
lavender, over all of which are strongly marked scratches of
brown and black.

The species is one of those which the agriculturist and
horticulturist ought to call "blessed," and to which he should
make an offering of all of his garden peas without a murmur,
in view of its extensive destruction of canker-worms, cater-
pillars, and other ruinous larvae. Its marvelous beauty, song,
and immeasurable service in the destruction of such indisput-
able numbers of his enemies, should forever secure it immunity
form his curses (for stealing his peas) as the cunning of the
location secures it from his cats.

The devotion of the parents to their nests and offspring has
no more exalted illustration in bird-biography, exposing them-
selves to all dangers and to death itself in their protection.
Instances of the capture of the young are on record where the
parents have followed them long distances and afterwards con-
tinued to feed them through the bars of their cage till full
grown. One kindred incident has found a place in North
American Birds, ' 'where the female entered her nest while he
was in the act of severing the limb from which it was sus-
pended, and persisted in remaining there until the nest had
been cut off and taken into the house." (Ridgway.)

Mr. Washburn in his Red river valley report to me says:
"Fairly common everywhere, in the timber along streams.
The richness and depth of color, reported as peculiar to
western birds of this species, is particularly noticable in birds
taken in the valley. The orange-yellow of some individuals
noticed was of such a deep hue as to be almost scarlet. " These
instances of intense coloration, come frequently under my obser-
vation in many different species, but so far as individuals are
involved, the difference is relatively no greater than those I
observed on the Pacific coast. Amongst all the highly colored
species, there is an annual advancement up to the fourth year,
and in some, including the present species, to the fifth year, as
extended, consecutive observations have established.

For an instance, a young oriole of the species, when clam-
bering out into the parapet of its nest before being quite able to
fly,wasblownoffby a sudden gust of wind, onto the ground quite
near the residence of a friend who was very much interested
in birds. His cat seized it instantly but being on the spot he
rescued the victim, yet not until the cat had torn a piece of

284 NOTES ON THE

skin from one side of its neck. The unfortunate birdling was
immediately restored to its place by the employment of a long
ladder. Of course it was an easy matter to distinguish this
one from the others by the disfigured neck while the family
remained about there, which it did until its departure with the
others southward.

Nothing more was thought of the circumstance till the fol-
lowing spring, when a pair of orioles commenced building in
another tree near by, gathering their strings and threads from
the debris of the chip-pile under the window, with which to
construct the frame work of the nest. The disfigurement men-
tioned, arrested the attention of those who first saw them,
as it was on the male. For five successive years this individ-
ual returned and built on different trees within a hundred yards
of the house, and after a little painstaking was identified,
thus affording a perfectly consecutive history of the modifica
tion of the colors of the plumage under the ordinary circum-
stances of observation. Many other similar instances of other
species might be introduced. The one narrated affords a sug-
gestion for means of determining many interesting questions
in this department of natural history. The orioles all disap-
pear with the advent of the frosts of autumn.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail nearly even; head all around and to the middle of the
back, scapulars, wings, and upper surface of tail, black; rest
of under parts, rump, upper tail coverts, lesser wing coverts,
and terminal portions of tail feathers except the two inner-
most, orange-red; edge of wing quills, and a band across the
tips of the greater coverts, white.

Length, 7.50; wing, 3.75; tail, 2.

Habitat, eastern United States to the Rocky mountains.

SCOLECOPHAGUS CAUOLINUS (Muller). (509.)
RUSTY BLACKBIRD.

This blackbird is most noticable in the fall migration when it
is abundant in association with the other species of its genus.
It arrives in the spring about the first of April and disappears
again about the first to the tenth of May moving further north
to breed. Although I have discovered no nests, nor have any
been reported to me, yet I am satisfied from many observa-
tions of their return here at the beginning of October, and
other circumstances I might mention, they probably breed in
and around the vicinity of Lake Superior in considerable num-

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA, 285

oers. They do so in the northern parts of Maine and New
Hampshire. Samuels in his Birds of New England says:
' 'While in the valley of the Magalloway river in Maine in June,
1864, I found several (nests) ; and two of them contained three
eggs 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 com-
posed of stalks and leaves of grass, which were mixed with
mud, and moulded into a firm, circular 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 foilage. 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." Their
dimensions were 1.04 by .76 inch, 1.05 by .75 inch and 1 by .70
inch.

They reappear in their southern migration about the first
of October, associated with Brewer's Blackbirds and Redwings,
and in greatly augmented numbers. At this time their food
consists almost exclusively of the wasted grain of the harvest.
They seem to have the faculty of obtaining their food in less
time than the Redwings, and consequently have more for
exclusively social enjoyment. Much of their time is spent on
the fences, and in the trees, with only an unmelodious note
like check, or check che weecha, uttered alike by both sexes.
They mostly take their autumnal leave of us and move south-
ward at the beginning of November.

SPECIFIC CHARACTEKS.

Bill slender, shorter than head, about equal to hind toe; its
height not quite two-fifths its total length ; wing nearly an inch
longer than the tail; second quill longest; first a little shorter
than the fourth; tail slightly graduated; lateral feathers about
a quarter of an inch shortest; general color black, with purple
reflections; wings, under tail covens, and hinder part of the
belly, glossed with green; female, dull brown; iris pale straw
color.

Length, 9.51; tail, 4.

Habitat, eastern North America, west to Alaska and the
Plains. Breeds from northern New England northward.

286 NOTES ON THE

SCOLECOPHAGUS CYANOCEPHALUS (Wagler). (510.)
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD.

The migrating movements of this beautiful blackbird do not
differ from those of the Rusty Blackbird, arriving and depart-
ing at or about the same times, viz: about April first, and
about November first. They breed abundantly along the Red
river from Big Stone lake to the Canada line, and eastwardly
along the shores of the woodland lakes and streams to Mille
Lacs in Crow Wing county, and less commonly considerably
further south.

Mr. Washburn found them at Georgetown, Ada and St. Vin-
cent, August first, old and young in such numbers as to justify
the supposition that they breed there. Mr. Lewis reports
them in large numbers embracing the young still further east
in the same month.

Wherever their breeding habits have been observed in either
Minne.sota or DaKota it has been noted that they do not do so
in large communities. A few pairs will be somewhat associ-
ated, but often only one in a locality. And they almost as
often select dry, as swampy sections. The nest is a large
structure compactly built of twigs and finer materials, like
dried grasses, rootlets, weed-bark and lined with hair. Some
nests have considerable mud wrought in, but others have none
at all. The eggs, five to six in number, are a dull greenish
gray, with several shades of brown in small spots, some of
which are light and others dark, very irregular in their out-
lines.

Doctor Coues in his Birds of The Northwest, page 201, has
given so true a description of some of the characteristic habits
of this species that I cannot do better than to quote it. He
says: "Troops of twenty, fifty, a hundred are commonly seen;
they have no special fondness for watery places, but scour the
open, dry ground, and scatter among straggling pines and oaks;
they come fearlessly into the clearings about houses, the
traveller's camp, and the stock-j'^ards, gleaning plentiful sub-
sistence from man's bounty or wastfulness. Much of their
time is spent on the ground, rambling in hurried, eager search
for grain and insects; they generally run with nimble steps,
hopping being the exception, when they have satisfied their
hunger, and are moving leisurely with no particular object in
view. The movements are all easy and graceful, the bird's
trim form and glossy color setting it off to great advantage.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 287

At full speed the head is lowered and fixed; in slower progress
it is held upright bobbing in time with each step. When a
flock is feeding they pass over a good deal of ground, without
seeming to examine it very closely; every one tries to keep
ahead of the next, and thus they scurry on, taking short flights
over each other's head.

"At the least alarm the timid birds betake themselves to the
nearest tree, perching in various attitudes. A favorite posture
so easy as to appear negligent, is with the body held nearly
upright, the tail hanging loosely straight down, while the head
turns in various ways, with the whim of the moment. When
excited, the bird often sits low down, firmly on its legs, with
elevated and widespread tail, constantly flirted, while its
watchful eye peers down through the foliage. However com-
pactly a flock may fly up into a tree, they generally scatter' as
they alight all over its branches, so that it is rarely that more
than two, or three can be brought down at a shot. On the
ground the case is quite different; there they huddle together
so closely that the whole flock may be decimated. Their be-
haviour in the presence of man is a curious mixture of timidity
and heedlessness; they come to the very door-step, and yet a
sudden movement, or a shout, sends them affrighted into the
nearest trees. The next moment they begin to straggle back
again, at first singly or in little squads, till the more timid
ones are reassured and come streaming down together, when
the busy search for food is resumed. Their hunger satisfied
for the time, the birds betake themselves to the trees, often
passing the whole period of digestion snugly ensconsed in the
thick foliage. Then the concert opens; and if the music is
neither sweet nor soft, it is sprightly and not disagreeable, for
it suggests the careless joviality, and lazy good humor of black-
birds, with their stomachs full, and satisfactory promise of
future supply. The notes are energetic, rapid and varied with
a peculiar delivery which, like the yelping of the prairie
wolves, gives the hearer a very exaggerated idea of the num-
ber of the performers.'"

Nearly all the different species of blackbirds are seen in-
discriminately mingled in the autumnal migrations, but one
familiar with their individual or rather their specific habits
will readily discover the species in the manner of flight and
their walk as well as their feeding. This species does not
linger as late in individual instances as the Crow Blackbird.
The farmer's prejudices against the whole ef them is irremov-
able, nevertheless they are all his true friends.

288 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill stout, quiscaline, the commissure scarcely sinuated;
shorter than the head and hind toe; the height nearly half the
length above; wing nearly an inch longer than the tail; the
second quill longest; first about equal to the third; tail rounded
and moderately graduated; the lateral feathers about thirty-
five one-hundredths of an inch shorter; general color of male
black, with lustrous green reflections everywhere except on
the head and neck, which are glossed with purplish violet;
females much duller, of a light brownish anteriorly; a very
faint superciliary stripe.

Length, 10; wing, 5.35; tail, 4.40.

Habitat, United States, from eastern Kansas and Minnesota
to the Pacific; south into Mexico; breeds througout its United
States range.

QUISCALUS QVISCULA (L.). (511.)
PURPLE GRACKLE.

This very common bird it seems to me has claims upon our
admiration which have scarcely been acknowledged.* Coming
back to us after the long silence of the winter one of the first,
and remaining until about the very latest in autumn, essaying
sometimes to remain all winter, he .should awaken our best
appreciation of him if for nothing more than these reasons,
but he is a beautiful bird, and has the regal grace in his
demeanor that shames the strut of the peacock. The flight is
more than ordinarily graceful, in the shorter ones of which he
displays a characteristic peculiarity exhibited by no other
bird I know of, namely folding the tail so as to present a per-
pendicular rudder-like appearance, still preserving its sym-
metry perfectly. To do this there must be some specialized
muscles that depress the central line of the tail while others
elevate the borders, thus bringing the two halves of the upper
surface in close contact, and the under surface converted into
two, looking in opposite directions.

The coverts preserve their perfect symmetry while they give
great firmness to the unique aerial rudder of as graceful a
craft as sails the summer air. They arrive in Minnesota about
the 25th of March in small flocks or parties and are at once
domiciled and "at home" for the season. Their distribution is
universal and their breeding places only less so. After finding
their nests in a great variety of places I am satisfied they choose
the vicinity of dwellings not already pre-empted by comrades
or foes, as I find them common in the very heart of the city
where there is room enough for the colony.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 289

The city hall, in the noisiest part of a city of 150,000 people,
has niches in the cornice which they occupied for many years,
until the pugnacious little English Sparrows arrived and drove
them gradually out and occupied them themselves. My near-
est neighbor, Hon. R. B. Langdon, has encouraged their
building in the corners of his elegant residence for several
years, and our elms, maples and evergreens bear good testi-
mony to where the nesting of this species has been in the
recent years gone by,*

The nest is composed of weeds, dried grasses, fine roots and
other similar materials compacted in mud, and is lined with
fine grass, weeds and horse hairs. Its location varies in eleva-
tion from a crotch in a lilac bush, two feet from the ground, to
the tops of trees sixty or seventy feet. They are very devoted
to their young and apparently very civil to their neighbors of
different species, if unannoyed by them, but woe to the in-
truder.

The charge of eating the eggs and young of other birds in
this locality would be a vile slander, and I ask for general and
specific testimony to the local facts before I will consent to
have so noble a bird thus maligned. As to the indictments of
the corn growing agriculturists against him for digging it uj),
I venture to say that they never grew up to manhood without
a few melon patches having suffered at their several hands, and
if luscious, ripe melons are an irresistible temptation to one
who has been brought up with the Westminster catechism in

*lu the case of a great many species of migrating birds, there can be no doubt of
their annual return to the same general, and not infrequently the same special locali-
ties, from year to year during the life-time of the individual, affording thus an occa-
sional opportunity to observe the variations of the plumage associated with age. To
do this reliably, a given Individual must have some accidental, unusual mark that is
persistent, so as to leave no possible doubt, as in the case of the Baltimore Oriole, des-
cribed with the species elsewhere in the Notes. Another has been recently related
to me of the present species, by the Hon John DeLaittre, who resides on Nicollet Is-
land, in the heart of the city, surrounded with the most beautiful foi'est trees. To-
gether with many other species, the Crow Blackbirds breed on that arboreal island,
one nest of which was several years ago built in a hole in a tree very near his house,
and so placed that it was within ten feet of a chamber window, from which frequent
observations were quite unavoidable. Amongst the full grown brood, one male lost a
leg by some means, most probably a sling-shot of some marauding boy. It seemed
otherwise well, bat was too well marked to escape constant recognition.

It disappeared late in the autumn with the rest of a large flock, and upon the return
of the spring, reappeared with its species, and indue time built a nest in consort with
its newly chosen companion near the dwelling, reared another brood, and is confi-
dently expected to return again next year provided no unseen foe has destroyed the
remaining leg, wings or body.

Here is a hint of the possibility of following up the life history of individuals, and
settling some open questions as to the variations of intensity of coloration within a
uniform term of years. I am persuaded that this species does not reach its highest
plumage until the fifth year; or until about the end of the first one-fourth of the nat-
ural life of the individual.

290 NOTES ON THE

his hand, germinating corn with its little green flag to locate it
with certainty, and new com "in the milk" in the delicious
covert of broad leaves and silken tassels must be more to these
uncircumcized aboriginees, who held the soil before they ever
dreamed of waving corn fields or quarter sections. Besides, a
grub is found at the root of every fifth hill of what is to be
corn at all. And he has earned extenuation for breaking the
sixth commandent by the destruction of hosts of the grubs
just over in the j^asture and meadow before the corn was
planted.

They lay four to five eggs, varying in color from light blue
to light brown, which are marked with obscure spots of light
brown over which are laid blotches and lines of black and
umber-brown. They vary in size from 1.30 by .88 to 1.18 by
.88 of an inch. They usually bring out two broods, unless
greatly disturbed. The larger portion return southward about
the first of November, but as already intimated, occasional
parties remain much later, and in a few localities, all winter.

Mr. Edward Everett, of Waseca, writes me: — "One or two
small flocks remain here during the winter in the groves, feed-
ing on the seeds and grains from the barn yards." Mr. Wash-
burn found them still represented as far north as Otter Tail
county on the 25th of October, and Mr. Lewis reports them as
not gone in many localities further south at a considerably
later date.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill above, about as long as the head, more than twice as
long as high; the commissure moderately sinuated and consid-
erably decurved at the tip; tail a little sliorter than the wing,
much graduated, the lateral feathers one and ten one-hun-
dredth 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, cop-
per, and purple, the latter most conspicuous on the tail, tail-
coverts and wings; the edges of the primaries and of the tail
greenish. Female similar, but smaller and duller, with per-
haps more green on the head. Iris yellow.

Length. 13; wing, 5.50 to 6; tail, 5.80; bill, 1.25.

Habitat, New England and AUeghanies north and west to
Hudson's Bay and the Rocky mountains.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 291

Family FBIXGILLID^.

COCCOTHRAUSTES YESPERTINA (Cooper). (514.)
EVENING GROSBEAK.

In characteristics, habits and its history, the Evening Gros-
beak is a wonderful, if not a mysterious bird. The peculiar
combination of its colors in plumage, the huge size of its
powerful bill, as well as many other things, almost undefinable,
in its feeding, peeping and tiying combine to constitute it a
very remarkable bird. It is cheerfully assigned the place of
honor, at the head of our list of the Finch family. After all,
however, it is least known. It is but recently that it has been
very closely observed, and very little has been learned of its
summer habits. It appears in the vicinity of our homes so
suddenly, so mysteriously, that it seems like a phantom, drop-
ped out of the autumn clouds. Its entire absence in summer
contributes materially to this. It comes when most of those
birds we know, and love, have gone — when the spectral forms
of the leafless trees are apparently dead, to reclothe them
with life, and by their peeping, recall the spring. Their trust-
fulness scarcely recognizes the presence of man. Except their
frog-like peeping they give nothing by which to judge their
powers of song,

But silent and songless, no story he tells,
Not even to whisper the place where he dwells;
And when the bright sun to the northward returns,
Lilce a ghost, flies away from the land that he spurns.

I had resided here many years before I saw one of them in the
flesh or the skin, notwithstanding my extensive observations,
and my familiarity with every local collection besides my own,
then known. The individual met with, so far as I have known,
was found by Mr. T. A. Whitmore, of this city, on Nov. 9,
1870, in the timber bordering the banks of Basset's creek,
within or near the corporate limits. Its strongly inarked
colors and huge bill, assured him that it was a new bird, and
after a prolonged and exhausting pursuit he finally was
rewarded by securing it. After it was mounted and placed in
his collection I had the pleasure of examining it many times.
On Dec. 26th following, a specimen of each sex, in mature
plumage, was obtained near the city out of a small flock feed-
ing upon the cottonwoods.

292 NOTES ON THE

They were exceedingly unsuspicious and tame. Others
were subsequently secured, by nearly every birdist in this
locality, and letters of inquiry came from all sections respect-
ing them. Following this a period ensued during which for
several years they were rarely seen, and then only by those
who were watching closely for them. Later observations lead
me to think their lines of migration vary considerably even
when the seasonal characteristics do not. The earliest of my
own records of this autumnal arrival is November 9th. Prof.
C. L. Herrick reported some November 20th. Thir stay
amongst us is usually quite constant, and in flocks of from 20
to 60 about equally divided between males and females, with a
larger preponderence of the young of the year.

This species has been reported to me from many localities of
the State at different times. Dr. J. C. Hvoslef, found a large
flock in Lanesboro, near the southern line which appeared there
on the 15th of February, although he did not fully identify
them until the 13th of March, by which time "they were very
numerous in all the woods along the Root river in this neigh-
borhood, and remained till May the 13th when they all left."

W. D. Hurlburt, of Rochester, in the southeastern part of
the State, saw them there some time in March. He says: —
"These birds are constantly about our lawns and trees, pick-
ing buds and feeding on the ground under the fir trees. I
notice only one note, a peep as from frogs or young chicks."
Mr. Edward A. Everett reports them at Waseca February 26th
to May 12th.

It seems from all I have seen and what I get from corre-
spondents throughout the State that there is a longer or
shorter period of a still more southern migration.

That occasional individuals linger quite late in the spring is
evident from my having seen them as late as May 17th, (1876)
but they usually disappear, some considerably earlier.

The Evening Grosbeak's only song in Minnesota yet heard
is its frog-like peeping which is kept up constantly while feed-
ing. When perching as they often do on the ridge of build
ings, and when flying, they are silent. They are exceedingly
fond of the buds of the box elder (Negurdo), which is a very
common shade tree with us.

Their breeding places are in high latitudes to the northwest
of us principally, except the proper conditions are found by
altitude in lower latitudes. Its winter distribution is very
wide, indeed, embracing all the northern states and territories,

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 293

but is less common in all save Minnesota, Wisconsin and the
northern portions of Illinois and Iowa, and some sections of
the extensive interior table lands of the lower territories. For
many years Dr. Cooper failed to meet with it on the Pacific
coast until Mr. P. Gruber, an indomitable collector of San
Prancisco, found a specimen at Michigan bluff, Placer county,
California. The doctor saw the feathers of one recently
killed at the summit of the Sierra Nevada, latitude 39°, in
September, 1863.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill yellowish- green, dusky at the base. Anterior half of
body dark yellowish-olive, shaded in yellow to the rump above,
and the under tail coverts below. Outer scapulars, a broad
frontal band continued on each side over the eye, axillaries,
and middle of under wing coverts, yellow. Peathers along the
extreme base of the bill, crown, tibiae, wings, upper tail coverts,
and tail, black; inner greater wing coverts and tertiaries, white.

Length, 7.30; wing, 4.80; tail, 2 75.

Habitat, western North America, east to Lake Superior.

PENICOLA EMCLEATOR (L ). (515).
PINE GROSBEAK.

Another winter visitant from the colder regions of the north.
It arrives about the middle of November and remains frequently
until the 20th and 25th of April. Less of a seed, and more if
possible of a bud-eater than the Evening Grosbeak, it still con-
sumes both in enormous quantities. Like the last noted spe
cies the Pine Grosbeak is an unsuspicious, trustful bird, being
often caught with a noose slipped over his head, or even in the
hands, while intently feeding. They are gracefully formed
and beautifully colored when in mature plumage, and very so-
cial in an unceasing twitter while feeding. Those who have
heard them in their breeding places say they have a very sweet,
soft warble somewhat like the canary. Their call notes are
quite marked and employed by both sexes. They are usually
found in small parties during their stay with us, averaging
perhaps a dozen to fifteen, but occasionally many more, and
sometimes less. Occasionally individuals of this species have
been obtained in the vicinity of Fort Snelling for thirty years
past. Its distribution like the Evening Grosbeak's is very un-
equal, and subject to great variation in different years. As the
country is larger and larger settled and .more improved, their
relative numbers increase. Their presence in winter has been

294 NOTES ON THE

reported through many years from nearly all the openly tim-
bered sections especially, and less frequently from prairie dis-
tricts where trees have come to be considerably grown for
shade and ornamentation. During the winter of 1875, I found
them exceptionally represented in the vicinity of Minneapolis
until the 18th of April. Occasionally individuals have been
seen still later in other years. M. F. L. Washburn reports the
species common in Otter Tail county, particularly at Lake
Mille Lacs, which is in timbered lands. At Minnetonka Mills it
was seen first on November 15th, and remained in that locality
in considerable numbers until about the 20th of April. It re-
mains all winter in the vicinity of Thompson and Duluth.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill and legs black; general color carmine-red. not continu-
ous above except on the head; the feathers showing brownish
centers on the back, where the red is darker. Loral region,
base of lower jaw all round, sides and posterior part of body,
and under tail coverts, ashy, whitest behind. Wing with two
white bands across the tips of the greater and middle coverts;
outer edges of quills also white, broadest on the tertiaries.

Length, 8.50; wing, 4.50; tail, 4.

Habitat, northern x^ortions of northern hemisiihere.

CARPODACUS PLRPIREUS (Gmelin). (517.)
PURPLE FINCH.

In all my ramblings with gun, rod, and note-book, up to the
26th of November, 1869, I failed to discover the Purple Finch,
and had about arrived at the conclusion that I should never
bring him to my list, when, on that day I discovered a flock of
about 20. I was in the depth of the great deciduous forest
unromantically called the Big Woods, about thirty milvis west
of Minneapolis, in special pursuit of ruffed grouse which were
then very plenty in that section, when I was surprised and de-
lighted at hearing the characteristic "chink" high above me
from many throats, and soon discovered its source. They were
in the extreme top of the tallest hard maples that abound there,
and could only be identified with my ever-ready field glass. It
did not take long to seal my discovery by having several in
both mature and immature plumage to deposit in my collecting
basket. Since that time it has come to be almost a common
spring and fall visitor, indeed, resident in the north part of
the State, where it bveeds abundantly. Its nest has been re-
ported to me as found in the section where I first saw it, but I

BIRDS OP MINNESOTA. 295

cannot be qaite assured of my authority. Those I have from
its noted breeding places are made of fine roots, grasses and
occasional hairs. Not infrequently other materials are incor-
porated, like fine strips of the inner bark- like fibers of rank
weeds, and sometimes mosses.

The eggs are bluish-green with spots and lines of dark brown
or black, and are much the smallest at one end. I understand
from reliable observers that they rear two broods each season,
of four to five, the nests being found at distances varying from
twenty to forty feet from the ground, and commonly in conif-
erous trees, but not uniformly.

It is said to be extremely destructive to the buds of fruit
trees in New England, which makes it very unwelcome despite
its beautiful warblings and plumage, but no complaints have
yet been heard from pomologists in Minnesota. They are said
to bear confinement well, and become delightfully pugnacious
little pets, like their more domestic cousins, the House Finch
or Burions of California.

Dr. J. C. Hvoslef reports it at Lanesboro, near the southern
limit of the State, April 26, 1884.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Second quill longest; first shorter than third, considerable
longer than fourth; body crimson, palest on the rump and
breast, darkest across the middle of the back and wing
coverts, where the feathers have dusky centers; the red
extends below continuously to the lower part of the breast and
in spots to the tibiae; 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 middle
and greater coverts; lores dull grayish.

Length, 6,25; wing, 3.35; tail, 2.50; bill above, 0.45.

Habitat, eastern North America west to the Plains.

LOXIA CI RTIROSTRA MINOR (Brehm). (521.)
AMERICAN CROSSBILL.

Somewhat irregularly common in small flocks which usually
come about the 10th of November in this locality, this remark-
able species is found in the winter months in nearly all of the
timbered sections of the State. Their habit of roving around
from one locality to another is quite characteristic, and they
suddenly whirl from a given direction of flight and perch upon
some dry tree-top, leaving themselves by their conspicious col-
20 z

296 NOTES ON THE

ors the most noticable objects above the russet of autumn, or
the snowy whiteness of winter. Often some prominent tree
in the very heart of the city becomes the temporary place of
their appearence and when many eyes are turned upon them,
they may drop down as suddenly as if some hawk was hover-
ing over them into a thicket of raspberry or currant bushes,
just over the fence nearest the observers. They are not shy,
being often approached very closely by the inquisitive looker-on
if he have no dog at his heels.

There seems to be a most reasonable presumption that they
breed to some extent within our borders, 3'et not as early as is
claimed for other sections of the United States in much the
same latitude. Rev. J. H. Langille of Buffalo New York in
his charming book. Our Birds in Their Haunts, says: "It is
well demonstrated that in this country these birds breed in
winter, or early spring."

He quotes Andubon's opiaion to the same effect based on
the assurance of "many persons in the State of Maine" who
followed lumbering in the pine regions of that State. It is a
familiar bird to Minnesota lumbermen too, who are largely
from Maine, who although noticing it so frequently have never
mentioned either eggs or young. The flocks met with during
winter are made up principally of the young of the year, with
just a presumptive representation of paternal adults. Mr.
Wm. Howling, a local taxidermist of great experience, tells
me that the full plumaged adult males are only met with com-
paratively rarely in his business. Now, the flocks have ap-
peared here as early as the tenth of September, with appar-
ently no old males at all. They remain until late in April
with no indications of breeding, although in the light of all
observations, I am inclined to believe the great body of those
which have spent the winter months in this locality leave
about the first of that month, and may at once enter upon in-
cubation in their proximate nesting places which I presume
to be the pineries somewhat to the north and east. Mr. Wash-
burn, who has been employed to collect birds and notes in the
interest of this report in the Red river valley (and a most
scrupulous observer) says "on July 27th, at Herman, Minn.,
I observed a flock of these birds feeding on the "galled"
beans of some young poplars in the village. The galls were
quite large, and the birds were eagerly biting them open with
their peculiar bills to obtain the minute insects within. It has
a strong, loud note, resembling somewhat those of the Ameri-
can Goldfinch,"

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 297

I suppose these were young birds, probably attended by the
relative proportion of adult parents. It would seem from
reliable testimony that the period of incubation in different
localities extends from January into June, which is certainly
very remarkable for a species reputed to rear but one brood in
the year.

As I have never seen the nest of the Red Crossbill, I shall
permit myself to reproduce from Mr. Langille's work a quota-
tion from the description of one by Mr. E. P. Bicknell, found at
Rimdel, N. Y.

"The nest was placed in a tapering cedar of rather scanty
foliage, about 18 feet from the ground, and was without any
single main support, being built in a mass of small, tangled
twigs from which it was with difficulty detached. The situa-
tion could scarcely have been more conspicuous, being close to
the intersection of several roads, in plain sight of as many
residences, and constantly exposed to the view of passers-by.
The materials of its composition were of rather a miscellaneous
character, becoming finer and more select from without inwards.
An exterior of bristling spruce twigs, loosely arranged, sur-
rounded a mass of matted shreds of cedar bark which formed
the principal body of the structure; a few strips of the same
appearing around the upper border; the whole succeeded on the
inside by a sort of felting of finer material, which received the
scanty lining of horse hair, fine rootlets, grass, straws, pieces of
string and two or three feathers. The shallow felting of the inner
nest can apparently be removed intact from the body of the
structure, which, besides the above mentioned materials, con-
tains small pieces of moss, leaves, grass, strings, cotton
substances and the green foliage of cedar. The nest measured
internally two and a half inches in diameter by one and a
quarter in depth, being in diameter externally about four
inches and rather shallow in appearance. "

The eggs are four to five in number varying in size, pale
greenish variously marked in dots and blotches, with different
shades of lilac and purplish-brown.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Male dull red, darkest across the back; wings and tail dark,
blackish-brown; female dull greenish-olive above, each feather
with a dusky centre; rump and crown bright greenish-yellow;
beneath grayish; tinged, especially on the sides of the body
mth greenish-yellow; young, entirely brown; paler beneath.

Length (male), about 6 inches; wing, 3.30; tail, 2.25.

Habitat, North America generally.

298 NOTES ON THE

LOXIA LEUCOPTERA Gmelin. (522.)
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL.

I found a few specimens of this species in Mr. Shroeder's
collection in St. Paul as long ago as 1865, and later in Mr.
Rowling's of this city, but I have never met with it in the
flesh myself. All those I saw in either collection were said to
have been collected in this State. They were nearly all
mature birds and readily identified.

Dr. Brown describes the nest as saucer-shaped, formed of
lichens, encased in spruce twigs, lined with hair and bark
shreds, four inches in diameter with a cavity an inch and a
half deep. The egg is pale blue, spattered at large end with
fine dots of black and ashy -lilac; taken at New Brunswick.

Mr. M. Chamberlain, of St. Johns. New Brunswick, while
moose hunting in the third week in January, found himself
"face to face with a White-winged Crossbill on her nest, the
high bank of snow under me bringing my head about level
with the nest. * * * The nest was placed in a fork of one of
the main limbs of the tree and was composed externally of the
long, gray moss which grew in large patches on most of the
trees in this vicinity, and so much resembled these patches of
moss as to be difficult of detection. In the inside was a lining
of softer moss, and between the lining and the exterior were
small twigs interlaced. In the nest were three eggs of a
bluish-white ground color, having dashes of red upon the
larger end."

The bill so wondrously formed, as to appear deformed, does
not naturally differ in appearance from that of the Red
Crossbill. It is, as with the last mentioned species, used for
climbing like that of the parrot, as well as penetrating cones
of the pine and other coniferous trees for the nuts and seeds.

It is reported as found in several different timbered sections
within our borders at long intervals, but with what reliability
I cannot be assured.

SPEC[FIC characters.

Bill greatly compressed, acute towards the point; male
carmine-red, tinged with dusky across the back; sides of body
under the wings streaked with brown; from middle of belly to
tail coverts whitish, the latter streaked with brown; scapulars,
wings and tail, black; broad bands on wings across the ends
of the greater and median coverts and spots on the ends of
the inner tertiaries, white.

Length, 6.25; wing, 3.50; tail, 2.50.

Habitat, northern North America.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 299

iCANTHIS LINARIA (L.). (528.)

REDPOLL.

The Redpolls arrive in the principal portions of the State
about the middle of October, varying somewhat in different
seasons, and they come to stay, as their persistence through the
severest of our winters will attest through twenty- eight years
of my own observations. I have neither yet seen nor heard
from any considerable section where they were not most
usually represented, except at Lanesboro, where Dr. Hvoslef
says: "One winter I did not see a single one of these birds."

Formerly they used to literally swarm about our numerous
flouring mills in Minneapolis during the severe winter weather,
but the more pugnacious English Sparrow has driven him back
to his older, wild haunts on the prairies, and in the open tim-
ber where the seeds of grasses and weeds are supplied in
abundance for his food. They are really a very pretty and
interesting species that contribute more than any other except
the snow buntings to cheer the long Minnesota winters with
their restless movements on the wing, and their soft twitter-
ings in their flights. Mr. Langille, in his beautiful descrip-
tions of them, says: "The graceful curves of their undulating
flight intersect each other at all angles, while here and there
one seemed to be describing unusually long, sweeping curves
amidst the dense, moving mass, as if throwing out a challenge
to its more modest companions. Cru-cru-cru cru, shru-shru-
shru-shru, coming in soft, lisping voices from hundreds of
throats."

About the first of April the flocks begin to consolidate and
fly in wilder swoops, and leave us about the 20th of that
month, the latest record I have being by Mr. T. S. Roberts'
on the 1 8th, 1875. The somewhat conspicuous dark-crimson
on the top of the head, and black patch on the chin leave no
doubt of i ts identity to even a casual observer, and should there
be, the manner of flight alluded to already, and their soft,
chu-chu- chu note constantly repeated in fight will render it
certain, for only the notes of the Goldfinch resemble theirs,
and their plumage is too characteristic to confuse in that re-
spect. They breed in the northeastern portions of the State,
in the smaller spruces and other evergreens and the willows
along the streams, in nests constructed of dry grass, strips of
fibrous barks, roots, moss, fragments of wasps nests, hair,
twigs thistledown, feathers, etc., woven artistically into a

300 NOTES ON THE

firm structure. They are mostly lined with hairs. Four to
five is the usual number of the eggs. They are pale bluish-
green, spotted with orange-brown near the larger end. From
several circumstances, as well as what has been reported to
me from those familiar with the localities of their breeding I
think they probably do so in Minnesota about the middle or
latter part of May, but according to Mr. C. O. Tracy, in an ar-
ticle published in the Oi-nithologist and Oologist in June, 1883,
and which Mr. Langille has quoted, they breed in Vermont
much earlier. He found the nest and eggs "the last of March,
1878." It is a little remarkable how reports of different species
in this respect differ, when the general conditions seem much
the same.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Above, light-yellowish, each feather streaked with dark
brown; crown dark crimson; upper part of breast and sides of
body tinged with a lighter tint of the same; the rump and un-
der tail coverts similar but less vivid and with dusky streaks.
Rest of under parts white, streaked on the sides with brown;
loral region and chin dusky; cheeks and a narrow front,
whitish, brightest over the eye. Wing feathers edged exter-
nally, and tail feathers all around with white; two yellowish-
white bands across the wing coverts; secondaries and tertiaries
edged broadly with the same. Bill yellowish, tinged v/ith
brown on the culmen and gonys; The basal bristles brown,
reaching over half the bill.

Length, 5.50; wing, 3 10; tail. 2.70.

Habitat, northern portions of Northern Hemisphere.

SPINrS TRISTIS (L.). (529.)
AMERICAN GOLDFINCH.

No species of our birds is more irregularly distributed than
this. Nor is there another more reliably persistent in its fa-
vorite localities. In all my observations for at least twenty-
five years, I have never looked in vain for it where it has pre-
viously reared its young, except when, by great changes in the
conditions favorable to its breeding, it has been practically
driven out, as where extensive removal of the timber and brush
for agricultural purposes has occurred.

These localities are proximately near running water, where
the timber is somewhat scattered, and interspersed with smaller
growths like poplars and alders, and where brushy thickets
are common. They are also rolling, if not positively hilly, and
of course dry. They arrive in spring in force late in March

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 301

and early in April, but the mature males, to a considerable
extent, still in their winter plumage, and are often unrec-
ognized on that account. A few usually remain all winter, as
here and there from all the timbered sections of the state I am
informed of their presence.

Dr. Hvoslef, of Lanesboro. near the southern state line, re-
ports them present in different years, January 16th, February
4th, March 8th, and December 19th, but in small numbers. On
the Red river near Pembina, one or two individuals are known
to remain in the vicinity of where they breed. I can recall no
winters in fifteen years during which a few have not been seen
between Minneapolis and Lake Minnetonka, fourteen miles
west. Mr. Washburn found them "quite common throughout
the Red river valley and at Mille Lacs lake. " They are re-
ported from Duluth and St. Vincent by several observers. I
found them in Grant county in November, as well as many other
widely separated localities.

Although here in considerable numbers so early they do not
begin to nest until the very last of May and into June. Dr.
Hvoslef, a careful and very conscientious observer, says, "Sept.
12th I found a nest with five eggs in incubation." This sug-
gests the possibility of a second brood in exceptional cases, as
it is well known that ordinarily they breed but once. The
males require two years, or rather two winters to mature their
plumage. And ever afterwards they undergo a change from
their summer to their winter dress about the middle of Sep-
tember, when the yellow is gradually exchanged for olive-brown,
which obliviates the sexes. In April begins a resumption of
the feummer decorations, which is completed in May. Gregari-
ous, a number of families usually living in a single locality, the
males are found together, during the nidifying season, in
such numbers as to lead the uninitiated to suppose them
alone to represent the species. Their nests are uniform
in pattern, but consist of a considerable range of materi-
als employed in their structure. In some sections, after
the strips of bark, which form the framework, are securely
fastened to the twigs of a wild plum or other similar tree, or
occasionally even a strong, rank weed, it is covered with lichens
cemented together with saliva for the outside finish and lined
with various soft materials. In other localities I find the strips
of bark woven into a neat, firm structure with no lichens or
saliva at all. Eggs, four, bluish- white, oval in form.

302 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bright gamboge-yellow; crown, wings and tail black; lesser
wing coverts, band across the end of the greater ones; end of
secondaries and tertiaries, inner margins of tail feathers, upper
and under tail coverts and tibia, white.

Length, 5.25; wing, 3.

Habitat, North America generally.

SPINUS PINUS (Wilson). (533.)
PINE SISKIN.

This bird resembles the Goldfinch so remarkably in many of
its habits us to have left no good reason for its specific differ-
ence, but in others it is so characteristic that the reasons are
evident and satisfactory. It arrives here from some lower lati-
tude about the first of April and remains, feeding mostly like
the goldfinch, until about the first of June, when it is seldom
seen except in coniferous timber where it breeds. I have never
seen its nest, but find considerable discrepancy in the descrip-
tions of different writers. Dr. Brown says it is "neat, is made
of pine twigs, and lined with hair." Dr. Merriam says the
nests are ' 'a very bulky structure for so small a bird, and its
rough exterior loosely built of hemlock twigs, with a few sprigs
of pigeon moss interspersed, is irregular in outline, and meas-
ures about six inches in diameter. The interior, on the con-
trary is compactly woven into a sort of felt, the chief ingredi-
ents of which are thistle-down, and the fur and hair of various
mammals."

The same authority says of the winter of 1878: "During the
past winter and spring they literally swarmed in Lewis county,
New York, and thousands of them bred throughout the heavy
evergreen forests east of Black river, while many scattered
pairs nested in suitable hemlock and balsam swamps in the
middle districts." It is certain that Dr. Merriam's observa-
tions radically differ from any of my own, and where he further
records the taking of eggs as early as March 18th, and the
pi'esence of the young in April, I am astonished, for while
there may have been other similar observations in like lati-
tudes I have never had them.

As before stated, these birds reach Minnesota early in April,
after which they are often seen, both in small parties of their
own, and associated with the Goldfinches. At the time of
their ai-rival, and for some time afterwards, the casual obser-
ver would scarcely distinguish the two species, or the sexes of

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 303

■either, so little difference is there in their appearance when on
the wing or perching a little distance away. But the males of
the Goldfinches in due time begin to don their courting dress of
strongly contrasted colors, and become more exclusive in their
association with their own species until the breeding season is
over. The song of the Pine Finch is so much like that of
the other species, that I have only learned to distinguish it by
its softer tones and lesser volume when both are in act of
singing. They build their nests about the beginning of the
second week in June, chiefly of twigs of spruce, or larch, in
the section where I live, but uniformly of pine where those
are found, (with which I have found a few coarse hairs from
the tails of cattle in one or two instances) and line it with
hairs of different kinds in as pretty a manner as almost any
nest I have seen. One nest sent from Princeton, had the larg-
est amount of those coarser hairs in its main composition of
any I have seen. When these birds are devoted to incubation,
they are very rarely seen except specially sought for by one
somewhat familiar with them. Indeed their incognito contin-
ues until about the second week in August, when families of
half a dozen may occasionally be seen flying loosely about the
backside of a stubble field, lighting here and there on the
fences, or on the branches of some isolated tree left standing
in the field for its shade. Later, they may be often detected
In scattering flocks of the Goldfinches. These two species
become more and more associated as the season advances,
until both gradually disappear amongst the latest migrants of
the fringilline family in November even. I have received but
little information through my correspondence to aid me in
forming any approximate idea of the distribution of this spe-
cies within the territory of my investigations. Of course, the
principal numbers go still further north to breed, so that it is
nowhere at any time an abundant species, if the principal por-
tion of the season of migration is excepted.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail deeply forked. Above brownish- olive; beneath white-
ish, 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
yellowish- green. Two brownish-white bands on the wing.

Length, 4.75; wing, 3; tail, 2.20.

Habitat, North America generally.

30-i NOTES ON THE

PLECTROPHENAX NIVALIS (L ) (534.)
SNOWPLAKE.

No Minnesotian, compelled by duties, or depletions of his
purse, to see his more favored friends hie them away from
our ze7'os, and blizzards without him, can fail to welcome and
cherish his best appreciations of the Snow Buntings, which
appear variously from the 25th of October to the 10th of
November in bands, or small parties of a dozen to twenty or
thirty. They are usually met with earliest in the more wild
and unimproved broad prairies, where the seeds of grasses
and coarser seeds are most abundant.

Indeed, in some of our severest winters which generally
afford less deep snows, I have known them to remain in the
most unprotected, fieldless sections, to such an extent that bird
observers have insisted upon their exceptional scarcity until
made aware of their mistake by accidentally visiting those
localities during a severe storm perhaps. Undisturbed by the
obtrusive presence of observers, they will perhaps seek their
food under the slightest elevations, but they almost unexcep-
tional ly avoid anything approximating a covert. I was pro-
foundly impressed with the wisdom of this habit many years
ago. The day. in February, was one of those "only read of in
books" by persons in the timbered, prairieless latitudes below
us. The mercury was 37"^ below zero, (45° during the night
following), and a wind from the northwest was blowing at a
fearful rate when I was summoned professionally twelve miles
away across continuous rolling prairie, with barely snow
enough on the ground to justify runners instead of wheels. I
began at once to observe frequent flocks of perhaps forty or
fifty to one hundred Snow Buntings, almost unceasingly rolick-
ing and cavorting on the wing as if to them it was "the great
day of the feast." How they could survive, not to say possibly
endure, such fierce blasts of frozen winds was inscrutible, but
to see them apparently so jolly was more than a mystery.
Presently in the very middle of the treeless wast«. I saw a
flock drop into a cluster of weeds slightly protected by a little
elevation of the general surface of the ground, and instantly
engage in feeding.

Scarcely a moment had passed when from another like eleva-
tion my eye caught a glimpse of an almost invisible tiny
object, half a mile away to the northwest, coming like a bullet
before the spinning wind, directly for the spot where the
Buntings were feeding close to the drifted snow.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 305

With all the powers of vision I had, aided by the direction
of the cold winter's sunlight, I could not tell that it was even a
living object until within a hundred yards of where I was,
skimming within a hand-breadth of the ground, it swooped
through the paralyzed flock bearing off a victim in less time
than it takes me "to dot an i or cross a t." But in the same
instant it passed me within thirty yards apparently unconscious
of my presence, when I clearly identified the Sharp-shinned
Hawk. Although so long a close observer of the habits of the
winter birds here, I had not known of the presence of this
hawk after about the first of November. Here was the secret
revealed to my mind why these birds avoid the protection of
better coverts.

According to all I have been able to ascertain, they arrive
quite simultaneously in the upper Red river valley within our
borders, and in the more southern localities in the State, in
the family bands found in the remoter north, at or before
migration. They remain in these smaller flocks until spring
draws near, when they begin slowly to consolidate, so that by
the time for their general movement northward, about the
25th of March to the 1st of April, they have gathered into
immense flocks.

They spend their nights on the slightly protected inclina-
tions of naked spots on the prairies, where I have many times
found myself in the very midst of them before I know they
were in the section. Stragglers occasionally linger long be-
hind the general migrations. I met them as late as April 15th
in 1875, and Mr. T. S. Roberts, of Minneapolis, secured a
pair in very much altered plumage, on May 14th of the same
year, if my memory serves me rightly. No nests have ever
been reported, although from the circumstances last men-
tioned, I see no reason why stragglers may not breed here as
"on the ground among low bushes," on a slope of the White
Mountains, in New Hampshire, as reported by Mr. Langille,
who states that the nest resembles that of the Song Sparrow,
and contained young birds. He further says "Another is
reported even from Springfield, Mass." In its wonted haunts
for nesting it is said to "become a bird of accomplished song,
building a substantial nest on the ground, and in the clifts of
rocks, lined with feathers and the hair of the Arctic Pox. The
eggs are whitish-mottled with brown, especially around the
large end where the blotches sometimes become a dark
wreath."

306 NOTES ON THE

Mr. Washburn reported a flock of six of these birds, October
22d, at Dead lake, Otter Tail county, and again on November
1st, at Lake Mille Lacs, where he found them abundant. He
says: "When flying they utter a loud chirp, and with it a
musical 'purr' which is very pleasing. The large flocks
seemed restless and shy, flitting about like wind-blown snow
flakes, the uneasiness of one bird seeming to communicate itself
to the rest, and a whole flock would thus be kept in almost
constant motion over the same bushes of the lake shore."

This allusion to its note and peculiar purring sound inter-
larded, expresses all of its habits in this respect that could be
said in a chapter.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

. In full plumage the colors are entirely black and white.
Middle of back between scapulars, terminal half of primaries
and tertials, and two innermost tail feathers black, elsewhere
pure white. Legs black at all seasons. In winter dress, white
beneath; head and rump yellowish brown, as are also some
blotches on the side of the breast; middle of the back brown
streaked with black; the white on the wings and tail much
more restricted.

Length. 6.75; wing, 4.35; tail, 3.05, first quill longest.

Habitat, northern parts of Northern Hemisphere.

CALCARirS LAPPONUrS (L ) (536.)
LAPLAND LONGSPUR.

Another variably represented species of semi- arctic birds,
occasionally appearing in countless thousands on our plowed
fields, from the 15th to the 30th of September, remaining until
December, when it disappears until in March, remaining about
a month, when it moves northward again. Dr. Hvoslef reports
it abundant at Lanesboro on our extreme southern line in
migration. He saw it there on February 22, 1885, in a flock of
five individuals on a high, bleak prairie. Prof. C. L. Herrick
reported it abundant at Lake Shatek, in the same latitude. Mr.
P. Clague pronounces it very abundant in migration at Her-
man, Grant county, a favored locality for most open-field birds.

Like the Snow Buntings, some of them linger in their vernal
sojourn. In 1877, some were seen as late as May 3d. Although
Dr. Coues, in his Birds of the Northwest, expresses the opin-
ion that they may breed in Minnesota, I have gotten as yet no
reliable evidence that they do. As of Snow Buntings, loiterers

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 307

may become so pressed with -'imminent incubation" as to make
a necessity of "sweating it out", rearing a family with the
temperature, as occasionally, 103° in the shade.

It is known to breed on the meadows along the shores of the
Arctic sea, in Alaska, where it arrives the second week of
May. It is also at home about Great Slave lake and McKenzie
river. At all these places its song is said to be eminently
beautiful.

Dr. Coues tells us the eggs are rather pointed at the smaller
end; are dark colored with a thick mottling of chocolate-
brown through which the greenish-gray ground is scarcely
apparent. The nests are constructed of such materials as are
readily obtained in the surrounding localities, namely — "mosses
and fine dried grasses, and lined with a few large feathers from
water- fowls, and are placed on the ground, under tussocks, in
grassy hammocks." As the name of this species naturally
suggests, the nail of the heel -toe is long and straight like a
spur, by which, if necessary, they could be readily identified

SPEpiFIC CHARACTERS.

First quill longest; legs, head all around, and a semicircular
patch extending to the upper part of the breast, black; sides
of lower neck and under parts white, with black streaks on
the sides and spots on the side of the breast; a short, brown
ish- 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.

Length, 6.25; wing, 3.90; tail, 2.80.

Habitat, northern portions of Northern Hemisphere.

CALCARIUS PICTUS (Swainson). (537.)
SMITH'S LONGSPUR.

This Longspur has become more commonly observed of late,
but escaped my notice for several years after I resided here.
A few are obtained in autumn from year to year, ever since it
came under my observation. So far as I know, Mr. R.
Kennicott (who obtained it in Pembina in September, 1857)
was the first to discover it in what was then the Territory of
Minnesota. It is usually associated with the Lapland Long-
spurs, and the identity is only discovered when in hand. I
know no more of its habits.

308 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head black; a line passing over the eye, a small spot on the
nape, another on the ears and a large patch on the wings,
white; nuchal collar and the whole under plumage, brownish-
buff -yellow; legs flesh color.

Length, 6.50; wing, 3.50; tail, 2.75; bill, .45.

Habitat, interior North America from Arctic coast to Texas.

CALCARirS OltXATUS (Townsend). (538.)
CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR.

Another bunting that has been found to breed in the north-
western portion of the State along the Red river as far south
as Breclcenridge and Traverse, about the habits of which I
know very little beyond that fact. I spent several days in
October, 1884, in Grant county, where I found quite a number
Oi this species associated with the Longspurs, but of course I
was too late for other observations. Whether they breed just
there, or not I cannot tell, but in the.next county west which
lies for a long distance along the Red river, is where they
have been repeatedly located.

Mr. Allen says: — "They breed of course on the ground,
constructing a rather slight but neat nest of dry grass and
the stems of small plants. The eggs ajjpear to be commonly
five in number, blotched and streaked with rusty or a white
ground, full sets of which are obtained the first week in
June."

It is known to breed extensively on the northern plains of
Dakota.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill dark plumbeous; crown, a narrow crescent on the side of
the head, a line running into it from behind the eye, entire
breast and upper part of belly all round, black; throat and
sides of head, lower part of belly, under tail coverts, and bases
of the tail feathers, white; the white on the tail feathers runs
forward as an acute point; a chestnut band on the back of the
neck extending around on the sides; rest of upper parts gray-
ish-brown, streaked with darker; lesser wing coverts like the
back.

Length, 5.25; wing, 3.20; tail, 2.30; tarsus, 0.75.

Habitat, interior of North America, from the Saskatchewan
plains to Texas.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 309

POOr^TES GRAMINEUS (Gmelin). (540.)
VESPER SPARROW.

So common is this species that from the time of its arrival
until its departure it will be seen almost anywhere one may go
along the highways where there are fences or frills of low
bushes. In driving from my residence in the city to ray cot-
tage on Lake Minnetonka, a distance of fifteen miles, I have
seen over one hundred and fifty males in the time of incubation
when the females were confined to their nests.

I think other similar highways would show relatively as
great a number.

This species has greatly increased witii the settling up of
the country, as is the case with many others, the productions
of agriculture affording so much more abundant food. Its
habit of running considerable distances in front of the horse
one is driving, and when forced to wing flits a short distance
and again lights in the dusty road, is one that will compel its
recognition as no other of its family does.

It uniformly arrives at this place about April 20th; in Fill-
more county and westward into Pipestone, about ten days
earlier It may be well to note here that the thermal lines
deflect much more northward after entering the southern por-
tion of the State, a fact rather indefinitely evident in the
migration of some species of birds, as well as the records of the
signal service; and a bold line about one degree south of Min-
neapolis, is evident to any observing person in travelling by
rail in that direction. It takes about fiv^e to ten days for the
van of bird-migration to ride over this thermal barrier. In a
close correspondence with several gentlemen residing in the
southern tier of counties, who are interested in the study of
the habits of birds, I have found this fact to be assured.
Strange as it may seem, with less positive proof, there seems
to be another similar line at a little greater distance north of
this city where all is reversed again, so that I am now sur-
prised to find migrants of the spring in Grant, or even Otter
Tail counties as early as here. The nest of this species does
not very materially differ from that of Savanna except in being
concealed less than that more cautious species, and not quite
so select materials used. The eggs, four or five in number,
are a dull white thickly spattered with reddish -brown and
lilac, but they vary considerably m the intensity of coloration.

310 NOTES ON THE

Its plaintive song seems simple and easily described, yet in
reality it is a very difficult task. In "Our Birds and their
Haunts," by the Rev. J. H. Langille of Buffalo, N. Y., it is said
"the melody of the bay-wing, if not so sprightly and varied,
still bears quite a resemblance to that of the song sparrow,
and is expressive of a tender pathos, which may even give it
the preference. It is one of the few bird- songs which might be
written upon a musical staff. Beginning with a few soft syl-
lables on the fifth note of the musical scale, it strikes several
loud, and prolonged notes on the eighth above, and ends in a
soft warble which seems to die out for want of breath, and may
run a little down the scale. Though the song is not brilliant,
and rather suggestive of humble scenes and thoughts, "the
grass, the stones, the stubble, the furrows, the quiet herds, and
the warm twilight among the hills," it is nevertheless a fine
pastoral, full of the sweet content which dwells in the bosom
of nature. It is heard to the best advantage when the rosy
hues of sundown are tinting the road, the rocks, and all the
higher lights of the evening landsoape. Then an innumerable
company of these "poets of the plain, unadorned pastures,"
some perched on the fences, some on weeds and thistles, but
many more hid in the grass and stubble, swell into their finest
chorus, while most other birds are gradually subsiding into
silence. It has been well said that the farmer following his team
from the field at dusk, catches the Bay-wing's sweetest strain,
and that a very proper name for it would be the Vesper Spar
row."

I find the Bay-winged Buntings quite uniformly represented
in all parts of the State reasonably adapted to them. One
correspondent who has been much interested in the local
sparrows thinks the variation in the numbers of them in differ-
ent years exceeds that of any other species except the Black-
throated Bunting, {A. hiUneata), sometimes there seeming to
be almost an entire absence of them. My own observation
measurably corroborates his, yet they have usually been well
represented in the region where I reside. I can say, however,
that few species have a greater range of measurements. Those
are as follows in 33 cases: Length, 4.60 to 7.20; wing, 2.80 to
3.10.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 311

brown; a faint light superciliary and maxillary stripe; the
latter margined above and below with dark brown; the upper
stripe continued round the ear coverts, which are darker than
the brown color elsewhere. Wings with the shoulder light
chestnut-brown, with two dull whitish bands along the ends of
the coverts; the outer edge of the secondaries also white; outer
tail feathers and edge and tip of the second, white.

Length, 6.25; wing, 3.10.

Habitat, eastern North America to Plains.

AMMODRIMUS SANDWICHENSIS SATANNA (Wilson)

(542«. )

SAVANNA SPARROW.

Although seldom extremely numerous, the Savanna Sparrow
is a common summer resident of Minnesota.

I have no knowledge of any dry prairie districts within the
boundaries of my special observations where it has not, earlier
or later, been found to spend the nidifying season. It reaches
the principal points of notice from April 20th to May 5th, and
proceeds to build its nest very soon afterwards, which is con
structed of fine grasses and roots, and quite artistically inter-
laced, the finest of the material being disposed neatly on the
inside. It lays usually four grayish-white eggs, covered
rather irregularly with spots of umber-brown and lilac. Com-
monly two broods are brought out in a season.

The song is really one of the hardest to describe, and I shall
not attempt it, but Dr. Samuels, in his "Birds of New Eng-
land," has so admirably succeeded in approximating it that I
shall avail myself of his rendering. He says: "It resembles
nearly the syllables 'chewee 'chewitt 'chewitt 'chewitt 'cheweet
'chewee, uttered slowly and plaintively." I have seldom vis-
ited a section favorable to its breeding habits, but what, dur-
ing a morning's rambles, I have not heard its characteristic
song.

Mr. Washburn reports this species "extremely common in
grass land throughout the Red river valley. I secured spec-
imens ranging from the polar eastern varieties to the darker,
sharply-marked western forms. From this fact, and from ob-
servations of other species, I am led to infer that the Red river
valley, situated as it is with the western plains on one side and
the Mississippi river on the other, forms as it were, a neutral
ground where eastern and western varieties meet and interbreed
to some extent, forming intermediate varieties, with interme-
diate shades of plumage."

21 z

812 NOTES ON THE

A characteristic of many species of females under similar
occasion, is very marked in this, in assuming to be badly
wounded when incautiously driven from her nest. She drags
one leg and its corresponding wing, as if she had been stepped
upon by the ruthless intruder, and she successfully "fools the
greenhorn," be he an oologist or an other, by trotting him to a
safe distance from her nest, when she suddenly forgets there is
anything the matter, and flits away to a safe distance, from
which to enjoy the disappointment of the intruder.

Their food, as with most of the sparrows, consists of small
beetles and the finer seeds of grass and weeds.

So entirely terrestial is this species in all of its habits, that
after a lifetime's observation of them in nearly every state and
territory of the United States and Canada, I have yet to see
the first one of them perched on a tree, and only very rarely on
a bush or a fence. No doubt that in extremely rare instances
others may have witnessed such an event, but I make the state
ment to emphasize this characteristic of the species.

The localities in which I have found them, unlike many other
species, have always been rather, indeed, quite restricted. To
instance, when out on a collecting excursion, in which I drive
over considerable territory which would average in all condi-
tions favorably to their habits, I have not found them in more
than three or four localities in a whole afternoon, yet if I return
to those places many times afterward during the summer, I
may depend upon finding them there. And between these sec-
tions of occupation, none, or if any, only an individual or two
will be seen. Some of them linger far into October, and even
November in exceptional instances, before their migration
southward.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 yellow-
ish-white maxillary stripe curving behind the ear coverts,
margined above and below by brown; the lower margin con-
sists of a series of thickly crowded spots on the side of the
throat, which are also found on the side of the neck, across
the upper part of the breast, and on the sides of the body; a
few spots on the chin and throat; rest of under parts white;
outer primary and tail feathers edged with white.

Length, 5.50; wing, 2.70; tail, 2.10.

Habitat, eastern North America.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 313

AMMODRAMUS BAIRDII (Audubon). (545.)
BAIRD'S SPARROW

Of this sparrow's appearance in Minnesota I said in a hasty-
list of birds of the State published by the survey in 1881, I
think, "common along the Red river where it breeds." This
probably was based upon a mistaken identity of the species by
those reporting to me from that section. While it has been
found there by several different collectors it is in no ways
''common.'''' I think all the specimens sent to me except one,
have evidently been young birds, but the exceptional one was
an adult male, the special characters of which were typical.

It is said to breed abundantly in Dakota. The nests are
built on the ground, being constructed of the bark from weed-
stalks and grass that are rather losely disposed. They usually
contain five eggs, the ground color of which is dull white,
speckled all over with pale reddish- brown, with some darker
splotches of the same.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Somewhat similar in general appearance to Passerinus
savanna; back grayish, streaked with dusky; crown nearly
covered by black streaks, bu t divided by a broad median band
of brownish-yellow; eyelids, and a faint supercilary stripe,
yellowish- white; beneath white, with a maxilliary blackish
stripe and some narrow streaks on the upper part of the
breast and the sides of the throat and body; outer edges and
tips of tail feathers white, the two outer feathers obsoletely
white; bend of wing white.

Length, 4.75; wing, 2.80; tail, 2.20.

Habitat, interior of North America from Saskatchewan
plains southward to Texas.

AMMODRAMUS SAVANNARUM PASSERINUS (Wilson)

(546.)

GRASSHOPPER SPARROW.

This unobtrusive little sparrow, notwithstanding my vigi-
lance, escaped my recognition for many years, simply because
I had not heard his song under circumstances to associate it
with him. But in 1875 Mr. T. S. Roberts identified it not far
from the city, since which time it has become extremely com-
mon in restricted localities. It seems to choose, dry, barren,
weedy pastures, and builds a nest on the ground consisting of
dried grass lined with hairs. Its usual number of eggs is

314 NOTES ON THE

five, but Mr. Samuels records one instance in which there were
nine. They are pure white, speckled with reddish -brown,
principally around the larger end. They arrive in this section
about the 10th of May and bring out the first of their two
broods about the middle of June. They leave the State, so
far as I have been able to determine, about the first of October,
although an occasional individual may linger still later. I
found it in Grant county in considerable numbers as late as the
time mentioned. It was on high and dry prairies. Mr. Wash-
burn reports it in company with the Sharp-tailed Finch in the
Red river valley about the first of September. Its character-
istic song to my ears bears no other comparison than to a sound
produced by running the finger nail rather deliberately over
the tense teeth of a large fine-toothed comb, five or six times
in succession. It also has a rather weak chirp when unem-
ployed in this humble song. Some persons mention an almost
invariable warble as preluding the song-strains, but I have
never detected it with sufficient certainty to record it.

Note. — Mr. Washburn remarks in his note upon this
species: — "Frequently heard; and one specimen secured in
Norman county, August 4th, measuring 4.75; 2.00; 2.00. The
peculiar chirping, grasshopper like note of this species, fitly
compared by Dr. Hatch to the sound made by drawing the
point of a knife across the teeth of a fine-toothed comb, is
very deceptive. In August the note is short and rarely given;
and when it is given, is so low that unless one is a very quick
observer he cannot determine the locality of the bird's perch."

SPECIFIC characters.

Feathers of upper parts brownish -rufous, margined nar-
rowly and abruptly with ash color, reddish on the lower part
of back and rump; 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 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; feathers of the upper breast and sides of body with
obsolete darker centres.

Length, 5; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.

Habitat, eastern United States and southern Canada to the
Plains.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 315

AM MO DR AMIS LECONTEII (Audubon). (548.)
LECONTE'S SPARROW.

It affords me great pleasure to credit the discovery of this
species within our boundaries to C. L. Herrick, now quite
well known amongst western educators and to naturalists
generally. I will transcribe that portion of a report* made to
me, as State Ornithologist, in March, 1878, which pertains to
this species:

"Six specimens have been taken in all. It was first obtained
by Mr. C. L. Herrick on June 20th, 1877, when an adult male
was secured and others noticed. On the following day a young
bird was taken by the same collector in the same place. On
the 22d, T. S. Roberts having been informed by Mr. Herrick
of the capture of the sparrows, and the locality, visited the
meadow and was rewarded with a fine male, a sight of one or
two others, and an acquaintance with the song. July 17th Mr.
R. S. Williams secured an adult female, and on August 1st a
young bird. The last specimen was a bird of the year taken
on August 8th by T. S. Roberts. These birds were all taken
in the same locality — a ditched, but at the same time moder
ately wet meadow, supporting a heavy growth of grass, per-
haps a foot and a half to two feet high, with here and there
low swamp willows. The most swampy portion of this
marsh is the home of marsh wrens, (both species, ) a few Vir-
ginia Rails, Maryland Yellow-throats, Swamp Sparrows, etc.

' 'The bird in question, however, seemed to prefer the dryer
parts around the edge. Here the collector, walking quietly
along, may hear in the grass a smothered, rapid kind of chirp-
ing. Investigation shows it to proceed from Leconte's Bunt-
ing. The startled bird, if the collector is not a sure shot on the
wing, flies in a wren-like manner for a moderate distance, and
drops suddenly into the grass. It will now require patience to
flush it again, and each successive attempt grows more difficult.
The song is firm, wiry, and uttered with the head thrown up in
the manner of the Yellow-winged Sparrow {Goturniculus passer-
inus). In fact the general character of the song is much like
the ordinary efforts of this species. They sing at times on the
ground among the tall grass, but mounted upon a small bush
or other low elevation, is apparently the preference.

"It is probable that there are but one or two broods in this
meadow, which was of limited extent, and as yet they have

*T. S. Eoberts, C. L. Herrick. R. S. Williams, of Minneapolis.

316 NOTES ON THE

been detected in only this one locality. The survivors appar-
ently left in the latter part of August.

"An inspection of the dates given above, will show that the
young buntings are taken at times considerably separated, and
as they are probably all of the same brood, they afford excel-
lent subjects for a few remarks upon the plumage of the first
year. In the "Birds of the Northwest," page 135, Dr. Coues
gives the characters of the immature birds taken by him.
These were evidently older than those before us, as a compari-
son of the following with the description given by Dr. Coues
will show. In adult specimens the plumage does not differ
materially. The buffiness of the breast and throat, and the
intensity of the coloration generally, varies of course to a
certain extent. All the tail feathers are acuminate, but the
two central ones are very slender.

"The young we will designate Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively, in
the order in which they were taken. All three show more or
less strongly that fluffy, unsettled looking plumage character-
istic of young birds for a short time after they become full
fledged.

"No. 1, taken June 20th, is presumably, judging from date
and appearance, the youngest. In this specimen, the entire
under parts are light, diffuse yellow. Over the whole upper
parts, including wing coverts and tertials, the feathers are
either almost wholly saffron -yellow or broadly edged with this
color. The wings, and to a slight extent, the tertials, show the
chestnut edgings of the adult. The collar on the back of the
neck but very faintly indicates that it will become chestnut and
grayish. The feathers of the dark bands on the top of the
head show the chestnut edgings of the adult. Across the
back is a very slight tinge of buff, and the same area is thickly
marked with small subdued streaks entirely across for a
distance of half an inch, and as a feature of special note there
is on each isde of the throat a very distinct maxillary streak.

"In No. 2, taken August 1st, the lower parts are much less
yellow, and the upper parts darker, while the chestnut and
white of the interscapulars, and other feathers, are beginning
to appear. The markings on the breast are firm and confined
more to the sides, and while the maxillary streaks are still
evident, they are becoming indistinct.

"In No. 3, taken August 8th, we have a much nearer approach
to the adult. The under parts are beginning to appear white
posteriorly and buffy anteriorly; the streaks of the median

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 317

line of the breast are obsolete; the maxillary streaks have
disappeared, and the back part of the median line of the
crown begins to show white.

' 'Here our evidence of the further changes ceases for want of
specimens. There is still much difference between number 3,
and the adult. In the former the characteristic chestnut and
grayish collar has not appeared; the handsome white and
chestnut markings of the back are wanting; the color and
markings of the under parts are unsettled; the bill is light,
instead of dark bluish-brown, and the whole general coloration
is uncertain, and blended, very different from the bold, strik-
ing pattern of the adult. From these specimens we are there-
fore to draw the conclusion that in the young bird, distinct
maxillary streaks are present, the breast is streaked thickly
entirely across; the tail feathers though pointed, are not nar-
row and acuminate as in the adult; that yellow is the ground-
color of the entire plumage, tail and wings excepted, and lastly,
that these characters gradually pass with age, into those
of the adult."

The interest of ornithologists in this bird justifies the space
we have given for the foregoing notes. They were penned
only a comparatively short time after the rediscovery of the
species, which was originally observed and named by Audubon,
but for a long time lost. That this bunting breeds considerably
in favorable localities, in a large part of the State, I have no
doubt, as it has of late years come to be observed in the breed-
ing season in Freeborn, Big Stone and Grant counties. I have
never seen the nest or eggs, but my very reliable friend Lewis,
who has explored northern Dakota, gives the former as essen-
tially like that of the Yellow-winged Sparrow, but possibly con-
structed of a little coarser grasses, and a little bulkier in its
general appearance.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

"Bill much more slender than in Emberiza hensloivi. First
quill the longest, the rest diminishing rapidly. Tail emarginate
and rounded, with the feathers acute. Upper parts light yel-
lowish-red, streaked with brownish-black; the margins of the
feathers and scapulars pale yellowish-white; tail feathers
dusky, margined with light-yellowish; lower parts with the
cheeks, and a broad band over the eyes, fine buff; median line
yellowish- white; the buff extending to the femorals and along
the sides, streaked with brownish-black. Throat, neck, and
upper parts of the breast without streaks, and plain buff."

Length, 4.40; wing, 2.13; tail, 1.90.

Habitat, Plains eastward to Illinois, South Carolina, and
Florida, and from Manitoba to Texas.

318 NOTES ON THE

AMMODRAMUS CAUDACITTUS (Gmelin). (549.)
SHARP-TAILED SPARROW.

I have not had the opportunity to examine the specimens of
this species secured by Mr. F. L. Washburn, but do not hesi-
tate to introduce them into this report, believing him fully-
competent to their identification. In his notes of observations
and collections in the Red river valley during July and August,
1885, he says of the Sharp- tailed Finch. "Three individuals
secured, and others observed. Two were shot near Ada, and
had dimensions b:2:'2 each. The third killed on the northern
boundary at St. Vincent, measured 4.50:2:2. I found them in
grass-land near water, associating with long, and short-billed
Marsh Wrens."

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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; sides
of throat with a brown stripe; upper part of breast, and sides
of body streaked with black; rest of under i^arts white, the
edge of the wing yellowish-white.

Length. 5; wing, 2.30;

Habitat, Salt marshes of Atlantic coast westward to Minne-
sota,

CH0NDE8TES GRAMMACUS (Say). (552.)

LARK SPARROW.

The Lark Finch may be justly considered one of the most
abundant birds, according to relative numbers that we have for
summer residents in the State, yet there have been years when
their favored localities have been almost deserted.

It is found more or less common on the prairies, but so far
as my own observation has noted them, they prefer the vicinity
of open brush-land with a few deciduous trees not far away,
and may there be found in greatest numbers. Its manners and
habits commend it to the lovers of birds wherever it lives in
summer.

Its song is really beautiful during the mating and brooding
season, and may be heard in almost any direction in the early
day and at evening about an hour before sunset, one singer
answered by another until the sparrow song wave seems to
circle out of hearing in the distance. It is not entirely terres-
trial, but often is seen perched on trees or fences even when

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 319

in the act of singing, although more commonly they seek but a
slight elevation for pouring out their melodious song. They
nest on the ground with remarkable attempts at concealment,
and the structures are not quite as artistic as many others of
the fringilline birds, consisting mostly of rather coarse grasses
and weeds, with a lining of fine fibrous roots. They arrive
in the vicinity of Minneapolis and St. Paul about the 25th of
April, and nests are generally found about the 20th of May,
occasionally one a little earlier, and they bring out usually two
broods before the 20th of July of about five, but often six or
seven of each. Their size and strongly marked colorings,
and their want of greater caution in concealing their nests,
makes birds and eggs both an easy prey to the smaller hawks
or their relative numbers would be greatly increased. They
seem to appear simultaneously all over the State according to
reports from eight or ten counties scattered from the extreme
southern to the northern boundary lines of the State.

Dr. Hvoslef reports nests and eggs at Lanesboro, Fillmore
county, on the 15th of May. P. Lewis, at Herman, Grant
county, on the 20th of the same month. Mr. Potts, in Big
Stone, the 17th, etc.

The eggs are rather strikingly marked, being "white, curi-
ously streaked in zigzag;" the markings sharply defined, and a
rich, dark reddish brown or chocolate. They taper very little
towards the smaller end giving them a decidedly globular form.
These sparrows are all gone usually by the first of October,
but a few have been seen considerably later in favorable
autumns.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Hood chestnut, tinged with black towards the forehead, with
a median and superciliary stripe of dirty whitish; rest of up-
per parts pale grayish-brown, the interscapular region streaked
with dark brown; beneath white, a round spot on the upper
part of the breast, a maxillary stripe and a short line from the
bill to the eye, continued faintly behind it, black. A white
crescent under the eye, bordered below by black, and behind
by chestnut. Tail feathers dark brown, tipped broadly with
white.

Length, 6; wing, 3.30.

Habitat, Mississippi valley region.

320 NOTES ON THE

ZONOTRICHIA QUERULA (Nuttall). (553.)
HARRIS'S SPARROW.

My first observation of this noble sparrow was in October,
1870, and again in April. In May, 1876, it fell into my hands,
and became frequently reported to me in the autumn. T. S.
Roberts, near this city, and P. Lewis, in Pipestone, secured
several. Indeed, for several years it has been often seen in
migration. My correspondent, Dr. Hvoslef. at Lanesboro,
shot several, the last one on the 11th of May, 1885, and others
mention their assured presence still later in different localities,
some of which, like the last mentioned, are in the southern
tier of counties, and one on the St. Croix, east of St. Paul.

Observed in so many places late in the spring, I have
expected to hear that the nest and eggs were found, in which
expectation, however, I have thus far been disappointed.
Nearly all the localities where it has been obtained have been
along the course of streams and in the brush that fringes
them.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Hood and nape, sides of head anterior to and including the
eyes, chin, throat, a few spots in the middle of the upper part
of the breast, and on its sides, black; sides of the head and
neck ash gray, with the trace of a narrow crescent back of the
ear coverts; interscpular region of back, with the feathers red-
dish-brown streaked with dark brown; breast and belly clear
white; sides of body light brownish, streaked; two narrow
white bands across the greater and middle coverts.

Length, 7; wing, 3.40; tail, 3.65.

Habitat, middle United States from Minnesota west to Da-
kota and middle Kansas.

ZONOTRICHIA LEUCOPHRYS (Forster). (554;
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW.

This species is frequently seen in migration both in spring
and autumn mingled with others of the same great family in
thickets and brushy land generally. I have found them during
these periods more commonly along the borders of clearings
in the numerous brush-piles, where they enjoy the safest
covert from rapacious enemies while seeking their food of seeds
and insects of different kinds. If encroached upon they will
conceal themselves so closely as to lead one to suppose it an
illusion that he had seen them at all until driven from their

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 321

hiding place by something thrown into their covert, when a
dozen will dash out and into a low tree near by, or in a short,
confused, desultory flight whip into another similar pile of
brush, or a closer thicket. A beautiful bird, indeed, but they
conceal their capacities for song until they reach their breed-
ing localities, further to the north, where their pee, dee, de, de,
de, de, de, the first two syllables of which are somewhat pro-
longed in 'crescendo,' and slightly rising inflection, with the
remainder more rapid in 'diminuendo, ' may be heard frequently
repeated through the day in sunshine and shade, even far into
the night.

They are usually seen in the more southern line of partially
timbered counties about the 10th of March, and from the 15th
to the • 25th, over the rest of the State. My own earliest
record of their arrival is March 15th, 1870, but in 1875, it was
almost a month later. They remain until about the 1st of
May— straggling laggards until still later. Kennicott found
them at Lake of the Woods, May 31st. Dr. Hvoslef, reports
them as "common some years" at Laeesboro.

They build their nests on the ground, generally at the foot
of shrubs, or bushes amongst coniferous trees in the north-
eastern portions of this State. Its principal materials consist
of dried grass, very fine inside and neatly finished within.
During the months of March, April and May of 1891, I was
much of the time at Florin, nine miles south of Sacramento,
California, and from March 11th to May 8th it was the most
abundant species at "Walnut Corners," (where my sister, Mrs.
T. Renbick resides). The trees surrounding the dwelling
were mostly English walnuts, and but little farther away the
usual varieties of fruit trees. The street fence on two sides
was a hedge and immediately about the house were a large
variety of bushes, shrubs, etc., affording perfect covert for
birds of several species. The House Finches were numerous
and kept up a wealth of melody from the earliest dawn till the
last rays of the setting sun faded away, but the still more
numerous White-crowns were heard only in weak chip-notes until
the 6th of May, when the inspiration of song broke their silence
with melodies scarcely inferior to the Burions. It was beauti -
ful, but to the casual ear, was so mingled with the notes of
the other species that it was difScult to distinguish it fully,
yet occasionally a strain would be completed alone, and then
it was charming, excelled by but few of the sparrow kind.

322 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head above, upper half of loral region from the bill, a nar-
row line through and 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 con-
fluent on the occiput, white. Sides of head, fore part of breast,
and lower neck all round, pale ash, lightest beneath, and shad-
ing insensibly into the whitish of the belly and chin; sides of
belly and under tail coverts, tinged with yellowish -brown. In-
terscapular region streaked broadly with dark chestnut-brown-
ish. Edges of the tertiaries brownish -chestnut; two white
bands on the wing.

Length, 7.10; wing, 3.25.

Habitat, North America at large.

ZONOTRICHIA ALBICOLLIS (Gmelin). (558.)
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW.

No close observer of birds fails to recognize the claims that
this regal sparrow has upon his admiration. His manners be-
long to more pretentious orders, and his supreme dignity sug-
gests a miniatureship of some larger species. His very shy-
ness is rather an expression of disregard of your presence in a
slow and undisturbed removal from you. The song is touch-
ingly sweet and very fascinating when once it has the undi-
vided attention.

Mr. Langille says: "The notation of its song could be easily
written on the musical staff. Beginning generally on the fifth
note of the scale, after the first syllable it ascends to the eighth,
or last note, and ends in four syllables more. After the first
syllable of the song the bird will sometimes utter the second on
the second or third note of the scale above, and then dropping
back will render the remaining three syllables on the usual
pitch for the ending. I have heard it begin on the last note of
the scale, and after sounding two syllables, drop to the sixth
interval for the remaining three syllables, thus giving a beau-
tiful minor effect. If several are singing, they may each per-
form on a ditferent key, one responding to the other from dif-
ferent dead trees or tall stubs in the neighborhood.

"The charm of the song is principally^ in the pathos of the
tones, which resemble those of the Chickadee, being an inimita-
bly tender and vibrating, or tremulous, whistle. There are few
bird songs which are so affecting to an aesthetic nature as is this
simple pastoral. The tenderest and most sympathetic ideas,
with a tinge of melancholy, find their expression in these

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 323

strongly-characterized notes, which, as Thoreau says, ' 'are as
distinct to the ear as the passage of a spark of fire shot into
the darkness of the forest would be to the eye. " ' 'Like most
sparrows they build on the ground, amongst bushes. The
nest is formed neatly of dried grass, weeds and mosses, and
lined with finer grasses and fibrous roots. The eggs are gray
ish-white, spotted and splashed with brown and pale markings,
and five in number.

It arrives in spring migration from the 25th of April to the
1st of May, and engages in nest-building from the 15th to the
20th of that month. About the 20th of September they begin
to leave for the South in a very quiet, sparrow-like way, appar-
ently in families or little colonies. Its food from the moment
of its arrival until its departure makes it a friend to the farmer
and gardener.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Two black stripes on the crown separated by a median one
of white; a broad superciliary stripe from the base of the man-
dible 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
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 nar-
row 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.

Length, 7; wing, 3.10; tail, 3.20.

Habitat, eastern North America, west to the plains.

Note. It has never been my fortune to hear the song of the
White-throated Sparrow in the night, after the manner of the
nightingale, but Samuels in his "Birds of New England," page
61, says after graphically describing a bird- chorus made up of
the notes of the Virginian owls, loons, etc., etc.: "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 Spar-
row, the 'Nightingale of the North. ' One cannot imagine the
effect produced by the contrast; he must be on the spot in the
dark night, and through the sighings of the winds amid the
grand old trees, hear the loons, and then the silence broken by
the beautiful song of the nightingale."

SPIZELLA MONTICOliA (Gmelin). (559.)

TREE SPARROW.

A very abundant species which seldom, if ever, leaves the

state during the coldest winters, and breeds extensively about

the lakes and streams bordered with alders, willows and low

324 NOTES ON THE

trees, more especially in the north and eastern portions. The
nests are found in trees, bushes and on the ground, formed
exteriorly of dried grass and mud, and lined with down from
woods and fine, soft hairs. Eggs, light greenish-blue, marked
with blotches and spots of different shades of red and brown,
resembling much those of the Song Sparrow.

When I record as a permanent resident a species so well
known as the Tree Sparrow, I take for granted that no one
will infer it to be anywise abundant during our rigorous
winters. During those seasons only small flocks are ordinarily
seen, sometimes only two or three individuals until approaching
spring, when these smaller bands are merged into larger ones,
until by the latter part of March — the time the migration north-
ward is begun — when they may be only surpassed in numbers
by the Snowbirds.

The earliest I have ever met them near this city was March
3, and the latest individuals have rarely lingered until the last
of April. Their times however of principal arrival and de-
parture have averaged March 25th and April 25th. They
return from their more northern breeding places about the
25th of September to the first of October, varying greatly
with the thermal character of the seasons. The greater part
of them leave us here about the 15th of November. I saw
some December 25th, 1874, and Mr. John Roberts again saw
small parties of them in January, 1876. Dr. Hvoslef s notes
at Lanesboro record them December 28th, February 23d,
March 18th. I have a letter from him under date February
3d, 1886, which says: — "There are hundreds of them here."

I cannot, in speaking briefly of some of their habits, refrain
from transcribing a few lines from the pen of Dr. Coues in
"Birds of the Northwest," page 147. He says: — "On several
occasions, when the thermometer was far below zero, the river
frozen solid for two feet in depth, and snow on the ground, I
have unexpectedly come upon little groups of these birds
hiding away close to the ground, amongst and under a net-
work of vines and rank herbage, close enough to collect and
retain a mantle of snow. When startled at such times they
have a low, pleasant chirp as they flutter into sight among the
brushes, scattering a little, but only to collect again and seek
their snug retreat as soon as left to themselves. Whether
rendered careless by the cold, or through a natural heedless-
ness, they are very tame at such times. They sit unconcern-
edly on the twigs, it may be but a few feet distant chirping

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA 225

cheerfully, with the plumage all loosened and puffy, making
very pretty 'roly-poly' looking objects. There is a partic-
ular kind of plant here, the seeds of which endure all winter,
furnishing a favorite repast. In a clump of these tall weeds
dozens of the birds may be seen together busily feeding.
Some, more energetic, spring up and cling to the swaying
penicles, picking away, while others gather about the stem,
getting a good dinner without trouble off the seeds that their
neighbors above rattle down. At such times the whole com-
pany keep up an animated conversation, expressing their
satisfaction, no doubt, in their own language; it is more than
chirping and not quite singing — a low, soft, continuous chant-
ing, as pleasing as it is indescribable. The Tree Sparrow is,
indeed, one of the sweet-voiced of our sparrows and one very
fond of singing, not only in the spring, but at other seasons;
times are hard with it indeed when it cannot, on occasion,
tune its gentle pipe."

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Middle of the back with the feathers dark brown centrally,
then rufous and edged with pale fulvous (sometimes with
whitish); hood and upper part of nape continuous chestnut; a
line of 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, primary 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 yelJow; upper black.

Length, 6.25; wing, 3.

Habitat, eastern North America west to the Plains.

SPIZELL4 S0CIALI8 (Wilson). (560.)
CHIPPING SPARROW.

"Chippie," as this most common sparrow is popularly called,
is also named the Hair Bird, on account of its nearly uniform
habit of lining its nest with coarse, long hairs. It builds in
low trees, door-yard shrubs and currant bushes, preferably
near the habitations of men. The nest consists of roots,
twigs and grasses, lined as above.

Its proclivity to rear its young so near our homes, display-
ing the utmost confidence in man, picking up for most of its
food his waste, is what has given it the scientific specific name
"Socialis." Its common note and songs chip-ip-ip-ip-ip-ip-ip,
have given it the common name with which the notice of this
bird begins.

326 NOTES ON THE

It arrives in the southern counties about the 1st to the 10th
of April and in the vicinity of Minneapolis not very far from
the 20th of that month, often a trifle later.

It may be that the absence of variety and greater modula-
tion in the songs of the Chipping Sparrow will account for its
absence from the songs of the poets, but its claims to the re
membrances of man are second only to that of the bluebirds
and robins. It even exceeds either of those species in the
measure of confidence it manifests in coming to our very
thresholds for the crumbs that fall from our boards, and trip-
ping almost under our feet as we go about the garden or
through the orchards. Its song, so monotonous as it is, ought
to awaken our notice, for its associations are legions, reach-
ing back through the many summers to the adieus to our
very cradles. "We boys" recall the many times we used to
find their nests, wondering where they got all the hair there
was in their structure, and how they painted their eggs such a
beautiful, bright, bluish-green, and speckled them at the large
end with reddi.sh -brown and black. And when the little eggs
had all gone to sma.sh, and some tiny, featherless little carica-
tures of blind birdies had taken their places with their hide-
ous, yellow lined mouths constantly wide open, we were still
more confounded with the dawning mysteries of life. All this
with only a sort of a conventional protest from the confiding
parents, ought now to give this humble, cheerful, plainly
dressed sparrow a warm place in our memories. Its specific
scientific name affords one instance of appropriateness amongst
a large number, the selection of which is an impeachment to
claims of advacement made for the race. Adam never burd
ened so many of the birds with the abominations employed in
our scientific nomenclature of them, or he would have wanted
to escape from the garden of Eden earlier than he was driven
out.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Rump, back of neck, sides of neck and head, ashy; inter-
scapular 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 eye, and a
black one from the base of the bill through and behind the
eye. Under parts unspotted whitish, tinged with ashy, especi-
ally across the upper breast. Tail feathers and primaries
edged with paler, not white. Two narrow white bands across
the wing coverts. Bill black.

Length, 5.75; wing, 3.

Habitat, eastern North America, west to Rocky Mountains.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 327

SPIZELLA PALLIDA (Swainson), (561.)
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW.

The Clay- colored Sparrow was first brought to my notice in
the spring of 1875, by T. S. Roberts. Very soon after he
obtained his, a considerable number were collected by others as
well as myself. Since that time it has become a decidedly
familiar species, breeding along the Red river and eastwards
to the vicinity of prevalent timber. It arrives in spring from
the 25th of April to the 5th of May, but does not remain in
this locality. The nest is found on the brush along the water
courses, particularly those tributry to the Red river, and the
low willowy bushes bordering some of the lakes with which
our State abounds. Prom all I have been able to learn from a
variety of sources I think that incubation is inaugurated by
the first week in June, and two broods of four each is the
rule. The structure is, in the words of Dr. Coues' .Birds of
the Northwest, page 150, — " Inartistically built of fine dried
grass-stems, and the slender weed-stalks, with perhaps a few
rootlets. It is sometimes lined quite thickly with horse hairs,
sometimes not, having instead some very fine grass-tops."

The color of the egg is light green, and they are thinly
speckled with several shades of brown. The speckling is
principally confined to the larger end.

The habits of this species do not materially differ from those
of the Chipping Sparrow. The song of the male is said to be
less pretentious, but equally persistent with those of the last
mentioned species, consisting of a monotonous trio of notes
ending in a weak trill.

Their fall movement southwards is somewhat later than
that of the Chipping Sparrow as I must not only infer from
local observations, but from Mr. Washburn's notes of observa-
tions in the Red river valley. The latter, after having been
ordinarily represented throughout that region, were gone
while he still found Pallida "common indeed."

He says: "I met old and young birds on the banks of the
Red river, about Georgetown, on the first of August. The
young then, were of all ages, but most of them full grown.
With their parents they congregate in pastures, and on weed-
grown fields in good sized flocks. " I think they have all left
the State by the first or second week in October.

22 z

328 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Back and sides of hind neck ashy; prevailing color above,
pale brownish yellow, with a tinge of grayish; feathers of back
and crown streaked conspicuously with blackish, the latter
with a median ashy, and a lateral or superciliary ashy white
stripe; beneath, whitish tinged with brown on the breast and
sides, and an indistinct narrow brown streak on the edge of
the chin. Ear coverts, brownish-yellow, margined above and
below by dark brown.

Length, 4.75; wing, 2.55.

Habitat, interior of North America.

SPIZELLA PUSILLA (Wilson). (563.)
FIELD SPARROW.

About the 25th of April, or a little earlier, the Field Spar-
rows have got here as unobserved as a * 'frown upon the brow of
twilight,"' and are then found in dry, bushy pastures, and low,
open woods, away from the dwellings of men. By the second
week in May they are engaged in constructing their nests of
dried grasses and fine twigs loosely arranged and placed on
the ground under a bush, or in it, as is the case occasionally.
Four eggs constitute the complement, colored grayish-white
with thinly scattered spots and blotches of reddish-brown and
lavender. During incubation the male is heard singing from a
perch on a low tree, or a rail of the fence. His song is a
plaintive, humble ditty, poured out in the early morn and eve.
In dark, cloudy weather he sings all the day long, as if fully
appreciating the need of cheering the little bird-wife in the
patient waitings of her maternity.

The song has no claims to melodious variety, while it fills no
mean place in the grand choral of usual song. The best idea of
it may be expressed in a recently employed combination of the
following syllables adopted by Mr. Langille: "i'Yee-o, free-o,
free-o, free-o, free, free, free, free, free, free; the first four louder,
well prolonged and on a higher key, while the remaining notes
run rapidly to a lower pitch, growing softer and weaker to the
end, the last being barely preceptible at a short distance. The
song is quite constantly repeated at .short intervals, and has a
rather melancholy, but soothing, and pleasing effect, which
sensitive natures readily recognize, and do not easily forget.

"It is the homelj'', pensive poetry of the thicket, that line of
land where the cultivated beauty and fertility of the fields end.
and the solitude and gloom of the forest begin. "'

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 329

No bird-notes of my own, or of my correspondents, fail to
embrace this species in localities according with its well-known
habits everywhere in the State. It is, however, not a numerous
species.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill red; crown continuous rufous red. Back somewhat simi-
lar, streaked with blackish. Sides of head and neck, including
a superciliary stripe, ashy; ear coverts rufous; beneath white,
anteriorly tinged with yellowish; tail feathers and quills faintly
edged with white. Two white bands across the wing coverts.

Length, 5,75; wing, 2.35.

Habitat, Eastern United States and southern Canada, west
to the plains.

JUNCO HYEMALIS (L.). (567.)

SLATE-COLORED JUNCO.

The snow-birds are so extensively distributed, and every-
where so well known, that any one at all acquainted with
them will expect to find them included in our Minnesota,
birds. They may be listed as permanent residents, at least
along our southern borders, where belts of timber between
sheltering bluffs and along water-courses afford more favorable
quarters during the severest weather. At the locality from
which I write they are rarely seen in winter, but come in force
variously from the 20th of March to the first of April, when one
who "sees birds at all" must be prepared to have them spring
up from almost any slightly protected ambush, and almost
from under his feet, and simultaneously dash into the nearest
thicket or brush-heap, to cautiously slip out of the hastily-
chosen covert, one at a time, and flit to a safer distance, if not
better hiding place. They usually, as a kind of feathered
courtesy, or sort of a courtship, have mingled with them more
or less abundantly, some of the other sparrows, amongst which
are the White- crowned. Pox-colored, Clay-colored, Song and
Tree Sparrows, etc. They have only a chipping note, while
thus abundant, that very much resembles the |;rue chippies (spi-
zella socialis). By the first week in May the principal part
of them have disappeared. They breed extensively in the north
part of the State, and exceptionally in many others affording
favorable conditions. Their principal food consists of larvae
and insects, especially small beetles, but they are quite omniv-
orous, devouring many kinds of seeds as well.

830 NOTES ON THE

Their nests are remarkably well constructed and variously
situated, generally on the ground under some bush or clump
of weeds; it is occasionally built in a low bush, and rarely on
an old log or stump. The number of eggs rarely exceeds four,
that 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.

As to varieties of this species as observed within my province
I can only say if such are well founded they are all here. A
single excursion of a few hours has put them all into our
basket too many times to leave any question of doubt. But for
the special benefit of those who are seeking for evidence that
this omnipresent species is, in fact, not a species, but a long
drawn out series of varieties in rapid process of evolution into
many species, I will transcribe a report of T. S. Roberts, R. S.
Williams and C. L. Herrick concerning these birds. T. S.
Roberts, a very careful and conscientious observer, has the
credit of writing it. Amongst a list of others he says, "We
mention the Snowbird only to call attention, briefly, to the
forms or species noticed in this locality. Suflicient material is
not at hand to do the matter justice, but from the nine skins
before us we select the three most decidedly marked birds.
First is hyemaUs proper, showing nothing but the characters
of this form. Second is a specimen of oregonus (Towns ) Scl.
The colors are bright, sharply defined, and just as decided as
oregonus. It was taken in the spring of 1876, by R. S. Will-
iams, and is apparently a typical specimen of this western
form. The third is a very stronghly marked specimen of
what is called annectus, Bd. This bird was taken October 5,
1877, by T. S. Roberts, from a straggling flock of Snowbirds,
among which it immediately attracted attention by its peculiar
colors. R. S. Williams has a partly albino Junco taken in the
fall, which is also plainly this form."

I am gratified at the growing indications of a general halt
along the line of evolutional varieties in the avi-ological march.
More will be known of the Juncos a thousand years hence.
Perhaps then some typical embodiment of accumulated knowl-
edge, from underneath this No. 11 Sombrero, shielding
him from the rays of a tropical March sun, will be sitting upon
a jutting rock overhanging what was once the renowned Falls
of St. Anthony, his two eyes merged into one now composed of
a series of compound lenzes with which he alternately looks

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 331

upon the moving protozoans in the rapid waters beneath him,
and the moving shadows in the mountains of the belated moon,
while ruminating upon the unfolded life-history of what was
once considered a simple species, pregnant although with the
potence of genuine possibilities— Presto Junco!

Note. The above was written before a number of my
ornithological friends of the State verbally reported to me
some extensive comparisons of the Juncos obtained in migra-
tion which showed a graduation from hy emails into oregonus,
which since that time I have measurably verified. Reconsol-
idation is the natural order of the day. Let the good work go
bravely on. P. L. H.

d L ' L SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

3 Every where of a grayish, or dark ashy-black, deepest anter-
iorly; middle of breast behind and belly, under tail coverts,
first and second external tail feathers, white; third tail feather
white, margined with black.

Length, 6.25 wing, 3.

Habitat, North America at larg e.

MELOSPIZA FASCI4TA (Gmelin). (581.)
SONG SPARROW.

Usually about the 15th of April, in 1869 as early as March
19th, upon visiting the borders of heavy timber lands bordered
with thickets and brush, I have been captivated by the song
of this beautiful singer, made most welcome by his long win-
ter's absence. It is easy, amid the grand chorus of bird-song
in May, to overlook this sweet songster, but never when we
first meet him under such circumstances. He seems to have
chosen his rostrum upon the very border of winter's receding
trail, from which he twitters, trills and rolls his wondrous
melodies into the very soul of advancing spring. The frosts
of early morning, those trembling jewels which flash back the
departing glories of the winter, seem to charge his every bone,
muscle and feather with the fulness of the inspiration of song,
which he pours at the feet of the new-born season.

At this time small numbers associate in bands, but their
rival melodies soon awake the conjugal instinct and in a short
time mates are chosen and the summer's welcome task begun.

The earliest nests I have found in process of construction
were begun in the first week in May, but I cannot divest
myself of the conviction that they will be found occasionally
much earlier than that in favorable seasons if diligent search
is made.

332 NOTES ON THE

It is well known to bring out two broods, and sometimes
three in the same season.

The nest is composed mostly of dried grasses and fre-
quently lined with horse hair. It is found usually in spring
directly on the ground under some kind of shelter, perhaps a
clod of earth, a bunch of grass, a bush or a root, yet may be
in some exceptional place like a stump, in a hedge or even in
a castaway old teakettle. One is said to have been found in
the crown of an old "plug" hat hanging in a hazle brush.
The general coloration of the eggs. I should say, is bluish-
white, but they are almost unparalleled in their variability, and
different eyes seem to see the same eggs "in a different light."
The markings are brown touched with lilac. Minnesota is
probably about the western border of their fullest representa-
tion. They are relatively abundant here and yet twenty-eight
years ago I did not see more than one-tenth of the present
numbers. Their food-habits make them a necebsity to agri-
culture, so they have come with or close upon the heels of the
farmer and gardener.

Owing to their disregard of a little snow and considerable
frost, we find them almost simultaneously appearing in all the
principal and more cultivated sections of the State. I have
special rei)orts of its appearance from the line adjoining Iowa
to Detroit lake, on the Northern Pacific. It lingers quite late
in autumn, and even into early winter in the southwest portions
of the State, in the dense thickets of the heavily timbered
localities.

Mr. Washburn found Song Sparrows at Dead lake at the
head of Dead river, northwest of Otter Tail lake, in Otter
Tail county, as late as October 13th, and expresses a very
decided opinion, based upon local inquiries and observations,
that this si^ecies remains much later.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

General tint of upper parts rufous-brown, streaked with
dark brown and ashy-gray; crown rufous, with a superciliary
and median stripe of dull gray, the former lighter; anteriorly
nearly white, with a faint shade of yellow; each feather of the
crown with a narrow streak of dark brown; interscapulars
dark brown in the center, then rufous, then grayish on the
margin; rump grayer than upper tail coverts, and both with
obsolete dark streaks; a whitish maxillary stripe, bordered
above and below by one of dark rufous-brown, with a similiar
one from behind the eye; under parts white; breast, sides of
body and throat streaked with dark rufous, with a still darker

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 333

central line, these marks rather aggregated on the middle
of the breast so as to form a spot; no distinct white on tail or
wings.

Length, 6.50; wing, 2.60; tail, 3.

Habitat, eastern United States to .Plains.

MELOSPIZA LINCOLNI (Audubon). (583.)
LINCOLN'S SPARROW.

Of the habits of this species, quite common in both migra-
tions,' I know very little, except that I cannot separate it
from the Swamp Sparrows until I have it in my hand.

Mr. R. S. Williams of Minneapolis, was the first to bring
this locally new species "to bag" in the State so far as I am
aware. This he did on the 9th of May 1876. Mr. Robert
McMullen obtained another on the 12th of the same month.
Since then few collectors have failed to appropriate one or
more of their skins, in the interest of science, or the fun of
shooting. Prom reports sent me annually from "beyond the
Big Woods," the great deciduous belt of timber traversing a
good portion of the State from north-east to south-west, I am
assured of its abundance in the period of both migrations in
which it shares the general characteristics of the Swamp Spar •
rows.

I have been less favored with observations of this species in
the southern sections, but have no doubt that it is equally
represented. Dr. Coues says its range embraces the whole
continent. Somewhat unequally distributed: it is rare in the
east; but abundant in Colorado; common in Iowa; numerous in
lUnois; but only in migration except in the mountains near
Idaho spring where "it breeds about 9,500 or 10,000 feet up to
timber line." In Birds of the North-west he again quotes from
Mr. Allen who states it is ' 'an abundant summer resident of the
mountains of Colorado, from about 8,000 feet to above the
limits of trees. It is found chiefly in the vicinity of wooded
streams, and in moist or swampy thickets, being essentially
a woodland bird. Its song is rather feeble, but pleasant and
varied, and generally uttered for a considerable period from
some elevated point of the thicket. It is one of the few
species that are as abundant at the timber line as at the lower
points. I also met with it sparingly in May in eastern Kansas,
and found it abundant in the vicinity of Ogden, Utah, in Sep-
tember."

334 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Crown chestnut, with a median and two lateral, or supercil-
liary ash colored stripes; each feather above streaked centrally
with black; back with narrow streakes of black; beneath
white, with a maxillary stripe curving round behind the ear
coverts; a well defined band across the breast extending down
the sides; under tail coverts brownish yellow; maxillary stripe
margined above and below with lines of black spots; throat,
upper part of breast, and sides of body, with streaks of black,
smallest in the middle of the former; a chestnut stripe back of
the ear streaked with black; the pectoral bands are sometimes
paler.

Length, 5.60; wing, 2.60.

Habitat, North America at large.

MELOSPIZA GEOROIANA (Latham). (584.)
SWAMP SPARROW.

The local habits of the Swamp Sparrow are such that none
but a close observer could form any correct idea of its relative
numbers. It will have become installed in its summer haunts,
and engaged in the building of its nests, or even in somewhat
advanced incubation, before we are aware of its presence,
unless considerable vigilance has been maintained through the
early spring. For many successive years I failed to detect its
earliest arrival, and have settled into the opinion that it was
rather a late sparrow in its migrations, notwithstanding my
knowledge of its late depaiture in autumn. But a friend who
had no special interest in ornithology was fond of duck shoot-
ing that brought him much in the way of the incoming birds
of the spring, and I suggested to him that he keep one end of
his bag for " small fry " and he kindly collected specimens of
many species of exceeding interest to me, and to local orni-
thological science in general, amongst which was this bird,
obtained on the 13th of March. He was an exceedingly modest
man, and peremptorily forbid my putting his name in print,
which injunction for about one-fifth of a century I have faith-
fully observed, but now that his name has already leaked out,
I feel relieved of my obligation, and I am impelled to state here
that his name was John Smith. I will have the burden no longer.
The world shall know who he is. From that day forward I
have been able to date the average time of the arrival of the
Swamp Sparrow the 1st of April — 1864, March 29; 1867, April
5th; 1870, April 2d; 1875, March 30th; 1878, March 13th. These
dates are abundantly corroborated by corresponding observa-

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 335

tions throughout the State. On its first arrival it will be found
in rather low brush, or thickets in the woods in the vicinity of
streams or swampy marshes and in parties of perhaps half a
dozen mates who vie with each other in delightful song. A few
days later and the females have come, but when and how, is more
than has been reliably recorded. It is not very long before the nest
is jointly built of patent sparrow material, weeds, stalks,
leaves and grasses lined with fine grades of the latter. It may
be on the ground, or in a low bush, or even a low tree. Prom
four to five eggs constitute their ' ' clutch, " variously marked,
the ground color grayish, or bluish-white and thinly scattered
spots of reddish -brown, increased to confluent splotches of
umber-brown, mostly at the greater end. I think that as a
general thing they raise three broods of young. Mr. J. W.
Bostwick found a well identified nest of four eggs on the 25th
of April, near Pig's Eye, an unromantic name Oi a romantic
and eminently historic suburb of St. Paul. Mr. E. P. Her-
man, found young birds in the nest unable to fly on the 24th of
August.

I deem it one of the most numerous of the fringilline birds
breeding in Minnesota. It is everywhere equally abundant in
the brushy woodland districts which I have visited, from Moor-
head to Albert Lea, and from the St. Croix to Big Stone lake.
Mr. P. Lewis found it "everywhere in Grant and Douglas
counties,." Mr. Washburn reported it abundant everywhere
in the Red river valley in August, and still represented at
Dead lake October 10th. It has been my own experience to
find a remnant of them still in the vicinity of Minneapolis as
late as the 10th of November, but the larger portion are gone
by the 25th of October, as a general rule.

Their food consists of insects, wild rice and grass-seeds.
When flushed they seldom seek the shelter of trees, but skulk
from one thicket to another and flirttheir tails vigorously while
flying.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Middle of the crown uniform chestnut; forehead black; super-
ciliary 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, especially across
the breast, and washed with yellowish-brown on the sides.
Wings and tail strongly tinged with rufous; tertials black, the
rufous edgings changing abruptly to white towards the end.

Length, 5.75; wing 2.40.

Habitat, eastern North America to the Plains.

336 NOTES ON THE

PASSERELLA ILIACA (Merrem). (585.)

FOX SPARROW.

The earliest knowledge of this pretty sparrow I obtained,
was from a specimen presented.me by a Mr. Van Druberg, who
collected it near the city on the 22d of September, 1870. It
was obtained still later that year, but I have lost the precise
date. Since then I have met with it frequently in both spring
and fall migrations, and not infrequently associated with the
true Snowbirds. It comes early and stays several weeks.

My own notes through a long series of years, average the
arrival in spring from the 1st to the 10th of April, but Mr.
John Roberts obtained some on the 13th of March, 1878. I
have no doubt that the average will be found about the 1st of
April. Dr. Hvoslef found it on the 28th of March in Fillmore
county and again on the 2nd of May. 1885, which is the latest
record I have in spring. The earliest date of its autumnal
arrival is September 17th, so far as I know.

It cannot be said to be abundant, but is sub-common in the
lines of its favored migration. Its habits are such that it
must be sought to be found, seldom approaching very near to
habitations, yet often not very far away if it has the coverts of
thickets bordering heavier timber. Mr. William Howling, for
a great many years the principal taxidermist of Minneapolis,
obtained a single individual in his shrubbrry on the 8th of
April, 1875. But I have never knOwn of another such in the
city.

Wilson, the immortal historian of the birds, says of this
species: — "They are rather of a solitary nature, seldom feed-
ing in the open fields, but generally under thickets or among
tall, rank weeds on the edges of fields. They sometimes
associate with the snowbirds, but more generally keep by
themselves. Their manners very much resemble those of the
Red-eyed Bunting; they are silent, tame and unsuspicious.
They have generally no other note while here than a ^hep.shep.''

Dr. Coues' facile pen grows fervid while describing the Fox-
colored Sparrows on page 161 of his "Birds of the North-
west:"— "The Fox Sparrow enters the middle states from the
north in October, and by the first of the following month has
become abundant. Some linger here through the winter in
sheltered situations, but the greater number repair further
south early in December to reappear the latter part of Feb-
ruary, thus escaping the coldest weather."

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 337

"During the winter they are dispersed over the southern
states, beyond which, however, they do not appear to pass, as
I have found no record. In March they again become plenti-
ful in the middle states, and, having already taken up their
line of migration toward their homes in the north, their com-
ing is with songs of gladness and all the busy stir of the
opening season.

"They are not all oif until April, and during the sunny days
that precede their departure the males are fond of mounting
the little bushes or even the trees, to warble a few exquisitely
sweet notes, the overture of the joyous music which, later in
the year, enlivens the northern solitudes, whither the birds
resort to nest. So musical is the Fox Sparrow indeed, that
even in autumn, when the transient glow and fervor of the
nuptial period has subsided and commonplace occupations
alone engage him, he forgets the dull season at times and
lisps fugitive strains of sweet memories awakened by the
warmth and glamour of the Indian summer. But this is a
mere fragment — the shadows of a song stealing across the
mind, not the song itself, which is only heard in perfection
when the bird's life is quickened in the sunny, showery April,
and he leaves us with cheery "good-bye," promising to come
again. What one of our fringilline birds is so entirely pleas-
ing as this, my favorite? Strong, shapely, vivacious, yet
gentle, silver-tongued; clad most tastefully in the richest of
warm browns, and that nothing may be wanting to single
him out from among his humble relations. A highbred,
exclusive, retiring bird. "We do not find him mix-
ing indiscriminately with the throng of sparrows that
accompany him in his journeys and spend the winter with
him. With a few select associates of his own kind, perhaps
only two or three families that were reared together, he
chooses his own retreat and holds it against intrusion. In some
little glade, hedged about with almost impenetrable briers,
you will come upon him and his friends nestling among the
withered leaves on the ground, gently calling to each other in
the assurance of safety. On your unwelcome appearance they
will hurriedly take flight together, throwing themselves into
the thickest shrubbery. You will find such company again in
the ravines overgrown with smilax and brambles that lead
down to the brook; and as you pass along neglected fences,
fringed with tall, rank weeds, you may surprise the birds out

338 NOTES ON THE

for a morning ramble and make them hurry back in alarm to
the shelter of heavier undergrowth. "

They do not breed in the United States as is yet known

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Middle of back dull ash, each feather with a large blotch of
brownish-red; top of head and neck and rump, similar, but
with samller and more obsolete blotches. Upper tail coverts
and 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 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.

Length, 7.50; wing, 3.50.

Habitat, eastern North America, west to the Plains.

PIPILO ERYTHROPHTHALMIS (L.). (587)
TOWHEE.

This is a very common summer resident throughout the
entire State, arriving the last week in April, at the latitude
from which I write. It reaches the borders adjoioing Iowa
from the 10th to the 15th of April, and Grant county in the
first week of May. Few but those who are looking for these
birds will be likely to recognize their earliest appearance
owing to their shy, skulking habits. A ready pen in the hand
of a keen observer says: "Thickets, brushy pastures and
barren tracts on the higher grounds are the favorite resorts of
this species. The bottom poles of an old rail fence among the
briers by the woods, is very likely to be its thoroughfare; and
at all times it keeps, for the most part, on or near the ground.
Sit down quietly in the thicket and you will hear its sharp
rustle as it scratches among the dry leaves; this hen-like
scratching, probably in search of food, being one of its marked
characteristics of habit. As it flits from bush to bush, never
flying far nor high, you can hear the lohir-z-z-r of its rounded,
concave wings, and as it opens its long, fan-like tail, with a
jerking motion, the white markings contrast strongly with the
jet black figure. It hops, and sidles, and dodges about, in and
out through the brush-pile, the brambles and the thicket, with
a nervous, sparrow-like movement, its tail being often thrown
up, after the manner of the Chat, or Wren.*'*

•Our Birds and Their Haunts, page 577. (J. Uibbert Langillc. M. A.)

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 339

They build a very concealed nest the last week in May —
sometimes a little earlier — in an excavation in the ground deep
enough so that it is, when finished, about even with the sur-
rounding surface and under cover of brushwood or in a thick
tuft of grass. It is bulky, consisting of shreds of bark and dry
leaves, and is lined with fine grass . It lays about five eggs of
a dingy white color, finely speckled all over with reddish-brown
and lilac.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper parts generally, head and neck all around, and upper
part of the breast glossy black, abruptly defined against the
pure white that 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. Iris red.

Length, 8.75; wing, 3.75; tail 4.10.

Habitat, eastern United States to the Missouri river.

CARDINALIS CARDINALIS (L. ). (593.)

CARDINAL.

I have on several occasions referred to this southern species
as an accidental straggler into Minnesota. Since the last of
my lists was published, I have had further evidence that it has
been seen under circumstances and at such times in the year as
to justify the recognition of being an occasional summer resi-
dent in the southeastern portion of the State and northeast-
wardly into the more central portions. Those places where it
has been observed have been, so far as my sources of informa-
tion extend, in the vicinity of clearings and improved farms in
the larger bodies of deciduous timber.

It has proved to be much less a strictly southern bird than
the early writers supposed. A permanent resident there, it
becomes decidedly migrant after reaching Virginia and Penn-
sylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Southern Illinois. It has been ob-
served as far north on the Atlantic coast as Nova Scotia, and
now, as above recorded, in Minnesota in the interior. Con-
siderable numbers of them are permanent in Ohio, remaining
in pairs in patches of woods near cornfields. When speak-
ing of northern Ohio, Rev. J. H. Langille says of this species
"more common in winter than in summer."

340 NOTES ON THE

They are said to locate their nests in bushes, and trees, much
after the mannei* of Catbirds. The nests consist of small
twigs, dry weeds, strips of grapevine bark, leaves, coarse
grasses, etc. , lined neatly with fine grass. The eggs four to five,
are somewhat variable in coloration from a gray to a clear
white, and two broods are raised each season as a rule.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

A flattened crest of feathers on the crown. Bill red. body
generally bright vermilion red. darker on the back, rump, and
tail. Narrow band around the base of the bill with chin and
upper part of the throat black.

Female of a duller red, and this only on the wings, tail and
elongated feathers of the crown. Above with light-olive,
tinged with yellowish on the head; beneath brownish-yellow,
darkest on the sides, and across the breast. Black about the
head only faintly indicated.

Length, H.50; wing. 3.75; tail. 4.50.

Habitat, more southern portion of United States to Missouri.

HABIA LIDOVICIANA (L ). (595)
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK.

This beautiful bird, and sweetest of singers, comes to us in
the last days of April, or the first week in May. They appear
almost simultaneously in every brushy and wooded section of
the State, from Iowa to the British possessions. It is so con
spicuous that I have had no difficulty in getting observations of
its earliest arrivals from all points where I have correspond-
ents. Rev. E. Lyman Hood, an oOlogist and general orni-
thologist, reported this bird as early as April 17th. Prof.
Herrick on the 25th of the same month. P. Lewis, in Grant,
and Dr. Hvoslef of Fillmore, the 29th of April.

All speak of the appearance of the males some days before
the arrival of the females During this interval they are quite
reticent, and are employed for the most part in peering about
the brushy and timbered margins of ponds, marshes and
streams most favorable for their supply of food. "When the
females arrive "the music opens;" for of all the exhibitions of
chivalric fighting for sweet love's sake in the bird kingdom,
theirs is at the head. A single instance out of a great many
will be enough. While observing the spring birds with one
eye and watching game ducks with the other, on the 26th of
April, a rather raw, windy day, I heard the familiar voice of
this grosbeak, which was instantly duplicated by several others,

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 341

and before I could turn around six of this species were almost
within my reach directly before me, one of which was a female,
that perched upon the top-most branch of a bush a little further
removed, and the males all singing, poised on their wings and
at the same time pecking, biting, tearing each other until the
blood was dripping from one of them — never sweeter nor half
so varied melody from the throats of these birds, each ap-
parently at his very best endeavor, while maintaining the
bloodiest bird battle I ever witnessed. The mystery was,
where the notes found a vent through bills occupied with the
gore and feathers of such conflict, or where such savagery
could reach its foe through beaks so exquisitely freighted
with melody! Although, unavoidably cognizant of my proxi-
mity they entirely ignored my presence, and continued the
battle in a heterogeneous melee, surging, backward, forward,
upward, downward, once directly through a leafless oak bush
of considerable size down onto the ground, and up again,
never for a single moiety of a moment relaxing or diminish-
ing their mellifluous torrent of melody, until two dropped to
the ground absolutely exhausted, with their wings extended,
their mouths open, and panting as if life was ebbing away at
the very moment. The other three sought the nearest perch
upon some brush and a wood-pile, one of which alone con-
tinued his perfectly maintained song. Daring this Balaklavian
charge of the feathered cavaliers, I glanced at the familiar
female, who, without seeming to entertain the least concern
about the ambitious singing, or the grand result, was pruning
her feathers, in the calm, composed deliberation of an ex-
emplary grandmother getting ready for church or prayer-
meeting.

In a few minutes, perhaps I should say moments (for one
does not measure time very accurately under such circumstan-
ces), the exhausted pair gathered themselves up and slipped
away out of sight amongst the bushes, while the two perchers
in silence flew nervously away in another direction.

All this time the victor held his solitary strain at its wildest
pitch, but instantly when the others had gone he ceased, and
bounded into the air, and away, over the tops of the bushes,
and the hitherto unconcerned coquette immediataly followed
him as if she had always been his devoted wife.

Lovelier blood, or bloodier love, I never witnessed, from
which I turned with some reflections which domestic prudence
suggests "are better left unsung."

342 NOTES ON THE

Throughout the breeding season constantly and until the fall
migration, occasionally the notes of the Rosebreasted Grosbeak
may be heard by the accustomed ear from the edges of the woods
or in the cool, shadowy thickets bordering the swamps. More
than once during the warm month of July, when quietly picking
my way through the dense forests and moist, cool shades, I have
been halted by the solitary song of this bird — soft, sweet, dis-
tant, pathetic — and at the last moment before resuming my
way, discover him not twenty feet away in the very act. He
saw me, and seemed to know he charmed me and therefore had
a sweet faith that I would not harm him — and I did not.

They do not build their careless and rather slovenly nests
until after the 25th of May and often considerably into June.
It is composed of considerably different materials in different
localities, but is losely formed of bits of vines, small sticks,
roots, straws, leaves, etc., outwardly, and inwardly of finer,
though similar materials, more closely and compactly disposed.
It is placed in a tree about five feet from the ground. The
number of eggs varies from three to five, but will scarcely
average four, so far as I have yet observed. They are pale
green and speckled with dull reddish-brown.

Although it is said that the male shares the duties of sitting
upon the eggs, I have never yet found one so occupied.

These birds devour immense numbers of insects, notwith-
standing they are seed eaters. They retire from the State
about the middle of September.

Mr. Washburn found them exceedingly common in the Red
river valley in the woodlands and at Dead Lake.

SPECIFIC CHARA-CTE^S.

Head and neck all round, and upper parts generally, glossy
black; a broad crescent across the upper part of the breast
extending narrowly down to the belly, axillaries and under
wing coverts, carmine; rest of under parts, rump and upper
tail coverts, middle wing coverts, spots on the tertiaries and
inner great wing coverts, basal half of primaries and secon-
daries and large patch on the ends of the inner webs of the
outer three tail feathers, pure white.

Length, 8.50; wing, 4.15.

Habitat, eastern United States and southern Canada west to
eastern border of Plains.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA 343

PAS8ERINA CYANEA (L.). (598.)
INDIGO BUNTING.

This beautifully plumaged bird has been observed in nearly
every locality I have visited within the State, and is reported
from many others as a regular summer resident, breeding in its
wonted places. It arrives with great uniformity the first
week in May in this latitude, and commences the building of its
nest usually in the third week. This is found more commonly
in thickets bordering or interspersing woods where briers and
brambles are abundant, and is built in the branches or
tangle from very near to three or four feet above the ground,
completely sheltered by the foliated canopy. It is formed
usually of leaves and coarse grasses exteriorly, and a good
supply of fine roots and fibrous barks constitute the bulk of it
interiorly, finished With some horse hairs. The eggs, five in
number are white, and annually two broods are raised. Mr
Lewis found its young as early as June 8th, in Pipestone, and
Dr. Hvoslef at Lanesboro as late as July 21st.

Its habits are usually more familiar to persons residing in
the rural districts than to professional experts whose ambition
for extended notes is liable to question whether it does not
incline to more extended travel. After all of my own desul-
tory observations through quite a long life, it has been no
uncommon experience to have a rural friend give me hints and
points on the habits of many species of our birds which sub-
sequent observations, thus directed, have proved of great
value. Yet, in common with all conscientious students of
bird-life, I have long since learned to accept nothing from
such sources until it was verified by personal observation,
except I qualify the record. Under such qualifications I will
say that one of the most critical observers of the characteris-
tics of birds, who resided for many years in one of the most
favored localities, told me that at considerable intervals he
had seen instances of the Indigo Bird's mounting, hovering
and warbling its humble notes for a few moments in the man-
ner of the Sky-lark. As I never witnessed such a demonstra-
tion or met with any record of it elsewhere, I leave it with
this bare mention.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Male, blue, tinged with ultramarine on the head, throat, and
middle of breast; elsewhere with verdigris-green. Lores, and

23 z

344 NOTES ON THE

anterior angle of chin, velvet-black. Wing feathers brown,
edged externally with dull bluish-brown.

Length, about 5.75; wing, nearly 3 inches.

Habitat, eastern United States to the Missouri.

SPIZA AMERICANA (Gmelin). (604.)
DICKCISSEL.

This bunting, so common in the country where I spent my
boyhood, eluded my observations for a good many years until
one morning in April a male presumably from a recent battle
with a rival, dashed into the fence very near me in a fearfully
excited condition in which he failed to recognize my presence,
thus giving me a coveted opportunity to see him in all his glory
before devoting him as a sacrifice to science. Encouraged by this,
I kept a sharp lookout for these birds, and enlisted the atten-
tion of several amateur collectors, who soon found they were
almost daily to be seen in a single restricted locality. The
following year, that spot was under constant scrutiny until
assured that not an individual had been seen in its vicinity up
to the 1st of June. But several miles from it a number of
them had been secured in another similarly situated locality.
It was found in both instances in the immediate vicinity of
plowed, and cultivated fields, but in dry, rich meadows bearing
a dense growth of wild grass, and a few shrubs, or bushes,
with an occasional, small- sized tree. A few only were flushed,
and only two or three shot, not wishing to drive them from a
locality presumably chosen to rear their young in. A few days
established the presumption when on the 23d of May their
mouths were observed to be occupied with straws. Although
repeated efforts were made to find the nests, only one was found
by a boy, who believed it was a Bluebird's, and only brought
away the eggs, four in number, that were barely addled. A sub-
sequent investigation established its identity, as that of the
Black-throat

The next two years following. I neither saw any of this
species, nor gathered any reports of it in the State, when on
the third year it reappeared in perhaps a little increased num-
bers but not in either of its former localities.

In the autumnal migrations Prof. C. L. Herrick reported
them "quite abundant" in the vicinity of Minneapolis. Mr,
John Roberts and several others mentioned seeing them in the
spring.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA 345

Dr. Hvoslef found them on "North Prairie, June 19th, 1883
setting on a newly plowed field. " The same gentleman met
them again on the 11th of May, 1884, at Lanesboro.

This species seems to be more capricious in its choice of lo-
calities from year to year, than any other of the fringilline
birds.

They arrive in spring about the middle of May, but vary the
time somewhat in different years. They are recognized by
their song.

Describing the songs of some species so as to convey a very
good idea to an attentive, enlisted person is quite possible, if
they are bold, and strongly characteristic, but with the Black-
throated Sparrow, as with many others equally unpretentious,
it is really a very difficult task. However, Dr. Coues has ap-
proximated it more nearly than any other in the words:
"Look! look! see me here! see!" repeated frequently in a
rather weak voice but quite spirited manner. His at-
titude almost perpendicular, wings and tail deflected, opened
bill pointing skyward, he throws his whole soul into an effort
worthy of higher results as he reveals his form against the
background of sky or cloud from the top of some bush, on the
tip of the tallest limb of a small sized tree. He is really a very
pretty if not quite beautiful bird.

The nest is variously located on the ground, in a tussock of
grass, on a bush, and sometimes in a tree five or six feet from
the ground, and consists of coarse grass externally, lined with
finer inside, and generally finished with horse-hair. The eggs,
four or five in number, like Lark Bunting's, so resemble those of
the Bluebirds that I cannot satisfactorily differentiate them.

They begin their southward movement very quietly about the
20th of September, although all are not gone before the second
or third week in October. At this time they are much aggre-
gated in number and are found commonly on the high prairies
I confess my inability to get as much melody out of this species
as does the Rev. Mr. Langille, or even as much ''chic-chic-chelac"
as does he, — I suspect that either his observations, or his de-
scription of the bird in northern Ohio, which he first saw and
heard "one evening at sunset," had been preceded by an excep-
tionally good cup of tea, for I have lent that warbler my best,
sharpest and longest ears, with no such return for their use.
Indeed, while blessed with a fairly available imagination when
listening to melody, I confess that even Dr. Cones' formulation
of "Look! look! see me here! see!" is a little straining to it.

346 NOTES ON THE

but neveitheless it is better than I could do myself, and so I
thankfully accept and appreciate it. I will do the former the
justice to say, however, that I regard him as entitled to the
palm in the description of the songs of many other species.

SPECIFIC CHAKACTERS.

Sides of head, sides and back of the neck, ash; crown tinged
with yellowish green, and faintly streaked with dusky. A su-
perciliary, and short maxillary line, middle of breast, axilla-
ries, and edge of the wing, yellow. Chin, loral region, spots
on the sides of the throat, belly and under tail coverts, white.
A patch on the throat diminishing to the breast, and a spot on
the upper part of the belly, black. Wing coverts chestnut;
inter- scapular region streaked with black; rest of back immac-
ulate.

Length, 6.70; wing, 3.50.

Habitat, eastern United States to the Rocky Mountains.

CALAMOSPIZA MELANOCORYS Stejneger. (605.)

LARK BUNTING.

This quite remarkable species, which in widely different re-
spects seems to resemble so many others, has long been known
to frequent portions of the State along the Red river, but has
only of late years been often met with in limited numbers in
the middle and southern counties. Like the Bobolink changing
its striking dress of spring and early summer, when the breed-
ing season is over, for the somber, plain plumage of the female,
it may easily escape identification afterwards in its autumnal
migrations. A male fell into my hands in May, 1877, taken in
the immediate vicinity, since which it has come under my no-
tice frequently in its strongly marked nuptial dress, but from
more southern localities generally.

Without positive proof I still believe that it is of much more
frequent occurrence in the interior and eastern sections of the
State than I am justified in now recording it. I have enough
reliable reports from &uch sections to show that it is not very
infrequently seen in those localities during the breeding season,
but no nests have yet been obtained. Dr. Hvoslef reports it
from Fillmore county as late as the 19th of June; also the 12th
of May; and Mr. P. Lewis, in several places between the last
named and Redwood, in all of which it is reasonable to suppose
it might be breeding, as the times of its observation included
the earlier part of July.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 847

I have spent considerable time in its favorite districts, many-
years ago. since which time I have anticipated its presence,
particularly in the southeastern prairies of Minnesota. The
nests were comparatively easy to find after the peculiar habit of
the male of singing while poised on his wings was carefully-
noted, for as a general thing this demonstration takes place
not very far from over where his listening little wife is attend-
ing to family duties. The nests were always found not far
away, if detected at all, and generally flush with the ground,
but in localities characterized by rank or bushy, sedgy growth,
it was sometimes found a little more elevated. It consists of
weeds and grasses, rather indifferently- constructed, with a
sparing supply of the same for the lining, but a little finer.
They have from four to five eggs that resemble those of the
Bluebird, as has been often observed, to such an extent that
they are almost indistinguishable.

The plumage of the male, as described in the Special Char-
acters of the species, is completely changed in the month
succeeding the breeding period, after which the hovering de-
monstrations and song are dispensed with, and from small
colonies of a few pairs, in one circumscribed locality, it soon
gathers into considerable flocks in those sections where it hab-
itually is most abundant. The song of the male is really much
that of the Yellow-breasted Chat, a musician with whose mel-
odies I became exceedingly familiar at Sacramento, California,
during a somewhat protracted visit there in the spring of 1869.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Entirely black; a broad band on the wing with the outer
edges of the quills and tail feathers, white. Bill rather large,
swollen at the base; commissure much angulated near the
base. Legs large and stout; claws strong, compressed, and
much curved. Wings long and pointed. Tail a little shorter
than the wings and slightly graduated, the feathers rather
narrow and obliquely oval-rounded at the end.

Length, 6.50; wing, 3.50; tail, 3.20; tarsus, 1.00; bill, 0.60.

Habitat — from Minnesota, plains of Dakota, west to the
Rocky Mountains.

348 NOTES ON THE

Family TANAGRID^.

PIRANGA ERYTHROMELAS Vieillot. (608.)
SCARLET TANAGER.

This is truly a wonderful bird. Its striking colors are with-
out a precedent in this latitude, and it is a marked exception
to the rule that the higher the colors the lower the measure of
the melody of the song, for it sings absolutely beautifully.

I have had the rare pleasure of listening to its strains under
circumstances most favorable to avoid accrediting the wrong
warbler. I am not a little surprised that so few writers men-
tion any other note but the "chip, churr-r-r" originally given
by Wilson I think. One or two have discovered a series of
modulations resembling the song of the Robin "only softer,
and less copious and fluent. " I also read of the performance
of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak "strongly resembling the finest
of the Robin's" but in the memory of the beautiful melodies
of the Scarlet Tanager, I have no comparison which
would not grossly mislead. The best approximation would
be the liquid sweetness and copiousness of the best efforts
of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, with scarcely any inflec-
tions or modulations belonging to the same class of song
as the Robin's. I never attempted more than a snatch of
the closing notes of the exquisite peroration of its melodious
undulations, which I can but faintly describe at the
best. Closing an effort which had been prolonged about as
long as the longest of the Grosbeak's, it seems most nearly to
resemble, to wit-to where-ic/ieedle, wheedle-wee-woo luit. The first
two notes with an upward, but gentle inflection, the next two
downward, the next two and two following with a slight roll
and the upward and downward marked in "wee-woo" by cor-
responding inflection and deflection ending with an abrupt
upward "wit."

Not an approximation towards an unmelodious note in the
whole strain, delivered with deliberation, and a restful com-
pleteness of volume. It has an undoubted right in the calendar
of the genuine song birds.

It arrives about May 10th usually, although much earlier in
extremely premature seasons. I have one good record for April
4th. I mention this because so very exceptional. Rev. Father
Gear, who was the earliest army chaplain ever stationed at Ft.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA 349

Snelling, (^situated at the junction of the Minnesota and Mis-
sissippi rivers,) was a very careful observer of the habits of
the birds, from whom I received much reliable information of
the habits of many of the more common birds in early times,
and I availed myself of his notes upon this species particularly.
He assured me that the Scarlet Tanager was never seen here
until some time after the then territory had been appropriated
by the white people. When first seen it was in the tall timber
which skirts the Mississippi, about the 15th of May, and back
in the "forties." It was not met again for several years, and
then more frequently until about 1850 it began to return regu-
larly, and with increasing numbers.

It has greatly increased in the time that I have been a resi-
dent, until at the present time it may be said to be abundant
for its species. They are to be looked for in brush land in
which are also considerable numbers of tall, forest trees, and
near water courses. In the absence of the water courses, it
will seek the vicinity of lakes or of swamps. The male pre-
cedes the female by about ten days, during which time it seems
to go outside of its summer range, in a sort of restless waiting,
and is then seen often about our shrubbery and ornamental
groves.

On the arrival of the mate, the favorite localities are at once
selected, and about the first week in June they construct a
nest of weeds, strips of bark, twigs, wool, etc. , which is lined
with fine roots and occasionally bits of tamarack twigs. It is
exceedingly loosely built, scarcely having firmness apparently
to answer its purpose. They lay three eggs generally, and
occasionally four, light green, spotted thickly with reddish-
brown. It is placed almost uniformly on a horizontal limb of
a sapling, or rather smaller tree, and about eight feet from the
ground, with now and then one much higher. I have never
known them to bring out more than one brood in a season.
They generally begin to move southward early in September,
and are usually all gone by the 15th of that month. They are
by no means uniformly distributed through the State, but
have increased their distribution with increase of population.
They will forage sometimes amongst the smaller fruits, and
hence are somewhat under the ban of the fruit-growers.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill somewhat straight, subconical, cylindrical, notched at
tip, shorter than head; culmen moderately curved, commissure
with a median acute lobe; wings elongated, the first four

350 NOTES ON THE

primaries about equal, second quill longest, first and third a
little shorter; tail moderate, slightly forked; general color,
bright carmine; wings and tail velvet black, the quills intern-
ally edged with white towards the base.

Length, 7.40; wing, 4; tail, 3.

Habitat, eastern United States, west to the Plains,

Family HIHUNDINID^.

PROGNE SFBIS (L.). (611.)
PURPLE MARTIN

When the long winters of Minnesota have gone so that the
snows have disappeared from the thickets and corners of the
fences, and tiny coleopterous insects begin to appear in the
air, even though still chilly, the Purple Martin may appear any
forenoon, approaching 12 o'clock. It usually does so in com-
pany with greater numbers of the White-bellied Swallows. In
1870 they both came on the 17th of April, and after skirmishing
vigorously about for an hour, and finding no food along the
river, departed as abruptly as they came. On the 22d they re-
turned in augmented numbers, and went no more away for the
season. They soon build their nests in various places, but
manifest a strong preference to have them near dwellings.
Their readiness to occupy boxes, artificial houses placed on
poles, on the eaves of out houses, is a matter of the commonest
observation, doubtless for no sentiment toward our species, but
because our habits and our habitations attract the larger quan-
tities of insects upon which they feed. Yet, like the Chimney
Swallows, they frequent the forests, and employ holes in old
dead trees in many places familiar to me. They habitually
enter the state at the southern. border early in April, as Dr.
Hvo&lef of Lanesboro has the 3d of that month in his record
for several years in succession. He also observed the circum-
stances of their disappearing again for a few days — once eleven
— and then invariably remaining upon their return. The nests
consist of fine straw, hay, dried leaves, and feathers which are
employed to line it. They lay four pure white eggs, that are
almost indistinguishable from those of the White-bellied Swal-
low. The first brood is brought out by the 10th of June and
another one late in July.

As a fighter, the courage of this bird has but one approxima-
tion, and tkat is in the Kingbird. Crows, ravens, hawks and

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 351

eagles are instantly put to flight by them, and in the words of
Wilson, "So well known is this to the lesser birds, that as soon
as they hear the Martin's voice engaged in fight, all is alarm
and consternation. To observe with what spirit and audacity
this bird dives and sweeps upon, and around the hawk, or the
eagle, is astonishing. He also bestows an occasional bastinad-
ing on the Kingbird, 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 value of the Purple Mar-
tin to the general, or the special agriculturist is so well under-
stood, and so universally accepted on account of their destructon
of noxious insects, that for an exception, no argument is needed
with that class of producers to defend it. It is nearly univer-
sally distributed over the State. It leaves the whole country
almost simultaneously between the 20th and 25th of August, in
company with the White-bellied Swallows. Years of record
show that they have left the vicinity of Minneapolis on either
the 23d or 24th of that month.

Note. Mr. Washburn when referring to this species in his
notes gathered on his second trip to the Red river valley says : —
' 'This species too, occurs about Mille Lacs, where the farmers
provide boxes for them. The great majority of them there,
however, nest with the Gulls on an island called Spirit island
by the Indians, lying about two miles from the southeastern
shore of Lake Mille Lacs. Here large numbers lay their eggs
in the sand, — in the crevices and fissures of the rocks, and
serve as allies in driving away the ravens and other birds dis-
posed to prey upon the eggs and young of the gulls. "

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill strong, short, gape very wide, sides gradually com-
pressed, culmen and lateral margins arched to tip, and the
latter inflected, nostrils basal, lateral, open, and rounded; tail
considerably forked; tarsi shorter than middle toe and claw,
and about equal to the toe alone; toes long, strong, lateral ones
equal; closed wings rather longer than the deeply forked tail;
tarsi and toes naked; color everywhere glossy steel-blue with
purple and violet reflections.

Length, 7.30; wing, 5.85; tail, 3.40.

Habitat, temperate North America.

PETROCHELIDON LUNIFRONS (Say). (612.)

CLIFF SWALLOW.

Nowhere that my personal observation has extended, has
this species of sparrow been more abundant from about the
first of May to the 20th of August, than in this northern land.

352 NOTES ON THE

It does not come quite as early, nor remain quite as long as
the Black-bellied Swallow, but is far more numerous, and
domestic.

Its habits are essentially the same as those of the Barn Swal-
low in flight as well as in feeding, but it builds a different nest,
both as to form and some of its elements. Its construction
consists of pellets of mud plastered onto the perpendicular
surface of rocks at considerable elevation from the ground, and
underneath jutting ledges, or beneath the eaves and cornices
of buildings, beginning upon a broad base which is uniformly
built out from the building, or cliff, far enough for a comfort-
able-sized cavity which is closed over except that a neck, curv-
ing a little downward, is extended somewhat, through which is
formed the entrance.

Into this inclosed cavity are carried a lining of fine grass,
and feathers. Five slightly pinkish -white eggs, spotted more
or less thickly with fine specks of reddish, brown and purplish,
are layed about the 20th of May — perhaps occasionally a little
earlier, but quite as likely a little later. Two and three broods
are reared in the season.

They are quite uniformly distributed throughout the state in
localities favoring them with breeding places. It has been said
that they sometimes burrow into banks to nest after the man-
ner of the Bank Swallows — (Clivicola riparia (Linn.).) — but
I do not credit the observation. The rapidity of their flight
precludes the urgency of incubation as a reason for their enter-
ing the burrows of the other species, so that unless strong
proof is adduced I must reject it.

They leave the country about the 20th of August.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 fuscus; belly white; a steel-
blue spot on the throat; rump, light chestnut; forehead brown-
ish-white; a pale nuchal band; tail slightly emarginate.

Length, 5; wing. 4.40; tail, 2.20.

Habitat, North America at large.

CHELIDON ERVTHROGASTER (Bodd^rt.) (613.)
BARN SWALLOW.

This is undoubtedly the most abundant species of the whole
family of the swallows throughout the State, arriving in small
parties about the 25th of April, and building its nests about

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA 353

the 15th of May. Its presence is easily noted, as the tail is ex-
tremely forked, and it seeks the inside of barns and other out-
houses to build its nest on the rafters and beams. Failing to
find its favorite place to build, it will accept a place under the
eaves like the Cliff Swallow, or not obtaining this, will go to
the woods, and there select a hollow stub or tree so widely
open that little else but the shell of the dry sappy part remains
and will occupy it with ten to twenty or more nests. This out
wardly, consists of mud brought in pellets and plastered to-
gether with the saliva of the bird, into which is mixed a desir-
able quantity of fine hay. When it has assumed the right pro
portions it is lined with fine grass, covered over which are loosely
disposed feathers. It lays from four to five white eggs bear-
ing a tint of fleshy roseate color, with fine dottings of two
shades of brown, and reddish purple. Three broods are reared
in a season oftentimes, but more frequently only two. In the
early autumn they gather into flocks of considerable size,
though not as large as in some other sections reported, and
after staying a few days about the unfrequented streams and
large marshes, disappear so suddenly that it is little wonder
that our not very remote ancestors were led to believe that
they hibernated in the marshes and swamps. In a country con
sisting of so much treeless territory, it would not be expected
to find the Barn Swallow universally distributed, but nowhere
has it failed to be found where conditions favoring its incubat-
ing habits have existed, or been subsequently developed . On
the broad plains of the Red river valley, where barns are still
the exceptions, I have found them in great numbers about a
single out-house oftentimes.

In common with all of the social swallows, they are every-
where welcomed by the agriculturists, as their feeding habits
do not levy upon the productions of man.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail 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 chest-
nut; rest of lower part reddish-white, not conspicuously differ
ent; a steel blue collar on the upper part of the breast, inter-
rupted in the middle; tail feathers with a white spot near the
middle on the inner web.

Length, 6.90; wing, 5; tail, 4.50.

Habitat, North America.

354 NOTES OT^ THE

TACHYCINETA BICOLOR (Vieillot). (614.)
TREE SWALLOW.

This bird loses no time in making its northern migrations as
early as there is to be found an appropriate supply of food. It
is looked for with so much interest by the poet as well as the
naturalist, that its arrival could not long escape notice. Quite
early in April, when the sun has driven away the cheerless
clouds enough to let his rays begin to warm the recently frozen
earth a little, and clusters of tiny forms of insect life begin to
occupy the air, the White-bellied Swallows, often accompanied
by the Purple Martins appear suddenly upon the scene, in lim-
ited numbers, as avaunt couriers of the hosts to come when the
question of food supply has been assured. Sometimes, after a
few hours spent here, as described in connection with the
Purple Martins they leave as suddenly and as completely as
they came, and are not seen for five, ten, or even fifteen days,
if the season remains exceptionally backward, yet there have
been years when all of the conditions referred to being contin-
uously unfavorable, they have come early and remained. The
time of average arrival may be set down at about the I2th of
April in the southern part of the State, not much time there-
after passing before reaching all parts.

In 1884 they were not in the more southern tier of counties
till the 27th of April, while in 1875, according to my notes, they
arrived in the latitude of Minneapolis by the 8th, and in 1886
on the 7th.

They build their nests about the 15th of May, in holes in
trees, or occasionally in the deserted nests of the Barn Swal-
lows, or in a hole of a log or stump. The materials involved in
its structure are usually dried fine grasses and feathers, very
loosely disposed in the cavity occupied. They lay five eggs, and
bring out two broods of young. The eggs are clear, roseate
white.

They retire from the State exceptionally early, not even
waiting for the first frost. They are usually gone by the 25th
of August. In 1870 Mr. W. L. Tiffany, a very competent ob-
server, reported them clean gone, with the Purple Martins on
the 23d of that month.

Their departure on that occasion, was noticed by many ob
servers of the habits of the birds, as there was an unusual
demonstration of preparation by both species for many hours
before the final movement took place. The variation of the

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 355

nesting habits of this beautiful swallow which has been noticed
so much of late years, I believe to have been associated with
its entire history, and is abundantly verified here.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Glossy metallic green above; entirely white beneath; nos-
trils basal, small, oblong, and covered by a membrane; tail
emarginate; tarsus naked and shorter than the middle toe, and
scutellate.

Length, 6.25; wing, 5; tail, 2.65.

Habitat, North America at large.

CLIVICOLi RIPARIA (L.). (616.)
BANK SWALLOW.

This smallest of the swallows, which avoids all intercourse
with man, seeking its breeding places in the neighborhood of
streams and lakes, often quite inaccessible, would be a hard
species to watch as to the times of their arrival and departure
but for the circumstance of their spending their nights in their
holes in the banks where they breed. When new holes have to
be excavated, it is done very rapidly, so as to provide a place
for the first night's lodging. An early visit to the vicinity of
the banks will determine their arrival. A single locality may
be occupied by only a few birds, but many places within a short
distance of each other are occupied by hundreds, if not thou-
sands. The supply of food must in some measure determine
that, although the possibilities of their wings may meet most
emergencies of that kind.

They reach the greater part of the State by the 5th of May as
a general thing, and at once enter upon their nidification. The
nest is usually at the end of a hole about half a yard in length,
and consists of a cavity of sufiicient dimensions to receive an
ample quantity of dried grasses, hay, feathers and down of
different kinds. Sometimes the nest is much further in the
bank.

They deposit four or five pure white eggs, and bring out two
broods in due time for the last to be ready for the southern
migration by the 25th of August.

Its nidification habits doubtless restrict its numbers in certain
districts, but it is an abundant species. I have not failed to
find it in every important section seen or heard from.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Smallest American swallow. Tail slightly emarginate, outer
web of first primary soft, without hooks; lower part of tarsus

356 NOTES ON THE

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, 4.75; wing, 4; tail, 2.

Habitat, Northern Hemisphere.

STELGIDOPTERIX SERRIPENNIS (Audubon). (617 )
ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW.

This swallow arrives about the same time of the arrival of
the Bank Swallow, and is no less common in some sections
breeding in different localities, but more generally in banks

I am less familiar with its habits or history than with most
of the other species of its family. Dr. Hvoslef reports it "one
of our very common swallows" arriving at Lanesboro,
April 19, (1884). I have never seen the nest in situ, but the
eggs are by no means rare amongst our O'Uogists. They are
said to be 4 or 5 in number, and white. They leave the State
quite as early as any of the swallows, I think.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail slightly emarginate; first primary with the pennulae of
the outer web much stiffened, with their free extremities recur
ved into a hook very appreciable to the touch. Above rather
light sooty-brown, beneath whitish-gray or light brown-ash,
becoming nearly pure white in the middle of the belly, and on
the under tail coverts.

Length, 4.50; wing, 4.30; tail, 2.25.

Habitat, United States at large.

Family AMPELID^.

AHPELIS GARRl LUS (L ). (618.)
BOHEMIAN WAXWING.

The Bohemian Waxwing is one of our winter visitants, arriv
ing variously from the first of December to the 20th of that
month.

The closest observation locally, and a wide correspondence
extending over the State has failed to note their presence for
several winters in succession occasionally, yet they may be put
down as rather an abundant species during a portion of the
winter and long into spring. They are in flocks of from 20 to
50 or even more, and are often most numerous in spring when
they have entirely escaped observation in the autumn or early
winter.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 357

The general texture of the feathers of this species, (and its
near relative, the Cedar Bird) so remarkably different from that
of nearly all other species, gives it a beautiful, rich, and soft
plumage which must be seen to be fully appreciated.

No close observer of the individual characteristicts of the
birds, ever fails to be peculiarly impressed by it, and so strik-
ing is it that nearly everybody wants a specimen for mounting,
which has led to the decimation of the species, and would most
naturally lead to its extermination, or to driving it to other
lines of migration, but for the irregularities of its migrations
already alluded to. It has grown shy, but less so than we
would naturally expect. While closely resembling the Cedar
Bird in its quaker-drab general coloration, and a prominent
crest which it elevates at will, it is appreciably larger, a little
darker, and has some white on the wings, besides dark-red, or
iron-rust under tail coverts which constitute a striking distinc-
tion from the white of the other species. The two species
some time become mixed together in the same flock in early
spring.

Their food consists chiefly of berries and wild grapes in win-
ter, but as the spring awakens the insect world, they become
decidedly insectivorous, catching winged forms after tlie most
approved methods of the true fly-catchers.

They remain until the latter part of April in this latitude,
and have all left the State for more northern regions by the
1st of May. I know nothing of their breeding habits, but trust
they are more songful then, for they have no approach to
melody while with us.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

High crested; general color brownish- ash with a faint shade
of reddish, especially anteriorly; the forehead, sides of head
and under tail coverts brownish- orange; hinder parts purer
ash; region about vent white; primaries and tail feathers plum-
beous black, especially towards the tips; tail with a terminal
band of yellow; a narrow frontal line passing backward, involv-
ing 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, 7.40; wing, 4.50; tail. 3.

Habitat, northern parts of Northern Hemisphere.

358 NOTES ON THE

AMPELIS CEDROKUM (Vieillot). (619.)
CEDAR WAX WING.

Without a note of song, uttering only an oftrepeated twee,
tw^e, and with a palate for cherries in particular that reaches
into the pocket of the fruit-culturist, this beautiful bird has
friends but few. I had long been under the influence of the
popular prejudice towards this bird, when one day a country
woman brought a young, but nearly fullgrown specimen to me,
and I bought it. The soft delicate drab mantle and reddish-
olive head with its expressive crest were irresistible, and I took
it with a mental resolve to give it full liberty when the time
came for the autumnal migration. On releasing it in the dining-
room it flew to a bracket in the sitting-room directly over a
mantel on which a clock stood. Prom that time that ever re
mained his perch. His confidence in the entire membership of
the family was manifest from the first, and he spent his time in
clearing the house of flies and spiders, except what was devoted
to bathing and pruning his plumage, or taking a bit of accept
ble food off from my own plate, or preferably from my lips
while perching upon my left shoulder. A small quantity satis
fied him, when he would return to his bracket and dress his bill
until the last particle of adhering food was removed, when he
would invariably relight on my shoulder, from which he would
hop onto the rim of my glass of water, and after taking what
he desired, returned to his perch, where he remained quietly
until our meal was finished. Afterwards his search for spiders
and flies was resumed, in the pursuit for which he availed him-
self of any open door leading to cellar or garret, or out and
under the piazza. All the care required was to lay a piece of
paper on the mantel under his perch, and leave some water in
a dish to supply him with drink when the family were absent.
Several distinguished ornithologists dined with me at different
times, and were greatly pleased as well as surprised at his per-
formances. He never showed the slightest desire to migrate
in autumn. Unfortunately, one Sabbath the supply of water
was forgotten, and a tall pitcher half filled was left standing
upon the table, to which doubtless, he resorted, and slipped in
without the power to get out, and was there drowned most in -
gloriously. Notwithstanding his penchant for berries and
cherries, he abundantly proved to me that his species is worth
more to the pomologist than almost any other in the destruc-
tion of worms, larvae and insects of nearly ail kinds.

BIRDS OP MINNESOTA. 359

Mr. p. L. Washburn, whose observations in the Red river
valley have been of great value to me. says: "About the mid-
dle of August there is present, flying over the sloughs and
ponds, (in the region of the Thief river, &c). a small gauze- like,
transparent, white fly. a species of coleoptera, of which the
Cedar Bird is apparently very fond. For almost half an hour
I watched six of these birds, constantly on the wing, hovering
over a slough and catching quantities of these insects. They
seemed never to grow tired, but flew slowly against the wind,
deviating now a little to this side, now to that, until they reached
the end of the slough, when back they came to repeat the same
maneuvre and go ovjer the same ground again and again. Oc-
casionally they uttered the characteristic note of the species,
but for the most part flew silently. During the time I stood
watching them they did not once rest. These birds are also
partial to the black currants which are found in the woods at
this season."

They arrive in considerable flocks about the 1st of April,
some years a month earlier in the lower counties, and not very
infrequently two weeks later than the average date first men-
tioned. Occasions are not wanting where a few individuals
have lingered all winter. Soon after the 1st of May the larger
flocks are subdivided, until only pairs remain together, and
they build their nests on a horizontal limb of different species
of trees in the pasture, about the house or in the timber. It
consists of stalks of weeds, strips of bark, leaves, grass, fine
roots, etc. Deeply hollowed, it is lined with fine grass, roots
and horse hairs. They usually lay five light bluish eggs with
a shade of purple or brown, and marked somewhat with black
spots and obscure spots of brown. They raise two broods.

I have found them in considerable numbers as late as the
16th of December, but they usually leave this latitude by the
1st of November in considerable parties, skirting the timber
belts in the direction they take. No bird without a song
should be more welcome to the general or special agriculturist
than the beautiful Cedar Bird.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head crested; general color reddish-olive, passing on the
neck, head and breast, into purplish-cinnamon, posteriorly on
the upper parts, into ash, and on the lower into yellow; under
tail coverts white; chin dark sooty-black, fading ins ensibly
into the ground color on the throat; forehead, loral region,
space below the eye and a line above it, intense black; quills

24 z

360 NOTES ON THE

and tail dark plumbeous, passing behind into dusky; tail
tipped with yellow; 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, 7.25; wing, 4.05; tail, 2.60.

Habitat, North America generally.

Family LANIID^.

LANIUS BOREALIS Vieillot. (621.)
NORTHERN SHRIKE.

This is by no means a very common visitor in migration,
reaching Minnesota about the middle of October, and remain-
ing variously in the latitude of Minneapolis from four to six
weeks, but not very infrequently far into December. It occa-
sionally remains during the entire winter in the lower or
southern tier of counties, as has been reliably reported to me
by Dr. Hvoslef. He has sent me the following data of its
observation in his locality: — March 26th and December 31st,
1883; December 7th, 1884; January 31st, 1885; February 3d,
1886.

Prof. C. L. Herrick found them "very common at Lake
Shatek in October, 1877." December 18th, 1870, and April
5th, 1876, are the two extremes in my own records of 29 years.
Mr. Washburn did not see this species in the northern part of
the State. At the latest above date of my own observations,
I saw one feeding upon a mouse which he fixed in the crotch
of a tree upon which he perched.

In hunting for mice it hovers in the same manner as the
Sparrow Hawk does, but I have never seen it in the act of im-
paling its victim on a thorn bush or a sliver projecting from a
stub or fence rail, as I have seen the White-Rumped Shrike do
many times.

They have all gone further north before the 1st of May, so
far as I have been able to learn. They have become less and
less observed in the settled sections of the State from year to
year of late, as with several other species which were formerly
common.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Above, light bluish-ash, obscurely soiled with reddish -brown;
sides of the crown, scapulars, and upper tail coverts, hoary
white; beneath white; the breast with traverse lines; wings

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 361

and tail black, former with a white patch at base of primaries
and tips of small quills, the lateral feathers of which are
tipped with white; bill blackish-brown, considerably lighter at
the base; black stripe from the bill through and behind the
eye, beneath the latter interrupted by a whitish-crescent.

Length, 9.85; wing, 4.50; tail, 4.80; its graduation, 0.90.

Habitat, northern North America.

LANIES LUDOVICIANUS EXCUBITORIDES (Swainson).

(622a.)

WHITE-RUMPED SHRIKE.

The White-Rumped Shrike is a very common summer resi-
dent of the State, reaching this latitude about the 1st of April.
It is occasionally seen still earlier when the season opens early
enough to afford it the proper food. Mr. Washburn found it
at Otter Tail lake "common late in October," and said by the
people living in the vicinity, to remain all winter. While this
may be to an exceptional extent true, for it is certainly so in
respect to a number of species, I am confident it cannot be so
as a rule with the White-Rumped Shrike. Prof. Herrick
found it abundant for its species, as late as October 18th, at
Lake Shatek. I am inclined to think that considerable num-
bers spend the winter in southern Iowa and northern Missouri.
Wherever trees have been planted along the highways of the
prairies that have formed top enough to conceal the nest, the
observer may count safely upon finding it.

In sections where there is timber enough to give this bird
its choice, the nest will usually be found in a rather small tree
standing a little way into a pasture field, if not in the one that
is the sole representative of the field. I have never met either
bird or nest in the forest proper. It is constructed of sticks
interlaced with shreds of bark, coarse weeds, fibers of wood,
roots, grass, strings, wool and a fair supply of feathers. It is
a rude, bulky structure, but, well lined with feathers, serves
its purpose perfectly in bringing out the early brood, for
which five or six eggs are laid about the 25th of April. They
are of a dull, white color, spotted with varying shades of
brown. Two broods are reared. Their principal food consists
of beetles, but includes also various insects, and not infre
quently mice and small birds. Not specially attractive in re-
pose, it will instantly arrest the observer's attention when it
flies, for then are revealed the remarkable" contrasts of its
blueish ash, black and white colors, in a manner entirely its

362 NOTES ON THE

own. Once identified, it is never again forgotten. As has
already been intimated, they only leave us in late October and
early November, individuals occasionally much later, when the
severest frosts are materially delayed. The flight of this bird
is quite characteristic. Sitting quietly upon a coiispicuous
post or stake of a fence, or in the top of a small tree, he drops
down to within half a yard of the ground, and with a strong,
even flight, follows the fence, where there is one, some little
distance, as if destined to light on the grass, when he suddenly
rises and perches upon another similar place, where he will
remain almost motionless until another impulse sends him
back to the first position in which we found him.

The only note I have ever heard him utter was "peemp,
peemp," in a rather subdued manner. The food of this species
is mostly grasshoppers and beetles, considerable of which is
often impaled oa thorns, or slivers in the fence. It will often
seize mice, if small or quite young, and will take the young or
the eggs of other species of birds, if not vigorously defended.
They seem to remain in families in their autumnal movements,
but recurn in spring in pairs, so far as I have observed them.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Above, rather light, pure blueish ash. Forehead, sides of
crown, scapulars and upper tail coverts, hoary whitish; be-
neath, plain whitish; 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, extending
broadly at the base. Bill throughout, pitch black; a contin-
uous black stripe from the bill through and behind the eye.

Length, 8.75; wing. 3.95; tail, 4.35.

Habitat, United States, except the South.

Family YIREOXID^.

YIREO OLIVACET 8 (L ). (624.)
RED-EYED VIREO.

No one interested in bird life, and fond of the quiet groves
of lofty forest trees in spring and summer, can fail to appre-
ciate this abundant summer resident of the woods of Minnesota.
His song is almost unceasing from the dawn of day until the
groves are drowsy with the last gloamings of twilight.

For many years I have had a cottage on the shores of Lake
Minnetonka, (now famous as a resort, fourteen miles distant
from this city) beautifully enveloped in primeval woods of oak.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 363

ash. maple, ironwood and basswood, where the birds abound
as almost nowhere else in the country. Duriag the latter part of
May, the Red -Eyed Vireos invariably have vied with the Robins
in opening the daily bird-concert from half-past four o'clock,
gradually earlier and earlier, until in the latter part of June it
was no more than half-past three o'clock when these two song-
sters poured forth their fullest measures. By eight, in the
warmer days, the Robin would have retired from the concert,
but with only the briefest intervals, the Vireo would keep up
an even, clear, strong and sweetly monotonous song, which
seemed a mere incident of his existence, costing the songster
little effort, and a delight, though it were everlasting. There
is comparatively little variety in the notes, but they are the
very expression of cheerfulness and entire satisfaction. They
are described best by the words — vireo-vireo-virieevir-'a-viree,
uttered energetically, but without any appearance of hurry.

They reach their summer destination about the first of May,
some times a little later, and at once enter upon their singing.
Concealed by the leaves of the lofty trees, he flits amongst the
more elevated branches where the casual observer will scarcely
see him, but he will hear him beyond a question. They build
their nests from about the 25th of May to the 10th of June. I
have frequently found them no more than three feet from the
ground, suspended from the horizontal forks of a limb of the
size of my finger, and I have still oftener met with it from ten
to twenty feet above my head, but never very much more ele-
vated. Always typically pensile, it is outwardly composed of
fine strips of inner bark of the slippery elm, and basswood of
the previous year, and therefore bleached nearly white, with
which are mirgled fragments of hornets' or wasps' nests, vege-
table down, etc.; and inside with fine thread-like roots and
shreds of fine bark. The eggs are a glossy white, slightly
speckled on the larger end with dark brown. Occasionally
there are a few blotches scattered over the same part, of a
brickdust red. They are generally four in number, yet not in-
frequently^ there are only three. They are abundant in every
wooded section of the State which I have visited, and are fre-
quentl}^ found about the elms and other shade trees of the city
and farm houses. They mostly leave us in September, although
a few individuals remain still later.

Mr. Washburn found it in August, and early in September,
in the Red river valley — "the most abundant of its family."

Every correspondent of mine has reported its presence in
timbered sections.

364 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Second and third quills about equal and longest; first a little
shorter than fourth, but considerably longer than fifth; back,
rump, 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, 6.50; wing, 3.50; tail, 2.

Habitat, eastern North America.

VIREO PHILADELPHICIS (Cassin) (626)
PHILADELPHIA VIREO.

I had observed the vireos in this section for many years be-
fore I had the opportunity to see this one, when on the 18th of
May, 1876, Mr. T. S. Roberts obtained one in the immediate
vicinity of the city, to which he called my attention. It was
an excellent specimen of the male in good plumage. Since
then many have been collected not only in this immediate vi-
cinity, but most parts of the State; observed in the season of
migration from Fillmore county, where Dr. Hvoslef obtained it,
to Clay county, on the Red river, where Mr. Lewis found it
common, but obtained no nests. That it breeds throughout
the State I have little doubt, especially along the Red river
where it has been most commonly met. It retires from the
State early in September.

Its general habits are so much like F. gilvus that it is next
to impossible to distinguish them by their appearance until in
the hand, but when their note is heard the identity is no longer
doubtful. Its song has been represented to greatly resemble
that of V. olivaceus and I may have heard it when I attributed
it to that bird, but if the latter is singing at the same time,
there is no difficulty in distinguishing this one.

specific characters.

Without any spurious primary; second and third quills
longest; fourth a little shorter; first about .20 of an inch
shorter than second, and about equal to fifth. Above dark
olive-green, slightly inclining to ashy on the crown; beneath
pale sulphur-yellow, brightest on the throat and breast. A
white line from the bill over the eye, and an obscure white spot
below it. A dusky line through and behind the eye from the
commissure.

Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.75; tail, 2.10; tarsus. .65.

Habitat, eastern North America to Hudson's Bay; south in
winter to Costa Rica.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 365

yiREO GILTUS (ViEiLLOT). (627.)
WARBLING VIREO.

Excepting the Red- eyed, this is the most abundantly repre-
sented species of the genus. It arrives about the 10th of May,
remaining until late in September, and occasionally October.

Its habits in common with the others of its genus, are such
that its presence might escape the attention of the casual ob-
server but for its beautiful warblings which there is no mistak-
ing for any other. It is emphatically the domestic representa-
tive of the vireos, notably preferring the poplars in which to
build its nest, and rear its young. Rather than occupy the
other common trees in the vicinity of dwellings, it will go to
the small groves and borders of the forest, but is almost never
found in the denser timber. It is not a whit behind the Red-
eyed Vireo as an insecticide, leaving nothing of the kind living
on the trees it specially inhabits and few anywhere very
near.

Its song is liquid, fluent, exhilarating, undulating, smooth
and melodious as a flute, and remarkably prolonged for a bird
of its size and genus. The nearest approximation to any de-
scription which I can conceive of is a fairly strong, sweet trill,
modulated into symmetrical undulations, with just interruptions
enough to keep the vocal cords always up to their best. It
sings while skipping from twig to twig amongst the topmost
branches of the tree in which its form remains essentially in-
visible while searching for its special food. The nest is sus-
pended in a very delicate manner from small horizontal twigs
where they unite with a larger perpendicular one, around which
fibres of bark are wound with much skill to amply secure it.
It consists of fine strips of bark and fibres of wood, dried grass,
vegetable down, shreds of larval cocoons and fragments of
wasp's nests, and is lined with fine bark. It is usually about
two inches in depth, but occasionally much more shallow. The
characteristics of the vireos are in nothing more marked than
in the slim, white eggs sparingly spotted with reddish-black
at the larger end. They are generally limited to five in num-
ber, and are laid about the first week in June. The nest is
placed usually well toward the top of the tree, however tall it
may be.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Third, fourth and fifth quills nearly equal; second and sixth
usually about equal, and about . 25 of an inch shorter than the
third; exposed portion of the spurious quill about one-fourth

366 NOTES ON THE

that of the third; above greenish-olive, the head and hind neck
ashy, the back slightly tinged witli 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 head
pale yellowish-brown; beneath white, tinged with very pale
yellow on the breast and sides; no light margins whatever on
the outer webs of the wings or the tail; the spurious primary
one-fourth the length of the second.

Length, 5.50; wing, 3; tail, 1.80.

Habitat, North America in general.

VIREO FLAYIFRONS (Vieillot). (628".)
YELLOW-THROATED VIREO.

Somewhat rare, the Yellow-throated Vireo is still regularly
a summer resident, breeding in its characteristic localities in
the forests of the middle and southern sections, and without
doubt as commonly in the northern. It arrives about May
10th, and builds its nest about the 20th in forks of small
branches some distance from the main trunk, and about twenty
feet from the ground. This does not differ from that of the
Red-eyed Vireo, being perhaps a little more artistic in its
external finish, and employing a little more material. Of the
general distribution of this species over the State I have been
able to learn comparatively little. Dr. Hvoslef has identified
him in Fillmore county; once as early as May 10th, and Mr.
Lewis, in Hennepin, a little later, and a few have been
obtained in the fall migration, early in September.

No writer has ever given the male any flattering credit for
his powers of song, indeed rather the opposite, but I must be
permitted a different view of his vesper song at least.

It was very near sunset, after a charming day, and I was
about to leave the field and return home with my basket well
filled with forms embracing several then new to me, when I
caught the notes of a new songster, and paused in the growing
shadows of the forest long enough to become enchanted by
them. Was it the evening song of some familiar species I had
failed to hear before, or had I been surprised by the revela-
tions of a new candidate for my vote of admiration? He
seemed entirely unconscious of my presence, indeed he was so
far above me that I would scarcely expect him to be otherwise,
and I therefore had all the opportunity I could desire to assure
myself that he was unquestionably the source of the melody
so new to me. My field glass enabled me to get an excellent
view of him. and after giving him everj^ moment I dared, lest

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 367

he might escape me, I asked him in "collector's dialect" to
come down, and he responded so quickly that his throat must
have been full of notes on his coming.

Any attempt to describe his song by letter, syllables or by
words would be idle, but it was a most exquisite, clear, liquid
utterance of a rather brief strain, often repeated, the very soul
of bird- song. Little pellets of sound transformed into a
mysterj'- of song. In every instance in which I have heard it,
I have more deeply regretted the impossibility of fixing it in
expressible characters. It is eminently a bird of the forest,
and so far as I have been able to ascertain, seldom if ever
sings except quite early in the morning, or very near sunset
at evening.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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
around the eye, sulphur yellow, lores dusky; rest of under
parts white; of upper ashy blue, tinged with green. Two
white bands on tiie wing; tertiaries edged with white, other
quills with greenish; outer tail feathers edged with yellowish
white; the outer web of first feather entirely of this color, ex-
cept near the end.
. Length, 6.00; wing. 3.20.

Habitat, eastern United States, south in winter to Costa
Rica.

YIREO SOLITAKirS (Wilson). (629.)

BLUE-HEADED VIREO.

Some years the Solitary Vireo is quite common in migration,
but there have been others when none were observed after the
most careful scrutiny of its favorite migratory haunts.

The first individual that ever fell under my notice was ob-
tained by Mr. George McMullen of Minneapolis, on the 11th
of May, 1876. Within five days following I met with many
and secured several skins. They remained but a short time
when they seemed to move further northward, yet I cannot
help thinking a few remained in the forests near by. or did not
go much farther northward to breed. I am led to this impres-
sion by their conjugal manners while under my observation.
They were far from shy or solitary in their habits, indeed were
exceptionally tame and unsuspicious. I have found them
usually in the tamarack groves near the streams or lakes,
and actively engaged in feeding. I know nothing of their

368 NOTES ON THE

distinctive habits in their summer abiding places. They are
said to be exceedingly solitary and retiring, building an
elegant, pensile nest hung about seven feet from the ground.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 upper parts
clear olive green. A white ring around the eye, interrupted
in the interior 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, green
ish white. Outer tail feather with its edge all round, including
the whole outer web, whitish.

Length, 5.50; wing. 2.40.

Habitat, eastern United States to the Plains. In winter,
south to Mexico and Guatemala.

VIREO N0VEB0RACEN8I8 (Gmelin). (631.)
WHITE-EYED VIREO.

Not an abundant species, arrives about the 25th of April
and remains until about the first of October. It is not often
seen, and only in low brush, along the borders of swamps,
where it builds its nest in June, of much the same material as
the other Vireos employ, hung by the edge to the forks of the
limb of a bush not far above the ground. The eggs are indis-
tinguishable from those of the Red-eyed Vireo, and are four or
five in number. The note has been fairly spelled into ''chip
che'weeo, chip, chip, che'iveeo^ so far as my own observation has
extended, but others have given startling descriptions of its
powers of song in other provinces which I have utterly failed
to obtain in this. Mr. Burroughs endows him with habits of
imitation only second to the Mocking Bird, and a "rari avis"
indeed on geaeral considerations. It certainly has not been
my fortune to witness such exhibitions of his "unique tones."
While rejecting the more enthusiastic claims for the melody of
its song, Langille is quite as emphatic over the variety and
says in his "Birds in their Haunts," pp. 254-56: "But in July or
August if you are on good terms with the sylvan deities, you may
listen to a far more rare and artistic performance. Your first im-
pression will be that that cluster of azaleas, or that clump of
swamp huckleberry, conceals three or four different songsters.
each vying with the others to lead the chorus. Such a medley of
notes, snatched from half the songsters of the field and forest.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 369

and uttered with the utmost clearness and rapidity, I am sure
you cannot hear short of the haunts of the genuine Mocking
Bird. If not fully and accurately represented, there are at
least suggested the notes of the Robin, Wren, Catbird, High-
hole, Goldfinch and Song-sparrow."

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 to the bill, green-
ish-yellow, interrupted by a dusky spot from the anterior
can thus to the base of the gape; beneath white; sides of 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, 5; wing, 2.50.

Habitat, eastern United States, west of the Rocky mountains.

YIREO BELLII (Audubon). (633.)
BELL'S VIREO,

I cannot quite understand how a bird which has been fairly
common for many years now, could have escaped my collecting
basket so effectually for nearly ten years after I became a resi-
dent here, yet so it did; but I have in late years found them
relatively common during the seasons when the other members
of the genus were. They arrive about the 10th of May, and
build their nests from the 25th to the 30th of that month in low
bushes in the woodlands. The \icinities of our beautiful, syl-
van lakes are favorite breeding localities. The nest is much
like that of the other vireos, pensile and extremely well built,
of strips of bark by which it is secured in the forks of a hori-
zontal limb, and further composed of caterpillars' silk, wasps'
nests, spiders' nests, with bits of bark from milkweeds, &c. , &c.
The structure is basket-form, very firmly woven, embracing in
its materials, bits of almost any pliable substances, and is lined
with grass, fine strips of grape ^^ne, and bits of leaves. AVhite
birch, which abounds about our lakes, is very often prominent.
The eggs are pure white, slightly spotted with specks of brown-
ish-black, mostly at the larger end, and four in number. No
bird of song is habitually more hidden in its habits of conceal-
ment amongst low brush.

The song is not obtrusive like the Red-eyed, but is sweet and
very plaintive while far from languid in the earnestness of its
delivery. They are not an overly shy bird by any means, for

370 NOTES ON THE

I have known them to rear their brood within twenty yards of
a lake cottage and within a yard of a common pathway. The
early frosts hasten them away from our latitudes so unostenta-
tiously, that no one can tell just when they go. Mr. Chas. R.
Keyes and H. B. Williams, M. D., of Davenport. Iowa, report
this species common in that state. (Annotated Catalogue of
the Birds of Iowa, p. 39. )

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Olive-green above, tinged with ashy on the top and sides of
the head; a short line from the bill over the eye, and the region
around the lower eyelid, white; lores dusky; beneath yellowish-
white; sides of the body posteriorly, sulxihur-yellow; two faint
bars of whitish across the wing coverts; inner tertiaries edged
broadly with whitish; third quill longest, the rest successively
shorter except the second, which is a little shorter than the
seventh; spurious primary about two-lifths the second, and
more than one-third of the third.

Length. 4.25; wing, 2.25.

Habitat, middle United States.

Family MXIO TILTlD^i:.

MNIOTILTA VARIA (L.). (636.)
BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER.

The Black and White Warbler, or Creeper, as it has been so
long called, is an abundant species in migration, and is fairly
common in nidification in restricted localities. It reaches the
extreme southern limits of the State, in the last days of April*
and this locality by the 3d to the 5tli of May. A large island
in the Mississippi, in the centre of our city, has long been a
favorite resort of birds in migration, and specially so of this
beautiful species, which may be seen at such times as common
as Woodpeckers. After ten to twelve days, they move on
northward, but not without leaving at least a representation
behind, for the}'^ have not only been seen occasionally during
the summer, but the nest has been found. I have little doubt
that it will be found to be fairly common in its favorite haunts
during the breeding season when requisite observations have
been employed long enough to ascertain with certainty. Its
proclivities for the dark forests and shady ravines, and to
spend its time principally near the ground, renders its detec-
tion somewhat difficult to the hasty investigator, who will
scarcely be able to decide just where to look for its nest, as

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 371

descriptions vary extremely from on the ground near the root
of a decaying tree to a hole in a tree, or a niche in projecting
rocks, the drain of a house, and elevated all the way from the
first mentioned position, to several feet from the ground. Its
composition certainly does not vary so remarkably, for all
reports corroborate my own observation that it is formed of
coarse fibres of different barks and leaves, with grasses. My
specimen embraces little or no grass, but a few bits of thread
or strings. The note of this Warbler is very pleasing
although humble, and may be described as somewhat resembl-
ing the formulation — pits-ee, pits-ee, pits-ee, pits ee, rather mo-
notonously repeated, with brief interruptions while flitting from
the trunk or lower limbs of one tree to the roots of another.

They commence to build about the 15th of May, as indicated
by the nest obtained on the island alluded to, as observations
were maintained from the first, and bring out their brood in 13
days after the female takes finally to her nest. The eggs were
four in number, and of a creamy white, speckled irregularly
with fine dots of reddish- brown, thickest near the larger end.

They breed extensively in the forests bordering the northern
lakes, as Mr. Lewis and others have found. In common with
its family, it migrates southward very soon after the earlier
frosts. Breeds at Vermilion lake, St. Louis county. (Mr. U.
S. Grant's Report.)

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill with the upper mandible considerably decurved; the
lower one 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
maxillary stripe 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.

Length, 5; wing, 2.85; tail, 2.25.

Habitat, eastern United States to the Plains,

HELMINTHOPHILA PINUS (L.). (641.)

BLUE-WINGED WARBLER.
What this little warbler has denied it in the force, and
melody of its song, is made up to it in the beauty of its colors.
It is a thing of beauty and therefore "a joy forever." The
eye that having seen it in its freshness of vernal plumage,
does not feel a thrill of joy at its return after the long months

372 NOTES ON THE

of a northern winter have passed away, and permitted the
great bird-wave to roll over the resurrected land once more,
has no right to see, nor the soul to feel the joy of a thing of
beauty.

Notwithstanding this bird has been considered too southern
for the latitude, it is annually a Minnesota visitor, coming in
sufficient numbers to assure us that it has by no means reached
the most northern limits of its migration. About the 10th or
12th of May, it comes with the great bird-throng of the spring,
and remains in sufficient numbers for about ten days to make
the collection of several for the cabinet in the course of half a
day's hunt, a pretty sure thing to the experienced collector.

Although no nests have come under my own eye, nor have
any been reported to me as yet, I confidently believe it breeds
throughout the State as well as in the British possessions.
One individual was obtained about the 3d of September, in its
southern migration, and in mature plumage. Since writing
the above Mr. Treganowan writes: "I have the nest and eggs
of the Blue-winged Warbler, obtained May 22nd, (1877) in Big
Stone. It was on the ground in a cluster of hazel brush, in the
borders of a grove of forest trees. The locality was near a
dwelling, and the nest consisted of strips of bark from dead
poplars, and was lined with fine grasses quite artistically ad-
justed and interwoven. There were five white eggs spattered
with dirty brown, darker colored and more numerous at the
larger end."

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper parts and cheeks olive-green, brightest on the rump;
wings, tail and upper coverts in part, bluish-gray; an intensly
black patch from the blue-bla,ck bill to the eye, continued a
short distance behind it; crown, except behind, and the under
parts generally rich orange-yellow. Wing with two white bands;
two outer tail feathers, with most of the inner web, and third
one with a spot at the end, white.

Length, 4.50; wing, 2.40; tail, 2,10.

Habitate, eastern United States.

HELMINTHOPHILA CHRYSOPTERA (L.). (642.)
GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER,

So far as I have been able to ascertain, this Warbler is not
by any means common. Indeed I had lived here seventeen
years before I saw one, and that was collected by Mr. T. S.
Roberts of this city. Since then few springs have come and gone

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 373

without my meeting a few. If any breed here, I have failed to
learn the fact. Rumor amongst amateur ornithologists claims
that it has been seen in its autumnal migrations; but with warb-
lers on the wing in fall plumage, seeing is not always sufdcient
reason for believing. This very pretty species, is seen asso-
ciated with other warblers about the 10th of May. It has
been obtained late in August on its southern migration.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper parts uniform bluish-gray; 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 fore
part of breast, black; the external edge of the yellow crown
continuous 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; sides of body pale
ash color.

Length, 5; wing, 2.65; tail. 2.25.

Habitat, eastern United States.

HELMINTHOPHILA RFFICAPILLA (Wilson) (645.)
NASHVILLE WARBLER.

The Nashville Warbler is abundant in the spring migrations
from about the 8th to the 15th of May, after which very few
are seen until perhaps the 10th to the 15th of September, when
although less numerous, they may be said to be fairly common
for the season. A remarkable fact concerning this species, which
is also true of several others of its family, is that their num-
bers have steadily increased from year to year for at least two
decades. In the case of those birds whose habits associate
them with agriculture, a reason for their increase is at once
suggested in the development of the country, but that would
scarcely be applicable for the wood-warblers. This species
undoubtedly breeds here, as it is known to do so in the im-
mediate vicinity south of us, and in the section of the Kandi-
yohi lakes, it is met with so frequently during the summer as
to leave no question of its breeding there at least. A single
nest containing four white eggs was found by a little boy on
the ground, constructed mostly of dried grass, fine roots, and
lined with the finest bits of the same, to which were added a
few pine needles and a few horse hairs The outside was over
laid with green moss, and the whole well concealed in a bunch
of brush. The eggs were spattered over with reddish brown,
which formed a sort of ring around the larger end by their
multiplication there.

374 NOTES ON THE

I have never heard its notes under circumstances possible to
approximate it in a formula of syllables, but a gentleman per-
fectly competent to do so informs me that he cannot distinguish
the opening notes from these of a Black and White Warbler, but
it soon changes into one that suggests the syllables chip-ee,
ehip-ee, chip-ee, and kit-see, kit-see, kit-see, with the accent on the
last syllable, which is somewhat prolonged. I trust we shall
know more of the local history of this bird in the near future,
as the number of observers are increasing very rapidly.

Dr. Hvoslef met with them as early as April 29th in 1881,
and May 2d 1884. Mr. Washburn reports them common in the
Red river valley, in August 1885.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head and neck above, and on the sides, ashy-gray; the crown
with a patch of concealed dark brownish-orange, hidden by
ashy tips to the feathers; upper parts olive-green, brightest on
the rump; under parts generally, and the edges of the wing,
deep yellow; the anal region paler; sides tinged with olive; a
broad yellowish-white ring round the eye: lores yellowish; no
superciliary stripe; inner edges of the tail feathers margined
with dull white.

Length. 4.65; wing, 2.40; tail. 2.05.

Habitat, eastern North America to the Plains.

HELMINTHOPHILA CELATA (Say). (646)
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER.

This beautiful member of the Warbler family, arrives in the
regions where it comes under my personal observation annually
about the 5th of May. Its song is exceedingly delightful,
being for its race copious, varied, pianoforte, and considerably
prolonged. I can never forget the first time I heard it sing
from the topmost branch of one of the loftiest elms of the
dense, dark, deciduous forest on the quiet banks of Lake Har-
riet, now included within the ambitious limits of the corpora
tion of Minneapolis. The sun of a cloudless day in early May
was within an hour of its setting, when the song suddenly
burst forth in a strain of melody that floated down through
the leafy canopy upon the ear, like distillations of fragrance
upon the sense of smell. Intoxication only expresses the effect
upon the ear, "till pleasure, turning to pain" under the over-
whelming conviction that terrible as the sacrifice to sentiment
and song must inevitably be, the author of such celestial
melody must die in the interests of science. And in a great

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 375

deal less time than it takes to write one of these lines, the
beautiful, delightful warble lay at my feet. I hear that it has
been seen late in August by those who sought to know the bird
thoroughly. Mr. Grant did not meet with it at Vermilion lake,
but Mr. Lewis did, under circumstances which justify the pre-
sumption that it breeds there in company with so many of the
warblers.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Above olive green, rather brighter on the rump; beneath
entirely greenish yellow, except a little whitish about the vent;
the sides tinged with olivaceous; a concealed patch of brown-
ish-orange on the crown, hidden by the olivaceous tips to the
feathers; eyelids and an obscure superciliary line, yellowish,
and a dusky, obscure streak, through the eye.

Length, 4.70; wing, 2.25; tail, 2.

Habitat, eastern Korth America.

HELHINTHOPHILA PEREGRINA (Wilson). (647.)
TENNESSEE WARBLER.

Abundant in the season of its migration, the Tennessee
Warbler is a fairly represented summer resident, arriving
from the 5th to the 10th of May, and remaining until about the
second week in September. They build their nests in, or in
the vicinity of forests, on the ground, well concealed by brush
and dead leaves. It is composed entirely of fibrous strips of
bark outwardly, and of fine grasses interiorly. Five eggs,
more or less speckled with brown, especially about the larger
end, were found in a nest at Lake Minnetonka, June 5th, 1881.
They are a very nervous, active and energetic species, exceed-
ingly difficult to follow with the best eyes or a field-glass, flit-
ting constantly to and fro through the boughs in searching for
their food, keeping up a short chirp.

This has been accounted a somewhat northerly species, and
not without reason on account of the disproportionate number
seen during their migration, but I am satisfied it should not be
specialized as such. In the fall, and after the earlier frosts, it
is not a very uncommon thing to meet scattering parties of
them mingled with other species, making their way towards
the south. It is not abundant for its species, except during
migration when few other of the warblers are more so. At
St. Vincent, Mr. Washburn recorded it in the latter part of
July, 1885, as very frequently seen "in scrub willows and trees
bordering the Red river. " I get similar records from different

25 z

376 NOTES ON THE

representative sections of the province of my survey. I have
perfeonally met the bird but once during the summer months,
but that they breed within our borders extensively there can
be no doubt.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Top and sides of 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 feathers with a white spot along
the inner edge near the tip.

Length, 4.60; wing, 2.75; tail, 1.85.

Habitat, eastern North America.

COMPSOTHLYPIS AMERICANA (L.). (648.)
PARULA WARBLER.
This is a somewhat common summer resident, but so small
and unobtrusive that it eluded my notice for many years after
I became a resident of the state except in the season of migra-
tion, when a victim found its way into my collecting basket
very frequently. It arrives about the 10th of May in this lati-
tude, and builds its nest in the last days of that month. This
consists of a common form of lichen ingeniously woven into a
sort of ball, with the entrance generally on one side, but some-
times in the top. It is usually on the limbs of maples or iron-
woods about twenty to thirty feet from the ground, and contains
four white eggs, speckled with reddish-brown, especially around
the larger end. Notably this bird mostly avoids damp, dark,
swampy localities, and is found on high, dry, and even hilly
places in the forest. The song is humble, but linds a most
welcome place in the choristry of the woodlands. In the heat
of the day. at a time when a majority of the songsters have
ceased to sing, this humblest and smallest of all, begins with
its low, feeble note, which resembles, chetveech, cheweech, cheweech,
cheweech, repeating it several times with increasing force and
volume till it suddenly ceases, to be repeated presently again
in the same manner. As above suggested, the breeding habits
of this bird are easily overlooked, and, as a consequence, few
of those who have been collecting observations which are of
value to the survey, have been able to give any valuable addi-
tions to my knowledge of the local habits of this warbler. By
the 10th, and often the 5th, of September they have turned
their beautiful little blue and yellow backs upon oar latitudes
for the sunnier South,

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 377

I am credibly informed that the bird has been found nesting
in St. Louis county, a statement I am ready to believe from my
own knowledge of the habits of the species.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Above blue, the middle of the back with a patch of yellowish
green; beneath yellow anteriorly, white behind; a reddish
brown tinge across the breast; lores and space around 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.

Length, 4.75; wing, 2.35; tail, 1.90.

Habitat, eastern United States, west to the Plains.

DENDROICA TIGRINI (Gmelin). (650.)
CAPE MAY WARBLER.

This is another species of warbler that is occasionally seen
in its autumnal migration, and is quite common for a short
time, beginning about the 10th of May and sometimes nearly a
week earlier. With so many observations of its migrating
habits in this longitude, it is a matter of regret that my notes
include no discoveries of its nest up to the present time.

It was somewhat singular that it should have escaped my
notice so long as it did, and subsequently have been met with
so many times, but such has been the case with many other
species. It was first obtained in this locality — Minneapolis —
on the 15th of May, 1875, by T, S. Roberts, and in the follow-
ing year, May 11th, by several collectors. Correspondents
from widely severed portions of the State have reported the
Cape May Warbler in spring migrations. I have never obtained
the nest, but have found this warbler considerably further
south than Minneapolis during the month of June, and it has
been reported nearly as late in the spring at Lanesboro, thus
rendering it assured that they breed with us, notwithstanding
the fact that no nests have been discovered.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 streaked 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 also tinged with it; a black line from commissure through

378 NOTES ON THE

the eye 'and running into the chestnui 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, 5.25; wing, 2.85; tail, 2.15.

Habitat, eastern North America, north to Hudson Bay, west
to the Plains.

DENDROICA JISTIVA (Gmelin). (652.)
YELLOW WARBLER.

Not for its beautiful colors, for they are certainly unonsten-
tatious; not for its melodies, for they are not conspicuous in
the grand choristry of bird song; nor for its rariety, for its
numbers exceed any other species of the warblers, but after
the combination of all expressible reasons comes the inexpres-
sible one of its remarkable, inseparable association with the
return of full grown, voluptuous spring and summer embraced
in one living, throbbing resurrection. Until the unsympathetic,
desouled systematologists robbed it of its rightful heritage, it
bore the appropriate and expressive name Summer Warbler.
With this name were inseparably associated the fra-
grance of flowers, the earlier butterflies, the new born ver-
dure of forest and field, "the smiles and frowns of April show-
ers," with all their golden memories of childhood, youth, and
riper, rounder years. Yellow Warbler? How little it means.
Where is the ring of si)ring in it? It has nothing sweet nor
green in all of its ripened October sought significance.

Late in April this warbler comes amongst us as unheralded
as the gentle shower that patters on the roof at daybreak. By
the 12th to the IStli of May, they construct one of the most
artistic, and substantial nests known as belonging to the war-
blers. It is either placed in the forks of a bush, or so as to
embrace several small branches, about four or five feet above
the ground, and consists of bark from weeds, strips of the liber
of grapevines, with which the woods abound, into which are
ingeniously woven various materials, the special character of
which is determined by the immediate surroundings of the lo-
cality, embracing bits of wool, down from dead wood and
weedstalks, dry grass, and the long hairs from horses and cat-

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 379

tie from the pastures. The walls are exceedingly thick, being
bound firmly together with fine roots, dry grass, into which are
woven the catkins of different willow kinds of timber, and is
delicately lined with down of various kinds of vegetation. The
location may be in the garden, field, swamp, lawn, forest, or
orchard.

The eggs are greenish white, heavily spotted with brown
and lilac that occasionally spreads into splotches. The young
are often out of the nest by the twenty-fifth of June. I have
not yet decided that they do not rear the second brood occas-
ionally. They are common victims of the Cowbird's audacious
occupation of their nests with its own larger eggs, over which
the Yellow Warbler will sometimes build another, and second
story nest.

The distribution of this species in the State, is almost univer-
sal, except on the marshes and open prairies. Mr. Grant does
not list them for the three counties in which his observations
were made, but directly west of them in Cass, Becker and Clay
counties they are registered as common. A few only remain
later than early September, but isolated instances have occur-
red when they have lingered into October.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill, lead color; head, all around 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 body streaked with brownish
red; tail feathers bright yellow; outer webs and tips, with the
whole upper surfaces 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 witn yellow,
forming two bands on the wings.

Length, 5.25; wing, 2.65; tail, 2.25,

Habitat. North America at large.

DENDROICA C^RULESCENS (Gmelin.) (654.)

BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER.

On the 10th, 11th, or 12th of May, there comes a sort of
Wood-warbler wave, like an unseen tide setting in from the
sun, and not the invisible moon. It seems as if every branch
of lofty tree or brush, or shrub, was tremulous with flittings of
song-bird life half suppressed, half revealed, moving leisurely
toward the waiting northland. One catches a glimpse of some
ravishing form of varied colors to be instantly changed for an-

380 NOTES ON THE

other, till the individual is lost in the maze of ceaseless change.
He must clothe his heart in armor of remorseless steel, and
listening to no siren song of sentiment, see only forms, and
hear only the rapidly repeated roar of his own artillery until
his receptacle is filled with bloody sacrifices to the altar of sci-
ence, or the golden opportunities are gone for a whole year at
least. Amid the trophies of his unwelcome victories, that em-
brace seven- tenths of all the warblers, appears the beautiful
form and colors of the Black- throated Blue Warbler. If in his
zeal he has ceased his warfare for a moment's rest, while in the
field, he may have heard some preoccupied insect rubbing his
chitinous wings against his harder legs in insect melody, with-
out suspecting the author was a warbler of such proportions,
yet it was this same, and no other. Although but few have
been seen after the month of May has passed, enough have
been brought to basket to make it presumably certain that the
Black throated Blue Warbler breeds in Minnesota, notwith-
standing no nests have been secured. Its habits lead it to the
uplands of the forests, where it may be seen energetically flit-
ting from the very tip of one lofty tree to that of another close
at hand, occasionally dashing out after an insect on the wing,
after the manner of the fly -catchers, or descending quietly to
the lower portions of the trunk, industriously scanning every
crack and crevice in the bark in search of larvae and wingless
forms. Careful observations along the borders of forests in
early September will usually be rewarded by the sight of this
beautiful bird, in somewhat more sombre plumage. It is on its
way to the land where the frosts do not deprive it of its indis-
pensable supplies of insect food during our prolonged and
rigorous winter. Mr. Lewis found it fairly common at the
Vermilion lakes in June, but discovered no nests, as his stay
afforded little opportunity to search for them. From several
descriptions of the nests and eggs as found in other localities,
it seems that for the most joart the location chosen is quite
variable, some being "on the horizontal branch of a fir tree,
seven or eight feet from the ground," and others "about five
inches." Eggs four, white and spotted with brown

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Above uniform continuous grayish-blue, including the outer
edges of the quill and tail feathers; a narrow frontal line, en-
tire sides of head and neck, chin an i throat, lustrous black,
which color extends in abroad lateral stripe to the tail; rest of
under parts including the axillary region white; wings and

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 381

tail black above, the former with a conspicuous white patch
formed by the bases of all the primaries except the first; inner
webs of the secondaries and tertials with similar patches to
wards the base, and along the inner margin; all the tail feath-
ers except the innermost, with a white patch on the inner web
near the end

Length, 5.50; wing, 2.60; tail, 2.25.

Habitat, eastern North America to the Plains.

DENDROICA CORONATA (L.). (655.)
MYRTLE WARBLER.

During their migrations, either in spring or autumn, this is
by far the most numerous species of its family, arriving in the
southern sections of the State as early as the 5th of April, and
reaching Minneapolis and vicinity by the 15th. At first seen
often only in comparatively small parties, they soon increase
until they seem to be in loose hordes, in search of insects of
all kinds found on the trees, or in the air, for no genuine fly-
catcher can exceed them in taking insects on the wing.

Their movements are more dignified than those of the other
warblers, exhibiting little of the nervous manners character-
istic of the family, while tireless in their industry. They pass
us entirely by the middle of May, breeding still further to the
north.

Mr. Washburn found the young birds at Thief river, one of
the tributaries of Red Lake river in Polk county, in August,
and Mr. Lewis reports the younar common in Itasca and St.
Louis counties earlier in the season, from which there can be
no further doubt of its local nidification. The autumnal migra-
tion has fairly begun fronr the 15th to the 20th of September,
but it is not terminated until the first of November. Their
lines of movement, both before and after their breeding, are
somewhat restricted, and follow the course of the larger
streams and lakes bordered with timber. In the springs of my
earliest residence here, I was somewhat of a duck hunter, and
visited the principal localities in the vicinity of my residence
very frequently, where such game abounded. I think I met
with the present species several years the very day they first
came, and one of these was on the 31st of March, and another
the 2d day of April. On these occasions I was very much in-
terested to observe their feeding. They were not at all shy,
but would prosecute their explorations of every limb, branch,
twig, and dead leaf of the very tree under and behind which I

382 NOTES ON THE

was watching the movements of the ducks, thus affording me
the amplest opportunities for seeing them, some of them coming
within a yard of me at such times. Some of these flocks would
amount to more than two hundred, and the least one I ever un
dertook to estimate, was somewhat more than twenty. The
quantities of minute insects and larvae destroyed by this
species alone, must be something simply marvelous. Any
winged forms at this early season could scarcely escape them,
for while not so nervously active as some of the later warblers,
they were unerring in their fly-catcher-like seizure of them in
the air. Their movements whether climbing about for larvae
and insects, or flitting out after a winged form, are easy, grace-
ful, and always restful to witness, which is more than can be
said of most other warblers and fly-catchers.

Note. Since the most of the foregoing was written I have
found some nests of the Myrtle Warblers in the northern and
northwestern sections of the State, and more of the young, in
early August, leaving the question of their breeding within the
limits of the area of my inquiries at rest in my own mind. The
nest is in a small tree or large bush, about six or seven feet
from the ground, and the structure consists of fine roots,
grasses, stalks of weeds, and the fibrous bark of different kinds
of woods and coarse weeds, and is lined very neatly with fine
roots, hair and feathers. It is not quite as bulky as the nests
of some other warblers, but is very firm and well built. The
eggs are four in number, ashy white, dotted all over with two
shades of brown, darkest about the larger end. I cannot think
they bring out a second brood. The young of this species were
found by Mr. Washburn at the Thief river in August.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Above, blueish ash, streaked with black; under parts white;
forepart of breast and sides black, the feathers mostly edged
with white; crown, rump and sides of breast yellow; cheeks
and lores black; eyelids and a superciliary stripe, two bands
on the wing, and spots on the outer three tail feathers, white.

Length, 5.65; wing, 3; tail, 2.50.

Habitat, eastern North America.

DENDROICA MACULOSA (Gmelin). (657.)
MAGNOLIA WARBLER.

It has always been difficult to explain the circumstance of my
obtaining this species in 1869, on the 27th day of April, the
habit of the species being almost unexceptionally rather on the
other extreme of arrivals. It varies also extremely in the
numerical character of its migrations, some years being very

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 383

common, while in others it is very rare. I have no positive
assurance that it breeds within the State, yet from what I
know of the history of this bird, I cannot divest myself of the
expectation that before very long we shall find the nests. It
is occasionally seen in the last days of August or the first days
of September, associated with other species, apparently on its
way southward, from which I conclude the breeding localities
are not for removed. It has long been observed that the notes
of this species very strongly resemble those of the Chestnut-
sided Warbler {D. iiensylvanica {Linn.).) and my own observa-
tion accords with it, for I am not entirely sure that I have ever
been able to quite distinguish them, if I have really heard
those of this finely plumaged species. While with us for
about ten days (arriving commonly about the 10th or 12th of
May) they are not very difficult to distinguish by their plum-
age, and have received attention from many observers. Their
habits of feeding are very much like those of creepers follow
ing the trunks and lower branches of large trees to their
extremeties in search of insects and larv86. They invariably
visit Nicollet island, in the center of Minneapolis, in their
migrations, and as they are not at all timid, I have had re-
peated opportunities to observe them there for many years at
such times. Remarkably gentle, and quietly pre-occupied,
they take little notice of the presence of "interviewers," or
the impertinence of the police of science or sentiment. Their
busy satisfied manners, and soft utterances of their e-e-a-e-e-a, as
they trace their sinuous way up the trunk and out along the
sturdy limb, impress themselves indelibly upon the memory of
anyone interested in the life-history of birds. Their nest and
eggs have been best described by the great field ornithologist,
Mj'. C. J. Maynard, as follows: "It was placed on the 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, etc., and was lined with fine black roots,
the whole being a coarse structure for so dainty looking a
warbler. The eggs were more spherical than any other
warbler's I have ever seen. The ground color is a cream
white, blotched sparingly over with large spots of lilac and
umber."

Note. In one spring I recall the pleasure I had in frequent
interviews enjoyed with Mrs. Sara A. Hubbard of Chicago,
who was visiting her brother. Col. David Blalcely, then editor

384 NOTES ON THE

and proprietor of The Minneapolis Tribune, and residing on
the Island, so that her opportunities were supreme for the
observation of many species of the warblers at the full tide of
their emigration, not a possible moment of which was neg-
lected. This one in particular she watched for hours at a
time, glass in hand, sitting in the shade of the magnificent
maples, elms, and lofty oaks abounding there, and capturing
alike every note and gesture for her record, which she kindly
made as my own in our almost daily interviews about the
teeming birds. Her ear for the characteristic notes of species,
could never be excelled, and her powers of reproducing them
by imitation were not a whit behind the other. I had long
practiced writing them upon the musical staff, that I might to
a small extent at least, recall them after the singer had gone,
but when I listened to her, and realized my own deficiencies, I
abandoned all such attempts at once. Since those days she
has earned fame as a teacher of ornithology, having before
been known in its literature as a writer on The Hummingbirds
of the Americas. Why are there so few ladies of such culture
interested in the systematic study of this fascinating science.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill dark blui.sh 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 feather's 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 of all the 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 mar-
gining the black patch on the back behind, and on the sides
tinged with greenish; second and third quill longest, first
shorter than fourth; tail rounded, emarginate.

Length, 5; wing, 2.50; tail. 2.25.

Habitat, eastern North America to the base of the Rocky
mountains.

DENDROICA r^RULEA (Wilson). (658.)
CERULEAN WARBLER.

On the 19th of May, 1869, I obtained this warbler amongst
several others, since which time few seasons of their vernal
migration have passed without seeing them in rather limited
numbers. They come with the warbler wave from the 10th to

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 385

the 12th of May, and remain, or rather the species remains
represented, some twelve to fifteen days. In some respects it
is the counterpart of the last species described, one of which
is manifest in its habit of feeding almost exclusively in the
tops of the trees. I might enumerate others, but Langille has
described them so well that a quotation from his "Birds in
their Haunts," pages 25 and 26, serves me quite as well. He
says:— "I have had every opportunity of observing its habits;
and, as no writer has given it a full record, I bear it a special
accountability. It is a bird of the woods, everywhere asso-
ciated with the beautiful, tall forests of the northern counties
of western New York, sometimes found in the open woods of
pasture lands and quite partial to hardwood trees. In its
flittering motion in search of insect prey, and in the jerking
curves of its more prolonged flight, as also in structure, it is a
genuine wood warbler, and keeps for the most part to what
Thoreau calls 'the upper story' of its sylvan domain. Its
song, which is frequent and can be heard some distance, may
be imitated by the syllables rheet, rheet, rheet, rheet, ridi, idi-e-e-
e-ee, beginning with several soft, warbling notes and ending in
a rather prolonged but quite musical squeak. The latter
and more rapid part of the strain, which is given in the
upward slide, approaches an insect quality of tone, which is
more or less common to all blue warblers. This song is so
common here as to be a universal characteristic of our tall
forests. The bird is shy when startled from its nest, and has
the sharp, chirping alarm note of the family. The nest is
saddled on a horizontal limb of considerable size, some dis-
tance from the tree, and some forty or fifty feet from the
ground. Small and very neatly and compactly built, some-
what after the style of the redstart, it consists outwardly of
fine, dried grasses, bits of wasps' nest, gray lichen, and more
especially of old and weathered wood fibers, making it look
quite gray and waspy.

"The lining is of fine, dried grasses, or of fine shreds of the
wild grapevine, thus giving the inside a rich brown appear-
ance in contrast with the gray exterior. The eggs, foar or
five, some .60 by .47, are grayish or greenish- white, pretty
well spotted or specked, or even blotched, especially aoout the
large end, with brown and deep lilac. They do not possess
that delicate appearance common to the eggs of most of the
warblers."

386 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Above bright blue, darkest on the crown, tinged with ashy
on the rump; middle of back, scapulars, upper tail coverts and
sides of the crown streaked with black; beneath white, a
collar across the breast and streaks on the sides, dusky -blue;
lores and a line through and behind the eye, (where it is bor-
dered above by whitish) dusky -blue; paler on the cheeks; two
white bands on the wings; all the tail feathers except the
innermost, with a white patch on the inner web near the end.

Length, 4.25; wing, 2.65; tail, 1.90.

Habitat, eastern United States and southern Canada west to
the Plains.

DENDROICA PENSYLYAMCA (L ). (659.)

CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER.

In writing of the warblers there is a great deal of monotony
of description, as there are so many species whose habits
closely resemble each other, and in none more than the Chest-
nut-sided, in its time of migration, notes, and even its nesting,
but to the loving, attentive student of the birds each species
comes to have a decided individuality, as dear to sentiment as
valuable to science.

With all that is common to the family this bird is snii generis
"itself" and no other. The very type of sprightliness, joy and
•contentment, it floats along on the great bird-billow which
reaches Minnesota in the second week of May, to be recognized
instantly upon its arrival. Its favorite localities are thickets
bordering rather scattering large trees, and not very far above
the ground, where about the 25th of May it builds a nest con-
sisting of strips of bark and rather fine grasses, which are
woven into compact form with much architectural instinct, and
overlaid externally with a sort of stucco with caterpillars' nest-
silk and cobwebs, which give the structure considerable firm-
ness. Deeply hollowed it is lined with fine strips of bark and
horsehairs, and receives usually four creamy-white eggs, with
confluent spots of brown about the larger end. But a single
brood has been observed in a season. It is very generally dis-
tributed over the State in localities favorable to its distinctive
habits, and abundantly represented. I do not notice any
special increase in their numbers after 30 years.

Prof. C. L. Herrick, formerly much devoted to the local his-
tory of the birds in different parts of the State, found it com-
mon in the summer wherever he was. Kennicot found it at the
Lake of the Woods, May 31st, and there can be no question of

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 387

its breeding quite far to the north of the national line. Asso-
ciated in families of two generations it is met with frequently
in early autumn, but not often later than the 1st of October,
indeed that is exceptionally late for them.

Mr. Grant, who accompanied Professor Winchell to Ver-
milion lake in St. Louis county, on his Geological Survey of
that region in 1887, found this species breeding there, appar-
ently fairly represented. Nearly all of my correspondents re-
port it as common in their localities.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper parts streaked with black and pale bluish gray, which
becomes nearly white on fore part of back; middle of back
glossed with greenish-yellow; crown continuous yellow, bor-
dered by a frontal and superciliary 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, lower eyelid
and entire under parts pure white, a purplish- chestnut stripe
starting on each side in a line with the black mustache, and
extending back to the thighs. Wing and tail feathers dark-
brown edged with bluish-gray, except the secondaries and ter-
tials, 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.

Length. 5; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.20.

Habitat, eastern United States and southern Canada west to
the Plains.

DENDROICA CASTANEA (Wilson). (660.)
BAY-BREASTED WARBLER.

This warbler is by no means a common species. Arriving
about the beginning of the second week in May it is frequently
seen until about the 20th, when those individuals destined to
remain and breed in the State seem to disappear with the
others, but to build their nests, presumably, for they are seen
at intervals in the forests all summer, and with the young with
them in the latter part of July and August, but disapjDear en-
tirely by the 25th of September. It has never been my fortune
to secure the nest, but I have several carefully prepared
descriptions of it which essentially agree in its construction of
fine twigs, stems of grass, or moss, lined with fibrous roots,
moss and bits of fur of animals. Three to four blue-green
eggs, all over spattered with brown, which becomes confiuent
at the larger end. Its presence at Red Lake, Mille Lacs and
in St. Louis county in several localities, rests on the testimony

388 NOTES ON THE

of Mr. Lewis. Mr. Washburn mentions seeing but one of them
among his identifications in the Red river valley. They may
have begun to change localities at that time, and thus have
eluded him. Their return to winter habitations is somewhat
less precipitous than many others of its genus, as I have found
them in the forests along the Mississippi and surrounding some
of our lakes as late as the 20th of September, and even into the
earliest days of October on one occasion.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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;
edges of interscapulars tinged with yellowish, scapulars with
olivaceous. Primaries and tail feathers edged externally with
bluish-gray, extreme outer one with white; secondaries edged
with olivaceous. Two bands on the wing and edges of the ter-
tials, white; under parts whitish, tinged with buff; chin, throat,
fore part of breast and sides, chestnut-brown, lighter than the
crown; outer tail feathers with a patch of white on the inner
web near the end, the others edged internally with the same.

Length, 5; wing, 3.05; tail. 2.40.

Habitat, eastern North America.

DENDROICA STRIATA (Forster). (661.)
BLACK-POLL WARBLER.

Although a regularly returning species in considerable num-
bers during the two migrations, the Black- poll Warbler pro-
bably goes beyond our lines to breed. Possibly, when all the
corner lots have been sold, and this portion of the new north-
west has been effectively plowed and fenced in, some of our
aesthetic millionaires may give such a measure of his time to
the critical study of the habits of the birds, as here and there
a lord or duke has done in Great Britain of the ants, when,
amongst the other unfinished labors of love, the breeding hab-
its of this bird shall be definitely settled. Till then we must
wait.

The Black polls ride the very crest of the wave of migration
both in spring and in autumn. But they do not remain very
long, passing on to the north by the 20th of May, and return-
ing in marked numbers by the 10th to the 15th of September —
sometimes a little earlier, and sometimes a little lawr, according
to the special character of the season. Some years they spend
a good share of October here, but only exceptionally. They

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 389

follow the course of the principal streams, lakes or swamps,
along which they may be seen only in the tops of the tallest
trees, with no special proclivity towards the conifers, as is the
case with some of the warblers. The kind of insects they
prefer for food doubtless determines their haunts, as they are
disposed to get as much of their repast upon the wing (like
the true fly -catchers), as they can. The nest is most likely
to be found in the summit branches of the lofty trees they are
known to haunt. This it has not been my fortune to have ever
yet seen, yet from a recent communication from a gentleman
residing at Duluth, (Mr. J. H. De Voe), I feel inclined to think
it probable that he has the nest and eggs of this species,
obtained near that city on the 30th of May of the present year,
(1889). It was found snug up to the trunk, on the lowest
limb of a fir balsam, within easy reach of the ground, and con-
tained four eggs, of an ashy-white color, lightly sprayed all
over with brown of several shades, more abundantly in a loose
band around the bulge of the egg. The nest was built of
moss, weeds, dry grass, bits of the fir branches, etc. , and was
rather loose and bulky.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Crown, nape and upper half of the head, black; lower half
including 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 tertials edged with the
same; under parts white, with a narrow line on each side of
the throat from the chin to the side of the neck, where it runs
into a close patch of black streaks, continued along the breast
and side 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.

Length, 5.75; wing, 3; tail, 2.25.

Habitat, eastern North America to the Rocky Mountains.

IIENDROICA BLACKBLRNIJ: (Gmelin). (662.)
BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER.

Who would see the most beautiful of the whole family of the
wood warblers, need not look for him in the common brush
and thickets when working his way northward in spring, but
must keep to the tall trees of the forest, in shady woods, and
preferably along the uplands and ridges. He comes with the

390 NOTES ON THE

tide, on the 10th, 11th, or 12th of May, in considerable num-
bers, and should be looked for, neither in the lowest, nor the
topmost branches of the trees through which he industriously
feeds and flits, but between them. His bright, boldly con-
trasted colors make him comparatively easy to identify even
when on the wing, but he manifests no disposition to extend
any special confidence to the good homo who may be earnestly
looking for him, even for the brief period of mutual recogni-
tion. For many years after I came to know of the annual
presence of this bird in migration, I believed they all passed
much further to the north to breed, for the reason that their
stay seemed so very short, but it has been seen too many
times since, in the deep, dense woods, in different localities
during summer, for doubt of its breeding in many places in the
forest portions of the State. It is almost universally distribu-
ted in its migrations, and presumably during the summer, but
returns southward early in September, when less frequently,
it is seen amongst other species of its family.

They maintain a very pleasant warble while feeding, often
changing places in their search for "the food prepared for
them," flitting spiritedly through the thicket, or amongst the
branches of the forest trees, w^hen glimpses of their unique
plumage, like the twilight flashing of the fire-flies in the
shadows of the woodlands arrest the eye. They did not
pass us without interesting many eyes and ears, the most
enthusiastic, and devoted of which were those of my co orni-
thologist, so favorably located as she was while visiting her
friends on that marvellously beauiful, metropolitan island of
our city. Not a note of the resolute song escaped her keen
ear, nor a flexion of its beautiful body her eye, but each was
seized and treasured to be coined into "apples of gold and
pictures of silver" for the instruction and delight of her friends
who were thus transformed into grateful pupils who could
never forget her or her instructions. Long and familiarly as
I had known the bird, I knew more from listning to her
thrilling and enthusiastic descriptions. It was born in her, and
never acquired.

Note. I have found the nest and eggs of this warbler on
that very island since the foregoing was written. It was in the
fork of a sapling growing in the side of the elevated bank, very
near the waters of the Mississippi, near which hundreds of
people passed daily. I have been told of the nests of this
species having been found in several localities in the Big
Woods, but have had no opportunity to very reliably assure

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 391

myself of the certainty of the identification. Audubon's de-
scription of the Blackburnian Warblers nest and eggs meet my
own observations so perfectly that I quote it. It is as follows:
' 'It was composed externally of different textures, and lined
with silky fibers, and then delicate strips of fine bark, over
which lay a thick bed of feathers and horsehair. The eggs
were 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."

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper parts nearly uniform black, with a whitish scapular
stripe and a large white patch in the middle of the wing cov-
erts; an oblong patch in the middle of the crown, and the en-
tire 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 and quills almost
black.

Length, 5.50; wing, 2.33; tail, 2.25.

Habitat, eastern North America to the Plains.

DENDROICA VIRENS (Gmelin). ^667.)

BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER.

There was general rejoicing when this beautiful bird was
first Obtained. I found him in a thicket of poplars some four
miles out in the country, and near a strip of heavy forest
timber. He arrives not very unfrequently as early as the 30th
of April, once on the 25th of that month, but commonly before
the 5th of May. On one or two occasions it has been collected
as late as the 5th of October, but as a rule they are gone by
the 25th of September. This warbler comes to stay, and breeds
in almost every section of the State, but is never represented
by large numbers. The earliest nests I have seen have been
built after the 5th of June, and they bring out but one brood so
far as I have observed. It is generally placed in a small tree,
about ten or twelve feet from the ground, and consists of fine
strings of bark of some flexible kind, disposed very artistically
in circles, and woven in with the flaxen fiber of some kinds of
weeds for the main structure, which is lined with feathers, and a

26 z

392 NOTES ON THE

little quantity of horsehairs. Some nests have tine grass in
their lining. They lay four flesh-tinted white eggs, spotted at
the large end with brown, and dotted with pale-brown and lav-
ender.

Mr. "Washburn obtained a beautiful specimen at St. Vincent,
in the Red river valley late in August.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper parts exclusive of wing and tail, clear yellow, olive
green, the feathers of the back with hidden streaks of black;
forehead, sides of head and neck, including a superciliary
stripe, bright yellow; a dusky olive line from the bill through
the eye, and anothpr below it; chin, throat and fore part of
breast, extending some distance along 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.

Length, 5; wing. 2.60; tail, 2.30.

Habitat, eastern North America to the Plains.

DENDROK A VIGORSII (Audubon) (671.)
PINE WARBLER.

This seems to be a rather uncommon species, first obtained
by Mr. Geo. McMullen of Minneapolis, on May 10th, 1876,
since which time it has been collected by several different per-
sons who have submitted them to me for examination.

I have found that they arrive much earlier than the date
mentioned, having brought them to the basket as early as the
10th of April, although the average should be placed about
the 20th.

They breed in the quiet pine forests, their nests being
usually on small sized pines, and about twenty feet from the
ground. It is not strange that they seem quite rare even
though there may be a good many in the country, when their
solitary habits in breeding exclude them so effectually from
observation, The nests might escape the most vigorous
scrutiny, so well is it and both of the birds concealed in the
dense evergreen foliage. They consist of strips of bark prob-
ably from off the cedar trees, and pine leaves, or needles in-
geniously woven, or twisted into each other so as to effect a
firm, compact, and tasteful structure. It is delicately lined
with mosses and different kinds of hair. Amongst a pretty
large collection of nests, those of this species are character-

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA 393

istic for their architecture and neatness. The e^gs, four to
five in number, are white with a bluish tinge, dotted with two
shades of brown and reddish-pink, with splashes of purple.

A visit to their legitimate haunts in summer, will find them
actively searching the limbs and branches of different species
of trees for their special food, after the manner of the creep-
ers, ever and anon dashing out after an insect on the wing, like
the flycatchers. They leave all parts of the State about the
25th of October. Each successive year brings me additional
testimony respecting its numbers and distribution. They breed
at Brainerd, where I can find them in June of almost any year.
In every instance when I have collected birds of this species in
migration, they have been associated with the Palm Warbler.
[ D. palmarum ( Gmelin)].

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper parts nearly uniform 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 super-
ciliary 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 inconspicious
white.

Length, 5.50; wing, 3; tail, 2.40.

Habitat, eastern North America to the Plains.

DENDROICA PALMARUM (Gmelin). (672.)

PALM WARBLER.
When, and where to look for the Palm Warblers, are not dif-
ficult questions to answer to one who has watched the move-
ments of birds in migration for many years. We shall need
our rubber boots to prepare us for circumnavigating thickets
in swampy sections, and we shall need to be warmly clothed,
for the winter has gone too recently for dry turf, or for the air
to have become specially balmy. Although we may commence
our search a few days too soon, we cannot afford to have him
occupy our territory unobserved, and so on the 10th of April,
we go forth. He may have been there already five days
according to notes embracing that date, but somehow a natural
born ornithologist will seem to know by his actions how long

394 NOTES ON THE

he has been on the ground. Birds of all species, seem to
' 'give themselves away"' by a kind of nervousness in their manner
when they have just now arrived. But it is soon at work,
busily searching for insects, on the ground, on the bushes,
and in the air where it seizes them readily in short excursions
on the wing. It clings closely to the vicinity of moist
places bordering thickets of low trees, or tall brush. It
breeds limitedly in the northern sections of the State.

The nest is quite uniform in structure and in the materials of
which it is composed. Always on the ground, and fairly con-
cealed by a bush, or a tussock of grass, with dry leaves to com-
plete the protection, the rest is constructed of weeds and
grasses at the bottom, on which are imposed layers of fine
roots and finer grass, over which are down, caterpillar's silk,
hairs, fine grasses and moss. It is then lined with fine roots,
thus constituting a deep nest in which are deposited three eggs
of roseate white color, spotted and blotched at the larger end
with brown and reddish.

The young are out of the nest by the 25th of June. Indivi-
duals of this species are seen in the autumn late in October
occasionally, but it is so secluded in its habits that it is difti
cult to determine its time of departure very accurately. For
the same reason, I have obtained less notes from correspond-
ents in different parts of the country embraced in the survey.
They are principally found during summer in the northern
counties, at least I have had a larger number of reports from
that section. I met them in their characteristic haunts late in
May in the vicinity of Minneapolis, and Mr. Lewis reports
them in Becker county a month later. Others have given
them, associated with the young in August in various localities.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head above chestnut red; rest of upper parts brownish
olive-gray, the feathers with darker centers, the color brighten-
ing on the rump, upper tail coverts and outer margins of
wing and tail feathers, to greenish-yellow; a streak from nos-
trils over the eye, and under parts generally, including the
tail coverts, bright yellow, paler on the body; maxillary
line, breast and sides finely but rather obsoletely streaked
with reddish brown; checks brownish, (in highest spring
plumage, chestnut like the head) ; 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, 5; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.25.

Habitat, eastern United States to the Mississippi river.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 395

SEILRUS AUROCAPILLUS (L.) (674.)

OVEN-BIRD.

For the relative numbers of its species generally, the Oven-
bird is very common throughout the State from the 1st of May
to the ■20th of September, with occasional instances of in-
dividuals remaining until far into October. It is only found as
a general thing, in the most unfrequented places, near swamps,
although I have met them in autumn in dry, densely wooded
localites where it appeared very little disturbed by my pres-
ence, keeping about its search for insects among the fallen
leaves. However, its breeding habits confine it to the moist
vicinity of swamps in or near the forests. Why this bird is
dubbed with the unsentimental name "Oven-bird," is more
than I can understand, for if from the form of its nest, we
ought to have Oven-birds in several different genera of widely
different families. I am sure that the Golden-crowned Thrush
is far more appropriate, the colors, habits and form of the
bird being so beautifully recognized by the name.

The first nests of the season are begun by both birds about
the 1 5th of May, others following into the first days of June.
It is made of grasses and dry leaves into a very compact mass,
with its entrance on the side, and so small as to render it a sur-
prise that the bird can enter it. It is lined with fine, soft
grasses and hairs of different kinds. They lay six creamy-
white eggs, irregularly spotted or blotched with several shades
of reddish-brown. As with so many other species, the larger
end of the egg has the markings thickest, running into con-
fluent patches in some instances. The song of the bird is easily
recognized by any one who has heard it, especially by its cres-
cendo, beginning at a low pitch and increasing to remarkable
fullness at its close. It is more nearly expressed by the formula
written, queecha, queecha, queecha, queecha, queecha, increasing
in force and volume to the end. * Samuels says : ' '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 hovering
and slowly descending. I have noticed the same habit in the
Maryland Yellow -throat, and some other birds." I have never
had the pleasure of hearing either of these species under such
circumstances.

*Birds of New Eagland, p. 219.

396 NOTES ON THE

The Golden-crowned Thrush lingers as late as the frost leaves
it sufficient food, which in 1885 was late in October, but does
not generally extend beyond the 25th of September.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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; breast, sides of body, and a maxillary line streaked with
black. Wings moderate, about three-quarters of an inch longer
than the tail; first quill scarcely shorter than the second. Tail
slightly rounded, feathers acuminate. 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.

Length, 6; wing, 3; tail, 2.40.

Habitat, eastern North America to the Rocky Mountains.

SEIURUS NOVEBOBACENSIS (Gmelin). (675.)
WATER THRUSH.

The Water Thrush is a rather common resident of most
wooded portions of the State, arriving usually between the 25th
and 30th of April.

Their song is not very often heard, and when it is, it is diffi-
cult to describe it. But having been heard by an interested
ear, it will never be forgotten beyond recognition. The notes
are clear, strong and impressively sweet, the strain beginning
in a high, spirited pitch, and gradually gliding downward in
key and volume to the softest before lost to the ear. They
are paired when they come, and the song is warbled thereafter
at intervals all the day, as long as the female is setting on the
nest, but immediately afterwards we hear no more from them
during the summer ordinarily. They hide their nests so
effectually that I have never been able to find one, but by the
aid of an exceedingly persistent lad who is an adept at bird's
nest hunting, I am prepared to "speak by the book' in de-
scribing it. It was placed by the side of, and well under a
very old, decayed log, lying in a dense thicket in a swamp.
It consisted entirely of grass, leaves and moss, in such a quan-
tity as to give it quite a bulky appearance after getting down
to it.

The entrance was porched over much like the Oven-bird's
nest, and the eggs were four in number, flesh colored, spotted
over with pale reddish brown, emphasized somewhat about the

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 397

larger end. Their habits preclude much familiarity with them,
and little more is known of them than when first identified and
described. They remain here until about the first week in
October.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill from rictus, about the length of the skull. Above 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 body except the abdomen, and includ-
ing the under tail coverts, conspicuously and thickly streaked
with olivaceous brown, almost black on the breast.

Length, 6.15; wing, 3.12; tail, 2.40.

Habitat, eastern to arctic America.

Note. Neither Mr. Washburn nor Mr. Lewis in the north,
nor Dr. Hvoslef in the south part of the State have referred
to this species in their correspondence. I have, however,
found it to be resident in many localities by the specimens
sent me fcr identification.

GEOTHLYPIS AGILIS (Wilson). (678.)

CONNECTICUT WARBLER.

In June, 1869, in a thicket by the wayside in the suburbs of
the city, I collected two birds from the same bush, one of
which proved to be of this species and the other was the
Mourning Warbler {G. Philadelphia). Both were then new to
Minnesota ornithology, and of course it was a great find.
Since that time I have seen them in both migrations nearly
every year, but have only occasionally met with them during
the summer, as on that first discovery of them, and then along
the Red river near Fargo and Moorhead. Agilis seems to be
the rarer of the two species, the nest of which I have never
yet seen, nor have I been apprised of its discovery by anyone
else. Mr. U. S. Grant found several of these warblers in St.
Louis county in July, which not only corroborates its breeding
habits affirmed, but shows that they are by no means confined
to the vicinage of the Red river. Soon after the frosts begin
to intefere with their food supply, the migration southward
commences, which is not closed for fifteen to twenty days or-
dinarily. At such times they frequent thickets along con-
tinued banks, and sides of the hills, much after the manner of
sparrows, but are driven into trees more readily.

398 NOTES ON THE

They have a simple note which is almost constantly repeated
in a subdued tone, which sounds somewhat like keet. I am
informed that quite a number of local collectors have obtained
the species form time to time. Dr. Hvoslef reports them pre-
sent at Lanesboro, June 1st, 1882.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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. Chin and throat gray-
ish ash, becoming darker gradually to the upper part of 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, without any trace of bars or
spots. Bill brown above; feet yellow.

Length, fi; wing, 3; tail, 2.25.

Habitat, eastern North America to the Mississippi river and
Red river.

GEOTKLYPIS PHILADELPHIA (Wilson). (679.)
MOURNING WARBLER.

This is another species of the tardy genus Geothlypis, that
has been identified, but whose habits have remained quite
obscure, I obtained a single individual in typical plumage, on
the first day of June^ 1869, very nearly within the city limits.
Since then I have met occasionally migrants in autumn, and
have a few reports from competent correspondents. Dr. Hvos-
lef obtained one in high plumage on the 25th of May, 1884.
Several local collectors claim to have obtained specimens sev-
eral years earlier. Mr. Washburn searched but did not find it
where Coues found it previously, "breeding abundantly along
the Red river." Their early southern movement may explain its
absence at the time the former was in that locality. Mr. Trippe
had, somewhat earlier, found it breeding prolifically inMinnesota,
but failed to find the nest. He "repeatedly saw the old birds
feeding the young in the latter part of June and early in July,"
which makes its local breeding assured. He further says: —
"They are similar in their habits to the Maryland Yellow-
throat, but are not so exclusively devoted to thickets and un-
derbrush, frequently ascending to the tops of the tamaracks,
for which they show a great predilection." It is to be hoped
that more facts regarding its local history may ere long be
obtained. Coues says: — "The nest is rather slight, but a neat

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA 399

structure, placed on the ground, composed of various soft,
fibrous materials and fine grasses, mostly circularly arranged,
lined with fine rootlets."

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Wing but little longer than the tail, reaching but little be-
yond its base. Head and neck and all around, with throat and
forepart of breast ash-gray, paler beneath; feathers of chin,
throat, and forebreast 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; under parts bright-yellow; tail feathers uniform
olive; first primary, with the outer half of the outer web.
nearly white.

Length, 5.50; wing, 2.45; tail, 2.25.

Habitat, eastern North America to the Plains.

GEOTHLYPIS TRICHAS (L.). (681.)
MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT.

It took a long time to learn all the "ins and outs'^ of this
little warbler. If there are any remaining unlearned, they
must be hard to find out indeed, for there does not seem to be
many places circumstantially adapted to the habits of the
species not already occupied by a pair of representatives in
their season.

It reaches the vicinity of Minneapolis about the 27th of
April, and is reported from nearly every part of the State by
the 5th of May. The nests are built and occupied by about
the last days of that month. They are constructed of leaves
mixed with grasses, and lined with finer grass and hairs. They
are placed on the ground close to a bush and are quite bulky.
They often have their entrance provided for in one side, after
the manner of the Golden-crowned Thrush. They rear two
broods, and are gone by the 20th of September usually. Its
song is quite strikingly rendered into words by Rev. J. H.
Langille in the formula, iveech-a-tee, loeech-a-tee, weecha-tee,
weech-a-tee, in distinct, whistling notes, never to be confounded
with those of any other songster. It is delivered rather delib-
erately, with the accent strongly on the first syllable. Under
some circumstancess, the note is abbreviated by one syllable,
leaving it lueecli-ee, weech-ee, tveec7i-ee, loeech-ee, with only a faint
touch upon the last, when it somewhat resembles the song of
another warbler. When they first arrive they must be sought

400 . NOTES ON THE

in the thickets, when they are mostly silent and somewhat
suspicious. It is not long, however, before their familiar
notes are heard about our houses, in the currant bushes, and
in the orchard. In the time of nesting they retire from such
familiar places to the borders of woods, near damp, swampy
localities, in dense thickets. Contrary to their reputed pro-
clivity to the vicinity of farm houses, in the eastern states,
they avoid them during incubation nearly if not quite uni-
formly. The earliest nests I have discovered were occupied
by the 17th of May, although as a general rule, it is a little
later. They frequently linger till late in September, and an
instance has occurred when a few of them were seen in Octo-
ber. Dr. Hvoslef reports them abundant in his section on the
5th of May. Mr. Washburn found them common in the Red
rirer valley.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper parts olive-green, tinged with brow^n towards the
middle of the crown; chin, throat and breast as far as the mid-
dle of the body, and 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 forehead, (about 0.20 of an inch wide in the mid-
dle) passing backward 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 large patch
with a yellow tinge.

Length, 5.50; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.20.

Habitat, eastern United States to the Mississippi rirer.

ICTERIA YIRENS. (L.). (683.)

YELLOW BREASTED CHAT.

This species is a regular summer resident of the southwest-
ern portion of the'State, reaching those sections early in May.
They are not common, and rarely extend their incursions be-
yond the lower tier of counties, one or two individuals having
been obtained in the valley of the St. Peter's river, and a like
number observed in Traverse county. I am familiar with them
in their western haunts, and have long hoped to have an op-
portunity to note their habits here, but I have never met with
them personally in my locality. They are reported by Mr.
Chas. R. Keyes and Dr. H. S. Williams, of Davenport, la., as
rather common summer residents of that state. In their cata-
logue of the Birds of Iowa, they say: "Summer resident.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 401

rather common; arriving the first week in May. Haunts the
low, open woodlands and thickets along the streams. Nidifi-
cation commences about the first week in June. The nest is
usually placed four or five feet from the ground, in a thickly
foliaged bush. It is composed of dry grasses and leaves, and
lined with fine grasses and fibers of bark. The eggs number
three to five."

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Third and fourth quills the longest; second and fifth little
shorter; first nearly equal to 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; outer side of tibia plumbeous;
a slight tinge of orange across the breast. Forehead, and sides
of head ash, the lores and region below the eyes, 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, running to a point opposite the
hinder border of the eye, white. Bill, black; feet, brown.

Length, 7.40; wing, 3.25; tail, 3.30.

Habitat, eastern United States to the Plains.

Note. The above has been written some years, and I take
pleasure in stating that Dr. T. S. Roberts verbally reported a
specimen he had received from some one within our borders
obtained in 1890. P. L. H.

SYLYANIA MITRATA. (Gmelin.) (684.)

HOODED WARBLER.

It has only been made evident that this species is fairly well
represented in restricted localities after many years of careful
inquiry. The first individual that came into my hands I se-
cured May 12th, 1869, since which time at different times per-
haps a half dozen or more have been received. It has been a
surprise to me that my correspondents have not reported it;
still its habits of concealment are such that one must be able
to give it much time to obtain specimens even where previously
known to be moderately well represented. Even the song,
though simple and often quite continuously maintained, differs
so very much under a change of the time of the day, and the
weather that it is only after repeated and the most careful no-
tings that its presence becomes assured by it alone. In western
New York where I once lived, it was a common summer resi-
dent, but almost as unknown to casual observation as it is in
Minnesota. Its habits of eating are like those of the flycatch-

402 NOTES ON THE

ers. Remaining almost constantly concealed from view in the
leaves and fine branches of the undergrowth of border land to
denser forests, it flips suddenly up into the air of the open
places above the undergrowth, and seizing its insect, disap-
pears as quickly in the thicket again. They come with the
great influx of warblers from the 10th to the 12th of May, and
are found building their nests from about the 20th to the end
of the first week in June, and sometimes bring out two broods.
The structure consists of dry leaves and fibrous barks, and is
lined with grass and hairs in addition to the fibres mentioned.
It is almost proverbially bulky, and placed in the forks of a
bush near the ground and usually contains from three to four
white eggs, variously speckled with reddish brown. They all
disappear during the last week in August.

SPECIFIC CHARACTEKS.

Bill black; feet pale yellow. Head and neck all around, a^d
fore part of the breast black; a broad patch on the for
head extending around on the entire cheeks and ear covert'^-
and the under parts bright yellow; upper parts and sides of
the body olive-green; greater portion of inner web of the three
outer tail feathers, white.

Length, 5; wing, 2.75; tail, 2.55.

Habitat, eastern United States, and west to the Plains.

8YLVAM4 CANIDENSIS (L.). (686.)
CANADIAN WARBLER.

When this warbler first came under my notice, in 1875, I was
confident it was a straggler, but without any resource for
information as to the ultimate limits of its migratorial distri-
bution. I did not have to wait very long before his local history
began to unfold in fine style, for in a few weeks I bagged his
nest, companion, self, eggs and all.

It reaches the lower limits of my province about May 15th,
and the larger portion of them pass still further north, never-
theless may remain and breed with us. The nest has been
found by Mr. Treganowan and Mr. Lewis, and reputedly by
some one else, and always on the ground. (The location has been
occasionally given from Audubon to date, as in low trees and
bushes). It consists of leaves, roots, and grasses, its lining
generally of the same with some hairs and considerable lichens
included. Although quite bulky, it is rather shallow, and
generally contains four gray-white eggs, tinted with a slight
blush of rose and spotted or blotched with lilac and brown
especially about the larger end.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 403

I am not a little surprised at the diilerences in the descrip-
tions of the different writers as to its song. It is quite certain
that not only do eyes see differently, but ears hear very much
so. To my ear, or rather, to my imagination, Langille has
given the best form of words to help recall the song of this
bird in the following syllables: chi-reach-a-dee, reach-a-dee,
reach-a-dee-chi, nervously and spiritedly delivered.

He speaks of a characteristic ventriloquism in the utterance
of its song by which one is often misled as to its nearness,
which has often attracted my attention, and used to lead me
away on a fool's chase to locate the singer. They raise one
brood, and retire from the country by the 15th of September.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Upper parts bluish-ash; a ring round the eye, with a line
running to the nostrils, and the whole under parts (except the
tail coverts which are white) bright yellow; centres of the
feathers in the anterior half of the crown, the checks, 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.

Length, 5.35; wing, 2.65; tail, 2.50.

Habitat, eastern United States westward to the Plains.

SETOPHAOA RUTICILLA (L.). (687.)
AMERICAN REDSTART.

A bird of the trees and bushes to such an emphatic degree,
that persons of considerable observation have failed to see
them altogether for several years in succession. Their habits
are eminently calculated to keep them from the eye of the
casual observer, for when pursuing their insect food on the
wing, he is confident he has caught a glimpse of a flycatcher,
and when searching the bark of the trunks and branches of
the trees for eggs and larvae, he calls it a warbler. Much of
its time is spent upon the ground, amongst decayed logs and
brush, in search of forms of insect life abounding in those
localities, where it is a difficult matter to see them.

However, the strongly contrasted colors of the male, and
its dashing enthusiasm during the mating time, singing vigor-
ously, and changing its perch from tree to tree in the woods,
leads to its identity by those familiar with its habits and song.

Rev. J. H. Langille describes its humble song as resembling
the notes of a tin whistle, and says: — "There is not a little
variety in its whistling tones, and the theme is always well

404 NOTES ON THE

modulated. Like all bird songs, it contains immeasurably
more than anything to which it can be likened." It is a com-
mon summer resident in its favorite localities everywhere with-
in the State.

The collector of skins for his cabinet, finds he has more of
that species than he wants to skin, and if a man of true senti
ment, enters upon his next slumbers with the shadows of a
degree of remorse flittering through his latest memories like
bats through the open casement upon a hot night in August.

They arrive in spring with great regularity about the 10th
of May, remaining until about the 20th of September. The
nest is found usually on a limb all the way from five to twenty
feet from the ground, and on a sapling in the larger timber.
It consists of strips of ditferent kinds of bark, fine grass and
delicate weeds.

These are very artistically arranged into a snug structure,
which is made very firm by a secretion from the bird's mouth
that glues it solidly together. Down, from vegetable sources,
silk from caterpillars' nests, and dry, soft lichens, are glued to
the exterior exceedingly neatly, while the nest is lined
throughout its deeply hollowed cavity with fine strips of
different barks, fine fibrous roots, vegetable down and hairs.
They lay four eggs of a cream-white, spattered with spots of
reddish-brown and lilac.

They are very common about Otter Tail, Mille Lacs and Big
Stone lake, according to reports from different correspondents,
and Dr. Hvoslef embraces them in his notes kindly furnished
me from Fillmore county.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Prevailing color black; a central line on the breast, abdomen
and under tail coverts, white; some feathers in the latter
strongly tinged with dark brown. Bases of all the quills, ex-
cept 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.

Length, 5.25; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.45.

Habitat, North America.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA 405

Family MOTACILLID^.

ANTHUS PENSYLVANICUS (Latham). (697.)

AMERICAN PIPIT.

To any interested observer of the birds the characteristics of
the Titlark would become especially so. Only seen in migra-
tions it can scarcely fail of instantaneous recognition. They are
very irregular in their distribution in migration, sometimes ap-
pearing for two or three successive springs in nearly the same
localities, and then absenting themselves several years to re-
turn in the same or greater numbers. And I have often ob-
served that a full representation in the spring migration was
more likely to be followed by a light one in the autumn. They
return by some other route.

I should say, that as a rule, they are more numerous in fall
than in spring, yet this rule will have some marked exceptions.

They arrive in the southern part of the State about the 20th
of May, and after remaining only a short time, pass on to the
further north to breed. About the second week of September
they return, and may be seen daily on the plowed fields in large
flocks until after the middle of October. It is not unusual to find
them associated with the Lapland Longspurs. Their flight is
graceful in the extreme, and so characteristic as to point out
their identity at considerable distance. Rumor asserts that
they breed in the islands of the Lake of the Woods, but it is
not yet sufficiently authenticated. They are reported as
abundant in their fall migrations in the St. Peter's and Red
river valleys, and on the level prairies of Grant and Douglas
counties. Dr. Hvoslef gives them full recognition in Fillmore
county in their migrations.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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 the sides. Ring round the eye and super-
ciliary stripe, yellowish; central tail feathers like the back,
the others dark blackish-brown; the external one white, ex-
cept at the base within; a white spot at the end of the second;
primaries edged with whitish; other quills with pale brownish.

Length, 6.50; wing, 3.45; tail, 2.95.

Habitat, North America.

406 NOTES ON THE

ANTHUS SPRAGUEII (Audubon). (700.)
SPRAGUE'S PIPIT.*

It has been a matter of question whether we could give this
bird a just place amongst the bird fauna of this State,
notwithstanding its occasional capture near the Red river, but
it has been so often seen and carefully identified that all doubts
are forever removed.

While by no means to be accounted common summer residents,
they are sufficiently numerous to be considered more than rare,
in the northei'n portions of the State to the British Possesions.

I have found them more frequently in Pembina county than
otherwheres, but only so, I think it is probable, because my
opportunities have been greater to observe them there. In
traversing those sections I have employed a buckboard which
has made it possible to get a few specimens, and to observe a
couple of nests which were occupied by the second brood,
presumptively, as it was in June, and Mr. Lewis has since
found them as early as April 23d in Clay county.

Occasionally individuals have been secured in the lower belt
of counties, yet no nests have been reported from that section.
But I have had the pleasure of identifying Sprague's Lark
several times in the county in which I live, once within the
territory since included in the limits of the city corporation,
and breeding here as early as the i!5th of March (1870). In
June I had the repeated exceptional pleasure of hearing its
song while mounting to an altitude of not less than seven, and
I think considerably more than eight hundred feet. The first
time that this transpired I was riding in company with a friend,
and on my way to collect birds, so that I was on the alert. I
had an excellent field glass with me, and at the moment in my
hand, as I saw the bird spring from the grass within a few
feet of my horse, and a little to the left of me. It flew a
hundred feet away with a succession of flits of the wings,
which lifted it about twenty feet into the air, when it turned
and with the same movements of the wings, came indirectly
towards me, rising another twenty feet, or thereabouts, when
it again turned and began to sing with great enthusiasm, and
thus back and forth, each time a little increasing the length of
its zigzag undulations, it climbed upward, upward, u]iward.

* When I wrote the above account of this species. I did not know that Captain
BlaiUiston had observed It as early as May 4th. 18.50, a fact which reached ;nie at pajte
176 of Nortli American Birds.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 407

until it disappeared from my unaided vision, when I brought
the glass to my eye and followed him still, all the while sing-
ing, singing, singing as he swung right and left, vaulting into
the very blue of the heavens, when suddenly he closed his
wings and his song, and head downward came down like an
arrow, opening his closed wings only when within a yard of
the ground, and within the same distance of the very spot
from which he ascended. My desire to make sure of his
identity had brought my eye to the barrel of my ready gun,
when the thought of hearing the song again, and of securing
the nest deterred me. As much time as I could possibly spare
on that still, beautiful morning having gone, I drove away
with a delightful memory and a good resolution to see the bird
again.

That nest, as afterward proved, was near enough to my
carriage to have tossed a marble into it, or more probably
upon the back of the faithful, devoted female occupying it>
The ground had been excavated to the depth of two inches andl
the cavity lined with a little fine grass, and contained four
dull-white, finely speckled eggs which were quite pointed at
one end. I cruelly purposed to appropriate both of the
parents of the two remaining eggs (after I had taken two)
when the young should be old enough to fly, but I only
obtained the male.

I have seen no more of this species in this section where I
live, but met with them once or twice in Grant county.

A description of its song would be difficult, but it consisted
of a succession of notes, beginning at a high pitch and warbled
with a deflected "diminuendo," very pleasingly melodious
indeed.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Above wood-brown, all the feathers edged with paler espec
ially on the neck, where there is a brownish-yellow tinge;
under parts dull white, with a collar of sharply defined narrow
brown streaks across the forepart and along the sides of the
breast; lores, and a superciliary line, whitish; tail feathers,
except the middle ones, dark brown; outer one white, second
white with the inner margin brown; outer primary edged with
white, and two dull whitish bands across the wings; bill and
feet yellow, the former brown above.

Length, 6; wing, 3.85; tail. 2.50.

Habitat, interior plains of North America.

27

408 NOTES ON THE

Famny TROGLODYTID^.

OALE0SC0PTE8 CAROLINENSIS (L). (704.)
CATBIRD.

In a ride of fifteen miles to Lake Minnetonka, I have counted
very nearly one hundred birds of this species in a mornings'
hour and a half, many a time in the years gone by. And those
singly, not exceeding two, or at most three, being in any one
locality. The males arrive in parties of five or six, (never
many more), about the 25th of April, and are followed in from
three to five days by the females similarly associated, after
which they are constantly seen, but not much heard for nearly
two weeks, when the sexes begin to be moved towards each
other by the instincts of reproduction, which arouses the
highest energies and activities of their natures to a new meas-
ure of bird life. At that season their harsh calls are heard
from every thicket along the way, or down by the creek at the
border of the woods, through all the hours of the lengthening
days. When the building of the nests begins, the conjugal
relationships having become settled, a brief period of reticence
intervenes, during which they are seldom heard but constantly
seen carrying materials for the construction of the nest. How-
ever even at this time, the really early riser will hear the
almost matchless song of the males as they pour it forth from
the topmost twig of some large bush or sapling. Wilson must
have been unfortunate in the hours chosen in which to listen
to its exquisite notes, for he says: "His notes are more
remarkable for singularity than for melody. They consist of
short imitations of other birds, and other sounds; but, his pipe
being rather deficient in clearness and strength of tone, his
imitations fail where these are requisite. Yet he is not easily
discouraged, but seems to study certain passages with greater
perseverance; uttering them at first low, and as he succeeds,
higher and more free, nowise embarrassed by the presence of
a spectator, even within a few yards of him. On attentively
listening to him for some time, one can perceive considerable
variety in his performance, in which he seems to introduce all
the old sounds and quaint passages he has been able to collect.
Upon the whole, though, we cannot arrange him with the
grand leaders of our vernal choristers, he well merits a place
among the most agreeable of general performers. "

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA 409

Now, I am conscious of, and credited, with having, a very
critical ear for sound and melody of all sorts of descriptions;
and I do not hesitate to say that for clearness, sweetness,
richness of tone, and inexpressible variety of modulation, from
piano to forte in volume, he is peerless among American birds.
But I thought myself perfectly acquainted with the Catbird
for at least twenty-five years before I was permitted to know
his full powers of song, and then by the accident of an early
ride through his most favored haunts while the female was
sitting on her eggs. The famous Brown Thrush can be heard
further, and I have once detected as many as twenty-two differ-
ent modifications in a single outpouring of his melodies, yet
the other excels him in everything except his volume of sound.
Wilson is "away off" in his descriptions and interpretations of
this unique songster. There is indisputably a bitter prejudice
against the Catbird, originating in his disfavor among farm-
ers, or perhaps I should say gardeners, and unfortunately
aggravated by the harshness of his ordinary call and caution
note, to which I must add the infelicity of his vernacular
name. "There is a great deal in the name." They continue
their songs in the early morning, sometimes until after sun-
rise, and at sunset in the evening, during the entire summer
except in a brief period of moulting following the period of
nidification.

They build their nests about the 20th of May, unless the sea-
son is exceptionally late, although I have found pairs doing so
as late as the first week in June occasionally. They are lo-
cated in bushes, and generally about five feet from the ground,
The platform consisting of sticks and twigs. Upon this sub-
structure, firmly secured, rests the somewhat bulky nest proper
consisting of bark, twigs, leaves and straws or dried grass, and
lined with hairs and fibrous roots, sometimes with fine grass.
It is deeply hollowed. There are usually four, occasionally
five eggs of a deep emerald-green of a very symmetrical ovate
form. The Catbird may thankfully rest on the generous
verdict of his true friend Dr. Coues as to his merits and demer-
its, as given in his Birds of the Colorado Valley, pages 56-60. I
cannot refrain from repeating a few of the closing paragraphs
in his amusing defence of this bird. ' 'Explain him as we may,
the Catbird is inseperable from home and homely things. He
reflects as he is reflected in domestic life. The associations, it
is true, are of an humble sort, but they are just as strong as
those which link us with the trusty Robin, the social Swallow,

410 NOTES ON THE

the delicious Blue Bird or the elegant Oriole. Let it be the
humble country home of toil or the luxurious mansion where
wealth is lavished on the garden, in either case the Catbird
claims the rights of squatter sovereignty. He flirts saucily
across the well-worn path that leads to the well and sips the
water that collects in the shallow depression upon the flag-
stone. Down in the tangle of the moist dell, where stands the
spring-house with its cool, crisp atmosphere, redolent of but-
tery savor, where the trickling water is perpetual, he loiters
at ease and from the hearts of the greenbrier makes bold ad-
vances to the milk-maid who brings the brimming bowls.

' 'In the pasture beyond he waits for the boy who comes whist-
ling after the cows, and follows him home by the blackberry
road that lies along the zigzag fence, challenging the carelessly
thrown stone he has learned to dodge with ease. He joins the
berrying party fresh from school, soliciting a game of hide and-
seek, and laughs at the mishap that never fails when children
try the brier patch. Along the hedgerow he glides with short
easy flights to gain the evergreen coppice that shades a corner
of the lawn, where he pauses to watch the old gardener trim-
ming the boxwood, or rolling the gravel walk, or making the
flower bed, wondering why some people will take so much
trouble when everything is nice enough already.

"Ever restless and inquisitive he makes for the well known
arbor to see what may be going on there. What he discovers
is certainly none of his business. The rustic seat is occupied ;
the old, old play is in rehearsal, and at the sight of the blush-
ing cheeks that respond to passionate words the very roses on
the trellis hang their envious heads. The spectacle tickles his
fancy. Always ripe for mischief he startles the loving pair
with his quick, shrill cry, like a burlesque of the kiss just
heard, and chuckles at their little consternation. 'It is only a
Catbird' they reassuringly say, yet there are times when the
slightest jar is a shock, and pledges that hang in a trembling
balance may never be redeemed. 'Only a Catbird' meanwhile
remembers business of his own and is off. The practical ques-
tion of dining recurs. He means to dine sumptuously, and so
like the French philosopher place himself beyond the reach of
fate, but nature in the month of May is full of combustible
material, and the very atmosphere is quick to carry the torch
that was kindled in the arbor. His fate meets him in the only
shape that could so far restrain masculine instincts as to post-
pone a dinner.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 411

"The rest is soon told, or rather it would be could the secrets
of the impenetrable dark-green mass of smilax, whither the
pair betake themselves, be unclad. The next we see of the
bird he is perched upon the topmost spray of yonder pear tree,
with quivering wings, brim full of song. He is inspired. For
a time, at least, he is lifted above the commonplace. His
kinship with the prince of song — with the Mocking Bird him-
self, is vindicated. He has discovered the poetry of every-day
life "

The Catbird is among the earliest of our morning songsters.
Often his notes may be distinctly heard before the dawn is
appreciable to human eyes, and if watched afterward he may
be seen flitting noiselessly from bush to bush, with a nervous
energy that expresses more than almost anything else the de-
liciousness of the summer morning hours. His melody is
scarcely inferior to that of any other member of his melodious
family, notwithstanding so great an authority as the careful,
attentive Wilson says: "His notes are more remarkable for sin-
gularity than for melody." Perhaps the distinguished ornithol-
ogist's penchant for playing practical jokes upon this very
excitable and demonstrative bird deprived him of his best op-
portunities for taking in the fullest capacities of his song. He
says that he sometimes amused himself, in passing through the
woods, with imitating the violent chirping or squeaking of
young birds, in order to observe what different species were
around him, and says, "for such sounds at such a season in the
woods are no less alarming to the feathered tenants of the
bushes than the cry of tire or murder in the streets is to the
inhabitants of a large and prosperous city.

"On such occasions of alarm and consternation, the Catbird
is the first to make his appearance, not singly but sometimes half
a dozen at a time flying from different quarters to the spot.
At this time those who are disposed to play with his feelings
may almost throw him into fits, his emotion and agitation are
so great at the distressful cry of what he supposes to be his
suffering young. Other birds are variously affected, but none
show symptoms of such extreme suffering. He hurries back-
wards and forwards with hanging wings and open mouth, call-
ing out louder and faster, and actually screaming with distress,
till he appears hoarse with his exertions. He attempts no
offensive means, but bewails, implores, in the most pathetic
terms with which nature has supplied him, and with an agony
of feeling which is truly affecting. Every feathered neighbor

412 NOTES ON THE

within hearing hastens to the place, to learn the cause of the
alarm, pressing about with looks of consternation and sympa-
thy. At any other season the most perfect imitations have no
effect upon him."

His mocking powers are considerable, but I think them over-
rated, or rather, their intentional employment is less than gen-
erally claimed by writers. This variety involves fragments of
what a lively imagination may so interpret, but closer observa-
tion will find them to be legitimately his own by inheritance,
and strung with approximate regularity upon the rosary of his
exquisitely varied and beautiful song. If I am unduly preju-
diced in his favor I shall be pardoned when I say that after a
long life of enthusiastic observations of the birds, I have met
no species thought to be so well-known that appears to me to
be so little known. His life is a perpetual testimony, tested by
a practical experience of his own, that "a little (ornithological?)
knowledge is a dangerous thing." He is the victim of a ruth-
less, unreasonable prejudice that appears to have sprung from
his overweening attachment to man which makes him most com-
mon, especially in his rural habitations. To this add the fact
that generations have slept away the ante-auroral hours of his
choicest melodies, and gone to their final rest declaring him
devoid of song because, forsooth, they have only heard his
harsh calls of warning and caution to his young and recently
enlarged family in the proximity of possible danger, or his
unassuming, fatherly mew, which has doomed him to his name
of Catbird.

His notes from the top of some bush, ten to twenty feet in
hight, rolled out into the air of the fresh dewy gray dawn, are
not as loud, nor his strains quite as systematically varied as
those of the Thrasher, but they are in individual cases at least ,
much sweeter and astonishingly refined in every quality. I
have never yet engaged the companionship of a connoisseur in
listening to this despised bird who has not shared to the utmost
my rapturous delight while acknowledging his patent prejudice.

I do not quite agree with Wilson in his explanation of the
causes which have generated so much dislike to this species,
yet accept them as sharing in them.

The Catbirds mostly disappear about the first week in Octo -
ber, although I have occasionally seen stragglers as late as
November. There is no considerable portion of the timbered
or the brushland regions of the State but what harbor them in
considerable numbers.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 413

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Third quill longest; first shorter than the sixth; the pre-
vailing color dark plumbeous; tail greenish-black; the lateral
feathers obscurely tipped with plumbeous; the under tail cov-
erts dark brownish-chestnut.

Length, 8.85; wing, 3.65; tail, 4; tarsus, 1.05.

Habitat, eastern United States and British Provinces, includ-
ing Rocky Mountains.

HARPORHYNCHUS RUFUS (L.) (705.)
BROWN THRASHER.

The Brown Thrush like the Robin, must have arrived during
exceedingly rough weather if he escapes the instantaneous
recognition of the waiting, vigilant observer of the migration
of the birds. Under all ordinary circumstances, he will
announce his presence unmistakably by mounting the top-most
limb of some isolated tree, and pouring forth his clear, strong,
liquid song in a prolonged strain, embracing twenty or more
elementary modulations, rearranging their order at each voluble
repetition. The air seems literally burdened with his melody.

All creation is summoned to witness his joy that he has once
more reached the very spot in all the earth wherein he would
spend the golden summer in rearing a new family of his own.
There is however considerable difference in the strength and
sweetness of different birds of the species, a fact as patent to
other species of wild bird warblers as to domestic songsters.
This delightful bird is one of the most welcome of all the hosts
which return to us in spring, but he is seldom heard after
incubation has been completed, except by those whose ears are
earliest open to the songs of birds in the mornings. About the
third week in May they build their nests of twigs, leaves,
strips of bark, and fibrous roots, and line them with fine roots
and hair. The nests are deeply hollowed, and variously
placed on the ground, or in a bush, a low evergreen, a brier
patch, &c, but usually not more than four feet above the ground.

They lay five eggs, of a pale-bluish color, thickly spattered
with fine dots of reddish-brown. Two broods are successively
brought out in a season as a rule, the latter of which is the
first to leave us in the autumn.

The parent birds are the last to depart, about the first week
in October, yet a resolute few linger in occasional years a week
or two later.

414 NOTES ON THE

Their food consists chiefly of worms, caterpillars, beetles,
spiders, and various species of fruit and berries. Their more
characteristic haunts are thick, low brush along the fences,
which embrace an occasional isolated tree or sapling, brier
patches, thickets of alders, sumach, &c, in flying from one to
another of which, we catch glimpses of their long, ferruginous
tails, spread broadly as they dash nervously out of sight, like
culprits just escaped from some merited punishment. The
note of caution, and of alarm in the presence of supposed
danger, is a short, staccato chuck, repeated more or less fre-
quently according to the measure of apprehensions awakened

They are popularly known in different sections of the coun-
try by various names amongst which are; Thrasher, Brown
Thrasher, Brown thrush, and the French Mocking Bird, which
readily suggest the use of scientific names for all natural
objects, selected from dead, and therefore unchangable
languages, common to all nations for scientific nomenclature.

Wilson says of this favorite bird: "The Thrasher is a wel-
come visitant in spring to every lover of rural scenery and
rural song. In the months of April and May, when our woods,
hedges, orchards, and cherry trees are one profusion of blos-
som; when every object around conveys the sweet sensations of
joy, and Heavens' abundance is, as it were, showering about us,
the grateful heart beats in unison with the varying, elevated
strains of this 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 be that heart, and callous those
feelings, and depraved that taste, which neither the charms of
nature, nor the melody of innocence, nor the voice of gratitude
or devotion can reach. "

The Brown Thrush has a very wide distribution within our
boundaries, where the conditions are suitable to their habits,
but they have their limitations, so that I have visited consider-
able sections in which they were unrepresented. Mr. Wash-
burn found them common at Mille Lacs in July and August,
but rare in the Red river valley a little later. All of my cor-
respondence reports then^ essentially common and breeding
abundantly.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 415

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Fifth quill longest; third, fourth, and sixth, little shorter;
second equal to ninth; exposed portion of the bill shorter than
fhe head; outline of lower mandible straight; above, light cin-
namon-red; beneath, pale rufous, white with longitudinal
streaks of dark-brown, excepting on the chin, throat, middle
of 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, cinnamon; con-
cealed portions of quills otherwise, dark-brown; median and
greater wing coverts, blackish -brown towards the end, followed
by white, thus producing two conspicuous bands; tail feathers
all rufous, the external ones obscurely tipped with whitish
the shafts of the same color as the vanes.

Length, 11.50; wing, 4.15; tail, 5.20; tarsus, 1.30.

Habitat, eastern United States and west to the Rocky Moun-
tains.

THRYOTHORUS LI DOVICIANUS (Latham). (718.)
CAROLINA WREN.

I had no expectation of ever seeing this bird in Minnesota,
but it is well identified now, although exceedingly rare. My
first was obtained in the immediate vicinity as far back as 1868,
since when it has been taken in several remote localities, but
I have no knowledge of its breeding here. That it does scar-
cely admits of a doubt, for its observation embraces all the
months from May to August, arriving about the 12th of the
former month and retiring about the 25th of the latter. Mr.
Holsinger reports it as obtained at Dodge Centre, and is in his
list of birds of Winona county. Mr. Lewis reports it from
Big Stone lake, and several others have been sent to the local
taxidermists from different sections for mounting. Yet it
must be still held as very rare, although not quite a straggler.

SPECIFIC characters]

Exposed portion of the bill shorter than the head. Above
reddish -brown, most vivid on the rump; a whitish streak over
the eye, bordered above with dark-brown; throat whitish, rest
of under parts pale-yellow rusty, darkest toward the under
tail coverts, which are conspicuously barred with black. Ex-
posed surface of the wings and tail (including the upper cov-
erts) barred throughout with brown outer edges of the tail
feathers and quills showing series of alternating whitish and
dusky spots. Legs flesh colored.

Length, 6; wing, 2.60; tail, 2.45.

Habitat, eastern United States, west to the Plains.

416 NOTES ON THE

THRYOTHORUS BEWICKII (Audubon). (719.)
BEWICK'S WREN.

Arrives in Minnesota generally about the 20th of April, but
varies materially with the seasons. It is a very sweet singer,
although not equal to the House or the Carolina Wren.

About the 20th of May, but not infrequently somewhat
earlier, they build their nests in stumps, knot holes in the
trees, hollow logs, etc., of the same materials as the other
wrens employ, and lay from five to seven white eggs, speckled
with light shades of brown, which are most numerous about
the larger end. While this species occasionally visits our
shrubbery and berry bushes of our gardeners, it is essentially
a denizen of the forest, especially the brushland borders, in
the vicinity of streams of water and lakes. Of the identity of
this species there is not the shadow of a question, but of its
relative representation there is considerable. As far back as
1874, it was not unusual in my experience to bag two or three
of them in a few hours general collection, and subsequently in
company with Mr. W. L. Tiffany (to whom I have elsewhere
referred) spend several hours in extensive comparisons. Few
of my correspondents report this wren, and I cannot regard it
as quite as common as I believed it would be found. It is,
however, a well represented and fairly distributed species in
many of the timbered sections. They retire southward by the
10th of September in ordinary seasons.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill shorter than head; tail longer than wings, much grad-
uated; upper parts rufous brown, beneath plumbeous white; a
white streak over the eye, the feathers edged above with
brown; exposed surface of wings and innermost tail feathers
closely barred with dusky; remaining tail feathers mostly
black, barred or blotched with white at tips, and on the whole
outer web of the exterior feather and under tail coverts.

Length, 5.50; wing, 2.25; tail, 2.50.

Habitat, eastern United States to Plains.

TROGLODYTES AEDON Vieillot. (721.)
HOUSE WREN.

Notwithstanding the tendency of the systematists in the
literature of American Ornithology to keep the typical House
Wren restricted to more eastern limits, I am able to assure them
that it is a regular summer resident of Minnesota. I have so

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 417

reported it long since, and am unable to understand the reasons
why they persist in thus restricting it. I cheerfully concede
that the variety parkmanii (if well made, which I seriously
question) is the more abundant, but judged by all the shades
and measurements upon which it is maintained, the two grade
completely into each other oftentimes, in a half dozen indiv-
iduals comprised in the collections of a morning's basket.
Birds, eggs and nests, obtained within a few feet of each
other, and within the present city limits, have thrown all pre-
conceived distinctions out, not once only, but repeatedly.
Still I have thought best to follow the decrees, and record my
observations accordingly.

The House Wren is first seen in spring about the 25th of
April, but he is generally heard first. Having long kept a
record of his first appearance, which puts me on the alert for
his sudden denouement, he could scarcely escape my notice, for
some of them at least never fail to resort to the roof of a dwel-
ling which if not my own, is not beyond the reach of my ear.
when the matchless little torrent of melody once breaks its
resorvoir, and inundates the entire vicinity. I have been
favored by its ultimate selection of my own premises, within
the boundaries of which to construct its nest, and rear its
young. This is begun as early as the 10th of May in favorable
seasons. Almost uniformly it is located about the eaves, or
gables of the house, or barn, as almost any other situation
would expose it to the maraudings of the numberless metropoli-
tan cats, that I am sorry to say are making bird rearing in the
trees and shrubbery of the city almost impossible. Of the
structure of the nests, or the appearance of the eggs, I have
no occasion to speak, so very familiar are they to those who
will be likely to ever read this report.

I am sure of their rearing two broods uniformly, and three
frequently. Neither variety is found in all parts of the State,
but abundant in some. In the larger bodies of timber, and
their immediate \'icinities, they are common about the dwellings
and outhouses. Mr. Washburn found them "abundant at St.
Vincent" and other places in the Red river valley. Dr. Hvoslef
also reports them in Fillmore county, during the summer.
They are reported common in the region about Duluth. Mr.
Grant does not include it amongst the birds observed at Ver-
milion lake in St. Louis county, however.

They do not all leave the State until well on towards October.

418 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tail and wings about equal; bill shorter than head; above
reddish brown, darker towards the head, brighter on the rump.
Feathers everywhere except on 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; 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, 4.90; wing, 2.08; tail, 2.

Habitat, eastern United States and west to Minnesota.

TROGLODYTES AEDON PARKMAMI (Audubon). (721a.)

PARKMAN'S WREN.

Accepting the differential characteristics, this variety is a
little the more numerous. At least it is so within my own
opportunities to measure fresh subjects. I am very familiar
with them as found on the Pacific coast from San Francisco to
San Diego, and the colors have apparently about the same rel-
ative difference which is found in nearly all species living
under like differences of humidity and sunshine. Ours are
manifestly darker, and consequently exhibit more rufous on
the lower back and rump. As to measures, I must see more
specimens in the flesh than I have yet seen to convince me
fully of the permanent and definable differences upon which
the variety has been instituted. As to the differences in the
songs, I can only say that there might be some which I could
not retain in my memory long enough to bring them home,
and keep them until the next year to compare them with birds
here, although in the case of several other species, 1 have suc-
ceeded in doing so because I could write them on a musical staff.
My skill never reached the measure of reproducing the song
of the House Wren. The dates of their migrations in either
spring or fall are the same as those of the other variety. I
have seen them still abundant till near the middle of Septem-
ber, and then on the advent of a severe frost, disappear en-
tirely in a single night. I think that like many other species,
they fly under such circumstances at night at an elevation
above the forests. When passing the electric light mast in
our city. 260 feet in height, small birds may be seen in a state
of confusion, flitting back and forth before resuming their
course. Indeed birds of all sizes including Pelicans, Geese

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA 419

and Ducks, have done this, but the smaller ones, amongst
which are the wrens, occasionally become disabled and have
been secured. I have found a few in very open, genial
autumns, remaining until after the 15th of October.

Presumptively, these constitute a considerable portion of
those reportod to me as belonging to the type species.

They are reported as abundant in every wooded section
heard from and very common in the cities of St. Paul and
Minneapolis as I have myself observed them. Mr. Washburn
found them abundant everywhere in the Red river valley, as
Dr. Hvoslef also gives them at Lanesboro.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Similar in size to T. aedo7o, with a light line over the eye, &c. ;
the colors however grayer, the upper parts dark brown, the
lower grayish white, with little or none of the rufous tinge of
particular regions, as seen in the other.

Length, 5; wing 2.10; tail, 2.

Habitat, western North America eastward to Manitoba,
Minnesota, &c.

TROGLODYTES HIEMALIS Vieillot. (722.)
WINTER WREN.

A regular winter visitant, reaching this latitude where I re-
reside variously from the 20th of December to the middle of Jan-
uary. It is never abundant, but it is not very unf requently seen
in winter. Occasionally obtained in the logging camps during
the severest weather, and I have found it within three hours
ride of the city on several occasions, one of which was in De-
cember, and another in February. It has also been taken by
several persons in the southern part of the State, making it
presumptive that it extends its migrations much further south.
Dr. Hvoslef has seen and obtained it in Fillmore county during
successive winters. I believe they all leave by or before the
first of March.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill very straight, slender, conical, and 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; transverse bars of dusky, and of lighter
everywhere except on the head and upper part of the back;
scapulars and wing coverts with spots of white; beneath pale
reddish-brown, barred on the posterior half of the body with

420 NOTES ON THE

dusky and whitish, and spotted with white more anteriorly;
outer web of primaries simiarly spotted with pale brownish-
white. An indistinct pale line over the eye.

Length, 4; wing, 1.66; tail, 1.26

Habitat, eastern North America.

CISTOTHORUS STELL4RIS (Lichtenstein.) (724.)
SHORT BILLED MARSH WREN.

The meadows and willow swamps to which the Marsh Wrens
at once resort upon their arrival, preclude the probabilities of
knowing just when that takes place, but from a comparison of
observations of several local observers it is not much removed
from the first of May. They are so exceedingly shy, and hide
in the reeds and grass so effectually that they are apparently
rare, yet from personal observations I cannot quite think they
are. When I have made special search for them I hare gen-
erally been unsuccessful, either from too great haste, or from
putting myself too directly in their way, but when entirely
alone and I have waited in complete ambush for some time,
I have generally been rewarded with the sight of several, and
the pleasure of obtaining one or two. I have found several
nests quite near each other, with eggs in by the 25th of May.
They are constructed in such a manner as to look like a loose
ball of grass hanging in a tussock of coarser grass or reeds,
about a foot above the ground. The whole is usually well
within a field of reeds or wild rice, where few persons would
be likely to go except to retrieve a duck, unless specially in
search of the nest. By the weaving of fine grasses ingeniously
in with the coarse, the exterior of the nest is compacted to im-
perviousness, while the inner nest is composed of fine grass,
and lined with soft down from the bark and blossoms of vege-
tables. The eggs, variously from six to ten, are pure white,
and exceedingly thin-shelled. The entrance to the nest is very
small and in some scarcely appreciable. They are widely dis-
tributed.

Prof. Herrick found it breeding at Lake Shatek ' 'in consid-
erable numbers."

Mr. Washburn, in his report to me of his explorations in the
Red river valley, says of the Short-billed Marsh Wren, it is
"common in the marshes throughout the valley; breeding in
colonies in the tall grass. A most interesting bird, as bold,
saucy and inquisitive as his cousin, the Long-billed Marsh
Wren. In a large marsh near Ada, I found a colony of these

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 421

wrens, which by my presence was thrown into most excitable
activity. They are at a disadvantage when on the wing, these
appendages seeming scarcely able to support their obese bodies,
for they fly as though weighted like a bee returning to a hive
heavily laden. Instinctively they fly toward the friendly sup-
port of some tall weed where, as if feeling more secure on their
feet than in the air, they resume their antics, hanging their
heads downward, twirting their tails, jumping from one reed
to another, and each bird apparently communicating its rest-
lessness to its neighbor until the whole colony is in a state of
ferment. They do not alight gracefully like most birds, but
seem to tumble into the weeds." This would seem to indicate
that the Short-billed Marsh Wrens are more abundant in the Red
river country than almost anywhere else in our special field of
investigations.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill very short, scarcely half the head; wings and tail about
equal; hinder part of the crown, scapular, and interscapular
region of the back and rump, almost black, streaked with
white; tail dusky, the feathers barred throughout with brown;
upper parts, with the exceptions mentioned, reddish brown.

Length, 4.50; wing, 1.75; tail, 1.75.

Habitat, eastern United States, west to the Plains.

CISTOTHORUS PALUSTRIS (Wilson). (725.)

LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN.

From every section of the State not personally visited, I
have the uniform testimony of the abundance of this species.
The migrations are indeterminately synchronous with the
Short-bills, and their haunts and breeding places the same in
both species, except that the nests of this is found nearer the
edges of the marsh. If anything, it is also a little the larger
of the two, and is suspended on the coarse, strong reeds, fairly
above all dangers from high waters overflowing the banks of
sluggish streams that meander the swamps and marshes. In
the exterior construction, rushes and coarse grass are closely
interwoven, and the interstices neatly fllled with mud, giving
it a very artistic, compact appearance, in size nearly six inches
in diameter. About one-third below the top a small hole for
entrance is left, overhung by a projection or canopy to exclude
the rain. Internally the nest is lined with fine grass, feathers
and vegetable down. They rear two broods in a season, form-
ing a new nest for each brood. From six to ten eggs is about

422 NOTES ON THE

the range of numbers, and they are somewhat variable in the
intensity of the color between light ash and brown, being so
thickly blotched as to give it those colors, although the general
hue without the blotching would be white. Their song is a
poor representative of bird-melody, consisting of little more
than an indistinct rasping, or grating sounds, not unlike the
sound of a sliver on a fence rail vibrating in the wind. They
feed principally upon tiny mollusks, and aquatic insects of
various kinds.

It is a very difficult matter to find just the time when they
habitually return to the South, but I think that as a general
thing it is by the 1st to the 5th of September, with occasional
exceptions in either direction.

My collector Mr. P. L. Washburn, who visited the valley of
the Red river in the interests of the survey, found this species
like the other, abundant, breeding in large colonies. He calls
it " a noisy chatterer, pre-eminently inquisitive; and as nimble
as a mouse. Standing among reeds, up to my waist in water,
and watching the movements of a flock of ducks several yards
in front of me, the noise of my movements attracted about me
countless numbers of these birds. Chattering angrily at my
intrusion, they came toward me from every side, scrambling
from reed to reed, head downward and peering at me with the
brightest of black eyes, seeming to demand of me by what
right I had tresspassed on the lawful territory of the Lilli-
putians. Its song is monotonous and squeaky."

Mr. J. M. Holzinger, Curator of the Normal School Museum,
at Winona, says it is "abundant around Lake Winona." That
it is generally distributed over the entire State there can be no
doubt.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill about as long as head; tail and wing nearly equal.
Upper parts dull reddish brown, except on the crown, inter-
scapular region, outer surface of tertials, and tail feathers,
which are almost black; 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, decreasing 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 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. 5.50; wing. 2.08; tail, 2.

Habitat, United States, abundant in reedy swamps.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 423

Family CEKTHIID^.

CERTHIA FAMILIARIS AMERICANA (Bonaparte). (726.)

BROWN CREEPER.

The Brown Creeper is a nervous, restless little fellow, who
comes so near being a permanent resident, that he only goes
barely far enough away in winter to be amongst us again very
early in the spring, an occasional individual lingering through
that inclement and vigorous season. Recorded observations
here give its arrivals in spring, between the first and tenth of
April, and the departures between the first and tenth of
December, but as already intimated, there are wide exceptions
from these dates and in the more southern counties it has been
observed early in March.

Its habits have been so beautifully described by Wilson, that
I repeat some passages referring to them. When describing
its proclivity to follow the Hairy Woodpecker, nuthatches,
and Chickadee through the woods, "gleaning up those insects
which their more powerful bills had alarmed and exposed," he
says: "As the party advances from tree to tree our little
gleaner seems to observe a good deal of regularity in his pro-
ceedings; for I have almost always observed that he alights on
the body near the root of the tree, and directs his course with
great nimbleness upward to the higher branches, sometimes
spirially, often in a direct line, moving rapidly and uniformly
along with his tail bent to the tree, and not in the hopping
manner of the Woodpecker, whom he far surpasses in dexter-
ity of climbing, running along the lower side of the horizontal
branches with surprising ease. If any person be near when he
alights, he is sure to take the opposite side of the tree, moving
around as he moves, so as to prevent him from getting more
than a transient glimpse of him.

The best method for outwitting him, if you are alone, is, as
soon as he alights and disappears behind the trunk, take your
stand behind an adjoining one, and keep a sharp lookout, twen-
ty or thirty feet up the body of the tree he is upon, for he gen-
erally mounts very regularly to a considerable hight, examin-
ing the whole way as he advances . In a minute or two, hearing
all still, he will make his appearance on one side or the other
of the tree and give you an opportunity of observing him. "

28 z

424 NOTES ON THE

The food consists chiefly of coleopterous insects, with an oc-
casional seed intermixed. He builds his nest much after the
manner of the wrens, in any available place like a hollow limb
or trunk of a tree — in the hollow of a tall stub — or beneath
a depending piece of bark on the side of a dead tree.

Five or six roseate-white eggs, delicately marked with
brown, are laid about the 20th of May.

This species is rather common a short time during migration,
and a few remain all summer, but they mainly go beyond the
limits of our territory to breed. In a very carefully prepared
list of birds observed at Vermilion lake by U. S. Grant, who
accompanied Prof. Winchell in his geological explorations of
St. Louis county, he saw but one individual, but at a season
which justifies the presumption of its breeding in that region.
In most wooded sections an occasional individual has been seen
at a time when it is entirely reasonable to suppose them sum-
mer residents.

Mr. Washburn believes it * 'rare in Otter Tail county. "' Its
habits are such that they may easily be overlooked, and I still
cherish the opinion that it has not yet received its proper credit.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill about length of head. Above dark-brown with a slight
rufous shade, each feather streaked centrally but not abruptly
with whitish; rump rusty; beneath almost silky white; under
tail coverts with a faint rusty tinge; a white streak over the
eye; ear coverts streaked with whitish. Tail feathers brown
centrally, the edges pale yellowish-brown; wings with a trans-
verse bar of pale reddish-white across both w^ebs.

Length, 5.50; wing, 2.60; tail, 2.90.

Habitat, North America generally.

Family PAIilD^.

SITTA CAROLINENSIS Latham. (727.)
WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH.
The White-bellied Nuthatch is a permanent resident of Min-
nesota, breeding, frequently, within the limits of the city as
well as in forests remote from dwellings. The nests are
usually found in cavities in trees much after the manner of
woodpeckers, and consist of fine grasses, feathers and hairs
which are lightly disposed in the bottom of the cavity selected.
They almost uniformly lay six eggs which are white with a
faint roseate tint, spattered with dots and splashes of pale
reddish-brown.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 425

After a long period of crisping cold days has softened into
one less rigorous "Nuttie, '' and his cousin will put in a joint
appearance. Then his monotonous cha-cha- cha-cha will sound
as cheery as more varied notes in the sunny season of song
would, but his visits are not frequent in winter in this latitude;
nor are they prolonged, for when he has dropped, head down-
wards, onto the trunk of the leafless tree, and begun his search
for larvae and insects, it is not long before every considerable
portion of the tree has been searched, and he has bounded
away to another. It rarely lights on the ground, and then it
remains but a few moments at most.

In proportion to its size, it is capable of vieing with the
woodpeckers in the use of its bill to excavate a hole in a tree
for its nest, which is sometimes sunken 14 to 18 inches below
the point of entrance. It lays 5 eggs usually, of a pearly- white
color, touched sparingly with dark-greenish, or dirty- yellow.
The young are brought out early in June. I have not met with
more than one brood to a pair in the same season, and from the
uniformity of the development of the young in the early autumn,
I believe it to be their local habit to rear but the one, whatever
may have been observed otherwheres. Under what circum-
stances they brave the severity of the winters in Minnesota can
only be conjectured, but, presumably, in holes of trees in the
swamps where evergreens afford protection from the winds.

For the species, they may be regarded as abundant in nearly
all wooded portions of the State, and much more frequently
seen in spring and fall than during either summer or winter.
Mr. Grant found them in St. Louis county during the summer,
Dr. Hvoslef at Lanesboro in March, Kennicott at Lake of the
Woods on May 31st, and Mr. Washburn everywhere in the Red
river region in both summer and autumn in abundance.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Above, ashy-blue; top of head and neck black. Underparts
and sides of head to a short distance above the eye, white.
Under tail coverts and tibial feathers, brown; concealed pri-
maries, white. Bill subulate, acutely pointed, compressed,
long as head; tarsi stout.

Length, 6; wing, 3.75; tail, 0.90.

Habitat, eastern United States to the Rocky Mountains.

426 NOTES ON THE

SITTA CANADENSIS (L.). (728.)
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH.

This little cousin of the White-bellied Nuthatch, in no way a
whit behind his bigger relative in interest, has its history ob-
scured by the shadow of the other to such an extent, that his
record begins and ends about where Audubon began and ended it

While quite similar in its habits to the other species, its note
is so much higher-keyed, and more rapidly repeated, that there
is little danger of the careful observer being misled as to its
identity. It feeds precisely like the other in every particular,
beginning upon the trunk or a larger branch, it moves forwards
or backwards with equal facility, and uniformly in a spiral di-
rection. If on the trunk, the prevalent attitude is with the
head downward, in which attitude it will frequently pause for
a moment, and with the bill at right angles to its perch, listen
to other notes and sounds, and then resume its search for in-
sects and larvae, constantly repeating its note resembling
'each, each, each each,'' rapidly repeated until it opens its wings
for a short flight to another tree already preoccupied possibly
by the large species, the Hairy Woodpecker, and the Chick-
adee. In this manner the party proceeds "regularly from tree
to tree through the woods like a corps of pioneers. " Mr. Grant
reports them as fairly represented about Vermilion lake and
vicinity during the summers he was there.

Messrs. Lewis, Treganowan and Washburn, each report this
species fairly represented in all the timbered sections visited
by them in the northwestern portions, and the latter mentions
them in the following words: "Young and old birds observed
at St. Vincent, common, and apparently finding there its
southern limit. I did not find it south of that place. One indi-
vidual, shot at St. Vincent Aug. 26th, measured 4.25; 2.50; 1.50;
and another, 4.25; 2.75; 1.50."

There is no doubt that the Red-breasted Nuthatch breeds
extensively in the northern portion of Minnesota, but I have
never discovered their nests in the others. Mr. Lewis, (who
gave the habits of this species as much if not more attention
than any other observer whose kindly aid I have received, )
says: "The nest is in an excavation in a stump, or a stub,
from three to four feet from the ground, and occasionally
somewhat higher, but never as elevated as that of the White-
breasted. It consists of moss, bark, hair and down, rather

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 427

loosely disposed, but with considerable claims to nesting in-
genuity. There are four or five pearly-white eggs, with occa-
sional touches of dingy-greenish at the larger end."

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Bill pointed, subulate, compressed, stout, a,bout as long as
head; culmen and commissure nearly straight; nostrils cov-
ered by a tuft of bristles directed forwards; tarsi stout, tail
very short, broad and nearly even; wings reaching nearly to
the end of the tail. 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, 4.50; wing, 2;65; tail, 0.85.

Habitat, North America at large.

PARUS BICOLOR (L.). (731.)

TUFTED TITMOUSE.

This is rather a rare species in Minnesota. Only occasion-
ally obtained, and then only in the extreme southern counties,
but at such times as they are presumably breeding. I place
them in my records on the assurances of Mr. Lewis who ob-
tained the skin and four eggs from a lad in Nobles county.

I knew the bird very well in his established haunts, and
have seen persons who have collected them occasionally in the
vicinity of Cedar Falls, Iowa.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Above ashy black. A frontal band of dark sooty brown.
Bill, black; feet lead color. Beneath dull whitish; sides brown-
ish chestnut, of more or less intensity.

Length, 6.25; wing, 3.20

Habitat, eastern United States to the Plains.

PARUS ATRICAPILLUS (L.). (735.)

CHICKADEE.

The Chickadee is a common, permanent resident of Minne-
sota, scarcely any portion of which yet visited, where there is
timber found, which does not have a fair representation of
them. But they are met with more frequently in the autumn
and early spring when they come out from the denser wood-
lands and seek the cultivated sections, where the sun has made
its food more attainable. At all times during winter, however

428 NOTES ON THE

severe the weather, it may be seen peering about the freshly
fallen pines in the vicinity of the lumber camps and in the
evergreen thickets of the same regions. Noisy, restless,
cheery, he is soon a favorite of the woodsman.

The earliest nests I have met were built about the last week
in April and were in holes in trees like those of the nuthatches
and woodpeckers. It is somewhat enlarged as it extends
down into the decayed tree or stump for eight or ten inches
and is lined with soft flexible mosses and animal hairs of dif-
ferent kinds. Sometimes it appropriates a few birds' feathers
and always weaves them nicely into a smooth warm receptacle
for from six to ten nearly pure white eggs with a slightly red-
dish tint, and spotted thickly at the larger end with reddish
brown. These are nearly spherical and measure about. 62x. 52.
They generally have two broods in the season.

The most noteworthy habit I have recognized in this species
which has so many times been omitted in descriptions of it is
its almost invariable association with the nuthatches, which if
not exactly with it are not far away. Next to this their pro-
clivity to approach so near to one when seated in the deep
woods. Its notes are too familiar to need description, formu-
lating so remarkably the words cheiveek-a-dee-dee-dee, cheiveek-a-
dee-dee-dee in a clear, distinct and really sweet tone. Its flight
is not unlike the woodpecker from tree to tree in its search for
food, and like that species is undulating, and gliding when
higher in the air.

As I have been often called upon for my opinion of its habits
of destroying the buds of fruit trees in blossom, I am cheerful
to say that I believe no buds ever suffer which have not first
been made worthless by containing a grub which is destined to
destroy it. An examination of these buds afterward uniformly
reveals a burrow which his faithful bill has just emptied. This
to my mind fully substantiates his claim to friendship and pro-
tection. He makes no mistakes which sacrifice the jierfect buds.
Endowed also in common with birds in general as he is with
eyes so constructed as to permit their microscopic as well as
telescopic use, he is prepared to examine with unerring cer-
tainty not only the buds but the bark where eggs as well as the
hatched vermin are hidden.

"The eggs of the moth of the destructive leaf- rolling cater-
pillar— the canker worm, the apple-tree moth, and others of
these well-known plagues are greedily eaten by it, and this in
the inclement winter when most of our other birds have aban-

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 429

doned us for a more genial climate. 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 as
a litter, he is very busy through the whole day in capturing
vast quantities of caterpillars, 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." The author just quoted — E. A. Sam-
uels in his Birds of New England, p. 185— says: "In some ob-
servations of this and other birds of Paris, it was found that
the Titmouse destroys at the lowest computation, over two
hundred thousand eggs of noxious insects annually. Does not
this appeal to the good sense of the farmer to protect the
lohole class that should not be forgotten?"

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Second quill as long as the secondaries; tail very slightly
rounded, lateral feathers about ten one hundredths of an inch
shorter than the middle ones; back brownish ashy; top of head
and throat, black, sides of head between them white; beneath
whitish; brownish- white on the sides; outer tail feathers,
some of the primaries and secondaries conspicuously margined
with white.

Length, 5; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.50.

Habitat, eastern North America.

PARUS ATRICAPILLIS SEPTENTRIONALIS (Harris).

(735a.)

LONG TAILED CHICKADEE.

For several years after my local observation of the birds
began, I found considerable variation in the length of the
specimens of this species which came under my observation,
without believing that I had * 'septentrionalis" occasionally,
but it proved to be that beyond a question, and I reported it in
a list published in lb74 as "rare" but it has been seen since that
time a good many times.

Its habits do not differ from the Black-capped except in
breeding time, when the "soft, long-drawn note" of Coues is
decidedly characteristic. However, the measurements grade
into those of the other variety so often as to leave a doubt
which we have, except in the case of those of completest
characteristics.

430 NOTES ON THE

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Head above and below black, separated by white on the
sides of the head; back brownish-ash; beneath white, tinged
with pale brownish- white on the sides; outer tail feathers,
primaries and secondaries broadly edged with white, involving
nearly the whole outer web of the outer tail feathers; tail
much graduated; the outer feather about thirty hundredths of
an inch shorter than the middle; second quill about as long as
the secondaries.

Length, about 5.50; wing, 2.70; tail, about 3 inches.

Family SYLYIID^.

REGULUS SATRAPA Lichtenstein. (748.)
GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET.

This species appears simultaneously with the other Kinglet
and differs from it very little in its habits. Not quite as
numerous as the other, nor quite as active perhaps, it is not as
easily obtained. It rarely sings in migration, and then in a
very soft, musing tone which is very monotonous. The near-
est description of the note which I can give is expressed in a
single word, Veeet, and a single strain consists of about a half-
dozen repetitions. Amid the grand chorus of bird- song it is
easy to fail to detect it, but when heard is decidedly pleasing.
It leaves for the farther north a little earlier than the Ruby-
crowned does. I know nothing of its breeding habits within
my province, but think it not improbable that its nests may yet
be found in the northeastern portions of the State. It is
believed to be a more northern bird than its cousin.

Mr. Herrick found it present still in Southern Minnesota as
late as October in the fall migration.

Their patient industry in gathering their tiny insect food,
monotonously repeating their "t'eeet, t'eeet, t'eeet, t'eeet, t'eeet,
t'eeet," softly and rather rapidly, interrupted by a frequent
poise upon their fluttering wings while feeding upon some
dainty forms at the very extremity of the tremulous leaves is a
marvellous exhibition of contentment with their lot. They
have a habit of exposing their concealed, golden feathers of
the crown, by suddenly opening and shutting the overlapping
feathers on the parts adjoining them, by which they make
good their claims to royalty, and from which they have ob-
tained the common name of Golden- crowned Kinglets. Most
of them have passed further north by the end of the second

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 431

week in April, some of them to breed in the rough, hill country
in the vicinity of Lake Superior, where Mr. Lewis found quite
a number of them in June and July, but failed to secure any
nests of eggs. But they mostly go much beyond us to spend
their summers in an alien land.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Above olive green, brightest on the outer edges of the wing;
tail feathers tinged with brownish-gray towards the head; fore-
head, a line over the eye, and a space beneath it, white. Ex-
terior of the crown before and laterally, black, embracing a
central patch of orange red, encircled by gamboge yellow. A
dusky space round 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 whit-
ish.

Length, under 4; wing, 2.25; tail, 1.80.

Habitat, North America generally.

REGULUS CALENDULA (L.). (749.)
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET.

But a little larger than the Hummingbird, this remarkable,
vigorous species reaches us the first week in April in parties
of twenty to forty perhaps, a minority of which are sometimes
found to be Golden crowns. They follow the wooded banks of
the Mississippi and other large streams of water running north
and south, "working" each tree over successively if undisturbed,
and one at a time, flitting to the next northward. Active to
the highest tension, and vigilant in their exhaustive search for
the eggs and larvae of insects which are only found in the
crevices of the bark of the trees, they are exceedingly difficult
to follow. I have hoped that it might be my good fortune to
hear them sing, but beyond a soft twitter, or "whistle and work"
song, I have failed altogether.

Dr. Coues says: "One of the most remarkale things about
the Ruby-crown is its extraordinary power of song. It is
really surprising that such a tiny creature should be capable
of the strong and sustained notes it utters when in full song.
The lower larynx, the sound producing organ, is not much big-
ger than a good sized pin's head, and the muscles that move it
are almost microscopic shreds of flesh. If the strength of the
human voice were in the same proportion to the size of the
larynx, we could converse with ease at a distance of a
mile or more. The Kinglets' vocalization defies description;

432 NOTES ON THE

we can only speak in general terms of the power, purity and
volume of the notes, their faultless modulation and long con-
tinuance."

That this species breeds about the head waters of the Miss-
issippi and the head of Lake Superior there can be little doubt,
as it may be seen there as late as July according to observa-
tions of parties visiting those regions who claim to know the
bird well.

The coloration of the sexes is essentially alike, neither hav-
ing the concealed patch of scarlet feathers on the crown until
the second year. It is common in migration and no species
visiting the State has contributed greater numbers to the gun
of the collector for scientific purposes, through mistaken iden-
tity, yet each individual which escapes is too busy to recognize
the disaster further than to get away for the moment from the
noise of the gun that has slain his equally industrious comrade.

Their autumnal migration brings them to us about the last
week in September, when they are somewhat promiscuously
mixed with Satrapa and several other species, remaining some-
times until the latter part of October.

SPECIPIC CHARACTERS.

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.

Length, 4.50; wing, 2.35; tail, 1.85.

Habitat, North America.

POLIOPTILA C^RILEA (L.). (751.)

BLUE GRAY GNATCATCHER.

Long believed to be a summer resident, no bird has been
more diligently sought after here than this. My friend W. L.
Tiffany, a collector with large experience at Cape May, and
otherwheres, called my attention to the general history of this
species in 1874. In all the many most delightful explorations
about the vicinity of Minneapolis which we had together we
both kept it constantly in mind, and not in vain, although at
that time unsuccessful, for since then several have been ob-
tained by different collectors. Dr. Coues says in his "Birds of

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 433

the Colorado Valley," that it does not visit this State, in which
at this date, he is almost but not qnite right. My collections
embrace the months of May, June and July.

At what precise time it has been observed to arrive in Min-
nesota I cannot state except that two have been obtained be-
fore the 20th of May. If any nests have been collected, the
fact has not been communicated to me up to this time. It is
a species with which I became quite familiar in California
when collecting in the southern portion of that state. The P.
melanura or Black-tail was a more common species, resembling
it so much in appearance and manners that with difficulty I
learned to separate them without shooting them first, unless
near enough to distinguish the dark tail and black crown of the
latter.

Mr. R. S. Williams of this city obtained the first specimen
of the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher on the 19th of May, 1877. It was
a male. Quite remarkably this bird was also first observed in
in Massachusetts, November, 1876. (Bulletin Nuttall Club,
Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 46).

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Above grayish -blue, gradually becoming bright blue on the
crown; a narrow frontal band of black extending backward over
the eye; under parts and lores bluish- white, tinged with lead
color on the sides; first and second tail feathers white except
at the extreme base which is black, the color extending ob-
liquely forward on the inner web; third and fourth black with
white tips, very slight on the latter; fifth and sixtb entirely
black; upper tail coverts blackish- plumbeous; quills edged ex-
ternally with pale bluish- gray, which is much broader, and
nearly white on the tertials.

Length, 4.30; wing, 2.15; tail, 2.25.

Habitat, middle and southern portions of the United States.

Family TUKDTD^.

TURDUS MUSTELINUS Gmelin. (755.)
WOOD THRUSH.

This peerless songster arrives about the 5th to the 10th of
May, the latest record I have of my own, or any of my corres-
pondents for many years being May 12th. The males arrive a
little in advance of the females, but only a little, for they are
silent until the arrival of the others, and not more than three
or four days after the earliest are known to have come, their
songs begin to be heard.

434 NOTES ON THE

The first noticed are either single or in small, loose parties,
but so silent and unobstrusive, as to elude all but practiced
observation. Its favorite haunts, so well known to be the low,
thickly shaded borders of the forest, along the banks of running
waters, overhung with wild vines, are now exchanged for those
less secluded places, seeking its food in the open fields, or
wherever it is most plentiful, which is quite near barns, sheds,
and dwellings in many instances. In bright days this range is
likely to be confined to the early morning, but when the sky is
clouded, he will often remain about the garden all day, partic-
larly when a little rainy also. My residence is very centrally
located, and beside an arboreal lawn of my own, I have neigh-
bors who have them also on either side of me, in any and all of
which the Wood Thrush may often be seen at this season, under
the conditions mentioned

A lady friend* of rare culture, who is a critical observer of
the habits of birds, has a rear yard, or garden, only twenty-
four by sixty feet, surrounded by a high fence, along which are
planted bushes and shrubs, and in the centre, one or two fruit
trees.

The buildings are built in solid blocks from street to street,
with no lawns, but she counts upon the visits of many species
of the birds regularly in their migrations, and this one in par-
ticular in which she is seldom dissapointed. Being perfectly
familiar with the habits of all the common thrushes, and
employing a field-glass at such short range, she could not con-
found the species.

Immediately upon the arrival of the closely following females
unless the weather is exceptionally bad, the males will be
heard early in the morning warbling their liquid, bell- toned
notes from the top-most limb of a tree, surrounded by others
inferior in height, and all embraced in a compact thicket in
the woodlands.

* Mrs. Sarah A. Hubbard author of tho most charming Monograph ou "The Hum-
ming Birds of tlietwo Americas" put)lislu'd a few years since in Harper's Montlil.y. In
one of her warbling letters, written May 5lli. 1883, she says, wlien speaking of birds;—
"And they have come. * * * Day before yesterday, a Wood Thrush, a Hermit
Thrush, and a Swaiuson's Thrusli. spent the morning with nie. I sit in a window look-
ing right down upon them, and witli my opera-glass It is almost as good as having
them in my hand. Tlie Wood Thrush, with his tawny head and erect crest, flapping
its wings and keeping a fierce, truculent demanor; The Hermit Thrush »vitli olive
head and back, and tawny tail; and the Swaiuson's with pure olive on the upper
parts, were easily distinguished at a glance. The Hermit came first, April 4th, and
lias been here ever since, sometimes visiting me In companies of three and four, but
more often in solitary state. .

I notice that when a bird comes, it Is apt to stay all day, owing I think to the
quiet seclusion of the place, with its high walls and abundant vines and shrubl)ery,"

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 435

About the 20th of May they begin to build their nests in a
rather low bush, in their secluded haunts in deeply shaded
hollows in the woo Hands near either a lake, or stream of run-
ning water. I have found them occupying the northern slope
of dry, brushy hillsides, yet this is exceptional. It is construc-
ted of weeds, grass, leaves, &c, compactly, and somewhat
artistically arranged outwardly with mud and grass, and lined
with moss, fibrous roots and flexible, soft, fine grass. The
eggs are usually four in number of a uniforn light blue color,
without spots and have a faint shade of green. They are
credited with but one brood in New England, but they do bet-
ter in Minnesota, bringing out two as a rule. Their food
varies somewhat with the season, but embraces various kinds
of berries, beetles, spiders, caterpillars, and a few varieties
of lichens. They retire southward about the middle of Sep-
tember.

Less observed than most birds of striking song because of
its secluded breeding habits, it is nevertheless a common sum-
mer resident in its wonted localities throughout the entire
State yet explored.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Above clear cinnamon brown, on the top of the head becom-
ing more rufous, on the rump and tail, olivaceous. Under
parts 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 subtri-
angular, sharply defined spots of blackish. Sides of head
dark brown, streaked with white, and there is also a maxillary
series of streaks on each side of the throat, the central portion
of which sometimes has indications of small spots.

Length, 8.10; wing, 4.25; tail, 3.05; tarsus, 1.26.

Habitat, eastern United States to Plains.

TURDUS FUSCESCENS Stephens. (756.)
WILSON'S THRUSK.

Wilson's Thrush makes its appearance in the State about the
beginning of the second week in May; the males preceding the
females only a few days. Pairing follows in due time, but not
until "many a knight has drawn his sword" and some fierce
battles have been fought in the presence of the most indifferent
of dulcinas.

It builds its nest about the last week in May, occasionally
somewhat earlier. In speaking of this charming thrush I will
not deny myself the privilege of quoting from the inimitable

436 NOTES ON THE

pen of that master of words in the expression of science or
sentiment, Dr. Elliott Coues in his Birds of the Colorado
Valley, page 41: "The heavy growth of timber that fringes
the streams including many nooks and dells, and broken
ravines overgrown with thick shrubbery from out the masses
of which the tall trees tower as if stretching forth their strong
arms in kindly caressing of the humbler and weaker vegetation,
their offspring.

"In such safe retreats, where the sombre shade is brightened
here and there with stray beams of sunlight, in the warmth of
which myriads of insects bathe their wings and flutter away
their little span of life, humming a quaint refrain to the
gurgle of the rivulet, the Veery meets its mate — the scng rises
— the wooed is won — the home is made. Should we force our
unwelcome presence upon the bird who is brooding her newly-
found treasures with the tenderest solicitude, she will nestle
closer still, in hope of our passing by, till we might almost
touch her. when, without a word of remonstrance or reproach,
she takes a little flight, and settles a few yards away in silent
appeal. If the time, the place, the scene, suffice not for our
forbearance, with what poor words of hers may we then be
moved ?"

Whoever would try it after seeking such a spot as the above
picture points out, as true to science as it is to sentiment, will
find the nest either resting directly upon the ground amongst
leaves, or a little above it. There is no remarkable exhibition
of skill manifested in its structure, but on the other hand, it
looks rather clumsy and bulky, yet it is fairly well finished
within. It consists outwardly of leaves, and bark, weeds and
grasses within, with no special lining. The cavity is slight
compared with the excavation of some of the other Thrushes.
The eggs are greenish blue without any markings usually,
and four to five in number. Occasionally obsolete specks may
be detected on the larger end. The song of this interesting
species is quite remarkable, the notes being metallic and bell-
like, very distinct and resonant. The quivering frill, frill,
frill, frill graduated from a high key downward, increasing in
volume with each frill in the four repetitions, giving it a wild
and delicious sadness, impossible to describe, but always felt
when heard. The song is not unfrequently prolonged until
between eleven and twelve o'clock in the evenings of warm,
cloudy weather. Often when delayed, I have been riding
through the dark woodlands bordering the lake, at that late

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 437

hour, when several in different directions could be heard in
successive responses, and more weird melody I never heard.
Sometimes seemingly almost over my head, and sometimes so
far away as to seem to come from another world.

Nothing in bird life ever so appealed to what hovers upon the
borderland of superstition in my own experience. The Great
Horned Owl's melancholic hootings awaken other sensations,
perhaps a little cowardice withal, for they suggest memories
of fallen Babylon and spirits lost, while these delightful,
though mystic melodies seemed more like the vesper bells of
invisible wood nymphs summoning one to prayer."

The Veery Bird, as this is often called, is a fairly common
species here, and is apparently widely distributed over the
State. My correspondents have uniformly given it as common
in their locality.

Mr. Washburn found it so in the valley of the Red river, and
and at Mille Lacs, as did Dr. Hvoslef in southern Minnesota.
Mr. Grant makes no mention of this, or any other of the
Thrushes in his list of birds observed in northern Minnesota.

Note. Few, if any other of the Thrushes, have elicited
more popular interest than this so far as my own observation
extends. One of my early friends, who was a close observer
of nature, used to tell me much about a bird whose song had
made a deep impression on his memory in his boyhood while
residing in Sherburne, Chenango Co., N. Y., which he had not
heard sing in forty years. While visiting me at Minneapolis,
we were riding near Lake Calhoun, when upon hearing this
bird he exclaimed: "There is the Wilderness Bird again!" He
had never known it but by its song, but had heard it called by
that local name. As far back as 1865, Colonel J. B. Clough
(afterwards assistant engineer who located much of the North-
ern Pacific railroad) used to describe, or try to describe, the
song of a bird familiar to him (by its song only) in Massachu-
setts, desiring me to find it here, as he had heard it himself in
this locality. Descriptions by their songs is a very uncertain
method of extending the knowledge of ornithology. Bat I
found several years later that this was the bird, to his own and
my delight.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Third quill longest; fourth a little shorter; second nearly a
quarter of an inch longer than fifth. Above and on side of
head and neck, nearly uniform light reddish-brown, with a
faint tendency to orange on the crown and tail. Beneath white;
forepart of throat and breast (paler on chin) tinged pale brown-
ish yellow; sides of throat and forepart of breast marked with
small triangular spots of light brownish; a few obsolete blotches

438 NOTES ON THE

on sides of breast pale olivaceous; sides of body tinged same;
tibiae white; lower mandibile brownish at tip; lores ashy.

Length, 7.50; wing. 4.25; tail, 3.20; tarsus, 1.20.

Habitat, eastern United States to Plains.

TURDUS ALICIiE (Baird). (757.)
GRAY- CHEEKED THRUSH.

This comparatively new species, or newly individualized
species, is occasionally met with in migration, and may possibly
yet be proved to be a summer resident in some localities.* It
arrives about the 10th of May and apparently disappears by the
20th, at least that is the latest record I have of one obtained
almost within the city limits during May of the present year.
It may be much more common than my opportunities for know-
ing indicate, for it is an exceedingly shy bird, confining itself
while here to thickets, along the borders of groves, and forests
of hardwood. I have never been able to assure myself that I
have heard its song, notwithstanding its unmistakable charac-
ter as given by modern writers. The downwardness of the
scale of its song as described by those who are familiar with
the species in New^ England as contrasted with that of T. Pal-
lasi, has met my ear on several occasions without being confi-
dent of its source. Its observation at so many proximate
places in adjoining states seems to justify the expectation that
the species will yet be found to be fairly represented in portions
of Minnesota. I have had only a single individual in my hands
by my own gun yet.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Third quill longest; fourth nearly equal; second slightly
longer than fifth. Above nearly pure dark olive-green; sides
of head, ashy-gray; chin, throat, under parts and ring around
eye, white, purest behind. Sides of throat and across the
breast with arrow-shaped spots of dark plumbeous-brown; sides
of body and axillaries, dull grayish- olivaceous; tibiae, plumb-
eous; legs brown.

Length, 8; wing, 4.20; tail, 3.20; tarsus, 1.15.

Habitat, eastern North America west to the Plains.

*Mr. T. S. Roberts. Mr. J. Angstrum, and a promising young naturalist by the name
of H. McCoy, of Merrianj Park, have each given me verbal reports of having collected
this species in this vicinity.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA 439

TURDUS IjSTULATUS SWAINSONII (Cabanis). (758a.)

OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH.

The uniform shade of the upper parts, somewhat emphasized
on the rump and tail, distinguishes this species amongst the
Thrushes.

Arriving here late in April, or in the early part of May, it is
abundant for a short time, but moves northward then, only a
few comparatively remaining to breed, and those principally
in the northern counties of the State. Its favorite places for
nesting here seem to be the edges of heavy timbered tracts,
which are bordered with brushland, or thickets of oaks. -They
build their nests about the 20th to the 25th of May, on a hori-
zontal limb, which is usually five to seven feet from the ground.
It is very compactly built of such material as the locality af-
fords including strips of bark, leaves, lichens, moss, &c. The
eggs, usually four or five in number, are light greenish-blue,
speckled with several shades of reddish-brown.

The song of this species does honor to its melodious group,
having about as much variety as those of the other thrushes,
and more nearly resembles that of the Hermit. For many years
Swainson's Thrush was seldom seen except in migration, but
since the country has been more extensively settled, and fires
have ceased to destroy the brushlands and timber, it has been
increasing in the numbers of individuals that remain during
the summer. I have seldom found it feeding on the ground
after the manner of most of the same genus but on the trees
and brush, and unlike any of them, dashing out after insects
essentially like a warbler or a flycatcher.

One specimen of this species obtained in July was building a
new nest, which must be exceptional, for although rearing two
broods they appear usually to build but one. Perhaps it had
been molested. The autumnal migration takes place simulta-
neously with that of most of the other thrushes, except the
Robin.

As to their distribution throughout the State during migra-
tion, there seems to be great uniformity where the conditions
for its food are present. Lists for May are sent me annually
from nearly every characteristic section of the survey, and a
good number for the entire summer. They wander to consider-
able distance from the forests for food, but only in the thickety,
brushland localities.

29 z

440 NOTES ON THE

Dr. Hvoslef, Mr. Washburn, and Mr. Lewis, each cor ■
roborate my former estimate of its distribution as being less
frequently seen in the northern portions of the State, which is
further negatively endorsed by its notable absence from Mr.
Grant's northeastern list.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Third quill longest; second and fourth but little shorter, and
much longer than the fifth, (0.35). Upper parts uniform
olivaceous with a decided shade of green. Fore parts of
breast, throat and chin, pale brownish yellow; rest of lower
parts white; sides washed with brownish olive. Sides of
throat and fore part of breast with subrounded spots of well
defined brown, darker than the back; rest of breast, except
medially, with rather less distinct spots that are more oliva-
cious. Tibiae yellowish brown; broad ring around the eye;
loral region, and a general tinge on the side of the head, clear
reddish -buff.

Length, 7.00; wing, 4.15; tail, 3.10; tarsus, 1.10.

Habitat, eastern North America, westward to Columbia.

TURDl S AONALASCHKJ^. PALLASII (Cabanis). (759b.)
HERMIT THRUSH.

The plumage of the Hermit Thrush in spring has long con-
founded it with Swainson's, or perhaps better. Swainson's with
the Hermit, but their feeding habits, as well as the song,
separate them widely as species. While the former is mostly
confined to the branches of the trees for its food, the latter
feeds almost exclusively on the ground. The notes of the
former are more prolonged, regular, and ascend more gradu-
ally, while the latter beginning low, rises rapidly into its
highest tinkling melodies, and terminates the strain abruptly.
A number of the Hermits may often be found within a short
distance of each other, but still not together when feeding.
Silently they search amongst the half-decayed leaves in the
thickets bordering swampy, partially overflowed tracts, not
infrequently venturing into the open fields where larvae and
insects abound, with little of the shyness of the Olive-backed
Thrush.

My earliest personal observation of the time of its arrival in
the vicinity of where I reside was April 5, 1875. This is a
little earlier than any which has been reported to me. Other
observers corroborate my own records in making the general
date from the 15th to the 20th of April. It seldom sings im-
mediately after its arrival, but in due time those which remain

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. ' 441

to build nests overflow with the ebullition of fervid melodies.
I have often listened to the delicious notes which to my ear are
in no way inferior to those of the Wood Thrush. I am not
surprised that those who have heard him for the first time
should be ready to exalt him higher than the other in the scale
of song, when I remember the associations amid which they
found him. The silence, the delicious solitude of his choristry
underneath the shadows of the grand, leaf- canopied forest,
awaken feelings, sentiments and inspirations eminently calcu-
lated to lend enchantment to his liquid, silvery, bell-toned notes
which as they cease are instantly repeated by another,
responding from the uncertain shadows in the distances
beyond. His beautiful crescendo, begun so low and soft as to
seem far away, and swelling upward progressively and evenly
into its rounded sweetness and fullness, till he seems to be
near enough to touch, yet all the time unseen, may well secure
an appreciation of his powers to one for comparisons. This
characteristic is a keynote to his identity while yet undis-
covered, as the song of the Wood Thrush is diametrically
opposite in being an equally perfect diminuendo.

This thrush cannot be said to be common in the middle and
southern portions of the State except in its migrations, yet
numbers enough remain through the summer to make it no
difficult matter to find a nest with due patience, when its habits
are well understood.

I have found them within the limits of the corporation of
Minneapolis and in the vicinity of Minnetonka in the "Big
Woods, " a large belt of deciduous forest stretching diagonally
from northeast to southwest through the State. I recall the
discovery of one in the dark forest about a mile west of the
Falls of Minnehaha. The Rev. J. A. Laurie, formerly residing
at Duluth, informed me many years since of its presence near
that city. He was a careful observer and has on many oc-
casions contributed to me facts of interest in this department
of natural history. It does not build its. nest till near the first
of June, which is uniformly directly on the ground, and under
low thick brushes bordering, but not in the dense woods.

It is generally quite near swampy localities. It is composed
of coarse grass, twiggs, moss and leaves externally, without
mud, and internally of soft, pliable grasses, fine roots, and a
few lichens quite artistically arranged. It is rather deeply
hollowed.

442 NOTES ON THE

The eggs, from three to four in number, are a light-blue,
with a faint shade of green, one of which is occasionally
thinly spotted with rusty-brown. I do not know of their hav-
ing more than one brood in a season. They become quite
common again during September, by the general migration
southward, individuals not infrequently being seen as late as
the first of November in open autumns.

Note. When conversing with Professor S. F. Peckham,
formerly on the faculty of the Minnesota State University, and
of late connected with the Smithsonian Institution, he spoke of
the nest of this species having come under his notice once in
Rhode Island, in open ground, and subsequently gave me a
written statement as follows: "The nest was on the ground
without protection, in a piece of old chestnut woods without
underbrush. Eggs, four in number, about two- thirds the size
of the Robin's, somewhat thicker in shape, and of a darker
^reen color."

I had the pleasure of learning from him that he had given
the birds of New England much study in the years gone by,
and was therefore speaking by the book. It was certainly a
very remarkable freak for the Hermit Thrush to build in such
a place. But most rules have their remarkable exceptions,
for they are of finite formulation while the Infinite fills all the
spans in the great viaduct of materialized truth.

specific characters.

Fourth quill longest; third and fourth a little shorter; second
about equal to sixth; about thirty hundredths of an inch shorter
than the longest. Tail slightly emarginate. Above light
olive brown, with a scarcely perceptible shade of reddish,
passing however into decided rufous on the rump, upper tail
coverts, and tail to a less degree on the outer surface of the
wings. Beneath white, with a scarcely appreciable shade of
pale buff across the forepart of the breast, and sometimes on
the throat; sides of throat and forepart of breast with rather
sharply defined subtriangular spots of dark olive brown; sides
of breast with paler and less distinct spots of the same. Sides
of body under the wings of a paler shade than the back; a
whitish ring around the eye; ear coverts very obscurely
streaked with paler.

Length, 7.50; wing, 3.85; tail, 3.25; tarsus, 1.15.

Habitat, eastern North America.

MERILA MIGRATORIA (L.). (761.)

AMERICAN ROBIN.

Who that has watched the departure of the Robin from au-
tumn to autumn through successive years, and felt the relent-
less touch of artic frosts follow them so soon with their drift-

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA 443

ing snows and piercing winds, will understand the joy
which comes back with their return to this beautiful north -land
in the spring.

Not only do they come to meet a thousand times a thousand
welcomes for their own sake, but to proclaim that the winter
is gone.

Lingering drifts of dingy snow may still cower under the
covert of outbuildings and fences, and the winds may still be
chilly at times, but the grass has formed green patches on the
lawns, while the bloodroots and liverworts have begun to peer
through the moist carpet of decaying leaves in the budding
woodlands. The males arrive several days in advance of the
females, and always in the morning.

If sunny and warm for the season, their familiar notes from
the loftiest tree that borders the forest, or the tallest spire of
the city will proclaim their presence in a flood of continuous
song that will challenge the ear of the dullest. On the other
hand, should it be windy, cloudy and chilly, the closest
observation will be required to make the longing hope assured,
by finding small parties flitting from bush to bush along the
borders of brushy woods, or streams fringed with alders and
willows in characteristic silence. This transpires between the
25th of March and the 5th of April.* After about a week, the
songless females have come, as quietly as the first flakes of
the autumn's snow, when the small parties of males — the
bachelor's clubs of the species disappear. Each has soon
wooed and won a female companion with whom to share the
joys and cares of the summer, and hence they will only be
seen in pairs until the autumn. I am confident that with few
exceptions, the same individuals are reunited in each pair
amongst the older birds; and that the sanguineous conflicts,
and the gentler ones for the mastery of song, are among the
young males of the previous year. True, there doubtless may
be some widowers there, some perhaps who have been thrice
married, and if so, the first display of chivalric strife will be
sure to prove their prowess.

The reinstalment of the Robins in our midst has more to do
with human happiness than many a philosopher has yet found
out.

*Oa March 11th, 1878, I saw three Robias (presamably females) and on February 7th,
1880 I saw one in the suburbs of the city. Dr. Hvoslef's report gives dates as follows:
"February 19th, 1881 saw a flock. March 23. 18S3. and at the same date, 1884."

444 NOTES ON THE

Their nests have in a few instances been found as early as
the 15th of April,* but usually in the different parts of this
State from the 25th of April to the 10th of May. The range
of conditions under which they build their nests is difficult to
define, so characteristic is their proclivity to get the nearest
safe proximity to man and his works. Sometimes it is very
near the ground in an oleander recently taken from its winter
quarters in a greenhouse, or a lilac bush near the door steps, on
a low, horizontal oak limb near a window through which the
bird could see plainly the transpirations within. In a few
instances it is found in the very highest part of a tree. Ever-
green shrubbery is a favorite place. Several instances have
come under my notice in which the nest has been in such a
preposterous place as under a railroad bridge, in a saw mill,
and even in a steam boiler shop.

They lay four to five dark bluish-green eggs without spots.
In general the nest consists outside of shavings, roots, strings,
bits of rags, etc., when near dwellings, then a stratum of
leaves, grass and moss cemented with mud and lastly lined
with soft, well arranged dry grass. The song is not greatly
varied but is loud, clear, liquid and remarkably sweet at a little
distance. Although more commonly heard in spring it is not
discontinued but confined to the earlier morning until nearly
time to migrate southward in autumn. This occurs from about
the 15th of October to the 5th of November. Occasionally a
number of males are seen still later. The young of the year
almost uniformly go first, followed shortly by the females and
lastly by the males. I am satisfied from reported observations
that in these movements those in the rear occasionally over-
take and mingle with the females, and possibly the young.* *

Their food embraces too great a range for very definite
statement; worms and insects in the early season, and fruits

*One nest was found at Lanesboro on the 5th of May, 1884.

**A reliable gentleman of observing habit, assures me that the Robin occasionally
remains in the woods along the Turlcey river all winter. Tlie latest date of my own
notes gives November 20th. Mr. Washburn found them at Dead lake in Otter Tall
county, November 9tli, 1885, "as if to stay."

The question of the longevity of the Robins has often been raised and Is difHoult to
answer for the obvious reason that in their wild state consecutive observation is
impossible. But I have gathered some facts respecting them in captivity which lead
me to believe that under favorable circumstances, In their wild condition they should
reach at least an age of twenty years, and possibly twenty-five. The oldest one
which has come to my knowledge, was somewhat less than that but the most reliable
record I have is one given me by Mr. Geo. B. Sennett, whose name has become fami-
liar to all the friends of bird lore by his famous Collection of Texas Birds, in the
National Museum at Washington. It was obtained seven miles from Erie. Pa., and
was sixteen years and nine months old when it died.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA 445

and berries later. Indeed there is little which they can swal-
low that does not, under special circumstances, become food
for them. Of berries they ofttimes eat to downright
gluttony. Indeed when they are abundant the male Robins
will remain often in small numbers until driven away by the
keener frosts of the middle of November. A few have, in a few
instances, braved the entire winter subsisting chiefly upon
juniper berries which abound along the borders of lakes in the
vicinity of springy swamps. I do not remember of an in-
stance in which the Robin has approached the habitations of
man at this rigorous season in this latitude and longitude.

SPECIFIC CHARA.CTERS.

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 anter-
iorly, white; under parts and insides of wings, chestnut-brown;
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, 9.75; wing, 5.45; tail, 4.75; tarsus, 1.25.

Habitat, eastern North America to the Rocky Mountains.

(I have seen the largest numbers of individuals of this
species in flocks on the eastern foothill of the Santa Cruz
division of the Coast Range of Mountains in Santa Clara
county, California, which I have ever seen anywhere in my
life time. )

MERULA MIGBATOKIA PROPINQUA Ridgway. 761a.)
WESTERN ROBIN.

This species is introduced because a single individual has
been reliably identified in the northwestern part of the State,
and others credibly reported as found on the Missouri river.
Several visits to the Pacific coast, in one of which I spent about
two years within the bounds of California, gave me a rare op-
portunity to observe the birds at different seasons and in a great
var iety of localities. I first met this species in the month of
Fe bruary, 1870, along the thinly timbered banks of the Co-
su mnes river about twenty miles southeast of Sacramento. Its
peculiar call -notes arrested my ear at some little distance from
me, which, as it was frequently repeated, enabled me to find
t he bird. It was perched upon one of the higher branches of a

446 NOTES ON THE

live oak, and apparently alone. Listening I soon heard the semi-
distant answer, and desiring to secure both male and female,
I deferred securing it till it flew, which although disappointing
me for the time, gave me my first opportunity to see its flight.
I patiently but cautiously followed them until rewarded by
securing them. They were shy and nervous but not remark -
ably so. I was a little too anxious to get so rare a species to
make all the observations I otherwise would have made, but
other occasions gave me ample opportunity to do so. Athough
shy at this season their manner did not impress me with the
idea that in summer atbreeding time they would be so. and hence
I was not dissappointed at Dr. Cooper's subsequent report of
their coming about dwellings in cold weather as well as Dr.
Suckly's statement that in Washington Teritory after a fall of
snow they become approachable enough "for an j'^ ordinary shot
to obtain a dozen specimens in a forenoon." I think that while
by no means a dull bird they are less pronounced in vigor and
style of action than our Eastern Robin. They leave California in
the latter part of March and migrate northward to breed. I can-
not doubt that some of them seek by elevation in the proximate
mountains what the principal part do by latitude, notwith-
standing that Dr. Cooper failed to find any in the Sierra Nevada
summits in September in a latitude but little north of San
Francisco. They return to the valleys of California in October
and November, frequently in company with the Eastern Robin,
when they are most easily obtained. Their flight does not
differ materially from the kindred species, only a little less of
the "here I am" boldness of the other.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Fourth quill longest; third and fifth a little shorter; second
much longer than sixth; tail nearly even, the lateral feather
shorter; above, rather dark bluish-slate; axillaries plumbeous,
with white at base, and under wing coverts plumbeous, broadly
tipped with white parts generally, a patch on the upper eyelids
continuous with a stripe behind it along the side of the head
and neck, the lower eyelids, two bands across the wing coverts
and the edges of the quills in part, rufous orange-brown; middle
of belly white; sides of the head and neck continuous with a
broad pectoral transverse band, black; most of the tail feathers
with a terminal patch of brownish- white; bill black; feet yellow.

Female more olivaceous above; the white of the abdomen
more extended; the brown beneath paler; the pectoral band
obsolete.

Length, about 10 inches; wing, 5; tail, nearly 4; tarsus. 1.25.

Habitat, Pacific coast of North America.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 447

SIALIA SIALIS (L.). (766.)
BLUEBIRD.

There is an unmingled pleasure in giving this beautiful and
highly civilized bird a welcome to Minnesota after the long
and comparatively birdless winter, coming, too, so often
almost exactly at the same time as the Robin, and like him,
though with less ostentation, at once proclaiming its arrival
by its familiar song. It is ordinarily to be looked for about
the 25th of March. In 1868 it came to Minneapolis on March
20th; 1869, March 29th; 1870, April 1st; 1875, March 29th; 1876,
April 7th. In 1878 several were credibly reported from the
immediate vicinity on January 26th, after a prolonged interval
of high temperature. On the tenth of March following I
found them here to stay. In 1880 I found them near the city
on the 4th of February, but none more until March 23d. The
variety of these dates seems to indicate that his winter quar-
ters are probably not as far removed from this latitude as are
those of the Robins. (I do not believe with Wilson that he
comes from very far.) The males precede the females a little,
and mating does not usually take place until about the fourth
week in April.

Bartram is quoted by Wilson as saying: "When he first
begins his amours it is pleasing to behold his courtship, his
solicitude to please and to secure the favor of his beloved
female.

He uses the tenderest expressions, sits close beside her.
caresses and sings to her in most endearing warblings. When
seated together if he spies an insect delicious to her taste,
he takes it up, flies with it to her, spreads his wing over her,
and puts it in her mouth." The last named author continues
' 'if a rival makes his appearance — for they are ardent in their
love — he quits her in a moment, attacks and pursues the in-
truder as he shifts from place to place, in tones that bespeak
the jealousy of his aifections, conducts him with many I'eproof s
beyond the extremities of his territory, and returns to warble
out his transports of . triumph beside his beloved mate. The
preliminaries being thus settled, and the spot fixed on, they
begin to clean out the old nest and the rubbish of the former
year to prepare for the reception of their future offspring."
The nest is likely to be in a hole in the top of a rotten-hearted
stump, a like opening in the end of a fence rail, a knot-hole in a
fence post, or in a Martin's box. The materials for its con-

448 NOTES ON THE

struction generally consist of soft grasses, feathers and wool,
carelessly disposed, but adapted to warmth in the early season
of the year in which the first brood is brought forth.

Five eggs are the common number laid, sometimes six and
sometimes only four, colored light blue with a faint tinge of
greenish. Two and three broods are usually reared in the
season. Their food consists of large beetles, spiders and other
common insects during summer, and berries, fruits and seeds
later in the year. I need not attempt to describe its pleasing
song or special habits which are so very well known, for it is a
recognized favorite everywhere it goes. The Bluebird begins
to be less frequently seen about the middle of October but is
not usually without some representative during the remainder
of the month and exceptionally into November.

Its distribution is universal wherever there is timber, except
perhaps the denser portions of the sunless forests. It is never
as abundant as the Robin, but only less so in most localities.

Mr. Washburn thought it rather sparingly represented in
autumn in the valley of the Red river.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

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, 6.75; wing, 4.00; tail, 2.91.

Habitat, eastern North America north to latitude 48°; west
to western Kansas and lower Missouri regions.

SIALIA MEXICANA Swainson. (767.)
WESTERN BLUEBIRD.

• I was not aware that this bird had been identified amongst
the rare visitors of Iowa, until after placing it in my list of the
birds of Minnesota, in October, 1880, as a straggler undoubt-
edly. I am very familiar with the bird on the Pacific coast
where I met it constantly from latitude forty-five, southward to
San Diego. I could see no marked difference in its habits from
the eastern bluebird. It chose the same kind of places for its
nest and the same kinds of food for nourishment. I never saw
any such marked proclivity to build in the immediate vicinities
of dwellings and outhouses, but attributed this to its inferior
powers of song failing to enlist the interest of families to invite

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 449

them by special provisions for their nesting in boxes, as is
done so much for the eastern bird. Several instances occurred
where notwithstanding its neglect it placed its nest as near to
dwellings as does the other. Those found in this State were
near the southwestern and western borders, and remote from
improvments. Like its double cousin it clings to wooded
sections. Dr. Cooper says in his Land Birds of California ' 'at
Santa Cruz this bird is even more confiding than the eastern
species which rarely frequents such large towns. In the spring
from February 20th to April many pairs could be seen daily
seeking places for their nest, even in the noisiest streets,
inspecting closely every new building that was being erected,
as if they supposed it to be for their special benefit. Some
few pairs found nesting-places under porches, in knot-holes,
etc, though the inhabitants provided them with no special
homes." This eminent observer is excellent authority. I
think however when he says that our eastern bluebird rarely
frequents such large towns as Santa Cruz, his long residence
in that sunny land of flowers and birds may have made him
forgetful, for so far from this it is very common in towns in
Minnesota much larger than the one he mentions.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Rich azure-blue including the head and neck all around; a
patch of purplish-chestnut on the middle of the back; breast
and sides rich chestnut; belly and vent dull-blue or bluish-
gray; bill and feet black; measurements same as the eastern
species.

iZO NOTES ON THE

A LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL POPULAR SYNONYMS OF
THE BIRDS OF MINNESOTA.

COMPILED AND ARRANGED BY HENRY F. NACHTRIEB.

This list is intended primarily for the convenience of those
who have learned to know our birds by popular names that
once had current value but that have been discarded by the
American Ornithologists, Union, and that are more or less
rapidly becoming obsolete.

The popular name adopted by the American Ornithologists'
Union immediately follows the number after the scientific
name, and is printed in bolder type than the synonyms, which
are enclosed within parentheses.

The number between the scientific name and the popular
name refers to the page of the "Notes."

All those interested in our birds ought to ( for excellent rea-
sons that cannot be given here) adopt the popular names of
the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list as given here
and in the "Notes."

1. Aeanthis linaria, 2i>9. Redpoll.

(Common Redpoll. Redpoll Linnet.)

2. Accipiter atricapillns, 183. - American Go.shawk.

(Blue Hen Hawk (when mature). Chicken Hawk (when
young). Goshawk).

3. Aeciplter cooperi, 181. - - - Cooper.s' Hawk.

(Chicken Hawk.)

4. Accipiter velox, 180. - - Sharp-.sliiuned Hawk.

("Pigeon Hawk.")

5. Actitis ina<'ularia, 144. - Spotted Sandpiper.

(Tip-up. Teeter-tail.)

6. .^cliniopliorus occidentalis, 4. - - Western Grebe.

7. .^jjrialitis seinipalniata, 152. - Seniipalniated Plover.

(Ring Plover. Ring-neck. Ring-neck Plover.)

8. .^gialitis vocifera, 151. .... Killdeer.

(Killdeer Plover.)

9. Agelaius phoeniceus, 277. - Red-winged Blackbird.

(Blackbird. Marsh Blackbird. Red-and-buff-shouldered
Marsh Blackbird. Swamp Blackbird.)

10. Aix sponsa, 51. Wood Duck.

(Summer Duck. "The Bride.")

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 451

11. Alaudidse, 258-260. Larks.

12. Alcedinidae, 223-224. Kingfisher.

13. Aminodramus bairdii, 313. - - Baird's Sparro\r.

(Baird's Savanna Sparrow.)

14. Ammodraniiis caiidaoiitus, 318. Sharp-Tailed Sparrow.

(Sharp-tailed Finch.)

15. Amniodi'amus leconteii. 315. - Leconte's Sparrow.

(Leconte's Grasshopper Sparrow. Leconte's Bunting.)

16. Ammodraniiis sandwichensis savanna, 311.

(Common Savanna Sparrow.) Savanna Sparrow.

1 7. Ammodraniiis savaiinarum passeriniis, 313,

Grasshopper Sparrow^.
(Yellow-winged Sparrow. Quail Sparrow.)

18. Ampelidaj, 356-360. Chatterers.

19. Ampelis cedrorum, .358. - - - Cedar Waxwing.

(Carolina Waxwing. Cedar-bird. Cherry-bird.)

20. Ampelis garrulns, 356. - - Bohemian Waxwing.

(Northern Waxwing.)

21. Anas amerioana, 43. - . - . - Baldpate.

(American Widgeon.)

22. Anas boschas, 3S. Mallard.

(Mallard Duck. Tame Duck. Wild or Domestic Duck.
Green-head.)

23. Anas carolinensis, 44. - - Green-winged Teal.

(American Green-winged Teal.)

24. Anas cyanoptera, 47. - - Cinnamon Teal.

25. Anas discors, 45. - - Bliie-winged Teal.

26. Anas obscura, 40. . - . - Black Duck.

(Dusky Duck.)

27. Anas strepera, 41. . . . . Gadwall.

(Gray Duck.)

28. Anatidse, 34-84. - - Ducks, Geese, and Swans.

29. Anser albifrons gambeli, 75.

American White-fronted Goose.

(White-fronted Goose. Speckle-bill. Speckle-belly.)

30.| Anseres, 34-84. - - Ducks, Geese, and Swans.

31.;Anthiispensilvanicus. 405. - - American Pipit.

(Louisana Pipit. American Titlark. Brown Lark. Wagtail.

Pipit.)

32. Anthus spragueii, 406. ... Sprague's Pipit.

(Missouri Titlark. Missouri Skylark.)

33. Antrostomiis vociferus, 2.37. - - Whip-poor-w^ill.

(Night-jar.)
34."Aphrizid8e, 153-154. Surf-birds.

35. Aqiiila chrysaetos, 195. - - - Golden Eagle.

(Ring-tailed Eagle.)

452

NOTES ON THE

36.

:57.

38.

39.

40.
41.
42.
43.

44.

45.

46.

47.

48.
49.

50.
51.

52.

53.

54.
55.
56.

57.

68.

69,
60.

Archibuteo ferrvigineiis, 194. Ferruginous Rough-leg.

(Ferruginous Rough-legged Buzzard. California Squirrel
Hawk.)
Archibuteo lagopus saiicti-johannis, 192.

American Rough-legged Hawk.
(American Rough-legged Buzzard. "Black Hawk.")
Arrtea candirtissinia, 92. - - - Suowy Heron.
(Snowy Egret. White "Crane." Little White Egret.)

American Egret.

White Heron.)

Great Blue Heron.

Green Heron.

Heron.s.

Turnstone.

Short-eared Owl.

American Long-eared Owl.

Lesser Scaup Duck.

Redhead.

Ring-necked I>uck.

Ardea egretta, 91.

(Great White Egret
Ardea herodias, 89.
Ardea virescens, 93.
Ardeidte, 85-97.
Arenaria interpres, 153.

(Brant Bird. Calico Back.)
Asio accipitrinus, 208,

(Marsh Owl.)
Asio wilsonianus, 207.

(Long-eared Owl.)
Aythya aftinis, <K).

(Little Black-head.)
Aythya americana, 55.

(Pochard. American Pochard.)
Aythya <*ollaris, <>2.

(Ring-neck Duck.)
Aythya inarila near<'tica, 58. American Scaup I>uck.

(Big Scaup Duck. Blue Bill. Raft Duck. Flocking Fowl.
Greater Scaup Duck. Big Black-head. Shuffler.)
Aythya vallisneria, 57. - - - - Canvas-back.
Bartramia longicauda, 141. Bartramian Sandpiper.

(Bartram's Tattler. Upland Plover. Field Plover. Grass
Plover. Prairie Pigeon. Upland Sandpiper.)
Branta berniilu, 81. Brant.

(Brant Goose. Barnacle Goose.)
Branta canadensis, 77. - - - Canada Goose.

(Wild Goose. Common Wild Goose.)
Branta canadensis hutchinsii, 80. Hutchins's Goose.
Branta nigricans, 82.
Bonasa umbeHus. KK).

('•Partridge," in New England
and Southern States.)
Botaurus exilis, 87. .... Least Bittern.

Botaurus lentiginosus, 85. - American Bittern.

(Bittern. Indian Hen. Stake Driver. Bog-bull.)

Bubonidse, 207-219 - Owls.

•Bubo virginianus, 215, - - Great Horned Owl.

(Hoot Owl. Cat Owl.)

Bhick Brant.
Rutted Grouse.

"Pheasant," in the Middle

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA.

453

61.

62.

63.

64.

65.

66.

67.

68.
69.

70.

71.

72.
73.

74.
75.

76.

77.

78.
79.

80.

81.

82.
83.

84.

85.

Buteo borealis, 185.

(Red-tailed Buzzard. "Hen Hawk.'
Buteo borealis calurus, 187.

(Black Red-tail.)
Buteo borealis kriderii, 186.

(Krider's Red-tail.^
Buteo latissinius, 190.

(Broad-winged Buzzard.)
Buteo liiieatus, 188.

(Red-shouldered Buzzard.
Buteo swainsoni, 189.

Red-tailed Hawk.

Western Red- tail.

Krider's Hawk«
Broad- winged Hawk

Red-sbouldered Hawk.

Winter Hawk. "Chicken Hawk.")

Swainson's Hawk.

(Common American Buzzard. Swainson's Buzzard.)
Calamospiza melanoeorys, 346. - - Lark Bunting.

(White-winged Black-bird.)
Calcarius lapponicus, 306. - Lapland Longspur.

Calcarius ornatus, 308. - Chestnut-collared Longspur.

(Black-shouldered Longspur. White-tailed Longspur.)
Calcarius pictus, 307. - - - Smith's Longspur.

(Painted Longspur.)
Calidris arena ria, 129. - . . .

iRuddy "Plover")
Capriniulgidae, 237-240. - - - .
Cardinalts cardinalis, 339.

(Cardinal Grosbeak. Cardinal Red-bird,
ingale. Red-bird.)
Carpodacus purpureus, 294.
Catha»-tes aura, 174.

(Turkey Buzzard.)
Cathartidae, 174-175. -
Chaetura pelagica, 240.

(Chimney Swallow.)
Charadriidae, 148-153. ---... Plovers.
Charadrius dominicus. 149 American Golden Plover.

(Field Plover. Bull-head Plover. Bull-head. Golden Plover.
Frost-bird.)
Charadrius squatarola, 148. - Black-bellied Plover.

(Swiss Plover. Bull-head Plover. Whistling Field Plover.
Ox-eye.)
Charitonetta albeola, 66. - - - Buffle-head.

(Dipper. Butter-ball. Spirit Duck.)
Claugula hyemalis, 67. . . . . Old-squaw.

(South-southerly. Long-tailed Duck. Old-wife.)
Ceophloeus pileatus, 232. - Pileated Wood-pecker.

(Logcock.)
Certhia familiaris americana, 423. Brown Creeper.
Certhiidae, 42:3-424. Creepers.

Sanderling.

Gk>atsuckers.
Cardinal.

Virginia Night-
Purple Finch.
Turkey Vulture.

American Vultures.
Chimney Swift.

454 NOTES ON THE

86. Ceryle alcyon, 223. - - - Belted Kingfisher.

87. Chelidon erytlirogaster, 352. - - Barn Swallow.

88. Chen hyperborea 73. - - - Lesser Snow Goose.

(Snow Goose.)

89. Chen hyperborea nivalis, 75. - Greater Snow Goose.

(Snow Goose. White Brant.)

90. Circus hudsonius, 178. .... ''Marsh Hawk.

(American Marsh Hawk. American Marsh Harrier. Marsh
Harrier. Blue Hawk.)

91. Cistothorus palustris, 421. Long-billed Marsh Wren.

92. Cistothorus stellaris, 42(). Short-bille<l Marsh Wren.

93. Cllvicola riparia, 355. .... Bank Swallow.

(Sand Martin.)

94. Coccothraustes vespertina, 291. Evening Grosbeak-

95. Coccyges, 220-224, . . . . Cuckoo-like Birds.

96. Coccyzus americanus, 220. - Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

("Rain Crow.")

97. Coccyzus erythrophthalmus, 221, Black-billed Cuckoo.

98. C<>laptes auratus, 235. Flicker.

(Golden-winged Woodpecker. Pigeon Woodpecker. Yucker.
High-holder. Yellow-hammer.)

99. Colinus virginianus, 155. .... Bob-white.

(Virginia Partridge. Virginia " Quail " "Quail.")

100. Columbae, 171-173, - Columbine Birds. Doves.

101. Columbidae 171-173, Pigeons.

102. Colymbus auritus, 6. - - - Horned Grebe.

103. Colymbus holboellii, 5, - - - Ked-necked Grebe.

(American Red-necked Grebe.)

104. ColymbuM nigricoUis californicus, 8.

American Eared Grebe.

105. Compsothlypis americana, 376. - Parula Warbler,

(Blue Yellow-backed Warbler.)

106. Contopus borealis, 248. Olive-sided Flycatcher

107. Contopus virens, 250. . . . . Wood Pewee.

108. Corvid*. 260-271. . . . - Crows and Jays.

109. Corvus americanus, 267. - - American Crow.

(Common American Crow. Crow.)
no. Corvus corax siniiatus, 266. - - American Kaven.
(Raven.)

111. Corvus ossifragus, 270. Fish Crow.

(South-eastern Fish Crow.)

112. Chondestes grammacus^ 318. - - Lark Sparrow.

(Lark Finch.)

113. Chordciles virginianus, 238, . - - - Nighthawk.

(Bull-bat.)

114. Cuculidte. 220-222. Cuckoos.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA.

455

Blue Jay.
Red Phalarope.

Pintail.

115. Cyanocitta crista ta, 262.

116. Cryniophiius folicarius, 112.

(Coot-footed Tringa. Gray Phalarope.)

117. Dafila acuta, 49. _ _ _ .

(Spring-tail. Pin-tail Duclc.)

118. Dandrag'Hpus canadensis, 158. Canada Grouse.

(Spotted Grouse. Spruce Grouse. Spruce "Partridge.")

119. Dendroica aestiva, 378. - - Yellow Warbler.

(Summer Warbler. Summer Yellow-bird. Blue-eyed

Yellow Warbler. Golden Warbler.)

120. Dendroica blackburnia', 389. Blackburnian Warbler.

(Blackburn's Warbler. Prometheus. Orange-throated
Warbler.)

121. Dendroica cserulea, 384-. - - Cerulean Warbler.

(Azure Warbler.)

122. Dendroica caerulescens, 379.

Black-tliroated Blue Warbler.
Bay-breasted Warbler,

123. Dendroica castanea, 387.

(Autumn Warbler.)

124. Dendroi' a coi'Oiiata, 381.

(Yellow-rumped Warbler.
Myrtle-bird.)

125. Dendroica maculosa, 382.

(Black-and-yellow Warbler.

126. Dendroica palniaruni, 393.

(Yellow Red-poll Warbler.

127. Dendroica pensylvanica, 386.

1 28. Dendroica striata, 388.

129. Dendroica tigrina, 377.

130. Dendroica vig^orsii, 392.

(Pine-creeping Warbler.)

131. Dendroica virens, 391. Black-throated Green Warbler.

132. Doliclionyx oryzivorus, 271. - - Bobolink.

(Meadow-wink. Skunk Blackbird (of Northern States).

Reed-bird (of Middle States).
States).)

133. Dryobates pubescens, 2'i7.

(Little sapsucker.)

134. Dryobates villosus, 225.

(Big Sapsucker.)

135. Ectopistes niigi-atorius, 171.

(Wild Pigeon.)

136. Elanoides forficatus, 176.

137. Enipidoiiax acadicu.*, 2d3.

(Small Green-crested Flycatcher.)

138. Enipidonax flAviventris, 252. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.

30 z

Myrtle Warbler.

Yellow-crowned Warbler.

Mag^nolia Warbler.

Magnolia.)

Palm Warbler.
Red-poll Warbler.)

Chestnut-sided Warbler.

Black-poll Warbler.

Cape May Warbler

Pine Warbler.

Rice-bird (of Southern

Downy Woodpecker.

Hairy Woodpecker.

Passenger Pigeon.

Swallow-tailed Kite.
Acadian Flycatcher.

456 NOTES ON THE

139. Kmpiclonax minimus, 266. - Least Flycatcher.

140. Empidonax pusillus trailiii, 255. Traill's Flycat<lier.

141. Ereunetes pusillus, 128. Semipalmated Saudpiper.

(Peep. Sand-peep.)

142. Erismatura rubida, 71. - - Kuddy Duck.

143. Falc«» coliimbarius, 200. - - Pigeou Hawk.

(American Merlin.)

144. Falco peregrinus aiiatum, 199. - . Duck Hawk.

(Peregrine Falcon. Great-footed Hawk.)
146. Falco ricliardsonii, 201, - - Richard.son's Merlin.
(Richardson's Pigeon Hawk. American Merlin.)

146. Falco rusticolus g-yrfalco, 19S. - - Gyrfalcon.

(American Continental Gyrfalcon. Gray Gyrfalcon.)

147. Falco sparverius, 202. - American Sparrow Hawk.

(Rusty-crowned Falcon. Sparrow Hawk.)

148. FalconidiT', 176-205. Falcons, Hawks, and Eag^les,

149. Fringillidic, 291-347, - - - - Finches.

160. Fulica anicricana, 109. - - American Coot.

CWhite-billed Mud-hen. Crow Duck.)

161. Galeoscoptes carolineiisis, 408. - - - Catbird.

162. Gallinse, 155- 170. Galliuaceous Birds. Fowls.

163. Gallinagodelicata, 120. - - Wilson's Snipe.

(American Snipe. Jack Snipe. "English" Snipe.)

164. Gallinula j?aleata, 108. - - Florida Gallinule.

(Common Gallinu'e. Red-bellied Mud-hen.)
166. Glaucionetta clan^ula americana, 64.

(Garrot. Golden-eye. Whistler.) American Golden-eye.

166. Glaucionetta island ica, 66. - liarrow's Golden-eye.

(Rocky Mountain Garrot.)

167. Geothlypis agilis, 397. - - Connecticut Warbler.

168. Geothlypis phi'adelphia, 398. Mourning Warbler.

169. Geothlypis tri«^has, 399. 3Iaryland Yellow-throat.

(Yellow-throated Ground Warbler.)

160. Gruidae, 98-1 02. ..... Cranes.

161. Grus americana, 98. - - - Whooping Crane.

vWhite Crane.)

162. Grus mexicana, 99, - - Sandhill Crane.

(Southern Sandhill Crane. Common Brown Crane.
Common Sandhill Crane.)

163. Habia ludoviciana, 340 - Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

(Rose-breasted Song Grosbeak.)

164. Haliseetiis leucocephalns, 196. - - Bald Eagle.

(White-headed Sea Eagle. "Bird of Washington" (when
young.)

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA.

457

165. Harporhynchus rufus. 413. - - Brown Thrasher.

(Thrasher. Brown Thrush.)

166. Helmiuthophila celata, 374. Orange-crowned Warhler.

167. Helminthopbila chrysoptera, 372.

Goklen-wingetl Warbler.

(Blue Golden-winged Warbler.)

168. Helniinthophila peregrina, 375.

169. Helniinthophila pinns. 37 1.

(Blue- winged Yellow Warbler.)

170. Helminthophila riificapilla, 373.

Tennessee Warbler.
Blue-winarecl Warbler.

Nashville Warbler.

171.
172.

173.
174.

175.
176.

177.
178.

179.
180.

Herocliones, 85-97.
Miniantopus ni -xicanus, 1 16.

(Stilt. Long-shanks. Lawyer.)
Hirundinidae, 350-356.
Histrionicus histrioiiicus, 68.

("Lords and Ladies. "j
Hydrochelidon nij^ra surinamensis, 25.

(Short-tailed Tern.)
Icteridse, 271-290.

Herons and Storks.
Black-necked Stilt.

Swallows.
Harlequin Duck.

Black Tern.

Icteria virens, 400.
Icterus galbula, 281.

(Golden Robin. Firebird.
Icterus spurins, 280.

American Orioles, Blackbirds, and

Starlings.
Yellow^-breasted Chat.
- - - Baltimore Oriole.

Hangnest.)

Orchard Oriole.

Junco hyemalis, 329. - - Slate-colored Junco.

(Eastern Snow-bird. Black Snow-bird. Snow-bird.)
181. Lagopus lag opus, 162. - - Willow Ptarmigan.

(Willow Grouse. White Ptarmigan.)
Laniida?, 360-362. _ _ . _ Shrikes.

Lanius borealis, 360. - - Northern Shrike.

(Great Northern Shrike. Butcher-bird.)
Lanius ludovicianus excubitorides, 361.

White-rumped Shrike.

(Common American Shrike. Logger-head Shrike.)
Liaridae, 15-27. _ _ _ Gulls, and Terns.

Larus argentatus smithsonianus, 16.

American Herring Gull.

182.
183.

184.

185.
186.

187. Liarus atricilla, 19.

(Black-headed Gull.)

188. Liarus delawarensis, 18.

(Commcjn American Gull.)

189. Larus Philadelphia, 20.

(Bonaparte's Rosy Gull.)

190. Limicolse, 112-154.

Laughing- Gull.

King-billed Gull.

Bonaparte*s Gull.

Shore-birds.

458 NOTES ON THE

191. Limosa fedoa, ISO. - - - - Marbled Godwit.

(Great Marbled Godwit. Marlin.^

192. Liniosa lisemastioa, 132. - - Hudsonian Godwit.

(American Black-tailed Godwit. Rinp-tailedMarlin.)

193. Loiiffipennes, 15-33. - L.ong-Avmged S\>immer.s.

194. Lophodytes c-ucullatus, 36. - Hooded ^lerjaranser.

(Sheldrake.)

195. Loxia ciirvirostra minor, 295. American Crossbill.

(American Red Cross-bill. Red Cross-bill.)
19<>. Loxia leiu'optera, 298. - Wliite-winj-ed Crossbill.

197. Maorocliires, 237-242. Swifts and Humming^birds.

198. Maerorhamphiis Seolopaceus, 122.

Lioiig-billed Dowitcher.

(Western Dowitcher. Red-bellied Snipe. Greater Long-
beak.)

199. Megascops asio, 214. - - - Screech Owl.

(Little Horned Owl. Mottled Owl. Red Owl.)
20(). Melanerpes erytlirocephalus, 2.34.

Ked-lieaded Woodpecker.

(Tricolor.)

201. Meleagris gallopavo, 1(»9. - Wild Turkey.

(Eastern Wild Turkoy.)

202. Melospiza fasciata, .*J.3l. - - Song: Sparrow.

(Silver-tongue.)

203. Melospiza georgiana, .'$,'54. - - Swamp Sparrow.

(Swamp Song Sparrow.)

204. Melospiza lincolni, 3.'?i5. - - Lincoln's Sparrow.

(Lincoln's Song Sparrow.)

205. Merganser american US, ,'J4. - American 3Ierganser.

(Merganser. Goosander. Fish Duck.)

200. 3Ierganser serrator, .3.5. - Red-breasted Merganser.

207. Merula migratoria, -142. - Am<*rican Robin.

(Robin. American Red-breast.)

208. Merula migratoria, propinqua, 445. Western Robin.

(Allied Robin.)

209. Miroinlama liimautopus, 123. - Stilt Sandpiper.

210. Micr«»podida', 240-241. . - . _ Swifts.

211. Mniotilta varia, .370. - Black and AVhite Warbler.

(Black and White Creeper.)

212. Mniotiltida-, 370-404. - - - Warblers

213. Molothrus ater, 272. - ... Cowbird

(Common Cowbird. Cuckold.)

214. Motacillida?, 405-407. - - - Wagtails.

215. Myiarcbus crinitus, 245. - Crested Flycatcher.

(Great Crested Flycatcher.)

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA.

459

Eskimo Ciirle"w%

Hudsonian Curlew.

Long-billed Curlew.

Saw-whet Owl.

216. Numeuius borealis, 148.

(Dough-bird.)

217. Nuineniu.s liudsonieiis, 1-47.

(Jack Curlew.)

218. Nuiueniiis longirostris, 145.

(Sickle-bill.)

219. :Nyctala acadica, 213.

(Acadian Owl.)

220. Nyctala tengmalmi ricliardsoni, 212. Richardson's Owl,

(Arctic American Saw-whet Owl. Sparrow Owl.)

221. Nycteanyetea, 217. - - - Snowy Owl.

222. Nycticorax nycticorax naevius, 95.

(Qua Bird. Squawk.) " Black-crowned Night Heron.

223. Nycticorax violaceus, tM>. Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

224. Oidemia aniericana, «9. - - American Scoter.

(American Black Scoter. Sea Coot.)

White-winged Scoter.

White-winged Surf Duck.

226.
227.

228.

229.
230.

231.
232.

233.

234.
235.

236.
237.

238.
239.
240.
241.

242,
243

Oidemia degiandi, 70.

(Surf Duck. Velvet Scoter.
Sea Coot.)
Olor buccinator, 83.
Olor columbianus, 82.

(Common American Swan.)
Otocoris alpestris praticola, 258.

(Shore Lark. Horned Lark.)
Paludicolae, 98-111.
Pandion haliaetos carolinensis, 204.

(Fish Hawk. Osprey.)
Parida', 424-430. - - Nuthatches and Titmice.
Parus atricapillus, 427. - - - Chickadee.

(Black-capped Titmouse. Black-capped Chickadee. Titmouse.)

Parus atricapillus septentrionalis, 429.

Long-tailed Chickadee .

Trumpeter Swan.
TVliistling Swan.

Prairie Horned Lark.

Cranes and Rails.
American Osprey.

Parus bicolor, 427.
Passerella iliaca, 336.

(Eastern Fox Sparrow.)
Passeres, 243-449. . . - .
Passerina cyanea, 343. -

(Indigo Painted Finch. Indigo-bird.)
Phalacrocoracidse, 27-29.
Phalacrocorax dilophus, 27,
Phalaropodidae, 112-115.
Phalaropus lobatus, 113.

(Red-necked Phalarope.)
Phalaropus tricolor, 114.
Phasianidae, 169-1 70.

Tufted Titmouse
Fox Sparrow

Passerine Birds.
Indigo Bunting.

Cormorants.

Double-crested Cormorant.

Phalaropes.

Northern Phalarope.

Wilson's Phalarope.
Pheasants.

460 NOTES ON THE

244. Pediocsetes phasianellus canipestris, 168.

Prairie Sharp-tailed Grouse.

245. Pelecanidae, 30-33. Pelicans.

246. Peiecauus erythrorhynchiis, 30.

American White Pelican.

247. Pelecanus fuscus, 33. . . - . Brown Pelican.

(American Brown Pelican.)

248. Penicola enucleator, 293. - - - Pine Grosbekk.

249. Perisoreus canadensis, 265. - - - Canada Jay.

(Wliiskey Jack. Moose Bird. Gray Jay.)

250. Petrochelidon lunilrons, 351. - Cliff Swallow.

(Eaves Swallow. Crescent Swallow. Mud Swallow.)

251. Plectrophenax nivalis, 304. - - - Snowflake.

(Snow Bunting.)

252. Pica pica hudsonica, 260. - - American Magpie.

(Magpie.)

253. Pici, 225-236. - - Woodpeckers and Wrynecks.

254. Picidie, 225-236. Woodpeckers.

255. Picoides americanus, 229.

American Three-toed Woodpecker.

(Ladder- backed Three- toed Woodpecker.)

256. Picoides arcticus, 228. Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker.

(Black-backed Woodpecker. Black-backed Three-toed Wood-
pecker.)

257. Pipilo erythrophthalmns, 338. - - - - Towhee.

(Towhee Bunting. Marsh Robin. Chewink.)

258. Piranga erythromelas, 348. - Scarlet Tanager.

259. Philohela minor, 117. - - - American Woodcock.

(Bog-sucker.)

260. Podicipidte, 4-9 Grebes.

261. Podilymbus podiceps, 8. • - - Pied-billed Grebe.

(Dab-chick. Diedapper. Hell-diver. Water-witch. Dipper.)

262. Polioptila civrulea, 432. - Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

263. Poocaetes gramineus, 309. - - A'esper Sparrow.

(Grass Finch. Bay-winged Bunting. Vesper-bird. Grass
Sparrow. Ground-bird.)

264. Porzana Carolina, 105. Sora.

(Carolina Rail. Common Bail. Carolina. Crake "Ortolan.")

265. Porzana janiaicensis, 108. - - - Black Kail.

(Little Black Crake.)

266. Porzana noveboracensis, 107. - - - Yellow Rail.

(Yellow Crake.)

267. Progne subis, 350. Purple 31artin.

268. Pygopodes, 4-14. Diving Birds.

269. Quiscalus quiscula, 288. - - - Purple Grackle.

(Purple Crow Blackbird. Common Crow Blackbird. Crow
Blackbird.)

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA.

461

270. Kallidae, 103-111. - - RaUs.

271. Rallus elegans, 102. King Kail.

(Fresh-water Marsh-hen.)

272. Gallus virginianus, 103. ... - Virginia Gail.

273. Kaptores, 1 74-219. Birds of Prey.

274. Becurvirostra americana, 115. - American Avocet.

(Blue-stocking.)

275. Recur virostridfe, 115-117. - - - Avocets. Stilts,

276. Kegulus calendula, 4:^1. - Ruby-ci*owned Kinglet.

277. Regulus satrapa, 430. - Golden-crowned Kinglet.

(Golden-crested Kinglet.)

278. Rissa tridactyla, 15. Kittiwake.

(Kittiwake Gull. Common Kittiwake.)

279. Sayornis pboebe, 247. -_...- Phoebe.

(Pewit Flycatcher. Water Pewee. Pewit.)

280. Spatula clypeata, 47. - Shoveller.

(Spoon-bill Duck. Shoveller Duck. Broad-bill.)

281. Seiurus aurocapillus, 395. . . - - Oven-bird.

(Golden-crowned Wagtail Warbler. Golden-crowned Accen-
tor. Golden-crowned Thrush.)

282. Seiurus noveboracensis, 396. - - Water Thrush.

(Wagtail Warbler. Aquatic Accentor. New York Water
Thrush. Water Wagtail.)

283. Setophaga ruticilla, 403. - . American Redstart.

284. Stelgidopteryx serripennis, 356.

Rough -winged Swallow.

285. Sterna antillarum, 24, . . . . Least Tern.

286. Sterna forsteri, 22. Forster's Tern.

287. Sterna hirundo, 23. .... Common Tern.

(Wilson's Tern. Sea Swallow.)

288. Sterna tschegrava, 21. - - - - Caspian Tern.

(Imperial Tern.)

289. Sialia mexicana, 448. - - - Western Bluebird.

(Mexican Bluebird.)

290. Silia sialis, 447, Bluebird.

(Stone-chat. Wheat-car.)

291. Sitta canadensis, 436. - - Red-breasted Nuthatch.

(Red-bellied Nuthatch. Canada Nuthatch.)

292. Sitta carolinensis, 424. - White-breasted Nuthatch.

(Carolina Nuthatch. White-bellied Nuthatch. "Sap-sucker.")

293. Spinus pinus, .302. Pine Siskin.

(Pine Linnet. Pine Finch. American Siskin.)

294. Spinus tristis, 300. - - - - American Goldliach.

(Yellow-bird. Thistle-bird.)

295. Spiza americana, 344. . . . . Dickcissel.

I Black-throated Bunting.)

462

NOTES ON THE

296. Spizella monticola, 323. . - - . Tree Sparrow.

(Winter Chip-bird.)

297. Spizella pallida, 327.
398. Spizella pusilla, 328.

299. Spizella sociali«. .325.

(Chip-bird. Chippy. Hair-bird.)

300. Strigiclae. 205-207.

301. Strix pratiucola, 2()5.

(Barn Owl.)
302 Soinateria spectabilis, <J8.
30.3. Scolecophagiis caroliuus, 284.

(Rusty Grackle. Thursh Blackbird.)

304. Scolecophagiis oyanoeephalus, 286.

(Bluo-htiaded Grackle.)

305. ScolopacirtiB, 117-148.

306. Scotiaptex cilierea, 21 1.

(Spectral Owl.)

307. Suniia uliila caparooli. 219.

(Day Owl. Hawk Owl.)
.308. Stnrnella inaffna, 278.

(Field Lark. Old-field Lark.)

309. Stnrnella niaj^iia nejflecta, 280.

310. Sj Ivauia cauadpu.sis, 402.

(Canadian Fly-catchinj? Warbler

311. Sylvania niitrata, 401.

(Hooded Fly-catching Warbler.)

312. Sylviida?, 430-433.

313. Sympheniia scinipalniata, 139.

(Semi-])alnjated Tattler.)
3L4. Syrniiini uebiilusiiin, 210.

(Hoot Owl. American Wood Owl.)

315. Spliyrapicus varius, 230. Yellow-bellied Sap.sucker.

(Yellow-l)ellied Woodpecker.)

316. Tanajrrida', 348-350. Tanagers.

317. Tacliyoineta bicolor, .354. - - - Tree Swallow.

(White-bellied Swallow.)

318. TetraonidiB. 155-169. - Grouse, l»artrid}ro, and Quail.

319. Tringa bairdii, 126. - - - Baird's Sandpiper.

320. Tringa oanutus, 124 Knot.

(Red-breasted Sandpiper. Ash-colored Sandpiper. Gray-
back. Robin Snipe.)

321. Tringa maculata, 125. - - - Pectoral Sandpiper.

(Grass-snipe. Jack-snipe.)
.322. Tringa minutilla, 127. - - - Least Sandpiper.

(American Stint. Wilson's Stint. Peep.)

Clay-colored Sparrow.

Field Sparrow.

Chipping Sparrow.

Barn Owls.
American Barn Owl.

Kin^ Eider.
Kusty Blackbird.

Brewer's Blackbir<l.

Snipe.
Great Gray Owl.

American Hawk Owl.

Meadowlark.

We.stcrn 31eadowlark.
Canadian Warbler.

Canada Warbler.)

Hoitded Warbler.

Kinglets.
Willet.

Barred Owl.

BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 463

323. Totanus flavipes, 135. .... Yellow-legs.

(Lesser Tell-tale. Yellow-shanks.)

324. Totanus melanoleucus, 133. - Greater Yellow-legs.

(Greater Tell-tale. Greater Yellow-shanks. Long-legged
Tattler, Stone-snipe. Yellow-shanks.)

325. Totanus solitarius, 136. - - Solitary Sandpiper.

(;Solitary Tattler. American Green Sandpiper.)

326. Trochiliclae, 241-242. - - - Humming-birds.

327. Trochilus colubris 241. Kuby- throated Hummingbird.

328. Troglodytes aedon, 416. - - - - House Wren.

(Eastern House Wren.)
32t). Troglodytes aedon parkmanii, 418. Parkman's Wren.

(Western House Wren.)

330. Troglodytes hiemalis, 419 - - - Winter Wren.

331. Troglodytidae, 408-422. - Wrens and Mocking-birds.

332. Turdidai, 433-449. Thrusbes.

333. Turdus alicia\, 438. - - Gray-cheeked Thrush.

334. Turdus atinalaschkiv pallasii. 440. Hermit Thrush.

(Eastern Hermit Thrush.)

335. Turdus fuscescens, 435. - - - Wilson's Thrush.

(Veery. Tawny Thrush. Wilderness Bird.)

336. Turdus mustelinus, 433. - - - - Wood Thrush.

337. Turdus ustulatiis swaiusonii, 439. Olive-backed Thrush.

338. Tympanuchn.s americanus, 162. - Prairie Hen.

(Pinnated Grouse. Prairie Chicken. Heath Hen. Prairie
Grouse. Boomer.)

339. Tyrannida?, 243-257 Flycatchers.

340. Tyrannus tyrannus, 243. . - - - Kingbird.

(Bee Martin.)

341. Thryothorus bewickii, 416. - - Bewick's Wren.
842. Thryothorns ludovicianus, 415. - Carolina Wren.

(Great Carolina Wren. Mocking Wren.)

343. Tryugites subruficoUis, 142. - Buflf-breasted Sandpiper.

344. Urinator articus, 12. - Black-throated Loon.

(Black-thjoated Diver.)

343. Urinator imber, lO. Loon.

(Common Loon. Diver. Great I^orthern Diver.)

346. Urinator lumme, 13. . . - Ked-throated Loon.

(Red-throated Diver.)

347. Urinatorid?e, 10-14. Loons.

348. Vireo bellii, 369. - Bell's Vireo.

(Bell's Greenlet.)

349. Vireo liavifrons, 366. - - Yellow-throated Vireo.

(Yellow-throated Greenlet.)

350. Vireo gilvus, 365. Warbling Vireo.

(Warbling Greenlet.)

464 NOTES ON THE

351. Vireo noveboracensis, 368. - - White-eyed Vireo.

(White-eyed Greenlet.)

352. Vireo olivaceus, 362. . - - - Keel-eyed Vireo.

(Reel-eyed Greenlet. Greenlet.)

353. Vireo pliiladelpliicus, .364. - - Philadelphia Vireo.

(Brotherly-love Greenlet.)

354. Vireo solitarius, 367.. - - - Blue-headed Vireo.

(Blue-headed Greenlet. Solitary Greenlet.)

355. Vireonidse, .362-370. - - Vireos, or Greenlets.

356. Xauthocephalus xanthocephalus, 275.

Yellow-lieaded Blackbir<l
.357. Zeiiaidnra inacroura, 172. - Mourning Dove.

(Carolina Dove. Wild Dove. Turtle Dove.)
.358. Zonotricliia albicolii.s, .322. - White-throated Sparrow.

(White-throated Crown Sparrow. Peabody-bird.)
.35t). Zonotrichia leucophrys, 320. White-crowned Sparrow

(White-browed Crown Sparrow.)
360. Zonotrichia querula, .320. - Harris's Sparrow.

(Hooded Crown Sparrow. Black-hooded Sparrow.)

PRIINCIPAL EREATA.

Page 40, line 20, read Black Duck for Black.

Page 51, line 19, read Wood Duck for Wood.

Page 55, line 30, read Redhead for Red Head.

Page 58, line 2, read American for Greater.

Page 64, line 7, read Bonaparte for Bonap.

Page 102, line 20, read Rallus for Raiaus.

Page 163, line 7, read Pediocaetes for Fediocaetes.

Page 221, 6th line from bottom, read Coccyzus for Coycczus.

Page 259, line 2, read 474b for 4746.

Page 280, line 2, read Meadowlark for Meadow Lark.

Page 396, line 17, read Noveboracensis for Novebobacensis.

NOTE.

Throughout the "Notes"' Linnaeus is abbreviated to L., and on

page 64 Bonaparte is (accidentally) abbreviated to Bonap. Dr. Hatch

had throughout adopted the abbreviations of the A. O. U. check-list, but

for several reasons it was decided to go beyond the restrictions noted in

the prefatory statement, and (with the exception of Linnasus) write the

names in full.

H. F. N.

INDEX.

Prepared toy the State Zoologist.

Note. — The numbers in the first column refer to the pages of the
"Notes"; those in the second, to the numbers of the list of popular
synonyms, beginning on page 450.

The scientific names are entered only under the genus, but the pop-
ular names consisting of two or more terms are entered twice, and in a
few cases three times.

Acadian Flycatcher

Owl

Acanthis linaria

Accentor, aquatic

golden-crowned

Accipiter atricapillus

•' cooperi

•' velox

Actitis macularia

^chmophorus occidentalis

^gialites semipalma^a

•' vocif era ...

Agelaius phoeniceus

Aix sponsa

Alaudid;e 258-260

Alcedinid;v 223-224

Allied Robin

American A vocet

" Barn Owl

" Bittern

" Black Scoter

Black-tailed God wit

" Brown Pelican

" Continental Gyrfalcon

" Coot

" Crossbill

" Crow

Eared Grebe

Egret

" Golden-eye

" Golden Plover .

Goldfinch

" Goshawk

" Green Sandpiper

" Green-winged Teal

Hawk Owl

" Herring Gull

" Long-eared Owl

" Magpie

" Marsh Harrier ..

" Marsh Hawk

" Merganser

" Merlin

" Orioles

" Osprey

Pipit

" Pochard

" Raven

" Red-breast

" Red Crossbill

" Red-necked Grebe

" Redstart

" Robin

" Rough-legged Buzzard

" Rough-legged Hawk

" Scaup Duck

" Scoter

" Siskin

" Snipe

•' Sparrow Hawk

" Stint

" Three-toed Woodpecker

Titlark ...

'• White-fronted Goose

White Pelican

" Widgeon

" Woodcock

Wood Owl

253

137
219

299

1

282

281

18;^

2

181

3

180

4

144

5

4

6

152

7

151

8

277

9

51

10

•260

11

224

12

208

115

274

205

301

a5

58

224

192

247

146

109

150

295

195

267

109

8

104

91

39

64

155

149

79

300

294

183

2

325

44

23

219

307

16

186

207

45

260

252

90

90

34

205

143, 145

176

204

230

405

31

47

266

110

20T

195

103

403

283

442

207

37

192

37

58

49

69

224

293

1,53

202

147

322

229

255

31

75

99

30

246

21

117

250

314

468 INDEX

Ammodramus bairdii ai3 13

" caudacutus 318 14

" leconteii 315 15

" sand wichensis savanna 311 16

" savanorum passerinus 313 17

Ampelidte 356-300 18

Ampelis cedrornm 358 19

garrulus 356 20

Anas americaaa 43 21

" boschas 38 22

" carolinensis 44 23

" cyanoptera 47 24

" discors 45 25

" obscura 40 26

" strepera 41 27

Anatidae 34-84 28

Anseralblfrons gambeli 75 29

Anseres 34-84 30

Anthus pensil vanicus 405 31

spragueii 406 32

Antrostomus vociferus 237 33

Aphrizidae 153-154 34

Aquatic accentor • . 282

Aquilachrysaetos 195 35

Aichibuteo ferruginous 194 36

•' lagopus sancti-johannis 192 37

Arctic American Saw- whet Owl 220

Three-toed Woodpecker 228 256

Ardea candidissima 92 38

" egreita ... 91 39

herodias 89 40

virescen.s 93 41

Ardeidas 85-97 42

Arenarla interpres 153 43

Ash-colored Sandpiper .. 320

Asio accipitrinus 208 44

" wilsoniaiius .. 207 45

Autumn VVarl)lor 123

A voce t, American 115 274

Avocets... . 275

Aythiaafflnis 60 46

americana 55 47

" coUarls 62 48

niarila nearctica 58 49

vallisneria 57 50

Azure Warbler .. 121

Baird's Sparrow 313 13

K". " Sandpiper 126 319

" Savanna Sparrow .. 13

Bald Eagle 196 164

Baldpate 43 21

Baltimore Oriole 281 178

Bank Swallow 355 93

BarnOwl 301

" Owl, American .. 301

" Owls 300

■' Swallow 352 87

Barnacle Goose .. 52

Barred Owl 210 314

Barrow's Golden-eye 65 156

Bartramia longlcauda 141 51

Bartramian Sandpiper 141 51

Bartram's Tattler 51

Bay-breasted Warbler 387 123

Bay-winned Bunting 263

Bee-martin .. 340

Bell's Greenlet 348

'• Vireo 369 348

Belted Kingfisher 223 86

Bewick's Wren 416 341

Big Blackhead 49

•' Sapsucker .. 134

" Scaup Duck .. 49

Birdof Washinffton 164

Birds of Prey.... .. 273

Bittern, 58

American 85 58

" Lenst 87 57

Black Brant 82 55

" Duck 40 26

" Hawk .<!

" Rail 108 265

" Kedtail 62

" Snowbird 180

" Tern 25 175

INDEX.

469

Black and White Creeper

" '• •' Warbler...

" Yellow Warbler

Black-backed tbree-toed Woodpecker

Woodpecker

Black-bellied Plover

Black-billed Cuckoo

Blackbird...

Brewer's ,

" Common Crow

" Crow

" Marsh

" Purple Crow

" Ked- winged

" Ked-and-buff-shouldered Marsh

" Rusty

" Skunk

" Swamp

Thrush

" White-winged

" Yellow-headed

Blackbirds

Blackburn ian Warbler

Blackburn's Warbler

Black-capped Chicadee ,

Titmouse

Black-crowned Night Ueron

Blackhead, Big

Little

Black-headed Gull ,

Black-hooded sparrow

Black-necked Stilt

Black-poll Warl)ler

Black-sliouldered Longspur

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Bunting

Diver

" Green Warbler

" Loon

Blue Golden-winged Warbler

" Hawk

" Hen Hawk

" Jay

" Yellow-backed Warbler

Bluebill

Bluebird,

Mexican

" Western

Blue-eyed Yellow Warbler

Blue- gray Gnat-catcher

Blue-headed Grackle

" Greenlet

" Vireo

Bluestocking

Blue-winged Teal

Warbler

" Yellow Warbler

Bobolink

Bob- white

Bog-bull

Bog-sucker

Bohemian Wax wing

Bonaparte's Gull

Rosy Gull

Bonasa umbel lus

Boomer

Botaurus exllis

lentiginosus ..

Brant,

Black

" White

Brant Bird

Goose

Branta bernicla

" canadensis

•' ■' butchinsii ,

" nigricans

Brewer's Blackbird

Bride. The

Broad-bill

Broad-winged B uzzard

" Hawk

Brotherly-love Greenlet

Brown Creeper

" Lark

" Pelican

211

370

211

125

256

256

148

80

221

97

9

286

304

269

269

9

269

277

9

9

284

303

132

9

303

67

275

356

176

389

120

120

232

2H2

95

222

49

46

187

360

116

172

388

Vii

69

379

122

295

344

391

131

12

344

167

90

')

262

115

105

49

447

290

289

448

289

119

432

262

304

aT4

367

354

274

45

25

371

169

169

271

132

155

99

58

259

356

20

20

189

189

160

56

338

87

57

85

58

81

52

82

55

89

43

52

81

52

77

f3

80

54

82

55

286

304

10

280

64

190

64

353

423

84

31

33

247

470 INDEX.

Brown Thrasher

Thrush

Buho virsinianus

Bubonidce 207-219

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Buffle-head

Bull-bat

Bull-head

Bull-head Plover

Bunting. Bay-winged

Black- throated

Indigo

Lark

Leconte's

Snow

Towhee

Butcher-bird

Buteo borealis

" •' calurus

kriderii

latissinius

•' lineatus

" swainsoni ■.

Butter-bull

Buzzard, American Itough-legged

Broad-winged

" Common American

" Ferruginous Rough-legged

" Red-shouldered

" Red-tailed

Swainson's

" Turkey

Calamospiza nielanocorys

Calcarius lapponieus

ornatus

" pictus

Calico-back

Calidris arcnaria

California Squirrel Hawk

Canada Goose

'• Grouse

" Jay

N uthatch

" Warbler

Canadian Warbler

Fly catching Warbler

Can vas-bacli

Cape May Warbler

Capriniulgidiu

Cardinal

Grosbeak

Red-bird

Cardinalis cardinalis

Carolina Crake

Dove

" Nuthatch

Rail

" Waxwing

" Wren

Carpodacus purpureas

Caspian Teru

Catbird

Cathartes aura

Cathartidaj 174-175

CatOwl

Cedarbird

Cedar Waxwing

Ceophlcpus pileatus

Certhia familiaris americana

Cirtiiiidai 423-424

Cerulean Warbler

Ceryle a ley on

Cluvtura pelagica

CharadriidiB ...

Charadrius dominicus

squatarola

Charitonetta albeola

Chat. Yellow-breasted

Chatterers

Chelidon erythrogaster

Chen hyperborea

nivalis

Cherry-bird

Chestnut-collared Longspur

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Chewink

418

165

165

215

60

.207-219

59

142

343

66

81

113

79

79. 80

263

295

343

237

346

67

15

251

257

183

185

61

187

62

186

63

190

64

188

Ii5

189

66

81

37

64

66

36

(>5

61

66

75

■M6

67

306

68

308

69

307

70

43

129

71

36

77

53

158

118

265

249

291

310

402

31;)

310

57

50

377

129

2:{7-240

7"'

330

73

Ti

73

339

73

264

357

292

264

19

415

342

294

T4

21

288

408

151

174

75

. 174-175

76

60

19

358

19

232

S3

423

84

,423-424

85

384

121

223

86

240

77

.148-153

78

149

79

148

80

66

81

400

177

18

352

87

73

88

75

89

19

308

69

386

127

INDEX. 471

Chickadee 427 232

Black-capped .. 232

Lons-talled 420 233

ChickenHawk 2,3,65

Chicken, Prairie 338

Chimney Swallow .. 77

Swift 240 77

Chip-hird, 299

Winter 296

Chipping Sparrow 325 299

Chippy 299

Chondestes grainmacus 318 112

Chordeiles Virginian us 238 113

Cinnamon Teal 47 24

Circus hudsonius 178 90

Cistothorus palustris 421 91

stellaris 420 92

Clangula hiemalis 67 82

Clav-colored Sparrow 327 297

Cliff Swallow 351 250

Clivicola riparia 355 93

Coccothraustes vespertina 291 94

Coccyges 220-224 95

Coccyzus americanus 220 96

" erythrophtholmus 221 97

Oolaptes auratus 2;« 98

Colin us virgiuianus 155 99

Columba? 171-173 100

Columbidie 171-173 lOl

Columbine Birds .. 100

Colymbus auritus 6 102

holbcHllii 5 103

" nigricollis californieus 8 104

Conimou American Buzzard .. 66

Crow 109

Gull 188

" •' Shrike 184

•' •• Swan .. 227

Brown Crane 162

Cowbird 213

Crow Blackbird .. 269

Gallinule .. 154

Kittiwake .. 278

Loon 345

Kail 264

Redpoll 1

Sandhill Crane 162

Savanna Sparrow .. 16

Tern 23 287

Wild Goose 53

Compsothlvpis arnericana 370 105

Connecticut Warbler 397 157

Contopus borealis 218 106

virens 250 107

Cooper's Hawk 181 3

Coot, American 109 150

" Sea 224 225

Coot-footed Tringii!!'.. !.!....' .'!.'!... !...!."....!.".!!.'!.".'.".' '.'."' 116

Cormorant, Douljle-crested 27 239

Cormorants . . 238

Corvidre 260-271 108

Corvus americanus 267 109

corax sinuatus 266 110

" ossifragus 270 111

Cowbird, : 272 213

" Common .. 213

Crake, Carolina .. 264

LittleBlack 265

" Yellow 266

Crane, Common Brown .. 162

Sandhill 162

" Sandhill 99 162

" Southern Sandhill 162

'• White 38,161

Whooping 98 161

Cranes 160. 229

Creeper, Brown 423 84

Creepers .. 85

Crescent Swallow . . 250

Crested Flycatcher 245 215

Crossbill, American 295 195

Red 195

Red 195

" White-winged 298 196

31 z

472

INDEX.

•Crow,

" American

" Common American

" Fish

" Rain

" Soutlieastern Fish

Crow Blackbird,

" " Common

" Purple

■Crow Duck

Crown Sparrow, Hooded

" " White-browed...

" " White-throated

•Crows

Crymophllus f ulicarius

•Cuculid^ 220

Cuckold

Cuckoo, Black-billed

Yellow-billed

Cuckoo-like birds

Cuckoos

•Curlew, Eskimo

Hudsonian

" Jack

" Long-billed

Cyanoeitta cristata —

Dabchick

Daflla acuta

Day Owl

Dendragapus canadensis

Dendroica a-stiva

" blackburuia;

" castanea

" caTulea

c;r>rulescens

•' coronata

" maculosa

" palmarum

" pensylvanlea

'" striata

" tigrina

" vigorsil

•' virens

Dlckcissel

Diedapper

Dipper

Diver,

" Blaok-tbroated

" Groat Nort hern

" Red-throated

Diving Birds

Dolichonyx orizlvorus

Domestic Duck

Double-crested Cormorant

Doughbird

Dove, Carolina

" Mourning

" Turtle

" Wild

Doves

Dowitcber, Long-billed.

" Western

Downy Woodpecker ...
Dryobates pubescens ...

" villosus

Duck, American Scaup .

" Big Scaup

Black

" Crow

" Domestic

" Dusky

" Fish

" Gray

Greater Scaup . . .

" Harlequin

•' Lesser Scaup

Long-tailed

" Mallard

" Pin-tall

" Raft

" Ring-neck

" Ring-necked

'* Ruddy

" Shoveller

Spirit .
Sooon-bill

■4(M

09

:<»

aw

li

96'

m

269'

3b9'

269

150

360

359

358

108

n-i

116

-i}-)'!

114

213

221

97

22()

96

97

114

]4«

216

147

217

217

14.5

218

262

115

261

49

117

3f,7

l.'W

118

378

119

3ft9

120

:«7

123

384

121

379

122

381

124

382

125

Mi

126

mi

127

388

128

377

129

392

130

391

131

;m4

295

261

81,261

345

344

345

346

268

271

132

22

27

239

216

357

172

357

357

357

100

122

198

198

227

133

^>7

133

22,'>

134

.58

49

49

4()

26

150

22

26

205

27

49

08

174

60

46

82

22

117

49

48

62

48

71

142

280

81

280

INDEX.

473

Duck, Summer

• Surf

" Tame

•' Wild

" White- winged Surf.

Wood

Duck Hawk

Duel's

51
199

Dusky Duck ,■■

Eagle. Bald ]f^

■• Golden 1^='

" King-tailed

" White-headed Sea

Eagles

Eastern Fox Sparrow

Hermit Thrush

" House Wren

" Snowbird

Wild Turkey

Eaves Swallow

Ectopistes niigralorius

Egret, American

Great White

" Little White

" Snowy

Eider. King

Elanoides forficatus

Empidona.\ Hcadicus

flaviventris

" minimus

" pusillus traillii

English Snipe

Ereunetes pusillus

Erismatura rubida

Eskimo Curlew

Evening Grosbeak

Falco columbarius

" peregrinus anatum

•' richardsonii

" rustifolus gyrfalco

■' sparverius

Falcon, Peregrine

Rusty-crowned

Falcons

Falconida? 1 '*>•

Ferruginous Rougli-leg

Rough-legged Buzzard

Field Lark

■' Plover

" Sparrow

Finch, Grass

Lark

'* Jndigo Painted

" Pine

" Purple

" Sharp-tailed

Finches

Firebird

Fish Duck

" Crow

" Hawk

Flicker

Flocking Fowl

Florida Gallinule

Flycatcher, Acadian

" Crested

" Great Crested

" Least

" Olive-sided

" Pewit

" Small Green Crested

Traill's

" Yellow-bellied

68
176
2.'ja
2,52
256
235

128
71
148
291
200
199
201
198
202

■205
194

328

294

270

2*5

108
253
245

256
248

255
252

Flycatchers . . .
Forster's Tern
Fowls

22
336

Fox Sparrow,

•' " Eastern

Fresh-water Marsh Hen

Fringillidae 291-347

Frostbird ••

Fulica araericana !"»

Gad wall 41

Galeoscoptes carolinensis 40S

Gallinaceous Birds ^,, ^^^

Gallinae 155-170

10
225
22
22
225
10
144
28
26
164
35
35
164
148
235
334
328
180
201
250
135
39
39
38
38
302
136
137
138
139
140
153
141
142
216
94
143
144
145
140
147
144
147
148
148
36
36
308
51, 79
298
263
112
237
293
74
14
149
178
205
111
230
98
49
154
137
215
215
139
106
279
137
140
137
339
286
1.52
235
235
271
149
79
150
27
151
152
152

474

INDEX.

.. 120 153

Gallinago delicata 108 154

Gallinula saleiita .. 154

Gallinule, Coninion 108 153

Florida .. 155

Garrot, ..•■••••■ ;■. '.".'.'.'.'.'.'. .. 156

" Rocky Mountain 28

Geese • ; ; " . .' 397 157

GeothlypisaKilis 398 158

Philadelphia ^jgg 159

trichas .- 64 155

Glaucionetta claugula aniencana g5 j56

" islandica 430 og2

Gnat-catcher, Blue-gray 70

Goatsuckers. f,; ' T V ii^H ^^

Godwit, American Black-tailea 191

Great Marbled 132 190

" Hudsonian I30 191

" Marbled 195 35

Golden Eagle .. 79

Plover 178

Robin . 119

Warbler ' . 277

Golden-crested Kinglet 281

Golden-crowned Accentor 43O 277

" Kinglet 281

" Thrush ■ " 281

Wag-tail Warbler ;• ^55

Golden-eye 64 155

American 65 IS*?

Harrow's 98

Golden-winged Woodpecker 3^2 167

Warbler 300 294

Goldfinch. American 205

Goosander ;;,v ii" v • -lUJ 75 20

Goose. American White-fronted r,2

Barnacle 52

Brant ■ 77 53

" Canada • . 53

Common Wild 75 gg

GreaterSnow gO 54

Hutchins's 73 gs

Lesser Snow S8, 89

'• Snow 53

Wild 29

W hite-f rented 2

Goshawk 183 2

American 304

Grackle. Blue-headed ggg 269

Purple . 303

" Rusty .. 263

Gra.ss Finch | . 51

Plover 263

" Sparrow 313 17

Grasshopper Sparrow 32i

Grass-snipe .. 27

Gray Duck .. 146

" Gyrf alcon 249

" -lay .. 116

" Plialarope 320

Gray-uack • 438 333

Gray-cheeked Thrush gg 40

Great Blue Heron 342

Carolina Wren 215

" Crested Flycatcher 2ii 306

" Gray Owl 215 60

Horned Owl 191

" Marbled Godwit 345

" Northeru Diver 183

Shi ike 39

" White Egret 198

Greater Long-beak 49

Scaup Duck 75 go

•' Snow Goose 304

Telltale ;;;; 133 324

" Yellow-legs 304

" Yellow-shanks " J44

Great-footed Hawk... g IO4

GrelJe, American Eared 103

Red-necked g j02

Horned g 261

Pied-Dilled 5 103

" Red-necked 4 6

Western 260

Grebes 9;'j 41

Green Heron 22

Green-head

INDEX. 475

Greenlet, ■ • 352

Bell's ^|8

Blue-headed p54

" Brotherly-love •• 353

Red-eyed ■• 352

Solitary 354

Yellow-throated •• oi\)

WarbliuK 350

White-eyed 351

Greenlets •• 355

Green-winged Teal 44 M

" " American .. ^

Grosheak, Cardinal ■• 73

Evening 291 94

Pine... 293 248

Kose-breasted 340 163

Song 163

Groundbird • • 263

Grouse, •• 318

•• Canada 158 118

Pinnated •• 338

Prairie ^i- 338

" Sharp-tailed 168 244

" Ruffed 160 56

Spotted 118

Spruce ■• 11?

Willow 181

Gruidfe 98-102 160

Grus, americana j*^ 161

mexicana 9" l"^

Gull, American Herring 16 18b

" Black-headed •• 1«7

Bonaparte's 20 189

" '• Rosy •• 189

" Common American •• 188

" Kittiwake 2*8

" Laughing 1!» 187

•• Ring-billed 18 18S

Gulls •■ 183

Gyrfalcon, 198 146

American Continental 146

Gray .•• 146

H abia ludoviciana -wO }°^

Hairbird •; 299

Ha iry Woodpecker 22.o 134

Halifeetus leucocephalus 196 16|

Hangnest •• J78

Harlequin Duck 68 174

Harporhynchusrufus 413 165

Harrier, American Marsh 90

Marsh ,- • .AA oSn

Harris's Sparrow 320 360

Hawk, American Marsh ■ • 90

Rough-legged 192 37

Sparrow 202 147

'• Black 37

" Blue 90

" Hen 2

Broad-winged 190 64

" California Squirrel •• „ 36

" Chicken 3,2,65

" Cooper's 181 3

" Duck 199 144

" Fish 230

Great-footed 144

Hen 61

'• Krider's ; 186 63

" Marsh 178 90

" Night 238 113

" Pifeon 200 4,143

" Red-shouldered 188 65

" Red-tailed 185 61

" Richardson's Pigeon ■■ 145

Sharp-shinned 180 4

" Sparrow ■■ 147

" Swainson's 189 ob

Winter ^65

Hawks 148

Hawk Owl, 307

" American 219 30/

Heath Hen 338

Hell-diver .. 261

Helminthophila celata oii Ibb

'* chrysoptera 372 Ibi

" peregrina •"'75 168

" pinus 371 169

476 INDEX.

Helminthophila ruficapilla 373 170

Hen, Heath ^

" Indian •■ „^

" Prairie 162 3^

Hermit Thrush «" 3j*

Eastern •• ^

Herodiones «»-'^i J/l

Heron, Black-crowned Night ^^ 2^

GreatBlue ^ ^0

" Green 93 41

Snowy y-^ 38

" White •; 3»

'• Yellow-crowned Night ^ jo i^

Herons • • 'As

High-holder •• ;J°

Himantopus mexicanus oka iic i^1

Hirundinida? 350-356 173

Histrionicus histrionicus w ^'*

Hooded Crown Sparrow •■ ™"

Flycatching Warbler •• 3U

Merganser > * ?•**

" Warbler 401 311

Hoot Owl ■ 60,314

Horned Grebe « }^

" Lark •• ~'*'

House Wren, '.'.'.' 416 328

" •' Eastern

" " Western ••

Hudsonian Curlew ]*l

Godwit 13;

Hummingbird, liuby-throated ••41

Hummingbirds • I'J'. 3_b

Hutcliins's Goose ™ -^

Hydrochelidon nigra surlnamensis J^ I'S

Icteria virens 4U0 la

Icterida? 271-2<J0 1.6

Icterus galbula -^ ]i°

spurius -^ jiAo

Imperial Tern -^^

Indian Hen J'„

Indigo Painted Finch ^'

Indigobird •• y*'

Ind igo Bunting 343 ^i7

Jack. Whiskey ~\^

Jack Curlew •• -^j

•^ o^da;:::;:::;:::::::::::: 2"^ 249

j^' gGray '.:[::::::::.'.::::'.'.'.::'.'..'. v. m

Junco, siate-coioreS 320 180

Junco hienjalls 3^ ^'^Y,

Killdeer, 1->1 2

Plover ■• «

Kin" Eider ^^ 3"^

••"kIui :::;:::;:::::;:::;:: i"^^ 271

Kingbird ^\

Kingfisher. Belted 223

King6shers ,y„

Kinglet. Golden-crested •• jii

Golden-crowned 43U ~^(

" Ruby-crowned 431 -<o

Kinglets ■• 31^

Kite. Swaiiow-taiied .'.'.' !.".'; 176 136

Kittiwake, l-"* 278

Common __„

Kittiwake Gull •; -^

Knot 124 320

Krider'sHawk 186 63

Red-tail -63

Ladder-backed Three-toed Woodpecker „ '^V

tei?l^.'"^''^"!:::::::::::::::;;:::;::::::::::::::::::::;::::::36oJ2 m

Lanius borealis 360 183

lurtovicianusexcubitorides 361 i»*

Lapland longspur ..306 o»

Laridie 15-27 185

Lark, Brown • • „31

" Field 3^

" Horned •• 228

" Meadow 278 309

•• Old-Held ■• 3^

" Prairie Horned 258 ^

" Shore „■• -^

Lark Bunting 346

328
329
217
102
3i7

340
86
12
277
277
276
312
136
278
278
78
20
63
63

67

Finch ..[['.'.'.'.'.'.'.v.'.'.'.'.'.'.''.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. 11-

INDEX. 477

Lark Sparrow 318 112

Larks .. n

Larus argentatus smithsonianus 16 186

atricilla 19 187

" delawarens'S 18 188

'• Philadelphia 20 189

Laughing Gull 19 187

Lawyer .. 172

Least Bittern 87 57

Flycatcher 256 139

" Sandpiper 127 322

" Tern 24 285

Leconte's Bunting .. 15

Grasshopper Sparrow .. 15

Sparrow 315 15

Lesser Scaup Duck 60 46

Snow Goose ■!3 88

" Tell-tale 323

Limicolge 112-154 190

Limosa fedoa 130 191

hteniastica 132 192

Lincoln's Song Sparrow 204

Sparrow 333 204

Linnet. Pine .. 293

Little Black Crake 265

•' Black-head 46

" Horned Owl 199

'• Sapsucker .. 134

•' White Egret 38

Logcock . . 83

Loggerliead Shrike .. 184

Long-billed Curlew 145 218

Dowitcher 122 198

Marsh Wren 421 91

Long-eared Owl .. 45

Longipennes 15-33 193

Long-legged Tattler 324

Long-shanks .. 172

Longspur, Black-shouldered • .. 69

Chestnut-collared 308 H9

Lapland 306 68

" Painted 70

Smith's 307 70

White tailed 69

Long-tailed Chicadee 429 233

Duck 82

Long-winged Swimmers .. 193

Loon, 10 345

•• Black-throated 12 H44

" Common .. 345

" Ked-throated 13 346

Loons 347

Lophodytes cucullatus 36 194

Lords and Ladies .. 174

Louisiana Pipit . . 31

Loxia curvirostra minor 295 195

" leucoptera 298 196

Macrochires 237-242 197

Macrorhamphus scolopaceus 122 198

Magnolia .. 125

Warbler 382 125

Magpie, 2!i2

American 260 252

Mallard 38 22

Duck 22

Marbled God wit 130 191

Marlin, 191

Ring-tailed 192

Marsh Blackbird 9

" Harrier .. 90

" Hawk 178 90

" Hen, Freshwater . . 271

" Owl 44

•• Robin 257

Martin, Bee 340

Purple 350 267

" Sand 93

Maryland Yellow-throat 399 159

Meadowlark, 278 308

Western 280 309

Meadow-wiok . . 132

Megascops asio 214 199

Melanerpes ery throcephalus 23t 200

Meleagris gallopavo 169 "201

Melospiza f asciata 331 202

•' georgiana 334 203

478 INDEX.

Melospiza lincolni 333 204

Merganser, • • ~f(?

American •.;* ~X'J

Hooded i*^ 'J*

Red-breasted \f ~x5

Merganser aniericanus ;]+ -[J^

" serrator ^ ir; ii^

Merlin. Araerican ■ • ^*'^' jj?

■' Ricliardson's f-}, on?

Merula niigratoria **/• ~^'

" " propinqua **^ >us

Mexican Bluebird • • .-'^

Micropalama hiniantopus '^j ~^^

Micropodidic 240-241 210

Missouri Skylark • ■ :^-

Titlark • ^.^

Mniotilta varia 3'° - J

MniotiltidiH 3(0-404 -U

Mockingbirds • • *^J

Mocking Wren •• gf^

Molotluus ater '='- 5]^

Moosel)ird ' ,Ar .<> 01 1

Motacillida" •«)5-40T 214

Mottlod Owl -^ .'""J

Mourning Dove \t^ '^^

Warbler 398 158

Mud-hen. Rod-billed 15*

White-billed J-^

Mud Swallow •• 5^

My ia rob us crinitus -'^^ r''/

Myrtle llird ■■ ]~\

'• Warbler 0, U*

Nasliville Warbler ^"^ 1/"

New York Water Thrush •• ^:;

Night Heron. Illack-crowned -J^ -r-

" •' Yellow-crowned '■* rf.\

Nighthawk 2.18 113

Nightingale, Yirginia ■• .';*

Night-jar : ,• .**

Northern Fiialarope 113 241

Shrike -^ l^J

Waxwlng ,■■ „20

Numenlus borealis j-jS 5}^

hudsonicus Ij' *}'

lon-rirostris 1*» ^°

Nuthatch, Canada ^j*!

Carolina ~r

Red-bellied ■• ^.\

Hed-breasted ■1-6 ^Jl

White-oellied •■ ^^

Wiiite-breasted •*24 292

Nuthatches .;• 231

Nyctala acad ica 213 219

tengnialnia richardsoni -;- -~"

N yctea n y ci ca - 17 f^l

Nycticorax nycticorax nii»vius •••' ~-~

violaceus '."' --"^

Oidemia aniericana IJ-' 22i

•• deglandi '0 ^^^

Old-field Lark ■;. 308

Old-squaw <>' ^o

Old-wife ,.•■ „?,z

Olive-backed Thrush •♦"J" 337

Olive-sided Flycatcher ~J-^ JjJ^

Olor buccinator ^3 ~m

" colunibianus 2: 7^

Orange- crow lied Warbler <>'* }™

Orange-tliroated Warbler ■• J-^

Orchard Oriole ~^, \Ti

Oriole, Bait iniore -81 1^8

" Ordiard 2)-0 1<9

Ortolan ' 264

t^sprey. ^; :^

American ^* -J"

Otocoris alpestris pralicola '~j»^ -f*'

Oven-bird 39.'i ^81

Owl, Acadian •■ ^'J

•• American Barn 205 m

Hawk 219 307

. '• " Long-eared 20. 4,^

Wood ;*1*

Arctic American Saw-whet '~^'

Barn .

301

Barred:::;::::::::.:.; 210 au

Cat

Day

CO

INDEX. 479

Owl, Great Gray 211 306

" Great Horned 215 60

'• Hawk 307

•■ Hoot 60,314

•• Little Horned 1S9

LonfT-eared .. 45

" Marsh 44

'• Mottled 199

•* Red 199

" Richardson's 212 220

•• Saw-whet 213 219

• Screech 214 199

" Short-eared 208 44

" Snowy 217 221

" Sparrow . . 220

" Spectral 306

Owls, 59

^- Barn 300

Ox-eye 80

Painted Lon^rspur . . 70

Palm Warbler 393 126

Paludicolie 98-111 229

Pandion haliaetos carolinensis 204 2;i0

Paridai 424-4:i0 231

Parknian's Wren 418 329

Partridge, 56, 318

" Spruce .. 118

" Virginia .. 99

ParulaWarhler 376 105

Parus atricapillus 427 232

septentrionalis 429 233

■' bicolor 427 234

Passenger Pigeon 171 135

Passerella iliaca 336 235

Passeres 243-449 236

Passerine cyanea 343 237

Passerine Birds .. 236

Peabodv-bird 356

Pectoral Sandpiper • 125 321

Pedioca>tes pliasianellus canipestris 168 244

Peep 141,322

Pelecanidse 30-33 245

Pelecanus erythrorhynchus 30 246

fuscus 33 247

Pelican, American Bro-.vn 247

White 30 246

Brown 33 247

Pelicans . . 245

Penicola enucleator 293 24

Pei-egrine Falcon .. 144

Perisoreus canadensis 265 24'J

Petrochelidon lunifrons 351 2S0

Pewee, Water 279

Wood 250 107

Pewit 279

'• Flycatcher 279

Phalacrocoracida? 27-29 238

Phalacrocoiax dilophus 27 239

Phalarope. Gray .. 116

:^orthern 113 241

Jled 112 119

Red-necked 241

Wilson's 114 242

Phalaropes 240

Phalaropodida? 112-115 240

Phalaropus lobatus Il3 241

tricolor 114 242

Phasianidw 169-170 243

Pheasant .. 56

Pheasants 243

Philadelphia vireo 364 353

Philohela minor 117 259

Phoebe 247 279

Pica pica hudsonica 260 252

Pici 225-236 253

Picida> 225-236 254

Picoides araericanus 229 255

arcticus 228 256

Pied-billed Grebe 8 261

Pigeon, Passenger 171 135

Prairie" .. 51

Wild 135

Pigeon Hawk 200 4, 143

Woodpecker . 98

Pigeons 101

Pileated Woodpecker 232 83

480 INDEX.

Pine Finch 293

" Grosbeak 293 248

" Linnet 203

" Siskin 302 293

" Warbler 392 VM

Pine-creeping Warbler .. 130

Pinnated Grouse . . 338

Pintail 49 117

Pin-tail Duck 117

Pipilo ery throphtbalmus 338 257

Pipit, 31

" American 405 31

" Louisiana .. 31

" Sprasue's 406 32

PirangH erythromelas 348 258

Plectrophenax nivalis 304 251

Plover, American Golden 149 79

Black-bellied 148 80

Bull-head 79.80

Field 51,79

Golden 79

'• Grass /• .. 51

KlUdeer 8

King 8

" Ring-neck .. 8

R.iOdy 71

" Seniipalmated 152 7

Swiss 80

Upland 51

Wliistllng Field 80

Plovers 78

Pochard, .. 47

American . 47

Podicipida- 4-9 260

Podilymbus podiceps 8 261

Polioptila caMulea 432 262

PoociPtes graiiiineus 309 2Si

Porzana Carolina 105 2(>4

" jamaicensis 108 265

" noveboracensis 107 266

Prairie Chicken 3;i8

Hen 162 3:i8

HomedLark 2,58 228

" Grouse .. 338

" Pigeon .. 51

" Sharp-tailed Grouse 168 244

Prognesubis ;i50 267

Prometheus .. 120

Ptarmigan, White 181

Willow 162 181

Purple Crow Blackbird 269

Finch 2(W 74

Grackle 288 269

Martin 350 267

Pygopodes 4-14 268

Qua-bird 222

Quail 99,319

" Virginia 99

Quail Sparrow .. 17

Quisca lus qulscula 288 269

KaftDuck 49

Kail.Black 108 265

" Carolina 264

" Common .. 264

" King 102 271

" Virginia 103 272

" Yellow 107 266

Rails 229,270

Bain Crow .. 96

Kallidte 102-111 270

Rallus elegans 102 271

" virgiuianus 103 272

Raptores 174-219 273

Raven 110

American 266 110

Recurvirostra americana 115 274

Recurvirostridaj 115-117 275

UedCr.'ss-bill liW

" Owl 199

" Phalarope 112 116

Red-and-buff-shouldered Marsh Blackbird .. 9

Red-bellied Nuthatch 291

" Snipe .. 198

Red-billed Mud-hen 154

Redbird, 73

Cardinal 73

INDEX. 481

Red-breast, American

Ked-breasted Merganser

" Nuthatch

'• Sandpiper

Bed-eyed Greenlet

" Vireo

Redhead

Red-headed Woodpecker

Ked-necked Grebe

" Phalarope

Redpoll,

•' Common

Redpoll Linnet

Warbler

Bed-shouldered Buzzard

Hawk

Redstart. American

Redtail, Black

" Krider's

•' Western

Red-tailed Buzzard

Hawk

Red-throated Diver

•' Loon

Red-winjred Blackbird

Reed-bird

Regulus calendula

" satrapa

Bice-bird

Richardson's Merlin

Owl

" Pigeon Hawk

Ring-billed Gull

Ring-neck

Duck

" Plover

RinE-necked Duck

Ring Plover

Ring-tailed Eagle

" Marlin

Rissa tridacty la

Robin,

Allied

" American

" Golden

" Marsh

" Western

Robin-snipe

Rocky Mountain Garrot

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

" Song Grosbeak

Rough-leg, Ferruginous

Rough- winged Swallow

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Ruddy Duck

" Plover

Ruffed Grouse

Rusty Blackbird

" Grackle ,

Rusty-crowned Falcon

Sanderling

Sandhill Crane

Sand Martin

Sand-peep

Sandpiper, American Green

•' Ash-colored ,

" Baird's

" Bartramian

" Buff-bi-easted

" Least

" Pectoral

" Red-breasted

'" Semi-palmated

" Solitary

" Spotted

Stilt

•' Upland

Sapsucker,

Big

Little

" Yellow-bellied

Savanna Sparrow

" Common

Saw-whet Owl,

" " Arctic American

207

35

206

426

291

320

352

362

352

.55

47

234

200

5

103

241

299

1

1

1

326

65

188

65

403

283

63

63

187

62

61

185

61

346

13

346

277

9

132

431

276

430

277

132

201

145

212

220

145

18

188

7

48

7

62

48

7

35

192

15

278

207

208

442

207

178

257

445

208

320

156

340

163

163

194

36

356

284

4:n

276

241

327

71

142

71

160

56

284

303

303

147

129

71

99

162

93

141

325

320

126

319

141

51

142

343

127

322

125

321

320

128

141

136

325

144

5

123

209

51

292

134

133

230

315

311

16

16

213

219

220

482

INDEX.

Sayornis plupbe

Scarlet Tanajtrer

Scaup Duck, American

'• Lesser

Scolecopliasuscarollnus

cyanocephalus

Scolopacida; 117

Scoter. American

Black

Velvet

'• White-winped

Scotiaptex cinerea

Screech Owl

Sea Coot

'• Swallow

Seiurus aurocapillus

noveboracensis

Semi-palmated Plover

" Sandpiper

Tattler

Setophaga ruticilla

Sliarp-sliinned Hawk ^

Sharp-tailed Finch

" Sparrow

Sheldrake

Shore-birds

Sliore Lark

Short-billed Marsh Wren

Sliort- eared Owl

Short-tailed Tern

Shoveller

Duck

Slirlke, Common American

" Great Northern

" LojTfierhead

" Northern

" White-runiped

Shrikes

Shuffler

Sialia mexicana

" sialis

Sickle-bill

Sil ver-tonfiue

Siskin, American

Pine

Sitta canadensis

" carol iiiensis

Skunk Bla(;kbird

Skylark. Missouri

Slate-colored J unco

Small Green- crested Flycatcher

Smith's Longspur

Snipe,

'• American

English

Grass

'• .Tack

• Ked-bellied

•' Robin 1

Si one

Wilson's

Snow Bunting

Goose

Snowbird

Black

" Eastern

Snowflake

Snowy Egret

Heron

" Owl

Solitary Greenlet

" Sandpiper

Tattler

Somateria spectabilis

Song Sparrow

" Lincoln's

Swamp

Sorii

Southeastern Fish Crow .. .
Southern Sandhill Crane..

Soiith-southerly

Sparrow, Baird's

■' " Savanna.

" Black-hooded. ...

" Chipping

" Clay-colored

247
348
.58
GO
284
286
-148
69

70
211
214

395
390
1.52

128

403
180

sis

420
208

47

.360
361

448
447

302
426
424

329
307

120

304

92
217

136

68
331

105

313

325

327

279

258

49

46

303

:i04

305

224

224

225

225

306

199

224, 225

287

281

282

7

141

313

283

4

14

14

194

190

228

92

44

175

280

280

184

183

184

183

184

182

49

289

290

218

202

293

293

291

292

132

32

180

137

70

305

1.53

1.53

321

1.53, 321

198

320

324

1.53

251

88,89

180

180

180

251

38

i&

221

3.54

325

325

:H02

202

204

203

264

111

162

82

13

13

360

2<.)9

297

INDEX. 483

Sparrow, Common Savanna . . 16

" Eastern Fox 235

1, ield 32S 298

Fox....'.' 336 235

" Grrass •• 263

" Grasshopper 313 17

Harris's 320 3t>0

" Hooded Crown •■ 360

Lark 318 112

" Leconte's 315 15

" " Grasshopper .. 15

Lincoln's 333 204

Song 204

Owl 22(t

Quail 17

" Savanna 311 16

Sharp-tailed 318 14

Song 331 202

Swamp 334 203

" Song 203

Tree .. 323 296

Vesper 309 263

" White-browed Crown .. 359

White-crowned 320 359

White-throated 322 358

" " Crown .. 358

" Yellow-winged .. 17

Sparrow Hawk • • 147

Spatula clypeata *7 280

Speckle-belly 29

Speckle-bill ?9

Spectral Owl . . 306

Spinus pinus 302 293

•' tristis :«X) 294

Spirit-duck • ■ 81

Spiza americana 344 295

Spizella monticola 323 296

pallida 327 297

pusilla 328 298

socialis 325 299

Sphyrapicus varius 230 315

Spoonbill Duck 280

Spotted Grouse •• 118

Sandpiper 144 5

Sprague's Pipit 406 32

Sprig-tail 117

Spruce Grouse • • 11°

Partridge 118

Squawk 222

Stake-driver •. 58

Starlings 176

Stelgidopteryx serripennis 356 284

Sterna antillarum 24 285

•• forsieii 22 286

" hirundo 23 287

" tschegrava 21 288

g^m ° 172

" 'Black-n«^keii''!!''.^!!l'.^!y.'!!'l!!'''^^^^^"''''^''^^'^^^'^ lie 172

Stilt Sandpiper 123 209

Stilts ""'

Stint, American

Wilson's

Stone-cliat

Stone-snipe

Storks

Strigidaj .-205-207 300

Strix pratincola 205 301

Sturnella magna 278 308

•■ neglecta 280 309

Summer Duck . . 10

Warbler 119

Yello wbird . - 119

Surf Duck 225

Surf -birds .. 34

Surnia ulula caparoch 219 307

Swainson's Buzzard 66

Hawk 1S9 66

Swallow, Bank 3,55 93

Barn 352 87

" Chimney ■• 77

Cliff..... 351 250

Crescent 250

Eaves 2.50

Mud 250

" Rough-winged 356 ^84

" Sea. 287

275
322
322
290
324
171

484 INDEX.

Swallow. Tree

White-bellied

Swallows

Swallow-tailed Kite

Swamp Blackbird

" Soils Sparrow

" Sparrow

Swan, Oornrnon Anieriean

Trumpeter

" Whistling

Swans

Swift. Chimney

Swifts

Swiss Plover

Sylvania canadensis

" mitrata

Sylviida3 430-4Xi

Syriiphemia semipalrnata ■''^"

Syrniuni nebulosum

Tame Duck

Tanafier, Scarlet

Tanaf?ers

Tanagridjc 348-350

Tattler, Bartram's

" Loii^-lesged

" Senii-palmated

Solitary

Tawny Thrush

Teal, American Green-winged

Blue-winged

Cinnamon

■• Green-winged

Teeter-tail

Tell-tale, Greater

Lesser

Tennessee Warbler

Tern, Black

•' Caspian

" Common

" Forsters

•' Imperial

Least

Short-tailed

Wilson's

Terns

Tetraonida? 155-169

The"Bride"

Thistle-bird

Thrasher,

Brown

Thrush. Brown

" Eastern Hermit

■' Gray-cheeked

" Golden-crowned

" Hermit

■' New York Water

•' Olive-backed

" Tawny

Water

Wilson's

Wood

Thrush Blackbird

Thrushes

Thryothorus bewickil

ludovicianus

Tip-up

Titlark, American

Missouri

Titmice

Titmouse

Black-capped

Tufted

Totanus flavipes

" melanoleucus

" solitarius

Towhee

'* Bunting

Tachycineta bicolor

Traill's Flycatcher

Tree Sparrow . .

Swallow

Tricolor

Tringa bairdii

" canutus

" maculata

" minutilla

354

317

317

173

17ti

136

9

203

334

203

007

H3

226

82

227

28

240

77

197, 210

80

402

310

401

311

i-43;i

312

139

313

210

314

o<>

348

2.58

316

1-350

316

51

324

313

325

3:^5

23

45

25

47

24

44

23

324

3i3

375

168

25

175

21

288

23

287

22

28

288

24

285

175

287

185

-1«9

31 t

10

294

165

413

165

165

334

4;w

333

281

440

334

282

439

337

335

306

282

4;i5

335

433

336

303

332

416

341

415

342

.T

31

32

231

232

232

427

234

VX>

323

i;«

324

136

325

.338

257

257

3.54

317

2.55

140

.323

296

:«4

317

200

126

319

Vi4

32

125

32

127

322

INDEX. 485

Trinsa. coot- footed 116

Trochilidae 241-24-4 32G

Trochilus colubrls 241 327

Troglodytes aiJdon 41t5 328

" " pai'kmanil 418 329

hiemalis 419 3;i0

Troglodvtidae 408-422 331

Trumpeter Swan 83 22li

Tryngites subrnflcollis 142 343

Tufted Titmouse 427 234

Turdida; 433-449 332

Tardus alicice 4:^8 333

aonalaschkje pallasii 440 334

" fuscesens 435 335

• mustelinus 433 336

" ustulatus swainsouii 439 337

Turkey, Eastern Wild 201

Wild 169 201

Turkey Buzzard .. 75

Vulture ,. 174 75

Turnstone 153 43

Turtle Dove 357

Tynipannclius aniericanus 162 338

Tyrannidae 243-257 339

Tyrannus tyrannus 243 340

Upland Plover .. 51

Sandpiper .. 51

Urinator arcticus 12 344

iniber 10 345

'• luinnic 13 346

Urinatorida} 10-14 347

Veery . . 335

Velvet Scoter 225

Vesperbird .. 263

Vesper Spnrrow 309 263

Vireo, i^ells 369 348

" Blue-headed 367 354

" Philadelphia 364 353

'• Red-eved 362 352

•' Warbling ■.... 365 350

" White-eyed 368 351

" Yellow-throated 366 349

■Vireobellii 369 348

•' flavifrous 366 349

' " gil vus 365 350

" noveboracensis 368 351

" olivaceus 362 352

" philadelphicus 364 353

" solitarius 367 354

Vireonida; 362-370 355

Vireos ■• 365

Virginia Nightingale .. 73

" Partridge . 99

Quail 99

Kail 103 272

Vulture, Turkey 174 75

Vultures, American .. 76

Wijigtail. 31

Water 282

Wagtail Warbler 282

" Golden-crowned 281

Wagtails 214

Warbler, Autumn .. l'-3

Azure -. 121

'■ Bay-breasted 387 ISl

Blackburn's .. 120

Blackburnian 389 120

BlackandWhite 370 211

Black-and-yellew 125

Black-poll 388 128

Black-throated Blue 379 122

Green 391 131

" Blue-eyed Yellow .. 119

" Blue Golden- winged .. 167

Blue-winged 371 169

Yellow 169

Blue Yellow-backed 105

Canada 310

Canadian 402 310

Flycatching 310

CapeMay.... 377 129

" Cerulean 384 121

Chestnut-sided 386 127

Connecticut 397 157

Golden 119

'• Golden-crowned Wag-tail •• 281

486 INDEX.

Warbler, Golden-Winged 'fj'f IfJ"

Hooded 40i i\}

•' Flycatching -^ ^l\

Magnolia ?^ \'l

Mourning :'?? !:^°

Myrtle :'5i '"*

Nasliville .

373 170

Ptarmigan

19

:{58 19

20

198
4 6

329

Orange-crowned . <^''* 1^6

" Orange-throated •• ^^

Palm ^l ]~^

" Parula ^76 105

Pine ^*~ 1^

Pine-creeping :}*"

Red-poll 126

" Summer •• \^

Tennessee ^'^ i°5

Wag-tail ^x -»-

Yellow 3(8 119

" Yellow-crowned ■• i^.

Yillow Red-poll \^

" Yellow-nuiippd •• :}^

" Yeilow-tliroated Ground •• J^

Warblers • •• .ji;;

Warbling Greenlet •• J^"

Vireo -^65 350

Water Pewee •; 5I5

•' Thrusli -^^ 282

" Wagtail •^■^

Waterwitcii.... !!'.!".'. .,;i 261

Waxwing, Bohemian *"' -^

" Carolina

" Cedar

Northern qg„

Western Bluebird "» -^l

'• Dowilcher ..

" Grebe

HouseWren ^^ .^

Meadowlarlf ~22 ^o

Red-taU \% ^

Robin "5 r^

Wheat-ear .^u -.:|"

Whip-poor-will -^' „^

Wlii>»lveyJacl{ :*J

Whistler ••

Whistling Field Plover ! •■ ^

Swan *»2 22<

White Brant « iro

•' Crane 'SS

" Heron ,2^

" Ptarmigan i5i

White-bellied Nutiiatch ^x

Swallow ■■

White-billed Mud-hen.!'..".!'.."!!'.! .i-. J^

White-breasted Xulliatcli *^* ^-

White-browed Crown Sparrow - ^

White-crowned Sparrow "'•^ ?^*'

White-eyed Greenlet „aa ^\

Vireo 368 3ol

White-fronted Goose

" American

White-headed Sea-eagle ,,^, ,„,

White-rumped Shrike <»»i l^

White-tailed Longspur .j,x ,,°2

White-throated Sparrow *'- -^

" Crown Sparrow •• *^

White-winged Blackbird -11, ,^'

" Crossbill 298 190

Scoter .!!!!.!!:!!!!!!!:!:! vo 225

Surf Duck..... ^ 225

Whooping Crane •» ^^i

Widgeon. American •• ,,'},

Wild Dove 35^

" Duck ■• ~.j

" Goose •• ,5^

" Picrpon •• '**

" Turkey!"!!!!!!!.!!.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. 1^9 201

Wilderness Bird •• 335

Willet 139 dU

Willow Grouse

29
29
164

181

162 181
242
153

Wilson's Phalarop Ji*

Snipe 120

Stint :*-

" Tern . •• ~

Thrush' ! *^'' ig^

Winter Chip-bird '^'*

INDEX. 487

Winter Hawk

Wren

Wood Duck

Pewee

Thrush

Woodfock, Americau

Woodpeckei', American Three-toed

Arctic "

Black-backed

Three-toed..

Down J-

'• Golden-winged

Hairy

Ladder-backed Three-toed

Pigeon

Pileated

Red-headed

Yellow-bellied

Woodpeckers

Wren, Bewick's

Cai'olina

Eastern House

'' Great Carolina

" House

'• Long-billed IMarsli

" Mocking

ParknianV.

" Short-billeci Marsh

•' Western House

Winter

Wrens

• ry necks

Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus

Yellow Crake

Rail

•' Red-poll Warbler

Warbler

>'e I low-bellied Flycatcher

Sapsucker

Woodpecker

Yellow- l)illed Cuckoo

Yellowbird

Yellow-breasted Chat

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Warbler

Yellow-hauinier

Yellow-headed Blackbird

fellow-legs

Greater

Yellow-rumped Warblei'

Yellow-shanks

Greater

Yeliow-throat, MarylantI

\'ellow-throated Greeulet

Ground Warbler

" Vireo

Yellow-winged Sparrow

Yucker

/enaidurii macroura

Zonotricliia albicollis

leucophrys

((uerula

&5

41!I

$10

51

10

•J.T(I

107

4:ii

aas

11:

259

<>ii|

255

2->s

25«

256

256

227

133

98

22.1

134

255

98

2:^2

83

■2U

200

315

253.254

41 rt

341

-t1.->

342

328

:i42

41«

328

421

91

343

41H

329

42(1

92

329

419

330

;i31

25a

275

:i56

26e

1l»7

2m

126

3;s

118

2.52

138

2:«»

315

315

22<»

96

294

4(1(1

177

%

223

134

98

275

356

18.5

323

ViH

324

124

■.m

324

:wfi

159

349

159

8fiti

349

17

98

172

357

:i'22

■.m

:^2ii

mt

:j2o

360

•

«5

-P

X>

o>

m

C\J

o

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g

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;s

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AMNH LIBRARY

100115437