'i9. •^J^e FOR THE PEOPLE FOR EDVCATION FOR SCIENCE LIBRARY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY A POPULAR HANDBOOK OF THE ORNITHOLOGY OF ^y.Pz f ^ ^1 EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. BY THOMAS NUTTALL. SECOND REVISED /iND ANNOTATED EDITION By MONTAGUE CHAMBERLAIN. WITH ADDITIONS AND ONE HUNDRED AND TEN ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLORS. Vol. I. BOSTON: LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. 1896. Copyright, 1891, 1896, Little, Brown, and Company. SSniiJEtsitg ^ress; John Wilson and Son. Cambridge, U.S. A PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION- 'nr^HE publication of a new edition of this work has -*• enabled me to correct some errors which oc- curred in the former edition, and to add some recently discovered facts of distribution and habits. We have yet much to learn about the birds of this country, but when it becomes better known that bird-life displays much that is of rare interest to the lovers of nature and to the thoughtful, contemplative mind, — that the li\^es qf these graceful creatures are analogous to our own; that they have their periods of infantile helplessness, and are trained for future self-reliance ; that they have their love affairs, select their mates, build their homes, and foster their offspring with almost human instincts, — we may safely predict an ever-increasing interest in the study of these lives, and the solving of many problems which baffle the student of to-day. M. C. Bar Harbor, Maine, September, 1896. PREFACE. " I ^HIS work is practically an edition of " A Manual ■^ of the Ornithology of the United States and of Canada," written by THOMAS NUTFALL. Nuttall's work has been out of print for several years ; but its popularity and real value have kept it in demand, and the few copies recently offered for sale were dis- posed of at high prices. A new edition was thus called for ; but it seemed unwise to issue the work in its origi- nal form, or to remodel it to the extent that would be required to arrange it in harmony with the new 7-cgiine of affairs ornithological ; for the science has advanced rapidly since the "Manual" was written, and the changes effected have been numerous and important. A new and entirely different system of classification has come in vogue; the nomenclature has been altered and trinomials introduced; and, indeed, little is left of American ornithology as Nuttall knew it, except the birds, — and even of these, two species have become extinct, and a large number of new forms have been discovered. Thomas Nuttall came to this country from England in 1808, and between 1825 and 1834 held the positions Vlll PREFACE. of Curator of the Botanic Garden and Lecturer on Natural History at Harvard University. In 1842 he returned to England, where he resided until his death in 1859, at the age of seventy-three. The first volume of the " Manual," containing an account of the Land Birds, was published in 1832, and a second edition, with some additional matter, appeared in 1840. The second volume, of which one edition only was issued, came out in 1834. The " Manual" was the first hand-book of the subject that had been published, and its delightful sketches of bird-life and its fragrance of the field and forest carried it into immediate favor. But Nuttall was more than a mere lover of Nature, he had considerable scientific at- tainment; and though he appears to have enjoyed the study of bird-life more than he did the musty side of ornithology, with its dried skins and drier technicalities, he had an eye trained for careful observation and a stu- dent's respect for exact statement. It was this rare com- bination that gave to Nuttall's work its real value ; and these chapters of his are still valuable, — much too valu- able to be lost; for if a great advance has been made in the study of scientific ornithology, and of the species that occur in the Western half of the continent, our knowledge of the life-histories of most of the Eastern birds has been advanced but little beyond that left us by Nuttall and his contemporaries. I must not however be understood as undervaluing the recent work of the " American School," as they are styled by European writers ; for it may be said, without exaggeration, that the present generation of workers in this field have placed American ornithology quite PREFACE. IX abreast of that of any other country; and, indeed, as I have written elsewhere in these pages, they have been called " the pioneers of modern ornithological science." Besides their more technical work, the American stu- dents have written some of the best chapters of bird biography to be found in the entire range of ornitho- logical literature. While this is but a frank statement of facts, we must concede that the older writers noted so carefully the habits of the birds they knew that comparatively little was left for their successors to discover. It was suggested to me that the new might be com- bined with the old, — that an interesting and useful book might be prepared by taking Nuttall's biographies and inserting brief notes relating the results of recent determinations in distribution and habits. That is what I have attempted in the present work. The Introduc- tion has been given exactly as it appeared in Nuttall's second edition, and the text of the biographical matter has been changed but little. My notes follow each chapter in a smaller type, that they may be readily distinguished. I have also rewritten the descriptions of plumage, and have endeavored to phrase these in such well-known and untechnical terms that they may be understood by unskilled readers. To these I have added a description of the nest and eggs of each species. In short, an effort has been made to prepare a work that will be useful to young students, as well as entertaining to those who are merely interested in birds. The new matter has been selected with special re- gard for the needs of these classes of readers, for I X PREFACE. have had another motive in the preparation of this work besides that of preserving Nuttall's biographies. Some time ago I made a promise to several Canadian friends to prepare a book treating of Canadian birds that would be scientifically correct and at the same time " popular" in its style. So while writing these pages I have kept Canadian readers constantly in mind, and have given here an account of every species that has been found within the Dominion east of the Manitoba plains, together with their Canadian distribution. The limits of a " hand-book " demanding the most rigid economy of space, when treating of so extensive a subject I have been compelled to omit those species which occur only to the westward of the Mississippi valley, though I have endeavored to make mention of every bird that has occurred within this Eastern Faunal Province, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean, and to give their distribution and breeding area so far as these are known. Nuttall knew very little about the Western birds, and therefore only a few short chapters of his have been lost through restricting the scope of the present work to Eastern forms. The nomenclature adopted is that of the " Check- List" issued by the American Ornithologists' Union. The sequence of species is that arranged by Nuttall, with some few trifling alterations; and being radically different from that of recent authors, the student must be referred to other works for guidance in classification as well as for diagnoses of the higher groups. Coues' "Key to North American Birds" is a useful work, and contains matter not obtainable elsewhere, though the PREFACE. XI system of classification now generally used is more clearly stated in Ridgway's " Manual of North Amer- ican Birds." But the most complete work at present obtainable, and one which every student should have at hand, is " The History of North American Birds," by Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway. With that work and the " A. O. U. Check-List " to guide him, the student will be equipped for thorough study. It only remains for me to thank many friends who have aided me. To Mr. William Brewster and Mr. Charles F. Batchelder, the president and the treasurer of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, I am particularly indebted for kind advice and assistance. Nor must I forget to mention the name of my fellow-worker, Ernest E. Thompson, of Toronto. A large number of the illustrations are from drawings made especially for this work by Mr. Thompson. M. L. Harvard Universitv, Camhridge, Mass. September, 1S91. CONTENTS. Blackbird, Red-winged Rusty . Yellow-headed Bluebird .... Bobolink .... Bunting, Indigo . . , Painted . , Carac.^ra, Audubon's Cardinal Catbird Chat Chickadee .... Carolina . Hudsonian Chuck-will's-widow Cowbird Creeper, Bahama Honey Brown ... Crossbill, American . White-winged Crow Fish .... Cuckoo, Black-billed . Mangrove Yellow-billed DiCKCISSEL Eagle, Bald . Golden . Gray Sea Finch, Purple . Flicker .... Page 96 119 102 285 109 310 6 362 '95 172 146 150 '5' 465 104 3S8 387 378 381 126 '31 436 437 432 298 19 15 26 372 438 Flycatcher, Acadian . Crested . Least . . Olive-sided Traill's . . Yellow-bellied Gnatc.\tcher . . . Goldfinch .... American Goshawk .... Crackle, Boat-tailed Purple Grosbeak, Blue . . Evening Pine Rose-breasted Gvrfalcon .... Hawk, Broad-winged Cooper's . Duck . . Harris's Marsh . Pigeon . . Red-shouldered Red-tailed . . Rough-Ieggcd Sharp-shinned Short-tailed Sparrow Humming Bird . . Jay, Blue 133 Canada . 138 Page 425 413 421 410 424 426 170 353 348 31 114 115 371 367 375 369 7 49 34 9 46 51 1 1 43 46 41 35 53 13 457 XIV CONTENTS. Jay, Florida . . . Junco, Slate-colored Kingbird. . . . Gray . Kingfisher ... Kinglet, Golden-crowned Ruby-crowned Kite, Everglade . . Mississippi Swallow-tailed . White-tailed . . Lapland Longspur Lark, Horned . . Meadow . . Martin, Purple . . Maryland Yellow-throat Mocking Bird . . . NiGHTHAWK Nuthatch, Brown-headed Red-breasted . White-breasted Oriole, Baltimore Orchard Osprey Oven Bird . . Owl, Barn . . Barred . Burrowing Great Gray Great Horned Hawk . . Long-eared Richardson's Saw-whet . Screech Short-cared Snowy . Paroquet, Carolina Pewee, Wood . . Phoebe . . . Pipit .... Page 339 404 414 461 283 2S1 40 37 39 38 304 294 79 391 249 1S7 470 3S6 3S5 383 S3 93 27 215 75 70 78 64 61 53 66 73 72 57 68 55 428 419 415 292 Raven Redpoll Redstart Robin Hoary Sapsucker .... Shrike, Loggerhead . Northern . Siskin, Pine . . Skylark Snowflake .... Sparrow, Acadian Sharp Bachman's . Chipping . Field . . . Fox . . Grasshopper Henslow's House . Ipswich . Lark . . Le Conte's Lincoln's Nelson's Savanna Seaside . Sharp-tailed Song . Swamp Tree . Vesper , White-crowned White-throated Swallow, Bank . Barn . , Cliff . , Rough-winged Tree Swift, Chimney . Page 120 355 358 164 198 tailed Tanager, Scarlet . Summer Thrasher, Brown . Thrush, Bicknell's . Gray-cheeked Hermit . . ORNITHOLOGY OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. in two volumes. Vol. 1. Pl.l 1 . Hawl^ Owl . 3 . Great Horned Owl . 5. Bald Ea^le. 2 . ScreecliOwl. 4<. Florida Burrowing Owd. CONTENTS. XV Page Thrush, Louisiana Water . . 214 Olive-backed . . .211 Water 212 Wilson's . . . . 207 Wood 202 Titmouse, Tuticd 142 Towhee 359 ViKEO, Blue-headed . . Philadelphia . . Red-eyed . . Warbling . . . White-eyed . . Yellow-throated Vulture, lUack . . , Turkey . . Warbler, r>achman's . 1 '.ay-breasted Black and white Blackburnian lilack-poll l^lack-throated Hlue Black-throated Green Blue-winged . Canadian . Cape May Cerulean . Chestnut-sided Connecticut . Golden-winged Hooded Kentucky ■ . Kirtland's 176 186 182 180 178 174 4 261 =37 389 232 23S 245 230 258 227 226 247 235 253 260 167 246 265 Warbler, Magnolia . . Mourning Myrtle . . . Nashville. Orange-crowned Parula . . . Pine . . . Prairie Prothonotary Swainson's . Tennessee Wilson's . . Worm-eating Yellow . . Yellow Palm Yellow-throated Waxwing, Bohemian Cedar . . . Wheatear . . Whip-poor-will .... Woodpecker, American three toed Arctic three-toed 455 Downy . Hairy . . Ivory-billed Pileated . Red-bellied Red-cockaded Red-headed Wren, Bewick's . . Carolina . . . House .... Long-billed Marsh Short-billed Marsh Winter .... Page 224 251 217 263 264 244 239 242 257 256 261 16S 255 220 219 .52 '54 290 467 456 452 45' 441 444 448 454 446 276 272 266 279 277 270 ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOL. I. COLORED PLATES. Plate I Frontispiece I. Hawk Owl. Screech Owl. Great Horned Owl. Florida Burrowing Owl. Bald Eagle. Plate H Page 80 1. Baltimore Oriole. 2. Meadowlark. ■ 3. Red-Winged Blackbird. 4. Bobolink. 5. American Osprey. Pl.\te in Page 146 1. Chickadee. 2. Catbird. 3. Ced.\r Waxwing. 4. Red-Eyed Vireo. 5. Robin. Plate IV Page 202 1. American Redstart. 2. Blue Jay. 3. Wood Thrush. 4. Water Thrush. 5. Duck Hawk. Plate V , Page 220 1. Cerulean Warbler 2. Prairie Warbler. VOL. I. — b P L.\T E V . — con ti lilted. 3. Yellow Warbler. 4. Parula Warbler. 5. Bl.\ckburnian Warbler. 6. Black-Throated Green Warbler. Plate \'I. . ... Page 262 1. Maryland Yellow Throat. 2. Blue Bird. 3. Winter Wren. 4. Nashville Warbler. 5. Bl.'vck-Throated Blue Warbler. 6. Ruby-Crowned Kinglet. Plate VII. .... Page 298 1. Snowflake. 2. White-Thro.\ted Sparrow. 3. Black-Thro.vi'ed Bunting. 4. Indigo Bunting. 5. Scarlet Tanager. PL.A.TE VIII Page 360 I Snow Bird. 2. Song Sparrow. 3. Phcebe. 4. .American Goldfinch. 5. Vesper Sparrow. 6. Towhee. XVlll ILLUSTRATIONS. Plate IX Page 382 1. Pine Grosbeak (Male). 2. Pine Grosbeak (Female). 3. Purple Finch (Male). 4. Purple Finch (Female). 5. Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. 6. White-Winged Crossbill (Male). 7. White-Winged Crossbill (Female). Plate X Page 438 1. Ruby-Throated Humming Bird. 2. Barn Swallow. 3. Flicker. 4. Whip-poor-will. 5. Crested Red Bird. 6. Red-headed Woodpecker. ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT. No Page No I. Turkey Vulture . . I 27. 2. White Gyrfalcon . . 7 28. 3- American Sparrow 29. Hawk 13 30- 4. Golden Eagle . . . 15 31- 5- Bald Eagle .... 19 32- 6. American Osprey . . 27 33- 7- American Goshawk . 31 34- 8. Cooper's Hawk . . . 34 35- 9- Mississippi Kite . . . 37 36. 10. American Rough-Leggel 37- Hawk 41 38- II. Red-Shouldered Hawk 43 39- 12. Broad-Winged Hawk . 49 40. 13- Hawk Owl 53 41. 14. Snowy Owl .... 55 15- Screech Owl .... 57 42. 16. Great Horned Owl . 61 43- 17- Long-Eared Owl . . 66 18. Short-Eared Owl . . 68 44. 19. Barred Owl .... 70 45- 20. Richardson's Owl . . 73 46. 21. Barn Owl 75 47- 22. Florida Burrowing Owl 7S 23- Meadowlark .... 79 48. 24. Baltimore Oriole . 83 49. 25- Red-Winged Blackbird 96 50- 26. Yellow-Headed Black- 51- bird 102 52- Page Bobolink 109 Blue J.\y ..... . 133 Canada Jay . . . . 138 Tufted Titmouse . . 142 Northern Shrike . , 159 Redstart 164 Wilson's Warbler . . 168 Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher 170 Yellow-Breasted Chat 172 White-Eyed Vireo . . 178 Mocking Bird .... 187 Brown Thrasher . . 192 Wilson's Thrush . . 207 OvEN-BiRD . . . . 215 Black-Thro.a.ted Green Warbler 230 Parula Warbler . . 244 Maryland Yellow- Throat 249 Worm-Eating Warbler 255 House Wren .... 266 Carolina Wren . . . 272 Golden-Crowned King- let 283 Bluebird 285 Wheatear 290 American Pipit . . . 292 Horned Lark .... 294 Skylark 297 ILLUSTRATIONS. XIX No Pai^e No 53- Snowflake . . . • 300 71- 54- Lapland Longspur • 304 55- Scarlet Tanager • 306 72. 56. Lark Sparrow • 317 73- 57- Vesper Sparrow . • 320 74- 58. Song Sparrow . • 3-2 75- 59- Tree Sparrow • IZ^- 76. 60. Fox Sparrow . . ■ 338 77- 61. Sharp-Tailed Spark ow 344 78. 62. American Goldfinc H . 34S 79- 63- Goldfinch . . . • 353 80. 64. Redpoll .... • 355 65- Hoary Redpoll . • 358 81. 66. Cardinal . . . . 362 82. 67. Rose-Breasted Gr os- BEAK .... • 369 83- 68. Pine Grosbeak . • 375 69. American Crossbili ^ . 378 84. 70 White-Breasted Nl T- 85. hatch .... ■ 383 86. Page Black and White War- bler 3S9 Barn Swallow . . . 394 Tree Swallow . . . 399 Bank Swallow . . . 401 Kingbird 404 Olive-Sided Flycatcher 410 Traill's Flycatcher . 424 Carolina Paroquet . 428 Yellow-Billed Cuckoo 432 Ivory-Billed Wood- pecker 441 P1LE.A.TED Woodpecker 444 Yellow-Bellied Sap- sucker 450 Ruby-Throated Hum- ming Bird .... 457 Belted Kingfisher . 461 Chimney Swift . . . 463 NiGHTiiAWK 470 :^- .T . -v>'Tr^^?=^.(,'%y"-'^ /, V .-i.rvtTi INTRODUCTION. Of all the classes of animals by which we are surrounded in the ample field of Nature, there are none more remarkable in their appearance and habits than the feathered inhabitants of the air. They play around us like fairy spirits, elude approach in an element which defies our pursuit, soar out of sight in the yielding sky, journey over our heads in marshalled ranks, dart like meteors in the sunshine of summer, or, seeking the solitary recesses of the forest and the waters, they glide before us like beings of fancy. They diversify the still landscape with the most lively motion and beautiful association ; they come and go with the change of the season ; and as their actions are di- rected by an uncontrollable instinct of provident Nature, they may be considered as concomitant with the beauty of the sur- rounding scene. With what grateful sensations do we involun- tarily hail the arrival of these faithful messengers of spring and summer, after the lapse of the dreary winter, which compelled them to forsake us for more favored climes. Their songs, now heard from the leafy groves and shadowy forests, inspire de- light, or recollections of the pleasing past, in every breast. How volatile, how playfully capricious, how musical and happy, are these roving sylphs of Nature, to whom the air, the earth, and the waters are alike habitable ! Their lives are spent in boundless action ; and Nature, with an omniscient benev'O- lence, has assisted and formed them for this wonderful display of perpetual life and vigor, in an element almost their own. xxii INTRODUCTION. If we draw a comparison between these inhabitants of the air and the earth, we shall perceive that, instead of the large head, formidable jaws armed with teeth, the capacious chest, wide shoulders, and muscular legs of the quadrupeds, they have bills, or pointed jaws destitute of teeth ; a long and pliant neck, gently swelling shoulders, immovable vertebrae ; the fore- arm attenuated to a point and clothed with feathers, forming the expansive wing, and thus fitted for a different species of motion ; likewise the wide extended tail, to assist the general provision for buoyancy throughout the whole anatomical frame. For the same general purpose of lightness, exists the contrast of slender bony legs and feet. So that, in short, we perceive in the whole conformation of this interesting tribe, a structure wisely and curiously adapted for their destined motion through the air. Lightness and buoyancy appear in every part of the structure of birds : to this end nothing contributes more than the soft and delicate plumage with which they are so warmly clad ; and though the wings (or great organs of aerial motion by which they swim, as it were, in the atmosphere) are formed of such light materials, yet the force with which they strike the air is so great as to impel their bodies with a rapidity unknown to the swiftest quadruped. The same grand intention of form- ing a class of animals to move in the ambient desert they occupy above the earth, is likewise visible in their internal structure. Their bones are light and thin, and all the muscles diminutive but those appropriated for moving the wings. The lungs are placed near to the back-bone and ribs ; and the air is not, as in other animals, merely confined to the pulmonary organs, but passes through, and is then conveyed into a num- ber of membranous cells on either side the external region of the heart, communicating with others situated beneath the chest. In some birds these cells are continued down the wings, extending even to the pinions, bones of the thighs, and other parts of the body, which can be distended with air at the pleasure or necessity of the animal. This diffusion of air is not only intended to assist in lightening and elevating the body, but also appears necessary to prevent the stoppage or INTRODUCTION. ^^jjj interruption of respiration, whichi would otherwise follow the rapidity of their motion through the resisting atmosphere ; and thus the Ostrich, though deprived of the power of flight, runs almost with the swiftness of the wind, and requires, as he possesses, the usual resources of air conferred on other birds. Were it possible for man to move with the rapidity of a Swal- low, the resistance of the air, without some such peculiar pro- vision as in birds, would quickly bring on suffocation. I'he superior vital heat of this class of beings is likewise probably due to this greater aeration of the vital fluid. Birds, as well as quadrupeds, may be generally distinguished into two great classes from the food on which tiiey are destined to subsist ; and may, consequently, be termed carnivorous and granivorous. Some also hold a middle nature, or partake of both. The granivorous and herbivorous birds are provided with larger and longer intestines than those of the carnivorous kinds. Their food, consisting chiefly of grain of various sorts, is conveyed whole into the craw or first stomach, where it is softened and acted upon by a peculiar glandular secretion thrown out upon its surface ; it is then again conveyed into a second preparatory digestive organ ; and finally transmitted into the true stomach, or gizzard, formed of two strong muscles connected externally with a tendinous substance, and lined in- ternally with a thick membrane of great power and strength ; and in this place the unmasticated food is at length completely triturated, and prepared for the operation of the gastric juice. The extraordinary powers of the gizzard in comminuting food, to prepare it for digestion, almost exceeds the bounds of cred- ibility. Turkeys and common fowls have been made to swal- low sharp angular fragments of glass, metallic tubes, and balls armed with needles, and even lancets, which were found broken and compressed, without producing any apparent pain or wounds in the stomach. The gravel pebbles swallowed by this class of birds with so much avidity, thus appear useful in bruising and comminuting the grain they feed on, and prepar- ing it for the solvent action of the digestive organs. Those birds which live chiefly on grain and vegetable sub- xxiv INTRODUCTION. Stances partake in a degree of the nature and disposition of herbivorous quadrupeds. In both, the food and the provision for its digestion are very similar. Ahke distinguished for sedentary habits and gentleness of manners, their lives are harmlessly and usefully passed in collecting seeds and fruits, and ridding the earth of noxious and destructive insects ; they live wholly on the defensive with all the feathered race, and are content to rear and defend their offspring from the attacks of their enemies. It is from this tractable and gentle race, as well as from the amphibious or aquatic tribes, that man has long succeeded in obtaining useful and domestic species, which, from their prolificacy and hardihood, afford a vast supply of wholesome and nutritious food. Of these, the Hen, originally from India ; the Goose, Duck, and Pigeon of Europe ; the Turkey of America ; and the Pintado, or Guinea- hen of Africa, are the principal : to which may also be ad- ded, as less useful, or more recently naturalized, the Peacock of India, the Pheasant of the same country, the Chinese and Canada Goose, the Muscovy Duck, and the European Swan. Carnivorous birds by many striking traits evince the destiny for which they have been created ; they are provided with wings of great length, supported by powerful muscles, which enable them to fly with energy and soar with ease at the loftiest elevations. They are armed with strong hooked bills and with the sharp and formidable claws of the tiger ; they are also further distinguished by their large heads, short necks, strong muscular thighs in aid of their retractile talons, and a sight so piercing as to enable them, while soaring at the greatest height, to perceive their prey, upon which they some- times descend, like an arrow, with undeviating aim. In these birds the stomach is smaller than in the granivorous kinds, and their intestines are shorter. Like beasts of prey, they are of a fierce and unsociable nature ; and so far from herding together like the inoffensive tribes, they drive even their offspring from the eyry, and seek habitually the shelter of desert rocks, ne- glected ruins, or the solitude of the darkest forest, from whence INTRODUCTION. XXV they utter loud, terrific, or piercing cries, in accordance with the gloomy rage and inquietude of their insatiable desires. Besides these grand divisions of the winged nations, there are others, which, in their habits and manners, might be com- pared to the amphibious animals, as they live chiefly on the water, and feed on its productions. To enable them to swim and dive in quest of their aquatic food, their toes are con- nected by broad membranes or webs, with which, like oars, they strike the water, and are impelled with force. In this way even the seas, lakes, and rivers, abounding with fish, insects, and seeds, swarm with birds of various kinds, which all obtain an abundant supply. There are other aquatic birds, frequent- ing marshes and the margins of lakes, rivers, and the sea, which seem to partake of an intermediate nature between the land and water tribes. Some of these feed on fishes and rep- tiles ; others, with long and sensible bills and extended necks, seek their food in wet and muddy marshes. These birds are not made for swimming ; but, familiar with water, they wade, and many follow the edge of the retiring waves of the sea, gleaning their insect prey at the recession of the tides : for this kind of life Nature has provided them with long legs, bare of feathers even above the knees ; their toes, unconnected by webs, are only partially furnished with membranous appen- dages, just sufficient to support them on the soft and boggy grounds they frequent. To this tribe belong the Cranes, Snipes, Sandpipers, \\'oodcocks, and many others. In comparing the senses of animals in connection with their instinct, we find that of sight to be more extended, more acute, and more distinct in birds, in general, than in quadrupeds. I say "in general," for there are some birds, such as the Owls, whose vision is less clear than that of quadrupeds ; but this rather results from the extreme sensibility of the eye, which, though dazzled with the glare of full day, nicely distinguishes even small objects by the aid of twilight. In all birds the organ of sight is furnished with two membranes, — an external and internal, — additional to those which occur in the human subject. The former, membrana nictitans, or external mem XXVI INTRODUCTION. brane, is situated in the larger angle of the eye, and is, in fact, a second and more transparent eyelid, whose motions are directed at pleasure, and its use, besides occasionally cleaning and polishing the cornea, is to temper the excess of light and adjust the quantity admitted to the extreme delicacy of the organ. The other membrane, situated at the bottom of the eye, appears to be an expansion of the optic nerve, which, re- ceiving more immediately the impressions of the light, must be much more sensible than in other animals ; and consequently the sight is in birds far more perfect, and embraces a wider range. Facts and observations bear out this conclusion ; for a Sparrow-hawk, while hovering in the air, perceives a Lark or other small bird, sitting on the ground, at twenty times the dis- tance that such an object would be visible to a man or dog. A Kite, which soars beyond the reach of human vision, yet distinguishes a lizard, field-mouse, or bird, and from this lofty station selects the tiny object of his prey, descending upon it in nearly a perpendicular line. But it may also be added that this prodigious extent of vision is likewise accompanied with equal accuracy and clearness ; for the eye can dilate or con- tract, be shaded or exposed, depressed or made protuberant, so as readily to assume the precise form suited to the degree of light and the distance of the object ; the organ thus answer- ing, as it were, the purpose of a self-adjusting telescope, with a shade for examining the most luminous and dazzling objects ; and hence the Eagle is often seen to ascend to the higher regions of the atmosphere, gazing on the unclouded sun as on an ordinary and familiar object. The rapid motions executed by birds have also a reference to the perfection of their vision ; for if Nature, while she en- dowed them with great agility and vast muscular strength, had left them as short-sighted as ourselves, their latent powers would have availed them nothing, and the dangers of a per- petually impeded progress would have repressed or extin- guished their ardor. We may then, in general, consider the celerity with which an animal moves, as a just indication of the perfection of its vision. A bird, therefore, shooting swiftly INTRODUCTION. xxvii through the air, must undoubtedly see better than one which slowly describes a waving tract. The weak-sighted bat, flying carefully through bars of willow, even when the eyes were ex- tinguished, may seem to suggest an exception to this rule of relative velocity and vision ; but in this case, as in that of some blind individuals of the human species, the exquisite auditory apparatus seems capable of supplying the defect of sight. Nor are the flickerings of the bat, constantly performed in a narrow circuit, at all to be compared to the distant and lofty soarings of the Eagle, or the wide wanderings of the smaller birds, who often annually pass and repass from the arctic circle to the equator. The idea of motion, and all the other ideas connected with it, such as those of relative velocities, extent of country, the proportional height of eminences, and of the various inequali- ties that prevail on the surface, are therefore more precise in birds, and occupy a larger share of their conceptions, than in the grovelling quadrupeds. Nature would seem to have pointed out this superiority of vision, by the more conspicuous and elaborate structure of its organ ; for in birds the eye is larger in proportion to the bulk of the head than in quadrupeds ; it is also more delicate and finely fashioned, and the impressions it receives must consequently excite more vivid ideas. Another cause of difference in the instincts of birds and quadrupeds is the nature of the element in which they live. Birds know better than man the degrees of resistance in the air, its temperature at different heights, its relative density, and many other particulars, probably, of which we can form no adequate conception. They foresee more than we, and indi- cate better than our weather-glasses, the changes which happen in that voluble fluid ; for often have they contended with the violence of the wind, and still oftener have they borrowed the advantage of its aid. The Eagle, soaring above the clouds, can at will escape the scene of the storm, and in the lofty region of calm, far within the aerial boundary of eternal frost,^ enjoy a 1 The mean heights of eternal frost under the equator and at the latitude of 2,0° and 60° are, respectively, 15,207, 11,484, and 3,818 feet. XXVIU INTRODUCTION. serene sky and a bright sun, while the terrestrial animals re- main involved in darkness and exposed to all the fury of the tempest. In twenty-four hours it can change its climate, and sailing over different countries, it will form a picture exceeding the powers of the pencil or the imagination. The quadruped knows only the spot where it feeds, — its valley, mountain, or plain ; it has no conception of the expanse of surface or of remote distances, and generally no desire to push forward its excursions beyond the bounds of its immediate wants. Hence remote journeys and extensive migrations are as rare among quadrupeds as they are frequent among birds. It is this desire, founded on their acquaintance with foreign countries, on the consciousness of their expeditious course, and on their foresight of the changes that will happen in the atmosphere, and the revolutions of seasons, that prompts them to retire together at the powerful suggestions of an unerring instinct. When their food begins to foil, or the cold and heat to incom- mode them, their innate feelings and latent powers urge them to seek the necessary remedy for the evils that threaten their being. The inquietude of the old is communicated to the young ; and collecting in troops by common consent, influ- enced by the same general wants, impressed with the approach- ing changes in the circumstances of their existence, they give way to the strong reveries of instinct, and wing their way over land and sea to some distant and better country. Comparing animals with each other, we soon perceive that smell, in general, is much more acute among the quadrupeds than the birds. Even the pretended scent of the Vulture is imaginary, as he does not perceive the tainted carrion, on which he feeds, through a wicker basket, though its odor is as potent as in the open air. This choice also of decaying flesh is probably regulated by his necessities and the deficiency of his muscular powers to attack a living, or even tear in pieces a recent, prey. The structure of the olfactory organ in birds is obviously inferior to that of quadrupeds ; the external nostrils are wanting, and those odors which might excite sensation have access only to the duct leading from the palate ; and even INTRODUCTION. xxix in those, where the organ is disclosed, the ner\'es, which take their origin from it, are far from being so numerous, so large, or so expanded as in the quadrupeds. \\'e may therefore regard touch in man, smell in the quadruped, and sight in birds, as respectively the three most perfect senses which exercise a general influence on the character. After sight, the most perfect of the senses in birds appears to be hearing, which is even superior to that of the quadru- peds, and scarcely exceeded in the human species. We per- ceive with what facility they retain and repeat tones, successions of notes, and even words ; we delight to listen to their un- wearied songs, to the incessant warbling of their tuneful affec- tion. Their ear and throat are more ductile and powerful than in other animals, and their voice more capacious and generally agreeable. A Crow, which is scarcely more than the thousandth part the size of an ox, may be heard as far, or farther ; the Nightingale can fill a wider space with its music than the human voice.. This prodigious extent and power o{ sound depend entirely on the structure of their organs ; but the support and continuance of their song result solely from their internal emotions. The windpipe is wider and stronger in birds than in any other class of animals, and usually terminates below in a large cavity that augments the sound. The lungs too have greater extent, and communicr.te with internal cavities which are capable of being expanded with air, and, besides lightening the body, give additional strength to the voice. Indeed, the formation of the thorax, the lungs, and all the organs connected with these, seems expressly calculated to give force and dura- tion to their utterance. Another circumstance, showing the great power of voice in birds, is the distance at which they are audible in the higher regions of the atmosphere. An Eagle may rise at least to the height of seventeen thousand feet, for it is there just visible. Flocks of Storks and Geese may mount still higher, since, not- withstanding the space they occupy, they soar almost out of sight ; their cry will therefore be heard from an altitude of XXX INTRODUCTION. more than three miles, and is at least four times as powerful as the voice of men and quadrupeds. Sweetness of voice and melody of song are qualities which in birds are partly natural and partly acquired. The facility with which they catch and repeat sounds, enables them not only to borrow from each other, but often even to copy the more diffi- cult inflections and tones of the human voice, as well as of musical instruments. It is remarkable that in the tropical regions, where the birds are arrayed in the most glowing colors, their voices are hoarse, grating, singular, or terrific. Our sylvan Orpheus (the Mocking-bird), the Brown Thrush, the Warbling Flycatcher, as well as the Linnet, the Thrush, the Blackbird, and the Nightingale of Europe, pre-eminent for song, are all of the plainest colors and weakest tints. The natural tones of birds, setting aside those derived from education, express the various modifications of their wants and passions ; they change even according to different times and circumstances. The females are much more silent than the males ; they have cries of pain or fear, murmurs of inquietude or solicitude, especially for their young ; but of song they are generally deprived. The song of the male is inspired by ten- der emotion, he chants his affectionate lay with a sonorous voice, and the female replies in feeble accents. The Nightin- gale, when he first arrives in the spring, without his mate, is silent ; he begins his lay in low, faltering, and unfrequent airs ; and it is not until his consort sits on her eggs that his en- chanting melody is complete : he then tries to reheve and amuse her tedious hours of incubation, and warbles more pathetically and variably his amorous and soothing lay. In a state of nature this propensity for song only continues through the breeding season, for after that period it either entirely ceases, becomes enfeebled, or loses its sweetness. Conjugal fidelity and parental affection are among the most conspicuous traits of the feathered tribes. The pair unite their labors in preparing for the accommodation of their expected progeny ; and during the time of incubation their participa- tion of the same cares and solicitudes continually augments INTRODUCTION. xxxi their mutual attachment. When the young appear, a new source of care and pleasure opens to them, still strengthening the ties of affection ; and the tender charge of rearing and defending their infant brood requires the joint attention of both parents. The warmth of first affection is thus succeeded by calm and steady attachment, which by degrees extends, without suffering any diminution, to the rising branches of the family. This conjugal union, in the rapacious tribe of birds, the Eagles and Hawks, as well as with the Ravens and Crows, con- tinues commonly through life. Among many other kinds it is also of long endurance, as we may perceive in our common Pewee and the Blue-bird, who year after year continue to fre- quent and build in the same cave, box, or hole in the decayed orchard tree. But, in general, this association of the sexes expires with the season, after it has completed the intentions of reproduction, in the preservation and rearing of the off- spring. The appearance even of sexual distinction often van- ishes in the autumn, when both the parents and their young are then seen in the same humble and oblivious dress. When they arrive again amongst us in the spring, the males in flocks, often by themselves, are clad anew in their nuptial livery ; and with vigorous songs, after the cheerless silence in which they have passed the winter, they now seek out their mates, and warmly contest the right to their exclusive favor. With regard to food, birds have a more ample latitude than quadrupeds ; flesh, fish, amphibia, reptiles, insects, fruits, grain, seeds, roots, herbs, — in a word, whatever lives or vegetates. Nor are they very select in their choice, but often catch indif- ferently at what they can most easily obtain. Their sense of taste appears indeed much less acute than in quadrupeds ; for if we except such as are carnivorous, their tongue and palate are, in general, hard, and almost cartilaginous. Sight and scent can only direct them, though they possess the latter in an infe- rior degree. The greater number swallow without tasting ; and mastication, which constitutes the chief pleasure in eating, is entirely wanting to them.. As their horny jaws are unprovided xxxii INTRODUCTION. with teeth, the food undergoes no preparation in the mouth, but is swallowed in unbruised and untasted morsels. Yet there is reason to believe that the first action of the stomach, or its preparatory ventriculus, affords in some degree the ruminating gratification of taste, as after swallowing food, in some insectiv- orous and carnivorous birds, the motion of the mandibles, ex- actly like that of ordinary tasting, can hardly be conceived to exist without conveying some degree of gratifying sensation. The clothing of birds varies with the habits and climates they inhabit. The aquatic tribes, and those which live in northern regions, are provided with an abundance of plumage and fine down, — from which circumstance often we may form a correct judgment of their natal regions. In all climates, aqua- tic birds are almost equally feathered, and are provided with posterior glands containing an oily substance for anointing their feathers, which, aided by their thickness, prevents the admission of moisture to their bodies. These glands are less conspicuous in land birds, — unless, like the fishing Eagles, their habits be to plunge in the water in pursuit of their prey. The general structure of feathers seems purposely adapted both for warmth of clothing and security of flight. In the wings of all birds which fly, the webs composing the vanes, or plumy sides of the feather, mutually interlock by means of reg- ular rows of slender, hair-like teeth, so that the feather, except at and towards its base, serves as a complete and close screen from the weather on the one hand, and as an impermeable oar on the other, when situated in the wing, and required to catch and retain the impulse of the air. In the birds which do not fly, and inhabit warm climates, the feathers are few and thin, and their lateral webs are usually separate, as in the Ostrich, Cassowary, Emu, and extinct Dodo. In some cases feathers seem to pass into the hairs, which ordinarily clothe the quadru- peds, as in the Cassowary, and others ; and the base of the bill in many birds is usually surrounded with these capillary plumes. The greater number of birds cast their feathers annually, and appear to suffer much more from it than the quadrupeds do INTRODUCTION. xxxiii from a similar change. The best-fed fowl ceases at this time to lay. The season of moulting is generally the end of summer or autumn, and their feathers are not completely restored till the spring. The male sometimes undergoes, as we have already remarked, an additional moult towards the close of summer ; and among many of the waders and web-footed tribes, as Sand- pipers, Plovers, and Gulls, both sexes experience a moult twice in the year, so that their summer and winter livery appears wholly different. The stratagems and contrivances instinctively employed by birds for their support and protection are peculiarly remark- able ; in this way those which are weak are enabled to elude the pursuit of the strong and rapacious. Some are even screened from the attacks of their enemies by an arrangement of colors assimilated to the places which they most frequent for subsistence and repose : thus the Wryneck is scarcely to be distinguished from the tree on which it seeks its food ; or the Snipe from the soft and springy ground which it frequents. The Great Plover finds its chief security in stony places, to which its colors are so nicely adapted that the most exact observer may be deceived. The same resort is taken advantage of by the Night Hawk, Partridge, Plover, and the American Quail, the young brood of which squat on the ground, instinc- tively conscious of being nearly invisible, from their close resemblance to the broken ground on which they lie, and trust to this natural concealment. The same kind of deceptive and protecting artifice is often employed by birds to conceal or render the appearance of their nests ambiguous. Thus the European Wren forms its nest externally of hay, if against a hayrick ; covered with lichens, if the tree chosen is so clad ; or made of green moss, when the decayed trunk in which it is built, is thus covered ; and then, wholly closing it above, leaves only a concealed entry in the side. Our Humming- bird, by external patches of lichen, gives her nest the appear- ance of a moss-grown knot. A similar artifice is employed by our Yellow-breasted Flycatcher, or Vireo, and others. The VOL. I. — c XXXIV INTRODUCTION. Golden-crowned Thrush {^Seiurus aiirocapilhis') makes a nest like an oven, erecting an arch over it so perfectly resem- bling the tussuck in which it is concealed that it is only dis- coverable by the emotion of the female when startled from its covert. The Butcher-bird is said to draw around him his feathered victims by treacherously imitating their notes. The Kingfisher of Europe is believed to allure his prey by displaying the brilliancy of his colors as he sits near some sequestered place on the margin of a rivulet ; the fish, attracted by the splen- dor of his fluttering and expanded wings, are detained while the wily fisher takes an unerring aim.^ The Erne, and our Bald Eagle, gain a great part of their subsistence by watching the success of the Fish Hawk, and robbing him of his finny prey as soon as it is caught. In the same way also the rapacious Burgomaster, or Glaucous Gull {Larus glaiicus), of the North levies his tribute of food from all the smaller species of his race, who, knowmg his strength and ferocity, are seldom inclined to dispute his piratical claims. Several species of Cuckoo, and the Cow Troopial of America, habitually deposit their eggs in the nests of other small birds, to whose deceived affection are committed the preservation and rearing of the parasitic and vagrant brood. The instinctiv^e arts of birds are numerous ; but treachery, like that which obtains in these parasitic species, is among the rarest expedients of nature in the feathered tribes, though not uncommon among some insect families. The art displayed by birds in the construction of their tem- porary habitations, or nests, is also deserving of passing attention. Among the Gallinaceous tribe, including our land domestic species, as well as the aquatic and wading kinds, scarcely any attempt at a nest is made. The birds which swarm along the sea-coast often deposit their eggs on the bare ground, sand, or slight depressions in shelving rocks ; governed alone by grosser wants, their mutual attachment is feeble or nugatory, and neither art nor instinct prompts attention to the construc- 1 The bright feathers of this bird enter often successfully, with others, into the composition of the most attractive artificial flies employed by anglers. INTRODUCTION. XXXV tion of a nest, — the less necessary, indeed, as the young run or take to the water as soon as hatched, and early release them- selves from parental dependence. The habits of the other aqua- tic birds are not very dissimilar to these ; yet it is singular to remark that while our common Geese and Ducks, like domestic Fowls, have no permanent selective attachment for their mates, the Canadian Wild Goose, the Eider Duck, and some others, are constantly and faithfully paired through the season ; so that this neglect of accommodation for the young in the fabri- cation of an artificial nest, common to these with the rest of their tribe, has less connection with the requisition of mutual aid than with the hardy and precocious habits of these unmusi- cal, coarse, and retiring birds. It is true that some of them show considerable address, if little of art, in providing security for their young; in this way some of the Razor-bills (including the Common Puffin) do not trust the exposure of their eggs, like the Gulls, who rather rely on the solitude of their retreat, than art in its defence ; but with considerable labor some of the Alcas form a deep burrow for the security of their brood. Birds of the same genus differ much in their modes of nidi- fication. Thus the ^Martin makes a nest within a rough-cast rampart of mud, and enters by a flat opening in the upper edge. The Cliff Swallow of Bonaparte conceals its warm and feathered nest in a receptacle of agglutinated mud resembling a narrow-necked purse or retort. Another species, in the Indian seas, forms a small receptacle for its young entirely of interlaced gelatinous fibres, provided by the mouth and stomach ; these nests, stuck in clusters against the rocks, are collected by the Chinese, and boiled and eaten in soups as the rarest delicacy. The Bank Martin, like the Kingfisher, burrows deep into the friable banks of rivers to secure a de- pository for its scantily feathered nest. The Chimney Swallow, originally an inhabitant of hollow trees, builds in empty chim- neys a bare nest of agglutinated twigs. The Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Titmouse, and our rural Bluebird, secure their young in hollow trees ; and the first often gouge and dig through the solid wood with the success and industry of car- XXXVl INTRODUCTION. penters, and without the aid of any other chisel than their wedged bills. But the most consummate ingenuity of ornithal architecture is displayed by the smaller and more social tribes of birds, who, in proportion to their natural enemies, foreseen by Nature, are provided with the means of instinctive defence. In this labor both sexes generally unite, and are sometimes occupied a week or more in completing this temporary habitation for their young. We can only glance at a few examples, chiefly domes- tic ; since to give anything like a general view of this subject of the architecture employed by birds would far exceed the narrow limits we prescribe. And here we may remark that, after migration, there is no more certain display of the reveries of instinct than what presides over this interesting and neces- sary labor of the species. And yet so nice are the gradations betwixt this innate propensity and the dawnings of reason that It is not always easy to decide upon the characteristics of one as distinct from the other. Pure and undeviating in- stincts are perhaps wholly confined to the invertebral class of animals. In respect to the habits of birds, we well know that, like quadrupeds, they possess, though in a lower degree, the capa- city for a certain measure of what may be termed education, or the power of adding to their stock of invariable habits the additional traits of an inferior degree of reason. Thus in those birds who have discovered (like the faithful dog, that humble companion of man) the advantages to be derived from asso- ciating round his premises, the regularity of their instinctive habits gives way, in a measure, to improvable conceptions. In this manner our Golden Robin {Icterus haltimorc), or Fiery Hang Bird, originally only a native of the wilderness and the forest, is now a constant sumi"qer resident in the vicinity of villages and dwellings. From the depending boughs of our towering elms, and other spreading trees, like the Oriole of Europe, and the Cassican of tropical America, he weaves his pendulous and purse-like nest of the most tenacious and dur- able materials he can collect. These naturally consist of the INTRODUCTION. xxxvii Indian hemp, flax of the silk- weed {Asckpias species), and other tough and fibrous substances ; but with a ready ingenuity he discovers that real flax and hemp, as well as thread, cotton, yarn, and even hanks of silk, or small strings, and horse and cow hair, are excellent substitutes for his original domestic ma- terials ; and in order to be convenient to these accidental resources, — a matter of some importance in so tedious a labor, — he has left the wild woods of his ancestry, and conscious of the security of his lofty and nearly inaccessible mansion, has taken up his welcome abode in the precincts of our habitations. The same motives of convenience and comfort have had their apparent influence on many more of our almost domestic feathered tribes ; the Bluebirds, Wrens, and Swallows, original inhabitants of the woods, are now no less familiar than our Pigeons. The Catbird often leaves his native solitary thickets for the convenience and refuge of the garden, and watch- ing, occasionally, the motions of the tenant, answers to his whistle with complacent mimicry, or in petulant anger scolds at his intrusion. The Common Robin, who never varies his simple and coarse architecture, tormented by the parasitic Cuckoo or the noisy Jay, who seek at times to rob him of his progeny, for protection has been known fearlessly to build his nest within a few yards of the blacksmith's anvil, or on the stern timbers of an unfinished vessel, where the carpenters were still employed in their noisy labors. That sagacity obtains its influ- ence over unvarying instinct in these and many other familiar birds, may readily be conceived when we observe that this venturous association with man vanishes with the occasion which required it ; for no sooner have the Oriole and Robin reared their young than their natural suspicion and shyness again return. Deserts and solitudes are avoided by most kinds of birds. In an extensive country of unvarying surface, or possessing but little variety of natural productions, and particularly where streams and waters are scarce, few of the feathered tribes are to be found. The extensive prairies of the ^^'est, and the gloomy and almost interminable forests of the North, as well as XXXVlll INTRODUCTION. the umbrageous, wild, and unpeopled banks of the Mississippi, and other of the larger rivers, no less than the vast pine-bar- rens of the Southern States, are nearly without birds as perma- nent residents. In crossing the desolate piny glades of the South, with the exception of Creepers, Nuthatches, Wood- peckers, Pine Warblers, and flocks of flitting Larks (Stiirnel/a), scarcely any birds are to be seen till we approach the mean- ders of some stream, or the precincts of a plantation. The food of birds being extremely various, they consequently con- gregate only where sustenance is to be obtained ; watery situa- tions and a diversified vegetation are necessary for their support, and convenient for their residence ; the fruits of the garden and orchard, the swarms of insects which follow the progress of agriculture, the grain which we cultivate, — in short, everything which contributes to our luxuries and wants, in the way of subsistence, no less than the recondite and tiny enemies which lessen or attack these various resources, all conduce to the support of the feathered race, which consequently seek out and frequent our settlements as humble and useful dependents. The most ingenious and labored nest of all the North Amer- ican birds is that of the Orchard Oriole, or Troopial. It is suspended, or pensile, like that of the Baltimore Bird, but, with the exception of hair, constantly constructed of native mate- rials, the principal of which is a kind of tough grass. The blades are formed into a sort of platted purse but little inferior to a coarse straw bonnet ; the artificial labor bestowed is so apparent that Wilson humorously adds, on his showing it to a matron of his acquaintance, betwixt joke and earnest, she asked " if he thought it could not be taught to darn stock- ings." Every one has heard of the Tailor Bird of India {Sylvia siitorid) ; this little architect, by way of saving labor and gain- ing security for its tiny fabric, sometimes actually, as a seam- stress, sews together the edges of two leaves of a tree, in which her nest, at the extremity of the branch, is then secured for the period of incubation. Among the Sylvias, or Warblers, there is a species, inhabiting Florida and the West Indies, the Sylvia pensilis, which forms its woven, covered nest to rock in INTRODUCTION. xxxix the air at the end of two suspending strings, rather than trust it to the wily enemies by which it is surrounded ; the entrance, for security, is also from below, and through a winding vestibule. Our little cheerful and almost domestic Wren {Troglodytes fuivus), which so often disputes with the Martin and the Blue- bird the possession of the box set up for their accommodation in the garden or near the house, in his native resort of a hollow tree, or the shed of some neglected out-house, begins his fabric by forming a barricade of crooked interlacing twigs, — a kind of chevaux-de-frise, — for the defence of his internal habitation, leaving merely a very small entrance at the upper edge. The industry of this little bird, and his affection for his mate, are somewhat remarkable, as he frequently completes his habita- tion without aid, and then searches out a female on whom to bestow it ; but not being always successful, or the premises not satisfactory to his mistress, his labor remains sometimes with- out reward, and he continues to warble out his lay in solitude. The same gallant habit prevails also with our recluse Wren of the marshes. \Vilson's Marsh Wxtn {Troglodytes palust/is), instead of courting the advantages of a proximity to our dwel- lings, lives wholly among the reed-fens, suspending his mud- plastered and circularly covered nest usually to the stalks of the plant he so much affects. .Another marsh species inhabits the low and swampy meadows of our vicinity ( Troglodytes bi'c- virostris), and with ready address constructs its globular nest wholly of the intertwined sedge-grass of the tussock on which it is built ; these two species never leave their subaquatic retreats but for the purpose of distant migration, and avoid and deprecate in angry twitterings every sort of society bu'. their own. Among the most extraordinary habitations of birds, illustra- tive of their instinctive invention, may be mentioned that of the Bengal Grosbeak, whose pensile nest, suspended from the lofty boughs of the Indian fig-tree, is fabricated of grass, like cloth, in the form of a large bottle, with the entrance down- wards ; it consists also of two or three chambers, supposed to be occasionally illuminated b}- the fire- flies, which, however. xl INTRODUCTION. only constitute a part of the food it probably conveys for the support of its young. But the most extraordinary instinct of this kind known, is exhibited by the Sociable, or Republican Grosbeak {Floceiis socius, Cuvier), of the Cape of Good Hope. In one tree, according to Mr. Paterson, there could not be fewer than from eight hundred to one thousand of these nests, covered by one general roof, resembling that of a thatched house, and projecting over the entrance of the nest. Their common industry almost resembles that of bees. Beneath this roof there are many entrances, each of which forms, as it were, a regular street, with nests on either side, about two inches dis- tant from each other. The material which they employ in this building is a kind of fine grass, whose seed, also, at the same time serves them for food. That birds, besides their predilection for the resorts of men, are also capable of appreciating consequences to themselves and young, scarcely admits the shadow of a doubt ; they are capable of communicating their fears and nicely calculating the probability of danger or the immunities of favor. We talk of the cunning of the Fox and the watchfulness of the Weasel ; but the Eagle, Hawk, Raven, Crow, Pye, and Blackbird pos- sess those traits of shrewdness and caution which would seem to arise from reflection and prudence. They well know the powerful weapons and wiles of civilized man. Without being able to sinrll powder, — a vulgar idea, — the Crow and Blackbird at once suspect the character of the fatal gun ; they will alight on the backs of cattle without any show of apprehension, and the Pye even hops upon them with insulting and garrulous playful- ness ; but he flies instantly from his human enemy, and seems, by his deprecating airs, aware of the proscription that affects his existence. A man on horseback or in a carriage is much less an object of suspicion to those wily birds than when alone ;' and I have been frequently both amused and surprised, in the Southern States, by the sagacity of the Common Blackbirds in starting from the ploughing field, with looks of alarm, at the sight of a white man, as distinct from and more dangerous than the black slave, whose furrow they closely and familiarly fol- INTRODUCTION. xli lowed, for the insect food it afforded them, without betraying any appearance of distrust. Need we any further proof of the capacity for change of disposition than that which has so long operated upon our domestic poultry? — "those victims," as BufiFon slightingly remarks, "which are multiplied without trouble, and sacrificed without regret." How different the hab- its of our Goose and Duck in their wild and tame condition ! Instead of that excessive and timid cautiousness, so peculiar to their savage nature, they keep company with the domestic cattle, and hardly shuffle out of our path. Nay, the Gander is a very ban-dog, — noisy, gabbling, and vociferous, he gives notice of the stranger's approach, is often the terror of the meddling school-boy, in defence of his fostered brood ; and it is reported of antiquity, that by their usual garrulity and watch- fulness they once saved the Roman capitol. Not only is the disposition of these birds changed by domestication, but even their strong instinct to migration, or wandering longings, are wholly annihilated. Instead of joining the airy phalanx which wing their way to distant regions, they grovel contented in the perpetual abundance attendant on their willing slavery. If instinct can thus be destroyed or merged in artificial circum- stances, need we wonder that this protecting and innate intelli- gence is capable also of another change by improvement, adapted to new habits and unn:itural restraints? Even without undergoing the slavery of domestication, many birds become fully sensible of immunities and protection ; and in the same aquatic and rude f;imily of birds already mentioned we may quote the tame habits of the Eider Ducks. In Iceland and other countries, where they breed in such numbers as to render their valuable down an object of commerce, they are forbidden to be killed under legal penalty ; and as if aware of this legisla- tive security, they sit on their eggs undisturbed at the approach of man, and are entirely as familiar, during this season of breeding, as our tamed Ducks. Nor are they apparently aware of the cheat habitually practised upon them of abstracting the down with which they line their nests, though it is usually repeated until they make the third attempt at incubation. If, xlii INTRODUCTION. however, the last nest, with its eggs and down, to the lining of which the male is now obliged to contribute, be taken away, they sagaciously leave the premises, without return. The pious Storks, in Holland, protected by law for their usefulness, build their nests on the tops of houses and churches, often in the midst of cities, in boxes prepared for them, like those for our Martins ; and, walking about the streets and gardens without apprehension of danger, perform the usual office of domestic scavengers. That birds, like our more sedentary and domestic quadru- peds, are capable of exhibiting attachment to those who feed and attend them, is undeniable. Deprived of other society, some of our more intelligent species, particularly the Thrushes, soon learn to seek out the company of their friends or protec- tors of the human species. The Brown Thrush and Mocking Bird become in this way extremely familiar, cheerful, and capriciously playful ; the former, in particular, courts the atten- tion of his master, follows his steps, complains when neglected, flies to him when suffered to be at large, and sings and reposes gratefully perched on his hand, — m short, by all his actions he appears capable of real and affectionate attachment, and is jealous of every rival, particularly any other bird, which he persecutes from his presence with unceasing hatred. His pet- ulant dislike to particular objects of less moment is also dis- played by various tones and gestures, which soon become sufficiently intelligible to those who are near him, as well as his notes of gratulation and satisfaction. His language of fear and surprise could never be mistaken, and an imitation of his guttural low tsherr, tsherr, on these occasions, answers as a premonitory warning when any danger awaits him from the sly approach of cat or squirrel. As I have now descended, as I may say, to the actual biography of one of these birds, which I raised and kept uncaged for some time, I may also add, that besides a playful turn for mischief and interruption, in which he would sometimes snatch off the paper on which I was writ- ing, he had a good degree of curiosity, and was much surprised one day by a large springing beetle or Elater {E. oceliatus), INTRODUCTION. xliii which I had caught and placed in a tumbler. On all such occasions his looks of capricious surprise were very amusing ; he cautiously approached the glass with fanning and closing wings, and in an under-tone confessed his surprise at the address and jumping motion of the huge msect. At length he became bolder, and perceiving it had a relation to his ordinary prey of beetles, he, with some hesitation, ventured to snatch at the prisoner between temerity and playfulness. But when really alarmed or offended, he instantly flew to his loftiest perch, for- bid all friendly approaches, and for some time kept up his low and angry tshfrr. My late friend, the venerable William Bar- tram, was also much amused by the intelligence displayed by this bird, and relates that one which he kept, being fond of hard bread-crumbs, found, when they grated his throat, a very rational remedy in softening them, by soaking in his vessel of water ; he likewise, by experience, discovered that the painful prick of the wasps on which he fed, could be obviated by ex- tracting their stings. But it would be too tedious and minute to follow out these glimmerings of mtelligence, which exist as well in birds as in our most sagacious quadrupeds. The remarkable talent of the Parrot for imitating the tones of the human voice has long been familiar. The most extraordinary and well -authenticated account of the actions of one of the common ash-colored species is that of a bird which Colonel O'Kelly bought for a hundred guineas at Bristol. This indi- vidual not only repeated a great number of sentences, but answered many questions, and was able to whistle a variety of tunes. While thus engaged it beat time with all the appear- ance of science, and possessed a judgment, or ear so accurate, that if by chance it mistook a note, it would revert to the bar where the mistake was made, correct itself, and still beatim; regular time, go again through the whole with perfect exact- ness. So celebrated was this surprising bird that an obituary notice of its death appeared in the " General Evening Post " for the 9th of October, 1802. In this account it is added, that besides her great musical faculties, she could express her wants articulately, and give her orders in a manner approaching to xliv INTRODUCTION. rationality. She was, at the time of her decease, supposed to be more than thirty years of age. The colonel was repeat- edly offered five hundred guineas a year for the bird, by persons who wished to make a public exhibition of her ; but out of tenderness to his favorite he constantly refused the offer. The story related by Goldsmith of a parrot belonging to King Henry the Seventh, is very amusing, and possibly true. It was kept m a room in the Palace of Westminster, overlooking the Thames, and had naturally enough learned a store of boat- men's phrases ; one day, sportmg somewhat incautiously. Poll fell mto the river, but had rationality enough, it appears, to make a profitable use of the words she had learned, and ac- cordingly vociferated, " A boat ! twenty pounds for a boat!" This welcome sound reaching the ears of a waterman, soon brought assistance to the Parrot, who delivered it to the king, with a request to be paid the round sum so readily prom- ised by the bird ; but his Majesty, dissatisfied with the exor- bitant demand, agreed, at any rate, to give him what the bird should now award ; in answer to which reference, Poll shrewdly cried, " Give the knave a groat ! " The story given by Locke, in his " Essay on the Human Understandmg," though approaching closely to rationality, and apparently improbable, may not be a greater effort than could have been accomplished by Colonel O' Kelly's bird. This Parrot had attracted the attention of Prince Maurice, then governor of Brazil, who had a curiosity to witness its powers. The bird was mtroduced mto the room, where sat the prince in company with several Dutchmen. On viewing them, the Parrot exclaimed, m Portuguese, " What a company of white men are here ! " Pointing to the prince, they asked, " Who is that man?" to which the Parrot replies, " Some general or other." The prince now asked, " From what place do you come?" The answer was, "From Marignan." "To whom do you belong?" It answered, " To a Portuguese." "What do you do there ? " To which the Parrot replied, " I look after chickens ! " The prince, now laughing, exclaimed, " You look INTRODUCTION. xlv after chickens ! " To which Poll pertinently answered, " Yes, /, — and I know well enough how to do it; " clucking at the same instant in the manner of a calling brood-hen. The docility of birds in catching and expressing sounds depends, of course, upon the perfection of their voice and hearing, — assisted also by no inconsiderable power of memory. The imitative actions and passiveness of some small birds, such as Goldfinches, Linnets, and Canaries, are, however, quite as curious as their expression of sounds. A Sieur Roman exhib- ited in England some of these birds, one of which simulated death, and was held up by the tail or claw without showing any active signs of life. A second balanced itself on the head, with its claws in the air. A third imitated a milkmaid going to market, with pails on its shoulders. A fourth mimicked a Venetian girl looking out at a window. A fifth acted the soldier, and mounted guard as a sentinel. The sixth was a cannonier, with a cap on its head, a firelock on its shoulder, and with a match in its claw discharged a small cannon. The same bird also acted as if wounded, was wheeled in a little barrow, as it were to the hospital ; after which it flew away before the company. The seventh turned a kind of windmill ; and the last bird stood amidst a discharge of small fireworks, without showing any sign of fear. A similar exhibition, in which twenty- four Canary birds were the actors, was also shown in London in 1820, by a Frenchman named Dujon ; one of these suffered itself to be shot at, and falling down, as if dead, was put into a little wheelbarrow and conveyed away by one of its comrades. The docility of the Canary and Goldfinch is thus, by dint of severe education, put in fair competition with that of the dog ; and we cannot deny to the feathered creation a share of that kind of rational intelligence exhibited by some of our sagacious quadrupeds, — an incipient knowledge of cause and effect far removed from the unimprovable and unchangeable destinies of instinct. Nature probably delights less in producing such animated machines than we are apt to suppose ; and amidst the mutability of circumstances by which almost every animated xlvi INTRODUCTION. being is surrounded, there seems to be a frequent demand for that relieving invention denied to those animals which are solely governed by inflexible instinct. The velocity with which birds are able to travel in their aerial element has no parallel among terrestrial animals ; and this powerful capacity for progressive motion is bestowed in aid of their peculiar wants and instinctive habits. The swiftest horse may perhaps proceed a mile in something less than two minutes ; but such exertion is unnatural, and quickly fatal. An Eagle, whose stretch of wing exceeds seven feet, with ease and majesty, and without any extraordinary effort, rises out of sight in less than three minutes, and therefore must fly more than three thousand five hundred yards in a minute, or at the rate of sixty miles in an hour. At this speed a bird would easily per- form a journey of six hundred nailes in a day, since ten hours only would be required, which would allow frequent halts, and the whole of the night for repose. Swallows and other migra- tory birds might therefore pass from northern Europe to the equator in seven or eight days. In fact, Adanson saw, on the coast of Senegal, Swallows that had arrived there on the 9th of October, or eight or nine days after their departure from the colder continent. A Canary Falcon, sent to the Duke of Lerma, returned in sixteen hours from Andalusia to the island of Tene- riffe, — a distance of seven hundred and fifty miles. The Gulls of Barbadoes, according to Sir Hans Sloane, make excursions in flocks to the distance of more than two hundred miles after their food, and then return the same day to their rocky roosts. If we allow that any natural powers come in aid of the instinct to migration, so powerful and uniform in birds, besides their vast capacity for motion, it must be in the perfection and delicacy of their vision, of which we have such striking ex- amples in the rapacious tribes. It is possible that at times they may be directed principally by atmospheric phenomena alone ; and hence we find that their appearance is frequently a concomitant of the approaching season, and the wild Petrel of the ocean is not the only harbinger of storm and coming change. The currents of the air, in those which make exten- INTRODUCTION, xlvii sive voyages, are sedulously employed ; and hence, at certain seasons, when they are usually in motion, we find their arrival or departure accelerated by a favorable direction of the winds. That birds also should be able to derive advantage in their journeys from the acuteness of their vision, is not more wonder- ful than the capacity of a dog to discover the path of his master, for many miles in succession, by the mere scent of his steps. It is said, indeed, in corroboration of this conjecture, that the Passenger, or Carrying Pigeon, is not certain to return to the place from whence it is brought, unless it be conveyed in an open wicker basket admitting a view of the passing scenery. Many of our birds, however, follow instinctively the great valleys and river-courses, which tend towards their southern or warmer destination ; thus the great valleys of the Connecticut, the Hudson, the Delaware, the Susquehanna, the Santee, and more particularly the vast Mississippi, are often, in part, the leading routes of our migrating birds. But. in fact, mysterious as is the voyage and departure of our birds, like those of all other countries where they remove at all, the des- tination of many is rendered certain, as soon as we visit the southern parts of the Union, or the adjoining countries of Mex- ico, to which they have retired for the winter ; for now, where they were nearly or wholly unknown in summer, they throng by thousands, and flit before our path like the showering leaves of autumn. It is curious to obser\-e the pertinacity of this adventurous instinct in those more truly and exclusively insec- tivorous species which wholly leave us for the mild and genial regions of the tropics. Many penetrate to their destination through Mexico overland ; to these the whole journey is merely an amusing and varied feast. But to a much smaller number, who keep too far toward the sea-coast, and enter the ocean-bound peninsula of Florida, a more arduous aerial voy- age IS presented ; the wide ocean must be crossed, by the young and inexperienced as well as the old and venturous, before they arrive either at the tropical continent or its scat- tered islands. When the wind proves propitious, however, our little voyagers wing their unerring way like prosperous xlviii INTRODUCTION. fairies ; but baffled by storms and contrary gales, they often suffer from want, and at times, like the Quails, become victims to the devouring waves. On such unfortunate occasions (as Mr. Bullock -^ witnessed in a voyage near to Vera Cruz late in autumn), the famished travellers familiarly crowd the decks of the vessel, in the hope of obtaining rest and a scanty meal preparatory to the conclusion of their unpropitious flight. Superficial observers, substituting their own ideas for facts, are ready to conclude, and frequently assert, that the old and young, before leaving, assemble together for mutual departure ; this may be true in many instances, but in as many more a different arrangement obtains. The young, often instinctively vagrant, herd together in separate flocks previous to their departure, and guided alone by the innate monition of Nature, seek neither the aid nor the company of the old ; consequently in some countries flocks of young of particular species are alone observed, and in others, far distant, we recognize the old. From parental aid the juvenile company have obtained all that Nature intended to bestow, — existence and education ; and they are now thrown upon the world among their numerous companions, with no other necessary guide than self-preserving instinct. In Europe it appears that these bands of the young always affect even a warmer climate than the old ; the aeration of their blood not being yet complete, they are more sensible to the rigors of cold. The season of the year has also its effect on the movements of birds ; thus certain species proceed to their northern destination more to the eastward in the spring, and return from it to the south-westward in autumn. The habitudes and extent of the migrations of birds admit of considerable variety. Some only fly before the inundating storms of winter, and return with the first dawn of spring ; these do not leave the continent, and only migrate in quest of food when it actually begins to fail. Among these may be named our common Song Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Blue- bird, Robin, Pewee, Cedar Bird, Blackbird, Meadow Lark, and many more. Others pass into warmer climates in the autumn, 1 Travels in Mexico. INTRODUCTION. xlix after rearing their young. Some are so given to wandering that their choice of a country is only regulated by the resources which it offers for subsistence ; such are the Pigeons, Herons of several kinds, Snipes, wild Geese and Ducks, the wandering Albatros, and Waxen Chatterer. The greater number of birds travel in the night ; some species, however, proceed only by day, as the diurnal birds of prey, — Crows, Pies, Wrens, Creepers, Cross-bills, Larks, Blue- birds, Swallows, and some others. Those which travel wholly in the night are the Owls, Butcher Fjirds, Kingfishers, Thrushes, Flycatchers, Night Hawks, Whip-poor-wills, and also a great number of aquatic birds, whose motions are also principally nocturnal, except in the cold and desolate northern regions, where they usually retire to breed. Other birds are so pow- erfully impelled by this governing motive to migration that they stop neither day nor night ; such are the Herons, Mota- cillas, Plovers, Swans, Cranes, Wild Geese, Storks, etc. When untoward circumstances render haste necessary, certain kinds of birds, which ordinarily travel only in the night, continue their route during the day, and scarcely allow themselves time to eat ; yet the singing-birds, properly so called, never migrate by day, whatever may happen to them. And it may here be inquired, with astonishment, how these feeble but enthusiastic animals are able to pass the time, thus engaged, without the aid of recruiting sleep ? But so powerful is this necessity for travel that its incentive breaks out equally in those which are detained in captivity, — so much so that although during the day they are no more alert than usual, and only occupied in taking nourishment, at the approach of night, far from seek- ing repose, as usual, they manifest great agitation, sing without ceasing in the cage, whether the apartment is lighted or not ; and when the moon shines, they appear still more restless, as it is their custom, at liberty, to seek the advantage of its light for facilitating their route. Some birds, while engaged in their journey, still find means to live without halting, — the Swallow, while traversing the sea, pursues its insect prey ; those who can subsist on fish without any serious effort, feed as they pass VOL. I. — d 1 INTRODUCTION. or graze the surface of the deep. If the Wien, the Creeper, and the Titmouse rest for an instant on a tree to snatch a hasty morsel, in the next they are on the wing, to fulfil their destina- tion. However abundant may be the nourishment which presents itself to supply their wants, in general, birds of passage rarely remain more than two days together in a place. The cries of many birds, while engaged in their aerial voy- age, are such as are only heard on this important occasion, and appear necessary for the direction of those which fly in assem- bled ranks. During these migrations it has been observed that birds fly ordinarily in the higher regions of the air, except when fogs force them to seek a lower elevation. This habit is particularly prevalent with Wild Geese, Storks, Cranes, and Herons, which often pass at such a height as to be scarcely distinguishable. We shall not here enter into any detailed description of the manner in which each species conducts its migration, but shall content ourselves with citing the single remarkable exam- ple of the motions of the Cranes. Of all migrating birds, these appear to be endowed with the greatest share of foresight. They never undertake the journey alone ; throughout a circle of several miles they appear to communicate the intention of commencing their route. Several days previous to their departure they call upon each other by a peculiar cry, as if giving warning to assemble at a central point ; the favorable moment being at length arrived, they betake themselves to flight, and, in military style, fall into two lines, which, uniting at the summit, form an extended angle with two equal sides. At the central point of the phalanx, the chief takes his station, to whom the whole troop, by their subordination, appear to have pledged their obedience. The commander has not only the painful task of breaking the path through the air, but he has also the charge of watching for the common safety ; to avoid the attacks of birds of prey ; to range the two lines in a circle at the approach of a tempest, in order to resist with more effect the squalls which menace the dispersion of the INTRODUCTION. li linear ranks ; and, lastly, it is to their leader that the fatigued company look up to appoint the most convenient places for nourishment and repose. Still, important as is the station and function of the aerial director, its existence is but momentary. .As soon as he feels sensible of fatigue, he cedes his place to the next in the file, and retires himself to its extremity. Dur- ing the night their flight is attended with considerable noise ; the loud cries which we hear, seem to be the marching orders of the chief, answered by the ranks who follow his commands. Wild Geese and several kinds of Ducks also make their aerial voyage nearly in the same manner as the Cranes. The loud call of the passing Geese, as they soar securely through the higher regions of the air, is familiar to all ; but as an additional proof of their sagacity and caution, we may remark that when fogs in the atmosphere render their flight necessarily low, they steal along in silence, as if aware of the danger to which their lower path now exposes them. The direction of the winds is of great importance to the migration of birds, not only as an assistance when favorable, but to be avoided when contrary, as the most disastrous of accidents, when they are traversing the ocean. If the breeze suddenly change, the aerial voyagers tack to meet it, and di- verging from their original course, seek the asylum of some land or island, as is the case very frequently with the Quails, who consequently, m their passage across the Mediterranean, at variable times, make a descent in immense numbers on the islands of the Archipelago, where they wait, sometimes for weeks, the arrival of a propitious gale to terminate their jour- ney. And hence we perceive the object of migrating birds, when they alight upon a vessel at sea : it has fallen in their course while seeking refuge from a baffling breeze or over- whelming storm, and after a few hours of rest they wing their way to their previous destination. That Nature has provided ample means to fulfil the wonderful instinct of these feeble but cautious wanderers, appears in every part of their economy. As the period approaches for their general departure, and the chills of autumn are felt, their bodies begin to be loaded with lii INTRODUCTION. cellular matter, and at no season of the year are the true birds of passage so fat as at the approach of their migration. The Gulls, Cranes, and Herons, almost proverbially macilent, are at this season loaded with this reservoir of nutriment, which is intended to administer to their support through their arduous and hazardous voyage. With this natural provision, dormant animals also commence their long and dreary sleep through the winter, — a nutritious resource no less necessary in birds while engaged in fulfilling the powerful and waking reveries of instinct. But if the act of migration surprise us when performed by birds of active power of wing, it is still more remarkable when undertaken by those of short and laborious flight, like the Coots and Rails, who, in fact, perform a part of their route on foot. The Great Penguin (^Aica impennis), the Guillemot, and the Divers, even make their voyage chiefly by dint of swim- ming. The young Loons [Co/ymbits g/acialis), bred in inland ponds, though proverbially lame (and hence the name of Lom, or Loon), without recourse to their wings, which are at this time inelificient, continue their route from pond to pond, floundering over the intervening land by night, until at length they gain some creek of the sea, and finally complete their necessary migration by water. Birds of passage, both in the old and new continents, are observed generally to migrate southwest in autumn, and to pass to the northeast in spring. Parry, however, it seems, ob- served the birds of Greenland proceed to the southeast. This apparent aberration from the usual course may be accounted for by considering the habits of these aquatic birds. Intent on food and shelter, a part, bending their course over the cold regions of Norway and Russia, seek the shores of Europe ; while another division, equally considerable, proceeding south- west, spread themselves over the interior of the United States and the coast and kingdom of Mexico. This propensity to change their climate, induced by what- ever cause, is not confined to the birds of temperate regions ; it likewise exists among many of those who inhabit the tropics. INTRODUCTION. liii Aquatic birds of several kinds, according to Humboldt, cross the line on either side about the time of the periodical rise of the rivers. Waterton, likewise, who spent much time in Dem- erara and the neighbonng countries, ob5er\-ed that the visits of many of the tropical birds were periodical. Thus the wonder- ful Campanero, whose solemn voice is heard at intervals tolling like the convent-bell, was rare to Waterton, but frecjuent in Brazil, where it most probably retires to breed. I'he f:iilure of particular food at any season, in the mildest climate, would be a sufficient incentive to a partial and overland migration with any species of the feathered race. The longevity of birds is various, and, different from the case of man and quadrupeds, seems to bear but little propor- tion to the age at which they acquire maturity of character. A few months seems sufficient to bring the bird into full posses- sion of all its native powers ; and there are some, as our Marsh Titmouse or Chickadee, which, in fact, as soon as fledged, are no longer to be distinguished from their parents. Land ani- mals generally live six or seven times as long as the period required to attain maturity ; but in birds the rate is ten times greater. In proportion to their size, they are also far more vivacious and long-lived than other animals of the superior class. Our knowledge of the longevity of birds is, however, necessarily limited to the few examples of domesticated species which we have been able to support through life : the result of these examples is, that our domestic Fowls have lived twenty years ; Pigeons have exceeded that period ; Parrots have at- tained more than thirty years. Geese live probably more than half a century ; a Pelican has lived to eighty years ; and Swans, Ravens, and Eagles have exceeded a century. Even Linnets, in the unnatural restraints of the cage, have survived for four- teen or fifteen years, and Canaries twenty- five. To account for this remarkable tenacity of life, nothing very satisfactory has been offered ; though Buffon is of opinion that the soft and porous nature of their bones contributes to this end, as the general ossification and rigidity of the system perpetually tends to abridge the boundaries of life. liv INTRODUCTION. In a general way it may be considered as essential for the bird to fly as it is for the fish to swuii or the quadruped to walk ; yet in all these tribes there are exceptions to the general habits. Thus among quadrupeds the bats fly, the seals swim, and the beaver and otter swim better than they can walk. So also among birds, the Ostrich, Cassowary, and some others, incapable of flying, are obliged to walk ; others, as the Dippers, fly and swim but never walk. Some, like the Swallows and Humming Birds, pass their time chiefly on the wing. A far greater number of birds live on the water than of quadrupeds, for of the latter there are not more than five or six kinds fur- nished with webbed or oar-like feet, whereas of birds with this structure there are several hundred. The lightness of their feathers and bones, as well as the boat-like form of their bodies, contributes greatly to facilitate their buoyancy and progress in the water, and their feet serve as oars to propel them. Thus in whatever way we view the feathered tribes which surround us, we shall find much both to amuse and instruct. We hearken to their songs with renewed delight, as the harbin- gers and associates of the season they accompany. Their return, after a long absence, is hailed with gratitude to the Author of all existence ; and the cheerless solitude of inani- mate Nature is, by their presence, attuned to life and harmony. Nor do they alone administer to the amusement and luxury of life ; faithful aids as well as messengers of the seasons, they associate round our tenements, and defend the various produc- tions of the earth, on which we so much rely for subsistence, from the destructive depredations of myriads of insects, which, but for timely riddance by unnumbered birds, would be fol- lowed by a general failure and famine. Public economy and utility, then, no less than humanity, plead for the protection of the feathered race ; and the wanton destruction of birds, so useful, beautiful, and amusing, if not treated as such by law, ought to be considered as a crime by every moral, feeling, and reflecting mind. ORNITHOLOGY OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA. TURKEY VULTURE. turkey buzzard. Cathartes aura. Char. Brownish black; head bare of feathers and bright red; bill white ; length about 2 feet. AW/. In a stump, or cavity among rocks, without additional material. ■Ei.'li^'s, 2; white, or with a tinge of green or yellow, spotted with brown and purple; 2.75 X 1.90. This common Turkey-like Vulture is found abundantly in both North and South America, but seems wholly to avoid the Northeastern or New England States, a straggler being seldom seen as far as the latitude of 41°. Whether this limit arises from some local antipathy, their dislike of the cold eastern storms which prevail in the spring till the time they usually VOL. I. — I 2 BIRDS OF PREY. breed, or some other cause, it is not easily assignable ; and the fact is still more remarkable, as they have been observed in the interior by Mr. Say as far as Pembino, in the 49th degree of north latitude, by Lewis and Clarke near the Falls of the Oregon, and they are not uncommon throughout that territory. They are, however, much more abundant in the warmer than in the colder regions, and are found beyond the equator, even as far or farther than the La Plata. All the West India islands are inhabited by them, as well as the tropical continent, where, as in the Southern States of the LTnion, they are commonly protected for their services as scavengers of carrion, which would prove highly deleterious in those warm and humid cli- mates. In the winter they generally seek out warmth and shelter, hovering often like grim and boding spectres in the suburbs, and on the roofs and chimneys of the houses, around the cities of the Southern States. A few brave the winters of Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey, but the greater part migrate south at the approach of cold weather. The Turkey Buzzard has not been known to breed north of New Jersey in any of the Atlantic States. Here they seek out the swampy solitudes, and, without forming any nest, deposit two eggs in the stump of a hollow tree or log, on the mere fragments of rotten wood with which it is ordinarily strewed. Occasionally, in the Southern States, they have been known to make choice of the ruined chimney of a deserted house for this purpose. The eggs are larger than those of a Turkey, of a yellowish white, irregularly blotched with dark brown and blackish spots, chiefly at the larger end. The male often at- tends while the female is sitting ; and if not materially dis- turbed, they will continue to occupy the same place for several years in succession. The young are covered with a whitish down, and, in common with the habit of the old birds, will often eject, upon those who happen to molest them, the filthy contents of their stomachs. ' In the cities of the South they appear to be somewhat grega- rious, and as if aware of the protection afforded them, pre- sent themselves often in the streets, and particularly near the TURKEY VULTURE. 3 shambles. They also watch the emptying of the scavengers' carts in the suburbs, where, in company with the still more domestic Black Vultures, they search out their favorite morsels amidst dust, filth, and rubbish of all descriptions. Bits of cheese, of meat, fish, or anything sufficiently foetid, and easy of digestion, is greedily sought after, and eagerly eyed. When the opportunity offers they eat with gluttonous voracity, and fill themselves in such a manner as to be sometimes incapa- ble of rising from the ground. They are accused at times of attacking young pigs and lambs, beginning their assault by picking out the eyes. Mr. Waterton, however, while at Dem- erara watched them for hours together amidst reptiles of all descriptions, but they never made any attack upon them. He even killed lizards and frogs and put them in their way, but they did not appear to notice them until they attained the putrid scent. So that a more harmless animal, living at all upon flesh, is not in existence, than the Turkey Vulture. At night they roost in the neighboring trees, but, I believe, seldom in flocks like the Black kind. In winter they some- times pass the night in numbers on the roofs of the houses in the suburbs of the Southern cities, and appear particularly desirous of taking advantage of the warmth which they dis- cover to issue from the chimneys. Here, when the sun shines, they and their black relatives, though no wise social, may be observed perched in these conspicuous places basking in the feeble rays, and stretching out their dark wings to admit the warmth directly to their chilled bodies. And when not en- gaged in acts of necessity, they amuse themselves on fine clear days, even at the coolest season of the year, by soaring, in companies, slowly and majestically into the higher regions of the atmosphere ; rising gently, but rapidly, in vast spiral circles, they sometimes disappear beyond the thinnest clouds. They practise this lofty flight particularly before the commencement of thunder-storms, when, elevated above the war of elements, they float at ease in the ethereal space with outstretched wings, making no other apparent effort than the light balloon, only now and then steadying their sailing pinions as they spread 4 BIRDS OF PREY. them to the fanning breeze, and become abandoned to its accidental sports. In South America, according to Humboldt, they soar even in company with the Condor in his highest flights, rising above the summits of the tropical Andes. Examples of this species still wander occasionally to New Eng- land and to Grand Menan, and in 1887 Mr. Philip Cox reported the capture of two near the mouth of the Miramichi River, on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in latitude 47°. It occurs regularly on the St. Clair Flats, in Ontario. The Vultures are not classed as the first of birds by the syste- matists of the present day. Now the singing-birds — the Osciiies — arc considered the most highly developed, and of these the Thrush family is given highest rank. The Vultures are classed as the lowest of the birds of prey ; and this entire order has been moved down belov^r the Swifts and the Woodpeckers. BLACK VULTURE. CARRION CROW. C.A.THARISTA ATRATA. Char. Dull black ; head dusky and partially covered above with feathers. Length about 2 feet. A'^cst. On the ground screened by bushes, or in a stump. (No attempt is made to build a nest or even to lay a cushion for the eggs.) Eggs. 1-3 (usually 2) ; bluish white, marked with several shades of brown; 3.10 X 2.05. This smaller, black, and truly gregarious species of Vulture in the United States appears to be generally confined to the Southern States, and seems to be most numerous and familiar in the large maritime towns of North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. They are also met with in several of the Western States, and as far up the Ohio as Cincinnati. In the tropical regions of America they are also very common, and extend at least as far as Chili. Like the former species, with which they associate only at meal-times, they are tacitly allowed a public protection for the service they render in rid- ding the earth of carrion and other kinds of filth. They are BLACK VULTURE. 5 much more familiar in the towns than the preceding, dehght- ing, during winter, to remain on the roofs of houses, catching the feeble rays of the sun, and stretching out their wings to ad- mit the warm air over their foetid bodies. When the weather becomes unusually chilly, or in the mornings, they may be seen basking upon the chimneys in the warm smoke, which, as well as the soot itself, can add no additional darkness or impurity to such filthy and melancholy spectres. Here, or on the limbs of some of the larger trees, they remain in listless indolence till aroused by the calls of hunger. Their flight is neither so easy nor so graceful as that of the Turkey Buzzard. They flap their wings and then soar hori- zontally, renewing the motion of their pinions at short inter- vals. At times, however, they rise to considerable elevations. In the cities of Charleston and Savannah they are to be seen in numbers walking the streets with all the familiarity of domestic Fowls, examining the channels and accumulations of tilth in order to glean up the offal or animal matter of any kind which may happen to be thrown out. They appeared to be very regular in their attendance around the shambles, and some of them become known b)' sight. This was particularly the case with an old veteran who hopped upon one foot (having by some accident lost the other), and had regularly appeared round the shambles to claim the bounty of the butchers for about twenty years. In the country, where I have surprised them feeding in the woods, they appeared rather shy and timorous, watching my movements alertly like Hawks ; and every now and then one or two of them, as they sat in the high boughs of a neighboring oak, communicated to the rest, as I slowly approached, a low bark of alarm, or ivaii<:;/i, something like the suppressed growl of a puppy, at which the whole flock by degrees deserted the dead hog upon which they happened to be feeding. Sometimes they will collect together about one carcase to the number of two hundred and upwards ; and the object, whatever it may be, is soon robed in living mourning, scarcely anything being visible but a dense mass of these sable scavengers, who may often be 6 BIRDS OF PREY. seen jealously contending with each other, both in and out of the carcase, defiled with blood and filth, holding on with their feet, hissing and clawing each other, or tearing off morsels so as to fill their throats nearly to choking, and occasionally joined by growling dogs, — the whole presenting one of the most savage and disgusting scenes in nature, and truly worthy the infernal bird of Prometheus. This species is very rarely seen north of the Carolinas, though a few examples have been taken in New England and at Grand Menan. AUDUBON'S CARACARA. CARACARA EAGLE. KING BUZZARD. POLYEORUS CHERIWAY. Char. General color brownish black ; fore part of back and breast barred with white ; tail white, with bars of black. Length 2oh to 25 inches. AVj/. On a low tree or bush ; made of sticks and leaves. £g^s. 2-4 (usually 2) ; brownish white or pale brown, blotched with deeper brown ; 2.30 X 175. This very remarkable and fine bird was first met with by Mr. Audubon near St. Augustine, in East Florida. He afterwards also found it on Galveston Island, in Texas. From its general habits and graceful, sweeping flight, it was for some time mis- taken for a Hawk. Though common in many parts of South America, it is within the limits of the United States merely an accidental visitor. It is said, however, to breed in Florida, in the highest branches of tall trees in the pine-barrens, making a rough nest of sticks like a Hawk. In Texas it breeds, accord- ing to Audubon, in the tops of bushes. Since Nuttall wrote, the Caracara has been found in numbers in parts of Florida, and it is not uncommon in Texas, southern Arizona, and Lower California. WHITE GYRFALCON. Falco islandus. Char. Prevailing color white, often immaculate, but usually with dark markings. Legs partially feathered. A sharp tooth near point of upper mandible ; the end of under mandible notched. Length 2i to 24 inches. A\'st. Usually on a cliff ; roughly made of sticks, — large dry twigs. Eggs. 3-4; buff or brownish, marked with reddish brown; 2.25 X 1.25. GILAY GYRFALCON. Falco rusticolus. Char. Prevailing color dull gray, with whitish and slaty-blue bands and spots; sometimes white prevails ; thighs usually barred. 8 BIRDS OF PREY. GYRFALCON. Falco rusticolus gyrfalco. Char. Upper parts dull brownish (dusky), with bars of bluish gray; lower parts white, or mostly white marked with dusky ; thighs heavily barred. BLACK GYRFALCON. Falco rusticolus obsoletus. Char. Prevailing color brownish black ; usually barred with lighter tints, but sometimes the bars are indistinct. This elegant and celebrated Falcon is about two feet in length ; the female two or three inches longer. They particu- larly abound in Iceland, and are found also throughout Siberia, and the North of Europe as far as Greenland ; Mr. Hutchins, according to Pennant, saw them commonly about Fort Albany, at Hudson's Bay. Occasionally a pair is also seen in this vicinity in the depth of winter. They brave the coldest cli- mates, for which they have such a predilection as seldom to leave the Arctic regions ; the younger birds are commonly seen in the North of Germany, but very rarely the old, which are readily distinguished by the superior whiteness of their plumage, which augments with age, and by the increasing narrowness of the transverse stripes that ornament the upper parts of the body. The finest of these Falcons were caught in Iceland by means of baited nets. The bait was commonly a Ptarmigan, Pigeon, or common Fowl ; and such was the velocity and power of his pounce that he commonly severed the head from the baited bird as nicely as if it had been done by a razor. These birds were reserved for the kings of Denmark, and from thence they were formerly transported into Ger- many, and even Turkey and Persia. The taste for the amuse- ment of falconry was once very prevalent throughout Europe, and continued for several centuries ; but at this time it has almost wholly subsided. The Tartars, and Asiatics gener- ally, were also equally addicted to this amusement. A Sir DUCK HAWK. 9 Thomas Monson, no later than the reign of James the First, is said to have given a thousand pounds for a cast of Hawks. Next to the Eagle, this bird is the most formidable, active, and intrepid, and was held in the highest esteem for falconry. It boldly attacks the largest of birds ; the Swan, Goose, Stork, Heron, and Crane are to it easy victims. In its native regions it lives much on the hare and Ptarmigan ; upon these it darts with astonishuig velocity, and often seizes its prey by pouncing upon it almost perpendicularly. It breeds in the cold and desert regions where it usually dwells, fixing its nests amidst the most lofty and inaccessible rocks. Nuttall treated the four forms as one, while I follow the A. O. U. in separating them ; though I do not think that the present classifi- cation will be retained. The accessible material is very limited, but it appears to indicate that there is but one species with two, or possibly three, geographical races. The nests and eggs and the habits are similar, the difference being entirely that of plu- mage, — the prevalence of the dark or white color. The White breeds chiefly in North Greenland and along the bor- ders of the Arctic Ocean : the Gray breeds in South Greenland ; the Black is restricted to Labrador ; and the habitat oi gyrfalco is given as " interior of Arctic America from Hudson's Bay to Alaska." Specimens of all four have been taken south of latitude 45°, and a few of the Black have been taken, in winter, as far south as southern New En< to 23 inches. A'est. In a high tree; of sticks, lined with grass, sometimes with feathers. Eggs. 2-4 ; whitish or bluish white, usually heavily spotted or blotched with reddish brown; 2 30 X 1.80. This beautiful Buzzard inhabits most parts of the United States, being obser\-ed from Canada to Florida ; also, far westward up the ]\Iissouri, and even on the coasts of the northern Pacific Ocean, by Lewis and Clarke. Wilson found the young to be fully grown in the month of May, about latitude 31° on the banks of the Mississippi: at this period they were verj' noisy and clainorous, keeping up an inces- sant squealing. It also occasionally nests and breeds in large RED-TAILED HAWK. 47 trees in the secluded forests of this part of Massachusetts. The young birds soon become very submissive, and allow them- selves to be handled with impunity by those who feed them. The older birds sometimes contest with each other in the air about their prey, and nearly or wholly descend to the earth grappled in each other's talons. Though this species has the general aspect of the Buzzard, its manners are very similar to those of the Goshawic ; it is equally fierce and predatory, prowling around the farm often when straitened for food, and seizing, now and then, a hen or chicken, which it snatches by making a lateral approach : it sweeps along near the sur- face of the ground, and grasping its prey in its talons, bears it away to devour in some place of security. These depredations on the farm-yard happen, however, only in the winter ; at all other seasons this is one of the shyest and most difficult birds to approach. It will at times pounce upon rabbits and considerable-sized birds, particularly Larks, and has been obsen'ed in the Southern States perseveringly to pursue squirrels from bough to bough until they are overtaken and seized in the talons. It is frequently seen near wet meadows where mice, moles, and frogs are prevalent, and also feeds upon lizards. — appearing, indeed, often content with the most humble game. They usually associate in pairs, and seem much attached to each other ; yet they often find it convenient and profitable to separate in hunting their prey, about which they would readily quarrel if brought into contact. Though a good deal of their time passes in indolence, while perched in some tall and dead- ened tree, yet at others they may be seen beating the ground as they fly over it in all directions in quest of game. On some occasions they amuse themselves by ascending to a vast eleva- tion, like the aspiring Eagle. On a fine evening, about the middle of Januar)^, in South Carolina, I observed one of these birds leave its withered perch, and soaring aloft over the wild landscape, in a mood of contemplation, begin to ascend towards the thin skirting of elevated clouds above him. At length he passed this sublime boundary, and was now per- 48 BIRDS OF PREY. ceived and soon followed by his ambitious mate, and in a little time, by circular ascending gyrations, they both disappeared in the clear azure of the heavens ; and though I waited for their re-appearance half an hour, they still continued to be wholly invisible. This amusement, or predilection for the cooler regions of the atmosphere, seems more or less common to all the rapacious birds. In numerous instances this exercise must be wholly independent of the inclination for surveying their prey, as few of them besides the Falcon descend direct upon their quarry. Many, as well as the present species, when on the prowl fly near to the surface of the ground, and often wait and watch so as to steal upon their victims before they can take the alarm. Indeed the Condor frequents and nests upon the summit of the Andes, above which they are seen to soar m the boundless ocean of space, enjoying the invigorating and rarefied atmosphere, and only descending to the plains when impelled by the cravings of hunger. The Eastern variety of the Red-tail is a common bird through- out eastern North America north to about latitude 49°, and was taken by Dr. Bell at Fort Churchill, on Hudson's Bay. It ranges westward to the Great Plains, where it is replaced by the sub- species krideri. From the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific it is represented by cahirus, and examples of this latter variety have been taken, occasionally, as far east as Illinois. The Red-tail is a summer resident only of the Maritime Provinces, but a few are found in winter in southern Ontario and New England. Note. — Mr. Ridgway now considers Harlan's Hawk to be a variety of the Red-tail, and he proposes to name it Biiteo borealis ha?'lani. Its usual habitat is along the lower Mississippi ; but exam- ples have been taken in Illinois, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. Capt. Bendine reports that Kridek's Hawk {B. b. Krideri) occurs in Iowa and northern Illinois. (Life Histories of North American Birds.) Two examples of Swainson's Hawk {^Btiteo swainsoni), a. Western species, have been taken in Massachusetts, — one at Wayland in 1S76, and the other near Salem in 1878. BROAD-WINGED HAWK. BUTEO L.4TISSIMUS. Char. Above, dull brown, the feathers with paler edges ; tail dusky with four light bars and tipped with white ; below, buffish or tawny, barred and streaked with rufous. Length i6 inches. Young : similar, but tail brownish, with several dusky bars ; below buffy streaked with dusky. A'est. In a tree ; loosely built of twigs, and lined with leaves and feathers. Eggs. 2-4 ; buthsh, blotched with reddish brown of various shades ; r.90 X 1.55. This species was obtained by Wilson, in the vicinity of Philadelphia, in the act of feeding on a meadow-mouse. On being approached, it uttered a whining whistle and flew to another tree, where it was shot. Its great breadth of wing, as well as of the head and body, compared with its length, ap- pears remarkably characteristic. The following day the mate was observed sailing in wide circles, the Avings scarcely moving, and presenting almost a semi-circular outline. These two in- dividuals appear to be all that were known to Wilson of this VOL. I. — 4 50 BIRDS OF PREY. species. Audubon considers it by no means a rare species in Virginia, Maryland, and all the States to the eastward of these. Its usual prey is small birds, very young poultry, small quadrupeds, and insects. The Broad-wing occurs throughout this eastern faunal province, but is somewhat local in distribution. In portions of the Maritime Provinces it is abundant, though in general it is rather uncommon. Mr. John Neilson considers it common near the city of Quebec, but Mr. Ernest Wintle reports it rare at Montreal, while Mr. William L. Scott thinks it the commonest Hawk in the Ottawa valley. Mr. Thomas Mcllvvraith gives it as a "casual visitor" to the southern portions of Ontario, and Mr. Ernest Thompson found it aburtdant in the Muskoka district. Thompson also reports it common in Manitoba. In the more northern portions of New England it is a fairly common summer visitor, while it is found in Massachusetts and Connecticut throughout the year, but is rather rare. It occurs also in more or less abundance in all the Middle, Western, and Southern States. My observations in New Brunswick have led me to form a dif- ferent opinion of the characteristics of this Hawk from those expressed by several writers. The examples I met with were not peculiarly void of either boldness or vigor in pursuit of their prey, nor peculiarly spiritless when wounded. They did, of course, like others of the tribe, pursue weak prey, and displayed little true bravery ; but bravery is not a characteristic of the Hawks. A wounded Broad-wing, however, acts just as does the boldest of them, — he turns on his back and hits out with claws, beak, and wings ; and the gunner who thinks he has a meek or spiritless bird to handle may regret the thought. SHORT-TAILED HAWK. BUTEO BR.'VCHX'URUS. Char. Above, brownish black or blackish brown ; forehead and cheeks white ; tail brownish gray barred with black and tipped with white ; beneath, pure white, a patch of rufous on side of chest. Length i6 inches. Nest. In a tall tree ; made of dry twigs, lined with fresh twigs of cypress. Eggs. 1-3 ; dull white, spotted on large end with reddish brown. MARSH HAWK. 5 I The black and brown phases of plumage worn by this bird have caused the scientific ornithologists no little perplexity, and been the subject of some controversy ; so a brief summary of the various opinions held may serve as an illustration of the evolution of many scientific names. The species was first described from a specimen m brown plu- mage and given the name it now bears ; then a young bird came into the hands of another systematist, and supposing it to be a new species, he named it B. oxypterus ; and afterwards an example m black was taken by still another, who supposed it to be something new, so he wrote it down B. ftdiginosus. These two last-men- tioned were disposed of by other writers as synonyms of sijain- soni, oxypterus being considered the young plumage, and ftiligi- nosus a melanistic phase, while in several more recent works the latter, as the Little Black Hawk, was restored to specific rank. These opinions have recently been abandoned for that which has been held for a long time by the few, — that both fuligbiosits and oxypterus are synonyms of the present species. It cannot, however, be said that the matter is finally adjusted, for the black color still presents this problem : Is it individual or sex- ual, — a melanistic phase, or the normal color of the adult male .-' The bird is entirely tropical in its range, and is found within the United States only in the tropical portions of Florida. It was sup- posed formerly to occur there merely as a casual or accidental straggler; but recent observations have proved it to be a regular though uncommon visitor, and breeding there. MARSH HA\\"K. marsh harrier. blue hawk. Circus hudsoxius. Char. Adult male: above, bluish gray; tail with dark bands ; rump white ; beneath white. Adult female and young : above, dark brown streaked with rufous ; tail with dark bands ; rump white ; beneath, tawny with dark streaks. Length 19 to 24 inches. N'est. On the ground, in damp meadow or cedar swamp ; a loosely arranged platform of dried grass some four to six inches high, with little depression, occasionally lined with softer material. ^■SS^- 3-S ; bluish white, sometimes spotted with huffish or brown ; 1.80 X I 40. 52 BIRDS OF PREY. This species is common to the northern and temperate, as well as the warmer parts of the old and new continents, being met with in Europe, Africa, South America, and the West Indies. In the winter season it extends its peregrinations from Hudson's Bay to the Oregon territory and the southern parts of the United States, frequenting chiefly open, low, and marshy situations, over which it sweeps or skims along, at a little distance usually from the ground, in quest of mice, small birds, frogs, lizards, and other reptiles, which it often selects by twilight as well as in the open day ; and at times, pressed by hunger, it is said to join the Owls and seek out its prey even by moonlight. Instances have been known in England in which this bird has carried its temerity so far as to pursue the same game with the armed fowler, and even snatch it from his grasp after calmly wailing for it to be shot, and without even betraying timidity at the report of the gun. The nest of this species is made on the ground, in swampy woods or among rushes, occasionally also under the protection of rocky precipices, and is said to be formed of sticks, reeds, leaves, straw, and similar materials heaped together, and iinished with a lining of feathers, hair, or other soft substances. In the F. cineraceus, so nearly related to this species, the eggs are of a pure white. When their young are approached, the parents, hovering round the intruder and uttering a sort of uncouth syllable, like geg geg gag, or ge ge 7ie ge ge, seem full of afright and anxiety. The Crows, however, are their greatest enemies, and they often succeed in demolishing the nests. The young are easily tamed, and feed almost immediately without exhib- iting any signs of fear. Nuttall has told about all that more modern observers have to tell of this species. The authorities differ chiefly in descriptions of the structure of the nest and the markings on the eggs. The nests that I have examined have been composed entirely of coarse grass, without 'ining, though the softest of the grass was laid on top. The eggs were unspotted. HAWK OWL. SURXL\ ULUL.\ CAPAROCH. Char. Above, dull blackish brown, spotted with white ; crown without spots ; dark patch on the cheeks ; face white, the feathers with dark margins; tail and wing with white bars; below, white with dark bars. Length 14J4 to 17^ inches. Ac'jY. On a tree ; of twigs lined with feathers. ££-gs. 2-7; dull white ; 1.55 X 1-25. This remarkable species, forming a connecting link with the preceding genus of the Hawks, is nearly confined to the Arctic wilds of both continents, being frequent in Siberia and the fur countries from Hudson's Bay to the Pacific. A few stragglers, now and then, at distant interv^als and in the depths of winter, penetrate on the one side into the northern parts of the United States, and on the other they occasionally appear in Germany, and more rarely in France. At Hudson's Bay they are observed by day flying high and preying on the White Grouse and other birds, sometimes even attending the hunter like a Falcon, and boldly taking up the wounded game as it 54 BIRDS OF PREY. flutters on the ground. They are also said to feed on mice and insects, and (according to Meyer) they nest upon trees, laying two white eggs. They are said to be constant atten- dants on the Ptarmigans in their spring migrations towards the North, and are observed to hover round the camp-fires of the natives, in quest probably of any offal or rejected game. In Massachusetts and the more southern portions of New Eng- land the Hawk Owl is only an occasional winter visitor ; but in northern New England and the Maritime Provinces it occurs regu- larly, though of varying abundance, in some seasons being quite rare. It is fairly common near .Montreal, and rare in Ontario and in Ohio. Thompson reports It abundant in ^Manitoba, but only one example has been taken in Illinois {Ridgivav)- It breeds in Newfoundland, the Magdalen Islands, and northern Mraiitoba, and north to sub-arctic regions. ^^-: SNOWT OWL. Nyctea N\'CTEA. Char. General color pure white, with markings of dull brown or brownish black, the abundance and shade of the spots varying with age. A large, stout bird. Length 2^ to 27 inches. jVest. On the ground, of twigs and grass, lined with feathers. .fi^f^j-. 5 to 10; white; 2.55 X 190. This very large and often snow-white species of Owl is almost an exclusive inhabitant of the Arctic regions of both continents, being common in Iceland, the Shetland Islands, Kamtschatka, Lapland, and Hudson's Bay. In these dreary wilds, surrounded by an almost perpetual winter, he dwells, breeds, and obtains his subsistence. His white robe renders S6 BIRDS OF PREY. him scarcely discernible from the overwhelming snows, where he reigns, like the boreal spirit of the storm. His loud, hol- low, barking growl, 'whowh, 'whoiuh, 'luhmuh hah, ha/t, hah, hdh^ and other more dismal cries, sound like the unearthly ban o. IJerberus ; and heard amidst a region of cheerless soli- tude, his lonely and terrific voice augments rather than relieves the horrors of the scene. Clothed with a dense coating of feathers, which hide even the nostrils, and leave only the talons exposed, he ventures abroad boldly at all seasons, and, like the Hawks, seeks his prey by daylight as well as dark, skimming aloft and reconnoi- tring his prey, which is commonl}' the \\'hite Grouse or some other birds of the same genus, as well as hares. On these he darts from above, and rapidly seizes them in his resistless talons. .\t times he watches for fish, and condescends also to prey upon rats, mice, and even carrion. These birds appear to have a natural aversion to settled countries ; for which reason, perhaps, and the severity of the climate of .\rctic America, they are frequently known to wander in the winter south through the thinly settled interior of the United States. They migrate probably by pairs ; and accord- ing to Wilson, two of these birds were so stupid, or dazzled, as to alight on the roof of the court-house in the large town of Cincinnati. In South Carolina Dr. Garden saw them occa- sionally, and they were, in this mild region, observed to hide themselves during the day in the palmetto-groves of the sea- coast, and only sallied out towards night in quest of their prey. Their habits, therefore, seem to vary considerably, according to circumstances and climate. This species is a regular winter visitor to the Northern and Middle States, and during some seasons has been quite abundant. A few pairs have been seen in summer in northern Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia: but the usual breeding-ground is from about latitude 50^ to the Arctic regions. While in their more southern resorts they are rarely found far from the forest districts. i These latter syllables with the usual quivering sound of the Owl. SCREECH OWL. MOTTLED OWL. RED OWL. MeGASCOPS ASIC. Char. Of two phases, brownish gray and brownish red. Above, mottled with darker shades of the prevailing color and with blackish ; below, dull whitish or with a rufous tint and heavily marked with dull brown or blackish. In highly colored red examples the spots are less frequent. Large ear tufts ; wings and tail barred with the light and dark colors ; legs feathered and toes bristled. Length 7 to 10 inches. N'est. In a hollow tree or stump ; the bottom of the hole slightly lined with leaves or feathers. Eggs. 4-S ; white, nearly round ; 1.35 X 1.20. Mottled Oti'l. — This common, small, and handsome species, known as the Little Screech Owl, is probably resident in every part of the United States, and, in fact, inhabits from Greenland to Florida, and westward to the Oregon. It appears more abimdant in autumn and winter, as at those seasons, food fail- 58 BIRDS OF PREV. ing, it is obliged to approach habitations and barns, in which the mice it chiefly preys on now assemble ; it also lies in wait for small birds, and feeds on beetles, crickets, and other in- sects. The nest is usually in the hollow of an old orchard tree, about the months of "Slay or June ; it is lined carelessly with a little hay, leaves, and feathers, and the eggs are commonly four to six, white, and nearly round. Aldrovandus remarks that the Great Horned Owl provides so plentifully for its young that a person might obtain some dainties from the nest, and yet leave a sufficiency for the Owlets besides. The same remark may also apply to this species, as in the hollow stump of an apple-tree, which contained a brood of these young Owls, were found several Bluebirds, Blackbirds, and Song Sparrows, intended as a supply of food. During the day these birds retire into hollow trees and un- frequented barns, or hide in the thickest evergreens. At times they are seen abroad by day, and in cloudy weather they wake up from their diurnal slumbers a considerable time before dark. In the day they are always drowsy, or, as if dozing, closing, or scarcely half opening their heavy eyes, presenting the very picture of sloth and nightly dissipation. When per- ceived by the smaller birds, they are at once recognized as their insidious enemies ; and the rareness of their appearance, before the usual roosting-time of other birds, augments the suspicion they entertain of these feline hunters. From com- plaints and cries of alarm, the Thrush sometimes threatens blows ; and though evening has perhaps set in, the smaller birds and cackling Robins re-echo their shrill chirpings and complaints throughout an extensive wood, until the nocturnal monster has to seek safety in a distant flight. Their notes are most frequent in the latter end of summer and autumn, crying in a sort of wailing quiver, not very unlike the whining of a puppy dog, /lo, ho ho ho ho ho ho, proceeding from high and clear to a low guttural shake or trill. These notes, at little in- tervals, are answered by some companion, and appear to be chiefly a call of recognition from young of the same brood, or pairs who wish to discover each other after having been sepa- RED OWL. 59 rated while dozing in the day. On moonlight evenings this slender waihng is kept up nearly until midnight. Red Owl. — From the very satisfactory and careful observa- tions of Dr. Ezra Michener, of New Garden, Chester County, Pennsylvania, pubUshed in the eighth volume of the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, it appears certain that the Red and Gray " Screech Owls " of the United States are specifically distinct ; he has observed that the Red Owls rear young of the same color, and that the Gray Owls of the preceding species have also young which are gray and mottled from the ver)' nest. Still different as they are in plumage, the habits of the species are nearly alike. The present inhabits and breeds in most parts of the United States. In Pennsylvania they are hatched by the latter end of May, breeding in hollow trees. The eggs are about four. I have had an opportunit) of verifying all that Wilson re- lates of the manners of this species in a Red or young Owl, taken out of a hollow apple-tree, which I kept for some months. A dark closet was his favorite retreat during the day. In the evening he became very lively and restless, glid- ing across the room in which he was confined, with a side- long, noiseless flight, as if wafted by the air alone. At times he clung to the wainscot, and, unable to turn, he brought his head round to his back, so as to present, by the aid of his brilliant eyes, a most spectral and unearthly appearance. As the eyes of all the Owls, according to Wilson, are fixed im- movably in the socket by means of a many cleft capsular liga- ment, this provision for the free versatile motion of the head appears necessary. When approached towards evening, he appeared strongly engaged in reconnoitring the object, blow- ing with a hissing noise {shay, shay, shay), common to other species, and stretching out his neck with a waving, lateral motion, in a threatening attitude, and, on a nearer approach, made a snapping with the bill, produced by striking together both mandibles, as they are equally movable. He was a very expert mouse-catcher, swallowed his prey whole, and then, after some time, ejected from the bill the bones, skin, and 6o BIRDS OF PREY. hair, in pellets. He also devoured large flies, which at this time came into the room in great numbers ; and even the dry parts of these were also ejected from the stomach without di- gestion. A pet of this species, which Dr. Michener had, drank frequently, and was accustomed to wash every day in a basin of cold water during the heat of summer. Nuttall, following Wilson and Audubon, treated the gray and red phases of this bird as two distinct species, and wrote separate biographies, which I insert in full. Some ornithologists have sup- posed that the gray specimens were the young birds; but it has been proved beyond question that the two phases are simply indi- vidual variations of the same species. Gray and red birds have been found in one nest, with both parents gray, or both red, or with one of each color. The Screech Owl is a resident of southern New England and quite common. It breeds northward to the Maritime Provinces, westward to Minnesota and southward to the Gulf States. Prob- ably southern New England is the northern limit of the bird"s distribution in winter. Note. — A smaller and darker race is found in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. It is named Florida Screech Owl {M. asio Jloridanus). In this race the reddish feathers wear a richer rufous tint, and the gray are more deeply tinged with brown. GREAT HORNED OWL. CAT OWL. Bubo virginuxus. Char. Plumage very variable, of mottled black, light and dark brown, buff, and tawny. A white band on the throat, and a white stripe down the breast, — the latter sometimes obscure. Ear-tufts large and conspicuous ; legs and toes feathered. Length iS to 25 inche.«. .Vest. Sometimes within a hollow tree, but usually on an upper limb. A deserted nest of Crow or Hawk is often used, and then it is a clumsy, bulky affair of sticks, lined with feathers Eggs. 2-3; white and nearly spherical ; 2.20 X i.So. This species, so nearly related to the Great Eared Owl of Europe, is met with occasionally from Hudson's Bay to 62 BIRDS OF PREY. Florida, and in Oregon ; it exists even beyond the tropics, being very' probably the same bird described by Marcgrave as inhabiting the forests of Brazil. All climates are alike to this Eagle of the night, the king of the nocturnal tribe of American birds. The aboriginal inhabitants of the country dread his boding howl, dedicating his effigies to their solemnities, and, as if he were their sacred bird of Minerva, forbid the mockery of his ominous, dismal, and almost supernatural cries. His favor- ite resort, in the dark and impenetrable swampy forests, where he dwells in chosen solitude secure from the approach of every enemy, agrees with the melancholy and sinister traits of his character. To the surrounding feathered race he is the Pluto of the gloomy wilderness, and would scarcely be known out of the dismal shades where he hides, but to his victims, were he as silent as he is soUtary. Among the choking, loud, guttural sounds which he sometimes utters in the dead of night, and with a suddenness which always alarms, because of his noiseless approach, is the \vaugh ho .' 'luaiigh ho ! which, Wilson re- marks, was often uttered at the instant of sweeping down around his camp-fire. Many kinds of Owls are similarly daz- zled and attracted by fire-lights, and occasionally finding, no doubt, some offal or flesh thrown out by those who encamp in the wilderness, they come round the nocturnal blaze with other motives than barely those of curiosity. The solitary travellers in these wilds, apparently scanning the sinister motive of his visits, pretend to interpret his address into "'IVAo 'cooks for you all !'" and with a strong guttural pronunciation of the final syllable, to all those who have heard this his common cry, the resemblance of sound is well hit, and instantly recalls the ghastly serenade of his nocturnal majesty in a manner which is not easily forgotten. The shorter cry which we ha\-e mentioned makes no inconsiderable approach to that uttered by the European brother of our species, as given by Buffon, namely, 'he-hoo, 'hoo-hoo, boo-hoo, etc. The Greeks called this transatlantic species Byas, either from its note or from the resemblance this bore to the bellowing of the ox. The Latin- name Bubo has also reference to the same note of this noc- GREAT HORNED OWL. 63 turnal bird. According to Frisch, who kept one of these birds alive, its cries varied according to circumstances ; when hungry it had a muling cry like Puliu. I have remarked the young, probably, of our species utter the same low, quailing cx\, while yet daylight, as it sat on the low branch of a tree : the sound of both is, at times, also not unlike that made by the Hawks or diurnal birds of prey. Indeed, in gloomy weather I have seen our species on the alert, flying about many hours before dark, and uttering his call of 'ko ko, ko ko ho. Their usual prey is young rabbits, squirrels, rats, mice. Quails, and small birds of various kinds ; and when these resources fail or diminish, they occasionally prowl pretty boldly around the farm-yard in quest of Chickens, which they seize on the roost. Indeed the Euro- pean Horned Owl frequently contends w-ith the Buzzard for its prey, and generally comes off conqueror ; blind and infuriate with hunger, one of these has been known to dart even upon a man, as if for conflict, and was killed in the encounter. My friend Dr. Boykin, of Milledgeville, in Georgia, assured me that one of our own daring nocturnal adventurers, prowling round his premises, saw a cat dozing on the roof of a smoke-house, and supposing grimalkin a more harmless, rabbit-like animal than appeared in the sequel, blindly snatched her up in his talons ; but finding he had caught a Tartar, it was not long be- fore he allowed puss once more to tread the ground. In England the same error was committed by an Eagle, who, after a severe conflict with a cat he had carried into the air, was at length brought to the ground before he could disengage himself from the feline grasp. An Owl of this species, which I have observed in a cage, appeared very brisk late in the morning, hissed and blew when approached with a stick, and dashed at it very heedlessly with his bill ; he now and then uttered a 'ko-koh, and was pretty loud in his call at an earlier hour. When approached, he cir- cularly contracted the iris of the eyes to obtain a clearer view of the threatened object ; he also listened with great quickness to any sound which occurred near his prison, and eyed- the flying Pigeons, which passed by at some distance, with a scruti- 64 BIRDS OF PREY. nizing and eager glance. When fed he often had the habit of hiding away his superfluous provision. As far as I have been able to observe the retiring manners of this recluse, he slumbers out the day chiefly in the dark tops of lofty trees. In these, according to Wilson, he generally be- gins to build in the month of May, though probably earlier in the Southern States. The nest is usuafly placed in the fork of a tree, made of a considerable pile of sticks, and lined with dry leaves and some feathers ; and, as a saving of labor, some- times they select a hollow tree for the purpose. This Owl is usually found in woods of rather large growth ; but Nuttall slightly exaggerated in naming the " dark and impenetrable swampy forest" as its "favorite resort." Throughout the Mari- time Provinces it is found on the outskirts of settlements, as well as in the wilderness. An interesting account of the habits of this species in captivity, from the note-book of Mr. James W. Banks, of St. John, N. B., appeared in "The Auk " for April, 1S84. Note. — There are two geographical races of this species that should be named here. The DusKV Horxed Owl (B. virgi- nianus satiirattis), an extremely dark form, occurs in Labrador, and is found also on the coast of the Northwest. The Western Horned Owl {B. virgitiianus subarctiats), a light-gray form, is usually restricted to the middle faunal province, but has been taken in Illinois and Wisconsin. GREAT GRAY OWL. SCOTLAPTEX CINEREA. Char. Above, sooty brown mottled with irregular bars of dull gray ; below, paler tints of same colors in wavy stripes. No ear-tufts. The largest of the Owls. Length, 23 to 30 inches. Nest. In a tree. Eg, W"" ^-_ .v\Jp^ '"- ^n.H FLORIDA BURROWING OWL. Speotyto cunicularia floridana. Char. Above, grayish brown spotted and barred with white ; below, pale butfish barred with brown ; a patch of white on the breast ; legs long and slender, and covered with buffish bristles. Length about lo inches. Nest. At the end of a burrow in the ground, lined with grass and feathers. Ezi;s. 4-10; white, varying in shape, usually nearly round; 1.25 X I 00. This variety, which is found in Florida only, is smaller and lighter- colored than is the well-known bird of the prairies. In habits the two differ little, the Florida birds living in communities, — sometimes several pairs in one burrow, — and feeding on mice and small birds. The tales related of Burrowing Owls and rattlesnakes occupying the same burrow are " hunter's tales," and lack confirmation. Note. — The Western form of the Burrowing Owl {S. aini- ciilaria hypogcea, has been taken in Massachusetts : but its occur- rence to the eastward of the Great Plains is accidental. tr iff^ .MEADOWLARK. FIELD LARK. STURNELL.A MAGNA. Char. Above, grayish brown barred with black ; crown with medial stripe of buff; lateral tail-feathers white; below yellow, sides darker and spotted with brown ; black crescent on the breast. Length about 10 inches. A\-s/. Made of dry grass and placed amid a tuft of long grass in a meadow ; often covered, and the opening placed at the side. ■E^i's- 4-6 ; white, thickly spotted with reddish brown and lilac ; 1. 15 X .80. This well-known harmless inhabitant of meadows and oA/ fields is not only found in every part of the United States, but appears to be a resident in all the intermediate region, from the frigid latitude of 53° and the territory of Oregon, to the mild table-land of Mexico and the savannahs of Guiana. In the winter these birds abound in Alabama and Western 80 SINGING BIRDS. Florida ; so that in some degree, like the Jays and the legiti- mate Starlings, they partially migrate in quest of food during the severity of the weather in the colder States. It is not, how- ever, improbable but that most of the migrating families of these birds, which we find at this season, have merely travelled east- ward from the cold Western plains that are annually covered with snow. They are now seen in considerable numbers in and round the salt-marshes, roving about in flocks of ten to thirty or more, seeking the shelter of the sea-coast, though not in such dense flocks as the true Starlings ; these, in the manner of our common Blackbirds, assemble in winter like dark clouds, moving as one body, and when about to descend, perform pro- gressive circular evolutions in the air like a phalanx in the order of battle ; and when settled, blacken the earth with their numbers, as well as stun the ears with their chatter. Like Crows also, they seek the shelter of reed- marshes to pass the night, and in the day take the benefit of every sunny and shel- tered covert. Our Starling, like the American Quail, is sociable, and some- what gregarious ; and though many, no doubt, wander some distance after food, yet a few, in Pennsylvania as well as in this rigorous climate, may be seen in the market after the ground is covered with snow. Wilson even observed them in the month of February, during a deep snow, among the heights of the Alleghanies, gleaning their scanty pittance on the road, in company with the small Snow Birds. The flesh of our bird is white, and for size and delicacy it is considered little inferior to the Partridge ; but that of the Euro- pean species is black and bitter. The flight of these Larks is laborious and steady, like that of the Quail, with the action of the wings renewed at short in- tervals. They often alight on trees, and select usually the main branches or topmost twigs on which to perch, though their food is commonly collected from the ground. At various times of the day, and nearly through the winter, in the milder States, their very peculiar lisping, long, and rather melancholy note is heard at short intervals ; and without the variations, which are pi.n. 1 . Baltimore Oriole. 3 . Red-VNinged Blacktird 5. American Osprev. 2 . Meado^vlark. 4-. Bobolink. MEADOW LARK. 8 1 not inconsiderable, bears some resemblance to the slender sing- ing and affected pronunciation of et se dee ah, and pscdec ets'dw, or tat sediiio in a slow, wiry, shrill tone, and sometimes differ- ently varied and shortened. The same simple ditty is repeated in the spring, when they associate in pairs ; the female also, as she rises or descends, at this time frequently gives a reiterated guttural chirp, or hurried twitter, like that of the female Red- winged Blackbird. I have likewise at times heard them utter notes much more musical and vigorous, not very unlike the fine tones of the Sky Lark : but I can by no means compare our lisping songster with that blithe "harbinger of day." There is a monotonous affectation in the song of our Lark which appears indeed somewhat allied to the jingling, though not unpleasant, tune of the Starling. The Stare, moreover, had the faculty of imitating human speech (which ours has not, as far as we yet know), and could indifferently speak even French, English, German, Latin, and Greek, or any other language within his hearing, and repeat short phrases ; so that " ' / can't get out, I can't get out,' says the Starling," which accidentally afforded Sterne such a beautiful and pathetic subject for his graphic pen, was probably no fiction. At the time of pairing, our Lark exhibits a little of the jealous disposition of his tribe : and having settled the dispute which decides his future condition, he retires from his fra- ternity, and, assisted by his mate, selects a thick tuft for the reception of his nest, which is pretty compact, made of dry, wiry grass, and lined with finer blades of the same. It is usually formed with a covered entrance in the surround mg withered grass, through which a hidden and almost winding path is made, and generally so well concealed that the nest is only to be found when the bird is flushed. The eggs are four or five, white, with a very faint tint of blue, almost round, and rather large, for the size of the bird, marked with numerous small reddish-brown spots, more nu- merous at the greater end, blended with other lighter and darker points and small spots of the same. They probably often raise two broods in the season. About the time of VOL. I. — 6 82 SINGING BIRDS. pairing, in the latter end of the month of April, they have a call, like 'is hip, twee, the latter syllable in a fine and slender tone, — something again allied to the occasional notes of the Red-winged Blackbird, to which genus {Icterus) our Sturnella is not very remotely allied. Towards the close of June little else is heard from the species but the noisy twitter of the female, preceded by a hoarse and sonorous 'fi/np or y ^ip, ac- companied by an impatient raising and lowering of the wings, and, in short, all the unpleasant and petulant actions of a brood-hen, as she is now assiduously engaged in fostering and supporting her helpless and dependent offspring. Their food consists of the larvae of various insects, as well as worms, beetles, and grass-seeds, to assist the digestion of which they swallow a considerable portion of gravel. It does not appear that these birds add berries or fruits of any kind to their fare, like the Starling, but usually remain the whole summer in moist meadows, and in winter retire to the open grassy woods, having no inclination to rob the orchard or gar- den, and, except in winter, are of a shy, timid, and retiring disposition. In the East the Meadowlark seldom ranges north of latitude 45°. I met with but one example in New Brunswick, and learn that it is rare near Montreal. It is common around Ottawa and throughout southern Ontario. In winter these birds are found occasionally as far north as southern New England and Illinois. Note. — A larger and paler form, named the Western Mead- OWLARK {S. magna neglecta), occurs in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa; and Mr. W. E. D. Scott has lately announced that the birds found in southwestern Florida should be referred to mexkaua, the Mexican Meadowlark, which is the smallest of the three. A stray Starling {St2irims milgaris') is said to have wandered from Europe to Greenland ; and some sixty were imported and released in Central Park, New York, in 1890. They are tliriving and increasing, giving evidence of ability to withstand the winter storm. A Troupial {Icterus icterus), a South American bird, was taken by Audubon near Charleston, S. C. BALTIMORE ORIOLE. golden robin. hang-nest. fire bird. Icterus galbul.-v. Ch.'VR. Male : head, neck, throat, back, wings, and greater part of tail black ; wing-coverts and secondaries tipped with white ; other parts orange. Bill and feet blue black. Female : smaller and paler, some- times the black replaced by olive brown or grayish orange. Young similar to female. Length 7 to 8 inches. A'est. Pensile and purse-shaped, 6 to S inches deep, suspended from extremity of branch 10 to 50 feet from the ground, composed of yarn, string, horsehair, grass, etc., woven into a compact texture. Eggs. 4-6 ; dull white, blotched irregularly with dark brown ; .90 X . 60. 84 SINGING BIRDS. These gay, lively, and brilliant strangers, leaving their hi- bernal retreat in South America, appear in New England about the first week in May, and more than a month earlier in Loui- siana, according to the observations of Audubon. They were not seen, however, in West Florida by the middle of March, although vegetation had then so far advanced that the oaks were in leaf, and the white flowering cornel was in full blossom. It is here that they pass the most interesting period of their lives ; and their arrival is hailed as the sure harbinger of approaching summer. Full of life and activity, these fiery sylphs are now seen vaulting and darting incessantly through the lofty boughs of our tallest trees ; appearing and vanishing with restless inquietude, and flashing at quick intervals into sight from amidst the tender waving foliage, they seem like living gems intended to decorate the verdant garment of the new-clad forest. But the gay Baltimore is neither idle nor capricious ; the beautiful small beetles and other active-winged insects on which he now juincipally feeds are in constant mo- tion, and require perpetual address in their capture. At first the males only arrive, but without appearing in flocks ; their mates are yet behind, and their social delight is incomplete. They appear to feel this temporary bereavement, and in shrill and loud notes they fife out their tender plaints in quick suc- cession, as they pry and spring through the shady boughs for their tiny and eluding prey. They also now spend much time in the apple-trees, often sipping honey from the white blossoms, over which they wander with peculiar delight, continually roving amidst the sweet and flowery profusion. The mellow whistled notes which they are heard to trumpet from the high branches of our tallest trees and gigantic elms resemble, at times, 'tshippe-tshayia too too, and sometimes 'tshippee 'tshippee (lispingly), too too (with the two last syllables loud and full). These notes are also varied by some birds so as to resemble 'tsh 'tsh 'tsheetshoo tshoo tshoo^ also 'tsh 'tslicefd 'tsheefd 'tsheefd 1 The first three of these notes are derived from the Summer Yellow Bird, though not its most usual tones. BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 85 tshoo and 'k'tiif a tt'if a tt'if a tea kerry ;^ another bird I have occasionally heard to call for hours, with some little variation, tie teo teo teo teo too, in a loud, querulous, and yet almost lu- dicrously merry strain. At other intervals the sensations of solitude seem to stimulate sometimes a loud and interrog- atory note, echoed forth at intervals, as kWry ' kerry / and terminating plaintively k' rry k' rry k'?-ry, tu ; the voice falling off very slenderly in the last long syllable, which is apparently an imitation from the Cardinal Grosbeak, and the rest is de- rived from the Crested Titmouse, whom they have already heard in concert as they passed through the warmer States. Another interrogatory strain which I heard here in the spring of 1830 was precisely, 'yip k'>-ry, \\ip. 'yip k'rry, ver}' loud and oft repeated. Another male went in his ordinary key, tsheny tsheny, tshipee tsh'ny, — notes copied from the exhaustless stock of the Carolina Wren (also heard on his passage), but modu- lated to suit the fancy of our vocalist. The female likewise sings, but less agreeably than the male. One which I had abundant opportunity of observing, while busied in the toil of weaving her complicated nest, every now and then, as a relief from the drudgery in which she was solely engaged, sung, in a sort of querulous and rather plaintive strain, the strange, un- couth syllables, 'kd 'kcd koivd, kcka kcka, the final tones loud and vaulting, which I have little doubt were an imitation of the discordant notes of some South American bird. For many days she continued this tune at intervals without any variation. The male, also while seeking his food in the same tree with his mate, or while they are both attending on their unfledged brood, calls frequently in a low, friendly whisper, 'twait, tu>'it. Indeed, all the individuals of either sex appear pertinaciously to adhere for weeks to the same quaint syllables which they have accidentally collected. This bird then, like the Starling, appears to have a taste for mimicry, or rather for sober imitation. A Cardinal Grosbeak happening, very unusually, to pay us a visit, his harmonious ' The last phrase loud and ascending, the tea plaintive, and the last syllable tender and echoing. 86 SINGING BIRDS. and bold whistle struck upon the ear of a Baltimore with great delight ; and from that moment his ordinary notes were laid aside for 'woit, 'woit, teii, and other phrases previously foreign to him for that season. I have likewise heard another individ- ual exactly imitating the soft and somewhat plaintive znt yii, vit yiu of the same bird, and in the next breath the pent, or call of Wilson's Thrush ; also at times the earnest song of the Robin. Indeed his variations and imitations have sometimes led me to believe that I heard several new and melodious birds, and I was only undeceived when I beheld his brilliant livery. So various, in fact, are the individual phrases chanted by this restless and lively bird that it is scarcely possible to fix on any characteristic notes by which he may be recognized ; his singular, loud, and almost plaintive tone, and a fondness for harpmg long on the same string, are perhaps more peculiar than any particular syllables which he may be heard to utter. When alarmed or offended at being too closely watched or approached, both male and female utter an angry, rattling tsher tsh' r, or hiss, fs/f isli' tsh' Ush. The beautiful Baltimore bird is only one of the tribe of true Icteri, which, except the present and two following species, remain within the tropical regions, or only migrate to. short distances in the rainy season. Ours wing their way even into Canada as far as the 55 th degree, and breed in every intermediate region to the table-land of Mexico. A yellow Brazilian species of the section of this genus, called cassiciis, according to Waterton inhabits also Demerara, where, like our bird, he familiarly weaves his pendulous nest near the planter's house, suspending it from the drooping branches of trees, and so low that it may be readily looked into even by the incu- rious. Omnivorous like the Starling, he feeds equally on insects, fruits, and seeds. He is called the Mocking Bird, and for hours together, in gratitude as it were for protection, he serenades the inhabitants with his imitative notes. His own song, though short, is sweet and melodious. But hearing perhaps the yelp- ing of the Toucan, he drops his native strain to imitate it, or place it in ridicule by contrast. Again, he gives the cackling BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 87 cries of the Woodpecker, the bleating of the sheep ; an inter- val of his own melody, then probably a puppy dog or a Guinea- fowl receives his usual attention : and the whole of this mim- icry is accompanied by antic gestures indicative of the sport and company which these vagaries afford him. Hence we see that the mimicking talent of the Stare is inherent in this branch of the gregarious family, and our own Baltimore, in a humbler style, is no less delighted with the notes of his feathered neighbors. There is nothing more remarkable in the whole mstinct of our Golden Robin than the ingenuity displayed in the fabrica- tion of Its nest, which is, in fact, a pendulous cylindric pouch of five to seven inches in depth, usually suspended from near the extremities of the high, drooping branches of trees (such as the elm, the pear or apple tree, wild-cherry, weeping-willow, tulip-tree, or butionwood). It is begun by firmly fastening natural strings of the flax of the silk-weed, or swarip-holyhock, or stout artificial threads, round two or more forked twigs, corresponding to the intended width and depth of the nest. With the same materials, willow down, or any accidental ravel- lings, strings, thread, sewing-silk, tow. or wool, that may be lying near the neighboring houses, or round the grafts of trees, it interweaves and fabricates a sort of coarse cloth into the form intended, towards the bottom of which is placed 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 sometimes a considerable difference in the manufacture of these nests, as well as in the materials which enter into their composition. Both sexes seem to be equally adepts at this sort of labor, and I have seen the female alone perform the whole without any assistance, and the male also complete this laborious task nearly without the aid of his consort, — who, how- 88 SINGING BIRDS. ever, in general, is the principal worker. I have observed a nest made almost wholly of tow, which was laid out for the convenience of a male bird, who with this aid completed his labor in a very short time, and frequently sang in a very ludi- crous manner while his mouth was loaded with a mass larger than his head. So eager are these birds to obtain fibrous ma- terials that they will readily tug at and even untie hard knots made of tow. In Audubon's magnificent plates a nest is rep- resented as formed outwardly of the long-moss ; where this abounds, of course, the labor of obtaining materials must be greatly abridged. The author likewise remarks that the whole fabric consists almost entirely of this material, loosely inter- woven, without any warm lining, — a labor which our ingenious artist seems aware would be superfluous in the warm forests of the lower Mississippi. A female, which I observed attentively, carried off to her nest a piece of lamp-wick ten or twelve feet long. This long string, and many other shorter ones, were left hanging out for about a week before both the ends were wat- tled into the sides of the nest. Some other little birds, making use of similar materials, at times twitched these flowing ends, and generally brought out the busy Baltimore from her occupa- tion in great anger. The haste and eagerness of one of these airy architects, which I accidentally observed on the banks of the Susque- hanna, appeared likely to prove fatal to a busy female who, in weaving, got a loop round her neck ; and no sooner was she disengaged from this snare than it was slipped round her feet, and thus held her fast beyond the power of escape 1 The male came frequently to the scene, now changed from that of joy and hope into despair, but seemed wholly incapable of com- prehending or relieving the distress of his mate. In a second instance I have been told that a female has been observed dead in the like predicament. The eggs of this species are usually four or five, white, with a faint, indistinct tint of bluish, and marked, chiefly at the greater end, though sometimes scatteringly, with straggling, serpentine, dark-brown fines and spots, and fainter hair streaks. BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 89 looking sometimes almost like real hair, and occasionally lined only, and without the spots. The period of incubation is four- teen days. In Louisiana, according to Audubon, they fre- quently raise two broods in the season, arriving in that country with the opening of the early spring. Here they raise but a single brood, whose long and tedious support in their lofty cradle absorbs their whole attention ; and at this interesting period they seem, as it were, to live only to protect, cherish, and educate their young. The first and general cry which the infant brood utter while yet in the nest, and nearly able to take wing, as well as for some days after, is a kind of te-did te- did, te-did, kai-te-fe-did, or ' te 'te'te ' fe 7z 't-did, which becomes clamorous as the parents approach them with food. They soon also acquire the scolding rattle and short notes which they probably hear around them, such as pect-wect, the cry of the spotted Sandpiper, and others, and long continue to be assidu- ously fed and guarded by their very affectionate and devoted parents. Unfortunately, this contrivance of instinct to secure the airy nest from the depredations of rapacious monkeys, and other animals which frequent trees in warm or mild climates, is also occasionally attended with serious accidents, when the young escape before obtaining the perfect use of their wings. They cling, however, with great tenacity either to the nest or neighboring twigs ; yet sometimes they fall to the ground, and, if not killed On the spot, soon become a prey to numerous enemies. On such occasions it is painful to hear the plaints and wailing cries of the parents. And when real danger offers, the generous and brilliant male, though much the less queru- lous of the two, steps in to save his brood at every hazard ; and I have known one so bold in this hopeless defence as to suffer himself to be killed, by a near approach with a stick, rather than desert his offspring. Sometimes, after this misfortune, or when the fell cat has devoured the helpless brood, day after day the disconsolate parents continue to bewail their loss. They almost forget to eat amidst their distress, and after leav- ing the unhappy neighborhood of their bereavement, they still come, at intervals, to visit and lament over the fatal spot, as if QO SINGING BIRDS. spell-bound by despair. If the season be not too far advanced, the loss of their eggs is generally soon repaired by constructing a second nest, in which, however, the eggs are fewer. The true Oriole {O. galbula), which migrates into Africa, and passes the breeding season in the centre of Europe, also makes a pendulous nest, and displays great courage in the de- fence of its young, being so attached to its progeny that the female has been taken and conveyed to a cage on her eggs, on which, with resolute and fatal instinct, she remained foithfully sitting until she expired. The Baltimore bird, though naturally shy and suspicious, probably for greater security from more dangerous enemies, generally chooses for the nest the largest and tallest spreading trees near farm-houses, and along frequented lanes and roads ; and trusting to the inaccessibleness of its ingenious mansion, it works fearlessly and scarcely studies concealment. But as soon as the young are hatched, here, towards the close of June, the whole family begin to leave the immediate neighbor- hood of their cares, flit through the woods, — a shy, roving, and nearly silent train ; and when ready for the distant journey be- fore them, about the end of August or beginning of September, the whole at once disappear, and probably arrive, as with us, amidst the forests of South America m a scattered flock, and continue, like Starlings, to pass the winter in celibacy, wholly engaged in gleaning a quiet subsistence until the return of spring. Then, incited by instinct to prepare for a more pow- erful passion, they agam wing their way to the regions of the north, where, but for this wonderful instinct of migration, the whole race would perish m a single season. As the sexes usually arrive in different flocks, it is evident that the conjugal tie ceases at the period of migration, and the choice of mates is renewed with the season ; during which the males, and sometimes also the females, carry on their jealous disputes with much obstinacy. That our Oriole is not familiar with us, independent of the all-powerful natural impulse which he obeys, is sufficiently obvious when he nests in the woods. Two of these solitary BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 9 1 and retiring pairs had this summer, contrary to their usual habits, taken up their abode in the lofty branches of a gigantic Buttonwood in the forest. As soon as we appeared they took the alarm, and remained uneasy and irritable until we were wholly out of sight. Others, again, visit the heart of the popu- lous city, and puur forth their wild and plaintive songs from the trees which decorate the streets and gardens, amid the din of the passing crowd and the tumult of incessant and noisy occu- pations. Audubon remarks that their migrations are performed singl}- and during the day, and that they proceed high, and fly straight and continuous. The food of the Baltimore appears to be small caterpillars, — sometimes those of the apple-trees, — some uncommon kinds of beetles, cimices, and small flies, like a species of cynii)s. Occasionally I have seen an individual collecting Ciciiulcli by the sides of sandy and gravelly roails. They feed their young usually with soft caterpillars, which they swallow, and disgorge on arriving at the nest ; and in this necessary toil both sexes assiduously unite. They seldom molest any of the fruits of our gardens, except a few cherries and mulberries, and are the most harmless, useful, beautiful, and common birds of the country. They are, however, accused of sometimes accom- panying their young to the garden peas, which they devour while small and green ; and being now partly gregarious, the damage they commit is at times rendered visible. Occasionally they are seen in cages, being chiefly fed on soaked bread, or meal and water ; they appear also fond of cherries, straw- berries, currants, raisins, and figs, so that we may justly consider them, like the Cassicans and Starlings, as omnivorous, though in a less degree. They sing and appear lively in con- finement or domestication, and become very docile, playful, and friendly, even going in and out of the house, and some- times alighting at a whistle on the hand of their protector. The young for a while require to be fed on animal food alone, and the most suitable appears to be fresh minced meat, soaked in new milk. In this way they may be easily raised almost from the first hatching ; but at this time vegetable substances 92 SINGING BIRDS. appear to afford them no kind of nutrition, and at al! times they will thrive better if indulged with a Uttle ammal food or insects, as well as hard-boiled eggs. The summer range of this beautiful bird in the fur countries extends to the 55 th degree of latitude, arriving on the plains of the Saskatchewan, according to Richardson, about the i oth of May, or nearly as early as their arrival in Massachusetts. Those which thus visit the wilds of Canada in all probability proceed at once from Mexico, or ascend the great valley of the Mississippi and Missouri. I have had a male bird in a state of domestication raised from the nest very readily on fresh minced meat soaked in milk. When established, his principal food was scalded Indian corn- meal, on which he fed contentedly, but was also fond of sweet cakes, insects of all descriptions, and nearly every kind of fruit. In short, he ate everything he would in a state of nature, and did not refuse to taste and eat of everything but the condi- ments which enter into the multifarious diet of the human species : he was literally omnivorous. No bird could become more tame, allowing himself to be handled with patient indifiference, and sometimes with play- fulness. The singular mechanical application of his bill was remarkable, and explains at once the ingenious art employed by the species in weaving their nest. If the folded hand was presented to our familiar Oriole, he endeavored to open it by inserting his pointed and straight bill betwixt the closed fingers, and then by pressing open the bill with great muscular force, in the manner of an opening pair of compasses, he contrived, if the force was not great, to open the hand and examine its contents. If brought to the face he did the same with the mouth, and would try hard to open the closed teeth. In this way, by pressing open any yielding interstice, he could readily insert the threads of his nest, and pass them through an infinity of openings, so as to form the ingenious net-work or basis of his suspensory and procreant cradle. This is a familiar bird throughout the greater part of this faunal province north to the southern portions of Ontario and Quebec, ORCHARD ORIOLE. 93 and it occurs sparingly in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It winters southward to Panama. Note. — A single example of Bullock's Oriole {Icterus bullocki), which was shot near Bangor, Maine, in 1889, o-ives this species a right to be mentioned here. The usual habitat of this species is between the eastern base of the Rockies and the Pacific coast. ORCHARD ORIOLE. Icterus spurius. Char. Male : head, neck, back, wings, and tail black ; other parts chestnut, deepest on breast. Female ; yellowish olive inclining to brown ; wings dusky brown with 2 white bands , beneath, olive yellow. Young similar to female. Length 6 to 7)4^ inches. Nest. A handsome basket-like structure, about 4 inches in depth, composed of grasses woven into a smooth firm fabric, and lined with feathers or other soft material. It is sometimes partly sui)ported in the forks of small twigs, and often entirely pendent. Usually about 10 feet from the ground and near the end of the branch. ^S<^- 3"6 (generally 4) ; white with blue or green tint, irregularly marked with lilac and brown ; .80 X 60. This smaller and plainer species has many of the habits of the Baltimore bird, and arrives in Pennsylvania about a week later. They enter the southern boundary of the United States early in March, and remain there until October. They do not however, I believe, often migrate farther north and east than the State of Connecticut. I have never seen or heard of them in Massachusetts, any more than my scientific friend, and close observer, Mr. C. Pickering. Their stay in the United States, it appears from Wilson, is little more than four months, as they retire to South America early in September, or at least do not winter in the Southern States. According to my friend Mr. Ware, they breed at Augusta, in Georgia ; and Mr. Say ob- ser\'ed the Orchard Oriole at Major Long's winter quarters on the banks of the Missouri. Audubon has also obsen^ed the species towards the sources of the Mississippi, as well as in the State of Maine. The saine author likewise remarks that their 94 SINGING BIRDS. northern migrations, like those of the Baltimore bird, are per- formed by day, and that the males arrive a week or ten days sooner than their mates. They appear to affect the elevated and airy regions of the Alleghany mountains, where they are much more numerous than the Baltimore. The Orchard Oriole is an exceedingly active, sprightly, and restless bird ; in the same instant almost, he is on the ground after some fallen insect, fluttering amidst the foliage of the trees, prying and springing after his lurking prey, or flying and tuning his lively notes in a manner so hurried, rapid, and seemingly confused that the ear is scarce able to thread out the shrill and lively tones of his agitated ditty. Between these hurried attempts he also gives others, which are distinct and agreeable, and not unlike the sweet warble of the Red-Breasted Grosbeak, though more brief and less varied. ■ In choosing the situation of his nest he is equally familiar with the Baltimore Oriole, and seems to enjoy the general society of his species, suspending his most ingenious and pensile fabric from the bending twig of the apple-tree, which, like the nest of the other, is constructetl in the form of a pouch from three to five inches in depth, according to the strength or flexibility of the tree on which he labors ; so that in a weeping-willow, according to Wilson, the nest is one or two inches deeper than if in an apple-tree, to obviate the danger of throwing out the eggs and young by the sweep of the long, pendulous branches. It is likewise slighter, as the crowding leaves of that tree afford a natural shelter of considerable thickness. That economy of this kind should be studied by the Orchard Oriole will scarcely surprise so much as the laborious ingenuity and beautiful tissue of its nest. It is made exteriorly of a fine woven mat of long, tough, and flexible grass, as if darned with a needle. The form is hemispherical, and the inside is lined with downy substances, — sometimes the wool of the seeds of the Button- wood, — forming thus a commodious and soft bed for the young. This precaution of a warm lining, as in the preceding species, is, according to Audubon, dispensed with in the warm climate of I.ouisiana. The eggs are 4 or 5, of a very pale bluish ORCHARD ORIOLE. 95 tint, with a few points of brown, and spots of dark purple, chiefly disposed at the greater end. The female sits about 14 days, and the young continue in the nest 10 days before they become qualified to flit along with their parents; but they are generally seen abroad about the middle of June. Previously to their departure, the young, leaving the care of their parents, become gregarious, and assemble sometimes in flocks of separate sexes, from 30 to 40 or upwards, — in the South frequenting the savannahs, feeding much on crickets, grasshoppers, and spiders ; and at this season their flesh is much esteemed by the inhabitants. Wilson found them easy to raise from the nest, but does not say on what they were fed, though they probably require the same treatment as the Baltimore Oriole. According to Audubon, they sing with great liveliness in cages, being fed on rice and dry fruits when fresh cannot be procured. Their ordinary diet, it appears, is caterpillars and insects, of which they destroy great quantities. In the course of the season they likewise feed on various kinds of juicy fruits and berries ; but their depredations on the fruits of the orchard are very unimportant. This is a summer visitor throughout the Eastern States, though not common north of the Connecticut valley. It occurs regularly but sparingly in Massachusetts and southern Ontario, and has been taken in Maine and New Brunswick. It breeds southward to the Gulf States, and in winter ranges into Central America. Mr. Chapman describes the voice of this Oriole as " unusually rich and flexible," and adds, •• he uses it with rare skill and ex- pression." RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. Agelaius phceniceus. Char, Male: black; lesser wing-coverts vermilion, bordered with buff. Female ; above, blackish brown streaked with paler and grayish ; lower parts dusky white streaked with reddish brown ; sometimes wing- coverts have a reddish tinge. Young like female, but colors deeper. Length 7^ to 10 inches. A'est. In a tuft of grass or on a bush; composed of grass, leaves, and mud, lined with soft grass. Egs^s. 3-5; color varies from bluish white to greenish blue, blotched, streaked, and spotted with lilac and dark brown ; size variable, average about 1. 00 X .90. The Red-Winged Troopial in summer inhabits the whole of North America from Nova Scotia to Mexico, and is found in the interior from the 53d degree across the whole continent to the shores of the Pacific and along the coast as far as CaU- fornia. They are migratory north of Maryland, but pass the winter and summer in great numbers in all the Southern States, frequenting chiefly the settlements and rice and corn fields ; towards the sea-coast, where they move about like blackening clouds, rising suddenly at times with a noise like thunder, and exhibiting amidst the broad shadows of their funereal plumage the bright flashing of the vermilion with which their wings are so singularly decorated. After whirling and waving a little distance like the Starling, they descend as a torrent, and, dark- RED-WIXGED BLACKBIRD. 97 ening the branches of the trees by their numbers, they com- mence a general concert that may be heard for more than two miles. This music seems to be something betwixt chattering and warbling, — jingling liquid notes like those of the Bobolink, with their peculiar kong-quer-ree and bob a ie, o-bob d Ic'e : then complainmg chirps, jars, and sounds like saw-filing, or the motion of a sign-board on its rusty hinge ; the whole constitu- tmg a novel and sometimes grand chorus of discord and harmony, in which the performers seem in good earnest, and bristle up their feathers as if inclined at least to make up in quantity what their show of music may lack in quality. When their food begins to fail in the fields, they assemble with the Purple Grakles very familiarly around the corn-cribs and in the barn-yards, greedily and dexterously gleaning up everything within their reach. In the month of March Mr. Bullock found them very numerous and bold near the city of Mexico, where they followed the mules to steal a tithe of their barley. From the beginning of March to April, according to the nature of the season, they begin to visit the Northern States in scattered parties, flying chiefly in the morning. As they wing their way they seem to relieve their mutual toil by friendly chatter, and being the harbingers of spring, their faults are forgot in the instant, and we cannot help greeting them as old acquaintances in spite of their predatory propensities. Selec- ting their accustomed resort, they make the low meadows resound again with their notes, particularly in the morning and evening before retiring to or leaving the roost ; previous to settling themselves for the night, and before parting in the day, they seem all to join in a general choms of liquid warb- ling tones, which would be very agreeable but for the inter- ruption of the i^laints and jarring sounds with which it is blended. They continue to feed in small parties in swamps and by slow streams and ponds till the middle or close of April, when they begin to separate in pairs. Sometimes, how- ever, they appear to be partly polygamous, like their cousins the Cow Troopials ; as amidst a number of females engaged in VOL. !. 7 98 SINGING BIRDS. incubation, but few of the other sex appear associated with them ; and as aiiiong the Bobohnks, sometimes two or three of the males may be seen in chase of an individual of the other sex, but without making any contest or show of jealous feud with each other, as a concubinage rather than any regular mating seems to prevail among the species. Assembled again in their native marshes, the male perched, upon the summit of some bush surrounded by water, in com- panv with his mates, now sings out, at short intervals, his guttural kong-quer-ree, sharply calls ftshcah, or when disturbed, plaintively utters 'ttshay ; to which his companions, not insen- sible to these odd attentions, now and then return a gratulatory cackle or reiterated chirp, like that of the native Meadow Lark. As a pleasant and novel, though not unusual, accompa- niment, perhaps the great bull-frog elevates his green head and brassy eyes from the stagnant pool, and calls out in a loud and echoing bellow, Wv'rroo, 'wari-oo, 'worrorroo, 'boaroo, which is again answered, or, as it were, merely varied by the creaking or cackling voice of his feathered neighbors. This curious concert, uttered as it were from the still and sable waters of the Styx, is at once both ludicrous and solemn. About the end of April or early in May, in the middle and northern parts of the Union, the Red-Winged Blackbirds com- mence constructing their nests. The situation made choice of is generally in some marsh, swamp, or wet meadow, abounding with alder {Al?ius) or button-bushes ( Cephalaiithus) ; in these, commonly at the height of five to seven feet from the ground, or sometimes in a detached bush or tussock of rank grass in the meadow, the nest is formed. Outwardly it is composed of a considerable quantity of the long dry leaves of sedge-grass (^Carex), or other kinds collected in wet situations, and occa- sionally the slender leaves of the flag {Iris) carried round all the adjoining twigs of the bush by way of support or suspen- sion, and sometimes blended with strips of the lint of the swamp Asclepias, or silk-weed {Asckpias incarnata). The whole of this exterior structure is also twisted in and out. and carried in loops from one side of the nest to the other, pretty RED-WIXGED BLACKBIRD. 99 much in the manner of the Orioles, but made of less flexible and handsome materials. The large mterstices that remain, as well as the bottom, are then filled in with rotten wood, marsh- grass roots, fibrous peat, or mud. so as to form, when dry, a stout and substantial, though concealed shell, the whole very well lined with fine dry stalks of grass or with slender rushes {Scirpi). When the nest is in a tussock, it is also tied to the adjoining stalks of herbage ; but when on the ground this pre- caution of fixity is laid aside. The eggs are from 3 to 5, white, tinged with blue, marked with faint streaks of light pur- ple, and long, straggling, serpentine lines and dashes of very dark brown ; the markings not very numerous, and disposed almost wholly at the greater end. They raise two broods com- monly in the season. If the nest is approached while the female is sitting, or when the young are hatched, loud cries of alarm are made by both parties, but more particularly by the restless male, who flies to meet the intruder, and generally brings together the whole sympathizing company of his fellows, whose nests sometimes are within a few yards of each other. The female cries 'queah, 'pueah, and at length, when the mis- chief they dreaded is accomplished, the louder notes give wav to others which are more still, slow, and mournful ; one of which resembles fai, fai, or tea and ftsheah. When the young are taken or destroyed, the pair continue restless and dejected for several days ; but from the force of their gregarious habit they again commence building, usually soon after, in the same meadow or swamp with their neighbors. In the latter part of July and August the young birds, now resembling the female, begin to fly in flocks and release themselves partly from depen- dence on their parents, whose cares up to this time are faithful and unremitting ; a few males only seem inclined to stay and direct their motions. About the beginning of September these flocks, by their formidable numbers, do great damage to the unripe corn, which IS now a favorite repast ; and they are sometimes seen whirling and driving over the devoted cornfields and meadows so as to darken the air with their numbers. The destruction lOO SINGING BIRDS. at this time made among them by the gun and the Hawks pro- duces but httle effect upon the remainder, who continue fear- lessly, and in spite of all opposition, from morning to night to ravage the cornfields while anything almost remains to be eaten. The farms near the sea-coast, or alluvial situations, however, are their favorite haunts ; and towards the close of September, the corn becoming hard, it is at length rejected for the seeds of the wild rice (^Zizania aquatica) and other aquatic plants, which now begin to ripen, and afford a more harmless and cheap repast to these dauntless marauders. At this time, also, they begin to roost in the reeds, whither they repair in large flocks every evening from all the neighboring quarters of the country ; upon these they perch or cling, so as to obtain a support above the surrounding waters of the marsh, \\'hen the reeds become dry, advantage is taken of the circumstance to destroy these unfortunate gormandizers by fire ; and those who might escape the flames are shot down in vast numbers as they hover and scream around the spreading conflagration. Early in November they generally leave the Northern and colder States, with the exception of straggling parties, who still continue to glean subsistence, in the shelter of the sea- coast, in Delaware, Maryland, and even in the cold climate of the State of Massachusetts.^ To those who seem inclined to extirpate these erratic depre- dators, Wilson justly remarks, as a balance against the damage they commit, the service they perform in the spring season, by the immense number of insects and their larvae which they destrov, as their principal food, and which are of kinds most injurious to the husbandman. Indeed, Kalm remarked that after a great destruction made among these and the common Blackbirds for the legal reward of 3 pence a dozen, the Northern States, in 1 749, experienced a complete loss of the grass and grain crops, which were now devoured by insects. Like the Troopial {Orioius icterus, L.4th.), the Redwing shows attachment and docility in confinement, becoming, like 1 My friend Mr. S. Green, of Boston, assures me that he has seen these birds near Newton, in a cedar-swamp, in January. RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. lOI the Starling, familiar with those who feed him, and repaying the attention he receives, by singing his monotonous ditty prettv freely, consisting, as we have already remarked, of vari- ous odd, grating, shrill, guttural, and sometimes warbling tones, which become at length somewhat agreeable to the ear ; and instances are said to have occurred of their acquiring the power of articulating several words pretty distinctly. The flesh of this bird is but little esteemed except when young, being dark and tough like that of the Starling ; yet in some of the markets of the United States they are at times exposed for sale. The Red-wing is a common summer visitor to the Eastern States and Canada, breeding as far north as latitude 50°. In the West it ranges through the Saskatchewan vallev to Great Slave Lake. It winters south to Mexico : but a few individuals have been known to brave a New England winter. During the winter of 1889-90. a male was seen about the Fresh Pond marshes by several members of the Nuttall Club of Cambridge, and since that time several of these birds have been found there everv winter. Note. — The Bah.\.m.an Red-wixg (A. phoenicus bryanti'), a smaller, darker race, is found on the Bahama Islands and in south- ern Florida. YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD. K4NTH(:)CEPHALUS XANTHOCEPHALUS. Char. Male : head, neck, and breast yellow ; large patch on wing white ; other parts black. Female and young : general color blackish brown; wings without the white spot; throat and breast dull yellow. Length 9 to ii inches jVest. — Of dried grass, firmly woven and fastened to twigs of a bush or stalks of rushes, in a marsh or swampy meadow. Ec:^s. — 2-6; grayish white, sometimes witli a green tint, irregularly marked with brown; 1.05 X 0.70 The Yellow-headed Troopial, though long known as an inhabitant of South .America, was only recently added to the fauna of the L'^nited States by Major Long's expedition. It was seen in great numbers near the banks of the River Platte, around the villages of the Pawnees, about the middle of May ; and the different sexes were sometimes observed associated in separate flocks, as the breeding season had not yet probably commenced. The range of this fine species is, apparently, from Cayenne, in tropical America, to the banks of the River Missouri, where Mr. Towiisend and myself observed examples not far from the settled line of Missouri State. It has been seen by Dr. Richardson, in summer, as far as the 58th par- allel. Its visits in the L'nited States are yet wholly confined to YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD. 103 the west side of the Mississippi, beyond which, not even a straggler has been seen. These birds assemble in flocks, and in all their movements, aerial evolutions, and predatory char- acter, appear as the counterpart of their Red-winged relatives. They are also seen to frequent the ground in search of food, in the manner of the Cow-Bunting, or Troopial. In the spring season they wage war upon the insect tribes and their larvae, like the Red-wings, but in autumn they principally depend on the seeds of vegetables. At Demerara, Waterton observed them in flocks, and, as might have been suspected from their habits, they were very greedy after Indian com. On the 2d of May, in our western tour across the continent, around the Kansa Indian Agency, we now saw abundance of the Yellow-headed Troopial, associated with the Cowbird. They kept wholly on the ground in companies, the males, at this time, by themselves. In loose soil they dig into the earth with their bills in quest of insects and larvae, are very active, straddle about with a quaint gait, and now and then, in the manner of the Cowbird, whistle out with great effort a chuck- ling note sounding like ko-kukklc-'dit, often varying into a straining squeak, as if using their utmost endeavor to make some kind of noise in token of sociability. Their music is, however, even inferior to the harsh note of the Cowbird. In the month of June, by the edge of a grassy marsh, in the open plain of the Platte, several hundred miles inland, Mr. Townsend found the nest of this species built under a tussock formed of fine grasses and canopied over like that of the Sturnella, or Meadow Lark. While essentially a bird of the prairie, this species occurs reg- ularly and in abundance in Wisconsin and Illinois. It has been observed occasionally in southern Ontario, and examples have been taken at Point des Monts. on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Florida. 104 SINGING BIRDS. COWBIRD. cow BLACKBIRD. MOLOTHRUS ATER. Char. Male; head and neck dull brown; other parts glossy black. Female and young . brownish gray, paler below, with dark streaks. Length 7 to 8 inches. Nest. Does not build any, but lays its eggs in nests of other species, usually of smaller birds, such as the Yellow Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, or one of the Vireos Eggs. .' (number unknown, probably 4) ; dull white, sometimes with green or buff tint, irregularly marked with various shades of brown ; 0S5 X 0.65. The Cow-pen Bird, perpetually gregarious and flitting, is observed to enter the Middle and Northern States in the latter end of March or the beginning of April. They make their mi- gration now chiefly under cover of the night, or early dawn ; and as the season becomes milder they pass on to Canada, and perhaps follow the Warblers and other small birds into the farthest regions of the north, for they are seen no more after the middle of June until the return of autumn, when, with the colds of October, they again reappear in numerous and aug- mented flocks, usually associated with their kindred Red-wings, to whom they bear a sensible likeness, as well as a similarity in notes and manners. They pass the winter in the warmer parts of America as well as in the Southern States, where I have observed them in the ploughed fields, gleaning along with the Red-wings and the common Blackbirds. They are also very famihar around the cattle, picking up insects which they happen to disturb, or that exist in their ordure. When on the ground, they scratch up the soil and appear very intent after their food. Sometimes even, infringing on the rights of the Plover, individual.-;, in the winter, frequent the margins of ponds in quest of aquatic insects and small shell-fish : and they may be seen industriously occupied in turning over the leav^es of the water-plants to which they adhere. They also frequent COWBIRD. 105 occasionally the rice and corn fields, as well as their more notorious associates, but are more inclined to native food and insects at all times, so that they are more independent and less injurious to the farmer. As they exist in Mexico and California, it is probable that they are also bred in the higher table-lands, as well as in the regions of the north. In Loui- siana, however, according to Audubon, they are rare \-ibitors at any season, seeming more inclined to follow their route through the maritime districts. Over these countries, high in the air, in the month of October, they are seen by day winging their way to the remoter regions of the south. \\'e have observed that the Red-wings separate in parties, and pass a considerable part of the summer in the necessary duties of incubation. But the Cow-pen Birds release them- selves from all hindrance to their wanderings. The volatile disposition and instinct which prompt birds to migrate, as the seasons change and as their food begins to fail, have only a periodical influence ; and for a while they remain domestic, passing a portion of their time in the cares and enjoyments of the conjugal state. But with our bird, like the European Cuckoo, this season never arrives ; the flocks live together without ever pairing. A general concubinage prevails among them, scarcely exciting any jealousy, and unaccompanied by any durable affection. From the commencement of their race they have been bred as foundlings in the nests of other birds, and fed by foster-parents under the perpetual influence of delusion and deception, and by the sacrifice of the concurrent progeny of the nursmg birds. .Amongst all the feathered tribes hitherto known, this and the European Cuckoo, with a few other species indigenous to the old continent, are the only kinds who never make a nest or hatch their young. That this character is not a vice of habit, but a perpetual instinct of nature, appears from various circumstances, and from none more evidently than from this, that the eggs of the Cow Troopial are earlier hatched than those of the foster-parent, — a singular and critical provision, on which perhaps the existence of the species depends ; for did the natural brood of the deceived parent come first into exis- I06 SINGING BIRDS. tence, the strange egg on which they sat would generally be destroyed. When the female is disposed to lay, she appears restless and dejected, and separates from the unregarding flock. Stealing through the woods and thickets, she pries into the bushes and brambles for the nest that suits her, into which she darts in the absence of its owner, and in a few minutes is seen to rise on the wing, cheerful, and relieved from the anxiety that oppressed her, and proceeds back to the flock she had so reluctantly forsaken. If the egg be deposited in the nesf alone, it is uniformly forsaken ; but if the nursing parent have any of her own, she immediately begins to sit. The Red-eyed Flycatcher, in whose beautiful basket-like nests I have observed these eggs, proves a very affectionate and assiduous nurse to the uncouth foundling. In one of these I found an egg of each bird, and the hen already sitting. I took her own egg and left the strange one ; she soon returned, and as if sensible of what had happened, looked with steadfast attention, and shifted the egg about, then sat upon it, but soon moved off, again renewed her observation, and it was a considerable time before she seemed wflling to take her seat ; but at length I left her on the nest. Two or three days after, I found that she had relin- quished her attention to the strange egg and forsaken the nest. Another of these birds, however, forsook the nest on taking out the Cowbird's egg, although she had still two of her own left. The only example, perhaps, to the contrary of de- serting the nest when solely occupied by the stray egg, is in the Bluebird, who, attached strongly to the breeding-places in which it often continues for several years, has been known to lay, though with apparent reluctance, after the deposition of the Cowbird's egg. My friend Mr. C. Pickering found two nests of the Summer-yellow Bird, in which had been deposited an egg of the Cowbird previously to any of their own ; and unable to eject it, they had buried it in the bottom of the nest and built over it an additional story ! I also saw, in the sum- mer of 1830, a similar circumstance with the same bird, in which the Cowbird's egg, though incarcerated, was still visible COWBIRD. 107 on the upper edge, but could never have been hatched. At times I think it probable that they lay in the nests of larger birds, who throw out the egg, or that they drop their eggs on the ground without obtaining a deposit, as I have found an egg of this kind thus exposed and broken. On placing an egg of this bird in the Catbird's nest it was almost instantly ejected ; and this would probably be the usual fate of the strange egg if the diminutive nurses, thus wisely chosen, were capable of removing it. The most usual nurse of this bird appears to be the Red- eyed Vireo, who commences sitting as soon as the Cowbird's egg is deposited. On these occasions I have known the Vireo to begin her incubation with only an egg of each kind, and in other nests I have observed as many as 3 of her own, with that of the intruder. From the largeness of the strange egg, probably the nest immediately feels filled, so as to induce the nurse directly to sit. This larger egg, brought nearer to the body than her own, is consequently better w-armed and sooner hatched ; and the young of the Cowbird, I believe, appears about the 12th or 13th day of sitting. The foundling is very faithfully nursed by the affectionate Vireo, along with her own brood, who make their appearance about a day later than the Troopial. From the great size of the parasite, the legitimate young are soon stifled, and, when dead, are conveyed, as usual, by the duped parent to a distance before being dropped ; but they are never found immediately beneath the nest, as would invariably happen if they were ejected by the young Troopial. In the summer of 1S39 I actually saw a Chipping S])arrow car- rying out to a distance one of its dead young thus stifled ; and a second nest of the same species in which 3 of its own brood were hatched soon after the Cow Troopial : these survived 2 or 3 days, and as they perished were carried away by the parent bird. As far as I have had opportunity of observing, the foundling shows no hostility to the natural brood of his nurses, but he nearly absorbs their whole attention, and early displays his characteristic cunning and self-possession. When fully fledged, they quickly desert their foster- parent, and skulk I08 SINGING BIRDS. about in the woods until, at length, they instinctively join com- pany with those of the same feather, and now becoming more bold, are seen in parties of 5 or 6, in the fields and lanes, gleaning their accustomed subsistence. They still, however, appear shy and watchful, and seem too selfish to study any- thing more than their own security and advantage. The song of the Cowbird is guttural and unmusical, uttered with an air of affectation, and accompanied by a bristling of the feathers and a swelling of the body in the manner of the Turkey. These are also all the notes of the species in the season of their attachment ; so that their musical talent rates lower than that of any other bird perhaps in the genus. Some- times the tones of the male resemble the hquid clinking of the Bobolink and Red-whiged Blackbird. Sitting on the summit of a lofty branch, he amuses himself perhaps for an hour with an occasional 'kluck 'tsee, the latter syllable uttered in a drawl- ing hiss like that of the Red-wing. Accompanied by his mates, he also endeavors to amuse them by his complaisant chatter ; and watching attentively for their safety, they flit together at the instant he utters the loud tone of alarm ; and they are always shy and suspicious of the designs of every obsen^er. On a fine spring morning, however, perched towards the sum- mit of some tree in the forest where they seek rest after their twilight wanderings, small and select parties may be seen grate- fully basking in the mild beams of the sunshine. The male on such occasions seems as proud of his uncouth jargon, and as eager to please his favorite companions, as the tuneful Night- ingale with his pathetic and v^aried lay. The Cowbird is a common summer resident of New England, though of rather local distribution. Dr Wheaton reported it as abundant in Ohio during the summer months, and Mr. Mcllwraith made a similar report for Ontario. It is rather uncommon in the Maritime Provinces, but ranges as far northward as the 50th par- allel. In January, 1883, two specimens were taken near Cambridge, Mass., by Mr. William Brewster and Mr. Henry M. Spellman, and other evidences of occasional wintering in New England have been reported. BOBOLINK. RICE BIRD. SKUNK BL.\CKBIRD. MEADOW-WINK. DOLICHON\X ORYZIVORUS. Char. Male in summer : black ; back of head and hind-neck buff ; scapulars, rump, and upper tail -coverts ashy white. Male in winter, female, and young : above, yellowish brown, beneath paler, more buffy ; light stripe on crown. Length 6% to ■]% inches. jVest. In a meadow ; made of dried grass. .ffc^-f'-j-. 4-6; white with green or buff tint, irregularly marked with lilac and brown; 0.85 X 0.60. The whole continent of America, from Labrador to Mexico, and the Great Antilles, are the occasional residence of this truly migratory species. About the middle of March or beginning of April the cheerful Bobolink makes his appearance in the southern extremity of the United States, becoming gradually arrayed in his nuptial livery, and accompanied by troops of his companions, who often precede the arrival of their more tardy I lO SINGING BIRDS. mates. According to Richardson it is the beginning of June when they arrive at their farthest boreal station in the 54th degree. We observed them in the great western plains to the base of the Rocky Mountains, but not in Oregon. Their win- tering resort appears to be rather the West Indies than the tropical continent, as their migrations are observed to take place generally to the east of Louisiana, where their visits are rare and irregular. At this season also they make their ap- proaches chiefly by night, obeying, as it were, more distinctly, the mandates of an overruling instinct, which prompts them to seek out their natal regions ; while in autumn, their progress, by day only, is alone instigated by the natural quest of food. About the ist of May the meadows of Massachusetts begin to re-echo their lively ditty. At this season, in wet places, and by newly ploughed fields, they destroy many insects and their larvae. According to their success in obtaining food, parties often delay their final northern movement as late as the mid- dle of May, so that they appear to be in no haste to arrive at their destination at any exact period. The principal business of their lives, however, the rearing of their young, does not take place until they have left the parallel of the 40th degree. In the savannahs of Ohio and Michigan, and the cool grassy meadows of New York, Canada, and New England, they fix their abode, and obtain a sufficiency of food throughout the summer without molesting the harvest of the farmer, until the ripening of the latest crops of oats and barley, when, in their autumnal and changed dress, hardly now known as the same species, they sometimes show their taste for plunder, and flock together like the greedy and predatory Blackbirds. Although they devour various kinds of insects and worms on their first arrival, I have found that their frequent visits among the grassy meadows were often also for the seeds they contain ; and they are particularly fond of those of the dock and dandelion, the latter of which is sweet and oily. Later in the season, and pre- viously to leaving their native regions, they feed principally on various kinds of grass-seeds, particularly those of the Panicums, which are allied to millet. They also devour crickets and grass- hoppers, as well as beetles and spiders. Their nest is fixed on BOBOLINK. I I I the ground in a slight depression, usually in a field of meadow grass, either in a dry or moist situation, and consists merely of a loose bedding of withered grass, so inartificial as scarcely to be distinguishable from the rest of the ground around it. The eggs are 5 or 6, of a dull white, inclining to olive, scattered all over with small spots and touches of lilac brown, with some irregular blotches of dark rufous brown, chiefly disposed to- wards the larger end. The males, arriving a little earlier than the other sex, now appear very vigorous, lively, and familiar. Many quarrels occur before the mating is settled ; and the females seem at first very coy and retiring. Emulation fires the Bobolink at this period, and rival songsters pour out their incessant strains of enlivening music from every fence and orchard tree. 'I'he quiet females keep much on the ground ; but as soon as they appear, they are pursued by the ardent candidates for their affection, and if either seems to be favored, the rejected suitor is chased off the ground, as soon as he appears, by his more fortunate rival. The song of the male continues with little in- terruption as long as the female is sitting, and his chant, at all times very similar, is both singular and pleasant. Often, like the Skylark, mounted, and hovering on the wing, at a small height above the field, as he passes along from one tree-top or weed to another, he utters such a jingling medley of short, variable notes, so confused, rapid, and continuous, that it appears almost like the blending song of several different birds. Many of these tones are very agreeable ; but they are delivered with such rapidity that the ear can scarcely separate them. The general effect, however, like all the simple efforts of Nature, is good, and when several are chanting forth in the same meadow, the concert is very cheerful, though monotonous, and somewhat quaint, x^mong the few phrases that can be distinguished, the liquid sound of hob-o-Iee bob-o-link bob-o-Iinkc, is very distinct. To give an idea of the variable extent of song, and even an imitation, in some measure, of the chromatic period and air of this familiar and rather favorite resident, the boys of this part of New England make him spout, among others, the following 112 SINGING BIRDS. ludicrous dunning phrase, as he rises and hovers on the wing near his m'A.lt, '' ' Bob-o-link, 'Bob-b-link, 'Tom Denny ' Tom Denny. — ' Come pay me the two and six pence you 've owed more than a year and a half ago! — 'tshe 'tshe 'tshe, 'tsh 'tsk 'tshe,'' modestly diving at the same instant down into the grass as if to avoid altercation. However puerile this odd phrase may appear, it is quite amusing to find how near it approaches to the time and expression of the notes, when pronounced in a hurried manner. It would be unwise in the naturalist to hold in contempt anything, however trifling, which might tend to elucidate the simple truth of nature ; I therefore give the thing as I find it. This reUsh for song and merriment, con- fined wholly to the male, diminishes as the period of incubation advances ; ajid when the brood begin to flutter around their parents and protectors, the song becomes less frequent, the cares of the parents more urgent, and any approach to the secret recess of their helpless family is deplored with urgent and incessant cries as they hover fearfully around the inten- tional or accidental intruder. They appear sometimes inclined to have a second brood, for which preparation is made while they are yet engaged in rearing the first ; but the male gen- erally loses his musical talent about the end of the first week in July, from which time his nuptial or pied dress begins gradually to be laid aside for the humble garb of the female. The whole, both young and old, then appear nearly in the same songless livery, uttering only a chink of alarm when sur- prised in feeding on the grass seeds, or the crops of grain which still remain abroad. When the voice of the Bobolink begins to fail, with the progress of the exhausting moult, he flits over the fields in a restless manner, and merely utters a broken 'bob' lee, 'bob' lee. or with his songless mate, at length, a 'iveet 'weet, b'leet b'leet, and a noisy and disagreeable cackling chirp. At the early dawn of day, while the tuneful talent of the species is yet unabated, the effect of their awakening and faltering voices from a wide expanse of meadows, is singular and grand. The sounds mingle like the noise of a distant torrent, which alternately subsides and rises on the breeze as BOBOLLNK. II3 the performers awake or relapse into rest ; it finally becomes more distinct and tumultuous, till with the opening day it as- sumes the intelligible character of their ordinary song. The young males, towards the close of July, having nearly acquired their perfect character, utter also in the morning, from the trees which border their favorite marshy meadows, a very agreeable and continuous low warble, more like that of the Yellow Bird than the usual song of the species ; in fact, they appear now in every respect as Finches, and only become jingling musicians when robed in their pied dress as Icteri. About the middle of August, in congregating numbers, di- vested already of all selective attachment, vast foraging parties enter New York and Pennsylvania, on their way to the South. Here, along the shores of the large rivers, lined with floating fields of the wild rice, they find an abundant means of sub- sistence during their short stay ; and as their flesh, now fat. is little inferior to that of the European Ortolan, the Reed or Rice Birds, as they are then called in their Sparrow-dress, form a favorite sport for gunners of all descriptions, who turn out on the occasion and commit prodigious havoc among the almost silent and greedy roosting throng. The markets are then filled with this delicious game, and the pursuit, both for success and amusement, along the picturesque and reedy shores of the Del- aware and other rivers is second to none but that of Rail- shooting. As soon as the cool nights of October commence, and as the wild rice crops begin to fail, the Reed Birds take their departure from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and in their farther progress through the Southern States they swarm in the rice fields ; and before the crop is gathered they have already made their appearance in the islands of Cuba and Jamaica, where they also feed on the seeds of the Guinea grass, become so fat as to deserve the name of " Butter-birds," and are in high esteem for the table. Near the Atlantic coast the Bobolink is not common north of the 45th parallel : but in the West it ranges to much higher latitudes. A few examples have been observed on the New Brunswick shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. VOL. I. — 8 I 14 SINGING BIRDS. BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE. JACKDAW. QUISCALUS MAJOR. Char. Extremely long, wedge-shaped tail, less conspicuous in female. Male : black, with metallic tints of green, blue, and purple. Length 15 to 17J4 inches. Female: above, brown; beneath, grayish brown, changing to reddish and buffy on breast and throat. Length, iiYz to 13 inches. yVesi. A bulky structure of dried grass and strips of bark, cemented with mud and lined with fine grass ; placed in a tree in swamp or near a marsh, sometimes fastened to rushes. £]fj'-i-. 3-5; grayish drab with tints of green or blue, marked with black and brown blotches and lines; 1.25 X o.go. This large and Crow-like species, sometimes called the Jack- daw, inhabits the southern maritime parts of the Union only, particularly the States of Georgia and Florida, where they are seen as early as the close of January or beginning of February, but do not begin to pair before March, previously to which season the sexes are seen in separate flocks. But about the latter end of November they quit even the mild climate of Florida, generally, and seek winter-quarters probably in the West Indies, where they are known to be numerous, as well as in Mexico, Louisiana, and Texas ; but they do not ever extend their northern migrations as far as the Middle States. Previ- ous to their departure, at the approach of winter, they are seen to assemble in large flocks, and every morning flights of them, at a great height, are seen moving away to the south. Like most gregarious birds, they are of a very sociable disposition, and are frequently observed to mingle with the common Crow Blackbirds. They assemble in great numbers among the sea islands, and neighboring marshes on the main- land, where they feed at low water on the oyster-beds and sand- flats. Like Crows, they are omnivorous, their food consisting of insects, small shell-fish, corn, and small grain, so that by turns they may be viewed as the friend or plunderer of the planter. PURPLE CRACKLE. II5 The note of this species is louder than that of the common kind, according to Audubon resembling a loud, shrill whistle, often accompanied by a cry like crick crick cree, and in the breeding- season changing almost into a warble. They are only heard to sing in the spring, and their concert, though inclining to sadness, is not altogether disagreeable. Their nests are built in company, on reeds and bushes, in the neighborhood of salt-marshes and ponds. They begin to lay about the beginning of April ; soon after which the males leave their mates, not only with the care of incubation, but with the rear- ing of the young, moving about in separate flocks like the Cowbirds, without taking any interest in the fate of their progeny. This species is rarely found north of Virginia. Several instances of its occurrence in New England have been reported ; but the correctness of these reports has been challenged, and Mr. Allen omitted the species from his list of Massachusetts birds issued in 1886. PURPLE CRACKLE. CROW BLACKBIRD. QUISC.'VLUS QUISCULA. Char. Black, with rich metallic tints of steel blue and purple, the female somewhat duller. Length, 11 to i3/4 inches. A^'st. On the branch of a tree or in a hollow stub ; large and roughly made of coarse grass and twigs, and lined with finer grass, sometimes cemented with mud. Eggs. 4-6 ; extremely variable in shape, color, and size ; ground color greenish white to reddish brown, with irregular markings of dark brown ; 1.25 X 0.90. This very common bird is an occasional or constant resident in every part of America, from Hudson's Bay and the northern interior to the Creat Antilles, within the tropic. In most parts of this wide region they also breed, at least from Nova Scotia to Louisiana, and probably farther south. Into the States north of Virginia they begin to migrate from the beginning of March Il6 SINGING BIRDS. to May, leaving those countries again in numerous troops about the middle of November. Thus assembled from the North and West in increasing numbers, they wholly overrun, at times, the warmer maritime regions, where they assemble to pass the winter in the company of their well-known cousins the Red- winged Troopials or Blackbirds ; for both, impelled by the same predatory appetite, and love of comfortable winter quarters, are often thus accidentally associated in the plun- dering and gleaning of the plantations. The amazing numbers in which the present species associate are almost incredible. Wilson relates that on the 20th of January, a few miles from the banks of the Roanoke in Virginia, he met with one of those prodigious armies of Blackbirds, which, as he ap- proached, rose from the surrounding fields with a noise like thunder, and descending on the stretch of road before him, covered it and the fences completely with black ; rising again, after a few evolutions, they descended on the skirt of a leafless wood, so thick as to give the whole forest, for a considerable extent, the appearance of being shrouded in mourning, the numbers amounting probably to many hundreds of thousands. Their notes and screams resembled the distant sound of a mighty cataract, but strangely attuned into a musical cadence, which rose and fell with the fluctuation of the breeze, like the magic harp of ^'Eolus. Their depredations on the maize crop or Indian corn com- mence almost with the planting. The infant blades no sooner appear than they are hailed by the greedy Blackbird as the signal for a feast ; and without hesitation, they descend on the fields, and regale themselves with the sweet and sprouted seed, rejecting and scattering the blades around as an evidence of their mischief and audacity. Again, about the beginning of August, while the grain is in the milky state, their attacks are renewed with the most destructive effect, as they now assemble as it were in clouds, and pillage the fields to such a degree that in some low and sheltered situations, in the vicinity of rivers, where they delight to roam, one fourth of the crop is devoured by these vexatious visitors. The gun, also, notwith- PURPLE CRACKLE. II7 standing the havoc it produces, has Uttle more effect than to chase them from one part of the field to the other. In the Southern States, in winter, they hover round the corn-cribs in swarms, and boldly peck the hard grain from the cob through the air openings of the magazine. In consequence of these reiterated depredations, they are detested by the farmer as a pest to his industry ; though on their arrival their food for a long time consists wholly of those insects which are calculated to do the most essential injury to the crops. They at this season frequent swamps and meadows, and familiarly followmg the fur- rows of the plough, sweep up all the grub-worms and other noxious animals as soon as they appear, even scratching up the loose soil, that nothing of this kind may escape them. L'p to the time of harvest I have uniformly, on dissection, found their food to consist of these larvae, caterpillars, moths, and beetles, of which they devour such numbers that but for this providential economy the whole crop of grain, in many places, would prob- ably be destroyed by the time it began to germinate. In winter they collect the mast of the beech and oak for food, and may be seen assembled in large bodies in the woods for this purpose. In the spring season the Blackbirds roost in the cedars and pine-trees, to which in the evening they retire with friendly and mutual chatter. On the tallest of these trees, as well as in bushes, they generally build their nests, — which work, like all their movements, is commonly performed in society, so that 10 or 15 of them are often seen in the same tree; and sometimes they have been known to thrust their nests into the interstices of the Fish Hawk's eyrj', as if for safety and protection. Occasionally they breed in tall poplars near to habitations, and if not molested, continue to resort to the same place for several years in succession. The nest is composed of mud, mixed with stalks and knotty roots of grass, and lined with fine dry grass and horse-hair. According to Audubon, the same species in the Southern States nests in the hollows of decayed trees, after the manner of the Woodpecker, lining the cavity with grass and mud. They seldom produce more than a single brood in the season. In the autumn, and at the approach Il8 SINGING BIRDS. of winter, numerous flocks, after foraging through the day, return from considerable distances to tlieir general roosts among the reeds. On approaching their station, each detachment, as it arrives, in straggling groups like crows, sweeps round the marsh in waving flight, forming circles ; amidst these bodies, the note of the old reconnoitring leader may be heard, and no sooner has he fixed upon the intended spot than they all descend and take their stations in an instant. At this time they are also frequently accompanied by the Ferruginous species, with which they associate in a friendly manner. The Blackbird is easily tamed, sings in confinement, and may be taught to articulate some few words pretty distinctly. Among the variety of its natural notes, the peculiarly affected sibilation of the Starling is heard in the uwttitshee, wottitshee, and whistle, which often accompanies this note. In Nuttall's day variety making had not come in fashion, and the systematists were content to treat the Crow Blackbirds of east- ern Nortli America as of one form. Now we have three forms, with three "distinctive scientific appellations." It is somewhat difficult to distinguish these forms, except in extreme phases of plumage, for many specimens of the Northern variety have the diagnostic characters of the Southern birds. The present race is said to occur on the Atlantic coast of the United States, north to Massachusetts, and in the lower valley of the Mississippi. The Bronze Crackle {Q- guiscula csneics) lacks the purple metallic tint on the body, that being replaced by a tint of bronze ; the purple and blue tints are restricted to the head and neck. The wings and tail are purple. This form is abundant throughout the New England States and Canada, and ranges north to Hudson's Bay and west to the Great Plains. I have seen nests of these birds placed on the beams of barns in New Brunswick. The farmers along the St. John and Kenebecasis rivers erect barns on the marshy islands and " intervales " to store their hay until it can be carried to the mainland on the ice ; and these barns, being un- used during the breeding season, offer excellent building sites for colonies of Crow Blackbirds and Swallows. The nests are fastened to the beams with mud in much the same method as that adopted by Robins. A smaller race with a larger tail is restricted to Florida and the adjacent country and westward to the Mississippi. It is named the Florida Gkackle {Q. quiscula algceus') RUSTY BLACKBIRD. 1 19 RUSTY BLACKBIRD. SCOLECOPHAGUS CAROLIXUS. Char. Male in summer . glossy black, generally more or less feathers edged with reddish brown. Male in winter: the brown more conspic- uous, the lower parts marked with buffy. Female and young : dull rusty brown above, rusty and ashy beneath. Length 8^ to 934: inches. Nest. In a tree or on the ground ; a large but solid structure of twigs and vines, sometimes cemented with mud, lined with grass and leaves. Es^gs. 4-7 ; grayish green to pale green, thickly blotched with light and dark brown and purple ; 1. 00 X 0.76. This species, less frequent than the preceding, is often associated with it or with the Red-winged Troopial or the Cowpen Bird ; and according to the season, they are found throughout America, from Hudson's Bay to Florida, and west- ward to the Pacific Ocean. Early in April, according to Wilson, they pass hastily through Pennsylvania, on their return to the North to breed. In the month of March he observed them on the banks of the Ohio, near Kentucky River, during a snow-storm. They arri\-e in the vicinity of Hudson's Bay about the beginning of May, and feed much in the manner of the common Crow Blackbird on insects which they find on or near the ground. Dr. Richardson saw them in the winter as far as the latitude of 53°, and in summer they range to the 68th parallel or to the extremity of the wooded region. They sing in the pairing season, but become nearly silent while rearing their young ; though when their brood release them from care, they again resume their lay, and may occasionally be heard until the approach of winter. Their song is (juite as agreeable and musical as that of the Starling, and greatly sur- passes that of any of the other species. I have heard them singing until the middle of October. They are said to build in trees and bushes at no great dis- tance from the ground, making a nest similar to the other species, and lay five eggs, of a pale blue spotted with black. The young and old, now assembling in large troops, retire from the northern regions in September. From the beginning of I20 SINGING BIRDS. October to the middle of November, they are seen m flocks through the Eastern States. During their stay in this vicinity they assemble towards night to roost in or round the reed- marshes of Fresh Pond, near Cambridge. Sometimes they select the willows by the water for their lodging, in preference to the reeds, which they give up to their companions the Crow Blackbirds. Early in October they feed chiefly on grasshoppers and berries, and at a later period pay a transient visit to the corn-fields. They pass the winter in the Soudiern States, and, like their darker relatives, make familiar visits to the barn-yard and corn-cribs. Wilson remarks that they are easily domesticated, and in a few days become quite familiar, being reconciled to any quarters while supplied with plenty of food. The Rusty Blackbird breeds from about the 45th parallel to the lower fur countries. It is fairly common near the Atlantic, but is more abundant in the interior, and Mr. Thompson reports it com- monly abundant in Manitoba. In this region it does not always select an alder swamp for a nesting site, as some authors have stated. A nest discovered by my friend Banks was amid the upper branches of a good sized spruce on a dry hillside in Mr. William Jack's park, near St. John. NORTHERN RAVEN. COR\TJS CORAX PRINCIPALIS. Char. Black with bluish purple gloss. Length 22 to 26>^ inches. Nc-st. On a cliff or in a tree ; made of sticks carefully and compactly arranged, lined with grass or wool, — repaired year after year, and thus increased to considerable bulk. Ei^^i^s. 2-7 ; pale olive, marked with olive-brown blotches and streaks ; 2.00 X 1.40. The sable Raven has been observed and described from the earliest times, and is a resident of almost every country in the world ; but is more particularly abundant in the western than the eastern parts of the United States, where it extends along the Oresxon to the shores of the Pacific. This ominous bird NORTHERN RAVEN. 121 has been generally despised and feared by the superstitious even more than the nocturnal Owl, though he prowls abroad in open day. He may be considered as holding a relation to the birds of prey, feeding not only on carrion, but occasionally seizing on weakly lambs, young hares or rabbits, and seems indeed to give a preference to animal food ; but at the same time, he is able to live on all kinds of fruits and grain, as well as insects, earth-worms, even dead fish, and in addition to all, is particularly fond of eggs, so that no animal seems more truly omnivorous than the Raven. If we take into consideration his indiscriminating voracity, sombre livery, discordant, croaking cry, with his ignoble, wild, and funereal aspect, we need not be surprised that in times of ignorance and error he should have been so generally regarded as an object of disgust and fear. He stood pre-eminent in the list of sinister birds, or those whose only premonition was the announcing of misfortunes ; and, strange to tell, there are many people yet in Europe, even in this enlightened age, who trem- ble and become uneasy at the sound of his harmless croaking. According to Adair, the Southern aborigines also invoke the Raven for those who are sick, mimicking his voice ; and the natives of the Missouri, assuming black as their emblem of war, decorate themselves on those occasions with the plumes of this dark bird. But all the knowledge of the future, or in- terest in destiny, possessed by the Raven, like that of other inhabitants of the air, is bounded by an instinctive feeling of the changes which are about to happen in the atmosphere, and which he has the faculty of announcing by certain cries and actions produced by these external impressions. In the south- em provinces of Sweden, as Linnaeus remarks, when the sky is serene the Raven flies very high and utters a hollow sound, like the word clong, which is heard to a great distance. Some- times he has been seen in the midst of a thunder-storm with the electric fire streaming from the extremity of his bill, — a natural though extraordinary phenomenon, sufficient to terrify the superstitious and to stamp the harmless subject of it with the imaginary traits and attributes of a demon. 122 SINGING BIRDS. « In ancient times, when divination made a part of religion, the Raven, though a bad prophet, was yet a very interesting bird ; for the passion for prying into future events, even the most dark and sorrowful, is an original propensity of human nature. Accordingly, all the actions of this sombre bird, all the circumstances of its flight, and all the different intonations of its discordant voice, of which no less than sixty-four were remarked, had each of them an appropriate signification ; and there were never wanting impostors to procure this pretended intelligence, nor people simple enough to credit it. Some even went so far as to impose upon themselves, by devouring the heart and entrails of the disgusting Raven, in the strange hope of thus appropriating its supposed gift of prophecy. The Raven indeed not only possesses a great many natural inflections of voice corresponding to its various feelings, but it has also a talent for imitating the cries of other animals, and even mimicking language. According to Buffon, colas is a word which he pronounces with peculiar facility. Connecting circumstances with his wants, Scaliger heard one, which when hungry, learnt very distinctly to call upon Conrad the cook. The first of these words bears a great resemblance to one of the ordinary cries of this species, koiuallah, koiuallah. Besides possessing in some measure the faculty of imitating human speech, they are at times capable of manifesting a durable attachment to their keeper, and become familiar about the house. The sense of smell, or rather that of sight, is very acute in the Raven, so that he discerns the carrion, on which he often feeds, at a great distance. Thucydides even attributes to him the sagacity of avoiding to feed on animals which had died of the plague. Pliny relates a singular piece of ingenuity em- ployed by this bird to quench his thirst : he had observed water near the bottom of a narrow-necked vase, to obtain which, he is said to have thrown in pebbles, one at a time, until the pile elevated the water within his reach. Nor does this trait, singular as it is, appear to be much more sagacious than that of carrying up nuts and shell-fish into the air, and NORTHERN RAVEN. I 23 dropping them on rocks, for the purpose of breaking them to obtain their contents, otherwise beyond his reach, — facts observed by men of credit, and recorded as an instinct of the Raven by Pennant and Latham. It is, however, seldom that these birds, any more than the rapacious kinds, feel an inchna- tion for drinking, as their thirst is usually quenched by the blood and juices of their prey. The Ravens are also more social than the birds of prey, — which arises from the promis- cuous nature and consequent abundance of their food, which allows a greater number to subsist together in the same place, without being urged to the stern necessity of solitude or fam- ine, — a condition to which the true rapacious birds are always driven. The habits of these birds are much more generally harmless than is usually imagined ; they are useful to the farmer in the destruction they make of moles and mice, and are often very well contented with insects and earth-worms. Though spread over the whole world, they are rarely ever birds of passage, enduring the winters even of the Arctic circle, or the warmth of Me.xico. St. Domingo, and Madagascar. They are particularly attached to the rocky eyries where they have been bred and paired. Throughout the year they are obser\'ed together in nearly equal numbers, and they never entirely abandon this adopted home. If they descend into the plain, it is to collect subsistence ; but they resort to the low grounds more in winter than summer, as they avoid the heat and dislike to wander from their cool retreats. They never roost in the woods, like Crows, and have sufficient sagacity to choose in their rocky retreats a situation defended from the winds of the north, — commonly under the natural vault formed by an extending ledge or cavity of the rock. Here they retire during the night in companies of 15 to 20. They perch upon the bushes which grow straggling in the clefts of the rocks ; but they form their nests in the rocky crevices, or in the holes of the mouldering walls, at the summits of ruined towers ; and sometimes upon the high branches of large and solitary trees. After they have paired, their fidehty appears to continue through life. The male expresses his attachment by a particu- 124 SINGING BIRDS. lar strain of croaking, and both sexes are observed caressing, by approaching their bills, with as much semblance of affection as the truest turtle-doves. In temperate climates the Raven be- gins to lay in the months of February or March. The eggs are 5 or 6, of a pale, muddy bluish green, marked with numerous spots and lines of dark olive bro\vn. She sits about 20 days, and during this time the male takes care to provide her with abundance of nourishment. Indeed, from the quantity of grain, nuts, and fruits which have been found at this time in the envi- rons of the nest, this supply would appear to be a store laid up for future occasions. Whatever may be their forethought re- garding food, they have a well-known propensity to hide things which come within their reach, though useless to themselves, and appear to give a preference to pieces of metal, or any- thing which has a brilliant appearance. At Erfurt, one of these birds had the patience to carry and hide, one by one, under a stone in the garden, a quantity of small pieces of money, which amounted, when discovered, to 5 or 6 florins ; and there are few countries which cannot afford similar instan- ces of their domestic thefts. Of the perseverance of the Raven in the act of incubation, Mr. White has related the following remarkable anecdote : In the centre of a grove near Selborne there stood a tall and shapeless oak which bulged out into a large excrescence near the middle of the stem. On this tree a pair of Ravens had fixed their residence for such a series of years that the oak was distinguished by the title of "The Raven Tree." Many were the attempts of the neighboring youths to get at this nest. The difficulty whetted their inclinations, and each was ambi- tious of accomplishing the arduous task ; but when they arrived at the swelling, it jutted out so in their way, and was so far beyond their grasp, that the boldest lads were deterred, and acknowledged the undertaking to be too hazardous. Thus the Ravens continued to build, and rear their young in security, until the fatal day on which the wood was to be levelled. This was in the month of February, when these birds usually begin to sit. The saw was applied to the trunk, the wedges NORTHERN RAVEN. I 25 were driven, the woods echoed to the heavy blows of the beetle or mallet, and the tree nodded to its fall ; but still the devoted Raven sat on. At last, when it gave way, she was flung from her ancient eyry ; and a victim to parental affection, was whipped down by the twigs, and brought lifeless to the ground. The young, at first more white than black, are fed by food previously prepared in the craw of the mother and then dis- gorged by the bill, nearly in the manner of pigeons. The male at this time, doubly vigilant and industrious, not only provides for, but defends his family vigorously from every hostile attack, and shows a particular enmity to the Kite when he appears in his neighborhood, pouncing upon him and striking with his bill until sometimes both antagonists descend to the ground. The young are long and affectionately fed by the parents ; and though they soon leave the nest, they remain perching on the neighboring rocks, yet unable to make any extensive flight, and pass the time in continual complaining cries till the approach of the parent with food, when their note changes into craio, craw, craw. Now and then as they gain strength they make efforts to fly, and then return to their rocky roost. About 15 days after leaving the nest, they become so well prepared for flight as to accompany the parents out on their excursions from morning to night ; and it is amusing to watch the progress of this affectionate association, the young continuing the whole summer to go out with the old in the morning, and as regularly return with them again in the evening, so that however we may despise the appetite of the Raven, we cannot but admire the instinctive morality of his nature. Like birds of prey, the Ravens reject from the stomach, by the bill, the hard and indigestible parts of their food, as the stones of fmit and the bones of small fish which they some- times eat. The Northern Raven has been separated lately from the "Mexican" race (for which latter the name of sinuatus has been retained); and the distribution of the Mexican bird is given as from the Rocky Mountains westward. The northern form 126 SINGING BIRDS. occurs throughout Canada north to the Arctic Ocean and west to the Pacific. Of late years the Raven has almost forsaken the New England shores, though it is still numerous around the Bay of Fundy, and occurs locally in small numbers along the coast of the Atlantic to North Carolina. In the west it raiiges south to northern Michigan and British Columbia. It is more abundant to the westward of the Mississippi than in the Eastern States. CROW. CORVUS .AMERICANUS. Char. Black, with gloss of purple tinge. Length 17 to 21 inches. A'est. In a tree ; made of sticks and twigs, lined with grass and leaves Eggs. 4-6; sea-green to dull olive, blotched with brown ; 1.70 X 1.20. The Crow, like the Raven, which it greatly resembles, is a denizen of nearly the whole world. It is found even in New Holland and the Philippine Islands, but is rare in Sweden, where the Raven abountls. It is also common in Siberia, and plentiful in the .Arctic deserts beyond the Lena. The native Crow is a constant and troublesomely abundant resident in most of the settled districts of North America, as well as an inhabitant of the Western wilds throughout the Rocky Mountains, to the banks of the Oregon and the shores of the Pacific. These birds only retire into the forests in the breeding season, which lasts from March to May. At this time they are dispersed throtigh the woods in pairs, and roost in the neighborhood of the spot which they have selected for their nest ; and the conjugal union, once formed, continues for life. They are now very noisy, and vigilant against any intrusion on their 'purpose, and at times appear influenced by mutual jealousy, but never proceed to any violence. The tree they select is generally lofty, and preference seems often given to some dark and concealing evergreen. The nest is formed externally of small twigs coarsely interlaced together, plastered and matted with earth, moss, and long horse-hair, CROW. 127 and thickly and carefully lined with large quantities of the last material, wool, or the finest fibres of roots, so as to form a very comfortable bed for the helpless and naked young. The male at this season is extremely watchful, reconnoitring the neighborhood, and giving an alarm as any person happens to approach towards their nest, when both retire to a distance till the intruder disappears ; and m order the better to conceal their brood, they remain uncommonly silent until these are in a situation to follow them on the wing. The male also carries food to his mate while confined to her eggs, and at times relieves her by sitting in her absence. In Europe, when the Raven, the Buzzard, or the Kestrel makes his appearance, the pair join instantly in the attack, and sometimes, by dint of furi- ous blows, destroy their enemy ; yet the Butcher Bird, more alert and courageous, not only resists, but often vanquishes the Crows and carries off their young. Like the Ravens, endued with an unrestrained and natural affection, they con- tinue the whole succeeding summer to succor and accompany their offspring in all their undertakings and excursions. The Crow is equally omnivorous with the Raven ; insects, worms, carrion, fish, grain, fruits, and in short everything digestible by any or all the birds in existence, being alike acceptable to this gormandizing animal. Its destruction of bird-eggs is also very considerable. In Europe Crows are often detected feeding their voracious young with the precious eggs of the Partridge, which they very sagaciously convey by care- fully piercing and sticking them expertly on the bill. They also know how to break nuts and shell- fish by dropping them from a great height upon the rocks below. They visit even the snares and devour the birds which they find caught, attacking the weak and wounded game. They also sometimes seize on young chickens and Ducks, and have even been observed to pounce upon Pigeons in the manner of Hawks, and with almost equal success. So familiar and audacious are they in some parts of the Levant that they will frequent the courts of houses, and, like Harpies, alight boldly on the dishes, as the servants are conveying in the dinner, and carry off the meat, if not driven 128 SINGING BIRDS. away by blows. In turn, however, the Crow finds enemies too powerful for him to conquer, such as the Kite and Eagle Owl, who occasionally make a meal of this carrion bird, — a voracious propensity which the Virginian Owl also sometimes exhibits towards the same species. Wherever the Crow appears, the smaller birds take the alarm, and vent upon him their just suspicions and reproaches. But it is only the redoubtable Kmg Bird who has courage for the attack, beginning the onset by pursuing and diving on his back from above, and haras- sing the plunderer with such violence that he is generally glad to get out of the way and forego his piratical visit ; in short, a single pair of these courageous and quarrelsome birds are suf- ficient to clear the Crows from an extensive cornfield. The most serious mischief of which the Crow is guilty is that of pillaging the maize-field. He commences at the planting-time by picking up and rooting out the sprouting grain, and in the autumn, when it becomes ripe, whole flocks, now assembled at their roosting- places, blacken the neighboring fields as soon as they get into motion, and do extensive dam- age at every visit, from the excessive numbers who now rush to the inviting feast. Their rendezvous or roosting-places are the resort in au- tumn of all the Crows and their families for many miles round. The blackening silent train continues to arrive for more than an hour before sunset, and some still straggle on until dark. They never arrive in dense flocks, but always in long lines, each fallmg into the file as he sees opportunity. This gregarious inclination is common to many birds in the autumn which associate only in pairs in the summer. The forests and groves, stripped of their agreeable and protecting verdure, seem no longer safe and pleasant to the feathered nations. Exposed to the birds of prey, which daily augment in numbers ; penetrated by the chilling blasts, which sweep without control through the naked branches, — the birds, now impelled by an overruling instinct, seek in congregated numbers some general, safer, and more commodious retreat. Islands of reeds, dark and solitary thickets, and neglected swamps, are the situations chosen for CROW. 129 their general diurnal retreats and roosts. Swallows, Blackbirds, Rice Birds, and Crows seem always to prefer the low shelter of reed-flats. On the River Delaware, in Pennsylvania, there are two of these remarkable Crow-roosts. The one mentioned by Wilson is an island near Newcastle called the Pea-Patch, — a low, flat, alluvial spot, just elevated above high- water mark, and thickly covered with reeds, on which the Crows alight and take shelter for the night. Whether this roost be now occupied by these birds or not, I cannot pretend to say ; but in December, 1829, I had occasion to observe their arrival on Reedy Island, just above the commencement of the bay of that river, in vast numbers ; and as the wind wafted any beating vessel towards the shore, they rose in a cloud and filled the air with clamor. Indeed, their vigilant and restless caiuing continued till after dark. Creatures of mere instinct, they foresee no perils beyond their actual vision \ and thus, when they least expect it, are sometimes swept away by an unexpected destruction. Some years ago, during the prevalence of a sudden and violent north- east storm accompanied by heavy rains, the Pea- Patch Island was wholly inundated in the night ; and the unfortunate Crows, dormant and bewildered, made no attempts to escape, and were drowned by thousands, so that their bodies blackened the shores the following day for several miles in extent. The Crows, like many other birds, become injurious and formidable only in the gregarious season. At other times they live so scattered, and are so shy and cautious, that they are but seldom seen. But their armies, like all other great and terrific assemblies, have the power, in limited districts, of doing very sensible mischief to the agricultural interests of the community ; and in consequence, the poor Crows, notwith- standing their obvious services in the destruction of a vast host of insects and their larvae, are proscribed as felons in all civil- ized countries, and, with the wolves, panthers, and foxes, a price is put upon their heads. In consequence, various means of ensnaring the outlaws have been had recourse to. Of the gun they are very cautious, and suspect its appearance at the VOL. I. — 9 130 SINGING BIRDS. first glance, perceiving witli ready sagacity the wily manner of the fowler. So fearful and suspicious are they of human arti' fices that a mere line stretched round a field is often found sufficient to deter these wily birds from a visit to the cornfield. Against poison they are not so guarded, and sometimes corn steeped in hellebore is given them, which creates giddines? and death. Another curious method is that of pinning a live Crow to the ground by the wings, stretched out on his back, and retained in this posture by two sharp, forked sticks. In this situation, his loud cries attract other Crows, who come sweeping down to the prostrate prisoner, and are grappled in his claws. In this way each successive prisoner may be made the innocent means of capturing his companion. The reeds in which they roost, when dry enough, are sometimes set on fire also to pro- cure their destruction ; and to add to the fatality produced by the flames, gunners are also stationed round to destroy those that attempt to escape by flight. In severe winters they suffer occasionally from famine and cold, and fall sometimes dead in the fields. According to Wilson, in one of these severe seasons, more than 600 Crows were shot on the carcase of a dead horse, which was placed at a proper shooting distance from a stable. The premiums obtained for these, and the price procured for the quills, produced to the farmer nearly the value of the horse when living, besides affording feathers sufficient to fill a bed. The Crow is easily raised and domesticated, and soon learns to distinguish the different members of the family with which he is associated. He screams at the approach of a stranger ; learns to open the door by alighting on the latch ; attends regularly at meal times ; is very noisy and loquacious ; imitates the sounds of various words which he hears ; is very thievish, given to hiding curiosities in holes and crevices, and is very fond of carrying off pieces of metal, corn, bread, and food of afl kinds ; he is also particularly attached to the society of his master, and recoflects him sometimes after a long absence. It is commonly believed and asserted in some parts of this FISH CROW. 131 country that the Crows engage at times in general combat ; but it has never been ascertained whether this hostihty arises from civil discord, or the opposition of two different species contesting for some exclusive privilege of subsisting ground. It is well known that Rooks often contend with each other, and drive away by every persecuting means individuals who arrive among them from any other rookery. Note. — The Florida Crow {C. aviericamis fioridanus) differs from true aniericaiius in having the wings and tail shorter, and the bill and feet larg-er. It is restricted to southern Florida. FISH CROW. CORVUS OSSIFRAGUS. Char. Blacl< glossed with steel-blue. Length 15 to 17^ inches. Nest. On a tree ; of sticks and twigs firmly laid, lined with leaves. ^.?S^- 5~7 ; sea-green or olive, blotched and spotted with brown ; 1.50 X 1.05. Wilson was the first to observe the distinctive traits of this smaller and peculiar American species of Crow along the sea- coast of Georgia. It is met with as far north as the coast of New Jersey ; and although we did not see it in the western interior of the continent, it is common on the banks of the Oregon, where it was nesting in the month of April. It keeps apart from the common species, and instead of assem- bling to roost among the reeds at night, retires, towards evening, from the shores which afford it a subsistence, and perches in the neighboring woods. Its notes, probably various, are at times hoarse and guttural, at others weaker and higher. These Crows pass most of their time near rivers, hovering over the stream to catch up dead and perhaps living fish, or other animal matters which float within their reach ; at these they dive with considerable celerity, and seizing them in their claws, convey them to an adjoining tree, and devour the fruits of their predatory industry at leisure. They also snatch up water- 132 SINGING BIRDS. lizards in the same manner, and feed upon small crabs ; at times they are seen even contending with the Gulls for their prey. It is amusing to see with what steady watchfulness they hover over the water in search of their precarious food, having, in fact, all the traits of the Gull ; but they subsist more on accidental supplies than by any regular system of fishing. On land they have sometimes all the familiarity of the Magpie, hopping upon the backs of cattle, in whose company they no doubt occasionally meet with a supply of insects when other sources fail. They are also regular in their attendance on the fishermen of New Jersey for the purpose of gleaning up the refuse of the fish. They are less shy and suspicious than the common Crow, and showing no inclination for plundering the cornfields, are rather friends than enemies to the farmer. They appear near Philadelphia from the middle of March to the beginning of June, during the season of the shad and herring fishery. The habitat now accorded to this species is " the Atlantic and Gulf States north to Long Island and west to Louisiana." It probably occurs occasionally along the Connecticut shore, and may straggle into Massachusetts ; though Mr. Allen has omitted it from his list. On the Pacific coast it is replaced by ,C caurinus. All Crows are more or less fish-eaters, and in some localities fish forms their staple diet. On the shores of Cape Breton, near the coal districts, the fish-eating Crows are separated by the natives from the common sort. It is said that the flight and voice of these birds can be readily distinguished. Some m.iners working at Lepreaux, in New Brunswick, who were familiar with the fish- eating Crows of Cape Breton, drew my attention to a flock of apparently small and peculiar-voiced Crows gleaning along the shores ; but though easily trapped by a fish bait, they proved to be nothinsf more than rather small common Crows. Note. — The American Magpie {Pica pica luidsonica^ is a Western and Northwestern bird, and occurs as a straggler only east of the Mississippi. It has been taken in Michigan, northern Illinois, and western Ontario ; also at Chambly, near Montreal. BLL^E JAY. CyANOCITTA CRISIATA. Char. Above, purplish blue; below, pale purplish gray, lighter on throat and tail-coverts ; wings and tail bright blue barred with black ; wing- coverts, secondaries, and most of tail-feathers broadly tipped with white. Head conspicuously crested ; tail wedge-shai)ed. Length ii to i2'/< inches. Nest. In a small conifer, about 20 feet from the ground, situated in deep forest or near a settlement ; roughly but firmly constructed of twigs and roots, and lined with fine roots Eggs. 4-5; pale olive or buff, spotted with yellowish brown; i 10 X 0^5. This elegant and common species is met with in the interior, from the remote northwestern regions near Peace River, in the 54th to the 56th degree, Lake Winnipeg in the 49th degree, the eastern steppes of the Rocky Mountains, and southwest- ward to the banks of the Arkansas : also along the Atlantic regions from the confines of Newfoundland to the peninsula of Florida and the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. 134 SINGING BIRDS. The Blue Jay is a constant inhabitant both of the wooded wilderness and the vicinity of the settled farm, though more familiar at the approach of winter and early in spring than at any other season. These wanderings or limited migrations are induced by necessity alone ; his hoards of grain, nuts, and acorns either have failed or are forgotten : for, like other misers, he is more assiduous to amass than to expend or en- joy his stores, and the fruits of his labors very frequently either devolve to the rats or squirrels, or accidentally assist in- the replanting of the forest. His visits at this time are not un- frequent in the garden and orchard, and his usual petulant address of djdy, jay, jdy, and other harsh and trumpeting articulations, soon make his retreat known to all in his neigh- borhood. So habitual is this sentinel cry of alarm, and so ex- pressive, that all the birds within call, as well as other wild animals, are instantly on the alert, so that the fowler and hunter become generally disappointed of their game by this his garrulous and noisy propensity ; he is therefore, for his petulance, frequently killed without pity or profit, as his flesh,, though eaten, has but little to recommend it. His more com- plaisant notes, when undisturbed, though guttural and echoing, are by no means unpleasant, and fall in harmoniously with the cadence of the feathered choristers around him, so as to form a finishing part to the general music of the grove. His ac- cents of blandishment, when influenced by the softer passions, are low and musical, so as to be scarcely heard beyond the thick branches where he sits concealed ; but as soon as dis- covered he bursts out into notes of rage and reproach, accom- panying his voice by jerks and actions of temerity and defiance. Indeed the Jay of Europe, with whom our beau agrees entirely in habits, is so irascible and violent in his movements as some- times to strangle himself in the narrow fork of a branch from which he has been found suspended. Like the European spe- cies, he also exhibits a great antipathy to the Owl, and by his loud and savage vociferation soon brings together a noisy troop of all the busy birds in the neighborhood. To this garrulous attack the night wanderer has no reply but a threatening stare BLUE JAY. 135 of indifference ; and as soon as opportunity offers, he quietly slips from his slandering company. Advantage in some coun- tries is taken of this dislike for the purpose of catching birds ; thus the Owl, being let out of a box, sometimes makes a hoot, which instantly assembles a motley group, who are then caught by liming the neighboring twigs on which they perch. In this gossip the Jay and Crow are always sure to take part if within sight or hearing of the call, and are thus caught or destroyed at will. The common Jay is even fond of imitating the harsh voice of the Owl and the noisy Kestrel. I have also heard the Blue Jay mock with a taunting accent the ke 00, kc 00, or quail- ing, of the Red-shouldered Hawk. Wilson likewise heard him take singular satisfaction in teasing and mocking the little American Sparrow Hawk, and imposing upon him by the pre- tended plaints of a wounded bird ; in which frolic several would appear to join, until their sport sometimes ended in sudden consternation, by the Hawk, justly enough, pouncing on one of them as his legitimate and devoted prey. His talent for mimicry when domesticated is likewise so far capable of improvement as to enable him to imitate human speech, articulating words with some distinctness ; and on hearing voices, Hke a Parrot, he would endeavor to contribute his important share to the tumult. Bewick remarks of the common Jay of Europe that he heard one so exactly counter- feit the action of a saw that, though on a Sunday, he could scarcely be persuaded but that some carpenter was at work. Another, unfortunately, rendered himself a serious nuisance by learning to hound a cur dog upon the domestic cattle, whisthng and calling him by name, so that at length a serious accident occurring in consequence, the poor Jay was proscribed. One which I have seen in a state of domestication behaved with all the quietness and modest humility of Wilson's caged bird with a petulant companion. He seldom used his voice, came in to lodge in the house at night in any corner where he was little observed, but unfortunately perished by an accident before the completion of his education. The favorite food of this species is chestnuts, acorns, and 136 SINGING BIRDS. Indian corn or maize, the latter of which he breaks before swallowing. He also feeds occasionally on the larger insects and caterpillars, as well as orchard fruits, particularly cherries, and does not even refuse the humble fare of potatoes. In times of scarcity he falls upon carrion, and has been known to venture into the barn, through accidental openings ; when, as if sensible of the danger of purloining, he is active and silent, and if surprised, postponing his garrulity, he retreats with noiseless precipitation and with all the cowardice of a thief. The worst trait of his appetite, however, is his relish for the eggs of other birds, in quest of which he may frequently be seen prowling ; and with a savage cruelty he sometimes also devours the callow young, spreading the plaint of sorrow and alarm wherever he flits. The whole neighboring community of little birds, assembled at the cry of distress, sometimes, how- ever, succeed m driving off the ruthless plunderer, who, not always content with the young, has been seen to attack the old, though with dubious success ; but to the gallant and quarrel- some King Bird he submits like a coward, and driven to seek shelter, even on the ground, from the repeated blows of his antagonist, sneaks off well contented to save his life. Although a few of these birds are seen with us nearly through the winter, numbers, no doubt, make predatory excursions to milder regions, so that they aj)pear somewhat abundant at this season in the Southern States ; yet they are known to rear their young from Canada to South Carolina, so that their migrations may be nothing more than journeys from the highlands towards the warmer and more productive sea-coast, or eastern frontier. East of the Mississippi the Blue Jay has been rarely seen north of the 50th parallel. Note. — A smaller race, which differs also from true cristata in having less white on the tips of the secondaries and tail-feathers, has been named the Florida Blue Jay {C. cfistata fiorincola). It is found in Florida and along the Gulf coast. FLORIDA JAY. 137 FLORIDA JAY. Apheloco.aia floridaxa. Char. Above, dull azure blue; back with patch of brownish gray ; throat and chest grayish white streaked with ashy; belly, brownish gray. No crest , tail longer than wing. Length loYz to I234 inches. N'esf. In low tree or thicket of bushes ; made of twigs and roots, lined with fine roots and moss. jEgixs. 4-5 ; pale green or bluish gray, spotted with rufous and black ; 1. 10 X 080. This elegant species is, as far as yet known, almost wholly confined to the interior of the mild peninsula of East Florida. In a tour through the lower parts of Georgia and West Florida, protracted to the middle of March, I saw none of these birds ; and at the approach of winter they even retire to the south of St. Augustine, as Mr. Ord did not meet with them until about the middle of February ; from that time, however, they were seen daily, flying low and hopping through the luxuriant thickets, or peeping from the dark branches of the live-oaks which adorn the outlet of the St. Juan. These birds appear to possess the usual propensities of their tribe, being quarrel- some, active, and garrulous. Their voice is less harsh than that of the common Blue Jay, and they have a variety of notes, some of which, probably imitations, are said to have a resem- blance to the song of the Thrush and the call of the common Only a single brood is raised in the season. Its food is very similar to that of the other species ; namely, berries, fruits, mast, and insects. It likewise collects snails from the marshy grounds, feeds largely on the seeds of the sword-palmetto ; and, in the manner of the Titmouse, it secures its food be- tween its feet, and breaks it into pieces previous to swallowing. Like other species of the genus, it destroys the eggs and young of small birds, despatching the latter by repeated blows on the head. It is also easily reconciled to the cage, and feeds on fresh or dried fruits and various kinds of nuts. Its attempts at mimicry in this state are very imperfect. "yV^ CANADA JAY. whiskey jack. moose bird. Perisoreus canadensis. Char. Above, ashy gray; head and nape smoky black; forehead and lower parts whitish gray ; breast brownish gray ; wings and tail dark ashy, tipped obscurely with white. Young: uniform dull smoky black, paler beneath. Length, ii to 12 inches. Nest. In a coniferous tree ; a bulky but compact structure of dried twigs, shreds of bark and moss thickly lined with feathers. Eggs. 4-5 ; of light gray or butifish, spotted with dark gray, lilac gray, and pale brown ; 1.15 X 0.80. This species, with the intrusive habits and plain plumage of the Pie, is almost confined to the northern regions of America, being met with around Hudson's Bay, but becoming rare near the St. Lawrence, and in winter only straggling along the coast as far as Nova Scotia. Westward, occasionally driven by the severity of the weather and failure of food, they make their appearance in small parties in the interior of Maine and north- CANADA JAY. 1 39 em parts of Vermont, where, according to Audubon, they are frequently known to breed. They also descend into the State of New York as far as the town of Hudson and the banks of the Mohawk. In the month of May I observed a wandering brood of these birds, old and young, on the shady borders of the Wahlamet, in the Oregon territory, where they had probably been bred. They descended to the ground near a spring in quest of insects and small shells. According to Mr. Hutchins, like the Pie, when near the habitations and tents of the inhabitants and natives, it is given to pilfering everything within reach, and is sometimes so bold as to venture into the tents and snatch the meat from the dishes even, whether fresh or salt. It has also the mischievous sagacity of watching the hunters set their traps for the Martin, from which it purloins the bait. Its appetite, like that of the Crow, appears omnivorous. It feeds on worms, various insects, and their larvae, and on flesh of different kinds ; lays up stores of berries in hollow trees for winter ; and at times, with the reindeer, is driven to the necessity of feeding on lichens. The severe winters of the wilds it inhabits, urges it to seek support in the vicinity of habitations. Like the common Jay, at this season it leaves the woods to make excursions after food, trying every means for subsistence ; and tamed by hun- ger, it seeks boldly the society of men and animals. These birds are such praters as to be considered Mocking Birds, and are superstitiously dreaded by the aborigines. They com- monly fly in pairs or rove in small families, are no way difficult to approach, and keep up a kind of friendly chattering, some- times repeating their notes for a quarter of an hour at a time, immediately before snow or falling weather. When caught, they seldom long survive, though they never neglect their food. Like most of their genus, they breed early in the spring, build- ing their nests, which are formed of twigs and grass in the pine- trees. They lay 4 to 6 light-grayish eggs, faintly marked with brown spots. The young brood, at first, are perfect Crows, or nearly quite black, and continue so for some time. According to Richardson, this inelegant but familiar bird I40 SINGING BIRDS. inhabits all the woody districts of the remote fur countries from the 65 th parallel to Canada, and now and then in severe win- ters extends his desultory migrations within the northern limits of the United States. Scarcely has the winter traveller in those cold regions chosen a suitable place of repose in the forest, cleared away the snow, lighted his fire, and prepared his tent, when Whiskey Jack insidiously pays him a visit, and boldly descends into the social circle to pick up any crumbs of frozen fish or morsels of dry meat that may have escaped the mouths of the weary and hungry sledge-dogs. This confidence is almost the only recommendation of our familiar intruder. There is nothing pleasing in his voice, plumage, or attitudes. But this dark, sinister dwarf of the North is now the only inhabitant of those silent and trackless forests, and trusting from necessity in the forbearance of man, he fearlessly approaches, and craves his allowed pittance from the wandering stranger who visits his dreary domain. At the fur posts and fishing stations he is also a steady attendant, becoming so tamed in the winter by the terrible inclemency of the climate as to eat tamely from the offered hand ; yet at the same time, wild and indomitable under this garb of humility, he seldom survives long in confine- ment, and pines away with the loss of his accustomed liberty. He hops with activity from branch to branch, but when at rest, sits with his head drawn in, and with his plumage loose. The voice of this inelegant bird is plaintive and squeaking, though he occasionally makes a low chattering, especially when his food appears in view. Like our Blue Jay, he has the habit of hoard- ing berries, morsels of meat, etc., in the hollows of trees or beneath their bark. These magazines prove useful in winter, and enable him to rear his hardy brood even before the disap- pearance of the snow from the ground, and long before any other bird indigenous to those climates. The nest is concealed with such care that but few of the natives have seen it. Whiskey Jack has evidently moved somewhat southward since Nuttall made his observations, for the species is now a fairly com- mon resident of the Maritime Provinces of Canada, as well as of the northern portions of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New CANADA JAY. I41 York, and Michigan. Near Ottawa, and in the Muskoka district of Ontario, it occurs regularly, though it is not abundant. In Oc- tober, 1889, one example was taken at Arlington Heights, near Boston, and several have been reported from other locahties in Massachusetts. I examined a nest taken near Edmundston, New Brunswick, on April 7, 1883, at which date the country there was covered with snow and ice. The nest was placed on a small tree near the main highway, and not many hundred yards from the railroad station. As the cold in that region is intense, the temperature often being at — 30° to — 40° F. in midwinter, it is surprising that the eggs are ever hatched. But the nest is made very warm, and the birds sit close, and when one parent steps otf the other at once steps on. By the first of June the young are in full feather and taking care of themselves. Nuttall's opinion that these birds appear bold and familiar only when pressed by the hunger of winter, has not found support in my experience. Frequently when camping in the New Brunswick woods during the summer vacation I have seen numbers of these birds gather about my camp-tire within a few minutes after it has been lighted ; and they did not hesitate to pick up a piece of meat thrown toward them. .Mr. Thompson reports a similar experience in Manitoba. He describes these birds coming to his camp-fireside and helping themselves to scraps lying but a few feet from where he was sitting. Several other observers, however, have recorded a similar opinion to Nuttall's; and it may be that the fearless birds are restricted to localities where they are not disturbed. The Canadian hunters and lumbermen have a superstitious respect for these birds, fearing the ill-luck that is said to result from killiuL; one, and Whiskey Jack may have discovered that. Note. — The Labrador Jav {P. canadensis nigricapilus) differs from true canadensis in being darker in general coloration. It is restricted to the coast region of Labrador. TUFTED TITMOUSE. Parus bicolor. Char. Above, bluish ash ; beneath, dull white ; flanks tinged with yellowish brown ; forehead black ; head conspicuously crested. Length ^}^ to SVz inches. A'cst. In a cavity of a tree or stump ; composed of leaves, moss, or woollen material, lined with feathers. £ggs. 5-S ; white or pale cream, spotted with reddish brown; 0.75 X 0.55. From the geographic Hmits of this species, as it occurs to me, I am incHned to believe that the bird seen in Greenland may be different from the present, as it scarcely appears to exist north beyond the States of Pennsylvania or New York. They are seldom, if ever, seen or heard in this part of Massa- chusetts, and instead of being more abundant to the north, as believed by Wilson, they are probably not known there at all. In the Southern States, at least in winter and spring, they are very common, and present all the usual habits and notes of the genus. The numbers which I saw in the Southern States from January to March would seem to indicate a migratory habit : but whether they had arrived from the Northeast, or from the great forests of the West, could not be conjectured. The Peto, as I may call this bird from one of his character- istic notes, and the Carolina Wren, were my constant and amusing companions during the winter as I passed through the dreary solitudes of the Southern States. The sprightHness, caprice, and varied musical talent of this species are quite interesting, and more peculiarly so when nearly all the other vocal tenants of the forest are either absent or silent. To TUFTED TITMOUSE. 1 43 hear in the middle of January, when at least the leafless trees and dark cloudy skies remind us of the coldest season, the hvely, cheering, varied pipe of this active and hardy bird, is particularly gratifying ; and though his voice on paper may ap- pear to present only a list of quaint articulations, yet the deli- cacy, energy, pathos, and variety of his simple song, like many other things in Nature, are far beyond the feeble power of description ; and if in these rude graphic outlines of the inim- itable music of birds I am able to draw a caricature sufficient to indicate the individual performer, I shall have attained all the object to be hoped for in an attempt at natural delineation. The notes of the Peto generally partake of the high, echo- ing, clear tone of the Baltimore Bird. Among his more extra- ordinary expressions I was struck with the call of 'whip-ioiii- killy killy, and now and then ^johip torn killy, with occasionally some variation in the tone and expression, which was \-ery lively and agreeable. The middle syllable {io/ii) was pro- nounced in a hollow reverberating tone. In a few minutes after the subject and its variations were finished, in the estima- tion of the musical performer, he suddenly twisted hniiself round the branch on which he had sat, with a variety of odd and fantastic motions ; and then, in a lower, hoarser, harsh voice, and in a peevish tone, exactly like that of the Jay and the Chickadee, went day-day-day-ddy, and day-ddy-day-day- ddit ; sometimes this loud note changed into one which be- came low and querulous. On some of these occasions he also called 'tshica dee-dee. The jarring call would then change occasionally into kai-tee-did did-dit-did. These peevish notes would often be uttered in anger at being approached ; and then again would perhaps be answered by some neighboring rival, against whom they appeared levelled in taunt and ridi- cule, being accompanied by extravagant gestures. Later m the season, in February, when in the lower part of Alabama the mild influence of spring began already to be felt, our favorite, as he gayly pursued the busy tribe of insects, now his principal food, called, as he vaulted restlessly from branch to branch, in an echoing rapid voice, at short intervals, /^ inches. Nt'sf An exceedingly graceful and compact structure saddled on a branch, or supported by forked twigs of a sapling, from 5 to 20 feet from the ground. It is composed of a variety of materials, in this region most commonly of grass and vegetable fibres lined with fine grass or horse-hair. E,i,'i^s. 4-5 ; dull white, spotted chiefly around the larger end with brown and lilac; 0.65 X 0.50. This beautiful and curious bird takes up its summer resi- dence in almost every part of the North American continent, being found in Canada, in the remote interior near Red River in the latitude of 49 degrees, throughout Louisiana, Arkansas, and the maritime parts of Mexico ; in all of which vast coun- tries it famiharly breeds and resides during the mild season, withdrawing early in September to tropical America, where, in the perpetual spring and summer of the larger West India islands, the species again find means of support. At length, instigated by more powerful feelings than those of ordinary want, the male, now clad in his beautiful nuptial livery, and accompanied by his mate, seeks anew the friendly but far distant natal regions of his race. In no haste, the playful REDSTART. 1 65 Redstart does not appear in Pennsylvania until late in April. The month of May, about the close of the first week, ushers his arrival into the States of New England ; but in Louisiana he is seen as early as the beginning of March. He is no pen- sioner upon the bounty of man. Though sometimes seen, on his first arrival, in the darkest part of the orchard or garden, or by the meandering brook, he seeks to elude observation, and now, the great object of his migrations having arrived, he retires with his mate to the thickest of the sylvan shade. Like his relative Sylvias, he is full of life and in perpetual motion. He does not, like the loitering Pewee, wait the accidental ap- proach of his insect prey, but carr>'ing the war amongst them, he is seen flitting from bough to bough, or at times pursuing the flying troop of winged insects from the top of the tallest tree in a zig-zag, hawk-like, descending flight, to the ground, while the clicking of the bill declares distinctly both his object and success. Then alighting on some adjoining branch, in- tently watching with his head extended, he runs along upon it for an instant or two, flirting like a fan his expanded, brilliant tail from side to side, and again suddenly shoots off" like an arrow in a new direction, after the fresh game he has discov- ered in the distance, and for which he appeared to be recon- noitring. At first the males are seen engaged in active strife, pursuing each other in wide circles through the forest. The female seeks out her prey with less action and flirting, and in her manners resembles the ordinary Sylvias. The notes of the male, though not possessed of great com- pass, are highly musical, and at times sweet and agreeably varied like those of the Warblers. Many of these tones, as they are mere trills of harmony, cannot be recalled by any words. Their song on their first arrival is however nearly uniform, and greatly resembles the ''tsh 'tsh tsh tshee, (she, tshe, tshe tshea, or 'tsh 'tsh 'tsh 'tshitshee of the summer Yellow Bird {Sylvia mstiva), uttered in a piercing and rather slender tone ; now and then also agreeably varied with a somewhat plaintive flowing 'tshe tshe tshe', or a more agreeable 'tshit 'tshit a 'tshee, given almost in the tones of the common Yellow Bird {Fringilla tristis) . I l66 SINGING BIRDS. have likewise heard individuals warble out a variety of sweet and tender, trilling, rather loud and shrill notes, so superior to the ordinary lay of incubation that the performer would scarcely be supposed the same bird. On some occasions the male also, when angry or alarmed, utters a loud and snapping chirp. The nest of this elegant Sylvan Flycatcher is very neat and substantial, fixed occasionally near the forks of a slender hickory or beech sapling, but more generally fastened or agglu- tinated to the depending branches or twigs of the former ; sometimes securely seated amidst the stout footstalks of the waving foliage in the more usual manner of the delicate cradle of the Indian Tailor Bird, but in the deep and cool shade of the forest, instead of the blooming bower. Both parents, but par- ticularly the male, exhibit great concern for the safety of their nest, whether containing eggs only or young, and on its being approached, the male will flit about within a few feet of the invader, regardless of his personal safety, and exhibiting unequi- vocal marks of distress. The parents also, in their solicitude and fear, keep up an incessant 'tship when their infant brood are even distantly approached. Nuttall classed the Redstart with the Flycatchers, as some of its habits — such as darting from a perch, and capturing insects while on the wing — are typical of that family; but the more mod- ern systematists class it with the Wood Warblers. It is an abun- dant summer resident of this eastern province, breeding from about the vallev of the Potomac to southern Labrador. HOODED WARBLER. 167 HOODED WARBLER. SyLV.\NIA MmL-VTA. Char. Male: above, yellow olive ; beneath, rich yellow ; sides shaded with pale olive ; head and neck black, enclosing a wide band of yellow across forehead and through eyes; tail with patch of white on two or three outer tail-feathers. Bill black, feet flesh-color. Female: similar to male, but sometimes lacking the black, in which specimens the crown is olive and the throat yellow. Nest. In a low bush ; made of leaves and vegetable fibre, lined with grass or horse-hair. Eggs. 4-5 ; creamy white, spotted chiefly around the larger end with brown and lilac; 0.70 x 0.53. This beautiful and singularly marked summer species, com- mon in the South, is rarely seen to the north of the State of Maryland. Tt retires to Mexico or the West Indies proba- bly to pass the winter. At Savannah, in Georgia, it arrives from the South about the •20th of March, according to Wilson. It is partial to low and shady situations darkened with under- wood, is frequent among the cane-brakes of Tennessee and Mississippi, and is exceedingly active, and almost perpetually engaged in the pursuit of winged insects. While thus em- ployed, it now and then utters three loud, and not unmusical, very lively notes, resembling the words, twee tmee 'tunttshe. In its simple song and general habits it therefore much resem- bles the summer Yellow Bird. Its neat and compact nest is generally fixed in the fork of a small bush, formed outwardly of moss and flax, lined with hair, and sometimes feathers ; the eggs, about 5, are grayish white, with reddish spots towards the great end. The Hooded Warbler is a Southern species, but is a regular summer resident of the Connecticut valley, and has been found breeding near Cleveland, Ohio, and in southern Michigan. It is said to be more abundant in South Carolina than elsewhere. i68 SINGING BIRDS. WILSON'S WARBLER. WILSON'S BLACK CAP. Sylvania PUSILLA. Char. Above, olive ; crown black ; forehead, cheeks, and entire under parts yellow. Female and young duller, and black cap often obscure, sometimes lacking. I^ength, 4}^ ^^ 5 inches. A^es/. On the ground, in a bushy swamp, or on branch of low bush ; of twigs and vegetable fibre lined with moss or fine grass. Ei,'-^i;'s. 4-6 ; white spotted with brown and lavender ; 0.60 X 0.50. This remarkable species of sylvan Flycatcher was first ob- served by Wilson in New Jersey and Delaware as a transitory bird of passage. Audubon has noticed it in Labrador and Newfoundland, where it was breeding, and it is not uncommon in the State of Maine. He also saw it in his way to Texas early in April. It begins to migrate from Newfoundland about the middle of August, and is seen in Maine in October. Mr. Townsend and myself had the pleasure of observing the arrival of the little cheerful songsters in the wilds of Oregon about the first week of May, where these birds commonly take up their summer residence, and seem almost the counterpart of our brilliant and cheerful Yellow Birds {Syhna (estiva), tuning their lay to the same brief and lively ditty, like 'tsh 'tsh 'tsh tshea, or something similar ; their call, however, is more brief WILSON'S WARBLER. 1 69 and less loud. They were rather familiar and unsuspicious, kept in bushes more than trees, particularly in the thickets which bordered the Columbia, busily engaged collecting their insect fare, and only varying their employment by an occasional and earnest warble. J>y the 12th of May they were already feed- ing their full-fledged young, though I also found a nest on the i6thofthe same month, containing 4 eggs, and just commen- cing incubation. The nest was in the branch of a small service bush, laid very adroitly as to concealment upon an accidental mass of old moss ( Us7iea) that had fallen from a tree above. It was made chiefly of ground moss {Hypnuin), with a thick lining of dry, wiry, slender grass. The female, when ap- proached, went off slyly, running along the ground like a mouse. The eggs are very similar to those of the summer Yellow Bird, sprinkled with spots of pale olive brown, inclined to be disposed in a ring at the greater end, as observed by Mr. Audubon in a nest which he found in Labrador made in a dwarf fir, also made of moss and slender fir-twigs. Wilson's Black Cap is a re<;ular, though not common, summer resident of northern New England, breeding chiefly north of the United States. It is not uncommon in the Maritime Provinces, and fairly common as a migrant about Montreal, but is rarely seen in Ontario, though abundant in Ohio, and reported as breeding in Minnesota. Note. — The Small-headed Flycatcher {IVilsouia minuta and Sylvia minuta of Wilson and Audubon) was given a place in the " Manual" by Nuttall, wlio alleged to have seen the species. Not having been found by any of the more modern observers, it has been omitted from many recent works. It was placed on the "hypothetical list " by the A. O. U. committee, but has been again brought forward by Ridgeway, in his " Manual." Wilson stated that he saw it in New Jersey ; Audubon said he shot one in Ken- tuckv ; and Nuttall's examples were in Massachusetts. As the birds were seen by Nuttall only "at the approach of winter," it is probable they were the young of the year of some of the more northern breeding species. BLUE-GR-\Y GNATCATCHER. POLIOPTIL.A C.ERULEA. Char. Male: above, bluish gray, darker on head, paler on rump ; forehead and line over the eye black ; beneath, pale bluish white ; wings dusky ; tail longer than the body, the outer feathers partly white. Fe- male : similar to the male, but lacking the black on head. Length 4J4 to 5 inches. I^st. A graceful, cup-shaped structure, saddled on limb of a tree 15 or 20 feet from the ground ; composed of felted plant fibre ornamented externally with lichens and lined with feathers. Ei^'gs. 3-5; bluish white, speckled with bright brown; 0.55 X 0.45. But for the length of the tail, this would rank among the most diminutive of birds. It is a very dexterous, lively insect- hunter, and keeps commonly in the tops of tall trees ; its motions are rapid and incessant, appearing always in quest of its prey, darting from bough to bough with hanging wings and elevated tail, uttering only at times a feeble song of tsee tsee tsee, scarcely louder than the squeak of a mouse. It arrives in the State of Pennsylvania from the South about the middle of April, and seldom passes to the north of the States of New York and Ohio, though others, following the course of the large rivers, pen- etrate into Kentucky, Indiana, and Arkansas. Its first visits are paid to the blooming willows along the borders of water- courses, and besides other small insects it now preys on the troublesome mosquitoes. About the beginning of May it forms its nest, which is usually fixed among twigs, at the height of i o, or sometimes even 50, feet from the ground, near the summit BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER. I /I of a forest tree. It is formed of slight materials, such as the scales of buds, stems and parts of fallen leaves, withered blos- soms, fern down, and the silky fibres of various plants, lined with a few horsehairs, and coated externally with lichens. In this frail nest the Cow Troopial sometimes deposits her egg, and leaves her offspring to the care of these affectionate and pigmy nurses. In this case, as with the Cuckoo in the nest of the Yellow Wren and that of the Red-tailed Warbler, the egg is probably conveyed by the parent, and placed in this small and slender cradle, which would not be able to sustain the weight or receive the body of the intruder. Though classed with the Flycatchers by Nuttall and other writers of his day, this species is now ranked as one of the highest types of the Oscines, or Singing Birds, and a sub-tamily has been made for this and the two Western forms. Mr. William Saunders finds the present species fairly common near London, Ontario, but it is only casual in New England, and is rarely seen north of latitude 42°. It winters in the Gulf States and southward. Mr. Chapman tells us that this bird has " an exquisitely finished song," but the voice is •• possessed of so little volume as to be in- audible unless one is quite near the singer." YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT. ICTERIA VIRENS. Char. Above, olive ; lores black ; throat and breast rich yellow ; belly white. Length 7 to 8 inches. A't'jA In a thicket 2 or 3 feet from the ground ; of dried leaves, strips of bark, or grass lined with fine grass or fibres. Eggs. 3-4; white, with pink tint, spotted with brown and lilac ; 0.9c X 0.70. This remarkable bird is another summer resident of the United States which passes the winter in tropical America, being found in Guiana and Brazil, so that its migrations prob- ably extend indifferently into the milder regions of both hemispheres. Even the birds essentially tropical are still known to migrate to different distances on either side the equator, so essential and necessary is this wandering habit to almost all the feathered race. The Icteria arrives in Pennsylvania about the first week in May, and does not usually appear to proceed farther north and east than the States of New York or Connecticut. To the west it is found in Kentucky, and ascends the Ohio to the borders of Lake Erie. In the distant interior, however, near the Rocky Mountains, towards the sources of the Arkansas,, this bird was observed by Mr. Say, and Mr, Townsend saw it YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT. 1 73 at Walla-Walla, on the Columbia, breeding in the month of June. It retires to the south about the middle of August, or as soon as the only brood it raises are fitted to undertake their distant journey. The males, as in many other migrating birds, who are not continually paired, arrive several days before the females. As soon as our bird has chosen his retreat, which is commonly in some thorny or viny thicket where he can obtain concealment, he becomes jealous of his assumed rights and resents the least intrusion, scolding all who approach in a variety of odd and uncouth tones very difficult to describe or imitate, except by a whistling, in which case the bird may be made to approach, but seldom within sight. His responses on such occasions are constant and rapid, expressive of anger and anxiety ; and still unseen, his voice shifts from place to place amidst the thicket. Some of these notes resemble the whistling of the wings of a flying duck, at first loud and rapid, then sinking till they seem to end in single notes. A succession of other tones are now heard, some like the barking of young puppies, with a variety of hollow, guttural, uncommon sounds frequently repeated, and terminated occasionally by something like the mewing of a cat, but hoarser, — a tone to which all our Vireos, particularly the young, have frequent recurrence. All these notes are uttered with vehemence, and with such strange and various modulations as to appear near or distant, like the manoeuvres of ventriloquism. In mild weather also, when the moon shines, this exuberant gabbling is heard nearly throughout the night, as if the performer was disputing with the echoes of his own voice. Soon after their arrival, or about the middle of May, the Icterias begin to build, fixing the nest commonly in a bramble- bush, in an interlaced thicket, a vine, or small cedar, 4 or 5 feet from the ground. The young are hatched in the short period of 1 2 days, and leave the nest about the second week in June. While the female is sitting, the cries of the male are still more loud and incessant. He now braves concealment, and at times mounts into the air almost perpendicularly 30 174 SINGING BIRDS. or 40 feet, with his legs hanging down, and descending as he rose, by repeated jerks, he seems to be in a paroxysm of fear and anger. The usual mode of flying is not, however, different from that of other birds. The food of the Icteria consists of beetles and other shelly insects ; and as the summer advances, they feed on various kinds of berries, like the Flycatchers, and seem particularly fond of whortleberries. They are frequent through the Middle States, in hedges, thickets, and near rivulets and watery situations. This Chat is now found regularly in Connecticut and northern Ohio, and sparingly in Massachusetts. A few examples have been taken in New Hampshire and southern Ontario. YELLOW-THROATED VIREO. ViREO FLAVIFRONS. Char. Above, rich olive, shading to ashy gray on the rump ; line across the forehead and around the eyes yellow ; throat and breast rich yellow ; belly white, sides shaded with pale olive ; wings dusky with two white bars ; tail dusky, the feathers edged with white. Length 5 to 6 inches. A/'est In woods or orchard; suspended from fork of branch 5 to 30 feet from the ground (usually about 10 feet) ; a graceful and compact structure of grass and strips of bark covered with lichens and lined with grass or pine needles. ££'gs. 3-5 ; white with roseate tint, thickly spotted around the large end with shades of brown ,• 0.80 X 0.60. This species of Vireo, or Warbling Flycatcher, visits the Middle and Northern States of the Union about the beginning of May or as soon as his insect food allows him a means of subsistence. He resides chiefly in the forests, where he hunts his tiny prey among the high branches ; and as he shifts from twig to twig in restless pursuit, he often relieves his toil with a somewhat sad and indolent note, which he repeats, with some variation, at short intervals. This song appears like ''prcea ^preed, etc., and it sometimes finishes with a complaining call YELLOW-THROATED VIREO. 1 75 of recognition, ^prreaigh ^prreaigh. These syllables rise and fall in different tones as they are repeated, but though usually sweet and impressive, are delivered too slow and solemn to be generally pleasing. In other respects they considerably resem- ble the song of the Red- Eyed Warbling Flycatcher, in whose company it is often heard, blending its deep but languid warble with the loud, energetic notes of the latter ; and their united music, uttered during summer, even at noonday, is rendered peculiarly agreeable, as nearly all the songsters of the grove are now seeking a silent shelter from the sultry heat. In the warmest weather the lay of this bird is indeed peculiarly strong and lively ; and his usually long-drawn, almost plaintive notes, are now delivered in fine succession, with a peculiar echoing and impressive musical cadence, appearing like a romantic and tender revery of delight. The song, now almost incessant, heard from this roving sylvan minstrel is varied in bars nearly as follows : pred prcd preoi, preait preoit pWriwcct preeai, pewai praitm, preeai preed praoit, prcco prcdwit prceoo. When irritated, he utters a very loud and hoarse mewing praigJi pralgh. As soon, however, as the warm weather begins to decline, and the business of incubation is finished, about the beginning of August, this sad and slow but interesting musician nearly ceases his song, a few feeble farewell notes only being heard to the first week in September. This species, like the rest of the genus, constructs a very beautiful pendulous nest about 3 inches deep and 23^ in diameter. One, which I now more particularly describe, is suspended from the forked twig of an oak in the near neigh- borhood of a dwelling-house in the country. It is attached firmly all round the cun-ing twigs by which it is supported ; the stoutest external materials or skeleton of the fabric is formed of interlaced folds of thin strips of red cedar bark, connected very intimately by coarse threads and small masses of the silk of spiders' nests and of the cocoons of large moths. These threads are moistened by the glutinous saliva of the bird. Among these external materials are also blended fine blades of dry grass. The inside is thickly bedded with this 176 SINGING BIRDS. last material and fine root- fibres ; but the finishing layer, as if to preserv^e elasticity, is of rather coarse grass-stalks. Exter- nally the nest is coated over with green lichen, attached very artfijUy by slender strings of caterpillars' silk, and the whole afterwards tied over by almost invisible threads of the same, so as to appear as if glued on ; and the entire fabric now resem- bles an accidental knot of the tree grown over with moss. The food of this species during the summer is insects, but towards autumn they and their young feed also on various small berries. About the middle of September the whole move off and leave the United States, probably to winter in tropical America. Nuttall followed the older authors in naming the forest as the favorite haunt of this species. Later observers consider that it frequents orchards and fields quite as much as the woods, and it is reported as common in the gardens near Boston. It occurs in southern New England and the Middle States as far west as Iowa, and in Manitoba, where it is common. It has not been found in the Maritime Provinces, but is common near Montreal and in Ontario. BLUE-HEADED VIREO. SOLITARY VIREO. ViREO SOLITARIUS. Char. Above, bright olive; line from nostril to and around the eyes whitish ; crown and sides of head bluish ash ; beneath, white, sides and flanks, shaded with olive and yellow; wings dusky with two bars of yellowish white ; tail dusky, feathers edged with white. Length 5 to 6 inches. iVest. Suspended from fork of branch of low tree or bush ; composed of grass or vegetable fibre, ornamented with moss or lichens, lined with grass and plant down. Ei'-gs. Creamy white, spotted, in wreath around larger end, with bright brown; o.So X 0.50. This is one of the rarest species of the genus, and from Georgia to Pennsylvania seems only as a straggler or acci- dental visitor. BLUE-HEADED VIREO. 1 77 It possesses all the unsuspicious habits of the genus, allow- ing a near approach without alarm. It seldom rises beyond the tops of the canes or low bushes amidst which it is com- monly seen hopping in quest of its subsistence, which consists of insects and berries. Its flight is generally tremulous and agitated. According to Dr. Bachman, •' it is every year be- coming more abundant in South Carolina, where it remains from about the middle of February to that of March, keeping to the woods. It has a sweet and loud song of half a dozen notes, heard at a considerable distance." About the beginning of May, in the oaks already almost wholly in leaf, on the banks of the Columbia, we heard around us the plaintive deliberate warble of this species, first noticed by Wilson. Its song seems to be intermediate between that of the Red-eyed and Yellow-breasted species, having the preai, preai, etc., of the latter, and the fine variety of the former in its tones. It darted about in the tops of the trees, incessantly engaged in quest of food, now and then disputing with some rival. The nest of this bird is made much in the same manner as that of the Vireo olivaceiis. One which I examined was suspendetl from the forked twig of the wild crab-tree, at about ten feet from the ground. The chief materials were dead and whitened grass leaves, with some cobwebs agglutinated together, externally scattered with a few shreds of moss {Hypnum) . to resemble the branch on which it was hung; here and there were also a few of the white paper-hke cap- sules of the spider's nest, and it was lined with fine blades of grass and slender root-fibres. The situation, as usual, _was open but shady. This is a fairly common summer resident of northern New England, and it breeds sparingly south to the ^liddle States, and north to Hudson's Bay. It is a rare bird in the Maritime Prov- inces and in Quebec, though common in parts of Ontario. Note. — The Mountain Solitary Yiky.o {V. solitarzus alfi- cola), lately discovered by Mr. William Brewster in western North Carolina, is described as "nearly uniform blackish plumbeous, with only a faint tinge of green on the back." VOL. I. — 12 WHITE-EYED VIREO. ViREO NOVEBORACENSIS. Char. Above, olive, shading to ash on hind neck and rump ; line from nostril to and around eyes, yellow ; beneath, white, duller on throat and breast; sides shaded with yellow; wings and tail dusky; wing-bar» yellow; iris white in the adult. Length about 5 inches. A^est. Suspended from forked twig of low bush in a thicket, some- times on edge of swamp; composed of various materials, — grass, twigs, etc.. — ornamented with moss and lichens, and lined with grass, etc. Eggs. 3-5 ; white, spotted around larger end with brown ; 0.75 X 0.55. This interesting little bird appears to be a constant resident within the limits of the United States; as, on the 12th of Jan- uary, I saw them in great numbers near Charleston, S. C, feeding on the wax-myrtle berries, in company with the Yellow- Rumped Sylvias. At this season they were silent, but very familiar, descending from the bushes when whistled too, and peeping cautiously, came down close to me, looking about with complacent curiosity, as if unconscious of any danger. In the last week of February, Wilson already heard them singing in the southern parts of Georgia, and throughout that month to March, I saw them in the swampy thickets nearly every day, so that they undoubtedly reside and pass the winter in the maritime parts of the Southern States. The arrival of this little unsuspicious warbler in Pennsylvania and New England is usually about the middle of April or earlier. On the 12th of March I first heard his voice in the low thickets of West Florida. His ditty was now simply ss't (with a whistle) 7od witte witte we-wa (the first part very quick). As late as in the first week in May I observed a few stragglers in this vicinity WHITE-EVED VIREO, 1 79 peeping through the bushes ; and in the latter end of the month a pair had taken up their abode in the thickets of Fresh Pond, so that those which first arrive leave us and pro- ceed farther to the north. On the 2 2d of June I heard the male in full song, near his nest in our neighborhood, where in- cubation was going on. His warble was very pleasing, though somewhat monotonous and whimsical. This affectionate note, often repeated near to his faithful mate while confined to her nest, was like ^ tsh'ippewee-wd-say, tshappewee-'cC'ce-Kias-say, sweetly whistled, and with a greater compass of voice and loudness than might have been expected from the size of the little vocalist. The song is sometimes changed two or three tunes in the course of twenty minutes ; and 1 have heard the following phrases : 'ati tshippewat 'wurr, tshippewat 'wurr ; at another time, 'tshipeway '(she b et 'tsherr. On another visit the little performer had changed his song to '/>// tc waigh a tsheiva, with a guttural trill, as usual, at the last syllable. He soon, however, varied his lay to ^wh'ip te woi wee, the last sylla- ble but one considerably lengthened and clearly whistled. Such were the captious variations of this little quaint and peculiarly earnest musician, whose notes are probably almost continually varied. On the 6th of October I still heard one of these wan- dering little minstrels, who at intervals had for several weeks visited the garden, probably in quest of berries. His short, quaint, and more guttural song was now atshee-vait (probably the attempt of a young bird). As late as the 30th of October the White-Eyed Vireo still lingered around Cambridge, and on the margin of a pond, surrounded by weeds and willows, he was actively employed in gleaning up insects and their larvae ; and now, with a feebler tone of voice, warbled with uncommon sweetness wholly different from his usual strain, sounding some- thing like the sweet whisperings of the Song Sparrow at the present season, and was perhaps an attempt at mimickry. Occasionally, also, he blended in his harsher, scolding, or querulous mewing call. This species, like the rest, build commonly a pensile nest suspended by the upper edge of the two sides on the circular l80 SINGING BIRDS. bend, often of the smilax or green briar vine. In the Middle States they often raise 2 broods in the season, generally make choice of thorny thickets for their nest, and show much con- cern when it is approached, descending within a few feet of the intruder, looking down and hoarsely mewing and scolding with great earnestness. This petulant display of irritability is also continued when the brood are approached, though as large and as active as their vigilant and vociferous parents. In the Middle States this is a common species, but in Massachusetts rather rare. Its food, like the rest of the Vireos, is insects and various kinds of berries, for the former of which it hunts with great agility, attention, and industry. " Eastern United States, west to the Rockies, south in winter to Guatemala," is usually given as the habitat of this species. It has been seen rarely north of southern New England, and only one example has been taken in New Brunswick, though Mr. J. M. Jones considers it fairly common in portions of Nova Scotia. There is no authentic report of its occurrence in Ontario, but Mr. Mcllwraith thinks it may yet be found there. Note. — Mr. William Brewster has lately described the Key West Vikeo ( V. noveborncensis maynardi) as a larger bird than the type and of duller color, the yellow paler. Bell's Vireo ( Vireo bellii), a bird of much the same appearance and habits as the White-eyed, is found in the prairie districts of Illinois and Iowa. It ranges thence to the eastern base of the Rockies. WARBLING VIREO. Vireo gilvus. Char. Above, grayish olive brighter on the rump, shading to ashv on the head ; beneath, buffy white, flanks and sides tinged with olive yellow. Length 5 to ^Yz inches. .Vest. In open pasture or shaded street, suspended from fork of a high branch ; composed of grass and vegetable fibre, and lined with fine grass. ^■?i^- 3~4; white, spotted, chiefly about the larger end, with brown; 0.75 X 0.55. WARBLING VIREO. l8l This sweetest and most constant warbler of the forest, ex- tending his northern migrations to the confines of Canada and along the coast of the Pacific to the Oregon, arrives from trop- ical America in Pennsylvania about the middle of April, and reaches this part of New England early in May. His livery, hke that of the Nightingale, is plain and unadorned ; but the sweet melody of his voice, — surpassing, as far as Nature usually surpasses art, the tenderest airs of the flute, — poured out often from the rising dawn of day to the approach of evening, and vigorous even during the sultry heat of noon, when most other birds are still, gives additional interest to this little vocalist. While chanting forth his easy, flo\ving, tender airs, apparently without effort, so contrasted with the interrupted emphatical song of the Red- Eye, he is gliding along the thick and leafy branches of our majestic elms and tallest trees busied in quest of his restless insect prey. With us, as in Pennsylvania, the species is almost wholly confined to our villages, and even cities. It is rarely ever observed in the woods ; but from the tall trees which decorate the streets and lanes, the almost in- visible musician, secured from the enemies of the forest, is heard to cheer the house and cottage with his untiring song. As late' as the 2d of October I still distinguished his tuneful voice from amidst the yellow fading leaves of the linden, near which he had passed away the summer. The approaching dissolu- tion of those delightful connections which had been cemented by affection and the cheerless stillness of autumn, still called up a feeble and plaintive revery. Some days after this late period, warmed by the mild rays of the morning sun, I heard, as it were, faintly warbled, a parting whisper ; and about the middle of this month our vocal woods and fields were once more left in dreary silence. When offended or irritated, our bird utters an angry 'tshay 'tshay, like the Catbird and the other Vireos, and sometimes makes a loud snapping with his bill. The nest of the Warbling Vireo is generally pendulous, and ambitiously and securely sus- pended at great elevations. In our elms I have seen one of these airy cradles at the very summit of one of the most gigan- 1 82 SINGING BIRDS. tic, more than loo feet from the ground. At other times they are not more than 50 to 70 feet high. The only nest I have been able to examine was made externally of flat and dry sedge-grass blades, for which, as I have observed, are occa- sionally substituted strings of bass. These dry blades and strips are confined and tied into the usual circular form by caterpillars' silk, blended with bits of wool, silk-weed lint, and an accidental and sparing mixture of vernal grass tops and old apple-blossoms. It was then very neatly lined with the small flat blades of the meadow grass called Poa compressa. This species is rather uncommon in the Maritime Provinces excepting near the Maine border in New Brunswick, and in the more southern portions of Nova Scotia. It is fairly common in southern Quebec, and abundant in Ontario. In parts of New England and the Middle States it is a common summer resident. At the West it ranees north to the fur countries. RED-EYED VIREO. ViREO OLIVACEUS. Char. Above, bright olive, crown ashy; white line over eyes ; iris ruby red ; beneath, white faintly tinged with dull olive on sides; wings and tail dusky. Length 5>^ to 6>^ inches. Nest. In an open pasture or along margin of field ; suspended from fork of an upper branch ; composed of grass and vegetable fibre, and lined with fine grass, etc. Eggs. 3-5 ; vvhite (sometimes with a faint pink tint) spotted sparingly, around larger end, with dull brown ; o.So X 0.55. These common and indefatigable songsters appear to inhabit every part of the American continent, from Labrador to the large tropical islands of Jamaica and St. Domingo ; they are likewise resident in the mild tableland of Mexico. Those individuals who pass the summer with us, however, migrate to the warmer regions at the commencement of winter, as none are found at that season within the hmits of the United States. The Red-Eyed Vireo arrives in Pennsylvania late in April, and in New England about the beginning of May. It inhabits the RED-EYED VIREO. 1 83 shady forests or tall trees near gardens and the suburbs of villages, where its loud, lively, and energetic song is often con- tinued, with little intermission, for several hours at a time, as it darts and pries among the thick foliage in quest of insects and small caterpillars. From its first arrival until August it is the most distinguished warbler of the forest, and when almost all the other birds have become mute, its notes are yet heard with unabated vigor. Even to the 5 th of October, still enliv- ened by the feeble rays of the sun, the male faintly recalls his song, and plaintively tunes a farewell to his native woods. His summer notes are uttered in short, emphatical bars of 2 or 3 syllables, and have something in them like the simple lay of the Thrush or American Robin when he first earnestly and slowly commences his song. He often makes use, in fact, of the same expressions ; but his tones are more monotonous as well as mellow and melodious, like the rest of the Vireos. In moist and dark summer weather his voice seems to be one continued, untiring warble of exquisite sweetness ; and in the most populous and noisy streets of Boston his shrill and tender lay is commonly heard from the tall elms ; and as the bustle of carts and carriages attempts to drown his voice, he elevates his pipe with more vigor and earnestness, as if determined to be heard in spite of every discord. The call of " Wldp-Tom- kelly,'' attributed to this species by Sloane and even Wilson, I have never heard ; and common as the species is throughout the Union, the most lively or accidental fit of imagination never yet in this country conceived of such an association of sounds. I have already remarked, indeed, that this singular call is, in fact, sometimes uttered by the Tufted Titmouse. When our Vireo sings slow enough to be distinctly heard, the following sweetly warbled phrases, variously transposed and tuned, may often be caught by the attentive listener : 'tshooe pewee peedi musik ''du ^du ^du, ^tshoove ^h'ere 'hc7-e, hear here, 'k'ing^rifshard, ^p'shegru ^tshevit, 'tsheevoo ^tshuvce peedit ^pcroi, — the whole delivered almost without any sensible interval, with earnest animation, in a pathetic, tender, and pleasing strain, well calculated to produce calm and thoughtful reflection in 1 84 SINGING BIRDS. the sensitive mind. Yet while this heavenly revery strikes on the human ear with such peculiar effect, the humble musician himself seems but little concerned ; for all the while, perhaps, that this flowing chorus enchants the hearer, he is casually hopping from spray to spray in quest of his active or crawling prey, and if a cessation occurs in his almost untiring lay, it is occasioned by the caterpillar or fly he has just fortunately cap- tured. So unaffected are these delightful efforts of instinct, and so unconscious is the performer, apparently, of this pleas- ing f^iculty bestowed upon him by Nature, that he may truly be considered as a messenger of harmony to man alone. Wan- tonly to destroy these delightful aids to sentimental happiness ought therefore to be viewed, not only as an act of barbarity, but almost as a sacrilege. The Red-Eyed Vireo is one of the most favorite of all the adopted nurses of the Cowbird ; and the remarkable gentle- ness of its disposition and watchful affection for the safety of its young, or of the foundling confided to its care, amply justi- fies this selection of a foster-parent. The male, indeed, de- fends his nest while his mate is sitting, with as much spirit as the King Bird, driving away every intruder and complaining in a hoarse mewing tone when approached by any inquisitive observer. By accident the eggs were destroyed in a nest of this species in the Botanic Garden, in a sugar- maple about 20 feet from the ground. At this time no complaints were heard, and the male sang all day as cheerful as before. In a few days, unwilling to leave the neighborhood, they had made a second nest in a beech at the opposite side of the same prem- ises ; but now the male drove away every intruder with the greatest temerity. The young of this species are often hatched in about 13 days, or 24 hours later than the parasitic Troopial; but for want of room the smaller young are usually stifled or neglected. I have, however, seen in one nest a surviving bird of each kind in a fair way for being reared ; yet by a singular infatuation the supposititious bird appeared by far the most assiduously attended, and in this case the real young of the species seemed to be treated as puny foundlings. RED-EVED VIREO. 1 85 In the month of August the young fed greedily on the small berries of the bitter cornel and astringent Viburnum dentatum, as well as other kinds. One of these inexperienced birds hopped close round me in an adjoining bush, without any fear- ful apprehension ; and as late as the 26th of October two young birds of the Red-Eye were still lingering in this vicinity, and busily engaged in gleaning subsistence. Eager after flies, about the 25 th of August a young bird with hazel instead of red eyes entered a chamber in the neighborhood and became my inmate. I clipped his wing and left him at large in a room ; he soon became very gentle, took grasshoppers and flics out of my hand, eat Viburnum berries with a good appe- tite, and in short seemed pleased with his quarters. A fly could not stir but it was instantly caught ; his only difficulty was with a lame King Bird who occupied the same apartment. The King appeared very jealous of this little harmless com- panion ; snapped his bill at him when he approached, and be- grudged him subsistence when he perceived that he fed on the same food with himself. At length he would come to me for provision and for protection from his tyrannical associate. But the career of my interesting and lively companion was soon terminated by death, i)ccasioned, in all probability, by a diar- rhoea produced in consequence of swallowing a small lock of hair with his food, which was found in his stomach. This bird, very different from a Sylvia auiumnalis which I afterwards had in my possession, regurgitated by the bill, like the King Bird, pellets of the indigestible parts of his food, such as the legs and wings of grasshoppers and flies, and the skins and seeds of berries. Unlike the King Bird in one particular, however, he folded his head under his wing when at rest, and reposed with great soundness ; whereas for eight months 1 was never able to detect the former asleep. The Red-eyed Vireo breeds from the Southern States to Labrador and Manitoba, and in winter ranges from Florida to Central America. 1 86 SINGING BIRDS. PHILADELPHIA VIREO. ViREO PHILADELPHICUS. Char. Above, grayish olive, brighter on rump, shading to ashy on crown ; white line over eyes ; beneath, greenish yellow, paler on throat and belly. Length about 4^ inches. JVest. In a grove ; suspended from forked twigs of low branch ; com- posed of grass and birch bark. ££gs. 4 — ? ; white, spotted with brown ; ? This species was first described by Mr. Cassin, in 1851, from a specimen shot by him near Philadelphia in 1842. Of the bird's habits we have learned but little. The only nest yet discovered was found by Mr. Ernest E. Thompson in Manitoba in 1884. Of the bird's range we have still much to learn. It is a migrant only in southern New England, but is known to spend the summer in Maine, and has been taken at that season in New Hampshire. In 1882 our party secured several at Edmundston, in New Bruns- wick, near the Quebec border. Dr. Wheaton considered it a regu- lar spring and fall migrant through Ohio, but very few have been observed in Ontario. The song of this species is so much like that of the Red-eye, that they are not easily distinguished. Note. — Mr. Comeau has. taken at Godbout, on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, one example of the Yellow-green ViREO {V. Jiavoviridis), a bird of Mexico and Central America. MOCKINGBIRD. MliMUS POLVGLOTTOS. Char. Above, ashy gray, darker on wings and tail ; wings with two white bars ; outer tail-feathers white ; beneath, white, tinged with gray on the breast ; bill and feet black. Length 9 to ii inches. N'est. In a thicket or bunch of low bushes ; composed of twigs, roots, grass, etc. Eggs. 4-6; greenish blue to pale bufT, marked with reddish brown ; 0.9s X 0.70. This unrivalled Orpheus of the forest and natural wonder of America inhabits the whole continent, from the State of Rhode Island to the larger isles of the West Indies ; and continuing through the equatorial regions, is found in the southern hemi- sphere as far as Brazil. Nor is it at all confined to the Eastern or Atlantic States. It also exists in the wild territory of Ar- kansas more than a thousand miles from the mouth of Red River ; and I have since seen it in the scanty forests of Upper California. It breeds at the distant western sources of the Platte, near the base of the Rocky Mountains, as well as in Texas ; and Mr. Bullock saw it in the table-land of Mexico. The Mocking Bird rears its young, and consequently displays its wonderful powers, in all the intermediate regions of its residence in the United States to the peninsula of Florida. It appears, in short, permanently to inhabit the milder regions of 1 88 SINGING BIRDS. the western world in either hemisphere ; and the individuals bred north of the Delaware, on this side the equator, are all that ever migrate from their summer residence. A still more partial migration takes place also, probably, from west to east, in quest of the food and shelter which the maritime districts afford. Though now so uncommon in that vicinity, 50 or 60 years ago, according to Bartram, it even wintered near Phila- delphia, and made a temporary abode in the mantling ivy of his venerable mansion. In summer a few proceed as far as Rhode Island, following the mild temperature of the sea-coast ; but farther north these birds are, I believe, nearly unknown, except rarely and occasionally in Massachusetts near the sea. With the adv'ance of the season, also, in the country which it inhabits, varies the time of incubation. Early in April the nests are begun in the maritime parts of Georgia, but not before the middle of May in Pennsylvania. In the winter these birds chiefly subsist on berries, partic- ularly those of the Virginia juniper (called red cedar), wax- myrtle, holly, smilax, sumach, sour-gum, and a variety of others, which furnish them and many other birds with a plen- tiful repast. Insects, worms, grasshoppers, and larvje are the food on which they principally subsist when so eminently vocal and engaged in the task of rearing their young. In the South- ern States, where they are seldom molested, with ready saga- city they seem to court the society of man and fearlessly hop around the roof of the house or fly before the planter's door. When a dwelling is first settled in the wilderness, this bird is not seen sometimes in the vicinity for the first year ; but at length he pays his welcome visit to the new-comer, gratified with the little advantages he discovers around him, and seek- ing out also the favor and fortuitous protection of human society. He becomes henceforth familiar, and only quarrels with the cat and dog, whose approach he instinctively dreads near his nest, and never ceases his complaints and attacks until they retreat from his sight. None of the domestic animals, or man himself, but partic- ularly the cat and dog, can approach during the period of incubation, without receiving an attack from these affectionate MOCKINGBIRD. 189 guardians of their brood. Tiieir most insidious and deadly enemies, however, are reptiles, particularly the black snake, who spares neither the eggs nor young. As soon as his fatal approach is discovered by the male, he darts upon him without hesitation, eludes his bite, and striking him about the head, and particularly the eyes, where most vulnerable, he soon suc- ceeds in causing him to retreat, and by redoubling his blows, in spite of all pretended fascination, the wily monster often falls a victim to his temerity ; and the heroic bird, leaving his enemy dead on the field he provoked, mounts on the bush above his affectionate mate and brood, and in token of victory celebrates with his loudest song. The Mocking Bird, like the Nightingale, is destitute of bril- liant plumage ; but his form is beautiful, delicate, and symmet- rical in its proportions. His motions are easy, rapid, and graceful, perpetually animated with a playful caprice and a look that appears full of shrewdness and intelligence. He listens with silent attention to each passing sound, treasures up lessons from everything vocal, and is capable of imitating with exactness, both in measure and accent, the notes of all the feathered race. And however wild and discordant the tones and calls may be, he contrives, with an Orphean talent pecu- liarly his own, to infuse into them that sweetness of expression and harmonious modulation which characterize this inimi- table and wonderful composer. With the dawn of morning, while yet the sun lingers below the blushing horizon, our sub- lime songster, in his native wilds, mounted on the topmost branch of a tall bush or tree in the forest, pours out his admi- rable song, which, amidst the multitude of notes from all the warbling host, still rises pre-eminent, so that his solo is heard alone, and all the rest of the musical choir appear employed in mere accompaniments to this grand actor in the sublime opera of Nature. Nor is his talent confined to imitation ; his native notes are also bold, full, and perpetually varied, consisting of short expressions of a few variable syllables, interspersed with imitations and uttered with great emphasis and volubility, sometimes for half an hour at a time, with undiminished ardor. These native strains bear a considerable resemblance to those I90 SINGING BIRDS. of the Brown Thrush, to whom he is so nearly related in form, habits, and manners ; but, like rude from cultivated genius, his notes are distinguished by the rapidity of their delivery, their variety, sweetness, and energy. As if conscious of his unri- valled powers of song, and animated by the harmony of his own voice, his music is, as it were, accompanied by chromatic dancing and expressive gestures ; he spreads and closes his light and fanning wings, expands his silvered tail, and with buoyant gayety and enthusiastic ecstasy he sweeps around, and mounts and descends into the air from his lofty spray as his song swells to loudness or dies away in sinking whispers. While thus engaged, so various is his talent that it might be supposed a trial of skill from all the assembled birds of the country ; and so perfect are his imitations that even the sportsman is at times deceived, and sent in quest of birds that have no existence around him. The feathered tribes them- selves are decoyed by the fancied call of their mates, or dive with fear into the close thicket at the well-feigned scream of the Hawk. Soon reconciled to the usurping fancy of man, the Mocking Bird often becomes familiar with his master ; playfully attacks him through the bars of his cage, or at large in a room ; rest- less and capricious, he seems to try every expedient of a lively imagination that may conduce to his amusement. Nothing escapes his discerning and intelligent eye or faithful ear. He whistles perhaps for the dog, who, deceived, runs to meet his master ; the cries of the chicken in distress bring out the clucking mother to the protection of her brood. The barking of the dog, the piteous wailing of the puppy, the mewing of the cat, the action of a saw, or the creaking of a wheelbarrow, quickly follow with exactness. He repeats a tune of consider- able length ; imitates the warbling of the Canary, the lisping of the Indigo Bird, and the mellow whistle of the Cardinal, in a manner so superior to the originals that, mortified and aston- ished, they withdraw from his presence, or listen in silence as he continues to triumph by renewing his efforts. In the cage also, nearly as in the woods, he is full of life and action while engaged in song, throwing himself round with in- MOCKINGBIRD. 191 spiring animation, and, as it were, moving in time to tlie melody of his own accents. Even the hours of night, which consign nearly all other birds to rest and silence, like the Nightingale he oft employs in song, serenading the houseless hunter and silent cottager to repose, as the rising moon illumines the darkness of the shadowy scene. His capricious fondness for contrast and perpetual variety appears to deteriorate his pow- ers. His imitations of the Brown Thrush are perhaps inter- rupted by the crowing of the cock or the barking of the dog ; the plaintive warblings of the Bluebird are then blended with the chatter of the Swallow or the cackling of the hen ; amid the simple lay of the native Robin we are surprised with the vociferations of the Whip-poor-will ; while the notes of the garrulous Jay, Wren, and many others succeed with such an appearance of reality that we almost imagine ourselves in the presence of the originals, and can scarcely realize the fact that the whole of this singular concert is the effort of a single bird. Indeed, it is impossible to listen to these Orphean strains, when delivered by a superior songster in his native woods, without being deeply affected and almost riveted to the spot by the complicated feelings of wonder and delight in which, from the graceful antl sympathetic action, as well as enchanting voice of the performer, the eye is no less gratified than the ear. It is, however, painful to reflect that these ex- traordinary powers of nature, exercised with so much generous freedom in a state of confinement, are not calculated for long endurance, and after this most wonderful and interesting pris- oner has survived for 6 or 7 years, blindness often terminates his gay career ; and thus shut out from the cheering light, the solace of his lonely bu-t active existence, he now after a time droops in silent sadness and dies. The Mockingbird is a rare but regular summer visitor to Rhode Island, Connecticut, and southern Massachusetts, and examples have been taken in Maine. Mr. Mcllwraith reports that a pair spent the summer of 1883 near Hamilton. Ontario, and C. A. McLennan records in the O. & O. the capture of one near Truro, N. S. The species is chiefly restricted to the Southern States. BROWN THRASHER. BROWN THRUSH. Harporhynchus RUFUS. Char. Above, bright reddish brown or rufous ; beneath, white, tinged with rufous or buff; breast and side spotted with brown; bill about as long as the head. Length loVz to 12 inches. A^est. In a thicket or low bush, and sometimes on the ground ; bulky, and loosely constructed of twigs, roots, and dried grass, sometimes lined with horse-hair or feathers. £^!;'s. 3-6 (usually 4) ; dull white with buffer green tint, marked with minute spots of reddish brown; i.oo X o.So. This large and well-known songster, inferior to none but the Mocking Bird in musical talent, is found in every part of this continent, from Hudson's Bay to the shores of the Mexican Gulf, breeding in all the intermediate space, though more abundantly towards the North. It retires to the South early in October, in the States north of the Carolinas, and probably ex- tends its migrations at this season through the warmer regions towards the borders of the tropics. From the 15 th of April to early in May these birds begin to revisit the Middle and Northern States, keeping pace in some measure with the progress of vegetation and the comparative BROWN THRASHER. 1 93 advancement of the season. They appear always to come in pairs, so that their mutual attachment is probably more durable than the season of incubation. Stationed on the top of some tall orchard or forest tree, the male, gay and animated, salutes the morn of his arrival with his loud and charming song. His voice, somewhat resembling that of the Thrush of Europe, but far more varied and powerful, rises pre-eminent amidst all the vocal choir of the forest. His music has the full charm of in- nate originality ; he takes no delight in mimickry, and has therefore no title to the name of Mocking Bird. On his first appearance he falters in his song, like the Nightingale ; but when his mate commences her cares and labors, his notes attain all their vigor and variety. The young birds, even of the first season, in a state of solitary domestication, without the aid of the parent's voice, already whisper forth in harmonious revery the pathetic and sweet warble instinctive to the species. In the month of May, while the blooming orchards perfume and decorate the landscape, the enchanting voice of the Thrasher in his affectionate lay seems to give grateful utter- ance for the bounty and teeming profusion of Nature, and falls in pleasing unison with the harmony and beauty of the season. From the beginning to the middle of May the Thrashers are engaged in building their nest, selecting for this purpose usu- ally a low, thick bush, in some retired thicket or swamp a few feet from the earth, and sometimes even on the ground in some sheltered tussuck, or near the root of a bush. They dis- play the most ardent affection for their young, attacking snakes, dogs, and cats in their defence. One of the parents, usually the male, seems almost continually occupied in guard- ing against any dangerous intruder. The cat is attacked com- monly at a considerable distance from -the young, and the woods echo with his plaintive ye-ow, ye-oiv, and the low, guttural, angry 'tsh 'tsh 'tsh ''tsh. The enemy is thus pursued off the field, commonly with success, as guilty grimalkin ap- pears to understand the threatening gestures and complaints with which she is so incessantly assailed. Towards their more VOL. I. — 13 194 SINGING BIRDS. insidious enemies of the human species, when approaching the helpless or unfledged young, every art is displayed ; threats, entreaties, and reproaches the most pathetic and powerful, are tried in no equivocal strain ; they dart at the ravisher in wild despair, and lament, in the most touching strains of sorrow, the bereavement they suffer. I know of nothing equal to the burst of grief manifested by these affectionate parents excepting the afflicting accents of suffering humanity. Their food consists of worms and insects generally ; also caterpillars, beetles, and other coleopterous tribes, as well as various kinds of berries. In the month of January I observed this Thrush and the Mocking Bird feed on the berries of the sumach. Sometimes they raise up a few grains of planted corn, but this is more the effect of caprice than appetite, as the search for grubworms is what commonly induces this resort to scratching up the soil. The Thrasher is an active, watchful, shy, and vigorous species, generally flying low, dwel- ling among thickets, and skipping from bush to bush with his long tail sometimes spread out like a fan. About the first week in October, after moulting, they disappear for the season and pass the winter in the Southern States. By the middle of February, or early in March, they already display their vocal powers in the warmer parts of Georgia and West Florida. They are easily reared, and become very familiar and amusing companions, showing a strong attachment to the hand that feeds and protects them. In their manners, intelligence, song, and sagacity, they nearly approach to the Mocking Bird, being equally playful, capricious, petulant, and affectionate. The Thrasher is abundant in Massachusetts, and is found in Ver- mont and New Hampshire, but near the Atlantic seaboard does not go farther north than southern Maine. It occurs regularlv in the vicinity of Montreal, and is common in Ontario and Manitoba. It winters from about 37° southward. CATBIRD. 195 CATBIRD. Galeoscoptes carolixexsis. Char. General color dark slate, paler beneath ; top of head and tail black ; under tail-coverts chotnut. Length S to g^{ inches. A^esi. In thicket or orchard ; bulky, and rudely constructed of twigs, leaves, and grass, lined with grass or fine roots. £^^s. 4-6 ; deep bluish green ; 0.95 X 0.70. This quaint and familiar songster passes the winter in the southern extremities of the United States and along the coast of Mexico, whence as early as February it arrives in Geor- gia. About the middle of April it is first seen in Penn- sylvania, and at length leisurely approaches this part of New England by the close of the first or beginning of the second week in May. These birds continue their migration also to Canada, where they proceed into the fur-countries as far as the 45th parallel, arriving on the banks of the Saskatchewan about the close of May. Throughout this extent and to the territory of the Mississippi they likewise pass the period of in- cubation and rearing their young. They remain in New Eng- land till about the middle of October, at which time the young feed principally upon wild berries. The Catbird often tunes his cheerful song before the break of day, hopping from bush to bush with great agility after his insect prey, while yet scarcely distinguishable amidst the dusky shadows of the dawn. The notes of different individuals vary considerably, so that sometimes his song in sweetness and compass is scarcely at all inferior to that of the Ferniginous Thrush. A quaintness, however, prevails in all his efforts, and his song is frequently made up of short and blended imitations of other birds, — given, however, with great emphasis, melody, and variety of tone, and, like the Nightingale, invading the hours of repose. In the late twilight of a summer's evening, when scarce another note is heard but the hum of the drowsy beetle, his music attains its full effect, and often rises and falls with all the swell and studied cadence of finished harmony. 196 SINGING BIRDS. During the heat of the day, or late in the morning, the variety of his song decUnes, or he pursues his employment in silence and retirement. About the 25 th of May one of these familiar birds came into the Botanic Garden and took up his summer abode with us. Soon after his arrival he called up in low whisperings the notes of the Whip-poor-will, the Redbird, the peto peio of the Tufted Titmouse, and other imitations of Southern birds which he had collected on his leisurely route from the South. He also soon mocked the ''tshe-ycih ' tshe-yah of the little Acadian Flycatch- ers, with which the neighborhood now abounded. He fre- quently answered to my whistle in the garden, was very silent during the period of incubation, and expressed great anxiety and complaint on my approaching the young after their leaving the nest. One of the most remarkable propensities of the Catbird, and to which it owes its name, is the unpleasant, loud, and grating cat-like meio Cpay, ^pay, ^pay) which it often utters on being approached or offended. As the irritation increases, this note becomes more hoarse, reiterated, and vehement ; and some- times this petulance and anger are carried so far as to per- secute every intruder who approaches the premises. This temper often prevails after the young are fledged ; and though originating no doubt in parental anxiety, it sometimes appears to outlive that season, and occasionally becomes such an an- noyance that a revengeful and fatal blow from a stick or stone is but too often, with the thoughtless and prejudiced, the re- ward of this harmless and capricious provocation. At such times, with little apparent cause, the agitation of the bird is excessive ; she hurries backward and forward with hanging wings and open mouth, mewing and screaming in a paroxysm of scolding anger, and alighting almost to peck the very hand that offers the insult. To touch a twig or branch in any part of the garden or wood is often amply sufficient to call down the amusing termagant. This harmless excess, and simulation of grimalkin's tone, — that wizard animal so much disliked by many, — are unfortunate associations in the cry of the Cafhml ; CATBIRD. 197 and thus, coupled with an ill name, this delightful and familiar songster, who seeks out the very society of man and reposes an unmerited confidence in his protection, is treated with un- deserved obloquy and contempt. The flight of the Catbird is laborious, and usually continued only from bush to bush ; his progress, however, is very wily, and his attitudes and jerks amusingly capricious. He appears to have very little fear of enemies, often descends to tne ground in quest of insects, and though almost familiar, is very quick in his retreat from real danger. The food of the Catbird is similar to that of the preceding species, being insects and worms, particularly beetles, and va- rious garden fruits ; feeding his young often on cherries and various kinds of berries. Sometimes these birds are obser\-ed to attack snakes when they approach the vicinity of the nest, and commonly succeed in driving off the enemy ; when bitten, however, by the poisonous kinds, it is probable, as related, that they may act in such a manner as to appear laboring under the influence of fascination. The Catbird, when raised from the nest, is easily domesticated, becomes a very amusing inmate, and seems attached to his cage, as to a dwelling or place of security. About dawn of day, if at large, he flirts about with affected wildness, repeatedly jerks his tail and wings with the noise almost of a whip, and stretching forth his head, opens his mouth and mews. Sometimes this curious cry is so guttural as to be uttered without opening the bill. He often also gives a squeal as he flies from one place to another, and is very tame, though pugnacious to all other birds which approach him for injury. When wanting food, he stirs round with great uneasiness, jerks everything about within his reach, and utters the feeble cry of the caged Mocking Bird. A very amusing individual, which I now describe, began his vocal powers by imitating the sweet and low warble of the Song Sparrow, as given in the autumn ; and from his love of imita- tion on other occasions, I am inclined to believe that he pos- sesses no original note of his own. but acquires and modulates the songs of other birds. Like the Robin, he is exceedingly 198 SINGING BIRDS. fond of washing, and dashes about in the water till every feather appears drenched ; he also, at times, basks in the gravel in fine weather. His food, in confinement, is almost everything vegetable except unbruised seeds, — as bread, fine pastry, cakes, scalded cornmeal, fruits, particularly those which are juicy, and now and then insects and minced flesh. The Catbird occurs regularly along the Annapolis valley in Nova Scotia, and in New Brunswick between the Maine border and the valley of the St. John, but it is rarely seen elsewhere in the Maritime Provinces. It is fairly common near the city of Quebec, and abundant about Montreal and in Ontario. ROBIN. Merula migratoria. Char. Above, olive gray; head and neck darker, sometimes black; wings and tail dusky ; outer tail-feathers broadly tipped with white ; be- neath, brownish red; throat white with dark streaks; under tail-coverts white; bill yellow. Length 9 to 10 inches. Nest. Usually in a tree, but often on fence-rail or window-ledge of house or barn ; a bulky but compact structure of grass, twigs, etc., cemented with mud. Eggs. 4-5; greenish blue (occasionally speckled) ; 1.15 X o.So. The familiar and welcome Robins are found in summer throughout the North American continent from the desolate regions of Hudson's Bay, in the 53d degree, to the tableland of Mexico. In all this vast space the American fieldfares rear their young, avoiding only the warmer maritime districts, to which, however, they flock for support during the inclemency of winter. The Robins have no fixed time for migration, nor any particular rendezvous ; they retire from the higher lati- tudes only as their food begins to fail, and so leisurely and desultory are their movements that they make their appear- ance in straggling parties even in Massachusetts, feeding on winter berries till driven to the South by deep and inundating snows. At this season they swarm in the Southern States, though they never move in large bodies. The holly, prinos. ROBIN. 199 sumach, smilax, candle-berry myrtle, and the Virginian juniper now afford them an ample repast in the winter, in the absence of the more juicy berries of autumn, and the insects and worms of the milder season. Even in the vicinity of Boston flocks of Robins are seen, in certain seasons, assembling round open springs in the depth of winter, having arrived probably from the colder interior of the State ; and in those situations they are consequently often trapped and killed in great numbers. Towards the close of January in South Carolina the Robin at intervals still tuned his song ; and about the second week of March, in the Middle States, before the snows of winter have wholly disappeared, a few desultory notes are already given. As soon as the loth of this month they may at times also be heard in this part of New England. Early in April, however, at the close of the jealous contests, which are waged with ob- stinacy, they are only seen in pairs ; and now from the orchard or the edge of the forest, deliver their simple, thrilling lays in all the artless energy of true affection. This earnest song re- calls to mind the mellow whistle of the Thrush, which in the charming month of May so sweetly rises in warbling echoes from the low copse and shady glen. Our American bird has not, however, the compass and variety of that familiar and much-loved songster ; but his freedom and willingness to please, render him an universal favorite, and he now comes, as it were, with the welcome prelude to the general concert about to burst upon us from all the green woods and blooming orchards. With this pleasing association with the opening season, amidst the fragrance of flowers and the improving ver- dure of the fields, we listen with peculiar pleasure to the sim- ple song of the Robin. The confidence he reposes in us by making his abode in our gardens and orchards, the frankness and innocence of his manners, besides his vocal powers to please, inspire respect and attachment even in the truant school-boy, and his exposed nest is but rarely molested. He owes, however, this immunity in no small degree to the fortu- nate name which he bears ; as the favorite Robin Redbreast, said to have covered with a leafy shroud the lost an' repetition. Rival performers seem to challenge each other from various parts of the wood, vying for the favor of their mates with sympathetic responses and softer tones ; and some, waging a jealous strife, terminate the warm dispute by an appeal to combat and vio- lence. Like the Robin and the Thrasher, in dark and gloomy weather, when other birds are sheltered and silent, the clear notes of the Wood Thrush are heard through the dropping woods from dawn to dusk, so that the sadder the day, the sweeter and more constant is his song. His clear and inter- rupted whistle is likewise often nearly the only voice of melody heard by the traveller, to mid-day, in the heat of summer, as he traverses the silent, dark, and wooded wilderness, remote from the haunts of men. It is nearly impossible by words to con- vey any idea of the peculiar warble of this vocal hermit ; but amongst his phrases the sound of 'airdee, peculiarly liquid, and followed by a trill repeated in two interrupted bars, is readily recognizable. At times the notes bear a considerable resem- blance to those of Wilson's Thrush ; such as eh rhehu 'vrhehji, then varied to 'eh vilFia villia, ''eh villia vt'hehu, then 'eh vtlu villiu, high and shrill. The Wood Thrush is always of a shy and retiring disposi- tion, appearing alone or only in single pairs, and while he willingly charms us with his song, he is content and even soli- 204 SINGING BIRDS. citous to remain concealed. His favorite haunts are low, shady glens by watercourses, often rendered dark with alder-bushes, mantled with the trailing grape-vine. In quest of his insect prey, he delights to follow the meanders of the rivulet, through whose leafy shades the sunbeams steal only in a few inter- rupted rays over the sparkling surface of the running brook. So partial is this bird to solitude that I have known one to sing almost uniformly in the same place, though nearly half a mile from his mate and nest. At times indeed he would ven- ture a few faltering, low notes in an oak near his consort, but his mellowest morning and evening warble was always deliv- ered from a tall hickory, overtopping a grove of hemlock firs, in which the dimness of twilight prevailed even at noon. The Wood Thrush, like the Nightingale, therefore feels inspired in darkness ; but instead of waiting for the setting sun, he chooses a retreat where the beams of day can seldom enter. These shady retreats have also an additional attraction to our Thrush ; it is here that the most interesting scene of his instinctive labor begins and ends ; here he first saw the light and breathed into existence ; and here he now bestows his nest in a sapling oak, or in the next thick laurel or blooming alder, whose ber- ries afford him ample repast in the coming autumn. Beetles, caterpillars, various insects, and in autumn, berries, constitute the principal food of the Wood Thrush. The young remain for weeks around gardens in quest of berries, and are particu- larly fond of those of the various species of cornel and vibur- num. At this season they occasionally leave their favorite glens, and in their devious wanderings, previous to their de- parture, sometimes venture to visit the rural suburbs of the city. The young are easily raised, and sing nearly as well in the cage as in their native wilds. Nuttall made a mistake in giving to the Wood Thrush so ex- tended a range, and must have confused this species with the Olive-backed, of which he makes no mention. In New England the Wood Thrush is rarely found north of Massachusetts excepting in western Vermont. It occurs in the southern parts of Ontario and Michigan, and has been taken in Minnesota. It has been found in winter in Cuba and Guatemala. HERMIT THRUSH. 205 HERxMIT THRUSH. SWAMP ROBIN. TURDUS AONALASCHK.E PALLASII. Char. Above, olive brown or russet, shading to rufous on rump and tail ; beneath buffish, shaded with olive on sides ; throat and breast marked with olive wedge-shaped spots. Length 6% to 7^ inches. Nest. On the ground, loosely made of leaves, grass, and moss. Egg^- 3-5 ; greenish blue ; 0.85 X 0.65. This species, so much like the Nightingale in color, is scarce inferior to that celebrated bird in its powers of song, and greatly exceeds the Wood Thrush in the melody and sweetness of its lay. It inhabits the United States from the lofty alpine mountains of New Hampshire to Florida. It is also met with on the tableland of Mexico and in the warmer climate of the Antilles. In Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New England, at the close of autumn, it appears to migrate eastward to the sea- coast in quest of the winter berries on which it now feeds ; in spring and summer it lives chiefly on insects and their larvae, and also collects the surviving berries of the Mitchella trpciis. Like the preceding species, it appears to court solitude, and lives wholly in the woods. In the Southern States, where it inhabits the whole year, it frequents the dark and desolate shades of the cane swamps. In these almost Stygian regions, which, besides being cool, abound probably with its favorite insect food, we are nearly sure to meet our sweetly vocal hermit flitting through the settled gloom, which the brightest rays of noon scarcely illumine with more than twilight. In one of such swamps, in the Choctaw nation, Wilson examined a nest of this species which was fixed on the horizontal branch of a tree, formed with great neatness and without using any plastering of mud. The outside was made of a layer of coarse grass, having the roots attached, and intermixed with horse- hair ; the lining consisted of green filiform blades of dry grass very neatly wound about the interior. In the jSIiddle States these birds are only seen for a few 206 SINGING BIRDS. weeks in the spring and fall. They arrive in this part of New England about the loth of April, and disperse to pass the summer in the seclusion of the forest. They are often seen on the ground in quest of their food, and frequent low and thick copses, into which they commonly fly for concealment when too attentively observed ; though when in small companies, in the spring season, they do not appear very shy, but restless from the unsettled state of their circumstances. When dis- persed, they utter a low, chirping call, and for some time continue to frequent the same secluded part of the forest in society. At times, Uke the Wagtail, they keep this part of their body in a slow, vertical motion. In manners they strongly resemble the following species, but their song seems to be unusually lively and varied. The Hermit is a common bird in the Maritime Provinces and Quebec, and nests from about latitude 44° northward. It is com- mon on Anticosti and along the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and has been taken at Lake Mistassini. In Ontario it occurs chiefly as a migrant, though breeding in the Muskoka district. In New England also it is principally known as a migrant, breeding in numbers only along the northern border and on the higher hills of Connecticut and Massachusetts. The nest has been taken in Ohio and in southern Michigan. The opinions expressed by Nuttall that the Hermit Thrush is a peculiarly shy and solitar}' bird, and that its favorite resorts are amid the deep forests, are, I think, somewhat misleading; at least my observations in New Brunswick led me to form quite different opinions. I did find these birds courting retirement and appar- ently destitute of either vanity or curiosity; but they always dis- played a calm self-possession that is inconsistent with shyness. Nor were they peculiarly solitary, for though it was unusual to see a number of them in close companionship, it was not unusual to meet with half a dozen in as many minutes, or to find as many nests within a small area. Like all woodland birds, they prefer the groves to the open fields, and they enjoy a cool shade in a moist valley; but they build their nests near the settlements, and rarely go into the denser for- ests. This is their habit in New Brunswick, though of course when farther north they must resort to the timber districts: there are few settlements to attract them. WILSON'S THRUSH. TAWNY THRUSH. VEERY. TURDUS FUSCESCENS. Char. Above, light tawny or rufous ; beneath, white, shaded with creamy buff on breast, and with olive on sides ; breast spotted with tawny. Length 6'4 to 7^4 inches. Nest. On the ground or near it, usually at the base of small tree or in tuft of old grass ; of leaves and grass, lined with fine roots. Eggs. 3-5 ; pale greenish blue ; 0.85 X 0.65. This common Northern species arrives in Pennsylvania and New England about the beginning of May, and its northern range extends as far as Labrador. It appears to retire to the South early in October, and is more decidedly insectivorous than any other native species. According to Wilson, many of 208 SINGING BIRDS. these birds winter in the myrtle-swamps of South Carolina. I have not, however, seen them in the Southern States at that season, and most part of the species pass on probably as far as the coast of the Mexican Gulf. They do not, according to Wilson, breed in the lower parts of Pennsylvania, though un- doubtedly they do in the mountainous districts, where they are seen as late as the 20th of May. They propagate and are very common in Massachusetts. In its retiring habits and love of concealment this Thrush resembles the preceding. It frequents the dark and shady borders of small brooks and woods, and sometimes the bushy and retired parts of the garden ; from whence, without being often seen, in the morning and particularly the evening to the very approach of night, we often hear the singular, quaint, and musical note of this querulous species at short intervals, as one perches upon some low branch of a tree or bush. This curious whistling note sounds like 'vehu ''v'rchu 'v'rehu 'v'trhi'/, and sometimes 'ved ved 'vrehd 'vrchd vehu, running up the notes till they become shrill and quick at the close, in the first phrase, but from high to low, and terminating slender and slow, in the latter ; another expression seems to be, 've 'ved vehurr, ascending like a whistle. The song of another indi- vidual was expressed in the following manner : 've 'villiirviirdl 'tuUull 'tiiUiil. It was then repeated with variation, 've viirillil villill villill ; then viUillill viirdlill, tuirilill tuHilill ; the whole agreeably and singularly delivered in a shrill, hollow voice, almost like the sound of liquor passing through a tunnel into a bottle. I have also heard several of these sounds, sometimes occasionally prefaced by a mewing or chirping warble. These sounds, though monotonous, are possessed of greater variety than is at first imagined, the terminating tone or key changing through several repetitions, so as to constitute a harmony and melody in some degree approaching the song of the more musical Wood Thrush. From this habit of serenading into the night, the species is sometimes here dignified with the nickname of the Nightingale. Occasionally he utters an angry, rather plaintive mew, like the Catbird, or a quivering bleat WILSON'S THRUSH, 209 almost similar to that of a lamb ; and when approached, watches and follows the intruder with an angry or petulant qicedh queah ; at other times a sort of mewing, melancholy, or com- plaining yi?ct£/ 'feow is heard, and then, perhaps, a hasty and impatient /£7///tv// follows. The food of this species, at least during the early part of summer, appears to be shelly insects of various kinds, particularly Chrysomelas, or lady-bugs, and those many legged hard worms of the genus lulus. A good while after the commencement of the period of in- cubation I have observed the males engaged in obstinate quar- rels. On the 4th of June, 1830, I observed two of these petulant Thrushes thus fiercely and jealously contending ; one of them used a plaintive and angry tone as he chased his antagonist up and down the tree. At length, however, a cousin Catbird, to which this species has some affinity, stepped in be- twixt the combatants, and they soon parted. One of these birds had a nest and mate in the gooseberry bush of a neigh- boring garden ; the second bird was thus a dissatisfied hermit, and spent many weeks in the Botanic Garden^ where, though at times sad and solitary, yet he constantly amused us with his forlorn song, and seemed at last, as it were, acquainted with those who whistled for him, peeping out of the bushes with a sort of complaisant curiosity, and from his almost nocturnal habits became a great persecutor of the assassin Owl whenever he dared to make his appearance. The nest of Wilson's Thrush (commenced about the close of the first week in May) is usually in a low and thorny bush in the darkest part of the forest, at no great distance from the ground (i to 3 feet), sometimes indeed on the earth, but raised by a bed of leaves, and greatly resembles that of the Catbird. This species seems, indeed, for security artfully to depend on the resemblance of itself and its leafy nest with the bosom of the forest on which it rests, and when approached it sits so close as nearly to admit of being taken up by the hand. The nest sometimes appears without any shelter but shade and association of colors with the place on which it rests. I have seen one placed on a mass of prostrated dead brambles, on a VOL. I. — 14 2IO SINGING BIRDS. fallen heap of lilac twigs in a ravine, and also in a small withered branch of red oak which had fallen into a bush ; be- low it was also bedded with exactly similar leaves, so as easily to deceive the eye. But with all these precautions they appear to lose many eggs and young by squirrels and other animals. The nest is usually bottomed with dry oak or beech leaves, coarse stalks of grass and weeds, and lined very generally with naturally dissected foliage, its stalks, some fine grass, and at other times a mixture of root-fibres ; but no earth is employed in the fabric. The eggs, 4 or 5, are of an emerald green with- out spots, and differ from those of the Catbird only in being a little smaller and more inclined to blue. So shy is the species that though I feigned a violent chirping near the nest contain- ing their young, which brought Sparrows and a neighboring Baltimore to the rescue, the parents, peeping at a distance, did not venture to approach or even express any marked concern, though they prove ver)' watchful guardians when their brood are fledged and with them in the woods. They have com- monly two broods in the season ; the second being raised about the middle of July, after which their musical notes are but seldom heard. I afterwards by an accident obtained a young fledged bird, which retained in the cage the unsocial and silent timidity peculiar to the species. Wilson's Thrush breeds farther to the southward than the Her- mit, but does not range quite so far north. It is common in the Maritime Provinces and near the city of Quebec, but has not been taken recently on the north shore of the Gulf of St, Lawrence. Though it is abundant in Manitoba, and Chapman reports its occurrence in Newfoundland, it breeds abundantly in Ontario and in northern Ohio. In New Brunswick I have found the nest as frequently in an open pasture as in more obscure places. Note. — The Willow Thrush (T. fuscescens salicicola), a Rocky Mountain form, occurs occasionally in Illinois and casually in South Carolina. GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH. 211 OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH. TURDUS USTULATUS SWAINSONII. Char. Above, olive ; beneath, white, shaded with olive on the sides ; sides of head, neck, and breast tinged with buff ; throat and breast spotted with olive ; yellowish ring around the eye. Length bYz to 7^ inches. A^est. In a low tree or bush ; of twigs, leaves, grass, etc. Eggs. 3-4; greenish blue speckled with brown ; 0.90 X 0.65. This species was omitted by Nuttall, though given by Wilson. It has much the same range and similar habits as the Hermit, though differing in its song and the location of its nest. The tone of its voice is richer and rounder — more flute-like and less metallic — than that of any other of the small Thrushes ; but the song lacks that spiritual quality so conspicuous in the hymn-like melody of the Hermit. The Olive-backed is found throughout the temperate region of eastern North America, and westward to the eastern base of the Rockies. It breeds in northern New England and northward, and in the elevated portions of Massachusetts and Connecticut, as well as in northern New York and Michigan, and winters in the Gulf States and southward to Panama. It is common in the Maritime Provinces, but is reported rather rare between Montreal and Lake Huron, though it being an abun- dant migrant through Ohio, I should expect to find it plentiful in portions of Ontario. GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH. ALICE'S THRUSH. TuRDUS ALICL«. Char. Above, olive ; cheeks grayish, a whitish ring round the eyes ; beneath, white ; sides tinged with olive ; throat and breast tinged with buff and marked with large dark spots. Length 7 to 7^^ inches. Xest. In a low bush or on the ground; of grass and leaves, etc., lined with fine grass. Eggs. 3-4; greenish blue spotted with brown ; 0.90 X 0.70. After much contention as to the validity of Alice's Thrush as a variety of the Olive-backed, the systematists have decided to give it 212 SINGING BIRDS. specific rank. In appearance it differs from swainsonii chiefly in lacking the yellow around the eye, and in having gray instead of buff cheeks. Alicice is also a trifle the larger of the two. The distribution of the present species has not yet been thor- oughly worked out, for only a few years have passed since its discovery; but it is known to occur in the United States' and the settled portions of Canada as a migrant only, breeding north to the Arctic, and wintering south to Costa Rica. BIC KNELL'S THRUSH. TURDUS ALICLB BICKNELLI. Char. Above, olive, varying from a grayish to a russet tmt ; wings and tail slightly browner than back ; distinct ring of pale buff around the eyes; cheeks bufiish ; beneath, white, tinged with olive on the sides; throat and breast tinged with buff and marked with large dark spots. Length 7 to -^Vz inches. A^est. On the ground, in a thicket ; composed of twigs, grass, and moss, lined with grass. Eggs. 3-4 ; pale blueish green speckled with brown ; 0.S5 X 065. This variety of the Gray-cheeked Thrush was discovered by Mr. Eugene P. Bicknell amid the Catskill Mountains in 1885. It has been found on all the higher ranges of Eastern America and in Illinois, and Mr. Langille claims to have discovered the nest on an island off the southern coast of Nova Scotia. WATER THRUSH. water wagtail. Seiurus noveeoracensis. Char, .\bove, deep olive brown ; line over the eve whitish- beneath, white tinged with bright yellow, and spotted with olive. Length ^3^ to 6 inches. Nest. On the ground, in border of swamp or stream ; bulky, and loosely made of moss, leaves, and grass, lined with roots. Sometimes deeply imbedded in moss, or covered with it. Eggs. 4-6; white, spotted, most heavily near the larger end, with brown and lilac; 0.75 X o 55. WATER-THRUSH. 213 This shy and retiring sylvan species extends its summer migrations throughout the United States, breeding rarely in Pennsylvania, proceeding principally to the western and northern regions at the period of incubation. Mr. Townsend and myself observed this bird in Oregon, as well as in Missouri, where it was, no doubt, breeding, and sung in a very lively manner, keeping in a shady wood which bordered a small stream, often descending to the ground after aquatic insects or larva;, and with the tail in a constant balancing motion, re- mimling us strongly of the Wagtail or Motacilla of Europe. The Aquatic Thrush has, indeed, a particular partiality for the vicinity of waters, wading in the shallow streams in search of insects, moving its tail as it leisurely follows its pursuit, and chattering as it flies. During its transient migrating visits it is very timid, and darts into the thickets as soon as approached, uttering a sharp and rather plaintive ishif of alarm. About the beginning of May, these birds appear in Pennsylvania from the South, and stay around dark and solitary streams for ten or twelve days, and then disappear until about the middle (jf August, when, on their way to their tropical winter quarters, they leave the swamps and mountains of their summer retreat, and, after again gleaning a transient subsistence for a few days towards the sea-coast, depart for the season. In Massachu- setts they are scarcely ever seen except in the autumn, and continue in shady gardens, probably feeding on small wild berries till nearly the close of September. It appears, according to Wilson, that the favorite resort of this species is in the cane-brakes, swamps, river shores, and watery solitudes of Louisiana, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Here it is abundant, and is eminenth' distinguished by the loudness, sweetness, and expressive vivacity of its notes, which, beginning high and clear, flow and descend in a cadence so delicate as to terminate in sounds that are scarcely audible. At such times the singer sits perched on some branch which stretches impending over the flowing stream, and pours out his charming melody with such effect as to be heard at the dis- tance of nearly half a mile, giving a peculiar charm to the dark 214 SINGING BIRDS. and solitary wilds he inhabits. The silence of night is also, at times, relieved by the incessant warble of this Western Philo- mel, whose voice, breaking upon the ear of the lonely traveller in the wilderness, seems like the dulcet lay of something super- natural. His song is also heard in the winter when the weather proves mild. In this habit he appears considerably allied to the Reed Thrush or River Nightingale of Europe, which night and day almost ceaselessly sings, and soothes his sitting mate, among the reeds and marshes of his favorite resorts. Since Xuttall's day the Wnter Thrush has been separated from the true Thrushes and class>;d with the Warblers. The birds seen by Wilson and Audubon in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Mississippi were doubtless referable to niotacilla, for though the present spe- cies is found throughout this Eastern Province, west to Illinois and Manitoba, it seldom has been discovered breeding south of 45°. It is a rather common spring and autumn visitor to Massachusetts, and may breed in small numbers on the Berkshire hills. On the plains the type is replaced by the variety named notabilis, — Gkixnell's Water-Thrush. — which is larger and darker. Notabilis occurs occasionally in Illinois and Indiana. LOUISIANA WATER THRUSH. Seiurus motacilla. Char. Similar to mweboraccnsis, but larger, and bill longer and stouter. Under parts tinged with buff, but never with bright yellow; throat free from spots. Length 5^ to 6>^ inches. N^est. On the ground, hidden amid roots of fallen tree, or on a mossy bank ; composed of leaves, grass, and moss, lined with grass and hair. Ezi(s. 4-6; white, sometimes with creamy tint, speckled with brown and lilac; 075 Xo 60. The range of this species extends from southern New England, the Great Lakes, and Minnesota (in summer) to the Gulf States and Central America (in winter). A few pairs are seen every sea- son in southern Ontario. Its habits do not differ from those of its congener. OVEN-BIRD. GOLDEX-CROWXEU THRUSH. Seiurus AUROC.APILLUS. Char. Above, olive ; crown orange-brown, bordered with black stripes, white ring around the eyes ; beneath, white, spotted with olive. Length 5K to 6)4 inches. Nest. On the ground, at the foot of a tree or in the moss on a decaved log ; rather loosely made of twigs, grass, leaves, and moss, lined with fine grass and hair. The top is often completely roofed, sometimes arched or domed ; the entrance on the side. Eggs. 4-6 ; creamy white, spotted with brown and lilac ; o.So X 0.55. This rather common bird, so nearly alHed to the true Thrushes, is found throughout the forests of the United States, Canada, and in the territory of Oregon during the summer, arriving in the Middle and Northern States about the beginning of May or close of April, and departing for tropical .America, Mexico, and the larger West India islands early in September. The Golden-crowned Thrush, shy and retiring, is never seen out of the shade of the woods, and sits and runs along the ground often like the Lark ; it also frequents the branches of trees, and sometimes moves its tail in the manner of the Wag- tails. It has few pretensions to song, and while perched in the deep and shady part of the forest, it utters, at inter\'als, a simple, long, reiterated note of 'tsJi'e fshe tshe tshe tshc, rising from low to high and shrill, so as to give but little idea of the distance or place from whence the sound proceeds, and often appearing, from the loudness of the closing cadence, to be much 2l6 SINGING BIRDS. nearer than it really is. As soon as discovered, like the Wood Thrush, it darts at once timidly into the depths of its sylvan retreat. During the period of incubation, the deliberate lay of the male, from some horizontal branch of the forest tree, where it often sits usually still, is a Ushe te tshe te tshe te tshce, gradually rising and growing louder. Towards dusk in the evening, however, it now and then utters a sudden burst of notes with a short, agreeable warble, which terminates com- monly in the usual Ushe tc tshe. Its curious oven-shaped nest is known to all the sportsmen who traverse the solitary wilds which it inhabits. This ingenious fabric is sunk a little into the ground, and generally situated on some dry and mossy bank contiguous to bushes, or on an uncleared surface ; it is formed, with great neatness, of dry blades of grass, and lined with the same ; it is then surmounted by a thick inclined roof of simi- lar materials, the surface scattered with leaves and twigs so as to match the rest of the ground, and an entrance is left at the side. Near Milton hills, in this vicinity, the situation chosen was among low whortleberry bushes, in a stunted cedar and oak grove. When surprised, the bird escapes, or runs from the nest with the silence and celerity of a mouse. If an attempt be made to discover the nest from which she is flushed, she stops, flutters, and pretends lameness, and watching the success of the manoeuvre, at length, when the decoy seems complete, she takes to wing and disappears. The Oven Bird is another of the foster-parents sometimes chosen by the Cow Troopial ; and she rears the foundling with her accustomed care and affection, and keeps up an incessant iship when her unfledged brood are even distantly approached. These birds have often two broods in a season in the Middle States. Their food is wholly insects and their larvae, particularly small coleopterous kinds and ants, chiefly collected on the ground. The Oven-bird, like the Water-Thrush, has been removed by modern authorities from classification with the Thrush family and placed with the Warblers. It is now known to breed from Virginia and Kansas to Lal)rador and Manitoba. It is abundant in Massa- chusetts and the Maritime Provinces, and common over its entire ran