REPORT ON THE BIEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE FOOD-HABITS, BASED ON OVER THREE THOUSAND STOMACH EXAMINATIONS. BY B. H. WARKEN, M. D., ORNITHOLOGIST OF THE STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE ; ASSOCIATE MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGIST'S UNION; SECRETARY OF THE CHESTER COUNTY (PA.) ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES, ETC. ILLUSTRATED WITH FIFTY PLATES, HAREISBURG: EDWIN K. MEYERS, STATE PRINTER. 1888. BIOLOGY LIBRARY S OFFICE OF THE ORNITHOLOGIST OP THE STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, CHESTER, PA., November 1, 1888. To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania : GENTLEMEN: I have the honor to transmit herewith the Report on the Birds of Pennsylvania, authorized by the act of May 12, 1887. B. H. WAEREX, State Ornithologist. 251209 fifl) (iv) CONTENTS. Page. List of Plates, vii Introduction, ix Order Pygopodes — The Diving Birds, 1 Family Podicipidse— The Grebes, . 1,230 Urinatoridse— The Loons, 3,230 Alcidae— The Murres and Puffins, 230 Order Longipennes — The Long-winged Swimmers. Family Stercorariidse— The Jaegers, 230 Laridse— The Gulls and Terns, . . 231 Rynchopidse— The Skimmers, 232 Order Tubinares — The Tube-nosed Swimmers, Family Procellariidae— The Shearwaters and Petrels, 232 Order Steganopodes — The Totipalmate Swimmers. Family Phalacrocoracidse— The Cormorants, 232 Pelecanida3— The Pelicans, ! 232 Order Anseres— The Lamellirostral Swimmers, 4 Family Anatidse — The Ducks, Geese and Swans, 4,232 Order Herodiones— The Herons, Egrets, etc., 17,234 Family Ibididae— The Ibises, 234 Ciconiidffi— The Wood Ibises, 234 Ardeidae— The Herons, Bitterns, etc., 17,234 Order Paludicolse— The Rails, Coots, etc., 27 Family Gruidse— The Cranes, 234 Rallidse— The Rails, Gallinules, etc., 27,234 Order Limicolse— The Shore Birds, 32 Family Phalaropodidse— The Phalaropes, 235 Scolopacidse— The Snipes, Sandpipers, etc, 32,235 Charadriidse— The Plovers, 43,236 Aphrizidse— The Turnstones, . 237 Order Gallinae — The Gallinaceous Birds, '. . 47 Family Tetraonidae— The Grouse, Partridges, etc., 47,237 Phasianidse — The Turkeys, 51,237 Order Columbse — The Pigeons, 51 Family Columbidse— The Pigeons, 51,237 Birds of Prey and the " Scalp" Act of June 23, 1885, 55 Order Raptores— The Birds of Prey, 72 Family Cathartidse— The American Vultures, 72,237 Falconidae — Hawks, Eagles, etc., 74,237 Strigidae— The Barn Owls, 104,238 Bubonidse— The Horne'd Owls, etc., 106,238 Order Coccyges — The Cuckoos, etc., 119 Family Cuculidae— The Cuckoos, etc., 119,238 Alcedinidse — The Kingfishers, 121,239 Order Pici— The Woodpeckers, 123 Family Picidse— The Woodpeckers, 123,239 Order Macrochires— The Goatsuckers, Swifts, 138 Family Caprimulgidse— The Goatsuckers, 138,239 Micropodidse— The Swifts, 142,239 Trochilidse— The Hummingbirds, 143,239 vi CONTENTS. Order Passeres— The Perching Birds, ... 145 Family Tyrannidse— The Tyrant Flycatchers, 145,239 Alaudidse— The Larks, 156,240 Corvidse— The Crows and Jays, . , 157,240 Icteridse— The Blackbirds, Orioles, etc., 163,240 Fringillidae— The Finches, Sparrows, etc., 183,241,249 Tanagridae— The Tanagers, 201,243 Hirundinidse— The Swallows, 203,243 Ampelidse— The Waxwings, 208,244 Laniidse— The Shrikes, 209,244 VireonidEe— The Vireos, 210,244,249 Mniotiltidse— The Wood- Warblers, 211,244 Motacillidse— The Wagtails, 247 Troglodytidse— The Wrens, Thrashers, etc., 217,248 Certhiidae— The Creepers, 248 Paridse— The Nuthatches and Tits, 220,248,249 Sylviidse— The Kinglets and Gnatcatchers, 222,248 Turdidse— The Thrushes, Bluebirds, etc., 223,249 Appendix, . 229 Index, 251 LIST OF PLATES. Plates 1. Figures illustrating terms used in descriptions. 2. Horned Grebe (Colymbus auritus). 3. Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus). 4. Wood Duck (Aix sponsa). 5. American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus). 6. Black-crowned Xight Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax ncevius). 7. Sora (Porzana Carolina). 8. American Coot (Fulica americana). 9. Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicqta). 10. Solitary Sandpiper (Totanus solitarius). 11. Killdeer (^gialitis rod/era). 12. Bob-white or Partridge (Colinus virginianus). 13. Marsh Hawk (Circus hudsonius'). 14. Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter velox}.) 15. Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo borealis). 16. Fig. 1. Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo latissimus). 2, 3. Sparrow Hawk (Falco sparverius). 17. Barn Owl (Strix pratincola). 18. Screech Owl (Megascops asio). 19. Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus). 20. Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon), 21. Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalv*). 22. Flicker (Colaptes auratus). 23. Fig. 1. Xighthawk (Chordeiles virginianus). 2. Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus). 24. Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus). 25. Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). 26. Bobolink or Reedbird (Dolichonyx oryzivorus). 27. Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaiusphosniceus). 28. Meadow Lark (Sturnella magna). 29. Baltimore Oriole ( Icterus galbula). 30. Fig. 1, 2. Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus). 3. Chipping Sparrow (Spizella socialis). 4. Song Sparrow (Melospizafasciata) 31. Fig. 1. American Goldfinch (Spinus tri&tis). 2. Pine Finch (Spinus pinus). 3. Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca). 32. Fig. 1. Vesper Sparrow (Pooccetes gramineus). 2. Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla} . 3. Yellow-winged Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarumpasserinus). 33. Fig. 1, 2. English Sparrow (Passer domesticus). 3, 4. Snowbird (Junco hyemalis}. 34. Cardinal or Winter Red-bird (Cardinalis cardinalis). 35. Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Habia ludomciana). 36. Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea). 37. Scarlet Tanager (Piranga erythromelas). 38. Tree or White Bellied Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), (vii) viii LIST OP PLATES. 39. Cedar Waxwing (Ampelis cedrorum). 40. Red-eyed Yireo ( Vireo olivaceus}. 41. Yellow Warbler (JDendroica cestiva). 42. Maryland Yellow-throat ( Geothlypis trich,as). 43. American Redstart (Setophaga, ruticilla). 44. Brown Thrush (Harporhynchus rufus) 45. House Wren ( Troglodytes cuedori) 46. White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta, carolinensis). 47. Chickadee or Black-cap Titmouse (Parus atricapillus'). 48. Golden-crested or Crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa). 49. American Robin (Merula migrator ia). 50. Bluebird (8ialia sialis). INTRODUCTION. In this present work I have given the Classification, Nomenclature and Habitat (Geographical limits) found in the A. 0. U. Check List of North American Birds*, a publication representing the joint labors of a "Committee on Classification and Nomenclature " appointed by the Union at its first Congress, held in New York city, September 26- 29, 1883. This Committee consisting of such eminent naturalists as Dr. Elliott Coues, J. A. Allen, Robert Ridgway, William Brewster, and H. W. Henshaw, assisted by Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, was most competent to recommend the many changes, etc., which were adopted and published by the American Ornithologists' Union. The numbers (other than in the Appendix) preceding the scientific names correspond strictly with those of the A. 0. U. Check List. The descriptions (specific characters) have in some instances been taken from u Birds of North America," by my late lamented friend, Prof. S. F. Baird ; others have been compiled, in part, from the works of Dr. Elliott Coues \ and Robert Ridgway J, which are recognized as the standard text books on North American Ornithology. Such descrip- tions as have been taken in their entirety or in part from other writ- ers, have been used, as they are far better than those which I could give from the limited number of specimens in my possession. 'The Code of Nomenclature | and | Check List | of North American Birds. | Adopted by the American Ornithologists1 Union. | Being the Report of the Committee of the Union on Classifica- tion and Nomenclature. | (Motto). | ] New York : | American Ornithologists' Union. | 1886. [8 vo., pp. i-viii, 1-392. For sale by L. S. Foster, No. 35 Pine street, New York city. Price §3.00. t Key | to | North American Birds, I containing a concise account of every species of living and fossil bird at present known from the continent north of the Mexican and United States boun- dary, inclusive of Greenland and lower California, | with which are incorporated | General Oral' thology. | An outline of the structure and classification of birds | and | Field Ornithology | a man- ual of collecting, preparing, and preserving birds | The third edition | exhibiting the new nomen- clature of the American Ornithologists' Union, and including descriptions of additional species, etc. | By Elliott Coues, A. M., M. D., Ph. D., etc. | Profusely illustrated | (pp. i-x. i-xxx, 1-895) | Boston (Mass). I Estes and Lauriat. \ 1887. | [Price $7.50]. $ A | manual I of | North American Birds, | by Robert Ridgway (Curator Department of Birds U. S. National Museum and Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.). | Illustrated by 464 out- line drawings of the generic characters. | Philadelphia | J. B. Lippincot Company. | 1877. | [pp. i- xi, 1-631. Price $7.50, H. K. Coale, agent, Chicago, Illinois.] (ix) x INTRODUCTION. In order that the descriptions of birds on the succeeding pages may be clearly understood, the figures on Plate 1, with the following ex- planations are given : 1. Maxilla or upper mandible. 2. Lower mandible. 3. Forehead ; also called front and frons. 4. Iris (Plural irides): Colored circle of the eye around the "dark spot" or pupil. 5. Upper part of throat including chin. 6. Lower part of throat or foreneck : Jugulum 7. Breast or pectus, also spoken of as pectoral region. 8. Wing-coverts (Greater, Middle and Lesser). 9. Bastard or spurious wing or Alula composed of the feathers grow- ing on the so-called thumb. 10. Occiput ; back part of head. 11. Tertiaries, Tertials, or tertiary quills are the large inner quills that grow from the humerus (arm-bone) or elbow, and in the closed wing are generally concealed by the longer scapular feathers. 12. Scapulars or scapular feathers. 13. Abdomen or belly ; under surface of body from breast-bone to vent. 14. Lower tail coverts ; crissum. 15. Crown or top of head. A. Culmen. The ridge of upper mandible. B. Cere. The naked skin at base of bill, well shown in Hawks. C. Lore or loral space between the bill and eye. D. Gape or rictus. S. Commissure ; outlines of closed bill. The additional technical terms — the definitions of some of which are compiled from ^Ridgway^s Nomenclature of Colors"* — are also employed. Ear-coverts or Auriculars. Feathers covering the ear-opening. Axilla. Arm-pit. Alar extent. Measurement of outstretched wings. Axillaries or Axillars The (generally) soft and lengthened feathers growing from the armpit : Adult. This term is applied to individuals which have attained full or mature plumage ( " a bird may be adult as regards organization with- out being of adult plumage " ) : Bend of the Wing. Angle or prominence formed at the carpus *A | Nomenclature of Colors | for naturalists | and | compendium of useful knowledge | for or- nithologists, | by Robert Ridgway, | curator. Department of Birds, United States National Mu- seum, | with ten colored plates and seven plates of outline illustrations. | Boston: | Little, Brown, and Company. | 1886. | Price f3.,OQ, : ', Plate I. k I Uocs. •**• I " '.,.'---- Dr' INTRODUCTION. xi or wrist joint, in the folded wing : Basal. Relating to the base, as basal portion of tail or quills, etc.: C7n'7i. The.space between the forks or ram i of the lower mandible or jaw: Carpus. The wrist or space between the bend and hand-joint of the wing : Carpal. Pertaining to the carpus : Cerrix. The hind-neck ; from occiput to the beginning of back, including the nape and scruff : <.Molotlirus ater) in this country, and also to the European Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) which habitually make use of the nests birds to which are left the duties of incubation and rearing the young : Pyriform. Pear-shaped: Quadrate. Square: Ramus (plural rami) branch or fork of the lower mandible ; the chin is bounded on the sides bj* the rami. Race. "A nascent species or a 'form' which on ac- count of the existence of intermediate specimens cannot be considered a species, no matter how great a degree of differentiation may have been reached. Races are distinguished as 'Geograph- ical' and 'Local' according as to whether they occupy extensive or limited areas of country. Geo- graphical races are usually correlative with definite geographical areas, being in fact, the ex- pression of geographical variation :" Recurved. Bent or curved upward : Rufous. A brownish- red color: Scutellate. Having transverse scales on tarsus or toes: Semipalmate or Scmipalmatcd. Half-webbed : having a membrane between the front toes, reaching about half-way to their ends : Shaft. The stem or middle part of a feather : Specie*. "The aggregate of individuals re- lated by generic descent, and differing constantly in certain features whereby they are distin- guished from all other beings :" Speculum. A brightly colored area on the secondaries, particularly of ducks ; Spurious. Bastard; imperfect; false; rudimentary: Spurious quill. Applied to the first primary when very short : Sub-orbital. Below the eye : Supra-orbital : Above the eye : Sub-order. "A group intermediate in taxonomic rank between an order and a family :" Supercil- liary. Refers to the region above the eye (eye-brow) as a streak of black, white, etc., over the eye : Totipalmate. Having all toes webbed : Variety. "Properly, an individual or unusual and irregular variation from the normal type of form or coloration, as the various breeds or 'strains' of domestic animals. But the term is often, though improperly applied to subspecies, or geo- graphical races." Web. The thin part or vane of a feather on either side of the shaft. To Mr. Benjamin M. Everhart, of West Chester, Pa., a gentleman xii INTRODUCTION. well known in scientific circles, as a botanist, I am greatly indebted for much valuable assistance in the preparation of this report. In conclusion, it may be stated that the ornithologist has had no disposition to disregard the law limiting this report to a certain num- ber of pages, but found it impracticable, in consequence of the fact that the avi-fauna of Pennsylvania embraces over three hundred spe- cies and sub-species, to give the required descriptions, etc., without ex- ceeding the limit. While the report exceeds by a few pages the limit given in the act authorizing its publication, I would add that over two hundred and fifty pages of the manuscript originally intended for the publication, have been dropped with a view of keeping within the prescribed limit. Although obliged to eliminate much matter relating to the feathered tribes, I have endeavored to give a brief history of the birds which are most common and generally met with, and in the Appendix have given a list of all birds occurring (so far as can be ascertained from reliable sources) in the Keystone Com- monwealth. B. H. WARREN. CHESTER, PA., Nov. 1, 1888. BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. ORDER PYGOPODES. DIVING BIRDS. SUBORDER PODICIPEDES. GREBES. FAMILY PODICIPID.fl3. GREBES. GENUS COLYMBUS. LINN^IUS. 3. Colymbus auritus (LiNN.). Horned Grebe. DESCRIPTION. {Plate 2.) Adult. — Upper part of the head, cheeks, throat, and ruff, glossy-black; abroad band running from the bill over the eyes, and the elongated occipital tufts behind them, yellowish-red, deepest in color adjoining the bill ; upper surface brownish- black ; the feathers margined with gray ; primaries brownish-ash ; secondaries mostly white, some of the outer ones dark-ash ; the fore-neck and upper part of the breast bright chestnut-red, sides of the same color, intermixed with dusky ; abdo- men silky-white ; bill bluish-black, yellow at the tip ; loral space bright-carmine • iris carmine, with an inner circle of white ; tarsi and feet dusky-gray externally, uck. DESCRIPTION. (Plate 4.} Head and crest metallic-green to below the eyes ; the cheeks, and a stripe from behind the eye, purplish : a narrow, short line from the upper angle of the bill along the side of the crown and through the crest, another on the upper eyelid, a stripe starting behind and below the eye, and running into the crest parallel with the one first mentioned, the chin and upper part of the throat sending a well-defined branch up towards the eye, and another towards the nape, snowy-white; lower neck and jugulum, and sides of the base of tail, rich-purple; the jugulum with triangular spots of white and a chestnut shade ; remaining under parts white, as is a crescent in front oi the wing bordered behind by black ; sides yellow-gray, finely lined with black ; the long feathers of the flanks broadly black at the end, with a sub-terminal bar, and sometimes a tip of white ; back and neck above nearly uniform bronzed- green and purple ; scapulars and innermost tertials velvet-black, glossed on the inner webs with violet ; the latter with a white bar at the end ; greater coverts vio- let, succeeded by a greenish speculum, tipped with white ; primaries silvery-white externally towards the end ; the tips internally violet and purple ; iris red or grayish. Female with the wings quite similar ; the back more purplish ; the sides of the head and neck ashy ; the region round the base of the bill, a patch through the eyes, and the chin, white; the purple of the jugulum replaced by brownish; the waved feathers on the sides wanting. Length, 19 inches ; wing, 9.50 ; tarsus, 1.40 ; commissure, 1.54 inches. Hob. — Temperate North America, breeding throughout its range. The Wood Duck is a resident, and breeds in various sections of this Commonwealth. During the breeding season it generally is found about streams and ponds in heavily-wooded and thinly- populated dis- tricts. In Pennsylvania this species is rare in winter and most plen- tiful in autumn. The Wood Duck is an abundant winter resident in Florida, where it also breeds. I have seen downy young of this bird which were captured late in March, 1885, in Orange county, Florida. " The Wood Duck breeds in the Middle States about the beginning of April, in Massachusetts a month later, and in Nova Scotia, or on our northern lakes, seldom before the first days of June. In Louisiana and Kentucky, where I have had better opportunities of studying their habits in this respect, they generally pair about the first of March, sometimes a fortnight earlier. I never knew one of these birds to form a nest on the ground or on the branches of a tree. They appear at all times to prefer the hollow, broken portion of some large branch, the hole of our large Woodpecker, or the deserted retreat of the fox squirrel ; and I have frequently been surprised to see them go in and out of a hole of any one of these, when their bodies, while on the wing, seemed to be nearly half as large again as the aperature within which they had deposited their eggs. Once only I found a 10 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. nest (with ten eggs) in the fissure of a rock, on the Kentucky river, a few miles below Frankfort, Generally, however, the holes to which they betake themselves are either over deep swamps, above cane- brakes, or on broken branches of high sycamores, seldom more than forty or fifty feet from the water. They are much attached to their breeding-places, and for three successive years I found a pair near Henderson, in Kentucky, with the eggs, in the beginning of April, in the abandoned nest of the Ivory -billed Woodpecker. The eggs, which are from six to fifteen, according to the age of the bird, are placed on dry plants, feathers, and a scanty portion of down, which I believe is mostly plucked from the breast of the female. They are perfectly smooth, nearly elliptical, of a light color, between buff and pale green, two inches in length by one and a half in diameter. " No sooner has the female completed her set of eggs than she is abandoned by her mate, who now joins others, which form themselves into considerable flocks, and thus remain apart till the young are able to fly, when old and young of both sexes come together, and so remain until the com- mencement of the next breeding season. In all the nests I have ex- amined, I have been rather surprised to find a quantity of feathers belonging to birds of other species, even those of the domestic fowls, and particularly those of the Wild Goose and Wild Turkey. On com- ing on a nest with eggs when the bird was absent in search of food, I have always found the eggs covered over with feathers and down, al- though quite out of sight, in the depth of a Woodpecker's or squirrel's hole. On the contrary, when the nest was placed on the broken branch of a tree, it could easily be observed from the ground, on ac- count of the feathers, dead sticks and withered branches about it. If the nest is placed immediately over the water, the young, the mo- ment they are hatched, scramble to the mouth of the hole, launch into the air with their little wings and feet spread out, and drop into their favorite element ; but whenever their birth-place is some dis- tance from it, the mother carries them to it, one by one. in her bill, holding them so as not to injure their yet tender frame. On several occasions, however, when the hole was thirty, forty, or more yards from a bayou or other piece of water, I observed that the mother suf- fered the young to fall on the grasses and dried leaves beneath the tree, and afterwards led them directly to the nearest edge of the next pool or creek." — Audubon. FOOD. According to Nuttall, the food k' consists principally of acorns, the seeds of aquatic plants, such as those of the wild oat (Zizania aquat- ica), Ruppia, etc., and insects, which inhabit in or near waters; and I have seen a fine male whose stomach was wholly filled with a mass BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 11 of the small coleopters, called Donatias, which are seen so nimbly nying over or resting on the leaves of the Pond lily (Nymphcea)', they are therefore very alert in quest of their prey, or they could never capture the wary insects." No. DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD MATERIALS. 1 September — , 1878, Chester*countv, Pa., .... Acorns. • ' 3 September — , 1878, September — , 1878, Chester county, Pa., . . . Chester county, Pa., .... Acorns. Acorns and small seeds. 4 September — , 1878, Chester county, Pa., .... Small seeds. 5 October 4, 1880, Philadelphia Market, Pa., . Acorns. 6 October 4, 1880, Philadelphia Market, Pa., . Small seeds and other vegetable matter. 7 November 20, 1883, Philadelphia Market, Pa., . Small seeds. 8 November 3, 1882, Philadelphia Market, Pa., . Small seeds. In some twenty odd examinations that I have made of these birds, which were killed in Florida in March and April, 1885, I found only vegetable substances, consisting chiefly of various small seeds, had been fed upon. GENUS AYTHYA. BOIE. 146. Aythya americana (EYT). Red-head. DESCRIPTION. Bill as long as the head, broad, blue, the end black ; the region anterior to the nos- trils dusky ; head, and neck for more than half its length, brownish-red, glossed above and behind with violaceous-red ; rest of neck and body anterior to the shoul- ders, lower part of back and tail coverts, black ; beneath white, sprinkled with gray and black anterior to the crissum ; the sides, interscapulars and scapulars finely lined with undulating black and white in nearly equal proportions, imparting a general gray tint; wing coverts bluish-gray, finely sprinkled with whitish; the speculum, consisting of the ends of the secondaries, hoary grayish-blue, lightest externally, and the innermost narrowly edged with black ; basal portion of inner primaries somewhat similar to the speculum ; tail of fourteen feathers ; iris orange-yellow. This species, with a strong resemblance to the Canvas-back, is readily distin- guished by the shorter, broader bill, absence of brown on the head, and a greater predominance of black in the waved lines ; this being equal in amount to the white instead of much less. Female with the head, neck and forepart of body brownish ; the region round the base of the bill whitish. Length of male, 20.50 inches; wing 9.50; tarsus, 1.60; commissure, 2.30 inches. II>t>>. — Xorth America; breeding from California and Maine northward. This handsome bird, frequently confounded by sportsmen and others with the Canvas-back, is oftentimes to be found about our larger streams during the winter season. The Canvas-back, on the other hand, I have observed in this region only as a casual visitant on mi- grations. Some few years ago, while hunting along the Brandywine creek, near West Chester, Pa., I suddenly came upon a party of thirteen 12 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. Red-heads which were busily engaged in feeding. As the ducks arose from the water I succeeded in killing two of them. Assisted by my honored friend, Benjamin M. Everhart, I made an examination of the stomachs of these two specimens, and found that both had fed ex- clusively on " wild celery,"* a somewhat common, though not abun- dant aquatic plant in this vicinity. FOOD. Wilson says the Red-head is a common associate of the Canvas- back, frequenting the same places and feeding on the stems of the wild celery. Audubon, writing of the Red-heads, states : " I have found their stomachs crammed with young tadpoles and small water-lizards, as well as blades of the grasses growing around the bank. Nay, on sev- eral occasions, I have found pretty large acorns and beech-nuts in their throats, as well as snails, entire or broken, and fragments of the shells of various small unios, together with much gravel." I have examined the stomach-contents of twenty-one Red-heads, both sexes, which have been killed during the shooting season at Havre-de-Grace, Maryland, and found only gravel and vegetable matter, the latter consisting mainly of the so-called " wild celery " ( Vallisneria spiralis). 147. Aythya vallisneria (WiLS.). Canvas-Back. DESCRIPTION. Bill long, slender and tapering ; head all round and neck chestnut ; the top of the head and region around the base of the bill dusky-brown ; rest of neck, body ante- rior to the shoulders, back behind, rump and tail coverts, black ; under parts white ; the region anterior to the anus, the sides, the interscapulars and scapulars, white, finely dotted, in transverse line, with black, the white greatly predominating ; spec- * " This plant, like many others, has a variety of local names. Some of the most common which I now call to mind are tape grass, from the tape-like appearance of the long: leaves; channel-weed, as it frequently grows in channels where the water flows, not swiftly ; eel-grass ; this name arises, it is said by Dr. Darlington (Flora Cestrica)* 'from the habit which eels have of hiding under the leaves which are usually procumbently floating under the water's surface.1 The appellation kwild celery '—a local term applied, I think, chiefly by gunners and watermen at Havre-de-Grace and vicinity— is, I consider, like many vulgar synonyms, a misnomer, as this plant is in no particular related to celery, which by botanists is known as Apium. * Wild celery,' or as it is more generally known in this vicinity (Chester county, Pa.), as ' eel-grass,' is found in the Brandywine creek growing in slow running water. The scientific name of the plant is Vallisneria spiralis (Linn.), the generic name being given in honor of Antonio Vallisneri, an Italian botanist; the specific spiralis is applied in consequence of the fact that the fertile stalk in its development assumes a spiral form. It is a remarkable dioecious, herbaceous plant on account of its mode of fertilization. It grows entirely under water, has long, radical grass-like leaves, from one to three feet long and from one-fourth to three-fourths inches wide. The female flowers float on the surface at the end of long, thread- like spiral scapes, which curiously contract and lengthen with the rise and fall of the water. The male flowers have very short stems or scapes, from which the flowers break off and rise to the surface, to fertilize with their pollen the attached, floating female flowers^"— B. M. EverharVs Botanical Publications, November, 1886. BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 13 ulum bluish-gray, lighter externally ; the innermost secondaries of the speculum edged externally with black ; iris red ; feet grayish-blue. Female with the black and chestnut replaced by brown, the cheeks and chin lighter, and some tinged with dull-rufous. Length, 20. 10 inches; wing, 9.30; tarsus, 1.70; commissure, 2.65 inches. Flab.— Nearly all of North America, breeding from the north-western States north- ward to Alaska. Wilson, in describing the habits of the Canvas-back, says : " The Canvas-back Duck arrives in the United States from the north about the middle of October : a few descend to the Hudson and Delaware ; but the great body of these birds resort to the numerous rivers be- longing to and in the neighborhood of the Chesapeake Bay, particu- larly the Susquehanna, the Patapsco, Potomac and James rivers, which appear to be their general winter rendezvous. Beyond this, to the south, I can find no certain accounts of them. At the Susquehanna, they are called Canvas-backs ; on the Potomac. White-backs ; and on James river, Sheldrakes. They are seldom found at a great distance up any of these rivers, or even in the salt-water bay, but in that par- ticular part of tide-water where a certain grass-like plant grows, on the roots of which they feed. This plant, which is said to be a spe- cies of Vallisneria, grows on fresh-water shoals of from seven to nine feet (but never where these are occasionally dry), in long, narrow, grass-like blades, of four or five feet in length ; the root is white, and has some resemblance to small celery. This grass is in many places so thick that a boat can with difficulty be rowed through it, it so im- pedes the oars. The shores are lined with large quantities of it, torn up by the Ducks, and drifted up by the winds, lying, like hay, in windrows. Wherever this plant grows in abundance, the Canvas- backs may be expected either to pay occasional visits or to make it their regular residence during the winter. It occurs in some parts of the Hudson ; in the Delaware, near Gloucester, a few miles below Philadelphia ; and in most of the rivers that fall into the Chesapeake, to each of which particular places these Ducks resort; while, in waters unprovided with this nutritive plant, they are altogether unknown. " On the first arrival of these birds in the Susquehanna, near Havre- de-Grace, they are generally lean ; but such is the abundance of their favorite food that, towards the beginning of November, they are in pretty good order. They are excellent divers, and swim with great speed and agility. They sometimes assemble in such multitudes as to cover several acres of the river, and, when they rise suddenly, pro- duce a noise resembling thunder. They float about these shoals, div- ing, and tearing up the grass by the roots, which is the only part they eat. They are extremely shy, and can rarely be approached, unless by stratagem. When wounded in the wing, they dive to such pro- digious distances, and with such rapidity, continuing it so persever- 14 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. ingly and with such cunning and active vigor as almost always to render the pursuit hopeless. From the great demand for these Ducks, and the high price they uniformly bring in market, various modes are practiced to get within gunshot of them. The most successful way is said to be decoying them to the shore by means of a dog, while the gunner lies closely concealed in a proper situation. The dog, if prop- erly trained, plays backwards and forwards along the margin of the water, and the Ducks, observing his manoeuvres, enticed perhaps by curiosity, gradually approach the shore, until they are sometimes within twenty or thirty yards of the spot where the gunner lies con- cealed, and from which he rakes them, first on the water and then as they rise. This method is called tolling them in. If the Ducks seem difficult to decoy, any glaring object, such as a red handkerchief, is fixed round the dog's middle or to his tail, and this rarely fails to at- tract them. Sometimes, by moonlight, the sportsman directs his skiff towards a flock whose position he had previously ascertained, keeping within the projecting shadow of some wood, bank or headland, and paddles along so silently and imperceptibly as often to approach within fifteen or twenty yards of a flock of as many thousands, among whom he generally makes great slaughter. Many other stratagems * are practiced, and, indeed, every plan that the ingenuity of the expe- rienced sportsman can suggest, to approach within gunshot of these birds ; but of all the modes pursued, none intimidate them so much as shooting them at night, and they soon abandon the place where they have been thus repeatedly shot at. " During the day they are dispersed about, but towards evening col- lect in large flocks and come into the mouths of creeks, where they often ride as at anchor, with their heads under their wings, asleep, there being always sentinels awake, ready to raise an alarm on the least appearance of danger. Even when feeding and diving in small parties the whole never go down at one time, but some are still left above on the lookout. When the winter sets in severely, and the river is frozen, the Canvas-backs retreat to its confluence with the bay, occasionally frequenting air holes in the ice, which are some- times made for the purpose, immediately above their favorite grass, to entice them within gunshot of the hut or bush, which is usually fixed at a proper distance, and where the gunner lies concealed ready to take advantage of their distress. A Mr. Hill, who lives near James river, at a place called Herring creek, informs me that one severe winter he and another person broke a hole in the ice, about twenty * The favorite method now employed by sportsmen at the well-known ducking- grounds at Havre-de-Grace, Maryland,is the sink-box, a coffin-like structure, furnished with canvas "wings," in which the gunner conceals himself after the box has been anchored amidst two hundred or three hundred decoy ducks, on the feeding-grounds where the Red-heads and Canvas-backs backs daily resort.— Warren. BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 15 by forty feet, immediately over a shoal of grass, and took their stand on the shore in a hut of brush, each having three guns well loaded with large shot. The Ducks, which were flying up and down the river in great extremity, soon crowded to this place, so that the whole open space was not only covered with them, but vast numbers stood on the ice around it. They had three rounds, firing both at once, and picked up eighty-eight Canvas-backs, and might have collected more, had they been able to get to the extremity of the ice after the wounded ones. In the severe winter of 1779-80, the grass on the roots of which these birds feed was almost wholly destroyed in James river. In the month of January, the wind continued to blow from W.N. W. for twenty- one days, which caused such low tides in the river that the grass froze to the ice everywhere, and a thaw coming on suddenly, the whole was raised by the roots and carried off by the freshet. The next winter a few of these Ducks were seen, but they soon went away again, and for many years after they continued to be scarce ; and even to the present day, in the opinion of my informant, have never been so plenty as before." FOOD. Audubon, writing of the food of the Canvas-back, says : " It varies according to the season and locality. The plant Vattisneria, on which it is said to feed when on the head-waters of the Chesapeake, is not found equally abundant in other parts, and even there is at times so reduced in quantity that this Duck, and several other species which are equally fond of it, are obliged to have recourse to fishes, tadpoles, water-lizards, leeches, snails and mollusca, as well as such seeds as they can meet with, all of which have been in greater or less quan- tity found in their stomachs." My examinations of four of these Ducks, which were killed at Havre-de-Grace, showed only vegetable substances, which I judged to be remains of Vallisneria. Wilson asserts that the Canvas-backs when feeding on the Vallis- neria eat only the roots, and, on the other hand, the Red-heads feed on the stems of this plant. GENUS CHAKITONETTA. STEJNEGEB. 153. Charitonetta albeola (Linn.). Baffle-head. DESCRIPTION. Male. — Bill blue ; head and neck anteriorly dark colored ; the region in front of the eye and on the sides of the collar behind rich green ; this color shading into purplish on the upper and under surfaces of the head ; a broad patch on each side of the head from the posterior border of the eye, and meeting its fellow on the nape, the lower neck all round, under parts generally, wing coverts (except the lesser). 16 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. and most of the secondaries and the scapulars, white ; the latter narrowly edged ex- ternally with black. Rest of upper parts, except as described, black ; passing grad- ually on the upper tail coverts into pale gray , axillars and under wing coverts sooty brown, more or less tipped with white; iris brown. Female with the entire head, neck, and upper parts almost black. An elongated patch behind and below the eye (not reaching it). The outer webs of some secon- daries, and the under parts white; the jugulum, sides, and anal region, plumbeous- gray. Length, 15 inches; wing, 6.65; tarsus, 1.25; commissure, 1.44. Female smaller than male ; young males very similar to females. Hab. — North America ; south in winter to Cuba and Mexico. Breeds from Maine northward ; through the fur countries and Alaska. This beautiful little Duck, commonly called Butter-ball, is fre- quently met with during migrations about our rivers and mill-ponds. This species is, however, much more common in autumn than during the winter and spring. The Bume-head, like the Grebe and Loon, will dive at the flash of a gun and swim, it is said, under the water with only its bill above the surface. Audubon says : " Their food is much varied, according to situation. On the sea-coast, or in estua- ries, they dive after shrimps, small fry, and bivalve shells, and in fresh water they feed on small cray-fish. leeches and snails, and even grasses." In the stomachs of five of these Ducks, which I have ex- amined, were found small shells and coleopterous insects. SUBFAMILY ANSERINE. GEESE. GENUS BRANTA. SCOPOLI. 172. Branta canadensis (LiNN.). Canada Goose. DESCRIPTION. Tail of eighteen feathers ; head, neck, bill and feet, deep-black ; a large triangular patch of white on the cheeks behind the eye ; the two of opposite sides broadly con- fluent beneath, but not extending to the rami of lower jaw ; a few whitish feathers on lower eyelid ; upper parts brown, edged with paler ; under parts light, with a tinge of purple-gray, sometimes a shade of smoky-brown ; the edges of the feathers paler ; the color of the body of the feathers, though similar, becoming deeper on the sides, tibia, axillars, and inside of wings ; the gray of the belly passes gradually into white on the anal region and under coverts ; the upper tail coverts are pure-white ; the primary quills and rump are very dark blackish-brown ; the tail feathers are black ; iris brown. Length, 35 inches ; wing, 18; tarsus, 3.10; commissure, 2. 10 inches. Ha b. —Temperate North America, breeding in the northern United States and British Provinces ; south in winter to Mexico. This well-known bird, usually called Wild Goose, is a common spring and fall migrant in Pennsylvania. In this locality Wild Geese are rarely observed resting either on land or water, but are almost always seen or heard flying. In referring to this species, Wilson says : " The flight of the Wild Geese is heavy and laborious, generally in a straight line, or in two BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 17 lines, approximating to a point thus, > : in both cases the van is led by an old gander, who, every now and then, pipes his well known konk, as if to ask how they come on ; and the honk of 4 Alps well ' is generally returned by some of the party. Their course is in a straight line, with the exception of the undulations of their flight. When be- wildered in foggy weather, they appear sometimes to be in great dis- tress, flying about in an irregular manner, and for a considerable time over the same quarter, making a great clamor. On these occasions, should they approach the earth and alight — which they sometimes do to rest and recollect themselves — the only hospitality they meet with is death and destruction from a whole neighborhood already in arms for their ruin." The food of this species consists chiefly of vegetable materials, such as cereals, the seeds, roots and other portions of plants. ORDER HERODIONES. HERONS, ETC. SUBORDER HERODIL HERONS, EGRETS, BITTERNS. FAMILY ARDEID.5S. HERONS, BITTERNS. SUBFAMILY BOTAURIK3J. BITTERNS. GENUS BOTAURTJS. HERMANN. 190. Botaurus lentiginosus (MONTAG). American Bittern. DESCRIPTION. {Plate 5.) Brownish-yellow, finely mottled and varied with dark-brown and brownish-red ; a broad black stripe on each side the neck, starting behind the ear ; iris yellow. Length, 26.50 inches; wing, 11 ; tarsus, 3.60; bill, above, 2.75 inches. Hab. — Temperate North America, south to Guatemala and the West Indies. The Bittern or Green-legged Crane, as this species is locally de- nominated, is readily distinguished from other birds of the family by its brownish-yellow plumage, greenish-colored legs and large size. Although this bird is given by certain writers as a summer resident in eastern Pennsylvania, I have observed it as a spring and fall mi- grant, moderately abundant. In this locality these birds are never found in flocks ; commonly only solitary individuals are seen frequent- ing chiefly the thick swampy districts about meadows and rivers. During the daylight Bitterns conceal themselves in the long grasses, weeds, bushes, etc., growing about swamps. They migrate and feed during the night. 2 BIRDS. 18 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. FOOD. According to Dr. Ooues, " the food of this bird consists of various kinds of small aquatic animals. In its stomach may be found different molluscs, craw-fish, frogs, lizards, small snakes and fishes, as well as insects. Such prey is captured with great address, by spearing, as the bird walks or wades stealthily along. The thrust of the bill is mar- vellously quick and skillful — more action is displayed on such occa- sions than probably under any other circumstance." — Birds of the Northwest. Although Bitterns frequently devour fish, I believe they prefer other kinds of animal food, especially snakes, frogs and insects. No. DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD-MATERIALS. 1 April 11, 1880, . . Chester county, Pa., . . Beetles and scales of fish. 2 April 23, 1880, . . Chester county, Pa., . . Water-snake. 3 4 5 April 29, 1881, . . Sept. — , 1881, . . April — , 1882, . . Delaware county, Pa., . Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa., . . Cray-fish and frogs. Beetles and frogs. Two snakes, each about eighteen inches in length. 6 7 April — , 1882, . . Oct 3, 1883, . . Chester county, Pa., . . Phila, Market, Pa., . . Snake and snails. Grasshoppers and beetles. 8 April — , 1885, . . Orange county, Fla.. . Numerous insects. 9 April — , 1885, . . Orange county, Fla., Cray-fish and remains of fishes. 191. Botaurus exilis (GMEL.). Least Bittern. DESCRIPTION. Head above and the back dark glossy-green ; upper part of neck, shoulders, greater coverts, and outer webs of some tertials, purplish-cinnamon ; a brownish- yellow scapular stripe (broadest in female). Female and young with the green of head and back replaced by purplish-chestnut. Iris yellow. Length, 13 inches; extent, about 17 ; wing, 4.75; tarsus, 1.60; bill above, 1.75. Hab. — Temperate North America, from British Provinces to the West Indies and Brazil. The Least Bittern, the smallest of all the herons, I have found in this region only as a rare visitant during the spring and fall migra- tions. These birds, it is stated, sometimes breed in Pennsylvania. When alarmed, they fly generally but a few yards, and take shelter among the reeds or long grass. Least Bitterns are scarcely ever seen exposed, but skulk during the day, and, like the preceding species, feed chiefly in the night. Wilson says : " In the meadows of Schuyl- kill and Delaware, below Philadelphia, a few of these birds breed every year, making their nests in the thick tussocks of grass in swampy places." According to Audubon, the nest " is sometimes placed on the ground, amid the rankest grasses, but more frequently it is at- BIRDS OP PENNSYLVANIA. 19 tached to the stems several inches above it. It is flat, composed of dried or rotten weeds, and in shape resembles that of the Louisiana Heron, though this latter employs nothing but sticks. The eggs are three or four, seldom more, of a dull greenish- white, without spots, an inch and a quarter in length, almost equal at both ends. * * * In two instances, I found the nests of the Least Bittern about three feet above the ground in a thick cluster of smilax and other briary plants. In the first, two nests were placed in the same bush, within a few yards of each other. In the other instance, there was only one nest of this bird, but several of the Boat-tailed Grakle, and one of the Green Heron, the occupants of all of which seemed to be on friendly terms. When started from the nest, the old birds emit a few notes resembling the S3rllable qua, alight a few yards off and watch all your movements. If you go towards them, you may sometimes take the female with the hand, but rarely the male, who generally flies off or makes his way through the woods." FOOD. According to Nuttall, this species subsists chiefly on small fish and aquatic insects. Audubon states that " the food of this bird consists of snails, slugs, tadpoles, or young frogs and water-lizards. In sev- eral instances, however, I have found small shrews and field-mice in their stomachs." No. DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD-MATERIALS. 1 2 3 4 5 6 April 29, 1879, . . Sept. — , 1880, . . Sept. — , 1880, . . Sept. 20, 1881, . . Aug. 25, 1883, . . May 20, 1884, . . Lancaster county, Pa., Delaware county, Pa., . Delaware county, Pa., . Phila. Market, Pa., . . Delaware county, Pa., . Chester county, Pa., . . Hair of small mammal. Beetles, Insects and remains offish. Portion of a small snake and in- sects. Beetles and "worms." Vegetable-matter. SUBFAMILY ARDEINJE. HERONS AND EGRETS. GENUS ARDEA. LIXXJEUS. 194. Ardea herodias. Lixx. Great Bine Heron; "Big Crane." DESCRIPTION. Lower third of tibia bare ; above bluish-ash ; edges of wing and the tibia rufous; neck cinnamon-brown ; head black, with a white frontal patch ; body beneath black, broadly streaked on the belly with white ; crissum white ; middle line of throat white, streaked with black and rufous. Adult. — Bill yellow, dusky at the base and greenish above ; the forehead and cen- tral part of the crown are white, encircled laterally and behind by black, of which color is the occipital crest and its two elongated feathers ; the neck is of a light smoky 20 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. cinnamon-brown, with perhaps a tinge of purple ; the chin and throat whitish ; the feathers along the central line of the throat to the breast white, streaked with black, and also with reddish-brown, except on the elongated feathers of the breast ; the body may be described as bluish-ash above and on the sides ; the under parts, in. eluding the tuft of feathers on each side the breast and the belly to the white cris- sum, are sooty black, much varied along the middle line with white ; the tibia and the edge of the wing are rufous ; the quills are black, becoming more plumbeous internally until the innermost secondaries are ashy, like the back; the elongated tips of the scapular feathers have a whitish shade ; the tail is of a bluish-slate color ; according to Mr. Audubon, the bill in life is yellow ; dusky-green above ; loral and orbital spaces light-green ; iris yellow ; feet olivaceous, paler above the tibio-tarsal joint; claws black. Young. — The upper mandible is blackish ; the lower yellow, except along the com- missure ; the head above is entirely dusky, without the much elongated occipital feathers ; the breast is grayish, streaked with white and light-brown, but without any pure-black patches ; the back is without the elongated scapular feathers ; in still younger specimens, the coverts are all margined with rufous, which becomes lighter at the tip ; the rufous of the tibia is much lighter. Length, 42 inches; wing, 18.50; tarsus, about 6.50; bill, about 5.50 inches. Hab.— North America, from the Arctic regions southward to the West Indies and northern South America. This bird, the largest of our Herons, is a summer resident in various localities in this State. During the last few years, however, several favorite breeding resorts in eastern Pennsylvania, which were annu- ally visited by this and other species, have been broken up by boys and men, who destroyed the birds, old and young, simply because their feathers would bring a few dollars, and, as they remarked, u there's no law to stop it" I have no doubt that the time will soon come when this beautiful Heron will be known in this Commonwealth only as a rare straggling visitant. The nest is made of large sticks and twigs, and placed on the larger limbs of trees, generally near the water. The eggs vary in number from three to five, are light-blue in color, and about the size of those of our common domestic fowl. This bird, and the same is true of other Herons, when wounded and unable to escape, is one which can not be handled with too much caution, as it frequently, with its sharp and powerful bill, inflicts severe, dangerous, and, it is said, sometimes fatal wounds. In Florida I met a hunter who had an eye destroyed by one of these birds which he had winged and care- lessly attempted to pick up. By some, particularly residents of certain of the Southern States, the flesh of the Great Blue Heron is consid- ered quite a delicious morsel. Some few winters ago, when camping in the Cypress swamps of Florida, I, more from necessity than choice, eat the breast-meat of this Heron and also that of the Water Turkey, (AnJiinga anhinga), a bird which preys exclusively on fish, and al- though I did not especially relish the dish, I must admit that to a hungry man it was in no way disagreeable. BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 21 FOOD. The following interesting observations on the food-habits are given by Nuttall : " Fish is the principal food of the Great Heron, and for this purpose, like an experienced angler, he often waits for that con- dition of the tide which best suits his experience and instinct. At such times they are seen slowly sailing out from their inland breed- ing haunts, during the most silent and cool period of the summer's day, selecting usually such shallow inlets as the ebbing tide leaves bare or accessible to his watchful and patient mode of prowling ; here wading to the knees, he stands motionless amidst the timorous fry, till some victim coming within the compass of his wily range is as instantly seized by the powerful bill of the Heron. * * * If large, the fish is beaten to death, and commonly swallowed with the head descending, as if to avoid any obstacle arising from the rever- sion of the fins or any hard external processes. On land our Heron has also his fare, as he is no less a successful angler than a mouser, and renders an important service to the farmer in the destruction he makes among most of the reptiles and meadow shrews. Grasshop- pers, other large insects, and particularly dragon-flies, he is very ex- pert in striking, and occasionally feeds upon the seeds of pond lilies, contiguous to his usual haunts. Our species, in all probability, as well as the European Heron, at times preys upon young birds which may be accidentally straggling near their solitary retreats." In the months of March and April, 1885, I examined the stomachs of twenty-three of these birds which had been killed by plume- hunters in Orange and Yolusia counties, Florida. Twelve birds had fed entirely on fish ; three had taken fish and cray-fish ; two, small snakes ; one, frogs and fish ; one, fish and a few feathers ; one, traces of beetles. Three birds were destitute of all food-materials. From my investigations made in Florida, as well as the records in the following table, I would say this Heron is mainly piscivorous in habit. No. DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD-MATERIA i.-. 1 June 3, 1879, Brigantine, X. J., Remains of fish. 2 4 5 6 Aug. 23, 1879, June 7, 1880, June 12, 1880, Mav 15, 1880, Sept. 1882 Chester county, Pa., .... Delaware county, Pa., . . . Berks county, Pa., .... Chester county, Pa., .... Brigantine, N. J., . Remains of fish. Remains of fish. Remains of fish. Remains of fish. Remains of fish. 7 8 9 Oct. 24, 1883, April 20, 1884, Aug. — , 1884, Delaware county, Pa,, . . . Delaware county, Pa,, . . . Willistown, Pa., Remains of fish. Remains of fish. Remains of fish. 10 Aug. — , 1884, Willistown, Pa,, Remains of fish. BIRDS OP PENNSYLVANIA. 196. Ardea egretta. GMEL. American Egret; Large White Crane. DESCRIPTION. The plumage of this bird is entirely white ; in the breeding season the adults have the backs ornamented with long hair-like plumes, frequently so long that they touch the ground when the bird stands erect ; legs and feet black ; eyes bright yel- low ; bill yellow, and about five inches long; point of upper mandible black ; meas- ures, from tip to tip of wings, about five feet. Hob. — Temperate and tropical America, from New Jersey, Minnesota and Oregon south to Patagonia ; casually on the Atlantic coast to Nova Scotia. This beautiful bird, now chiefly found in the Southern States, where it is rapidly being exterminated by the heartless and money-loving plume-hunters, is a rare migrant along our rivers. It occurs in this State, according to my observation, only in the late summer and au- tumn, when straggling individuals are sometimes taken. In former years, this species is said to have reared its young in Pennsylvania. FOOD. No. DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD-MATERIALS. 1 August, 1879, . Lancaster county, Pa., Fishes and insects. 2 3 July, 1881, . July, 1884, . Chester county, Pa., . . Delaware county, Pa., . Field-mouse and cray-fish. Fishes and frogs (liana). 4 April, 1885, Orange county, Fla., . Cray fish. 5 April, 1885, Orange county, Fla., . Fish-scales and bones. 6 April, 1885, Orange county, Fla., . Fishes. 7 April, 1885, Orange county, Fla., Insects. 8 April, 1885, Orange county, Fla., . Feathers, apparently of a spar- row (?). 9 April, 1885, Orange county, Fla., . Cray-fish and small snake. 10 April, 1885, Orange county, Fla., Fish-scales and bones. 11 April, 1885, Orange county, Fla., Cray-fish and fish-scales. 12 May, 1885, Volusia county, Fla., . Stomach empty. 13 May, 1885, Volusia county, Fla., . Beetles and dipterous insects. 197. Ardea candidissima. GMEL. Snowy Heron. DESCRIPTION. Occiput much crested ; scapular plumes reaching to the end of the tail ; lower neck furnished with long plumes ; plumage pure white ; bill black, yellow at base ; legs black ; toes and lower posterior part of tarsus yellow ; iris yellow. Length, 24 inches; extent, about 38 inches; wing, 10.20; tarsus, 3.80; bill above, 3. 15 inches. Hab. — Temperate and tropical America, from Long Island and Oregon south to Buenos Ayres ; casual on the Atlantic coast to Nova Scotia. This beautiful Heron is found most plentifully in the Southern States, where it breeds in company with other species. Solitary indi- viduals are sometimes found in this locality during the late summer or early autumn. Nuttall says : Ck Its food, as usual, consists of small crabs, worms, snails, frogs and lizards, to which fare it also adds at BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 23 times the seeds of the pond lilies and other aquatic plants." In April, 1885, I visited an island in a small lake in Orange county, Florida, where this species, also the Louisiana, Little Blue and Green Herons, were breeding on low bushes. I shot seven Snowy Herons, and found in the viscera of all only the remains of fish. 201. Ardea virescens. LINN. Green Heron. DESCRIPTION. "The Green Bittern is eighteen inches long, and twenty-five inches in extent; bill black, lighter below, and yellow at the base ; chin, and narrow streak down the throat, yellowish-white ; neck dark vinaceous-red ; back covered with very long, tapering, pointed feathers, of a hoary green, shafted with white, on a dark-green ground ; the hind part of the neck is destitute of plumage, that it may be the more conveniently drawn in over the breast, but is covered with the long feathers of the throat and sides of the neck that enclose it behind; wings and tail dark glossy green, tipped and bordered with yellowish-white ; legs and feet yellow, tinged be- fore with green, the skin of these thick and movable; belly ashy-brown; irides bright-orange ; head crested and very dark glossy green. "The female, as I have particularly observed in numerous instances, differs in nothing, as to color, from the male ; neither of them recefve the long feathers on the back during the first season." — Wilson. Hab. — Canada and Oregon, southward to northern South America and the West Indies ; rare or absent in the middle province. The Green Heron is known by a variety of local names, some of which are much more expressive than elegant. This bird, the most common and abundant of all our Herons, is found throughout the State, frequenting rivers, streams and ponds. It arrives in this sec- tion occasionally as early as the first week in April, from the Southern States, where it resides when the chilling blasts of winter have frozen over our streams and marshes. This species sometimes breeds in small companies ; generally, however, but two or three pairs are found nesting together. The nests, built of sticks and twigs, are placed in low bushes or small trees adjacent to a stream or pond. The nests frequently are built in apple orchards. Indeed, the largest number of nests that I ever found in one locality was in an apple-orchard along the Brandywine, where for several years some twenty-five or thirty of these birds annually resorted. While it is true that I have found these Herons breeding in small numbers with the Night and Great Blue Herons in Pennsylvania, and also in Florida in company with the Little Blue, Louisiana and Snowy Herons, and even some- times in the colonies of Water Turkeys and Cormorants, I think, as a rule, they usually prefer to remain by themselves during the season of reproduction as well as at other times. Various writers state that the eggs are four in number. I have examined many nests, and con- sider the usual complement to be not less than five ; frequently six BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. eggs are laid. The eggs are pale-blue and larger than those of our common pigeon. FOOD. This species feeds much more frequently on insects than other of the Herons that reside with us. Nuttall writes of the Green Heron in the following language : u He is also particularly attracted by ar- tificial ponds for fish, not refraining even to visit gardens and domes- tic premises which any prospect of fare may offer. He is, at the same time, perhaps as much in quest of the natural enemy of the fish, the frog, as of the legitimate tenants of the pond. These bold and intru- sive visits are commonly made early in the morning, or towards twi- light, and he not unfrequently, when pressed by hunger, or after ill- success, turns out to hunt his fare by day as well as dusk, and, at such times, collects various larvae, particularly those of the dragori-fly, with grasshoppers and different kinds of insects. At other times he preys upon small fish, crabs and frogs, for which he often lies patiently in wait till they reappear from their hiding places in the water or mud, and on being transfixed and caught, which is effected wiih great dex- terity, they are commonly beaten to death, if large, and afterwards swallowed at leisure." No. DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD-MATERIALS. 1 June — , 1879, . . Barnegat, N. J., . . . . Beetles and other insects. 2 Oct. 10, 1879, Chester county, Pa., . . "Fall-fish." 3 4 April 29, 1880, April 29, 1880, Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa. . . Frog and minnows. Fragments of insects and small quantity of hair, probably that of a field-mouse. 5 May 12, 1880, Chester county, Pa., . . Beetles. 6 7 July 3, 1880, . June 30, 1881, Delaware county, Pa., . Chester county, Pa., . . Frog. Remains of small fishes. 8 Aug. 17, 1881, Chester county, Pa., . Beetles and other insects. 9 May 14, 1882, Lancaster county, Pa., Fishes and frogs. 10 July 29, 1882, . Chester county, Pa., . . Remains of small fishes.* 11 July 29, 1882, Chester county, Pa., . . Remains of small fishes.* 12 July 29, 1882, Chester county, Pa., . . Remains of small fishes.* 13 July 29, 1882, Chester county, Pa., . . Remains of small fishes.* 14 Sept. 4, 1883, York county, Pa., . . . Dipterous and other insects. * Four young birds taken from the nest. GENUS NYCTICORAX. STEPHENS. 202. Nycticorax nycticorax naevius (BODD). Black-crowned Night Heron. DESCRIPTION. {Plate 6.) Head above and middle of back steel-green ; wings and tail ashy-blue ; under parts, forehead, and long occipital feathers white ; sides tinged with lilac. Bill very thick at the base, and tapering all the way to the tip. Culmen nearly straight for half its length, then considerably curved ; lower outline of bill nearly BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 25 straight ; legs short, but stout ; the tarsus equal to the middle toe ; covered through- out with hexagonal scales, the anterior largest, but those on the upper portion much larger, and going entirely across ; tibia bare for about one-fifth ; lateral toes nearly equal; the outer rather longest; claws small; considerably curved; tail short, of twelve broad, rather stiff feathers. Head with the occipital feathers elongated, and with two or three very long, straight feathers (as long as the bill and head) springing from the occiput. These are rolled up so as to appear like a single cylindrical feather; back of the neck covered with down, but not provided with long feathers; interscapular feathers and scapulars elongated and lanceolate, the webs scarcely decomposed. The upper part of the head, including the upper eyelids, the occipital crest, and the interscapular region and scapulars, dark lustrous steel-green ; the wings and tail are ashy-blue ; the under parts, the forehead, and the long occipital feathers, are white, passing into pale ashy-lilac on the sides and on the neck above ; this color, in fact, tinging nearly the whole under parts. The region along the base of the bill, however, is nearly pure, as are the tibia. The bill is black ; the loral space green ; the iris red; the feet yellow; the claws brown. Length, about 25 inches ; wing, 12.50; tarsus, 3.15; bill, above, 3.10. Hab.— America, from the British possessions southward to the Falkland Islands, including part of the West Indies. Next to the Green Heron the Night Heron is unquestionably the most abundant of the family in this State. The adult birds are easily distinguished from other Herons by the black feathers on top of head and back, red eyes, and frequently three long, fine, white feathers, which grow from the base of the head. The plumage of the young birds is grayish-brown above, with numerous spots or stripes of white ; lower parts lighter ; eyes light yellow. The appellation, Night Heron, is highly appropriate, as this bird is strictly nocturnal in its habits. During the daytime the Night Heron is inactive, and generally is found perched on a log or the limb of a tree in a quiet nook about the swamps and streams. As twilight ap- proaches this drowsy wader becomes, as it were, a new^ being — im- pelled, no doubt, by the pangs of hunger — he stands erect, the loose and shaggy plumage, which before seemed ill-adapted to his body, now fits neat and closely as he carefully walks to the extremity of the dead and decorticated limb on which he has been dozing, and sud- denly with a loud squawk launches himself into the air, uttering at short intervals his harsh note, and, rising above the trees of the forest, he speedily visits some favorite mill-dam. These birds arrive in Penn- sylvania about the 25th of April and remain until the latter part of September. They seem to repair at once on their arrival in spring to localities where they are accustomed to breed. After the breeding, i. e., about the middle of August, when the young are amply able to provide for themselves these birds forsake their nesting-places and be- come quite plentiful along the rivers, streams and bushy marshes. The Night Heron rarely, if ever, breeds singly, but always in large companies. I have visited, on different occasions, two of these breed- ing resorts and found from twenty-five to seventy-five nests, which, 26 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. like those of the other species, were built of sticks and placed usually in high trees. In Berks county, near Blue Rock, for many years this species annually reared their young in the edge of a large woods along the margin of which was a good- sized stream of clear running water. In this place many of the nests were built in a bunch of saplings, some fifteen or twenty feet high and so small in diameter that it was impossible to climb them. Wilson has very properly said that the noise of the old and young in one of these breedingiplaces would in- duce one to suppose that two or three hundred Indians were choking or throttling each other. The same writer, in referring to examina- tions which he made, states that the teeth of the pectinated claw were thirty-five or forty in number, and, as they contained particles of the down of the bird, showed evidently from this circumstance that they act the part of a comb, to rid the bird of vermin in those parts which it cannot reach with its bill. FOOD. The late Isaac G. Darlington, of West Chester, some years ago, had large numbers of gold-fishes in a pond near his residence. One day Mr. Darlington caught twenty-five of these fish and placed them in a small pool, intending to remove them the following morning. About bedtime, Mr. D. said, I heard a loud squawking, and on going out saw two Night Herons actively engaged in catching these fish. I shot one of the robbers, which you there see mounted, on the book-case, and on making an investigation found only one of the fish remaining. "An incident may illustrate the habits of the Night Heron, and per- haps of the whole family. A Night Heron had been noticed for sev- eral days sitting on a tree near a branch of White Clay creek. It was at length shot and brought to me, with the tail of a large fish project- ing four inches beyond its bill. On removing the fish (a sucker Ca- tostorn.us, which must have been twelve inches long), its head and shoulders — except the bony portions — were eaten away by the gastric liquor of the stomach. This case affords evidence of the facts : " 1. Of the great strength and dexterity of the bird to capture so large a fish. " 2. Of the instinctive sagacity to swallow the fish head foremost. "3. Of the great length of time required to digest so large an ob- ject as it slowly entered the stomach. '4 4:. Of the stolid endurance of the bird under circumstances appar- ently so uncomfortable." — Michener. I have examined the stomachs of twenty odd of these Herons, adult and young, which have been shot in June at the breeding-grounds, and found in all only the remains of fishes. In two or three imma- ture birds, taken in August and September, I have discovered a few grasshoppers and portions of insects. BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 27 ORDER PALTJDICOLJ]. RAILS, ETC. SUBORDER RALLL RAILS, COOTS, ETC. FAMILY RALLID^E. RAILS, GALLINULES, ETC. SUBFAMILY RALLIN^. RAILS. GENUS RALLTJS. LINN^IUS. 212. Rallus virginianus LINN. Virginia Rail. DESCRIPTION. Much smaller than either the Clapper or King Rails, but resembling them in form, and resembling also J2. elegans in colors; upper parts olive-brown, with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black ; line from base of bill over the eye reddish-white ; throat white ; neck before and breast bright-rufous ; abdomen and under tail coverts with transverse bands of black and white, the former being the wider ; upper wing cov- erts bright rufous-chestnut; under wing coverts black, with transverse lines of white; iris red. Total length (from tip of bill to end of tail), about 7^ inches; wing, 4; tail, H inches. Hab.— North America, from British provinces south to Guatemala and Cuba. Notwithstanding the fact that the plumage of the Virginia and King Rails is similar, the species can readily be distinguished by the great difference in size, the Virginia Rail being only about one-third as large as the King Rail. This species arrives in Pennsylvania by the first of May and remains with us until the middle of October — specimens have been killed during the first week in November. These birds, although only occasionally observed, are, I am certain, much more plentiful about our large swamps and marshy river borders than it is usually supposed. Frequenting, as they de at all times, however, marshy districts, which are thickly covered with various grasses, bushes, reeds, &c., it is rather exceptional to see them. Like all the Rails, they are shy and timid. If approached they seldom fly, but run rapidly and quickly conceal themselves among the thick tus- socks or other suitable cover. They are seemingly in no way impeded in making their retreat even across large-sized spaces of water on which are floating a few blades of grass, leaves or twigs, over which they run with the same celerity as when on the ground. The nest, a frail structure consisting mainly of grass, is built commonly in a tus- sock located generally in the most inaccessible portion of the swamp. The eggs, it is said, vary in number from six to ten and are dirty white, with numerous spots and different shades of brown. Nuttall writes : " The female is so much attached to her eggs, after sitting, as sometimes to allow of being taken up by the hand rather than desert 28 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. the premises, which affection appears the more necessary as the male seems to desert his mate and leave her in the sole charge of her little family." FOOD. According to several writers, the food of this bird is made up al- most entirely of various forms of aquatic insects, larvas and worms. No. DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD-MATERIALS. 1 Sept. 3, 1879, . . Delaware county, Pa., Beetles. 2 Sept. 15, 1879, . . Phila. Market, Pa., . Insects and small seeds. 8 Sept. 15, 1879, . . Phila. Market, Pa., . Fragments of beetles. 4 May 13, 1880, . . Chester county, Pa., . Earth-worms. 5 May 30, 1880, . . Chester county, Pa., . Beetles and vegetable matter. 6 July 20, 1882, . . Chester county, Pa., . Beetles. 7 Oct. 5, 1882, . . Delaware county, Pa., Insects and small seeds. 8 Aug. 14, 1883, . . Wilmington, Del., . . Beetles. 9 Sept. 2, 1884, . . Delaware county, Pa., Beetles. 10 11 Sept. 2, 1884, . . Sept. 2, 1884, . . Delaware county, Pa., Delaware county, Pa., Small "worms." Beetles and seeds. GENUS PORZANA. VIEILLOT. 214. Porzana Carolina (LINN.). Sora; Carolina Rail; Rail-bird, Etc. DESCRIPTION. (Plate 7.) Space around the base of the bill, extending downwards on the neck before and over the top of the head, black. Male. — Upper parts greenish-brown, with longitudinal bands of black, and many feathers having narrow stripes of white on their edges ; behind the eye, sides of the neck, and the breast, fine bluish-ashy, with circular spots and transverse bands of white on the breast; middle of the abdomen and under tail coverts white ; sides and flanks with transverse bands of brownish-black and white ; bill greenish-yellow ; legs dark-green. Female.— Similar, but duller in colors ; iris light-brown in both sexes. Young.— Without black at the base of the bill or on the neck ; throat dull-white ; breast dull yellowish-ashy ; upper parts tinged with dull-yellow. Length, about 8| inches ; extent, about 13 inches ; wing, 4^ ; tail, about 2 inches. Hab.— Temperate North America, but most common in the eastern province, breeding chiefly northward. South in winter to the West Indies and northern South America. The Carolina Rail and Virginia Rail resemble each other in size and form, but otherwise are greatly different. First, they differ in plumage ; secondly, the bill of the Carolina Rail is about three-fourths of an inch long, while in the Virginia Rail this organ is often over one and one-half inches in length; again, the legs of the Carolina Rail are greenish-yellow, those of the Virginia Rail are dull reddish - brown. This species and the preceding may be said to be the only Rails which are regularly found in Pennsylvania. The Carolina Rail BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 29 arrives in this region about the first week in May. During the latter part of August and early in September, it is not uncommon to find this species in parties numbering from half a dozen to twenty indi- viduals in the swamps and wet grassy meadows. The Messrs. Baird mention this species among the natives of Cumberland county. Al- though I have never discovered their nests, I am fully convinced that they oftentimes breed with us. Prof. E. A. Samuels, of Boston, Mass., in his interesting and instructive work entitled u Our Northern and Eastern Birds" gives the following account of nests and eggs : " Early in May the season of incubation commences. The nest is constructed of pieces of straw and weeds, arranged in a large pile, and hollowed to the depth of an inch or more : it is usually placed in a tussock of grass or beneath a piece of turf. A specimen, which I found in Ded- ham meadows, was built beneath some thick cranberry-vines, and I have known of others being placed in small brier patches ; but gen- erally the fabric is built in an open meadow, usually on an elevated tussock in a boggy tract of ground. The eggs vary from five to eight or ten in number; their form is almost always an exact ovoidal. Their color is a yellow-drab, with a faint-olivaceous tint, different from the color of any of our other Rail's eggs. They vary in dimen- sions from 1.35 by 1 inch (Quincy, Mass.) to 1.15 by .85 inch (Albion, Wis.). The average size is about 1.26 by 1.92 (Cambridge and Need- ham, Mass.)." FOOD. During fall migrations, when this species is shot in great numbers about the reedy shores of the large rivers, their diet is principally of a vegetal character ; when breeding it is said they subsist chiefly on insects and their larvae. No. DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD-MATERIALS. 1 Sept. 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., Green-colored vegetable matter. 2 Sept. 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., Brown-colored seeds, large and small. 3 Sept. 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., Brown and yellow-colored seeds. Sept 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., Brown and yellow-colored seeds. 5 Sept 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., Yellow seeds and particles of shells. 6 Sept 8, 1880, Xear Chester city, Pa., Green-colored vegetable matter. 7 Sept 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., Seeds and other vegetable matter. 8 Sept 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., Yellow-colored seeds. Sept 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., Yellow and brown-colored seeds. 10 Sept 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., Seeds and other vegetable matter. 11 Sept. 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., Seeds and other vegetable matter. 12 Sept. 8, 1880, . Near Chester city, Pa., Seeds and other vegetable matter. 13 3. 1880, Pocopson, Pa., .... Black-colored seeds. 14 May 3, 1882, . 15 July 20, 1884, . Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa., . . Small "worms." Small green seeds. 16 Aug. 12, 1884, . Chester county, Pa., . . Beetles and vegetable matter. 30 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 215. Porzana noveboracensis (GMEL.). Yellow Rail. DESCRIPTION. Entire upper parts ochre-yellow, with longitudinal wide stripes of brownish-black and transverse narrow stripes of white ; neck and breast reddish ochre-yellow ; many feathers tipped with brown ; middle of abdomen white ; flanks and ventral region with transverse bands of dark reddish-brown and narrow bands of white ; under tail coverts rufous with small spots of white and black ; under wing coverts white. Length, (from tip of bill to end of tail) about 6 inches; extent, about 13; wing, 3| ; tail, If ; bill, | inch. Hab.— Eastern North America, from Nova Scotia and Hudson's Bay west to Utah and Nevada. No extralimital record except Cuba and the Bermudas. Birds of this species are occasionally taken about our rivers and meadows during the spring and fall migrations. I have seen two specimens which were captured in the early part of July, 1882, in Delaware county, near Chester city. It is possible that this little Kail sometimes breeds in Pennsylvania, yet I have no positive infor- mation to this effect. According to Audubon the nest is usually placed on the ground, in the center of a thick tuft of grass. It is composed of different kinds of weeds, and is occasionally covered over in the same manner as that of the Meadow Lark. The eggs, ac- cording to different writers, vary from six to ten, and are described as yellowish-brown, marked at the larger end with reddish spots, and measure about 1.13 by .82 inches. SUBFAMILY GALLINULIN.S3. GALLINULES. GENUS GALLJNULA. BRISSON. 219. Gallinula galeata (LIGHT.). Florida Gallinule; Blue Rail. DESCRIPTION. Frontal plate large, obovate, terminating square on the top of the head ; bill shorter than the head, rather thick, compressed ; wing rather long ; tail short ; legs mod- erate ; toes and claws long, robust. Head, neck, and entire under parts dark bluish- cinereous, frequently nearly black on the head and neck, and generally lighter on the abdomen' ; a few feathers on the flanks widely edged with white ; edge of wing at the shoulder and outer edge of first primary quill white ; shorter under tail cov- erts black, longer white. Upper parts brownish-olive ; darker on the rump ; quills dark-brown ; tail, brownish-black ; frontal plate and bill bright-red, tipped with yel- low ; tibia with bright-red space on the portion next to the feathers ; (the red color on frontal plate and tibiae is oftentimes hardly noticeable in specimens taken in au- tumn ;) lower portion of tibia, tarsus, and toes yellowish-green ; iris brown. Total length, about 12£ inches ; extent, about 21 ; wing, 6| ; tail, 3 ; bill, 1£ ; tarsus, ii- Hab.— Temperate and tropical America, from Canada to Brazil and Chili. The Blue Rail, as the Florida Gallinule is usually called by sports- men, is a regular, though rare, spring and fall migrant in this locality. BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 31 The Messrs. Baird mention this species as a rare native in Cumberland county. Their food, according to Audubon, u consists of grasses, seeds, water insects, worms and snails, along with which they swallow a good deal of sand or gravel." Xo. DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD-MATERIALS. 1 2 3 4 May 11, 1879, . Sept. 8, 1880, . Sept. 15, 1880, . Oct. 20, 1883, . Chester county, Pa., . . Near Chester city, Pa., Near Chester city, Pa., Phila. Market, Pa., . . Vegetable matter ^green-colored). Seeds. Seeds and green-colored vegetable matter. Black-colored seeds. In addition to the examinations given in the above table, I found in the gizzards of five of these birds, which were killed in Florida, in March, 1885, numerous small yellow and brown seeds; also the stems and leaves of different kinds of aquatic plants. SUBFAMILY FULICIN^l. COOTS. GENUS FULJCA. LINN^US. 221. Fulica americana GMEL. American Coot. (Plate 8.) Hab. — North America, from Greenland and Alaska, southward to the West Indies and Central America. To recognize a Coot, remember it is about the size of a Pheasant, bill short, thick and white, or nearly so, dark at base of frontal plate, and a brownish spot near the end of each mandible. Head and neck black ; body lead-gray color ; white on edge of wing and a white patch under its tail ; toes furnished with broad lobes. The American Coot, commonly known in eastern Pennsylvania as Mud-hen,* breeds in various -localities throughout its extensive range. In the British prov- inces it is said to be quite a common summer resident. Mr. Samuels remarks that it breeds probably in all the New England States. Dr. Coues has found it breeding in northern Montana and Dakota. Mr. H. W. Henshaw found them to be very numerous at the Alkali lakes, southern Colorado, where, according to this eminent authority, " they breed in colonies among the rushes, the nests often being but a few feet apart. These are very bulky structures, composed of weeds and *The vernacular name of Mudhen is also given to the Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris crepi- tcms— Gmel.) which breeds so abundantly in the extensive marshes about Atlantic City and else- where on the Atlantic coast in New Jersey and southward. 32 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. rushes raised to a height of several inches from the surface of the water, so that the eggs are kept perfectly dry, and are moored to the stems of the surrounding reeds." During the winter months Coots may be seen in large flocks along the St. John's river, Florida ; at " Mud Lake," about ten miles north of Sanford, I have seen over a thousand in one flock. These birds arrive in Pennsylvania about the last week in April, and, like the Rails, are found frequenting marshy sloughs, etc. Coots do not, I think, breed in this Commonwealth, but occur here chiefly as spring and fall migrants ; they are much more common in the autumn than during the spring. Audubon states that its food consists of seeds, grasses, small fishes, worms, snails and insects, along with which it introduces into its stomach a good quantity of rather coarse sand. Nuttall observes that they feed principally on aquatic vegetable sub- stances, as seeds, leaves, etc. In March, 1885, I obtained seventeen Coots at Little Lake George, Florida, and found in the stomachs of all only small seeds, blades of grass, with, in most every instance, a small quantity of sand or gravel. Six of these birds, which I have obtained in Chester county, Pa., had only vegetable materials, small black and yellow seeds, also sand in their muscular gizzards. ORDER LIMICOLJ]. SHORE BIRDS. FAMILY SCOLOPACID^E. SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS. GENUS PHILOHELA. GRAY. 228. Philohela minor (GMEL.). American "Woodcock. DESCRIPTION. Bill long, compressed, punctulated and corrugated near the end ; upper mandible longer than the under, and fitted to it at the tip ; wings moderate, three first prima- ries shorter than the fourth and very narrow ; tail short ; legs moderate ; eyes in- serted unusually distant from the bill ; occiput with three transverse bands of black, alternating with three others of pale yellowish-rufous ; upper parts of body vari- egated with pale-ashy, rufous, or yellowish-red of various shades, and black ; large space in front, and throat, reddish-ashy ; line from the eye to the bill, and another on the neck below the eye, brownish-black ; entire under parts pale-rufous, brighter on the sides and under wing coverts ; quills ashy-brown ; tail feathers brownish- black, tipped with ashy, darker on the upper surface, paler and frequently white on the under ; bill light-brown, paler and yellowish at base ; legs pale-reddish ; iris brown. Total length, about 11 inches ; wing, 5| ; tail 2^ ; tarsus, If inches. Hab. — Eastern province of North America, north to the British provinces, west to Dakota, Kansas, etc., breeding throughout its range ; no extralimital records. BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 33 This bird, well known to sportsmen, is frequently confounded by the casual observer with the Gray or Wilson's Snipe. This error, however, can readily be avoided if you bear in mind that the Wood- cock has entire lower parts, including lining of wings, uniformly red dish brown; on the other hand, the snipe has abdomen white, throat and upper parts of the breast speckled and the lining of the wings barred with white and black. Bill in both species measures two and one half inches or more in length. The Woodcock arrives in Penn- sylvania about the middle of March, sometimes earlier, and occasion- ally a few are found during the u warm-spells " of winter lingering about the spring-heads. This bird, strictly speaking, is an inhabitant of the lowlands and boggy districts of our woods and dense thickets. Oftentimes during the fall migrations it is found along the muddy shores of streams, etc., or in the late summer when its usual feeding- grounds have become dry and hard through the continued summer's heat, it resorts to corn-fields where it probes the humid soil in search of food. I am not positive that the u Wood-hen, as some aesthetic market-women prefer to call her,'' makes any attempt to build a nest. In April, on three occasions, I have found eggs, and once (May 10) took four young, but a few days old, all of which were on the ground in the woods. The eggs were deposited in slight depressions in the earth, in and about which were dried leaves ; the young birds were discovered on a lot of dead oak-leaves, and from the appearance of their bed I judge they had been there -only a short time. It is stated by Dr. Coues a that the young are sometimes removed from danger by the parent carrying them with the feet.'' The Woodcock is prin- cipally nocturnal in its habits, and during the fall migrations is gre- garious. I shot one of these birds in Florida, in March, 1885, and was informed by Mr. Richard L. Dade that the species breeds in that State. FOOD. Xuttall writes : "According to their usual habits, they keep secluded in the woods and thickets till the approach of evening, when they sally forth to seek out springs, paths and broken soil, in quest of worms and other insects, on which they feed. They now disperse themselves over the country to breed, and indicate their presence in all directions by the marks of their boring bills, which are seen in such soft and boggy places as are usually sheltered by thickets and woods. They also turn over the fallen leaves from side to side with their bills in quest of lurking insects, but never scratch with their feet, though so robust in appearance. The sensibility possessed by the extremity of the bill, as in the Snipe, is of such an exquisite na- ture that they are enabled to collect their food by the mere touch, 3 BIRDS. 34 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. without using their eyes,* which are set at such a distance and eleva- tion in the back part of the head as to give the bird a remarkable as- pect of stupidity." No. DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD-MATERIALS. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 May 10, 1879, . May 10, 1879, May 10, 1879, May 10, 1879, May 10, 18:9, July 20, 1882, Aug. 3, 1884, Oct. 20, 1882, Nov. 8, 1880, Willistown, Pa., . . . Willistown, Pa., . . . Willistown, Pa., . . . Willistown, Pa., . . . Willistown, Pa., ... Chester county, Pa., . . Delaware county, Pa., . Schuylkill county, Pa., Delaware, Small fragments of "worms."1* Small fragments of "worms."* Small fragments of "worms."-'' Small fragments of "worms."* Earth-worms and fragments <>t' bee- tle.! Spider and unrecognizable insects. Insects and larva\ Beetles and earth-worms. Small seeds. *A11 young birds. t Parent of above. GENUS GALLINAGO. LEACH. 230. Gallinago delicata (ORD.). Wilson's Snipe; Gray Snipe. (Pate P.) Dimensions. — Length, about 11 inches; extent, about 18 inches; wing, about 5 inches ; tarsus, 1.25; tail, 2.25 inches. Female somewhat smaller than the male. Hab. — North and middle America, breeding from the northern United Mates north waf d ; south in winter to the West Indies and northern South America. This bird, usually, though improperly, called " English Snipe," ar- rives in Pennsylvania about the last week in March. After the first of May, these birds are rarely seen acain until the fall migrations, at which time you seldom find them in small flocks or u wisps," but gen- erally see them singly in the meadows, where but a few months be- fore they were plentiful. The Gray Snipe is not found in the woods or dense thickets, but at times when sojourning in this region is seen about the marshes or meadqws, and in the early spring he shows a special preference for spring-heads, about which, at this time, the tender blades of grasses grow in abundance. Audubon says : kt I never had the good fortune to meet with a nest in Pennsylvania, al- though I have known several instances of a pair breeding not far from Mill Grove, on the Perkioming." While I do not dispute the fact that a few nests of this species have, at times, been taken in Pennsylvania, I am quite certain that the Snipe does not commonly breed in this *The eyes being situated high up and far back in both the Snipe and Woodcock (well shown in plate No. 9) is a wise provision of nature, as these birds by this peculiarity escape many of their enemies. It can easily be understood by this arrangement that the field of vision is greatly increased. Obtaining their sustenance, as they do, chiefly by probing with their long bills, so amply supplied with nerves, they have comparatively little use for their eyes when feeding, un- less it is to keep a watch tor their numerous foes. — Warren. BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 35 State. Individuals of this species have been shot in summer near West Chester, also in Delaware county, but on examining them I found that, although able to fly a short distance, they were so crippled from wounds received during the spring shooting season that they were unable to perform any extended migrations. Should these crip- ples remain in a locality during the summer months, I have no doubt some of them might reproduce. FOOD. According to Audubon, u the food of our common Snipe consists principally of ground- worms, insects, and the juicy slender roots of different vegetables, all of which tend to give its flesh that richness of flavor and juicy tenderness for which it is so deservedly renowned, it being equal to that of the Woodcock. Many epicures eat up both Snipe and Woodcock with all their viscera, worms and insects to boot, the intestines, in fact, being considered the most savory parts. On opening some newly -killed Snipe, I have more than once found fine large and well-fed ground- worms, and at times a leech, which I must acknowledge I never conceived suitable articles of food for man, and for this reason I have always taken good care to have both Snipes and Woodcocks well cleaned, as all game ought to be." No. DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD-MATERIALS. 1 March 22, 1879, . Birmingham, Pa,, . . Water beetles and two seeds of smart-weed.* 2 March 22, 1879, . Birmingham, Pa,, . . . Water beetles and three seeds of smart-weed. 3 March 22, 1879, . Birmingham, Pa,, . . Water beetles. 4 March 22, 1879, . Birmingham, Pa,, . . Water beetles. 5 March 22, 1879, . Birmingham, Pa,, . . Water beetles. 6 March 23, 1879, . Birmingham, Pa,, . . Beetles. 7 April 1, 1879, . West Chester, Pa,, . . Earth-worms and fragments of beetles. 8 April 2, 1879, . West Goshen, Pa, . . . Earth-worms. 9 April 2, 1879, . West Goshen, Pa., . . . Earth-worms. 10 April 2, 1879, . West Goshen. Pa,, . . . Beetles and blades of grass. 11 April 2, 1879, . West Goshen, Pa., . . . Various insects. 12 April 7, 1879, . West Chester, Pa,, . . Beetles and two seeds of smart- weed. 18 April 12, 1879, . Chester county, Pa,, . . Vegetable matter, apparently roots of small plant. 14 April 15, 1879, . East Bradford, Pa,, Beetles. 15 April 15, 1879, . East Bradford, Pa.. Beetles. 16 April 22, 1879, . East Bradford, Pa., Portions of grass blades and roots. 17 April 1, 1884, . West Goshen, Pa., . Small seeds and earth-worms. 18 Mav 3, 1884, . East Bradford, Pa., Beetles and earth-worms. 19 Mav 3, 1884, . East Bradford, Pa., Beetles. 20 Mav 6, 1884, . East Bradford, Pa., . Beetles and earth-worms. 21 May 10, 1884, . East Bradford, Pa., . . Various insects and vegetable mat- ter. 22 April 17, 1883, , Chester county, Pa., . . Small seeds. 23 April 17, 1--:;. Chester county. Pa., . . Small seeds and earth-worms. 24 April 17, 1883, . Chester county, Pa,, . . Vegetable matter. 25 April 17, 1883, . Chester county, Pa,, Small seeds. * Polygon urn. 36 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. GENUS TK.INGA. LINNAEUS. 242. Tringa minutilla YIEILL. Least Sandpiper. DESCRIPTION. The smallest of all known species of this group found in North America ; bill about as long as the head, slightly curved towards the end, which is very slightly expanded ; grooves in both mandibles to near the tip ; wing long ; tertiaries nearly as long as the primaries ; tail short ; middle feathers longest ; outer feathers fre- quently longer than the intermediate ; legs long ; lower third of the tibia naked ; toes long, slender, margined, and flattened beneath ; hind toe small ; upper parts with nearly every feather having a large central spot of brownish- black, and widely margined with ashy and bright brownish-red ; rump and middle of the upper tail coverts black ; outer coverts white, spotted with black ; stripe over the eye, throat, and breast, pale ashy-white, with numerous small longitudinal spots of ashy-brown ; abdomen and under tail coverts white; quills dark-brown, with the shafts of the primaries white ; tertiaries edged with reddish ; middle feathers of the tail brownish- black ; outer feathers light ashy-white ; under surface of wing light brownish-ashy, with a large spot of white near the shoulder ; axillary feathers white ; bill black ; tarsus brownish-green ; iris brown. Total length, from tip of bill to end of tail, about 5^ to 6 inches ; extent, about 1U inches ; wing, 3| to 3f ; tail If ; bill to gape, f ; tarsus, £ inch. Hob. — The whole of North and South America, breeding north of the United States. Accidental in Europe. This, the smallest of our Sandpipers, occurs in Pennsylvania only as a transitory visitor in the spring and fall migrations. According to my experience, it is rare in spring, but quite frequently found in the autumn, at which time it is often seen in company with other spe- cies of its family. Sometimes these birds are found about our rivers and ponds in good sized flocks. Near West Chester, about six years ago, in the latter part of August, an acquaintance of mine found a flock of probably one hundred feeding on the muddy bottom of a mill- dam from which the water had been allowed to escape. FOOD. In my notes I find that no records appear of food-materials of these birds, although I have obtained several in Pennsylvania and killed many along the Atlantic coast and elsewhere. Nuttall tells us that " for the discovery of their food their flexible and sensitive awl-like bills are probed into 1he mire, marshy soil, or wet sand, in the manner of the Snipe and Woodcock, and in this way they discover and rout from their hidden retreats the larvae and soft worms which form a principal part of their fare. At other times they also give chase to insects, and pursue their calling with amusing alacrity." BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 37 GENUS TOTANUS. BECHSTEIN. 255. Totanus flavipes (GMEL.). Yellow-legs. DESCRIPTION. Bill rather longer than the head, straight, slender, compressed ; wing long pointed; tail short ; legs long, lower half of the tibia naked ; toes moderate, slender, mar- uinrd, the outer and middle united at base; rump and upper tail coverts white, the latter transversely barred with ashy-brown ; other upper parts ashy, many feath- ers having large arrowheads and irregular spots of brownish-black, and edged with ashy-\vhite; under parts white, with numerous longitudinal lines on the neck be- fore, and arrowheads on the sides, of dark ashy-brown ; axillaries and under wing coverts white, with bands of ashy-brown, very indistinct in many specimens, but generally well defined ; quills brownish-black ; tail ashy-white with transverse bands of dark-brown, middle feathers darker; bill greenish-black; legs yellow; iris brown. Young. — Entire upper plumage tinged with reddish-brown ; neck before with lines much less distinct and pale-ashy. Total length, about 10 to 10| inches ; wing, 6 to 6§ ; tail, 2§ ; bill, Ik ; tarsus, 2 inches. Bill in this species is always less than 2 inches long. Hai>. — America in general, breeding in the cold temperate and sub-arctic dis- tricts, and migrating south in winter to southern South America. Less common in the western than the eastern province of North America, This bird is a miniature representative of the Greater Yellow-legs* ( Totanus melanoleucus) . Both species are easily recognized by their long yellow legs and white markings on rump. The Yellow-legs, commonly known along the sea-shore as "Little Yellow-leg-Tell-tale,'? is quite frequently found in Pennsylvania dur- ing migrations Although often seen in spring, it is most numerous during the last of August and in September. It is generally found in the interior, singly or in pairs, and sometimes, though not often, in parties of five or six. I have often found them about ponds, pools, and muddy flats, never along streams of running water, unless the borders of such streams were muddy and destitute of grasses and other vegetation. Dr. Ezra Michener, in a list of the Chester county birds, published in 1863, says this species is a u frequent summer resident.'' I have never known this bird to occur in Chester county as a summer resident, and I am satisfied that it is now found in Chester county and throughout Pennsylvania only as a spring and autumnal migrant. FOOD. Referring to the food of this bird, Nuttall says : u It resides chiefly in the salt marshes, and frequents low flats and estuaries at the ebb of the tide, wading in the mud in quest of worms, insects and other small marine and finviatile animals." I have been informed that these birds sometimes prey on small fishes. * The Greater Tell-tale, as this bird is usually denominated by gunners, measures H inches in length by about 25 inches in extent. The bill is about 2£ inches long ; never under two inches in length. 38 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. No. DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD-MATKKI A i,s. 1 2' 3 4 5 6 s 9 10 11 12 13 April 30, 1879, . May 7, 1879, . Aug. 27, 1879, . Aug. 27, 1879, . Aug. 27, 1879, . Sept. — , 1882, . Sept. — , 1882, . Sept. — , 1882, . Aug. 30, 1882, . Oct. 10, 1880, . Oct. 10, 1880, . Oct. 10, 1880, . Oct. 10, 1880, . Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa., . . Accomack county, Va., Accomack county, Va., Accomack county, Va., Brigaiitine, N. J., Insects, chiefly beetles. Small "worms." Insects. Insects. Insects. "Small worms." "Small worms." Beetles. Insects. Beetles and "worms." Insects and fragments of Insects. Insects. shells. Brigantine, N. J., . . . Brigantine, N. J., . . . Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa., . . 256. Totanus solitarius (WiLS.). Solitary Sandpiper. DESCRIPTION. {Plate 10.) Bill rather longer than the head, straight, slender, compressed; both mandibles with narrow grooves; wing long, pointed; tail medium or rather short, rounded; legs rather long, slender; lower half of the tibia naked ; toes long, the outer united to the middle by a small membrane, flattened underneath, marginated ; upper parts greenish-brown, with numerous small circular and irregular spots of ashy-white; upper tail coverts darker; under parts white; breast and neck before with numer- ous longitudinal lines of greenish-brown ; sides, axillaries, and under wing • coverts white, with numerous transverse narrow bands of dark greenish-brown ; under tail coverts white, with a few transverse bands of dark-brown ; quills brownish-black, with a slight bronzed or reddish lustre on the primaries ; two middle feathers of the tail greenish-brown ; other feathers of the tail pure-white, with about five transverse bands of brownish-black; bill and legs dark greenish-brown ; iris brown. Total length, about 8 to 8§ inches; wing, 5 ; tail, 2£ ; bill, 1| ; tarsus, 1| inches. Iln,!). — North America, breeding occasional!}7 in the northern United States, more commonly northward, and migrating southward as far as Brazil and Peru. The Solitary Sandpiper, unlike other of the Sandpipers occuring in this region, appears to have a special fondness for stagnant pools in and about the woods. During its spring and fall passage through Pennsylvania it is common, frequenting at all times muddy borders of ponds, pools and sloughs. This species seldom arrives in this State before April 25. About the first week in May you find them singly, in pairs, and occasionally in flocks, numbering sometimes as many as eight or even twelve individuals. After the 20th of May you rarely see a Solitary Sandpiper until the last week in September. In Wil- son's Ornithology, the following mention is made of the species: ic I have made many long and close searches for the nest of this bird without success. They regularly breed on Pocono mountain, between Easton and Wilkes-Barre, in Pennsylvania, arriving there early in May and departing in September." In Cumberland county the Messrs. Baird record it as a native species. Wilson also says that these birds inhabit the watery solitudes of our highest mountains during the BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 39 summer from Kentucky to New York, but are nowhere numerous, seldom more than one, or two being seen together. Dr. Coues has found " young birds in July in northern Dakota, about the pools of Turtle mountain." The same writer also states that " in Maryland and Virginia, and in nearly correspondent latitudes in the west, I have shot birds in August so young as to leave no doubt in my mind that they were bred in the vicinity." Nuttall says : u A pair, but oftener a single individual, have frequented, very familiarly, the small fish- pond in the Botanic Garden in Cambridge. Attracted by the numer- ous Donatias and their larvae, which feed upon the water-lily (Nym- p h< I'd odorata), I observed one of them tripping along upon the sink- ing leaves with great agility, expanding its wings and gently flitting over the treacherous element in the manner of the Rail. At another time, probably the same individual (who at first was accompanied by a mate) was seen day after day collecting insects, and contentedly resting in the interval on the border of the pond. The water having been recently let off, the lily leaves and insects were covered with mud. As soon as our little familiar and cleanly visitor had swallowed a few of these insects, he washed them down with a drink of water, and at the same time took the precaution to cleanse his bill and throat. Indeed, it is remarkable that however dirty the employment of these shore birds may be, so neat are they in all their habits that not a stain or a soil is allowed for a moment to remain upon their limbs or plu- mage. * * According to the observations of Mr. Ives (of Salem), the Solitary Sandpiper swims and dives with great facility, when dis- abled from flying by a wound; it even proceeds under the water, like the Divers or Grebes, and is only overtaken by a close pursuit." According to Audubon, the Solitary Sandpiper is expert in catching insects on the wing, " especially the smaller kinds of dragon-flies, which it chases from the sticks on which they alight, and generally seizes before they have flown across the little ponds which are the favorite places of resort of this species. I have found their stomachs filled with aquatic insects, caterpillars of various kinds, and black spiders of considerable size." No. DATE. LOCALITY. F.H>I>-MATKKIAI,S. 1 Mav 5, 1880, . Chester county, Pa,, . . Small shells. 2 Mav 6, 1880, Chester county, Pa., . . Vegetable matter. 3 Mav 9, 1880, Chester county, Pa., . . Small "worms." 4 May 7, J- Chester county, Pa., . . "Worms'1 and beetles. 5 Mav 7, 1882, Chester county, Pa., . . '•Worms"1 and beetles. (3 Sept. 21, 1883, Chester county, Pa., . . Beetles. i Oct. 5, 1883, Chester county, Pa., . . ki Worms." 8 Oct. 20, 1883, Schuylkill county, Pa,, Insects. 9 Mav 11, 1884, . Chester county. Pa.. . . Beetles and earth-worm. 10 Mav 11, 1884, . Chester county. Pa.. Dipterous insects. 11 Mav 11, 1884, . Chester county. Pa.. . . Small worms. 40 BIRDS or PENNSYLVANIA. GENUS BARTRAMIA. LESSON. 261. Bartramia longicauda (BECHST.). Bartramian Sandpiper. DESCRIPTION. Bill about as long as the head, rathef wide and flattened at base, curved at the tip : nostril with a large membrane; nasal groove long; wing long; tail long for this group; legs moderate or rather long; lower half of the tibia naked ; toes moderate, the outer and middle toe united by a membrane, inner and middle free to the base, hind toe small ; general color of the upper parts brownish-black, with a greenish lustre, and with the feathers edged with ashy-white and yellowish, the latter (.-spr- cially on the wing cove/ts ; lower part of the back, rump, and upper tail coverts, brownish-black ; lateral coverts of the tail yellowish-white, with arrow-heads and irregular spots of black ; wide stripe over the eye, and entire under parts very pale yellowish-white, nearly pure-white on the abdomen ; neck before with numerous longitudinal lines of brownish-black; breast and sides with waved and pointed transverse narrow band of the same ; axillary feathers and under wing coverts pure- white, with numerous nearly regular transverse narrow bands of black ; quills brownish-black, with numerous transverse bands of white on their inner webs, very conspicuous on the under surface of the wing ; shaft of first primary white ; middle feathers of the tail same greenish-brown as the back, with irregular and imperfect transverse bands of black; outer feathers pale reddish-yellow, edged and tipped with white, and with several irregular transverse bands and a large sub-terminal arrow-head of black ; bill greenish-yellow, with the under mandible more clear yel- low towards its base, tip and ridge brownish-black ; legs light-yellow ; toes darker ; iris brown. Total length, about 12 inches ; wing, 6| ; tail, 3| inches. Hab. — Eastern North America, north to Nova Scotia and Alaska, breeding through- out its North American range ; migrating in winter southward, as far even as south- ern South America. Occasional in Europe. This bird, known to sportsmen as Field or Grass Plover, is a com- mon native in Pennsylvania. It arrives here usually about April 20. This species resides during the breeding period in grass-fields and highlands. In this particular it differs from other birds of its family. Nests on the ground ; eggs, three to four and spotted. In August, when the young are amply able to fly, the Plovers collect in flocks and frequent the fields and meadows. By the last of September, but few of the species are found in the interior, as they appear to soon leave the breeding-grounds and migrate towards the sea-coast and large tide rivers. FOOD. No. DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD-MATERIA r,s. 1 2 3 4 5 6 m July — , 1879, . July — , 1879, . July -, 1879, . June 6, 1880, . June 6, 1880, . Sept. 15, 1880, . Sept 15, 1880, Willistown, Pa., . . . Willistown, Pa., . . . Willistown, Pa., . . . Honey brook, Pa., . . Honey brook, Pa., . . Phila. Market, Fa. , . Phila. Market, Pa., . . Beetles,* Various insects.* Grasshoppers.* Beetles. Beetles. Small "worms." Beetles. Young1 birds. BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 41 No. DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD-MATERIAL-. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Aug. 20, 1883, . Aug. 20, 1883, . Aug. 20, 1883, . Aug. 20, 1883, . Aug. 14, 1884, . Aug. 14, 1884, . Aug. 14, 1884, . Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa,, . . Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county. Pa.. . . Grasshoppers ami small seeds. Grasshoppers. Grasshoppers. < Grasshoppers and fragments of bee- tles. Grasshoppers. Dipterous insects. Small seeds and grasshoppers. GENUS ACTITIS. ILLIGER. 263. Actitis macularia (LiNN.). Spotted Sandpiper. DESCRIPTION. Small ; bill rather longer than the head, straight, slender ; long grooves in both • mandibles ; wing rather long, pointed ; tail medium, rounded ; legs rather long ; lower third of the tibia naked ; toes long, margined, and flattened underneath ; outer connected with the middle toe by a large membrane ; inner very slightly connected to the middle toe; upper parts brownish olive-green, with a somewhat metallic or bronzed lustre, and with numerous longitudinal lines, and sagittate, lanceolate, and irregular spots of brownish-black, having the same lustre; line over the eye, and entire under parts white, with numerous circular and oval spots ot brownish-black, smaller on the throat, largest on th3 abdomen; quills brown, with a green lustre ; primaries slightly tipped with white, and having a white spot on their inner edges ; secondaries white at their bases, and tipped with white ; middle feathers of the tail same green as other upper parts ; outer tipped with w^hite, and with irregular bars of brownish-black ; bill flesh-color, tipped with brown ; feet reddish-yellow ; iris brown. Young less bronzed above, and under parts white, without spots. Total length, 7k to 8 inches ; wing, 4| ; tail, 2 ; bill, 1 ; tarsus, rather less than 1 inch. Hab.— North and South America, south to Brazil. Breeds throughout temperate North America. Occasional in Europe. The Tilt-up, as this Sandpiper is universally known in this section, arrives in Pennsylvania about the middle of April, sometimes even earlier. It is common and indigenous. The nest is placed on the ground in a grass field, sometimes in a grain-field, or on the sandy bank near streams and ponds, along which these birds are commonly found industriously seeking their hidden prey. Wilson very properly says : ifc This species is as remarkable for perpetually wagging the tail as some others are for nodding the head; for, whether running on the ground, or on fences, along the rails, or in the water, this motion seems continual; even the young, soon after they are freed from the shell. run about constantly wagging the tail." When you approach the eggs or young the old birds manifest great concern. They flutter along the ground as if injured, and should you follow and attempt to catch them they will lead you to a considerable distance from their treasures before flying off. Wilson mentions the following instance, which shows the great solicitude which the female has for her young: 42 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. " My venerable friend, Mr. William Barton, informs me that he saw one of these birds defend her young for a considerable time from the repeated attacks of a ground-squirrel. The scene of action was on the river shore. The parent had thrown herself, with her two young behind her, between them and the land, and at every attempt of the squirrel to seize them by a circuitous sweep, raised both her wings in an almost perpendicular position, assuming the most formidable ap- pearance she was capable of, and rushed forwards on the squirrel, who, intimidated by her boldness and manner, instantly retreated ; but presently returning, was met, as before, in front and on flank by the daring and affectionate bird, who, with her wings and whole plu- mage bristling up, seemed swelled to twice her usual size. The young crowded together behind her, apparently sensible of their perilous situation, moving backwards and forwards as she advanced or re- treated. This interesting scene lasted for at least ten minutes; the strength of the poor parent began evidently to flag, and the attacks of the squirrel became more daring and frequent, when my good friend, like one of those celestial agents who, in Homer's time, so often decided the palm of victory, stepped forward from his retreat, drove the assailant back to his hole, and rescued the innocent from destruction." To escape capture when wounded the Tilt-up will re- sort to many devices. One day when out shooting along Beaver creek, a tributary of the Brandywine, about two miles from West Chester, I crippled one of these birds ; it fell to the ground and ran rapidly to the edge of the stream, which at this point was probably ten feet wide. The water was about a foot deep, perfectly clear, and, except on one side for about eighteen inches, was dammed back and remained quite motionless. I approached the .bird, when, to my great sui prise, it plunged into the water and went down to the sandy bottom like a stone. It ran on the bottom seemingly without any difficulty, and even through the swiftly running water along the edge, came up on the opposite side of the stream and thrust its head into some long grass, but kept its body submerg6d. The bird repeated this performance three times before I secured it. The Tilt- up is not gre- garious. FOOD. No. DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD-MATERIALS. 1 June — , 1879, . Barnegat, N. J., . . . Dipterous insects. 2 3 July 12, 1879, . May 4, 1880, . Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa., . . Coleoptera and grasshoppers. Diterous insects. 4 May 6, 1880, . Chester county, Pa., . . Beetles. 5 May 10, 1S80, . Chester county, Pa., . . Small "worms" and beetles. 6 Aug. 14, 1882, . Chester county, Pa., . . Beetles and worms. 7 Sept. 3, 1882, . Chester county, Pa., . . Worms. BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 43 FAMILY CHARADRIIDJE. PLOVERS. GENUS CHARADRIUS. LINN^US. 270. Charadrius squatarola (LINN.). Black-bellied Plover. DESCRIPTION. Bill and legs strong; wings long; a very small rudimentary hind toe; around the bust of the bill to the eyes, neck before and under parts of body, black; upper white, nearly pure and unspotted on the forehead; sides of the neck and rump tinged with ashy, and having irregular transverse bars of brownish-black on the back, scapulars, and wing coverts ; the brownish-black frequently predominating on those parts, and the rump also frequently with transverse bars of the same ; lower part of the abdomen, tibia, and under tail coverts, white ; quills brownish-black, lighter on their inner webs, with a middle portion of their shafts white and a nar- row longitudinal stripe of white frequently on the shorter primaries and seconda- ries ; tail white, with transverse imperfect narrow bands of black ; bill and legs black ; the black color of the under parts generally with a bronzed or coppery lustre, and presenting a scale-like appearance ; the brownish-black of the upper parts with a greenish lustre ; iris black. Yv tint /(>/- and winter plumage. — Entire upper parts dark-brown, with circular and irregular small spots of white, and frequently of yellow, most numerous on the wing coverts ; upper tail coverts white ; under parts white, with short longitudinal lines and spots dark brownish-cinereous on the neck and breast ; quills brownish- black, with large longitudinal spots of white on their inner webs, and also on the outer webs of the shorter primaries. Yonnrj. — Upper parts lighter, and with the white spots more irregular or scarcely assuming a circular shape ; narrow lines on the neck and breast more numerous. Total length, about 11| ; wings, 7k ; tail, 3 inches. Hab. — Nearly cosmopolitan, but chiefly in the Northern Hemisphere, breeding far northward, and migrating south in winter; in America to the West Indies, Brazil and New Grenada. This bird, according to my observation, occurs in Pennsylvania only as a rare migrant : when found is mostly seen in autumn. In former years, it seems that these birds were found as natives. If this species now breeds in Pennsylvania it certainly is confined to the mountain- ous regions. Audubon, speaking of its breeding, says: "Individuals of this species spend the summer months in the mountainous parts of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, where they breed. I have found their nests near the waters of the Delaware and the Perkio- miug creek * * in the same localities as those of the Field Plover (B. longicauda) , as well as in plowed fields. The nest is merely a slight hollow with a few blades of grass. The eggs are four, an inch and seven and a half eighths in length, an inch and three-eighths in their greatest breadth ; their ground-color yellowish-white, tinged with olivaceous, and pretty generally covered with blotches and dots of light-brown and pale-purple, the markings being more abundant to- ward the small end." Wilson, writing of the species in this Commonwealth, says: "This 44 - BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. bird is known in some parts of the country by the name of the Large Whistling Field Plover. It generally makes its first appearance in Pennsylvania late in April ; frequents the countries towards the moun- tains ; seems particularly attached to newly plowed fields, where it forms its nest of a few slight materials, as slightly put together. The female lays four eggs, large for the size of the bird, of a light- olive color, dashed with black, and has frequently two broods in the same season. It is an extremely shy and watchful bird, though clamorous during breeding-time." Dr. Ezra Michener, in his catalogue (1863), mentions the Black- bellied Plover as a c; rare summer resident " in Chester county. " During winter, or as long as they frequent the seashore, they feed on marine insects, worms and small shell-fish, and when they are in the interior, on grasshoppers and other insects, as well as berries of various kinds." — Audubon. 272. Charadrius dominions . MULL. American Golden Plover. DESCRIPTION. Bill rather short ; legs moderate ; wings long ; no hind toe ; tarsus covered before and behind with small circular or hexagonal scales ; upper parts brownish-black, with numerous small circular and irregular spots of golden-yellow, most numerous on the back and rump, and on the upper tail coverts, assuming the form of trans- verse bands generally ; also with some spots of ashy-white ; entire under parts black, with a brownish or bronzed lustre, under tail coverts mixed or barred with white ; forehead, border of the black of the neck, under tail coverts, and tibiae, white ; axillary feathers cinereous ; quills, dark-brown ; middle portion of the shafts white, frequently extending slightly to the webs, and forming longitudinal stripes on the shorter quills ; tail dark-brown, with numerous irregular bands of ashy- white, and frequently tinged with golden-yellow ; bill black ; legs dark bluish- brown ; iris dark-brown. Younger. — Under parts dull-ashy, spotted with brownish on the neck and breast, frequently more or less mixed with black ; many spots of the lipper parts dull ashy- white ; other spots, especially on the rump, golden-yellow. Total length, about 9§ inches ; wing, 7 ; tail, 2| inches. Hab.— Arctic America, migrating southward through North and South America to Patagonia. I have never seen the Golden Plover in this State during the spring migrations, and as an autumnal visitant it is uncertain. For several consecutive seasons none will be observed in certain districts; the following season, however, the birds will be found abundantly in these same districts. The largest flight of Golden Plovers that I ever saw in this section (Chester county) was in the fall of 1880, when flocks of from fifty to one hundred were quite plentiful about the plowed grounds and grass-fields in the neighborhood of West Chester. Mr. Francis Jacobs, of West Chester, informs me that about the year 1860 \ BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 45 Bull-head* Plovers were abundant in the Great Valley and in the vicinity of West Chester, where, in September, they came in flocks of hundreds and literally covered the fields where wheat had been sown. In those days the wheat was sown, as but few farmers had drills. Mr. J. states that he has often killed fiiteen or twenty at one shot, and, in company with his brother, has shot two hundred or more in one day. These birds would remain about two weeks, or until the wheat had sprouted. They subsisted almost exclusively on wheat. My informant states that prior to 1860, for at least fifteen years, these birds annually, in the fall, made these visits, and that he had always been told, when a boy, that " Bull-heads" were abundant every year. FOOD. Audubon furnishes the following information of this species : u While searching for food on the sand or mud bars of the seashore they move in a direct manner, often look sideways toward the ground, and pick up the object of their search by a peculiar bending movement of the body. They are frequently observed to pat the moist earth with their feet to force worms from their burrows. In autumn they betake themselves to the higher grounds, where berries as well as insects are to be met with, and where they find abundance of grasshoppers." No. 1 .> 3 4 5 DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD-MATKRIALS. Sept. — , 1880, . . Sept. — . 1880, . . Sept. — , 1880, . . Sept. — , 1880, . . Oct. 3, 1880, . . West Goshen, Pa., . . . West Goshen, Pa., . . . West Goshen, Pa., . . . West Goshen, Pa., . . . Birmingham, Pa., . . . Beetles and few seeds. Grasshoppers. Grasshoppers. Beetles and grasshoppers. Grasshoppers and worms. GENUS ^GIALJTIS. BOIE. 273. .ffigialitis vocifera (Lixx. i. Killdeer. DESCRIPTION. (Plate. 11.) Wings long, reaching to the end of the tail, which is also rather long ; head above and upper parts of body light-brown with a greenish tinge ; rump and upper tail coverts rufous, lighter on the latter ; front and lines over and under the eye white ; another band of black in front above the white band ; stripe from the base of the bill towards the occiput, brownish-black; ring encircling the neck and wide band on the breast, black ; throat white, which color extends upwards around the neck; other under parts white ; quills brownish-black with about half of their inner webs white, shorter primaries, with a large spot of white on their outer webs, secondaries widely tipped or edged with white ; tail feathers pale-rufous at base : the four mid- dle light olive-brown tipped with white, and with a wide subterminal band of black ; lateral feathers widely tipped with white ; entire upper plumage frequently edged and tipped with rufous ; very young have upper parts light-gray, with a longitudinal band on the head and back black ; under parts white ; iris, dark brown. * The name Bull-liead is given to both the Golden and Black-hellied Plovers. I suppose the birds mentioned by my friend Mr. Jacobs to have been Golden Plovers (Charadriu** dominicu* . 46 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. Total length, about 9£ inches ; wing, 6£ ; tail, 3^ inches. Hab. — Temperate North America, migrating in winter to the West Indies and central and northern South America. Reader I am sure you can always distinguish this bird by the well- known cry which gives rise to its common name. Should you, how- ever, have the lifeless body of one of these birds, you can without any difficulty distinguish it from other of its numerous relatives by the red eye-lids and long legs. In addition you will also see a white line, with black margin, extending over the bill, between the eyes. The white feathers of the throat are continuous, with a conspicuous and immaculate collar, below which is a ring of black, separated by a streak of white from a band of black across the breast. During the spring, summer and. autumn the Killdeer is common, and in winter is quite frequently observed. The spotted pyriform eggs, usually four in number, are placed in a slight hollow in the ground, oftentimes near a hill of corn. FOOD. " The food of this species consists of earth-worms, grasshoppers, crickets and coleopterous insects, as well as small Crustacea, whether of salt or fresh water, and snails. Now and then they may be seen thrusting their bills into the mud in search of some other food. Dur- ing autumn they run about the old fields and catch an insect which the Blue- bird has been watching with anxious care from the top of a withering mullein stalk. They run briskly after the plowman, to pick up the worms that have been turned out of their burrows. Now standing on the grassy meadow, after a shower, you see them patting the moist ground, to force out its inhabitants. During winter, you meet with them on elevated ground, or along the margins of the rivers ; but wherever you observe one about to pick up its food, you clearly see its body moving in a see-saw manner on the joints of the legs, until the former being so placed that the bill can reach the ground, the object is seized, and the usual horizontal position is TQ- No. DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD-MATERI A i,s. 1 April 10, 1879, Chester county, Pa., Snails and beetles. 2 April 30, 1879, Chester county, Pa., . Earth-worms. 3 June 18, 1879, Chester county, Pa., . Beetles. 4 5 Nov. 14, 1879, May 15, 1880, Lancaster county, Pa., Chester county, Pa., . Fragments of fresh water shells. Earth-worms. 6 May 15, 1880, Chester county, Pa., . Earth-worms and larva1. 7 Aug. 21, 1880, . . Delaware county, Pa., Grasshoppers and small seeds. 8 Dec. 13, 1881, . . Chester county, Pa., . Grasshoppers. 9 July 31, 1883, . . Chester county, Pa., . Beetles and larvae. 10 Julv 31, 1883, . . Chester county, Pa., . . Beetles. 11 Sept. 20, 1884, . . Cli ester county, Pa., . . Grasshoppers and seeds. BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 47 ORDER GALLING. GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. SUBORDER PHASIANI. PHEASANTS, QUAIL, ETC FAMILY TETRAONID-ffl. GROUSE, ETC sruFAMiLY PERDICIN^. PARTRIDGES. GENUS COLINUS. LESSON. 289. Colinus virginianus (LiNN.). Bob-white. DESCRIPTION. (Plate 12.) Forehead, and line through the eye and along the side of the neck, with chin and throat, white ; a band of black across the vertex, and extending backwards on the sides, within the white, and another from the maxilla beneath the eye, and crossing on the lower part of the throat ; the under parts are white, tinged with brown an- teriorly, each feather with several narrow, obtusely V-shaped bands of black ; the forepart of back, the side of the breast and in front just below the black collar, of a dull pinkish-red ; the sides of body and wing coverts brownish-red ; the latter al- most uniform, without indications of mottling; scapulars and upper tertials coarsely blotched with black, and edged internally with brownish-yellow ; top of head red- dish; the lower part of neck, except anteriorly, streaked with white and black ; primary quills, unspotted brown; tail, ash: iris, brown. Female with the white markings of the head and throat replaced by brownish- yellow ; the black wanting. Length, about 10 inches; extent, about 15; wing, about 4.70: tail, 2.75 inches. This species is subject to considerable variation, both in size and color. Il'ifi. — Eastern United States and southern Canada from southern Maine to the South Atlantic and (4-ulf States ; west to Dakota, eastern Kansas and eastern Texas. This species is found in Pennsylvania at all seasons, yet I am fully convinced that the great majority of those that breed here migrate in the autumn southward. During the fall and particularly in the month of October, I have observed flocks, consisting of several families and numbering from sixty to a hundred or more individuals engaged in such migrations. Partridges at all seasons other than when breeding are gregarious. When not migrating we find them, in tlocks of twelve to fifteen each, frequenting fields and swamps usually near the bor- ders of woods or thickets, to which they speedily repair when dis- turbed. Early in April these birds pair and about the first of May commence nesting. The nest is always placed on the ground, gener- ally in a slight hollow, and is constructed chiefly of small twigs and grass. The nest is usually placed in a grass field, concealed by a high tuft of grass or protected by a thick overhanging bush. The eggs are white, pear-shaped, and although variable, generally num- ber about fifteen. The birds are mainly terrestrial in habits. In the autumn and winter when continually pursued by sportmen and doirs. they oftentimes when flushed seek refuge in trees ; they usually alight 48 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. on a large limb close to the main trunk and crouch so close that not unfrequently they escape the notice of the eager hunter. A gentle- man of my acquaintance some years ago while out hunting Pheasants noticed a slight movement among some dead leaves in the top of an oak tree, he raised his gun quickly and fired into the leaves when to his^astonishment down came fourteen Partridges dead and wounded. Partridges breed readily in confinement, and occasionally, though rarely, become quite tame. Wilson says : " Two young Partridges that were brought up by a hen, when abandoned by her associated with the cows, which they regularly followed to the fields, returned with them when they came home in the evening, stood by them while they were milked, and again accompanied them to the pasture. They remained during the winter, lodging in the stable, but as soon as spring came they disappeared." FOOD. The food of this species consists principally of cereals, various small seeds, berries, and in the breeding season insects, chiefly beetles, are taken in limited numbers. B. M. Everhart, thewell-known naturalist and botanist, informs me that four or five years ago he examined the stomach-contents of twenty odd partridges which his brother had shot when on a gunning excursion in Delaware, and found that all the birds had fed exclusively on the seeds of skunk-cabbage (tiymplo- carpus foeditus). No. DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD-MATERIALS. 1 2 3 4 5 6 ' 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 July 21, 1879, . July 21, 1879, . Aug. — , 1880, . Aug. 3, 1880, . Oct. 20, 1880, . Oct. 20, 1880, . Oct. 20, 1880, . Oct. 20, 1880, . Nov. 20, 1880, . Nov. 20, 1880, . Nov, 30, 1880, . Dec. — , 1882, . Dec. — , 1882, Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa., . Chester county, Pa., . Chester county, Pa., . Chester county, Pa., . York county, Pa., . . York county, Pa., . . Newark, Del., .... Newark, Del., .... Newark, Del., Small seeds. Wheat and berries. Small seeds and remains beetles. Beetles. Corn and small seeds. Corn and wheat. Corn and seeds. Wheat. Rag-weed seeds and corn. Corn. Small seeds. Corn. Green vegetable material. of 14 15 16 Dec. — , 1882, . May 20, 1884, . May 20, 1884, . Newark, Del,, Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa., . Green vegetable material small seeds. Small seeds. Small seeds and insects. and BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 49 SUBFAMILY TETRAONIN^E. GROUSE. GENUS BONASA. STEPHENS. 300. Bonasa umbellus (LiNN.). Ruffed Grouse ; Pheasant. DESCRIPTION. Tail of eighteen feathers, reddish-brown or gray above ; the back with cordate spots of lighter ; beneath whitish, transversely barred with dull brown ; tail tipped with gray, and with a subterminal bar of black ; broad feathers of the ruff black. Tail lengthened, nearly as long as the wing ; very broad, and moderately rounded ; the leathers very broad and truncate, the tip slightly convex, eighteen in number; upper half of tarsus only feathered ; bare behind and below, with two rows of hexa- gonal scutellse anteriorly ; a naked space on the side of the neck, concealed by an overhanging tuft of broad, truncate feathers ; there are no pectinated processes above the eye, where the skin instead is clothed with short feathers; iris, brown. Length, 18 inches; wing, 7.20; tail, 7 inches. Hah. — Eastern United States, south to North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Arkansas. This well-known game bird is quite plentiful in various sections of Pennsylvania. The species is most numerous in the mountainous regions, heavily- wooded and thinly-settled districts. Dr. Coues says: •; The ' drumming ' sound for which this bird is noted, is not vocal, as many suppose, but is produced by rapidly beating the wings." Dur- ing the breeding season and at other times, if not continually har- assed by sportsmen, the Grouse are tame and unsuspicious. The nest is made on the ground, and consists principally of leaves; it is al- ways placed in the interior of a woods, and is usually concealed by a log or thick bushes. The eggs are a yellowish- white color and num- ber about fifteen. I once found a nest with nine eggs, in which in- cubation was well advanced. E. A. Samuels, in his entertaining work, u OUT Northern and Eastern Birds" says : u From several instances which have come to my knowledge, I am inclined to think that the female Ruffed Grouse, if persistently molested when nesting on the ground, avails herself of the abandoned nest of a crow, or the shelter afforded in the top of some tall broken trunk of a tree, in which she deposits her eggs. Two of my collectors in Northern Maine have sent me eggs which they positively declared were found in a crow's nest in a high pine, but which are undoubtedly of this species ; and recently I have heard of another occurrence from my friend L. E. Ricksecker, of Pennsylvania. The only satisfactory theory that I can advance to account for these departures from the usual habits of the Grouse, is that the birds had been much disturbed, their eggs or young perhaps destroyed ; and as they are often in the trees, and are expert climbers. { hey laid their eggs in these lofty situations to secure protection from t heir numerous foes below. \ BIRDS. 50 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. FOOD. By Nuttall we are advised that their food consists commonly in the spring and fall, of the buds of trees, the catkins of the hazel and alder, even fern buds, acorns and seeds of various kinds. * * * At times I have seen the crop almost entirely filled with the buds of the apple tree, each connected with a portion of the twig, the wood of which appears to remain a good while undigested ; cinquefoil and strawberry leaves, buds of the Azaleas, and of the broad-leaved Ka- lonia, with the favorite Partridge berries, ivy berries ( Cissus heder- acea) and gravel pebbles are also some of the many articles which form the winter fare. In summer, they seem often to prefer berries of various kinds, particularly dewberries, strawberries, grapes and whortleberries. Wilson writes : " They are exceedingly fond of the seeds of grapes; occasionally eat ants, chestnuts, blackberries and various vegetables, f It has been confidently asserted that, after having fed for some time on the laurel buds, their flesh becomes highly dangerous to eat of, partaking of the poisonous qualities of the plant. Though I have myself ate freely of the flesh of the Pheasant, after emptying it of large quantities of laurel buds, without experiencing any bad consequences, yet, from the respectability of those, some of them eminent physicians, who have particularized cases in which it has proved deleterious, and even fatal, I am inclined to believe that, in certain cases, where this kind of food has been long continued, and the birds allowed to remain undrawn for several days, until- the con- tents of the crop and stomach have had time to diffuse themselves through the flesh, as is too often the case, it may be unwholesome and even dangerous." My knowledge of the food-materials of the Grouse is limited to some thirty examinations which I have made, during the months of October, November and December, of birds which have been killed in Schuylkill, Chester and Dauphin counties, Pennsylvania. 1 found the greater part of these birds had fed chiefly on Partridge-berries (Gaultheria procumbena), others had in their crops and gizzards chestnuts, small seeds and other vegetable matter. Ten of this lot were shot when the snow was deep and they all were gorged with buds of laurel. t Prof. John H. Brinton, M. D., of the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pa., informed me that he had known of several cases of Glossitis (inflammation of the tongue) to have been caused by eating Pheasants which had fed on laurel.— Warren. BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 51 FAMILY PHASIANIDJE. TURKEYS, ETC. SUBFAMILY MELEAGRIN^l. TURKEYS. GENUS MELEAGRIS. 310. Meleagris gallopavo. LINN. » Wild Turkey. Hnb. — United States, from southern Canada to the Gulf coast, and west to the plains, along the timbered river valleys; formerly along the Atlantic coast to southern Maine. This noble game bird, although rapidly becoming extirpated, is still found in small numbers in the wooded, thinly-populated and uncul- tivated districts of this Commonwealth. Nests on the ground; eggs very similar to those of our domestic turkeys. The food consists chiefly of cereals, berries, acorns, chestnuts and other vegetal ma- terials. ORDER COLUMBAE. PIGEONS. FAMILY COLUMBID-flS. PIGEONS. GENUS ECTOPISTES. SWAINSON. 315. Ectopistes migratorius (LiNN.). Passenger Pigeon; Wild Pigeon. DESCRIPTION. Tail with twelve feathers ; upper parts generally, including sides of body, head and neck, and the chin, blue, beneath, purple brownish-red, fading behind with a violet tint; anal region and under tail coverts, white ; scapulars, inner tertials and middle" of back, with an olive-brown tinge ; the wing coverts, scapulars and inner tertials, with large oval spots of blue-black on the outer webs, mostly concealed, ex- cept on the latter ; primaries blackish, with a border of pale-bluish tinged internally with red ; middle tail feathers brown ; the rest pale-blue on the outer web, white internally ; each with a patch of reddish-brown at the base of the inner web, fol- lowed by another of black ; sides and back of neck richly glossed with metallic golden-violet ; tibia, bluish-violet ; bill, black ; feet, purplish-red ; iris, red. The female is smaller ; much duller in color ; more olivaceous above ; beneath, pale-blue instead of red, except a tingeon the neck ; the juguluni tinged with olive ; the throat whitish. The blue of the side of the head extends to the throat and chin ; the upper part of the back and lesser coverts are of a darker blue than the head and rump ; the inner primaries are more broadly margined with light-blue, which tapers oft" to the end ; the axillars and under surfice of the wing are light-blue; the longest scapulars have the black on both webs; there is no blue on the outer web of the first tail feather, which is white, and the inferior surface of the tail generally is white. In some specimens the entire head all round is blue. 52 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. Immature birds very similar to i'emale but much duller in color ; the wing-coverts and scapular feathers, also most of the feathers of head and neck being margined with whitish, have a spotted appearance. Length, about 17 inches ; extent, about 24; wing, 8.50 ; tail, 8.40 ; tarsus, 1 inch. Hab. — Eastern North America, from Hudson's Bay southward, and west to the (Treat Plains, straggling westward to Nevada and Washington Territory. The Wild Pigeon and Turtle Dove are the only representatives of the Pigeon family occurring in Pennsylvania. Both species are highly esteemed as articles of food, and in the autumn are eagerly sought after by gunners. Wild Pigeons, during the fall especially, are fre- quently found in this State. They are seen usually in small parties ; a few remain during the summer season and rear their young, in dif- ferent sections of this Commonwealth. " We do not have the c millions ' that the earlier writers speak of in the eastern United States now ; * * * the greatest roosts and flights we now hear of are in the upper Mississippi Valley. Nest in trees and bushes, a slight, frail platform of twigs, so open as to leave the egg visible from below. Eggs, white 1 or 2, equal-ended, 1.45 by 1,05." — Cones. The following interesting description of a flight and roosting place are taken from Audubon's Birds of America : "In the autumn of 1813, I left my house at Henderson, on the banks of the Ohio, on my way to Louisville. In passing over the Barrens, a few miles beyond Hardensburg, I observed the pigeons fly- ing from north-east to south-west, in greater numbers than I thought I had ever seen them before, and feeling an inclination to count the flocks that might pass within the reach of my eye in one hour, I dis- mounted, seated myself on an eminence, and began to mark with my pencil, making a dot for every flock that passed. In a short time, finding the task which I had undertaken impracticable, as the birds poured in in countless multitudes, I rose, and counting the dots then put down, found that 163 had been made in twenty-one minutes. I traveled on, and still met more the farther I proceeded. The air was literally filled with pigeons ; the light of noonday was obscured as by an eclipse ; the dung fell in spots, not unlike melting flakes of snow. Whilst waiting for dinner at an inn at the confluence of Salt river with the Ohio, I saw, at my leisure, immense legions still going by, with a front reaching far beyond the Ohio on the west, and the beech- wood forests directly on the east of me. Not a single bird alighted ; for not a nut or acorn was that year to be seen in the neighborhood. They consequently flew so high that different trials to reach them with a capital rifle proved ineffectual. Before sunset I reached Louis- ville, distant from Hardensburg fifty-five miles. The Pigeons were still passing in undiminished numbers, and continued to do so for three days in succession. The people were all in arms. The banks of the Ohio were crowded with men and boys, incessantly shooting at the pilgrims, which BIRDS OP PENNSYLVANIA. 53 there flew lower as they passed the river. Multitudes were thus des- troyed. For a week or more, the population fed on no other flesh than that of Pigeons, and talked of nothing but Pigeons. One of these curious roosting places, on the banks of the Green river in Kentucky, I repeatedly visited. It was, as is always the case, in a portion of the forest where the trees were of great magnitude, and where there was little underwood. I rode through it upwards of forty miles, and cross- ing it in different parts, found its average breadth to be rather more than three miles. My first view of it was about a fortnight subse- quent to the period when they had made choice of it, and I arrived there nearly two hours before sunset. Few Pigeons were then to be seen, but a great number of persons, with horses and wagons, guns and ammunition, had already established encampments on the bor- ders. Two farmers from the vicinity of Russellville, distant more than a hundred miles, had driven upwards of 300 hogs to be fattened on Pigeons which were to be slaughtered. Here and there, the peo- ple employed in plucking and salting what had already been pro- cured, were seen sitting in the midst of large piles of these birds. The dung lay several inches deep, covering the whole extent of the roosting-place. Many trees two feet in diameter, I observed, were broken off at no great distance from the ground ; and the branches of many of the largest and tallest had given way, as if the forest had been swept by a tornado. Every thing proved to me that the num- ber of birds resorting to this part of the forest must be immense be- yond conception. As the period of their arrival approached, their foes anxiously prepared to receive them. Some were furnished with iron pots, containing sulphur, others with torches of pine knots, many with poles, and the rest with guns. The sun was lost to our view, yet not a Pigeon had arrived. Every thing was ready, and all eyes were gazing on the clear sky, which appeared in glimpses amidst the tall trees. Suddenly there burst forth a general cry of ' Here they come !' The noise which they made, though yet distant, reminded me of a hard gale at sea, passing through the rigging of a close-reefed vessel. As the birds arrived and passed over me, I felt a current of air that surprised me. Thousands were knocked down by the pole-men. The birds continued to pour in. The fires were lighted, and a magnificent, as well as wonderful and almost terrifying, si^ht presented itself. The Pigeons, arriving by thousands, alighted everywhere, one above an- other, until solid masses were formed on the branches all around. Here and there the perches gave way under the weight with a crash, and, falling to the ground, destroyed hundreds of the birds beneath, forcing down the dense groups with which every stick was loaded. It was a scene of uproar and confusion. No one dared venture within the line of devastation. The hogs had been penned up in due 54 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. time, the picking up of the dead and wounded being left for the next morning's employment. The pigeons were constantly com- ing, and it was past midnight before I perceived a decrease in the number of those that arrived. The uproar continued the whole night, and as I was anxious to know to what distance the sound reached, I sent off a man, accustomed to perambulate the forest, who, returning two hours afterward, informed me he had heard it distinctly when three miles distant from the spot. Towards the approach of day, the noise in some measure subsided; long before objects were distinguishable, the Pigeons began to move off in a direction quite different from that in which they had arrived the evening before, and at sunrise all that were able to fly had disappeared. The bowlings of the wolves now reached our ears, and the foxes, lynxes, cougars, bears, raccoons, opossums and polecats were seen sneaking off, whilst eagles and hawks of different species, accompanied by a crowd of vultures, came to supplant them, and enjoy their share of the spoil. It was then that the authors of all this devastation began their entry amongst the dead, the dying and the mangled. The Pigeons were picked up and piled in heaps, until each had as many as. he could possibly dis- pose of, when the hogs were let loose to feed on the remainder." GENUS ZENAIDTJRA. BONAPARTE. 316. Zenaidura macroura (LINN.). Mourning Dove; Turtle Dove. DESCRIPTION. Tail feathers, 14. Above bluish, although this is overlaid with light brownish olive, leaving the blue pure only on the top of the head, the exterior of the wings, and upper surface of the tail, which is even slightly tinged with this color; the entire head, except the vertex, the sides of the neck, and the under parts generally, light brownish-red, strongly tinged with purple on the breast, becoming lighter behind, and passing into brownish-yellow on the anal region, tibia and under tail coverts ; sides of the neck with a patch of metallic purplish-red ; sides of body and inside < >f wings clear light-blue ; wing coverts and scapulars spotted with black, mostly con- cealed, and an oblong patch of the same below the ear ; tail feathers seen from bo- low blackish, the outer web of outermost white, the others tipped with the same, the color becoming more and more bluish to the innermost, which is brown ; soon from above, there is the same graduation from white to light-blue in the tips ; tiio rest of the feather, however, is blue, with a bar of black anterior to the light tip, which runs a little forward along the margin and shaft of the feather ; in the sixth feather the color is uniform bluish, with this bar ; the seventh is without bar ; bill, black ; feet, purplish-red. Female somewhat smaller, with less red beneath ; me- tallic purplish-red of neck less distinct; black spot below the ear smaller, and of a brownish hue. Young very similar to female, but duller in color and lack the me- tallic markings on sides of neck. Length of male, 12.85 inches; extent, about 18; wing, 5.75; tail, 6.70 inches. Hob.— North America, from southern Maine, southern Canada and Oregon south to Panama and the West Indies. BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 55 The only species with which the Mourning Dove, so called from its note, can possibly be confounded is the Wild Pigeon, from which it can readily be distinguished if' the following facts are remembered. The Dove measures about thirteen inches in length and eighteen inches in alar extent; the Pigeon about seventeen by twenty-five inches. So, first we find a marked difference in size. Secondly, the Dove has fourteen tail feathers ; the Pigeon has but twelve ; again, the eyes of the Dove are brown, while those of the Pigeon are red. This bird is found in Pennsylvania during all seasons of the year, and at times other than when breeding is gregarious. In March,- the flocks which have been observed during the winter about the fields and or- chards, separate and begin their love-making. The nest, a carelessly constructed affair, is made up entirely of small sticks, and is generally found placed on a large limb of a tree in an apple orchard. On the barren ridge, in eastern Pennsylvania, I have on several occasions found these birds nesting in pine trees; the eggs are two in number, white and unspotted. Sometimes these birds will occupy nests which have been deserted by other species. I once, some few years ago, found a pair breeding in the nest of a Green Heron, which had been deserted by the original possessors. On another occasion, a nest was found built in that of a Crow Blackbird. FOOD. Doves rarely feed on insects, but subsist almost exclusively on cereals, small seeds, and, occasionally, it is said, on various wild ber- ries. No. DATE. LOCALITY. FOOD-M ATERI A LS. 1 2 3 Sept, 11, 1880, . Oct. 15, 1880, . Feb. 16, 1880, East Bradford, Pa., . . East Bradford, Pa., . . Pocopson, Pa., Grass-seeds. Small seeds. Seeds and other vegetable matter. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 March r6, 1880, . March 20, 1882, . April 5, 1882, . May 7, 1883, . Mav 25, 1883, . June 31, 1883, . Nov. 29, 1886, . . Nov. 29, 1886, . . Chester county, Pa., . . Chester county, Pa,, . Chester countv, Pa., . . West Goshen/Pa., . . West Goshen, Pa., . . West Goshen, Pa., . . North Brook, Pa,, . . . North Brook, Pa., . . Seeds of Amaranthacece. Wheat and small black seeds. Corn and small seeds. Wheat and corn. Small seeds. Wheat. Apple seeds and seeds of grasses. Apple seeds and seeds of grasses. Birds of Prey and the "Scalp" Act of June 23, 1885. In an agricultural district, the preservation of the hawk and owl tribe is a matter of great importance. These birds, with few excep- tions, subsist mainly on mice, other small quadrupeds and various 56 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. insects, which are so destructive in the fields, orchards, gardens and about buildings. Until within a quite recent period, Pennsylvania has been burdened with an act of Assembly awarding premiums for the destruction of these well-known feathered friends of the farmer. The members of "; The West Chester Microscopical Society," recog- nizing the great wrong and injury which was being accomplished by the enforcement of this odious " Scalp Act," as it was .universally called, took an active part in endeavoring to secure its repeal. From * reports issued by their Committee on Protection of Birds of Prey, the following extracts are taken : "The committee appointed at the last meeting of the Microscopical Society to take into consideration the act of Assembly passed the 23d day of June, A. D. 1885, entitled 'An act for the destruction of wolves, wild cats, foxes, minks, hawks, weasels and owls in this Com- monwealth,' beg leave to report that the chairman of the committee, Dr. B. H. Warren, Ornithologist of the Pennsylvania State Board of Agriculture, has devoted several years of his life to the collection, dissection and examination of birds, and that all of the committee from observation and experience have believed that all of the birds denounced in the law with rare exceptions, have been found to be the best friends of the farmer. Lest, however, any of the committee might be mistaken they have corresponded with the best ornithologists in the country, men who have made ornithology a study and are con- nected with that department in the Smithsonian Institution, asking their opinion as to the benefits or injury likely to arise from the execu- tion of the law against the birds therein named. " They have received answers from Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Ornitholo- gist of the United States Department of Agriculture; Dr. Elliott Coues, Vice President American Ornithologists' Union ; Robert Ridg- way, Curator of Department of Birds United States National Museum ; Dr. Leonard Stejneger, Assistant Curator of the same department; H. W. Henshaw, of the Bureau of Ethnology, also a collector of birds for the Smithsonian Institution, and connected with the late Wheeler Survey of the Territories, and Lucien M. Turner, a collector of birds, etc., for the Smithsonian Institution for the last twelve years. These answers, which are annexed to this report, all bear testimony that the hawks and owls are of great benefit to the farmer, and render him far greater service than injury, and that it is unwise to select any of them for destruction. " The committee regrets to say that there have been ninety odd hawks and a dozen or more owls killed since the law was passed, June * Reports of the Microscopical Society of West Chester, Pa., on the act of Assembly of said State awarding- a premium for the destruction of Hawks, Owls, Minks, Weasels, etc., etc.. enacted June 23, 1885 ; published January, 188L BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 57 23, 1885, at a cost to this county of about $75, and that the slaughter is still going on. •' Believing, therefore, that the killing of these birds is detrimental to the interests of the agriculturists, they believe that instead of being destroyed they should be protected, and they, therefore, recommend the passage of the following resolution : u Resolved by the Microscopical Society of West Chester, that in the opinion of the Society the act of June 23, 1885, offering a premium for the destruction of hawks and owls, is unwise and prejudicial to the interest of agriculture, and so far as those birds are concerned, ought to be repealed. u Resolved^ That the President and Secretary of the Society be in- structed to forward a copy of the above resolution to our members of the Legislature at its next session and request their aid towards the repeal of the act so far as is above stated. "All of which is respectfully submitted. "B. H. WARREN, W. TOWNSEND, THOS. D. DUNN, JAMES C. SELLERS, Committee. " March 4, "U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE^ WASHINGTON. D. C., March 2, 1886. " DR. B. H. WARREN, Ornitholcgist of the Pennsylvania State Board of Agriculture: " DEAR SIR : Your letter of the 18th inst. has just come to hand. I have read with surprise and indignation the copy sent of section 1, page 141, of the laws of Pennsylvania for 1885, in which a bounty is offered for the destruction of weasels, hawks and owls. The clause purports to have been enacted c for the benefit of agriculture," etc. " The possibility of the passage of such an act by any legislative body is a melancholy comment on the widespread ignorance that pre- vails even among intelligent persons, concerning the food of our com- mon birds and mammals, and is an evidence of the urgent need of just such systematic and comprehensive investigations as this depart- ment is now making on the subject of the relation of food habits to agriculture. " Their are two kinds of weasels in the Eastern States. The smaller kind feeds chiefly on mice and insects, and is not known to kill poul- try. The larger also preys mainly upon mice and rats, but in addition sometimes kills rabbits and poultry. Both species are friends of the 58 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. farmer, for the occasional loss of a few chickens is of trifling con- sequence compared with the good that these animals are constantly doing in checking the increase of mice. " You ask my opinion in regard to the beneficial and injurious quali- ties of the Hawks and Owls which inhabit Pennsylvania. This ques- tion seems almost superflous in view of the fact that your own inves- tigations, more than those of any other one person, have led to a bet- ter knowledge of the food-habits of these birds, and what you have done in the East Prof. Aughey, of Nebraska, has done in the West. Many others have added their k mites,' till at the present time a suffi- cient array of facts has been accumulated to enable us to state, with- out fear of contradiction, that our Hawks and Owls must be ranked among the best friends of the farmer. With very few exceptions, their food consists of mice and insects, meadow-mice and grasshop- pers predominating. The exceptions are the fierce Goshawk from the North, and two smaller resident Hawks, Cooper's and the Sharp- shinned, which really destroy many wild birds and some poultry. These three Hawks have long tails and short wings, which serve, among other characters, to distinguish them from the beneficial kinds. •'Strange as it may appear to the average farmer, the largest Hawks are the ones that do the most good. Foremost among these are the Rough-legged and Marsh Hawks, which do not meddle with poultry and rarely prey upon wild birds. u Of Hawks and Owls collectively, it may safely be said that, except in rare instances, the loss they occasion by the destruction of poultry is insignificant in comparison with the benefits derived by the farmer and fruit grower from their constant vigilance ; for when unmolested the one guards his crop by day and the other by night. " It is earnestly to be hoped that you will succeed not only in caus- ing the repeal of the ill-advised act which provides a bounty for the killing of Hawks and Owls, but that you will go farther, and secure the enactment of a law which will impose a fine for the slaughter of these useful birds. " Very truly yours, " C. HART MERRIAM, "Ornithologist of the Department of Agriculture. "UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM, " Under Direction of the Smithsonian Institution, u WASHINGTON, March 5, 1886. " DR. B. H. WARREN, West Chester, Pa. : u DEAR DR. WARREN : 1 am just in receipt of your letter of the 1st instant, and therefore fear that my reply cannot reach you in time for use at the meeting to-morrow evening. It affords me much pleasure, BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 59 however, to comply with your request for my views concerning the food-habits of Hawks and Owls and their relation to man. " Of all the species which you name there are only two which, ac- cording to my best judgment, are at all seriously destructive to game or poultry, these being Cooper's Hawk and the Great-horned Owl. The rest, with the possible exception of the Sharp-shinned Hawk, which certainly is destructive to the smaller birds, my experience leads me to regard as very decidedly beneficial to man. their food con- sisting very largely, if not chiefly, of the smaller rodents, field mice especially. The Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks occasionally pick up a young chicken or rabbit, but I feel quite sure that their service to man far outweighs the injury which they thus do. The little Sparrow Hawk and other smaller species destroy large numbers of grasshoppers, locusts and other large insects. " Very truly yours, " ROBERT RIDGWAY, " Curator, Dept. Birds. " SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, " WASHINGTON, D. C., March 3, 1886. a DR. B. H. WARREN, West Chester, Pa. : " DEAR DOCTOR : In reply to your letter of the 3d inst., asking for my opinion in regard to the food, etc., of certain Hawks and Owls specified, I would state that I have read Mr. Robert Ridgway's an- swer to a similar request from you and that I agree with him in every particular. The idea of persecuting the majority of Hawks and Owls systematically is simply preposterous, and any law which has for its object their indiscriminate destruction should be immediately re- pealed, since most of the birds alluded to are among the very best friends of the farmer. In regard to a few species it is well worth while to suspend judgment until a thorough investigation as to their habits and food in your State can be carried out, for, as you are well aware, a species which in some parts of the country and at some seasons may be injurious, in other regions and under altered circum- stances may be chiefly beneficial. " I remain, yours sincerely, -LEONARD STEJNEGER, "Assistant Curator, Dept. of Birds, U. S. Nat. Mus. " WASHINGTON, March 3. 1886. " B. H. WARREN, M. D., West Chester, Pa. : " DEAR SIR : In reply to your favor of the 1st iust, asking for my opinion with regard to the economic utility of the birds of prey, I 60 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. take pleasure in responding as follows : To the ornithologist, whose business it is to study the habits of birds, the widespread ignorance of the habits of the Hawk and Owl tribe, and the mistaken idea as to the amount of injury they do are almost inconceivable. " So common, however, are these erroneous ideas respecting the birds of prey and their relations to the farmer and agriculturist that it is not at all surprising that laws similar to the one now in force in Pennsylvania should be enacted. " Your own investigations into the nature of the food of the birds of prey of your county might be cited in support of the statement that such enactments are based upon erroneous conceptions. I may add that wherever such investigations have been systematically con- ducted they have resulted in a verdict favorable to the birds of prey. In almost every portion of the country I have found the opinions of all field ornithologists to be in favor of the preservation of the Hawk and Owl tribe on account of the good they do. I believe the time will come when the farmers as a class will carefully protect the Hawks and Owls on the ground of their beneficent services. " Following is the list of species most numerous in your State : " 1. Marsh Hawk. Circus hudsonius. " 2. Sparrow Hawk. Falco sparverius. " 3. Red-shouldered Hawk. Buteo lineatus. " 4. Red-tailed Hawk. Buteo lorealis. " 5. Cooper's Hawk. Accipiter cooperi. " 6. Sharp- shinned Hawk. Accipiter velox. " 7. Broad- winged Hawk. Buteo latissimus. " 8. Rough-legged Hawk. Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis. " 0. Short-eared Owl. Asio accipitrinus. "10. Screech Owl. Megascops asio. " 11. Long-eared Owl. Asio wilsonianus. " 12. Barred Owl. Syrnium nebulosum. " 13. Horned Owl. Bubo virginianus. " Of this list the Marsh Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Short and Long- eared Owls, Screech Owl, Barred Owl and Horned Owl are of very great value to the agriculturist because of the immense numbers of meadow mice and other small rodents they annually destroy. The mice, when unchecked,, increase with amazing rapidity, and the Hawks and Owls above named are among the chief natural means for their destruction, mice and other rodents forming a large percentage of their food. The harm the Hawks do in the destruction of small birds is inconsiderable compared to the benefits derived by the far- mers from the destruction of the four-footed pests. The Owls par- BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 61 ticularly work by night and hence the benefits they confer are easily overlooked. k> The Sparrow Hawk is one of the most harmless of birds and one of the most beneficial to man. He lives almost exclusively upon grasshoppers and crickets, and the number of the former destroyed by these birds is incalculable. " I mention the Cooper's and Sharp- shinned Hawks last because they unquestionably kill many small birds, and they also commit depreda- tions upon the poultry yard. I believe, however, they can safely be left to be dealt with by the class they injure, chiefly poultry men. To place all the Hawks and Owls under ban, and to attempt their exter- mination simply because one or two species are injurious is certainly not good policy. "After more than twenty years study of birds I am decidedly of the opinion that the Hawks and Owls as a class are of great economic value, and tnat no State in which agriculture is pursued to any extent can afford to dispense with their services. They not only ought not to be exterminated, but they should be placed upon the list of birds protected by law. " I am, very truly yours, "H. W. HENSHAW. " WASHINGTON, D. C., March 81, 1886. uDn. B. H. WARREN: " DEAR SIR : Responding to your request for my opinion respect- ing the usefulness of Hawks and Owls, regarded from an agricultural or other economic standpoint, I beg to say that I consider these birds highly beneficial and worthy of protective legislation. "The number of poultry and of useful insectivorous birds which Hawks and Owls destroy is insignificant in comparison with the quan- tity of noxious rodents which they consume. Owls are particularly serviceable in this respect, and next after them come the Buzzards. Most birds of prey likewise consume enormous numbers of insects, among which is a large proportion of noxious kinds. u Very truly yours, "ELLIOTT COUES, " V. P. A. O. U., etc. " SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, "WASHINGTON, D. entire upper parts reddish-brown ; on the head mixed with rufous, and with white spots on the wing coverts arid shorter quills and rump ; quills brownish-black, with white spots on their outer webs, and with bars of a lighter shade of brown and of white on their inner webs ; tail brownish-black, with about five transverse bands of white and tipped with white ; bill blue-black ; cere and feet yellow ; iris brown. Young. — Entire under parts yellowish-white, with longitudinal stripes and oblong spots of dark-brown ; throat dark-brown ; upper parts lighter ashy-brown, with many partially concealed spots and bars of white; quills dark-brown, with wide transverse bars of rufous and white on both webs ; tail ashy-brown, with numerous bands, pale-brownish and rufous white ; tail beneath silvery-white ; legs and feet greenish-yellow. Total length : Female, 21 to 23 inches ; extent, about 44 inches ; wing, 14 ; tail, 9 inches. Male, 18 to 20 inches ; extent, about 40 ; wing, 12 ; tail, 8 inches. Hab. — Eastern North America, west to Texas and the plains, south to the Gulf Coast and Maine. During the winter these Hawks frequent principally the large water courses, meadow-lands, and the vicinity of ponds, and not unfre- quently an individual of this species can be observed on its perch overlooking a spring-head. When the streams and meadows are frozen, I have noticed that they especially resort to such localities as last named. When disturbed from its perch it utters, in a plaintive and impatient voice, the note, keeo< keeo. Its flight, which is generally short, is graceful and very owl-like. This Hawk, like its relative, the Red-tail, may be observed sitting by the hour on some favorite tree or stake adjacent to swampy or boggy ground, watching for small quadrupeds and batraehians, which constitute its principal fare. Al- though this species is a native in this State it has never been my good fortune to find a nest. From '* Birds of Connecticut,'- by Doctor William Wood, the follow- ing mention of the nest, eggs and habits is taken : " Nidification commences soon after their arrival from the south. Oviposition usually occurs from the middle of April to the first of May. In one instance I took eggs on the first day of April that had been incubated at least a week, and then, again, I have taken them as late as the middle of May. More eggs can be obtained of this bird in this vicinity than of any other of our Rapacia, and I think it may safely be said, all others. The nest is usually placed in the fork of a 88 BIRDS OP PENNSYLVANIA. high tree (the bird instinctively seeking safety rather than any par- ticular kind of a tree), and consists of sticks and twigs, resembling the Crow's nest, though generally somewhat larger and more compactly built. Period of incubation about three weeks. The eggs usually number from two to four, more commonly three ; in one instance I found six. Of some thirty sets before me, there is a great diversity of markings. In shape, form and ground- work they are all alike, but in markings quite different. They are about the size, or a little larger, than the eggs of the domestic fowl ; of a broad, oval form, granulated ; of a dusky-white color, very slightly inclined to blue in the fresh egg, with one or more very large reddish brown blotches on the larger end, interspersed with smaller ones, diminishing in size and number as they approach the smaller end. This is the most common appearance of the egg. I have taken from the same nest eggs handsomely blotched and white, or dirty- white without any marks. I have selected four sets for measurement : No. 1, long diameter, . . 2.30 ; short diameter, . . 1.85 " 2, <* " . . 2.15; " . . 1.80 " 3, " « . . 2.30; " " . 1.80 tk 4, " " . . 2.30; " '• . . 1.80 u During the courting season it is very noisy, sailing around in circles with its mate, and filling the air with its shrill notes. Their mutual attachment continues through life. They hunt in pairs. The male not only assists in incubation, but supplies his mate with food. If approached by the sportsman while sitting, if the nest is low and ex- posed, the female will fly off very quietly and stealthily long before the male arrives within shot, and alight at some distance. If the nest is high up she will draw down her head, thinking herself perfectly concealed and secure, while her tail invariably projects over the nest, giving unmistakable evidence of its occupancy. They become attached to a particular piece of woods, and will build near the same spot for years, if not killed, and will even continue to build there for some time if their eggs are annually taken, occasionally rebuilding an old nest ; according to my observations they usually prefer a new one. FOOD. Dr. Wood says : u This species subsists mostly on small birds and quadrupeds, now and then adding to their bill of fare a snake." Merriam says : " I once took from the stomach of one of these hawks a snake measuring twenty-two inches in length." Wilson informs us that he has taken the fragments and whole carcasses of ten frogs of various dimensions from the crop of a single individual. "If not successful in obtaining a supply of frogs, it will eat the flesh of dead animals or fowls, apparently with a good relish." — Wood. Plate 1 6. BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 89 Nuttall remarks that this Hawk lives principally on frogs, and probably insects and cray-fish in the winter. Gentry tells us the food consists of small quadrupeds and small birds generally, reptiles and many insects, and that the food of the young consists of fragments of quadrupeds, besides an immense number of young grasshoppers and beetles. In my examinations of fifty-seven of these Hawks which have been captured in Pennsylvania, forty-three showed field-mice, some few other small quadrupeds, grasshoppers and insects, mostly beetles; nine revealed frogs and insects ; two, small birds, remains of small mammals and a few beetles ; two, snakes and portions of frogs. The gizzard of one bird contained a few hairs of a field-mouse and some long black hairs which appeared very much like that of a skunk. The bird on dissection gave a very decided odor of pole-cat. In two of these Hawks, shot in Florida, I found in one portions of a* small catfish, and in the other remains of a small mammal and some few coleopterous insects 343. Buteo latissimus (WiLS.). Broad-winged Hawk. DESCRIPTION. (Plate 16, Fig. I.) Adult. — Entire upper parts umber-brown ; feathers on the occiput and back of the neck white at their bases ; throat white, with longitudinal lines of brown and with a patch of brown on each side running from the base of the lower mandible ; breast with a wide band composed of large cordate and sagittate spots and transverse bands of reddish-ferruginous tinged with ashy ; other under parts white, with numerous sagittate spots of reddish on the flanks, abdomen and tibiaB. In some specimens, the ferruginous color predominates on all the under parts, except the under tail coverts, and all the feathers have large circular or ovate spots of white on both edges ; under tail coverts white ; quills brownish-black, widely bordered with white on their in- ner webs ; tail dark-brown, narrowly tipped with white, and with one wide band of white and several narrower bands near the base ; bill, dartt ; feet, yellow ; iris, brown. Young, — Upper parts dull umber-brown, many feathers edged with fulvous and ashy-white ; upper tail coverts spotted with white, under parts white, generally tinged with yellowish, and having longitudinal stripes and oblong and lanceolate spots of brownish-black ; a stripe of dark-brown on each side of the neck from the base of the under mandible ; tail brown, with several bands of a darker shade of the same color, and ofwrhite on the inner webs, and narrowly tipped with white ; length of male about 14 inches ; extent of wings about 32 ; tail about 7 inches ; female, length about 17 inches, extent about 38 ; tail about 1\ inches. Hab.— Eastern North America, from New Brunswick and the Saskatchewan re- gion to Texas and Mexico, and thence southward to Central America, northern South America, and the West Indies. Of the genus Buteo, in this section, the Broad winged is the least abundant. It is a native and resident. The movements in the air of this Hawk are easy and beautifully graceful. When in quest of food, its flight is in circles. At times, when circling, like the Sparrow Hawk, it will stand for an instant beating the air, and then descend 90 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. with great velocity upon its prey, which it secures, not in its descent, but as it is on the rise. I have on more than one occasion witnessed this species take aliment in the way described. I incorporate it, not- withstanding that it disagrees with certain good authority. Nest-building takes place from the first to the middle of May, and the four nests which I have found near West Chester have all been located in high trees ; three in hickory trees, the other in an oak. All of these nests were over fifty or sixty feet from the ground. The nest is very similar to that of the Cooper's Hawk ; it is made of sticks, twigs, leaves and rootlets, lined with feathers ; one I found lined with bark. The complement of eggs is usually four, although three some- times is the full set. The eggs are somewhat larger than those of the Cooper's Hawk, with a dull white, grayish-ground color, with brown- ish red spots, which vary in size from specks to large patches, fre- quently confluent. This Hawk is easily captured, appearing quite tame and unsuspi- cious. I have always found it to be cowardly, and to evince no dis- position to repel an invasion of its nest. Audubon relates the following circumstance, which came under the notice of himself and brother-in-law while out on a tour : " As we crossed a narrow skirt of woods my young companion spied a nest on a tree of moderate height, and, as my eye reached it, we both per- ceived that the parent bird was sitting in it. Some little consultation took place, as neither of us could determine whether it was a Crow's or a Hawk's nest, and it was resolved that my young friend should climb the tree, and bring down one of the eggs. On reaching the nest, he said the bird, which still remained quiet, was a Hawk, and unable to fly. I desired him to cover it with his handkerchief, try to secure it, and bring it down, together with the eggs. All this was accomplished without the least difficulty. I looked at it with inde- scrible pleasure, as I saw it was new to me, and then felt vexed that it was not of a more spirited nature, as it had neither defended its eggs nor itself. It lay quietly in the handkerchief, and I carried it home to my father-in-law's, showed it to the family, and went to my room, where I instantly began drawing it. I put the bird on a stick made fast to my table. It merely moved its feet to grasp the stick, and stood erect, but raised its feathers, and drew in its head on its shoulders. I passed my hand over it to smooth the feathers by gentle pressure. It moved not. The plumage remained as I wished it. Its eye, directed towards mine, appeared truly sorrowful. I measured the length of its bill with my compass, began my outlines, continued measuring part after part, as I went on, and finished the drawing with- out the bird even moving once. The drawing being finished I raised i he window, laid hold of the poor bird, and launched it into the air, BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 91 when it sailed off until out of my sight, without uttering a single cry, or deviating from its course." It would seem, however, that the disposition of this bird, under cer- tain circumstances, is very variable. Mr. A. G. Boardman, of Maine, who has found several nests, and secured the eggs, finds it to be cour- ageous and spirited. A man whom he had employed to obtain a nest, was attacked with great fury, while ascending the tree ; his cap was torn from his head, and he would, have been seriously injured if the bird had not been shot. Another instance is mentioned by Dr. Wood, where this Hawk attacked a boy climbing to her nest, fastened her talons in his arm, and could not be removed until beaten off and killed with a club. FOOD. Gentry says : u The food of this species consists of small birds, small quadrupeds, reptiles and insects," " When skimming athwart a meadow or similar situation, it moves with trifling noise, and when it espies a reptile or a quadruped, pounces down upon it with the fleetness of an arrow, seldom missing its aim, and bears it away to an adjoining tree, where it feasts upon its still quivering flesh with self- complacency. When it visits the farm-yard, which it seldom does, there is manifested much of the fearless spirit of lineatus. It comes directly to the spot and not in a stealthy, circuitous manner, after the fashion of borealis, alights upon the summit of a tall tree, singles out its victim and darts down upon it, bearing it away, even when the proprietor is within easy distance. The coolness and audaciousness of the act, for the time being, disconcert the actions of the latter,' and entirely eclipse his presence of mind. In some districts young chickens and goslings are the objects of these visits ; but with us tame pigeons and the smaller fowls." — Gentry. In speaking of this bird, Dr. Wood says : " Seldom, if ever, does it seize its prey on the wing, but secures it mostly on the ground, sub- sisting on frogs, snakes, mice and small birds, devouring the latter without removing the feathers. This Hawk in its habits is not as neat in preparing its food as most of its genus ; holding its prey with both feet, it tears and eats without much regard to cleanliness or feathers." In twelve specimens examined by myself, four revealed mice ; three, small birds ; four, frogs ; one, killed the 22d of May, 1882, was gorged with cray-fish, with which were traces of coleopterous insects. 92 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. GENUS ARCHIBUTEO. BREHM. 347 a. Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis (GMEL.). American Rough-legged Hawk. DESCRIPTION. "Adult male and female : Too variable in plumage to be concisely described. In general, the whole puinage with dark brown or blackish and light brown, gray, or whitish, the lighter colors edging or barring the individual feathers ; tendency to excess of the whitish on the head, and to the formation of a dark abdominal zone or area which may or may not include the tibise ; usually a blackish anteorbital and maxillary area. Lining of wings extensively blackish. Tail usually white from the base for some distance, then with dark and light barring. The inner webs of the flight feathers extensively white from the base, usually with little, if any, of the dark barring so prevalent among buteonine hawks. From such a light and vari- egated plumage as this, the bird varies to more or less nearly uniform blackish, in which case the tail is usually barred several times with white. * * Length of a female, 22.00; extent, 54.00; wing, 17.50; tail, 9.00; iris light brown; bill mostly blackish-blue, cere pale greenish-yellow, feet dull yellow, claws blue-black. This is about an average size ; the male averages smaller."— Cone's Key. Hab. — Whole of North America north of Mexico, breeding chiefly north of the United States. In any plumage this bird can easily be distinguished from other of our hawks by the tarsus, which is thickly feathered in front to the toes. I have found the Rough- legged or Black Hawk in Pennsylvania only as a winter sojourner, about the meadows and grass fields along or near large streams. In the winter of 1879, when hunting along the Brandywine creek, I saw seven of these hawks at one time, perched about on trees in a meadow of some five acres in extent. In this lo- cality, the species is usually found singly or in pairs. The Rough- legs generally migrate northward about the middle of March ; I have, however, observed them here late in April. " Its migrations appear to be quite regular and extensive — more so, perhaps, than is generally supposed — though probably it does not diifer from most Hawks in this respect. Birds of this family must follow their prey, wherever this leads them, and only a few of the more powerful species, able to prey upon hares and Ptarmigan, pass the winter in our highest latitudes. The Rough-legged is a rather northerly species, rarely, if ever, breed- ing within the limits of the United States, and becoming rarer to- wards its southern terminus." — Coues. Although this Hawk usually breeds north of the United States, or at least is generally so recorded by various writers, it occasionally nests as far south as Pennsylvania. April 5, 1886, Mr. Samuel B. Ladd, of West Chester, Pa., found a nest and two eggs of this bird, in a thick woods, at Fites Eddy, on the Susquehanna river. Mr. Ladd has kindly furnished me with the fol- lowing description of this nest and eggs: "The nest, partly con- cealed by a wild grape vine, was built in the crotch of an oak tree, BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 93 some thirty feet from the ground, and was composed entirely of sticks, averaging about one-half an inch in diameter ; interior made up/ of small sticks or twigs. The general appearance of the nest was as if it had been crushed. Eggs measure respectively. 2.35 X 1.79 and 2.40 X 1.83. Ground color, white, marked or rather clouded near the larger end with brown and lavender, with a few dark-brown pencil- ings." " It is a sluggish bird, and confines itself to the meadows and low grounds bordering the rivers and salt marshes along our bays and inlets. In such places, you may see it perched on a stake, where it' remains for hours at a time, unless some wounded bird comes in sight, when it sails after it, and secures it without manifesting much swift- ness of flight. It feeds principally on moles, mice, and other small quadrupeds, and never attacks a duck on the wing, although now and then it pursues a wounded one. When not alarmed, it usually flies low and sedately, and does not exhibit any of the courage and vigor so conspicuous in most other hawks, suffering thousands of birds to pass without pursuing them. The greatest feat I have seen it per- form was scrambling at the edge of the water to secure a lethargic frog. They alight on trees to roost, but appear so hungry or indolent at all times that they seldom retire to rest until after dusk. Their large eyes, indeed, seem to indicate their possession of the faculty of seeing at that late hour. I have frequently put up one that seemed watching for food at the edge of a ditch long after sunset. Whenever an opportunity offers, they eat to excess, and, like the Turkey Buz- zards and Carrion Crows, disgorge their food, to enable themselves to fly off. The species is more nocturnal in its habits than any other hawk found in the United States. The number of meadow mice which this species destroys ought, one might think, to secure it the protection of every husbandman." — Audubon. In the stomachs of eleven of these hawks, which I have examined, were found only field-mice. GENUS AQ.UILA. BRISSON. 349. Aquila chrysaetos (LiNN.). Golden Eagle. This large bird is found throughout most of North America, and occurs in Pennsylvania only as an occasional winter visitant. The only species with which it is sometimes confounded is the Bald or White-headed Eagle in immature plumage. The two species can al- ways be distinguished at a single glance, if you remember that the Golden Eagle has the tarsus densely feathered to the toes, and the Bald Eagle has a bare tarsus. The Golden Eagle measures 3 feet or 94 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. over in length, and 6 feet or more in alar extent and is said to weigh from 9 to 13 pounds. The following mention of the peculiarities of the Golden Eagle in captivity I gleaned from conversation with Mr. B. M. Everhart, who for several years kept one in his yard. This bird, in consequence of a gun-shot wound in the wing, was unable to fly off. "All the yard situated to the north and east of the house was known as Nero's (bird's name) domain. Along the walk leading to my office was his perch, a dead tree stump some eight feet high. When satiated with food he would sit there for hours at a time. If at any time during the day a cat or domestic fowl happened to enter his ground, it had to make a speedy departure or be killed. The latter was mostly the case, for Nero seldom 'went for' anything without his capturing it. When I neglected to give him his daily allowance (1 Ib. meat), as was sometimes the case, he wandered about the yard ut- tering a ventriloquial. gutteral sound, which had the effect of bring- ing around him birds and chickens. Occasionally the former, and in- variably the latter, would be killed. Towards people other than my- self he displayed great animosity, this being particularly the case with children and timorous individuals. One day Joshua Hoopes, a school teacher at that time, brought a party of his boys to see the bird, and I noticed one of their number, a puny and delicate lad, the eagle continually eyed and several times endeavored to make at him. Towards a female domestic, who had annoyed him by throwing water on him and poking at him with a stick, he showed great antipathy ; we were eventually obliged, for her personal safety and our own con- venience, to discharge the girl, as she could not go into the yard with- out being attacked. An Irishman one day slyly entered the yard, but in crossing Nero's province he was set upon by the bird. In the fleshy part of the man's thigh he imbedded his talons, and it was with con- siderable difficulty his hold was loosened. Erin's son declared that ' Niver before in his howl life had he seed sich a devil,' and that noth- ing short of the eagle's life could appease for his injuries. Examina- tion showed that although there were ugly flesh wounds, nothing of a serious nature would follow. This information being imparted, and a two-dollar bill tendered to the Irishman, his sufferings were much relieved. He stated that although he looked upon the ' critter ' as a ' bold, bad bird,' still he deemed him a fit subject to c kape fra ' from intrusion in the back yard, and that in the future, whenever he had any business with Bridget, he would enter the front gate and make known his wants at the front door. The strongest and largest torn cat he could manage with ease. When anyone had a specially ob- jectionable cat which they wanted disposed of, they would bag it up and bring it to the eagle. As soon as he saw the bag — now the bird, which an instant before sat moping, ruff-feathered, and seemingly BIRDS OP PENNSYLVANIA. 95 half dead, suddenly, as if by magic, changed, as it were, into a new being; body erect, feathers close to the body, tail expanded, the sunken eyes with ten-fold increased lustre, followed with argus gaze every motion of the bag and occupant; soon as grimalkin was liber- ated the eagle swooped down and grasped it. If the cat was of ordi- nary size, Nero displayed little concern in dispatching it ; but if it was a Thomas feline, of huge dimensions, all the powers of the bird were brought into requisition. Then the true nature of the eagle was seen. The eyes, before bright, now shone like balls of fire, the crest feathers standing up, and the contraction of the massive femoral muscles were discernable ; his voice, before hushed, now added discord to the dying yells of his struggling victim, so inextricably fixed in his relentless talons. He could kill a cat in from two to five minutes. Commonly, the eagle would grasp the cat around the small -of the back with one foot, with the other he encircled the neck, thus retaining his hold until the animal had ceased its struggles, which were soon over, as they were greatly augmented by fright and excessive violence of ac- tion. When the cat became quiet the eagle would raise his wings, which he had allowed to drop, draw his body up as high as possible from his prey, and proceed leisurely to tear off the skin from his cap- tive's back and side, exposing the muscles and viscera, which he ate." In reference this eagle, Audubon says : u They are capable of re- maining without food for several days at a time, and eat voraciously whenever they find an opportunity. " Young fawns, raccoons, hares, wild turkeys and other large birds are their usual food; and they devour putrid flesh only when hard pressed by hunger, none alighting on carrion at any other time." GENUS HALLffiETUS. SAVIGNY. 352. Haliaeetus leucocephalus (LINN.). Bald Eagle. DESCRIPTION. Bill large, strong, straight at the base, rather abruptly hooked ; wings long ; tarsi rather short. A'hiJt. — Head, tail, and its upper and under coverts, white ; entire other plumage brownish-black, generally with the edges of the feathers paler ; bill, feet and irides, yellow. Younger. — Entire plumage, including head and tail, dark-brown ; paler on the throat ; edges of the feathers paler or fulvous, especially on the under parts ; tail more or less mottled with white, which color, in more advanced age, extends over a large portion of the tail, especially on the inner webs ; bill brownish-black ; irides brown. Male, — Length about 34 inches ; extent of wings about 7 feet Female larger, measuring sometimes 8 feet in extent. . — Xorth America at large, south to Mexico. 96 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. The name " bald," which is given to this species is not applied be- cause the head is bare, but because the leathers of the neck and head in the adults are pure white. In Pennsylvania, as well as throughout the United States, we have but two species of Eagles. The " Black," c; Gray " and u Washington " Eagles are all young of the Bald Eagle. Three years, it is stated, are required before this species assumes the adult plumage. The Bald Eagle, although found in Pennsylvania at all seasons of the year, is much oftener met with during the winter months than at other times, A few of these birds annually rear their young along the Susquehanna river, and elsewhere in this State. The nest, a bulky affair, built usually on a large tree, mostly near the water, is said to be about five or six feet in diameter. It is made up chiefly of large sticks, lined inside with grasses, leaves, etc. The eggs commonly 2 — rarely 3 — are white and measure about 3 by 2-J inches. A favorite article of food with this bird is fish, which he obtains, chiefly, by strategy and rapine. The Bald Eagle is quite plentiful in the vicinity of large rivers, where the Fish Hawk is common; unlike this last-named bird, however, he cannot be called piscivorous, as he subsists largely on ducks, geese and other aquatic birds. Referring to this Eagle, Audubon says : u No sooner does the Fish Hawk make its appearance along our Atlantic shores, or ascend ou-r numerous and large rivers, than the Eagle follows it, and, like a selfish oppressor, robs it of the hard-earned fruits of its labor. Perched on some tall summit, in view of the ocean, or of some water-course, he watches every motion of the Fish Hawk while on wing. When the latter rises from the water, with a fish in its grasp, forth rushes the Eagle in pur- suit. He mounts above the Fish Hawk, and threatens it by actions well understood, when the latter, fearing perhaps that its life is in danger, drops its prey. In an instant, the Eagle, accurately estimat- ing the rapid descent of the fish, closes his wings, follows it with the swiftness of thought, and the next moment grasps it. * This bird now and then procures fish for himself by pursuing them in the shallows of small creeks. I have witnessed several instances of this in the Perkiomen creek in Pennsylvania, where, in this man- ner, I saw one of them secure a number of Red fins^ by wading briskly through the water, and striking at them with his bill. I have also observed a pair scrambling over the ice of frozen pond to get at some fish below, but without success. It does not confine itself to these kinds of food, but greedily devours young pigs, lambs, fawns, poultry and the putrid flesh of carcasses of every descriplion, driving off the Vultures and Carrion Crows, or the dogs, and keeping a whole party at defiance until it is satiated." Even man is not exempt from the attacks of these predacious birds. I have repeatedly seen in news- papers accounts of combats between men and Eagles ; frequently the BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 97 bird would be the aggressor. While it is admitted that these reports are largely due to the imaginative reporter, it is believed that such occurrences do occasionally take place. Veritable instances are re- lated of their carrying off infants. According to Wilson, u an attempt of this kind was made upon a child lying by its mother, as she was weeding a garden, at Egg Harbor, New Jersey, but the garment seized upon by the Eagle giving way at the instant of the attempt, the child's life was spared." Nuttall speaks of an instance said to have happened at Petersburg, Ga., near the Savannah river, " where an infant, sleeping in the shade near the house, was seized and carried off to the eyry, near the edge of a swamp five miles distant, and when found, almost immediately, the child was dead." SUBFAMILY FALCONING. FALCONS. GENUS FALiCO. LINNAEUS. 356. Palco peregrinus anatum (BONAP.). Duck Hawk; Great-footed Hawk. DESCRIPTION. Aduti. — Frontal band white ; entire upper parts bluish cinereous, with transverse bands of brownish-black, lighter on the rump ; under parts (throat and foreneck frequently unspotted) yellowish-white, with cordate and circular spots of black on the breast and abdomen, and transverse bands of black on the sides, under tail coverts arid tibia? ; quills and tail brownish-black, the latter with transverse bars of pale cinereous ; cheeks with a patch of black ; bill light-blue ; cere and base of bill yellow ; tarsi and toes yellow ; iris hazel ; sexes alike. Younger. — Entire upper parts brownish-black ; frontal spot obscure; large space on the cheeks black ; under parts dull yellowish-white, darker than in adult, and with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black ; tarsi and toes bluish-lead color. Female : total length, 18 to 20 inches ; extent, about45 ; wing, 14 to 15 ; tail, 7 inches* Hab.— North America at large. In Pennsylvania I have found the Duck Hawk only as a rare visi- tant during the winter, when solitary individuals are occasionally observed. This bird like others of the northern Hawks is bold and pedacious. It is much oftener found along the sea coast and large rivers than in inland districts. Dr. Coues states that this species breeds as far south as Virginia, usually in the mountainous districts. Mr. Gentry says : u In eastern Pennsylvania it is a very rare species, and breeds only in occasional instances. Perhaps a more careful and thorough exploration of our numerous river banks, and the summits of our numerous mountain ridges would reveal the fact that it breeds in larger numbers than is at present allowed." The following information relative to the breeding of the Duck Hawk in Pennsylvania is obtained from Thomas M. Brewer's North 7 BIEDS. 98 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. American Oology, p. 9, pt. I : " I have been informed by Professor S. F. Baird that this Hawk undoubtedly nested on a high cliff near the house of Professor S. S. Haldeman, near Columbia, Pennsylvania, as attested by the assurances of Professor Haldeman, who has on several occasions procured very young ones which had fallen from the nest. Specimens of these are in the Smithsonian Institution. Professor Haldeman, in answer to my inquiries, has kindly furnished me with the following interesting information in regard to the occurence of this bird in Pennsylvania : ' In the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. I, p. 54 (1841), I have noticed the occurence of Falco peregrinus anatum on the Susquehanna. A pair had a nest for many years about a hundred yards from my house, on a high and almost vertical cliff; but as a railway now traverses its base, it is not probable that the species will return to the locality. I have not seen an individual for a number of years past. * * * * * This bird remained ten or eleven months in the year, disappearing only in the coldest weather, and returning with the first favorable change. The nest was difficult of access, and I never saw it ; but it was once reached and the young taken by getting down from above. I have seen them at Harper's Ferry since the railway has been in use there, recognizing them by their flight and cry. I feel confident that they breed there, the cliffs being well adapted to their habits. Ranges of similar cliffs occur along the rivers of East Tennessee, but I did not meet with the bird when travelling there. On the Susquehanna they breed early in the Spring, the young (to the number of not less than three) leaving the nest perhaps in May; and there may possibly be a second brood. I used formerly to see this species about three miles farther up the Susquehanna, where it probably inhabits the cliffs on the western side. ***** I am under the impression that at my locality but a single pair remained, the young disappearing in the course of the season. In the wild region between Columbia and tide- water, there are many localities suited to the habits of this bird.' ' The nest and eggs of the Duck Hawk I have never seen. They are described by Audubon as follows : ^ I have nowhere seen it so abun- dant as along the high, rocky shores of Labrador and Newfoundland, where I procured several adult individuals of both sexes, as well as some eggs and young. The nests were placed on the shelves of rocks, a few feet from the top, and were flat, and rudely constructed of sticks and moss. In some were found four eggs, in others only two, and in one five. In one nest only a single young bird was found. The eggs vary considerably in color and size, which, I think, is owing to a dif- ference of age in the females; the eggs of young birds being smaller. The average length of four was two inches, their breadth one and five- eighths. They are somewhat rounded, though larger at one end than BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 99 the other ; their general and most common color is a reddish or rusty yellowish-brown, spotted and confusedly marked with darker tints of the same, here and there intermixed with lighter. The young are at first thickly covered with soft white down." FOOD. '* He pursues the smaller ducks, water-hens, and other swimming birds ; and, if they are not quick in diving, seizes them, and rises with them from the water. I have seen this hawk come at the report of a gun, and carry off a teal, not thirty steps distant from the sportsman who had killed it, with a daring assurance as surprising as unexpected. This conduct has been observed by many individuals, and is a char- acteristic trait of the species. The largest bird that I have seen this hawk attack and grapple with on the wing is the Mallard. " The Great-footed Hawk does not, however, content himself with waterfowl. He is generally seen following the flocks of pigeons, and even blackbirds, causing great terror in their ranks, and forcing them to perform aerial evolutions to escape the grasp of his dreaded talons. For several days, I watched one of them that had taken a particular fancy to some tame pigeons, to secure which it went so far as to enter their house at one of the holes, seize a bird, and issue by another hole in an instant, causing such terror among the rest as to render me fearful that they would abandon the place. However. I fortunately shot the depredator. uThey occasionally feed on dead fish, that have floated to the shores or sand-bars. I saw several of them thus occupied, while descending the Mississippi on a journey undertaken expressly for the purpose of observing and procuring different specimens of birds, and which lasted four months, as I followed the windings of that great river, floating down it only a few miles daily. During that period. I and my com- panion counted upwards of fifty of these hawks, and killed several ; one of which was found to contain in its stomach bones of birds, a few downy feathers, the gizzard of a teal, and the eyes and many scales of a fish.'' — Audubon. I have examined but three of these hawks ; the stomachs of two were destitute of food-materials, the other contained a few feathers of a domestic pigeon. 357. Falco columbarius, LINN. Pigeon Hawk. DESCRIPTION. A fluff Ma/e. — Entire upper parts bluish-slate color, every feather with a black longitudinal line ; forehead and throat white : other under parts pale yellowish or reddish-white ; every feather with a longitudinal line of brownish-black ; tibiae light ferruginous, with lines of black ; quills black, tipped with ashy-white ; tail light 100 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA, bluish-ashy, tipped with white and with a wide subterrninal band of black, and with several other tians verse narrower bands of black ; inner webs nearly white ; cere and legs yellow ; bill blue ; iris brown. Younger. — Entire upper plumage dusky-brown, quite light in some specimens, and with a tinge of ashy ; head above, with narrow stripes of dark brown and fer- ruginous, and in some specimens many irregular spots and edgings of the latter color on the other upper parts ; forehead and entire under parts dull-white, the latter with longitudinal stripes of light-brown ; sides and flanks light-brown, with pairs of circular spots of white ; tibiae dull white, with dashes of brown ; tail pale-brown, with about six transverse bands of white ; cere and legs greenish-yellow. Young.— Upper plumage brownish-black, white of the forehead and under parts more deeply tinged with reddish-yelloAV ; dark stripes wider than in preceding ; sides and flanks with wide transverse bands of brownish-black, and with circular spots of yellowish-white ; quills black ; tail brownish-black, tipped with white, and with about four bands of white ; cere and feet greenish-yellow. Total length, female 12 to 14 inches ; wing, 8 to 9 inches ; tail, 5 to 5.j inches. Male, total length, 10 to 11 inches ; wing, 7| to 8 inches ; tail, 5 inches. Hab. — The whole of North America, south to the West Indies and northern South America. This falcon, a native of more northern latitudes, is rarely found in this region except during the winter season, when solitary birds are occasionally observed. The Pigeon Hawk is most frequently found in the mountainous and heavily-wooded districts. Wilson writes: "He is generally migratory in the Middle and Northern States, arriv- ing in Pennsylvania early in spring, and extending his migrations as far north as Hudson's Bay. After building and rearing his young, he retires to the south early in November. Small birds and mice are his principal food. When the reed-birds, grakles, and red-winged black- birds congregate in large nights, he is often observed hovering in their rear, or on their flanks, picking up the weak, the wounded, or strag- glers, and frequently making a sudden and fatal sweep into the very midst of their multitudes. The flocks of robins and pigeons are hon- ored with the same attentions from this marauder, whose daily excur- sions are entirely regulated by the movoments of the great body on whose unfortunate members he fattens." In the few examinations which I have made of these hawks, only the remains of birds — common pigeons and sparrows — have been de- tected. From my observations in the field, as well as dissections, I believe the Pigeon Hawk during its residence in this locality preys mainly on various small birds. The following is taken from my note- book in relation to a pair of these hawks : " Two Pigeon Hawks during the late fall lurked about the southern suburbs of the borough of West Chester, preying at regular intervals on the pigeons of a black- smith. In one week the hawks killed or drove away fifty of the birds. The hawks would enter the boxes and take from them the pigeons." BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 10 J 360. Falco sparverius. American Sparrow Hawk. DESCRIPTION. (Plate 16 : Fig. 3, female : Fig. 8, male.) Length, 10 to 12 inches ; extent of wings, 18 to 23 inches. Hob. — Whole of North America, south to northern South America. This well-known little Hawk is the smallest and most beautiful of the family Falconidce. It is a resident, but is more numerous during fall and winter than at other seasons. Unlike other of our native Hawks, it sometimes rears two broods in a season. The Sparrow Hawk builds no nest, but deposits her eggs — numbering from five to seven, rarely the latter number — in hollow trees, selecting usually the deserted hole of a woodpecker. The eggs, nearly spherical, meas- ure about 1.33 by 1.13 inches, and are of a whitish or pale yellow- brown color, blotched all over with dark brown. Oviposition occurs in April. Occasionally, if the eggs are taken, the bird will a second time deposit eggs in the same nest. When the young or eggs are dis- turbed, the parent birds will sometimes defend invasion of their domi- cile with great temerity. Some few years ago I was endeavoring to secure the young from a nest of this species. I had climbed the tree to the aperture, about thirty-five feet from the ground, wherein were snugly packed five young, one of which I removed, when both old birds assailed me. They several times struck my head and arms with their talons and wings. So persistent were their attacks that I, desir- ing to obtaining the young alive, directed a companion, who stood near by, to shoot both birds. I have repeatedly taken the eggs and young of this species, but never, only in the above- cited instance, en- countered such determined opposition. When reared from the nest, this species will soon become attached to its master. I raised two, which were given their freedom. Both birds would come at my call and alight on my outstretched arm or shoulders, anxiously waiting for a grasshopper or piece of meat, which was always their recompense. This Hawk will resort, for several consecutive years, to the same tree for breeding purposes. From Doctor Wood's u Birds of Connecticut," the following remarks, with regard to the nesting of this bird, are taken : " One of my collectors found a nest of four eggs in the top of a stump, about ten feet from the ground. This nest was composed of grass, and was discovered by the grass protruding through a crack in the stump. Whether this Hawk constructed this nest, or whether it had been made by some other bird, it is impossible to tell ; but if this Hawk constructs no nest, as asserted by Doctor Brewer and others, it must have obtained it piratically, as the nest was new. In another instance, which occurred in Granby, Connecticut, the nest was known 102 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. to have been obtained in this way: A farmer made a dove-house in- side of his barn, with holes through the sides of the building commu nicating with it. A pair of doves that had mated there were attacked and killed by a pair of Sparrow Hawks, who took possession of their nest, laid four eggs, and commenced incubating." Incubation, which lasts for about a period of from twenty-one to twenty-four days, is engaged in by both birds, and while one is sitting its mate supplies it with food. When first hatched, the young are cov- ered with a white down. The food of young, while under parental care, I have found to consist chiefly of insects. FOOD. H. W. Henshaw says : " Its food consists chiefly of the various kinds of coleopterous insects and grasshoppers, of which it destroys multi- tudes ; in fact, this last item is the most important of all, and where these insects are abundant I have never seen them recourse to any other kind of food." Allen, in his u Ornithological Notes on the Birds of the Great Salt Lake Valley," says : " The Sparrow Hawk, however, was by far the most numerous of the Falconidce ; thirty were seen in the air at one time near the mouth of Weber canon, engaged in the capture of the hateful grasshoppers, which seems at this season to form the principal food of this and other birds." Audubon mentions that he had one of these birds tamed. It was allowed its liberty. ifc In attempting to secure a chicken one day, the old hen attacked him with such violence as to cost him his life." Doctor Wood says : " When they cannot readily procure their favorite food, mice and small birds are greedily devoured ; and, according to a writer in the American Naturalist, they are not wholly devoid of the piratical habits of the Bald Eagle-. 4 A tame cat was crossing the street and bearing a large mouse in her mouth ; a Sparrow Hawk came flying over, and seeing the mouse in her mouth, made a sudden swoop and tried to seize it with its talons, but did not succeed. The Hawk continued its attempts until they reached the opposite side of the street, when the cat disappeared under the sidewalk.' If it catches a mouse that proves to be lousy and poor, it will leave it and seek another." Gentry writes : " Of all our falcons, it is the least timid and suspicious; and manifests nearly the courage and address of F. columbarius. Like the latter, it does not deserve the severe censure and cruel persecutions which are oc- casionally inflicted upon it. It is certainly regarded in some sections with less disfavor than any other species. The countless number of field-mice and noxious insects which it destroys should command for it universal respect. It is certainly a great benefactor to agriculturists. It is too frail a creature to commit much mischief in the farm-yard. BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 103 If it destroys a few young chickens occasionally, as has been asserted, the immense good which it accomplishes more than balances the mis- chief done Its numerous visits to the barn-yard are not made with the view of depredating upon the farmer's poultry, but for the vermin which frequent his various out-buildings, and are so destructive to his stored grains. Let them be encouraged 'in their visits. They cannot carry away the adult hen, and as for the chicks, they are so well guarded by the mother that, only in rare instances, will this Hawk have the hardihood to venture an assault upon the brood unless it be considerably scattered from the parent, when it will merely single out the most distant chick. r The stomach contents of sixty-five of this species which I have dis- sected showed, in thirty-one, principally field-mice, with frequent traces of various insects; twenty-three, mainly grasshoppers and beetles; seven, small birds; two, meadow larks; one, remains of mouse and small bird ; one, insects and small bird. SUBFAMILY PANDIONIN£!. OSPKEYS. GENUS PANDION. SAVIGNY. #54. Pandion haliaetus carolinensis (GMEL.) American Osprey; Fish Hawk. DESCRIPTION. Wings, long ; legs, toes and claws, very robust and strong. -•1