UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH JJarlington iVjLeniorial -Libra ry EosK-BREASTED Grosbeak, Guiraea ludoviciana. 'Swainsoa. .?'1-"^ Birds of New England ADJACENT STATES; CONTAINING DESCRIPTIONS OF THE BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND, AND ADJOIN- INQ STATES AND PROVINCES, ARRANGED BY A LONG-APPROVED CLASSIFICATION AND NOMENCLATURE; TOGETHER WITH A HISTORY OF THEIR HABITS, TIMES OF ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE, THEIR DISTRIBUTION, FOOD, SONG, TIME OF BREEDING, AND A CAREFUL AND ACCURATE DESCRIPTION OF THEIR NESTS AND EGGS; WITH Ellastrattons of tnang Species of tf)E Birtis, ani accurate JFtgures of tfjctr ESsSS. By EDWARD A. SAMUELS, OUEATOR OF ZOOLOGY IN THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE CABINET. WITH AN APPENDIX CONTAINING SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. PIPTH EDITION, EEVISED AND ENLARGED. BOSTON: NOTES, HOOIES, AND CO^CPANY, 117, Washington Street. 1870. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S67, by Edward A. Samuels, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. CAMBRIDGE: STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED JOHN WILSON AND SON PREFACE. J^ In presenting this volume to the public, I would say -that , my chief aim in its preparation has been to supply the great \ / demand for some work that might be accessible to all, both ^\ in consequence of its moderate price and its plain, untech- , J ^^cal language. ^ The want of such a volume is keenly appreciated by our T students in this interesting branch of natural history ; and, (C> as all the editions of the valuable and popular works of Wilson and Nuttall are out of print, it has long been J almost entirely unsupplied. ^ I have been able, from my own observations, to correct , *ome important errors that have been published as to the breeding habits of d.ifferent species, and have added, v^ probably, a few new facts to our knowledge respecting ^j^ those of others ; but I must apologize for being obliged, in '^ a great many cases, to use the observations of others for 1^ facts which I have had no opportunity of ascertaining myself. ^ I am greatly indebted to Professor Spencer P. Baird, of ',. Washington, for his generous permission to use the descrip- tions of the birds given by him m the ninth volume of [iii] 1^ the Pacific Railroad Reports, and for some valuable speci mens ^vith which he furnished me for descriptions and figures. I also take this occasion to return my thanks to Hon. James S. Grennell, of Washington, and J. P. Xorris. of Philadelphia, for the use of many valuable cuts of birds ; and to George A. Boardman, Esq., of Milltown, Me., John Krider, of Philadelphia, Thure Kmulien, of Albion, Wis., J. A. Allen, of Springfield, Mass., William Couper, of Quebec, Lower Canada, Henry A.' Purdie, of Boston, and J. G. Rich, of Upton, Me., for many interesting specimens, "and much valuable information. Great credit is due Messrs. M. M. Tidd and Nathan Brown, of Boston, for the careful and accurate manner in which they have illustrated the eggs ; subjects, as is well known, exceedingly difl&cult to figure, particularly on wood. To Messrs. John Wilson & Son, of Cambridge, Mass., my grateful acknowledgments are made for their indefatigable efforts to secure an elegant and perfect typographical exe- cution. The imperfections and shortcomings in the present work are too apparent ; but they are, in most cases, unavoidable, because of the very meagre knowledge that we have of the habits of many of our birds, and the confusion that exists in the nomenclature, in descriptions, and observations concerning them in the works of many authors. E. A. s. BosTox, March 25, 1867. COXTEXTS. Page Characteristics of Orders 4 ORDER I.— RAPTORES, ROBBERS. Family Falconidae, Falcons 7 Sub-Family Falconinas, Falcons proper 7 Accipitrinse, Hawks 22 Buteoninae, Buzzard-Hawks 3i Aquilinse, Eagles 49 Family Strigidae, Owls 60 Sub-Family Buboninae, Homed Owls 60 S}Tninae, Gray Owls 71 Nycteininse, Day Owls 77 ORDER n. — SCAXSORES, CLEMBERS. Family Cuculidte, Cuckoos 83 Picidas, Woodpeckers 87 ORDER m. — IN'SESSORES, PERCHERS. Sub-Order Strisores 110 Family Trochilidse, Humming-Birds 110 Cypselidae, Swifts 116 Caprimulgidse, Goat-Suckers 119 Sub-Oi'der Clamatores, Screamers 125 Family Alcedinidse, Kingfishers 1 25 Colopteridfe, Flycatchers 128 Sub-Fandly T_\Tannina2, Tyrant Flycatchers 128 Sub-Order Oscines, Singers Family Turdidae, Thrushes 145 Sub-Family Miminae, Mocking-Birds 163 Family Saxicolidae, Eock-Inhabiters 175 [V] VI CONTENTS. Pagb Family Sylviidas, Wood-Inliabiters 178 Paridte, Titmice 182 Sub-Family Sittinas, Nuthatches 186 Family CerthiadEe, Creepers 190 Troglodytidae, Wrens 192 Sylvicolidse, Warblers 199 Sub-Family MotacilliuEe, Wagtails 199 Sylvicolinie, Wood- Warblers 201 Tanagrinse, Tanagers 250 Family Hirundinidse, Swallows 254 BombycillidaB, Chatterers 264: Laniidse, Shrikes 268 Sub-Family Laniinse, Shrikes proper 268 Vireoninse, Vireos 270 Family AlaudidaB, Skylarks 280 Fringillidse, Seed-Eaters 288 Sub-Family Coccothraustints, Finches 283 Spizellinaj, Sparrows 301 Passerellin^, Buntings 325 Family Icteridse 335 Sub-Family Agelaeinse, Starlings 335 Icterinte, Orioles 346 Quiscalinffi, Blackbirds 350 Family Corvids, Crows 355 Sub-Family Corvinse, Crows proper 355 Garrulinse, Jays 364 ORDER rV^. — RASORES, SCRATCHERS. Sub-Order Columbse 373 Family Columbidas, Doves 373 Sub-Order Galling, Game-Birds 378 Family Tetraonidaj, Grouse 378 Perdicidse, Partridges 393 ORDER v. — GRALLATORES, WADERS. Sub-Order Herodiones . ..398 Family Ardeidse, Herons 398 Sub-Order Grallse, Shore-Birds . . . • 412 Family Charadridse, Plovers 413 ILcmatopodidaj, Oyster-Catchers 424 llecurvirostridae, Avoscts 428 CONTENTS. Vll Page Family Phalaropodidae, Phalaropes 430 Scolopacidaj, Snipes 432 Sub-family TringinaB, Sandpipers 440 Sub-Family Totanlnaj, Stilts 451 Family Paludicolse. Swamp Inbablters 470 Sub-Family Kallinae, Ralls 470 ORDER VI.— NATATORES, SWIMl»ffiRS. Sub-Order Anseres ■ 480 Family Anatldai 480 Sub-Family Cygnlnaj, Swans 480 Ansei'inaj, Geese 481 Anatlnse, River-Ducks 487 Fullgullnse, Sea-Ducks 503 Merglnae, Sheldrakes 525 Family Sulldse, Gannets 532 Graculldse, Cormorants 534 Larldte, Gulls 537 Sub-FamUy Lestrldina3, Skua-Gulls 537 Larlnse, Gulls proper 539 Sternlna3, Terns 545 Sub-Order Gavise 532 Family Procellaridse, Petrels 552 Colymbldse, Divers 555 Sub-Family Colymblnae, Loons 555 Podicipinas, Grebes 558 Family Alcldae 564 Sub-Family Alclnse, Auks 564 Urinae, GuUlemots 567 Appendix 575 Index of Common Names 585 Index of Scientific Names 589 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. INTEODUCTION. AS I have generally adopted, in the present volume, the system of classification, and the nomenclature, &c., presented by Professor Baird in his report on the Birds of North America, I will state here, that I have given, so far as possible, his own remarks in the explanations of the characteristics of the different orders, families, genera, &c., because they are expressed in the most concise and com- prehensive language possible. I have also given the same descriptions of the species as those contained in the above- mentioned report, because, being made from a much greater number of specimens than I could possibly have access to, they are certainly better than I could present from my own observations. The descriptions of the character- istics of the Maptores, the Grrallce, and the Alcidce, are by John Cassin, of Philadelphia ; those of the Longijjennes- Totipalmes and Colpnbidce were written by Mr. George N. Lawrence, of New York ; those of the other birds were prepared by Professor Spencer P. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institute. Tn order that the descriptions of the birds in the follovv- [11 INTRODUCTION. ing pages may be perfectly understood, I give the subjoined cuts, illustrating and explaining them : — A represents the primary quills, usually called primaries. B represents the secondary quills, usually called secondaries. C spurious Tsdng. D wing coverts. E tertiary quills, usually called tertiaries. F represents the throat. G is the upper part of the throat, called the jugulum. H is the bill or beak : this is divided into' two parts, called the upper and lower mandibles. I is the frons, or forehead: feathers at this point are called frontal feathers. J is the crown : feathers here are called coronal feathers, and occipital. K represents the scapular feathers. L is the back : feathers here are sometimes called interscapular. M represents the tarsus : called shank or leg sometmies. N is the abdomen. O is the rump. P shows the upper tail coverts. Q indicates the position of the lower tail coverts. ■'^?? that the young birds are in the ^^•f red plumage ; but I have cer- ^^) tainly known of one instance when the young bird was in the gray. A nest was found in a hollow tree in Milton, Mass., in which there were three young birds. They were permitted to remain ; and I vis- ited the nest as often as every two days until they flew off. The last time that I saw them, ' — the day before they left the nest, — they were fully fledged, and they had very few marks of brownish-red in their plumage. Whether this was an exceptional case, I know not ; but I will present the obser- vations of different ornithologists which conflict with my own. I will also quote Audubon's description of the habits of the bird, as it is better tl\an I can give from my own experience, though it corresponds to my observations so far as they go. He says, — " The flight of the Mottled Owl is smooth, rapid, protracted, and noiseless. It rises at times above the top branches of the highest of our forest trees whilst in pursuit of large beetles ; and at other 6 6Q ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. times sails low and swiftly over the fields, or through the woods, in search of small birds, field-mice, moles, or wood-rats, from which it chiefly derives its subsistence. On alighting, — which it does plumply, — the Mottled Owl immediately bends its body, turns its head to look behind it, performs a curious nod, utters its notes, then shakes and plumes itself, and resumes its flight in search of prey. It now and then, while on the wing, produces a clicking sound with its mandibles, but more frequently when perched near its mate or young. This I have thought was done by the bird to manifest its courage, and let the hearer know that it is not to be meddled with ; although few birds of prey are more gentle when seized, as it will suffer a person to touch its feathers and caress it without attempting to bite or strike with its talons, unless at rare intervals. " The notes of this Owl are uttered in a tremulous, doleful manner, and somewhat resemble the chattering of the teeth of a person under the influence of extreme cold, although much louder. They are heard at a distance of several hundred yards, and by some people are thought to be of ominous import." These notes almost exactly resemble the whimpering whine of a small dog, for which I have mistaken them on different occasions. " Th^ little fellow is generally found about farm-houses, or- chards, and gardens. It alights on the roof, the fence, or the garden-gate, and utters its mournful ditty, at intervals, for hours at a time, as if it were in a state of great suffering ; although this is far from being the case, — the song of all birds being an indication of content and happiness. In a state of confinement, it utters its notes with as much satisfaction as if at liberty. They are chiefly heard during the latter part of winter, — that being the season of love, when the male bird is particularly attentive to the fair one which excites his tender emotions, and around which he flies and struts much in the manner of the common Pigeon, adding numer- ous nods and bows, the sight of which is very amusing. '' The young remain in the nest until they are able to fly. At first, they are covered with a downy substance of a dull yellowish- white. By the middle of August, they are fully feathered, and THE MOTTLED OWL. 67 Rre then generally of a reddish-brown, although considerable differ- ences exist between individuals, as I have seen some of a deep- chocolate color, and others nearly black. The feathers change their colors as the pairing season advances, and in the first spring the bird is in the perfect dress." J. P. Norris, writing in the " Country Gentleman," Jan. 11, 1866, says that he secured two young birds of this species when covered with down, and kept them until they had become feathered, when their plumage was decidedly red in color. J. P. Giraud, in his "Birds of Long Island," gives a letter from J. G^ Bell, of New York, in which that gentle- man says, that he has taken the young birds from the nest, covered with grayish-brown, and kept them through their first plumage, which was red in color. These and other writers seem to agree that the red plum- age is that of the bird in the first year. I leave it to future experimenters to determine the matter beyond a doubt. This bird feeds largely on the injurious night-flying moths and beetles. Numbers of specimens that I have examined, contained in their stomachs parts of these in- sects and small mammals : very seldom indeed did they have feathers or other parts of birds. The Mottled Owl selects for a nesting-place a hollow tree, often in the orchard, and commences laying at about the first of May, in the latitude of the middle of Massachu- setts. The nest is made at the bottom of the hollow, and is constructed of grass, leaves, moss, and sometimes a few feathers. It is not elaborately made, being nothing more than a heap of soft materials. The eggs are usually four in number : they are pure-white, smooth, and nearly spher- ical in form. Their length varies from 1.30 to 1.37 inch ; breadth from 1.18 to 1.25 inch. The eggs are often laid on the chips at the bottom of the hollow ; no attempt at a nest being made. 68 OENITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. OTUS, CuviEE. Otus, CuviER, Rfegne Animal, I. 327 (1817). General form longer and more slender than in the preceding genera; head mod- erate; ear-tufts long, erectile; bill rather short, curved from the base; facial disc more perfect than in the preceding; wings long; tail moderate; tarsi and toes cov- ered -with short feathers ; claws long, curved ; eyes rather small, and surrounded by radiating feathers. This genus contains ten or twelve species of various countries, all of which are more handsome birds than are usually met with in this family. OTUS WILSONIANUS.— Zessow. The Long-eared Owl. Otus Wihoniamis, Lesson. Traite d'Om., I. 110 (1831). Otus Americanus, Bonaparte. Comp. List, 7 (1838). Syn., 37. Strix otus, "Wilson. Bonaparte's edition, 449. Strix otus, Linnseus. And. Cm. Biog., IV. 572. Nuttall, L 130. Desckeption. Ear-tufts long and conspicuous; eyes rather small; wings long; tarsi and toes densely feathered; upper parts mottled with brownish-black, fulvous, and ashy- white, the former predominating; breast pale-fulvous, with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black; abdomen white; every feather with a wide longitudinal stripe, and with transverse stripes of brownish-black; legs and toes pale-fulvous, usually unspotted, but frequently with irregular narrow transverse stripes of dark-brown ; eye nearly encircled with black ; other feathers of the face ashy-white, with minute lines of black ; ear-tufts brownish-black edged with fulvous and ashy- white; quills pale-fulvous at their bases, with irregular transverse bands of brown; infterior coverts of the wing pale-fulvous, frequently nearly white ; the larger widely tipped with black; tail brown, with several irregular transverse bands of ashy-fulvous, which are mottled, as on the quills; bill and claws dark horn-color; irides yellow. Total length, female, about fifteen inches ; wing, eleven to eleven and a half; tail, six inches. Male rather smaller. This species is rather common in New England, rather preferring the less settled districts to the others. It is eminently nocturnal in its habits, and has the power of see- ing in the daytime to a less degree than any of the other species with which I am acquainted. A specimen that I once had, as a pet, could not see my hand as it approached him, and would permit my finger to touch his eye before he drew over it the thin nictitating membrane given to all birds to protect this delicate organ. I do not remember of ever hearing this owl utter a cry THE LONG-EARED OWL. 69 in its nocturnal I'ainbles ; and I think that it hunts in silence, except, perhaps, in the mating season. The specimen in my possession would not eat in the day- time ; and, if I fed it then, was obliged to push the food down its throat with my finger : at night, it fed readily on raw meat, but was rather loath to eat when I was by, or when a lamp was near its cage. I had water always accessible to it, but never saw it drink, and think, that, in the space of two months, it drank not more than two or three times ; or, if it did, the quantity it took was so small as not to be appreciable. Notwithstanding the comparative abundance of this spe- cies, its breeding habits are not well known. I have been so fortunate as to find several nests, all of which were built in forks of tall pines, and constructed of twigs and leaves. Audubon says : — " The Long-eared Owl is careless as to the situation in which its young are to be reared, and generally accommodates itself with the abandoned nest of some other bird that proves of sufficient size, whether it be high or low, in the fissure of a rock or on the ground. Sometimes, however, it makes a nest itself; and this I found to be the case in one instance near the Juniata River, in Pennsylvania, where it was composed of green twigs, with the leaflets adhering, and lined with fresh grass and wool, but without any feathers." Wilson describes its breeding habits as follows : — " About six or seven miles below Philadelphia, and not far from the Delaware, is a low swamp, thickly covered with trees, and inundated during a great part of the year. This place is the resort of great numbers of the qua bird (Night Heron), where they build in large companies. On the 25th of April, while wading through the dark recesses of this place, observing the habits of these birds, I discovered a Long-eared Owl, which had taken possession of one of their nests, and was setting. On mounting to the nest, I found it contained four eggs ; and, breaking one of them, the young appeared almost ready to leave the shell. There were numbers of 70 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. the qua birds' uests on the adjoining trees all around, and one of them actually on the same tree." The reader will perceive from the above account of the breeding habits of this bird, that it is variable in its choice of a nesting-place, although every nest that I have found, or known of, was built in tall pines, and constructed as above ; and I have known instances where the same nest was used for successive breeding seasons. The eggs are generally four in number, seldom more. They are nearly spherical in form, and of a pure-white color. Dimensions of specimens in my collection vary from 1.40 to 1.60 inch in length, by from 1.30 to 1.40 inch in breadth. BKACHYOTUS, Gould. JBrachyotus, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, London, 1837, 10. Ear-tufts very short and inconspicuous; general form rather strong; wings long; tail moderate ; legs rather long, which, with the toes, are fully covered with short feathers ; claws long, very sharp, and rather slender ; head moderate ; eyes rather small, surrounded by radiating feathers; facial disc imperfect on the forehead and above the eyes ; tail moderate. This genus contains four or five species only, the two best known of which are the European. BRACHTOTUS CASSINII. — Brewer. The Short-eared Owl. Brachyotus Casdnii, Brewer. Proc. Boston Soc. of Nat. Hist. Strix brachyotus, Forster. Phil. Trans., London, LXII. 384 (1772). Strix brachyotus, Linnaeus. Wilson and others. Description. Ear-tufts very short; entire plumage buff or pale-fijlvous; every feather on the upper parts with a wide longitudinal stripe of dark-brown, which color predominates on the back; under parts paler,- frequently nearly white on the abdomen, with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black, most numerous on the breast, very nan-ow and less numerous on the abdomen and flanks ; legs and toes usually of a deeper shade of the same color as the abdomen; quills pale reddish-fulvous at their bases, brown at their ends, with wide irregular bands and large spots of reddish-fulvous ; tail pale reddish-fulvous, with about five irregular transverse bands of dark-brown, which color predominates on the two central feathers; under tail coverts usually nearly white; throat white; eyes enclosed by large spots of brownish-black ; ear- tufts brown, edged with fulvous; bill and claws dark; irides yellow. Total length, female, about fifteen inches; wing, twelve; tail, six inches. Male rather smaller. THE GRAY OWLS. 71 I regret being unable to add any thing to our knowledge of the history of this bird. I have had no opportunities for observing its habits, and know of nothing that has been noted recently which will add to our information. It is not common in any part of New England, and is, I believe, more often met with in the neighborhood of the seacoast than elsewhere. I have never met with its nest, but have no doubt that it breeds in these States, as specimens are occasionally taken here in summer. Richardson says that its nest is formed of withered grass and moss, and is built on the ground. Dr. Bryant (" Pro- ceedings of Boston Society of Natural History," January, 1857) describes a nest found on an island in the Bay of Fundy as follows : — " A nest of this bird was found by Mr. Cabot in the midst of a dry peaty bog. It was built on the ground, in a very slovenly naanner, of small sticks and a few feathers, and presented hardly any excavation. It contained four eggs on the point of being hatched." The eggs of this species are of a pure-white color, and vary in dimensions from 1.65 inch by 1.25 inch to 1.50 inch by 1.23 inch. Sub-Family Strnin^. — The Gray Owls. Head large, with very small and concealed ear-tufts, or entirely without. Facial disc nearly perfect; eyes small for the family of owls; wings rather short, or not so long as in the preceding ; tarsi and toes generally fully feathered. This group con- tains some of the largest of owls ; generally, however, the size is medium, and fre- quently small. SYENIUM, Savigny. Syrnium, Savigny, Nat. Hist. Egypt, I. 112 (1809). Size usually large ; head large, without ear-tufts; eyes rather small; facial disc somewhat imperfect in front; bill strong, curved from its base; wings moderate, somewhat rounded; fourth and fifth quills longest; tail rather long, wide, and usu- ally rounded at the end ; legs moderate, or rather long, which, with the toes, are densely covered with short feathers ; claws long, strong, very sharp. 72 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. Species of this genus inhabit principally the northern parts of the world, and are generally characterized by the prevalence of gray or cinereous, of various shades, in their plumage. STENIUM CmERHVm — Audubon. The Great Gray Owl. Strix cinerea, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 291 (1788). Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. 364. Stiix acclimatm; Bartram. Travels, 289 (1790). Description. The largest Owl of North America.- Head very large ; eyes small ; tail rather long; upper parts smoky or ashy brown, mottled and transversely barred with ashy-white; under parts ashy-white, with numerous longitudinal stripes of dark ashy-brown predominating on the breast, and with transverse stripes of the same on the abdomen, legs, and under tail coverts; quills brown, with about five wide, irregu- lar bands of ashy-white ; tail brown, with five or six wide, irregular bands of ashy- white, mottled with dark-brown; feathers of the disc on the neck tipped with whift; eye nearly encircled by a black spot; radiating feathers around the eye, with regular transverse narrow bars of dark-brown and ashy-white ; bill pale-yellow ; claws pale yellowish -white, darker at their tips ; iris bright-yellow. Total length, twenty-five to thirty inches; wing, eighteen; tail, twelve to fifteen inches. This bird is an extremely rare winter visitor in New Eng- land ; * appearing only in the southern districts of these States, in Massachusetts even, in very severe seasons. I never saw one alive ; have, of course, never seen its nest, and can add nothing at all to our knowledge of its habits. It breeds in the most northern regions ; and, according to Dr. Brewer, " nests in high trees." Its eggs I have never seen. Audubon gives the following account of this spe- cies : — "The comparatively small size of this bird's eyes renders it probable that it hunts by day ; and the remarkable smallness of its feet and claws induces me to think that it does not prey on large animals. Dr. Richardson says, that ' it is by no means a rare bird in the fur countries ; being an inhabitant of all the woody districts lying between the Lake Superior and latitudes 67° or 68°, and between Hudson's Bay and the Pacific. It is common on the borders of Great Bear Lake ; and there, and in the higher parallels of latitude, it must pursue its prey, during the summer months, by daylight. It keeps, however, within the woods, and does not fre- quent the barren grounds, like the Snowy Owl ; nor is it so often met BAra:LL> Owl, S'jrniiim nehulosum. Gray. THE BAERED OWL. 73 with in broad daylight as the Hawk Owl, but hunts principally when the sun is low : indeed, it is only at such times, when the recesses of the woods are deeply shadowed, that the American Hare, and the murine animals on which the Cinereous Owl chiefly preys, come forth to feed.' " Audubon speaks of a gentleman in Salem, Mass., who kept one of these birds alive for several months : it was fed on fish and small birds, of which it was very fond. It uttered at times a tremulous cry, not unlike that of the little Screech- owl (^Scops asio), and showed a great antipathy to cats and dogs. SYENIUM NEBULOSUM. — G^r«?/. The Barred Owl. Strix nebulosa, Forster. Trans. Philosoph. Soc, London, LXII. 386, 424 (1772). Strix nebulosa, Linnaaus. Wilson, 304. Bonap. Syn., 38. Nutt., I. 133. Aud., I. 242. Description. Head large, without ear-tufts; tail rather long; upper parts light ashy-brown, fi-equently tinged with dull-yellow, with transverse narrow bands of white, most numerous on the head and neck behind, broader on the back ; breast with transverse bands of brown and white ; abdomen ashj'-white, with longitudinal stripes of brown ; tarsi and toes ashy-white, tinged with fulvous, generally without spots, but frequently mottled and banded with dark-brown; quills brown, with six or seven transverse bars, nearly pure-white on the outer webs, and ashy-fulvous on the inner webs ; tail light-brown, with about five bands of white, generally tinged with reddish-yellow; discal feathers tipped with white; face ashy-white, with lines of brown, and a spot of black in front of the eye; throat dark-brown; claws horn-color; bill pale-yellow; irides bluish-black. Sexes alike. Total length, about twenty inches; wing, thirteen to fourteen; tail, nine inches. Sexes nearlj' of the same size. This Owl is rather common in most sections of New Eng- land ; is more often seen in the more southern localities, and less frequently met with in sections where the Great Horned Owl is most abundant, and vice versd. Its flight is soft and rapid, the great breadth of the wings and compara- tive lightness of the body giving it remarkable speed. Its vision is almost as good in the daylight as in the night, and surpasses that of most of our other owls. A specimen that I kept alive for a few weeks, often, in the daytime, flew about the room in which his cage was placed : he alighted with 74 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. ease on the backs of chairs, or on other pieces of furniture ; seldom miscalculating the distance or missing a footing, as many of the other owls would in the same circumstances. This bird soon became tame, and would accept food at almost any time in the day or night : on receiving a piece of meat, he sometimes attempted to clutch it with his foot, and my fingers often had narrow escapes from his sharp, crooked talons. Usually, he would seize it with his mouth, and, if not too large, swallow it without tearing : if the piece was more bulky than he could manage, he stood on it, and tore it with his beak. Fish he invariably rejected, but greedily ate mice and small birds : a dead pigeon, that I put in his cage, was untouched for several days. He died in conse- quence of a hurt he received in flying against a window. The Barred Owl subsists principally upon small birds, field-mice, and reptiles. He is frequently seen, in early twilight, flying over the low meadow-lands, searching for the mice that dwell there : he usually takes a direct course, and sometimes flies so low that the tips of his wings seem to touch the grass. When he discovers his prey, he drops on it instantly, folding his wings and protruding his feet, in which his quarry is always secured : he often captures frogs that are sitting on the shores of ponds and rivers ; but I am inclined to think that the statement, quoted by Audubon, that he often catches fish, is incorrect. The Barred Owl usually nests in high trees, placing the structure of sticks and leaves in a crotch near the trunk. The eggs are usually three in number. I have one only in my collection : this is pure-white, almost globular, and, except in shape, hardly distinguishable from the egg of the domestic hen. It is 2 inches in length by 1.68 in breadth. NYCTALE, Brehm. Nyctale, Brehm, Isis (1828), 1271. Size small; head with very small ear-tufts, only observable when erected; eyes small; bill moderate, or not very strong; facial disc nearly perfect; wings rather long; tail short; legs and toes densely feathered. THE SAW-WHET OWL. 75 Contains five species of small and quite peculiar owls, four of -which are Ameri- can, and one European. NYCTALE -RlGKARBSOmi. — Bonaparte. The Sparrow Owl. Nydale Richardsonii, Bonaparte. Comp. List, 7 (1S38). " Strix Tengmalmi, Gm." Aud. Om. Biog., IV. 559, and other American authors. Description. The largest of this genus; wings long; upper parts pale reddish-browTi, tinged with olive, and with partially concealed spots of white, most numerous on the head and neck behind, scapulars, and rump; head in front with numerous spots of white; face white, with a spot of black in front of the eye ; throat with brown stripes ; under parts ashy-white, with longitudinal stripes of pale reddish-brown; legs and toes pale-yellowish, nearly white, sometimes baiTed and spotted with brown ; quills brown, with small spots of white on their outer edges, and large spots of the same on their inner webs ; tail brown, every feather with about ten pairs of white spots ; bill light-yellowish horn-color ; irides yellow. Total length, about ten and a half inches ; wing, seven and a half inches ; tail, four and a half inches. This species is an exceedingly rare winter visitor in New England. I have never met with it alive, and can give from my own observation no account of its habits. Dr. Richardson, in the " Fauna Boreali-Americana," says : — " Wlien it accidentally wanders abroad in the day, it is so much dazzled by the light of the sun as to become stupid ; and it may then be easily caught by the hand. Its cry in the night is a single melancholy note, repeated at intervals of a minute or two. Mr. Hutchins says that it builds a nest of grass half-way up a pine-tree, and lays two white eggs in the month of May." NYCTALE ACADICA. — Bonaparte. The Saw- Whet Owl; Acadican OwL Strix Acadica, Gm. Syst. Nat., L 296 (1788). Bonap. Syn., 38. Nuttall and other authors. " Sirix passerina, Linnseus." Wilson, Am. Om., FV. 66. Desceiption. Small; wings long; tail short; upper parts reddish-brown, tinged with olive; head in front with fine lines of white, and on the_ neck behind, rump, and scapulars, with large, partially concealed spots of white ; face ashy-white ; throat white ; under parts ashy-white, with longitudinal stripes of pale reddish-brown; under coverts 76 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. of wings and tail white ; quills brown, with small spots of white on their outer edges, and large spots of the same on their inner webs ; tail brown, every feather with about three pairs of spots of white ; bill and claws dark ; irides yellow. Total length, about seven and a half to eight inches; wing, five and a half inches ; tail, two and three quarters to three inches. Sexes nearly the same size, and alike in colors. This species is also quite rare in New England ; but, as it is occasionally found in the summer months, is probably a resident here through the year. Says Audubon, in his description of this bird, which is very full and perfect : — " The Little Owl is known in Massachusetts by the name of the * Saw-whet,' the sound of its love-notes bearing a great resemblance to the noise produced by filing the teeth of a large saw. These notes, when coming, as they frequently do, from the interior of a deep forest, produce a very peculiar effect on the traveller, who, not being aware of their real nature, expects, as he advances on his route, to meet with shelter under a saw-mill at no great distance. Until I shot the bird in the act, I had myself been more than once deceived in this manner. " A nest of our Little Owl, which I found near the city of Natchez, was placed in the broken stump of a small decayed tree, not more than four feet from the ground. I was attracted to it by the snor- ing notes of the young, which sounded as if at a considerable elevation; and I was so misled by them, that, had not my dog raised himself to smell at the hole where the brood lay concealed, I might not have discovered them. In this instance, the number was five. It was in the beginning of June ; and the little things, which were almost ready to fly, looked exceedingly neat and beauti- ful. Their parents I never saw, although I frequently visited the nest before they left it. The Little Owl breeds more abundantly near the shores of the Atlantic than in the interior of the country, and is frequent in the swamps of the States of Maryland and New Jersey during the whole year. Wherever I have found the young or the eggs placed in a hollow tree, they were merely deposited on the rotten particles of wood ; and, when in an old crow's nest, the latter did not appear to have undergone any repair. Being quite nocturnal, it shows great uneasiness when disturbed by day, and flies off" in a hurried, uncertain manner, throwing itself into the THE SNOWY OWL. 77 first covert that it meets with, where it is not difficult to catch it, provided the necessary caution and silence be used. Towards dusk, it becomes full of animation, flies swiftly — gliding, as it were — over the low grounds like a little spectre, and pounces on small quadrupeds and birds with the quickness of thought." The Saw-whet OwP nests in hollow trees, in cavities of rocks, and in deserted crows' and woodpeckers' nests. The eggs are from three to five or six in number ; and, according to Dr. Brewer, are of a bright, clear white, and more like a woodpecker's than an owl's in their crystalline clearness. Dimensions, 1^^ by \^ inch. Sub-Family Nycteinin^. — The Day Owls. General form compact and robust; head moderate, without ear-tufts; wings and tail rather long ; tarsi strong, which, with the toes, are more densely covered than in any other division of this family. This division embraces two species only, which inhabit the arctic regions of both continents ; migrating southward in the winter. NYCTEA, Stephens. Nyctea, Stephens, Cont. of Shaw's Zool., XIII. 62 (1826). Large ; head rather large, without ear-tufts ; no facial disc ; legs rather short, and with the toes covered densely with long hair-like feathers, nearly concealing the claws; bill short, nearly concealed by projecting feathers, very strong; wings long; tail moderate, or rather long, wide; claws strong, fully curved. Contains one spe- cies only. NTCTEA mVEA.— Gray. The Snowy Owl. Sti-ix nivea, Daudin. Traite d'Om., 190 (1800). Sirix nyctea, Linnseus. Syst. Nat. I. 132 (1766). " Strix nyctea, Linnseus." Bonap. Syn., 36. Nutt. I. 116. Aud. II. 135. Wii- son and others. Description. Bill nearly concealed by projecting plumes; eyes large; entire plumage white, fre- quently with a few spots or imperfect bands, only on the upper parts dark-brown, and on the imder parts with a few irregular and imperfect bars of the same ; quills and tail with a few spots or traces of bands of the same dark-brown; the prevalence of 1 See Appendix. 78 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. the dark-brown color varies much in different specimens ; frequently both upper and under parts are very distinctly banded transversely, and sometimes this color pre- dominates on the back ; plumage of the legs and toes pure snowy-white ; bill and claws horn-color ; irides yellow. Total length, female, about twenty-six inches; wing, seventeen to nineteen; tail, ten inches. Male, about twenty-two inches ; wing, seventeen ; tail, nine inches. As a winter visitor, throughout all New England, this bird is a rather common species. It is often taken on the islands in Massachusetts Bay, where it feeds on fish that have been thrown up on the shorfe by the tide, birds, wounded sea- fowl, and even dead animals, as I am informed by a reliable person who once shot one while perched on and eating a dead horse on the beach. The flight of this Owl is rapid and protracted. I have seen an individual chase and cap- ture a Snow Bunting (P. nivalis) from a flock; and once saw one make a swoop at a flock of poultry which had come out from their house on a fine day, but which immediately retreated on the appearance of their enemy. The Snowy Owl hunts both in the daylight and twilight : he seems to prefer cloudy, gloomy days to bright ones, and is most active just before a storm. Audubon says that this Owl captures living fish in the water by standing quietly by the margin, and seizing its prey with its claws, as it appears near the surface : whether this is a regular habit or not, I cannot say. I never saw one do so ; and I have conversed with several hunters who have shot numbers of specimens, and they all were ignorant of such a fact. Of the breeding habits of this Owl, we are ignorant. The Hudson's Bay, and other northern countries, are its summer homes. Wheelwright, in his " Spring and Sum- mer in Lapland," gives the only description of its nest and eggs accessible to me at present. He says : — " The egg of the Snowy Owl measures 2^ inches in length, and If inches in breadth : its color is pure-white. The nest is nothing more than a large boll of reindeer moss, placed on tlie ledge of a bare fell. The old birds guard it most jealously ; iu fact, the Lap- landers often kill them with a stick when they are robbing the Snowy Owl, Nyctea nivea.. Gray THE HAWK OWL. 79 nest, which they do upon every occasion that presents itself. The Snowy Owl will occasionally make its nest on the large turf-hillocks in some of the mosses. SUENIA, Ddmeeil Surnia, Dumeril, Zoologie Analytique, 34 (1806). General form rather long, but robust; size medium; head moderate, without ear- tufts ; facial disc obsolete ; bill moderate, curved from the base, covered with pro- jecting plumes; wings long; tail long, wide, graduated; legs rather short, and with the toes densely feathered; contains one species only, which inhabits the arctic regions of both continents. SUENIA VLULA. — Bonaparte. The Hawk Owl; Day Owl. Strtx uMa, Linnfeus. Syst. Nat., I. 133 (1766). " Strix fune7-ea,'\ Gm. Bonap. Syn. 25. Nutt., I. 115. Aud. Orn. Biog., rV. 550. " Strix Eudsonica." Wilson, VI. 64. Description. Wings rather long ; first three quills incised on their inner webs ; tail long, with its central feathers about two inches longer than the outer; tarsi and toes densely feathered ; upper parts fuliginous-brown, with numerous partially concealed circular spots of white on the neck behind, scapulars and wing coverts; face grayish-white; throat white, with longitudinal stripes of dark-brown ; a large brown spot on each side of the breast; other under parts with transverse lines or stripes of pale ashy- brown ; quills and tail brown, with transverse bands of white ; bill pale-yellowish ; irides yellow; color of upper parts darker on the head, and the white markings more or less numerous in different specimens. Total length, female, sixteen to seventeen inches; wing, nine; tail, seven inches. Male rather smaller. This bird is occasionally met with in different localities in New England ; rarely in the summer, most often in the winter. As its name implies, it is diurnal in its habits, and hunts its prey in the hours when most of the other owls are hidden in their retreats. Its food consists of small birds and mice, which it seizes in the manner of the hawks. A specimen was obtained in Vermont on a wood-pile in a door-yard, where it was eating a woodpecker that it had just captured. Dr. Richardson, in his "Fauna Boreali- Americana," says that, " when the hunters are shooting grouse, this bird is occasionally attracted by the report of 80 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. the gun, and is often bold enough, on a bird being killed, to pounce down upon it, though unable, from its size, to carry it off. The Hawk Owl occasionally breeds in New England. My friend, George A. Boardman of Milltown, Me., has been so for- tunate as to find its nest, with eggs, in that neighborhood. It usually builds in a hollow tree, but sometimes constructs a habi- tation in the crotch of a tall tree, of sticks, grass, and feathers. According to Richardson, it lays two white globular eggs. Two beautiful specimens in my collection, from William Couper, Esq., Quebec, collected at Nortli- ern Labrador by the Montanaz Indians, are a trifle more elongated and pointed than the eggs of the Red Owl (Scops asio). They are of a pure- white color, and measure 1.50 by 1.25 inch and 1.47 by 1.22 inch. NOTES. I append the following notes, that have been kindly fur- nished me by William Couper, of Quebec, Lower Canada, for the purpose of showing the northern distribution of the birds of prey described in the preceding pages : — HYPOTEIORCHIS COLUMBARIUS. — Only young specimens occur, and those rarely, in the latitude of Quebec : they are more common toward the western portions of Lower and Upper Canada. It has not, to my knowledge, been found breeding in Canada. TINNUNCULUS SPARVERIUS. — This species is more abundant than the preceding ; but the majority of the specimens shot in the neighborhood of Quebec are young. I am informed that it breeds in the vicinity of the river St. Maurice, which falls into the river St. Lawrence, west of Quebec. NOTES. 81 ASTUR ATRICAPILLUS. — The adult of this species is very rare in this latitude, and it occurs in this plumage about midwinter. The young, how- ever, are sometimes common during the autumn. ACCIPITEE FUSCUS. — This is one of the most common of our Hawks. It occurs in young plumage in the fall also. I am told that it breeds in Canada ; but I have not had the good fortune to find its nest. Sportsmen have told me incidents of the audacity of this little species. They say it is always on the alert for woodcock and snipe, and knows the moment that one of these birds is wounded. It is sometimes so bold, that, as soon as the shot strikes the intended game, the Hawk pounces upon it to carry it away. BUTEO PENNSYLVANICUS. — This species is very common here during the months of September and October. It is generally found preying upon frogs and a species of common field locust. I have not learned that it breeds in Upper or Lower Canada. AECHIBUTEO LAGOPUS. — Sometimes this species is very abundant in the northern mountains, especially where there is a plenty of hares and grouse. It breeds in Labrador. CIRCUS HUDSONIUS. — Occurs only in the fall, and then in young plum- age. Breeds in Western Canada. It has not been detected breeding in the northern swamps of Lower Canada. AQUILA CANADENSIS. — The adult and young of this species are occa- sionally shot here during autumn and winter. I think it breeds on some of our high northern mountains. The specimens that I have examined had their bodies and legs stuck full of porcupine quills. PANDION CAROLINENSIS. — This is a very rare visitor in the northern regions. I understand that a pair arrive annually, and breed at Lake St. Joseph, north of this city. I never saw an adult specimen in Quebec. BUBO VIRGINIANUS. — This Owl occurs here during summer and win- ter. I am almost certain it breeds in the mountains behind the city. I have had the young in the down from Bay St. Paul, on the north side of the river St. Lawrence, below Quebec. OTUS WILSONIANUS and BRACHYOTUS CASSINII are extremely rare here, and I cannot give any facts in relation to them. SYRNIUM NEBULOSUM. — This is the common Owl of om- forests. SYRNIUM CINEREUM. — Is an accidental winter visitor. SURNIA ULULA. — This bird is also very common during some winters. It breeds in the northern portions of Hudson's Bay and Labrador. NYCTEA NIVEA. — This Owl is more abundant this winter (1867) than it has been for years. NYCTALE RICHARDSONII and N. ACADICA also occur here. The former is occasional; but the latter, extremely rare. 6 82 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. ORDER II. — SCANSORES. Climbers. The characteristics of this order are given on page 4 of thi'k volume. It is represented in the New-England States by two families, — the Cuculidcz or Cuckoos, and the Picidce or Wood- peckers. These families have the arrangement of two pairs of toes opposed to each other in common ; otherwise, they are much dif- ferent in their characteristics. The Guculidce have " bill thin, usually slender, and rather long, the tip more or less decurved, the base usually without rictal bristles ; tarsi usually rather long, clothed with broad plates ante- riorly ; the tail feathers usually ten, sometimes eight or twelve, all long." The PicidcE have " bill straight, rigid, and chisel-shaped at the tip, the base without rictal bristles ; the feet are stout, and clothed anteriorly with broad plates ; tail feathers twelve, the exterior very small and concealed." ^ 1 See Introduction. THE YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 83 Family CUCULID^. The Cuckoos. COCCYGUS, ViEiLLOT. Coccyzus, Vieillot. Analyse (1816). Erythrophrys, Swainson. Class. Birds, IL (1837), 322. Head without crest ; feathers about base of bill soft ; bill nearly as long as the head, decurved, slender, and attenuated towards the end; nostrils linear; wings lengthened, reaching the middle of the tail ; the tertials short ; tail of ten graduated feathers ; feet weak ; tarsi shorter than the middle toe. The species of Coccygus are readily distinguished from those of Geococcyx by their arborial habits, confining themselves mainly to trees, instead of living habitu- ally on the ground. The plumage is soft, fine, and compact. The American cuckoos differ from the European cuckoos ( Cuculus) by having lengthened naked tarsi, instead of very short featherea ones; the nostrils are too, instead of rounded. COCCYGUS AMEEICANUS. — 5onqp«rte. The Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Cuculus Americanus, Linnteus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766). Coccyzus Americanus, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. (1832). Bonap. Syn., 42. Cuculus Carolinensis. Wilson, 267. Description. Upper mandible, and tip of lower black ; rest of lower mandible, and cutting edges of the upper yellow; upper parts of a metallic greenish-olive, slightly tinged with ash towards the bill; beneath white; tail feathers (except the median, which are Uke the back) black, tipped with white for about an inch on the outer feathers, the external one with the outer edge almost entirely white ; quills orange-cinnamon; the terminal portion and a gloss on the outer webs olive ; iris brown. Length, twelve inches; wing, five and ninety-five one-hundredths; tail, six and thirty-five one-hundredths. THIS bird is very irregularly distributed through New England as a summer visitor. A. B. Yerrill, in his catalogue of birds found at Norway, Me., says that "it is not common as a summer visitor." George A. Board- man writes me, that, near Calais, Me., it is " extremely rare." J. A. Allen, in his paper on Springfield birds (before referred to), calls it " extremely rare." Dr. Wood says it is " very rare " at East-Windsor Hill, Conn., where 84 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. he has found it breeding. While I have noticed, that, though in former years it was equally abundant with the Black-billed Cuckoo, this bird is now growing scarce in the neighborhood of Boston. This species arrives from the South from about the 25th of April to the 1st of May. We are first notified of his arrival by hearing his harsh notes in the opening foliage ; and presently we see him moving about the twigs, busily picking off and swallowing the caterpillars and other larvge which are so destructive to our fruit and shade trees. Soon he passes to another tree, still pursuing his profitable search ; and, when he has gleaned to his heart's — or rather stomach's — content, he launches himself into the air, and takes flight for another grove or orchard, perhaps a half-mile off, or even farther. His flight is rapid, con- sisting of repeated strokes of his wings, but it is not always direct ; for he frequently turns from a straight course and flies off at an angle, then back again in a wavering manner. Occasionally, he pauses in his flight, and sud- denly descends and alights on a shrub or low bush, as if he perceived an enemy in the air or a friend in the bush. After repeating his song, — '■^Krow-krow-krow-krow-krow ; kru- kru, kru-kru, kru-kru,''^ — he is off again, and is soon out of sight. The male arrives about ten days before the female. As soon as the latter makes her appearance, the male com- mences his courtship. He is very attentive to her, watch- ing her every movement, and following her every flight. Although usually very cowardly, he is at this period toler- ably brave, and will even attempt to molest any other bird that happens to be near, but usually with poor success ; for, as his cowardice is traditional among the birds, they will turn upon him, and drive him off discomfited. When the couple^ have mated, they soon commence building. The nest is placed in a low bough of a tree, or in a shrub or barberry bush. It is a loose, straggling affair, composed of THE BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. 85 sticks and twigs, and sometimes a few pieces of moss. The eggs are usually four in number ; they are of a light greenish-blue color, and almost invariably larger than those of the Black-billed Cuckoo. A number of specimens before me vary from 1.07 to 1.25 of an inch in length, by from .84 to .96 inch in breadth. But one brood is reared in the season. COCCTGUS ERYTHROPHTHALMUS. — Bonaparte. The Black-billed Cuckoo. Cuculus erythrophthabnus, Wilson. Am. Om., IV. (1811), 16. Coccyzus erythrqphthalmus, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. (1832), 170. Bonap. Syn., 42. Description. Bill entirely black ; upper parts generally of a metallic greenish-olive, ashy to- wards the base of the bill; beneath pure-white, with a brownish-yellow tinge on the throat; inner webs of the quills tinged with cinnamon; under surface of all the tail feathers hoary ash-gray ; all beneath the central, on either side, suffused with darker to the short, bluish-white, and not well-defined tip ; a naked red skin round the eye ; iris, hazel.i Length about twelve inches ; wing, five ; tail, six and a half. This species is quite abundantly distributed throughout New England as a summer visitor, reaching to more north- ern latitudes than the other. It arrives from the South about the first week in May ; ^ jr^Am and, like the Yellow-billed =, j^m~ im^^^^ Cuckoo, the males precede ^^ ^^^^^^Mr- /^^^^^^ birds that arrived in differ- ''^^^e^^^^f^^^^,,^_ m ent seasons, and they were ^'^^^^^^e,*^^^^^^^^^'^ invariably males ; the females "^/^^^^P^^^^^^^^^. about ten days or a fortnight ^^^^^^^^Hw later. The habits of the two ^^^m^m species are very similar, although the present bird prefers the more cultivated and open districts, while the other 1 In succeeding species, when the color of the iris is not given, it is understood to be dark-hazel or black. 86 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. seems to delight in the more retired and wooded locali- ties. In flight, the Black-billed Cuckoo is more swift than the other ; in breeding habits, the same ; and its food is similar, consisting principally of insects and their larvae, small fruits, and the eggs and young of small birds. Like the other, the Black-billed Cuckoo is very cowardly, and is quickly driven from the neighborhood of the nest of almost any of the other birds. If a robin, or other bird of equal size, discover one of these, to him pirates, in the vicinity of his nest, he immediately assaults the intruder, with loud outcries, poun- cing upon him, and pecking with great ferocity. Others of his neighbors, who are near, join in the attack : the Cuckoo, in retreating, dives into the recesses of a stone wall, or the first secure retreat available ; very seldom taking to his wings, as another bird would do. I have known of a cuckoo being driven into a barn by a Blue-bird (S. siaUs), who sat perching on a fence outside for several minutes, keeping his enemy prisoner ; and the latter, when pursued and captured by myself, preferred being my prisoner to facing his enemy outside. The nest of the Black-billed Cuckoo is usually placed in a low tree or barberry-bush. It is constructed of twigs, roots, and sometimes a few leaves and moss. I have exam- ined a great number of these, from different sections ; and I have noticed that those from northern localities were inva- riably lined with gray moss, called Spanish moss, and leaves, while others, from more southern districts, were without such linings. The eggs are usually four in number : they are of a darker greenish-blue than those of the other bird, and average a little smaller ; their length varying from 1 to 1.12 inch, by from .84 to .92 inch in breadth. THE HAIRY WOODPECKER. 87 Family PICID^. The Woodpeckers. Sub-Family PiciNiE. Although all the woodpeckers have a certain resemblance to each other, and agree more or less in habits, there are distinctions among them which serve readily for division into sub-genera, genera, or even higher groups. Thus; the difference between the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and the common Flicker, which may be taken as representing the extremes of the scale in North- American species, will be palpable to any observer. In the woodpeckers inhabiting the United States, there are three distinct groups, which may be taken, with some authors, as so many sub-families ; or if, with Bona- parte, we unite all the Picidce with stiffened, acuminate, and pointed tails into a sub- family Picina, they will constitute so many separate sections. They may be severally characterized as follows : — PiciNiE or Picea. — Bill more or less long; the outlines above and below nearly straight; the ends truncated; a prominent ridge on the side of the mandible, spring- ing from the middle of the base or a little below, and running out either on the commissure, or extending parallel to and a little above it, to the end ; sometimes obliterated or confluent with the lateral bevel of the bill; nostrils considerably over- hung by the lateral ridge, more or less linear, and concealed by thick bushy tufts of feathers at the base of the bill ; outer posterior toe generally longer than the anterior. Melanekpin.e or Centurece. — Bill rather long ; the outlines, that of the culmen especially, decidedly curved. The lateral ridge much nearest the culmen, and, though quite distinct at the base, disappearing before coming to the lower edge of the mandible ; not overhanging the nostrils, which are broadly oval, rounded an- teriorly, and not concealed by the bristly feathers at the base ; outer pair of toes nearly equal, the anterior rather longer. C0LAPTIN.E or ColapUce. — Bill much depressed, and the upper outline much curved to the acutely pointed (not truncate) tip; the commissure considerably curved; bill without any ridges; the nostrils broadly oval, and much exposed; anterior outer toe longest. PICUS VILLOSUS. — Linnmus. l The Hairy ■Woodpecker. Plan villosus, Linnffius. Syst, I. 175. Bonap. Sj'n., 46, and others. Description. "The Hairy Woodpecker is nine inches long and fifteen in extent; crown black; line over and under the eye white; the eye is placed in a black line, that widens as it descends to the back; hind head scarlet, sometimes intermixed with black; nostrils hid under remarkably thick, bushy, recumbent hairs, or bristles; under the bill are certain long hairs thrown forward and upward; bill 1 See p. 84, vol. IX., Pacific E.R. Reports. 88 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. a bluish horn-color, grooved, wedged at the end, straight, and about an inch and a quarter long; touches of black, proceeding from the lower mandible, end in a broad black strip that joins the black on the shoulder; back black, divided by a broad, lateral strip of white, the feathers composing which are loose and unwebbed, resem- bling hairs, — whence its name ; rump and shoulders of the wing black ; wings black, tipped and spotted with white, three rows of spots being visible on the secondaries and five on the primaries ; greater wing coverts also spotted with white ; tail, as in the others, cuneiform, consisting of ten strong-shafted and pointed feathers, the four middle ones black, the next partially white, the two exterior ones white, tinged at the tip with a brownish burnt-color ; tail coverts black ; whole lower side pure-white ; legs, feet, and claws light-blue, the latter remarkably large and strong ; inside of the mouth flesh-colored; tongue pointed, beset with barbs, and capable of being pro- truded more than an inch and a half; the os hyoides, in this species, passes on each side of the neck, ascends the skull, passes down towards tbe nostril, and is wound round the bone of the right eye, which projects considerably more than the left for its accommodation. The great mass of hairs that cover the nostril appears to be designed as a protection to the front of the head, when the bird is engaged in digging holes into the wood. The membrane which encloses the brain in this, as in all the other species of woodpeckers, is also of extraordinary strength ; no doubt, to prevent any bad effects from violent concussion while the bird is employed in digging for food. The female wants the red on the hind head, and the white below is tinged with brownish." — Wilson. THE above description, as given by Wilson, is very full and complete. This Woodpecker is a rather common visitor in New England, in the spring, fall, and winter months, and is, to some extent, a resi- dent through the year. Probably the greater number retire to the North in the breeding season ; and those that remain in the south- SkuU and tongiie of Woodpecker. ern districts of these States most usually seek the woods for their summer homes, and are, as a general thing, seldom met with in the thickly settled districts. The flight is a waver- ing, undulating one, like that of all the woodpeckers; consisting of a series of short vibrations of the wings, followed by a downward, soaring movement, which is suc- ceeded by another similar series. On alighting, the bird Haiuy Woodpecker, Pica^ vlVos , Li THE DOWNY WOODPECKER. 89 strikes its object with both feet, and makes no discrimina- tion between a horizontal branch or limb and a perpendicular one. It commences its building operations quite early, often by the 20th of April. The nest is made by excavating in old trees in the woods, rarely in orchards : the hole made is often as much as eighteen inches in depth, in some cases hardly five inches. A post in a fence is sometimes taken for a breeding-place, the hole in which the rail is inserted furnishing a starting-place for the excavation of the nest. The eggs are usually five in number ; seldom more, often less : they are of a beautiful clear-white color, and the shell is very smooth and rather thin ; and, before the contents of the egg are removed, they impart a rosy tint to it. Speci- mens vary in size from .77 to .84 inch in length, by from .62 to .68 inch in breadth. The nest is never lined with leaves or other soft materials, so far as my observation has been ; but the eggs are depos- ited on a small pile of chips of the rotten wood, which seem to be left by the bird designedly for this purpose. The food of this species consists principally of the eggs and larvae of injurious insects that are burrowing in the wood of our fruit and forest trees : these he is enabled to obtain by chiselling out a small hole with his powerful bill, and drawing them from their lurking-places with his long barbed tongue. He also eats some small fruits and berries, but never, so far as I am aware, tha buds or blossoms of trees, as some persons assert. PICUS PUBESCENS. — LinncBm. The Downy Woodpecker. Picus jmbescens, LmniEUS. Syst. Nat, I. (1766) 15. Vieill. Ois. Am. (1807) 65. ^^ Picus pubescens," LinnsEus, Wilson. Am. Orn. I. (1808) 153. Aud. Orn. Biog. n. (1834). Description. A miniature of P. villosus. Above black, with a white band down the back ; two white stripes on the side of the head ; the lower of opposite sides always separated , the upper sometimes confluent on the nape; two stripes of black on the side of the 90 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. head, the lower not running into the forehead ; beneath white ; wing much spotted with white ; the larger coverts with two series each ; tertiaries or inner secondaries all banded with white; two outer tail feathers white, with two bands of black at the end, third white at tip and externally. Male, with red terminating the white feathers on the nape ; legs and feet bluish-green ; claws light-blue tipped with black ; iris dark-hazel. Length, about six and a quarter inches ; wing, three and three-quarters. This little Woodpecker — the smallest we have — is abun- dantly distributed throughout New England, and is a resi- dent throughout the year. The exceedingly interesting description of its habits, by Wilson, is so full that I will give it entire. He says : — " About the middle of May, the male and female look out for a suitable place for the reception of their eggs and young. An apple, pear, or cherry tree — often in the near neighborhood of the farm- house— is generally fixed upon for this purpose. The tree is mi- nutely reconnoitred for several days previous to the operation ; and the work is first begun by the male, who cuts out a hole in the solid wood as circular as if described with a pair of compasses. He is occasionally relieved by the female, both parties working with the most indefitigable diligence. The direction of the hole, if made in the body of the tree, is generally downwards, by an angle of thirty or forty degrees, for the distance of six or eight inches, and then straight down for ten or twelve more : within, roomy, capacious, and as smooth as if polished by the cabinet-maker ; but the entrance is judiciously left just so large as to admit the bodies of the owners. During this labor, they regularly carry out the chips, often strewing them at a distance, to jDrevent suspicion. This operation sometimes occupies the chief part of a week. Before she begins to lay, the female often visits the place, passes out and in, examines every part — both of the exterior and interior — with great attention (as every prudent tenant of a new house ought to do), and at length takes complete possession. The eggs are generally six, — pure-white, and laid on the smooth bottom of the cavity. The male occasionally supplies the female with food while she is sitting ; and, about the last week in June, the young are perceived making their way up the tree, climbing with considerable dexterity. All this goes on with great regularity where no interruption is met THE DOWNY WOODPECKER. 91 with ; but the House "Wren, who also builds in the hollow of a tree, but who is neither furnished with the necessary tools nor strength for excavating such an apartment for himself, allows the woodpeckers to go on till he thinks it will answer his purpose, then attacks them with violence, and generally succeeds in di'iving them off. I saw, some weeks ago, a striking examjile of this, where the "Woodpeckers we are now describing, after commencing in a cherry-tree, within a few yards of the house, and having made considerable progress, were turned out by the "Wren. The former began again on a pear-tree in the garden, fifteen or twenty yards off, whence, after digging out a most complete apartment, and one egg being laid, they were once more assaulted by the same imper- tinent intruder, and finally forced to abandon the place. " The principal characteristics of this little bird are diligence, familiarity, perseverance, and a strength and energy in the head and muscles of the neck which are truly astonishing. Mounted on the infected branch of an old ajiple-tree, where insects have lodged their corroding and destructive brood in crevices between the bark and wood, he labors sometimes for half an hour incessantly at the same spot, before he has succeeded in dislodging and destroying them. At these times, you may walk up pretty close to the tree, and even stand immediately below it, within five or six feet of the bird, without in the least embarrassing him. The strokes of his bill are distinctly heard several hundred yards off; and I have known him to be at work for two hours together on the same tree. Buffon calls this ' incessant toil and slavery ; ' their attitude, ' a painful posture ; ' and their life, ' a dull and insipid existence,' — expressions improper because untrue, and absurd because con- tradictory. The posture is that for which the whole organization is particularly adapted ; and though to a "Wren or a Humming- bird the labor would be both toil and slavery, yet to him it is, I am convinced, as pleasant and as amusing as the sports of the chase to the hunter, or the sucking of flowers to the Humming- bird. The eagerness with which he traverses the upper and lower sides of the branches, the cheerfulness of his cry, and the liveli- ness of his motions while digging into the tree and dislodging the vermin, justify this belief. He has a single note, or chink, which, like the forrner species, he frequently repeats ; and when he flies 92 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. off, or alights on another tree, he utters a rather shriller cry, com- posed of nearly the same kind of note, quickly reiterated. In fall and winter, he associates with the Titmouse, Creeper, &c., both in their wood and orchard excursions, and usually leads the van. Of all our "Woodpeckers, none rid the apple-trees of so many vermin as this, digging off the moss which the negligence of the proprie- tor had suffered to accumulate, and probing every crevice. In fact, the orchard is his favorite resort in all seasons ; and his indus- try is unequalled and almost incessant, which is more than can be said of any other species we have. In fall, he is particularly fond of boring the apple-trees for insects, digging a circular hole through the bark, just sufficient to admit his bill ; after that, a second, third, &c., in pretty regular horizontal circles round the body of the tree : these parallel circles of holes are often not more than an inch or an inch and a half apart, and sometimes so close together that I have covered eight or ten of them at once with a dollar. From nearly the surface of the ground up to the first fork, and sometimes far beyond it, the whole bark of many apple-trees is perforated in this manner, so as to appear as if made by successive discharges of buck-shot; and our little "Woodpecker — the subject of the present account — is the principal perpetrator of this sup- posed mischief: I say supposed, for, so far from these perforations of the bark being ruinous, they are not only harmless, but, I have good reason to believe, really beneficial to the health and fertility of the tree. I leave it to the philosophical botanist to account for this ; but the fact I am confident of. In more than fifty orchards which I have myself carefully examined, those trees which were marked by the Woodpecker (for some trees they never touch, per- haps because not penetrated by insects) were uniformly the most thriving, and seemingly the most productive. Many of these were upwards of sixty years old, their trunks completely covered with holes, while the branches were broad, luxuriant, and loaded with fruit. Of decayed trees, more than three-fourths were untouched by the Woodpecker. Several intelligent farmers, with whom I have conversed, candidly acknowledge the truth of these observa- tions, and with justice look upon these birds as beneficial : but the most common opinion is; that they bore the tree to suck the sap, and so destroy its vegetation : though pine and other resinous trees, THE DOWNY WOODPECKER. 93 on the juices of which it is not pretended they feed, are often found equally perforated. Were the sap of the tree their object, the saccharine juice of the birch, the sugar-maple, and several others, would be much more inviting (because more sweet and nourishing) than that of either the pear or apple tree ; but I have not observed one mark on the former for ten thousand that may be seen on the latter. Besides, the early part of spring is the season when the sap flows most abundantly } whereas, it is only during the months of September, October, and November, that Wood- peckers are seen so indefatigably engaged in orchards, probing every crack and crevice, boring through the bark — and, what is worth remarking, chiefly on the south and south-west sides of the tree — for the eggs and larvae deposited there by the countless swarms of summer insects. These, if suffered to remain, would prey upon the very vitals — if I may so express it — of the tree, and in the succeeding summer give birth to myriads more of their race, equally destructive. " Here, then, is a whole species, I may say genus, of birds, which Providence seems to have formed for the protection of our fruit and forest trees from the ravages of vermin, which every day destroy millions of those noxious insects that would otherwise blast the hopes of the husbandman; they even promote the fertility of the tree, and, in return, are proscribed by those who ought to have been their protectors, and incitements and rewards held out for their destruction! Let us examine better into the operations of nature, and many of our mistaken opinions and groundless prejudices will be abandoned for more just, enlarged, and humane modes of thinking." The nest and eggs are of the same description as the Hairy Woodpecker's, except with regard to size ; the eggs of the present species being considerably smaller on the average, measuring from .73 to .77 inch in length, by from .60 to .53 inch in breadth. I think that the nests of this species, as of some others, are used for successive seasons, as I have found apparently old nests occupied by breeding birds. I am not aware that the Hairy Wood- pecker uses the same nest several seasons. The Downy 94 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. Woodpecker sometimes rears two broods in the southern portion of New England ; usually, hut one. PICOIDES, Lacepede. Picoides, Lacepede, Mem. Inst. (1799). Bill about as long as the head, very much depressed at the base ; the outlines nearly straight ; the lateral ridge at its base much nearer the commissure than the culmen, so as to bring the large rather linear nostrils close to the edge of the com- missure; the gonys very long, equal to the distance from the nostrils to the tip of the bill ; feet with only three toes ; the outer lateral a little longer than the inner, but slightly exceeded by the hind toe, which is about equal to the tarsus; wings very long, reaching beyond the middle of the tail ; fourth and fifth quills longest ; color black, with a broad patch of yellow on the crown ; transversely banded on the sides ; quills with round spots. PICOIDES AECTICUS.— (?ra?/. The Black-backed, Three-toed Woodpecker. Picus {Apternus) arcticus. Sw. F. Bor. Am., II. (1831) 313. Picus arcticus. Aud. Syn. (1839) 182. 2b., Birds Amer., IV. (1842) 266. Nut- tall, Man., I. (20 ed. 1840) 691. Picus tridactylus, Bonaparte. Am. Orn., II. (1828) 14. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834). Desckiption. Above entirely uniform glossy bluish-black; a square patch on the middle of the crown satfron-yellow, and a few spots on the outer edges of both webs of the primary and secondaiy quills; beneath white, on the sides of the breast longitudinally striped, and on the sides of the belly aud on the flanks and tibial region banded transversely with black; a narrow concealed white line from the eye a short distance backwards, and a white stripe from the extreme forehead (meeting anteriorly) under the eye, and down the sides of the neck; bristly feathers of the base of the bill brown; ex- posed portion of the two outer tail feathers (first and second) white; bill bluish-black, the lower mandible grayish-blue ; iris bluish-black. Female, without j'ellow on the head. Length, about nine and a half inches; wing, five; tail, three eighty-five one- hundredths. This species is rare in the three southern New-England States, where it is found only as a winter visitor. In the others, it is not very abundant, and is only resident, in the most northern sections, in the neighborhood of, or in, the deep forests and uninhabited districts, through the year. Its habits are similar to those of the other woodpeckers. I have had abundant opportunities of noticing them, and have discovered nothing peculiar in them, or worthy of re- THE BANDED THREE-TOED WOODPECKER. 95 mark. Its breeding habits are not well known ; but it probably breeds in all the large forests of Northern Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. I was so fortunate as to find two nests in the month of June, 1864, in the valley of the Magalloway River, about forty miles north of Lake Umbagog, Me. The holes were both excavated in hemlock stumps, about ten feet from the ground ; they were not over an inch and a half in diameter, and were about ten inches in depth : the bottom of the hole formed the nest, which, as with the other species, was nothing but a few chips and bits of wood. The first nest, found on the 15th of June, had three young birds, appar- ently about a week old. The second nest had three eggs : these were of a beautiful clear-white color, and the shells remarkably smooth to the touch. Their dimensions varied only from .83 to .85 inch in length, by .75 to .77 inch in breadth. PICOIDES HIBSUTUS. — Gray. The Banded Three-toed Woodpecker. Picus Mrsutus, Vieillot. Ois. Am. Sept., II. (1807) 68. Aud. Orn. Biog., V. Ife, 39, 184. Jb., Birds Am., IV. (1842), pi. 269. Nutt. Man., I. (2d ed. 1840) 692. Desckiption. Black above ; the back with transverse bands of white to the rump ; a white line from behind the eye, widening on the nape, and a broader one under the eye from the loral region, but not extending on the forehead; occiput and sides of the head uniform black ; quills spotted on both webs with white ; under parts white ; the sides banded transversely with black ; top of the head spotted with white ; the crown of the male with a yellow patch; bill bluish-black; iris dark-hazel. . Length, about nine inches; wing, four forty-five one-hundredths ; tail, three thirty-five one-hundredths. This bird is rarely foynd in New England, except in the midst of severe winters, and then it seldom penetrates so far south as Massachusetts. I have known of but two or three specimens- being obtained in this State, and never heard of any being shot in the others south of it. Having had no opportunities for observing its habits, I can add nothing to our knowledge of this species. 96 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. SPHYRAPICUS, Baird. Pilumnus, Bonaparte. Consp. Zygod. Ateneo Italiano, May, 1854. (P. ihy- roideus.) Bill as in Picas, but the lateral ridge, which is very prominent, running out dis- tinctly to the commissure at about its middle, beyond which the bill is rounded without any angles at all; the culmen and gonys are very nearly straight, but slightly convex, the bill tapering rapidly to a point; the lateral outline concave to very near the slightly bevelled tip ; outer pair of toes longest ; the hinder exterior rather longest; the inner posterior toe very short, less than the inner anterior with- out its claw ; wings long and pointed, the fourth longest ; tail feathers very broad, abruptly acuminate, with a very long linear point. SPHYRAPICUS VARIUS.— 5aM-d The Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. PtcMs wWms, Linnseus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 176. Wilson, Am. Cm., I. (1808) 147. Aud. Cm. Biog., II. (1834) 519. Description. Fourth quill longest; third a little shorter; fourth considerably shorter; general color above black, much variegated with white; feathers of the back aud rump brownish-white, spotted with black ; crown scarlet, bordered by black on the sides of the head and nape ; a streak from above the eye, and another from the bristles of the bill, passing below the eye and into the yellowish of the belly, and a stripe along the edges of the wing coverts white ; a triangular broad patch of scarlet on the chin, bordered on each side by black stripes from the lower mandible, which meet behind, and extend into a large quadrate spot on the breast ; rest of under parts yellowish- white, streaked on the sides with black ; inner web of inner tail-feather white, spotted with black; outer feathers black, edged and spotted with white. Female, with the red of the throat replaced by white. Young male, without black on the breast, or red on the top of the head; iris dark-hazel. Length, eight and a quarter inches; wing, about four and three-quarters; tail, three thirty one-hundredths. This bird is very irregularly distributed in New England as a summer visitor. Verrill, in his Catalogue, before re- ferred to, says that it is a common summer visitor, and breeds at Norway, Me. J. A. Allen says, that near Spring- field " it is not common, and is only seen in fall and spring, when migrating. I have never seen this species here in summer, and do not think it breeds here ; though I am informed by W. H. Niles that ' they breed plentifully on the hills in Western Massachusetts, twenty or thirty miles west of Springfield.' " THE YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER, 97 So far as my own observation has been, it is not found at all abundant in any part of these States ; and I think, that, on the seaboard, it is rare. It arrives from the South, from about the 10th to the 20th of April, and soon commences pairing, I have never noticed any great peculiarity in its habits. It seems to prefer the woods to the more open districts, and very seldom indeed makes its appearance, in the breeding season, in the orchards and nurseries, where, as it is often said by persons who are prejudiced, it does considerable damage in boring into apple- trees and sucking the sap ; hence it is called the " Sap- sucker," I am not sufficiently acquainted with its habits, in the Western States, to say positively that it does not eat some of the inner bark of trees, when in pursuit of its favorite insect-food ; but I cannot help thinking that the denunciations of it, so often seen in the Western papers, are exaggerated. Dr, Bryant, who has paid some attention to the examina- tion of the food of this bird, gives, in the " Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History," vol. X. 91, the fol- lowing remarks : — " It has long been known that some of our smaller woodpeckers pick out portions of the sound bark of trees, particularly of apple- trees, where there are no larvre, and apparently no inducement for them to do so. What their object is has never been satisfactorily established. In Massachusetts, I am not aware that these holes are ever sufficiently large or numerous to cause any material injury to the api^le-trees : they are generally seen in circles round the limbs or trunks of small irregularly rounded^ holes, and in this vicinity are made almost exclusively by the Downy Woodpecker (P. puhescens), aided occasionally by the Hairy Woodpecker (P, villosus). In certain parts of the West, however, it is said that great damage is done to orchards by the Yellow-bellied Wood- pecker (aS*. variiis) ; and Dr. Hoy, of Racine, Wis., has advanced the theory that the object of the bii'd in so doing is to obtain the inner bark for food. A number of specimens of this bird, for- warded by Dr. Hoy to the Smithsonian Institution, have been 7 98 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. placed in my hands by Professor Baird for examination : as the specimens are alcoholic, the soft parts are, as is always the case, too much distorted to be available for correct comparisons ; the gizzard, however, seems smaller, and the proventriculus larger, than in other species of this family with which I have compared them. The contents of the stomach are berries, small coleoptera, larvae of boring beetles, ants, and fragments of the inner bark of the apple- tree." After giving minute analyses of the characteristics of the tongues and portions of the skulls of the different small woodpeckers, and comparing them with the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker's, showing how the latter differ from the others, he says : — " The general shape of the whole tongue is not much unlike that of the Robin ; the ciliated edges show an analogy to the Melipha gidce, and indicate that the sap of the trees pecked by them may form a portion of their food. In the stomachs of the six individuals examined by me, fragments of the inner bark were found in all, so that it can hardly be presumed to have been accidentally introduced. It is evident, from the shape of the tongue, that it is not used as a dart, in the manner of the true Woodpecker, to draw out insects from their lurking-places, but that these are seized by the bill, as in other insectivorous birds. Insects, however, probably form their chief diet, as all the stomachs examined also contained insects, the quantity of which was greater than that of the fragments of bark : in one bird, there were two larvae of a boring beetle, so large that there was not room for both in the stomach at once, and one re- mained in the lower part of the oesoi^hagus. If these were, as is probable, the larvae of the Saperda, they would do more damage than twenty woodpeckers ; and I sincerely hope that these birds are not to be exterminated, unless it is clearly demonstrated that the injury caused by the destruction of the bark is not more than com- pensated by their destruction of noxious insects." About the 1st of May, the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker commences excavating its hole, which is usually in a de- cayed tree in the woods, but occasionally in a sound tree. THE PILEATED WOODPECKER. 99 Tliis excavation is often eighteen or twenty inches deep. It is not lined with any soft material, and the eggs are depos- ited on chips of the wood left in the bottom. These are usually five in number ; they are of a pure-white color, and small for the size of the bird, measuring from .82 to .86 inch in length, by from .74 to .77 inch in breadth. HYLATOMUS, Baied. Bryotomns, Malherbe, Mem. Ac. Metz. (1849) 322. (Not of Swainson, 1831.) Dryopicus, Bonap. Consp. Zygod. in Aten. Ital. (May, 1854). (Not of Malherbe.) Bill a little longer than the head ; considerably depressed, or broader than high at the base; shaped much as in CampepMlus, except shorter, and without the bristly feathers directed forwards at the base of the lower jaw; gonys about half the length of the commissure; tarsus shorter than any toe except the inner posterior; outer posterior toe shorter than the outer anterior, and a little longer than the inner anterior; inner posterior verj' short, not half the outer anterior, about half the inner anterior one. Tail long, graduated, the longer feathers much incurved at the tip ; wing longer than the tail, reaching to the middle of the exposed surface of tail, considerably graduated, though pointed, the fourth and fifth quills longest. Color vmiform black, with white patches on the side of the head; head with pointed crest HYLATOMUS PILEATUS — Baird. The Pileated Woodpecker; Log Cock. Picus pileatm, Linnceus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 173. Vieill. Ois. Am. Sept., 11. (1807) 58. Wilson, Am. Om., IV. (1811) 27. And. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 74. Description. Fourth and fifth quills equal and longest, third intermediate between the sixth and seventh; bill blue-black; general color of body, wings, and tail, dull greenish- black; a narrow white streak from just above the eye to the occiput, a wider one from the nostril feathers (inclusive) under the e3'e and along the side of the head and neck; side of the breast (concealed by the wing), axillaries, and under wing coverts, and concealed bases of all the quills, with chin and beneath the head, white, tinged with sulphur-yellow; entire crown, from the base of the bill to a well-developed occipital crest, as also a patch on the ramus of the lower jaw, scarlet-red; a few white crescents on the sides of the body and on the abdomen; iris very dark hazel. Female without the red on the cheek, and the anterior half of that on the top )f the head replaced by black. Length, about eighteen inches; wing, nine and a half inches. Tliis species is a resident in the northern districts of New England throughout the year. It has been known 100 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. to breed in Massachusetts ; but, as a general thing, it is not found south of the northern border of this State. Verrill, in his Catalogue of Maine birds, before referred to, says " it is a common resident, and breeds : " he also says it is " most common in winter." The great size and strength of this bird enable it to pierce into and tear apart the decaying trees in which its food is burrowing, with wonderful facility and ease. I have at times, in passing through the forest, found huge trees that had died and fallen to the ground, with their bark stripped off, and large chips torn out, as if some animal had been at work on them ; and I always supposed that a bear had been amusing himself, as those animals sometimes do, in this employment. One day I discovered the author of the demolition, and it proved to be the Pileated Woodpecker. "While seated in the woods near the settlement known as Wilson's Mills in Maine, I heard a large animal, as I sup- posed, rooting and tearing into a dead tree a few rods off. I crept up near the sound, hoping to get a shot at a bear, when I discovered this bird, which looked very much like a black hen, busily at work. He was searching for the borers and large black ants that hide beneath the bark ; and so earnestly was he employed, that he permitted me to approach very near him. He would force his powerful bill, by repeated strokes, into the bark, in holes in a direct line with the grain, until he had marked out a patch, perhaps six or eight inches square, and then, striking into it diagonally, tear it off, thus exposing the living vermin beneath, which he lost no time in securing. After clearing that spot, he moved to another, and repeated the same operation, until, by a sud- den movement, I startled him, when he flew off, uttering a rattling cackle similar to that of a garrulous hen. His flight was similar to that of the other woodpeckers de- scribed in another place in this volume. In addition to insects, this Woodpecker eats acorns, beech-nuts, berries, and Indian corn, but is not at all troublesome to farmers ; THE PILEATED WOODPECKER. 101 and the little that it pilfers is much more than repaid by the immense numbers of injurious larvge that it destroys. Wilson, in a very interesting account of the general habits of this bird. " Almost every trunk in the forest where he resides bears the marks of his chisel. Wherever he perceives a tree beginning to decay, he examines it round and round with great skill and dex- terity, strips off the bark in sheets of five or six feet in length, to get at the hidden cause of the disease, and labors with a gayety and activity really surprising. He is sometimes observed among the hills of Indian corn, and it is said by some that he frequently feeds on it. Complaints of this kind are, however, not general ; many farmers doubting the fact, and conceiving that at these times he is in search of insects which lie concealed in the husk. I will not be positive that they never occasionally taste maize, yet I have opened and examined great numbers of these birds, killed in various parts of the United States, from Lake Ontario to the Alatamaha River, but never found a grain of Indian corn in their stomachs." Audubon in his description of the breeding habits of this ' bird says, — " The hole was about eighteen inches deep, and I could touch the bottom with my hand. The eggs, which were laid on frag- ments of chips expressly left by the birds, were six, large, white, and translucent. Before the woodpeckers began to set, I robbed them of their eggs, to see if they would lay a second time. They waited a few days, as if undecided, when, on a sudden, I heard the female at work again in the tree. She once more deepened the hole, made it broader at the bottom, and recommenced laying. This time she laid five eggs. I suffered her to bring out her young, both sexes alternately incubating, each visiting the other at inter- vals, peeping into the hole to see that all was right and well there, and flying off afterwards in search of food." 102 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. MELANERPES, Swainson. Melanei-pes, Swainson, F. B. A., II. (1831) (type M. eryihrocephalus). Bill about equal to the head, broader than high at the base, but becoming com- pressed immediately anterior to the commencement of the gonys ; culmen and gonys ■with a moderately decided angular ridge; both decidedly curved from the very base; a rather prominent acute ridge commences at the base of the mandible, a little below the ridge of the culmen, and proceeds but a short distance anterior to the nos- trils (about one-third of the way), when it sinks down, and the bill is then smooth; the lateral outlines are gently concave from the basal two-thirds, then gently convex to the tip, which does not exhibit any abrupt bevelling; nostrils open, broadly oval, not concealed by the feathers, nor entirely basal; the outer pair of toes equal; wings long, broad; third and fourth quills longest; tail feathers broad. The species all have the back black, without any spots or streaks anywhere. MELANEEPES ERYTHEOCEPHALUS. — Swainson. The Red-headed Woodpecker. Picus ei-ythrocepJialus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 15'4. Wilson, Am. Om., L (1810) 142. Aud. Orn. Biog., L (1832). Description. Head and neck all round crimson-red, margined by a narrow crescent of black on the upper part of the breast; back, primary quills, and tail, bluish-black; under parts generally, a broad band across the middle of the wing, and the rump white; iris hazel; bill and feet bluish-black. The female is not different. Length about nine and three-quarters inches; wing, five and a half. This handsome Woodpecker is a not very common summer inhabitant of New England. It makes its appearance from the South about the 10th of May. Its habits are similar to those of the other species ; and I recollect nothing of any importance that is peculiar to them except, perhaps, tliat these birds seem to be much fonder of the small fruits than either of the others. Wilson says of this fact : — " Wherever there is a tree, or trees, of the wild cherry, covered with ripe fruit, there you see them busy among the branches; and, in passing orchards, you may easily know where to find the earliest, sweetest apples, by observing those trees on or near which the Red-headed Woodpecker is skulking : for he is so excellent a con- noisseur in fruit, that, wherever an apple or pear is found broached by him, it is sure to be among the rijiest and best flavored. When li,F.o-HEADED TV ooDi'^VvKr.R, Melancrpes ery throe ephalus. Swainson. THE RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 103 alarmed, he seizes a capital one by striking his open bill deep into it, and bears it off to the woods. When the Indian corn is in its rich, succulent, milky state, he attacks it with great eagerness, opening a passage through the numerous folds of the husk, and feeding on it with voracity. The girdled or deadened timber, so common among corn-fields in the back settlements, are his favorite retreats, whence he sallies out to make his depredations. He is fond of the ripe berries of the sour gum, and pays pretty regular visits to the cherry-trees, when loaded with fruit. Towards fall, he often approaches the barn or farm-house, and raps on the shingles and weather-boards : he is of a gay and frolicsome disposition ; and half a dozen of the fraternity are frequently seen diving and vocif- erating around the high, dead limbs of some large tree, pursuing and playing with each other, and amusing the passenger with their gambols. Their note, or cry, is shrill and lively ; and so much resembles that of a species of tree-frog, which frequents the same tree, that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the one from the other. " Such are the vicious traits, if I may so speak, in the character of the Red-headed Woodpecker ; and I doubt not but, from what has been said on this subject, that some readers would consider it meritorious to exterminate the whole tribe as a nuisance ; and, in fact, the legislatures of some of our provinces, in former times, offered premiums to the amount of twopence per head for their destruction.* But let us not condemn the species unheard : they exist, they must therefore be necessary. If their merits and usefulness be found, on examination, to preponderate against their vices, let us avail ourselves of the former, while we guard as well as we can against the latter. " Though this bird occasionally regales himself on fruit, yet his natural and most useful food is insects, particularly those numerous and destructive species that penetrate the bark and body of the tree to deposit their eggs and larv£e, the latter of which are well known to make immense havoc. That insects are his natural food is evident from the construction of his wedge-formed bill, the length, elasticity, and figure of his tongue, and the strength and position of his claws, as well as from his usual habits. In fact. 104 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. insects form at least two-thirds of his subsistence ; and his stomach is scarcely ever found without them. He searches for them with a dexterity and intelligence, I may safely say, more than human : he perceives, by the exterior appearance of the bark, where they lurk below; when he is dubious, he rattles vehemently on the outside with his bill, and his acute ear distinguishes the terrified vermin shrinking within to their inmost retreats, where his pointed and barbed tongue soon reaches them. The masses of bugs, cater- pillars, and other larv«, which I have taken from the stomachs of these birds, have often surprised me. These larvjB, it should be remembered, feed not only on the buds, leaves, and blossoms, but on the very vegetable life of the tree, — the alburnum, or newly forming bark and wood. The consequence is, that the whole branches and whole trees decay under the silent ravages of these destructive vermin ; witness the late destruction of many hundred acres of pine-trees in the north-eastern parts of South Carolina, and the thousands of peach-trees that yearly decay from the same cause. Will any one say, that, taking half a dozen, or half a hundred, apples from a tree, is equally ruinous with cutting it down ? or that the services of a useful animal should not be rewarded with a small portion of that which it has contributed to preserve ? We are told, in the benevolent language of the Scrip- tures, not to muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn ; and why should not the same generous liberality be ex- tended to this useful family of birds, which forms so powerful a phalanx against the inroads of many millions of destructive ver- min ? " About the middle of May, this species pairs, and soon commences excavating a hole in a tree, either in the woods or orchard, as he is not particular in his choice. This work is done by both the birds, who labor with industry and cheerfulness until the excavation is finished ; this is from fourteen to eighteen inches deep, and, like those of other woodpeckers, is roomy at the bottom, and tapering gradually to the entrance, which is only large enough for the comfort- able passage of the bird : it is not lined, but the bottom is partly covered with chips from the sides of the hole. The THE GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. 105 eggs are generally five or six in number, and of a beautiful clear-white. Dr. Thompson says, in his " Birds of Ver- mont," that " they are marked with reddish spots at the large end." This was a mistake ; for the eggs of wood- peckers are always immaculate. The shell is smoother than that of any other woodpecker's egg of- my acquaint- ance. Length of specimens vary from 1.07 to 1.12 inch, breadth from .77 to .84 inch. COLAPTES, SwAiNSON. Colaptes, SwAiNSON, Zool. Jour., III. (Dec. 1827) 353 (tjije C. auratus). Bill slender, depressed at the base, then compressed; culmen much curved; gonys straight, both with acute ridges, and coming to quite a sharp point with the com- missure at the end ; the bill consequently not truncate at the end ; no ridges on the bill; nostrils basal, median, oval, and exposed; gonys very short, about half the culmen; feet large, the anterior outer toe considerably longer than the posterior; tail long, exceeding the secondaries, the feathers suddenly acuminate, with elongated points. COLAPTES AURATUS. — Swaewsora. The Golden- winged Woodpecker; Flicker; Pigeon Woodpecker. Picus auratus, Linnaius. Syst. Nat. (1766) 174. Wilson, Am. Orn., I. (1810) 45. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1832) 191. Description. Shafts and under surfaces of wing and tail feathers gamboge-yellow; a black patch on each side of the cheek ; a red crescent on the nape ; throat and stripe beneath the eye pale lilac-brown ; back glossed with olivaceous-green ; female with- out the black cheek patch; a crescentic patch on the breast, and rounded spots on the belly, black ; back and wing coverts with interrupted transverse bands of black ; neck above and sides ashy. Length, about twelve and a half inches; wing, six. This is a very common summer inhabitant of New Eng- land. It is probably the most abundant of all the wood- peckers, and is very generally known. It is in the southern districts of these States a resident throughout the year ; and in Massachusetts I have often met with it in midwinter, when the season was not of the mildest either. They begin to arrive from the south at about the second week in March. 106 OENITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. The habits of this bird are so well known, that any description here seems to be a work of supererogation. About the first week in May, the males begin to pay court to the females ; at this period their movements are amusing. " Their note is merriment itself, as it imitates a prolonged and jovial laugh, heard at a considerable distance. Several males pur- sue a female, reach her, and, to prove the force and truth of their love, bow their heads, spread their tails, and move sidewise, back- wards, and forwards, performing such antics as might induce any one witnessing them, if not of a most morose temper, to join his laugh to theirs. The female flies to another tree, where she is closely fol- lowed by one, two, or even half a dozen of these gay suitors, and where again the same ceremonies are gone through. No fightings occur, no jealousies seem to exist among these beaux, until a marked preference is shown to some individual, when the rejected proceed in search of another female. In this manner, all the Golden- winged Woodpeckers are soon happily mated. Each pair imme- diately proceed to excavate the trunk of a tree, and finish a hole in it sufiicient to contain themselves and their young. They both work with great industry and apparent pleasure. Should the male, for instance, be employed, the female is close to him, and congratu- lates him on the removal of every chip which his bill sends through the air. "While he rests, he appears to be speaking to her on the most tender subjects, and when fatigued is at once assisted by her. In this manner, by the alternate exertions of each, the hole is dug and finished." — Audubon. This is often as much as twenty inches in depth, and in a solid tree very often at that. On the bottom of this hole, the female lays six pure-white eggs : these are generally of uniform ovoidal shape, and vary in size from 1 to 1.16 inch in length, by from .82 to .92 in breadth. When the eggs are removed, the female, after a couple of days' deliberation, lays another litter ; and I have known of this being repeated several times by a bird that was unwilling to leave the nest which she and her mate had been at so much labor to prepare. Instances have occurred Golden- WINGED Woodpecker, Oolaptes auratus. Swainsou. THE GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. 107 of this bird's laying eighteen or twenty eggs in a few days, they being removed as soon as laid, and only two or three being left in the nest at a time. The food of this spe- cies consists of insects, berries, and grains. Ants are greedily eaten by it, and constitute no inconsiderable por- tion of its diet. On visiting the nest at night, I have very seldom been able to catch the old bird in it ; she almost always heard my approach, and took flight : once I caught her on the nest ; but, as I put my hand in to secure her, she attacked it with fierce pecks of her bill, and made such an onslaught that I was glad to permit her to escape. But one brood is reared in the season. 108 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. ORDER III. — INSESSORES. Perchers. In accordance with the views of many systematic writers, it may perhaps be as weU to retain an order Insessores, and to place in it the Strisores, Clamatores, and Oscines as sub-orders. The characters of the order wUl then consist chiefly in the posses- sion of three toes in front and one behind (or, at least, never with two toes directed backwards), as in Scansores. The claws are not retractile, nor the bill with a cere, as in the Raptores ; nor is the hind toe situated appreciably above the plane of the others, as in Rasores, Grallatores, and Natatores. The hind toe of the Insessores corresponds to the thumb or inner toe of the mammals, and is usually quite short. The joints of the anterior toes generally follow the law of number character- istic of birds ; namely, two to the hinder, three to the inner, four to the middle, and five to the outer toes : but a deviation is seen in some Strisores, where there are sometimes but three joints each to the anterior toes, and sometimes only four in the outer. The tarsi are generally covered anteriorly with plates, and furnished behind with granulations or small scales, or else with two long plates covering the sides, the latter feature especially characteristic of the Oscines, or singing-birds : in the latter alone is the tarsus some- times covered anteriorly with a single plate. Sometimes the tarsus is entirely or partly naked, or destitute of plates altogether. The carpal joint or the hand part of the wing is in most Insessores furnished with ten quills (primaries), although the first quill is sometimes very short, or even entirely wanting, as in many Oscines. The fore-arm has from six (in the Humming-birds) to thirteen quills, the average being eight or nine. There are certain peculiarities in the arrangement of he wing coverts of the different sub-orders of Insessores, constituting important distinctive features. Some of these will be hereafter referred to. ORDER III. — INSESSORES. 109 The tail of the Insessores exhibits considerable differences. The number of feathers is usually twelve ; sometimes ten only, as in the Strisores. The different groups of the order Insessores are subject to con- siderable variations in respect to the structure of the lower larynx attached to the trachea or windpipe just anterior to its division into the two bronchial tubes. Cuvier long since showed, that the true singing-birds had the larynx provided with a peculiar appa- ratus for the purpose of effecting a modulation of the voice, composed of five pairs of muscles, of which other birds were destitute in greater part, or entirely. The characteristic of the groups Strisores, Clamatores, and Oscines, and of their subdivisions, as will be shown hereafter, depend very much on these peculiarities of the larynx. The tongue of the Insessores varies to a considerable degree. In the Humming-birds, it is thread-like and bifurcated. In most other insessorial or perching birds, it is long or short, flat, and triangular, the posterior extremity bilobed, the anterior usually with the tip horny, serrated, or with fibres, more rarely smooth. These furnish important characteristics for the division into families, and even genera ; the variations being quite considerable. See Introduction, and vol. IX., Pacific R.R. Reports, 128. 110 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. SUB-ORDER STRISORES. Family TROCHTLIDJE. The Humming-birds. There is no group of birds so interesting to the ornithologist or to the casuai observer as the Humming-birds; at once the smallest in size, the most gorgeously beautiful in color, and almost the most abundant in species of any single family of birds. They are strictly confined to the continent and islands of America, and are most abundant in the Central- American States ; though single species range almost to the Arctic regions on the north and to Patagonia on the south, as well as from the seacoast to the frozen summits of the Andes. The number of known species considerably exceeds three hundred, and new ones are being constantly brought to light; so that an estimate of four hundred species is, perhaps, not too large. Many are very limited in their range ; some confined to particular islands, even though of small dimensions. The bill of the Humming-bird is awl-shaped or subulate, thin, and sharp- pointed, straight or cui-ved; sometimes as long as the head, sometimes much longer. The mandibles are excavated to the tip for the lodgement of the tongue, and form a tube by the close apposition of their cutting edges. There is no indica- tion of stiff bristly feathers at the base of the mouth. The tongue has some resem- blance to that of the Woodpeckers in the elongation of the cornua backwards, so as to pass round the back of the skull, and then anteriorly to the base of the bill. The tongue itself is of very peculiar structure, consisting anteriorly of two hollow threads closed at the ends and united behind. The food of the Humming- bird consists almost entirely of insects, which are captured by protruding the tongue into flowers of various shapes, without opening the bill very wide. The wings of the Humming-birds are long and falcate; the shafts very strong; the primaries usually ten in number, the first always longest; there are six seconda- • ries. The tail has but ten feathers. The feet are small ; the claws verj' sharp and strong.! The species known to inhabit the United States, though few, are j'et nearly twice as many as given by Mr. Audubon. It is probable that additional ones will here- after be detected, particularly on our southern borders. The different authors who have made a specialty of the Humming-birds have named a great many sub-families and genera ; but there has as yet been no published systematic description of the higher groups. It is probable that the North-Ameri- 1 Most of the above general remarks are borrowed from Burmeister (Thiere Bra- siliens, Vogel, 311), to which I would refer for an excellent article on the structure and habits of Humming-birds. THE EUBY-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD. Ill can species belong to two different sub-families, — the LampornithincB and the Tro- chilince, — and to at least four genera ; but the precise character and limits of these I am unable to give. The following remarks, however, may serve to sketch out the characters of the North- American species : — A. Edges of mandible serrated near the end ; throat without metallic, scale-like feathers. Lampornis. — Bill depressed, slightly curved ; tail broad, slightly emarginate, the outer feather as broad as the rest; wings reaching the tip of tail; no metallic feathers on the throat. B. Edges of mandible nearly even towards the tip, without distinct serrations ; throat with metallic, scale-like feathers. Trochilm. — Feathers of throat but little elongated laterally ; lateral tail feathers but little narrower than the others, and lanceolate-acute ; tail forked. Selasphorus. — Feathers of the throat much elongated laterally into a ruff; lateral tail feathers much narrower than the middle ones, and linear in shape, or with the sides parallel to the end, which is rounded ; tail graduated or cuneate ; outer primary attenuated at the tip ; crown without metallic scales. AttJiis. — Similar to the last, but the top of the head with metallic scales like the throat ; the outer primary not attenuated ; tail emarginated, or deeply forked. TROCHILUS, Linnaeus. TEOCHILUS COLVBRIS. — Linnaus. The Ruby-throated Humming-bird. TrocMlus colubris, Linnseus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 191. Wilson, Am. Om., II. (1810) 26. Aud. Om. Biog., I. (1832) 248. lb., Birds Amer., IV. (1842) 190. Ornismya colubris, Deville. Rev. et. Mag. Zool. (May, 1852) (habits). Description. Tail in the male deeply forked, the feathers all narrow lanceolate-acute ; in the females lightly rounded and emarginate; the feathers broader, though pointed; male, uniform metallic-green above; a ruby-red gorget with no conspicuous ruff; a white collar on the throat; sides of body greenish; tail feathers uniformly brownish-violet; female, without the red on the throat; the tail is rounded and emarginate, the inner feathers shorter than the outer; the tail feathers banded with black, and the outer tipped with white; no rufous or cinnamon on the tail in either sex. Length, three and twenty-five one-hundredths inch; wing, one and sixty one- hundredths; tail, one and twenty-tive one-hundredths inch; bill, sixty-five onc- hundredths. THIS beautiful little winged gem is distributed through- out New England as a summer visitor. It arrives from the south from about the 15th to the 25th of May, according to latitude, and usually in pairs. The first notice that we have of his arrival is a humming sound, and now 112 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. and then a sharp chirp, like that of a large beetle, among the earliest flowers in the garden. We look in the direction of the sound, and perceive our little stranger darting about, and thrusting his bill and little head into the flowers, busily searching for the small insects that inhabit them, and Avhich constitute the principal part of his food. While we are looking at him, he suddenly alights on a twig, turns his gorgeous throat towards us, and scans us with liis bright little black eyes. While he is perched, he busies himself in arranging his plumage, and cleaning from his feathers the drops of dew that have perhaps fallen upon him, uttering occasionally his merry chirp ; presently his mate appears, and alights by his side. The little lovers (for they are still such) then indulge in mutual caresses, and apparently talk over with much earnestness their plans for future housekeeping. Woe to another humming-bird, if he comes in sight ! for our little friend is not only jealous of his mate, but is very quarrelsome also, and protects his honor with great courage. As he darts off like a bullet at the intruder, his mate watches with no little interest for the results of the battle that is inevitable. The two males meet in the air, and fierce is the contest ; their little wings beat the air with such force that their humming is heard at the THE EUBY-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD. 113 distance of several rods ; up they mount, rushing against and striking each other with their sharp little bills, until they are both lost to the sight : presently our acquaintance descends to the twig where his mate is seated, and struts before her with a pride much larger than his body, ap- parently anxious for her approval of his courage. Slie caresses him; and, after he has adjusted his plumage, oif they shoot for other scenes and pleasures. About the first week in June, the Humming-bird com- mences building its nest : tliis is composed of a soft down, that is taken from the stems of some of the ferns ; it is covered entirely with lichens, which are glued on with the saliva of the bird, giving it the appearance of a mossy knot. It is usually built on the upper side of a limb ; but I have known of cases of its being built in a forked twig. The whole fabric is about an inch and a half in diameter, and about that in depth externally ; it is hollowed about half an inch, and is three-fourths of an inch in diameter internally ; it is lined with soft, downy substances detached from flying seeds. The eggs are two in number, white, and nearly elliptical in shape, being of about equal size at both ends. Length of eggs, about .45 inch ; breadth, about .31 inch. I am inclined to think, that, in the latitude of New England, this bird raises only one brood in the season ; but further south it undoubtedly rears two. The period of incubation is ten days. On approaching the nest, the parent bird immediately flies at the intruder ; and it was by this means that I have been enabled to find specimens of the nests, when I could not possibly have done so if their locality liad not been betrayed by the bird herself. I have heard of young birds being taken from the nest when nearly fledged, kept for several weeks, and fed with nothing but sweetened water ; but they always died after a short confinement, and I believe that it is impossible to keep this bird as a pet, from the 114 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. fact that its actual food is insects, and it cannot live on any Other. Wilson gives the following facts in relation to this. He " The singularity of this little bird has induced many persons to attempt to raise them from the nest, and accustom them to the cage. Mr. Coffer, of Fairfax County, Va., a gentleman who has paid great attention to the manners and peculiarities of our native birds, told me that he raised and kept two, for some months, in a cage, supplying them with honey dissolved in water, on which they readily fed. As the sweetness of the liquid frequently brought small flies and gnats about the cage and cup, the birds amused themselves by snapping at them on wing, and swallowing them with eagerness, so that these insects formed no inconsiderable part of their food. Mr. Charles Wilson Peale, proprietor of the Museum, tells me that he had two young Humming-birds, which he raised from the nest. They used to fly about the room, and would frequently perch on Mrs. Peale's shoulder to be fed. When the sun shone strongly in the chamber, he has observed them dart- ing after the motes that floated in the light, as Flycatchers would after flies. In the summer of 1803, a nest of young Humming- birds was brought me, that were nearly fit to fly. One of them actually flew out by the window the same evening, and, falling against a wall, was killed. The other refused food, and the next morning I could but just perceive that it had life. A lady in the house undertook to be its nurse, placed it in her bosom, and, as it began to revive, dissolved a little sugar in her mouth, into which she thrust its bill, and it sucked with great avidity. In this man- ner, it was brought up until fit for the cage. I kept it upwards of three months, supplied it with loaf sugar dissolved in water, which it preferred to honey and water, gave it fresh flowers every morning sprinkled with the liquid, and surrounded the space in which I kept it with gauze, that it might not injure itself. It appeared gay, active, and full of spirit, hovering from flower to flower as if in its native wilds ; and always expressed, by its motions and chirping, great pleasure at seeing fresh flowers intro- duced to its cage. Numbers of people visited it from motives of curiosity ; and I took every precaution to preserve it, if possible, THE RUBY-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD. 115 through the winter. Unfortunately, however, by some means it got at large ; and, flying about the room, so injured itself that it soon after died. " This little bird is extremely susceptible of cold ; and, if long deprived of the animating influence of the sunbeams, droops, and soon dies. A very beautiful male was brought me this season (1809), which I put into a wire cage, and placed in a retired, shaded part of the room. After fluttering about for some time, the weather being uncommonly cool, it clung by the wires, and hung in a seemingly torpid state for a whole forenoon. No motion what- ever of the lungs could be perceived, on the closest inspection, though, at other times, this is remarkably observable ; the eyes were shut ; and, when touched by the finger, it gave no signs of life or motion. I carried it out to the open air, and placed it directly in the rays of the sun, in a sheltered situation. In a few seconds, respiration became very apparent; the bird breathed faster and faster, opened its eyes, and began to look about, with as much seeming vivacity as ever. After it had completely recov- ered, I restored it to liberty ; and it flew off to the withered top of a pear-tree, where it sat for some time dressing its disordered plumage, and then shot off like a meteor." About the latter part of August, or perhaps by the 8th or 10th of September, the Humming-bird takes his departure for the south. The young birds travel with their parents, or, at any rate, leave this section with them; for I have invariably noticed that these little groups were together up to the time when they left. The parents return to the same breeding-place in the succeeding year ; and I have known of a pair breeding on the same apple-tree for three successive seasons. 116 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. Family CYPSELID^. The Swifts. BUI veiy small, without notch, triangular, much broader than high, the culmen not one-sixth the gape; anterior toes cleft to the base, each with three joints (in the typical species), and covered with skin, the middle claw without any serrations, the lateral toes nearly equal to the middle ; bill without bristles, but with minute feathers extending along the under margin of the nostrils ; nostrils elongated, supe- rior, and very close together; plumage compact ^ primaries ten, elongated, falcate. CH^TURA, Stephens. ChcEtura, Stephens. Shaw's Gen. Zool. Birds, XIII. (1825) 76 (type C. pelasgia). Tail very short, scarcely more than two-fifths the wings, slightly rounded,' the shafts stiffened and extending some distance beyond the feathers in a rigid spine ; first primary longest; legs covered by a naked skin, without scutellae or feathers; tarsus longer than middle toe; lateral toes equal, nearly as long as the middle; hind toe scarcely versatile, or quite posterior, with the claw, less than the middle anterior without it ; toes slender, claws moderate ; feathers of the base of the bill not extend- ing beyond the beginning of the nostrils. CH^ITURA PELASGIA. — S^ep^ens. The Chimney Swallow. Hirundo pelasgia, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. I. (1766) 345. Wils. Am. Om. V. (1812) 48. Cypselus pelasgia, Audubon. Om. Biog. 11. (1834) 329; Y. 419. Choetura pelasgia, Stephens. Shaw's Gen. Zool. Birds, XIII. (1825) 76. Description. Tail slightly rounded; of a sooty-brown all over, except on the throat, which becomes considerably lighter from the breast to the bill; above with a greenish tinge; the rump a little paler. Length, five and a quarter inches ; wing, five ten one-hundredths ; tail, two fifteen one-hundredths. THIS well-known bird is a common summer inhabitant of New England. It arrives in great numbers from the South, about the 1st to the 10th of Maj. Immediately on arriving, the birds pair, and commence building. The nest is usually constructed in an unused flue of a chimney ; but, before the country was settled, they bred, and I have no THE CHIMNEY SWALLOW. 117 doubt that great mimbers of them in thinly settled districts still breed in hollow trees. The nest is composed of twigs, which are glued together and to the side of the chimney with the saliva of the bird. It is very rarely lined with a few feathers. The strength of these structures is wonderful : and they are so durable that I have known of instances of their remaining in the chimney during three seasons. Usually, the bird displays great sagacity in the choice of a location for a nest, in securing protection from storms and from the attacks of animals ; but occasionally the nest is built in a chimney, open at the top sufficiently wide to permit the rain to trickle down the sides : the result is, that the moisture softens the glue by which the nest is attached to the chimney, and it is, with its living contents, precipi- tated to the bottom. Again, if the nest is built too low in the chimney, the young or eggs furnish agreeable food for rats, which, unfortunately, are sometimes found in dwelling- houses in the country in uncomfortable numbers. The eggs are generally four or five in number, pure-white in color, rather long in shape. Dimensions of five eggs, in a nest collected in Upton, Me. : .84 by .44 inch, .81 by .46 inch, .80 by .46 inch, .78 by .48 inch, .76 by .51 inch. This species is somewhat nocturnal in its habits. From earliest dawn until seven or eight in the morning, it is busy in the pursuit of insects : it then retires to its roosting-places in the chimneys, and is seldom seen until late in the after- noon. From early twilight until late in the night, it is again actively employed ; and, having heard its notes, as it sped through the air, often as late as midnight, I have no doubt that, in pleasant weather, it is busy through the whole night. In descending the chimneys where their young fire, the birds fly rapidly until they are immediately over them, when, partially closing their wings, they drop suddenly, and with apparent ease, down the flue. In ascending, the noise of their wings in the chimney is 118 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. like that of distant thunder. The flight of these birds is very rapid, surpassing, I think, that of any other species : it is so peculiar, — the long wings vibrating in short, quick, energetic strokes, — that it furnishes a ready means of dis- tinguishing it, from all other species, at a great height. About sunset, the great multitudes of these birds are out, and the numbers of insects they destroy must be immense. Everywhere they may be seen : away up in the blue sky, as far as the eye can reach, they are coursing in wide-extended circles, chasing each other in sport, and even caressing and feeding their mates while on the wing ; a little lower, they are speeding over the tops of the trees, gleaning the insects that have just left the foliage ; over the surface of the lake or river they fly so low, in the pursuit of aquatic insects, that their wings often touch the water ; everywhere they are busy. Truly, they are deserving of much better treat- ment than they too often receive at the hands of the farmer, to whom they are his best friends ; yet it is a fact, that, in a great many sections, they are driven from the chimneys of the farm-houses, and even destroyed, at every oppor- tunity. About the last of August, the Chimney Swallow, in large scattered flocks, leaves for the South, and spends the winter in Honduras and the West Indies. On returning in the spring, the same pair occupies the chimney used in the pre- vious season, as has been proved by actual observation. THE WHIPPOORWILL. 119 Family CAPRIMULGIDiE. The Goat-suckers. Suh-Family Caprimulgin^. Bill very short, triangular, the culmen less than one-sixth the gape ; the anterior toes united at the base by a membrane; the inner anterior toe with three joints, the others with four, all with distinct scutelloe above ; the toe much elongated, its middle claw pectinated on the inner edge ; hind toe directed a little more than half for- wards ; tarsi partly feathered superiorly ; the bill more or less bristled, the nostrils separated, rather nearer the commissure than the culmen; plumage soft, lax, and owl-like; primary quills, ten; secondaries, eleven or twelve. ANTROSTOMUS, Gould. Antrostomus, GouLU. Icones Avium (1B38), Agassiz. Bill remarkably small, with tubular nostrils, and the gape with long, stitf, some- times pectinated, bristles; wings long, somewhat rounded, second quill longest, the primaries emarginated; tail rounded; plumage loose and soft. ANTROSTOMUS VOCIFERUS. — Bonaparte. The ■Whippoorwill. Caprimulgus vodferus, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. (1812) 71; Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1832) 443; V. 405. Antrostomus vociferns, Bonaparte. List, 1838. Description. Bristles without lateral filaments; wing about six and a half inches long; top of the head ashy-brown, longitudinally streaked with black; terminal half of the tail feathers (except the four central) dirty-white on both outer and inner webs ; iris dark- hazel. Female, without white on the tail. Length, ten inches ; wing, six and a half. THIS familiar species is a summer inhabitant of New England : it arrives from the South about the second week in May. Its habits are not well known, as it is not a very common species, and it inhabits the most secluded spots in the deep woods ; bu.t its song is well known to all, as are its nocturnal wanderings in search for insect food. This bird, as also the Night-hawk, is, to the farmer, one of the most valuable among the feathered tribes : its food consists almost entirely of night-flying Lepidoptera, and the number of these insects destroyed is immense. 120 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. The peculiar song of this bird is heard at early eve, and until late into the night, during the mating and part of the breeding seasons. It is not uttered in the depths of the wil- derness alone ; but the bird, perching on the well-sweep, on the eaves of a low shed, or even on the door-sill of the farm- er's house, pours out its melancholy strain. The descrip- tion, by Alexander Wilson, of the habits of this bird, is so accurate and comprehensive, that I will not presume to attempt another. He says : — " The notes seem pretty plainly to articulate the words which have been generally applied to them, whip-poor-will, the first and last syllables being uttered with great emphasis, and the whole in about a second to each repetition ; but, when two or more males meet, their whip-poor-will altercations become much more rapid and incessant, as if each were straining to overpower or silence the other. When near, you often hear an introductory cluck between the notes. At these times, as well as at almost all others, they fly low, not more than a few feet from the surface, skimming about the house and before the door, alighting on the wood-pile, or settling on the roof. Towards midnight, they generally become silent, unless in clear moonlight, when they are heard, with little intermission, till morning. If there be a creek near, with high, precipitous, bushy banks, they are sure to be found in such situations. During the day, they sit in the most retired, solitary, and deep-shaded parts of the woods, generally on high ground, where they repose in silence. When disturbed, they rise within a few feet, sail low and slowly through the woods for thirty or forty yards, and generally settle on a low branch or on the ground. Their sight appears deficient during the day, as, like owls, they seem then to want that vivacity for which they are distinguished in the morning and even- ing twilight. They are rarely shot at or molested ; and, from being thus transiently seen in the obscurity of dusk, or in the deep um- brage of the woods, no wonder their particular markings of plumage should be so little known, or that they should be confounded with the Night-hawk, whom, in general appearance, they so much re- semble. The female begins to lay about the second week in May, selecting, for this purpose, the most unfrequented part of the wood, THE WHIPPOORWILL. 121 often where some brush, old logs, heaps of leaves, &c., had been lying, and always on a dry situation." The Whippoorwill constructs no nest, but lays its eggs, which are two in number, in a slight hollow which it scratches in the earth, usually near a rock, or fallen trunk of a tree. These eggs are of an elliptical form, being as large at one end as at the other ; their ground-color is a delicate creamy-white, with blotches, lines, and spots of different shades of light-brown and lavender : taken alto- gether, it is one of the handsomest eggs found in New Eng- land. The length of several specimens before me varies from 1.21 to 2.27 inches, breadth from .75 to .79 inch. The bird commences laying about the last week in May, and the period of incubation is fourteen days. Tlie young are soon able to walk, and in a very few days can run with considerable speed ; and they hide with such adroitness that it is a work of no little difficulty to capture them. The female, when her young are discovered, imme- diately throws herself before the intruder, counterfeiting lameness so well, that, unless he is well acquainted with the habits of birds, he will quickly be misled into following her. As soon as the young birds are able to shift for them- selves, they are turned adrift by their parents, and are seen only singly, or at most in pairs, during the remainder of their stay. By the latter part of August, or seldom later than the 10th of September, all of them depart for the South, the old males remaining a few days later ; uttering, occasionally, their song, but always in the woods, or in localities far removed from human habitation. CHORDEILES, Swainson. SwAiNSON. Fauna Bor. Amer. (1831) 496. Bill very small, the gape with veiy short, feeble bristles ; wings very long and pointed, with the first quill nearly or quite equal to the second, and the primaries not emarginated on the inner edge; tail long, slightly forked in the North-Ameiican species; plumage rather compact. 122 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. CHORDEILES FOFWIVE. — Baird. The Night-hawk; Bull Bat, Caprimulgus iMpetue, Vieillot. Ois. Am. Sept., L (1807) 56. CapHmulgus Americanus, Wilson, V. (1812) 65. Caprimulgus Virginianus. Aud. Cm. Biog., IL (1834) 273. Description. Male, above greenish-black, -with but little mottling on the head and back ; wing coverts varied with grayish;' scapulars with yellowish-rufous; a nuchal band of fine gray mottling, behind which is another coarser one of rufous spots; a white V-shaped mark on the throat; behind this a collar of pale-rufous blotches, and another on the breast of grayish mottling; under parts banded transversely with dull-yellowish or reddish-white and brown ; wing quills quite uniformly brown ; the five outer primaries with a white blotch midway between the tip and carpal joint, not extending on the outer web of the outer quill; tail with a terminal white patch. Female, without the caudal white patch, the white of the throat mixed with reddish. Length of. male, nine and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, eight and twenty one-hundredths inches. This bird is much more abundantly distributed through- out New England than the preceding; and its habits are, consequently, better known. It arrives from the south about the 10th of May. At this time, great numbers may be observed, at early twilight, coursing through the air in different directions, sometimes at a great height, sometimes just above the trees in the country, or houses in the city ; occasionally, very near the earth or water, or, when near the seacoast, but just above the marshes, where they destroy great numbers of insects. Their flight is very rapid, their long wings giving quick, powerful sweeps ; and, as they dart about in many eccentric movements, busily gleaning their food, they utter, at oft-repeated intervals, their short note or squeak, which almost exactly resembles that of the Com- mon Snipe. About the middle of May, or by the 20th of that month, in Maine, the male commences his attentions to the female. His movements at this time are interesting, and, from their common occurrence, familiar to all who live in the country. THE NIGHT-HAWK. 123 At early evening, and in cloudy weather throughout the greater part of the day, he ascends into the air ; and when he has attained a considerable height, partially closing his wings, he drops with great velocity through the distance of seventy-five or one hundred feet, sometimes nearly to the earth. The sound made by the air passing through the wing quills is so loud that I have often heard it at certainly the distance of half a mile : it resembles, as Nuttall truly says, the sound produced by blowing into the bung-hole of an empty hogshead. This act is often repeated, the bird darting about at the same time in every direction, and uttering his sharp squeak. Wilson was of the opinion, that this habit of the Night-hawk was confined to the period of incubation; the male acting in this manner, as he thought, to intimidate any person from approaching the nest. I have had abun- dant opportunities for observing the bird in all times of the summer, and during its stay with us ; and I should unhesi- tatingly affirm, that, from the time of early courtship, until the young are hatched, if not after, the male acts in this manner. This species constructs no nest, but lays its eggs on the bare ground in a slight hollow scratched • by the female, or often on a bare rock. I have found numbers of these eggs, particularly in the northern parts of Maine, where, in walk- ing over a pasture or rocky field, I have flushed sometimes a bird in every ten rods. I remember a ledge of rocks back of the settlement known as Wilson's Mills, which seemed a favorite breeding-place for these birds ; and, in the space of every four or five rods, a female was sitting on her eggs. The eggs are two in number, elliptical in shape, of a dirty-white color, which is covered with fine dottings of different shades of brown, with obscure markings of slate-color, and some spots of lavender. Length from 1.23 to 1.25 inch ; breadth, from .82 to .85 inch. A great num- ber of specimens from different sections do not exhibit an appreciable variation from these dimensions. In the south- 124 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. ern districts, it lays about the 20tli of May ; in the northern, about the 10th of June. The male assists the female in incubating, as I have wit- nessed many times. When perched by her on a tree or fence-rail, during the light of mid-day, he always sits aloyig the limb or rail, instead of across it — a peculiarity which is also noticeable in the Whippoorwill. Some authors, in speak- ing of this fact, explain it by noticing the comparatively small size of the feet, and apparent weakness of the legs. I think this can hardly be a sufficient cause ; for both these birds, while on the ground, can run with considerable speed, and, if captured, can not only perch across the finger of a hand or the back of a chair, as I have often proved, but can rest on one foot, drawing the other up into the feathers of the belly, like other birds. About the 20th of August, after the young have become able to provide for themselves, all the families in a neigh- borhood assemble in a large, scattered flock; and, after having become completely recruited from the labors of incu- bation, they all leave for the south. THE BELTED KINGFISHER. 125 SUB-ORDER CLAMATORES. Screamers. Family ALCEDINID^. The Kingfishers. Head large ; bill long, strong, straight, and sub-p^Tamidal, usually longer than the head; tongue verj' small; wings short; legs small, the outer and middle toes united to their middle; toes with the usual number of joints (2, 3, 4, 5). The gape of the bill in the Kingfishers is large, reaching to beneath the eves; the third primary is generally longest, the first decidedly shorter; the secondaries vary from twelve to fifteen in number, all nearly equal ; the secondaries cover at least three-quarters of the wing; the tail is short, the feathers twelve in number, they are rather narrow, the outer usually shorter; the lower part of the tibia is bare, leaving the joint and the tarsus uncovered; the tarsus is covered anteriorly with plates, behind, it is shagreen-like or granulated; the hind toe is connected with the inner, so as to form with it and the others a regular sole, which extends unbroken beneath the middle and outer as far as the latter are united; the inner toe is much shorter than the outer ; the claws are sharp, the middle expanded on its inner edge, but not pectinated. CERYLE, BoiE. Ceryle, Boie, Isis (1B28) 316 (type C. rudis). Bill long, straight, and strong, the culmen slightly advancing on the forehead, and sloping to the acute tip; the sides much compressed; the lateral margins rather dilated at the base, and straight to the tip; the gonys long and ascending; tail rather long and broad; tarsi short and stout. CERYLE ALGYOTS.— Bote. The Belted Kingfisher. Alcedo alcyon, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 180. Wilson, Am. Om., III. (1811) 59. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 394. Ceryle alcyon, Boie. Isis, (1828) 316. Description. Head with a long crest; above blue, without metallic lustre; beneath, with a con- cealed band across the occiput, and a spot anterior to the eye, pure-white; a band across the breast, and the sides of the body under the wings, like the back ; prima- ries white on the basal half, the terminal unspotted; tail with transverse bands and spots of white. Young, with the sides of body and a transverse band across the belly below the pectoral one, light-chestnut ; the pectoral band more or less tinged with the same Length of adult, about twelve and three-quarters inches ; wing, six or more. Eab. — The entire continent of North America. 126 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. THIS species is a very common summer inhabitant of all the New-England States. It arrives from the south about the 1st of April, often earlier, particularly in early springs : indeed, Mr. Verrill says they are sometimes seen in Maine in winter, and they are often found in the southern districts of these States in this season. The birds, on arriv- ing, commence pairing ; and they soon begin excavating in a sand-bank a long, winding hole of about three inches and a half in diameter at the entrance, and gradually larger to the end, at which the nest, composed of grasses, leaves, and feathers, is built, — or laid, which would perhaps be the better term. This hole is sometimes as much as six or eight feet, usually, from four to six, in length. The female deposits in this nest six eggs usually : these are of a clear-white color, and of a nearly spherical shape, being from 1.35 to 1.42 inch in length, by from 1.05 to 1.08 inch in breadth. I am aware that these measurements exceed any heretofore given ; but they are accurately taken from a large number of speci- mens in my collection. Dr. Brewer gives the dimensions as averaging 1-^^ in length by l^-L in breadth. The period of incubation is stated by Audubon and other ornithologists to be sixteen days. The habits of this bird are so well known that any description here is almost superfluous. Its food, as its name implies, consists almost entirely of fish, which he obtains by diving into the water, and seizing with his bill. When passing over a sheet of water, he attentively scans the surface beneath him : if he observes a small fish, he pauses in his flight, and remains over it a few seconds, maintaining his position by short, quick vibrations of his wings. If the fish is sufficiently near the surface, he sud- denly dives at it, and, plunging into the water, seizes it, and bears it off to some rock or post, where he can eat it at his leisure. The note of the Kingfisher is a loud, harsh cry, similar to the sound of a watchman's rattle : it is easily heard above the rushing of the waters at a dam or other THE BELTED KINGFISHER. 127 waterfall, and, when heard in such a locality, is not disagree- able. When perched on a limb overhanging the water, he frequently jets his tail in the manner of the Pewee, and often descends from such a perch and seizes a frog or a fish ; and I once shot one that had just seized a meadow mouse (arvicola) in this manner. The young usually remain in the hole in the bank until they are about fledged. I am inclined to think, that usually they return to these holes at night and in stormy weather, as I have frequently seen them about their nests long after they were fledged, and have even seen them passing into them at the close of the day. In migrating, the young leave their parents, and these even separate, and pursue their journey alone ; and it is a case of rare occurrence that two are seen together after the latter part of August. 128 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. Family COLOPTERIDiE. The Flycatchers. Sub-Family Tyrannin^. — Tyrant Flycatchers. Bill broader than high at the base, much depressed, more or less triangular; cul- men nearly as long as the head, or shorter, straight to near the tip, then suddenly bent down into a conspicuous hook, with a notch behind it; tip of lower jaw also notched; commissure straight to near the notch; gonys slightly convex; nostrils oval or rounded in the anterior extremity of the nasal groove, and more or less concealed by long bristles Avhich extend from the posterior angle of the jaws along the base of the bill, becoming smaller, but reaching nearly to the median line of the forehead ; these bristles with lateral branches at the base ; similar bristles mixed in the loral feathers and margining the chin; tarsi short, generally less than the middle toe, completely enveloped by a series of large scales which meet near the posterior edge of the inner side, and are separated either by naked skin or by a row of small scales. Sometimes a second series of rather large plates is seen on the posterior face of the tarsus; these, however, usually on the upper extremity only; basal joint of middle toe united almost throughout to that of the outer toe, but more than half free on the inner side; outer lateral toe rather the longer; wings and tail variable, first quill always more than three-fourths the second ; the outer primaries sometimes attenuated near the tip. TYRANNUS, Cuvibr. Tyrannus, Cuvier, Lemons Anat. Comp., 1799-1800 (Agassiz). Tail nearly even, or moderately forked, rather shorter than the wings; the feathers broad, and widening somewhat at the ends; wings long and pointed; the outer primaries rather abruptly attenuated near the end, the attenuated portion not linear, however; head with a concealed patch of red on the crown. TYRANNUS CAROLINENSIS. — Baird. King-bird; Bee Martin. Lanius tyrannus, Linnsus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 136. This belongs to the Cuban T. matutinus, according to Bonaparte. Muscicapa tyrannus (Brisson?), Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 66. Aud. Cm. Biog., L (1832) 403; V. (1839) 420. lb., Birds Amer., L (1840) 204. Description. Two, sometimes three, outer primaries abruptly attenuated at the end; second quill longest, third little shorter, first rather longer than fourth, or nearly equal; tail slightly rounded, above dark bluish-ash; the top and sides of the head to beneath the eyes bluish-black; a concealed crest on the crown, vermilion in the THE KING-BIRD. 129 centre, white behind, and before partially mixed with orange; lower parts pure- white, tinged with pale bluish-ash on the sides of the throat and across the breast; sides of the breast and under the wings similar to, but rather lighter than, the back; axillaries pale grayish-brown tipped with lighter; the wings dark-brown, darkest towards the ends of the quills; the greater coverts and quills edged with white, most so on the tertials; the lesser coverts edged with paler; upper tail coverts and upper surface of the tail glossy -black, the latter very dark brown beneath; all the feathers tipped, and the exterior .margined externallj' with white, form- ing a conspicuous terminal band about twenty-five one-hundredths of an inch broad. The young of the year is similar, the colors duller, the concealed colored patch on the crown wanting; the tail more rounded, the primaries not attenuated. Specimens vary in the amount of white margining the wing feathers; the upper tail coverts are also margined sometimes with white. Length", eight and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, four and sixty-five one- hundredths inches ; tail, three and seventy one-hundredths inches ; tarsus, seventy- five one-hundredths inches. THIS common species is abundantly distributed through- out New England as a summer resident. It arrives from the South about the 1st to the 10th of May : the males precede the females in small parties of three or four, the latter arriving about a week or ten days later. Soon after the arrival of the females, the males begin their attentions to them ; and, as the season of courtship is comparatively short, the new-made couple soon begin their selection of a locality for their nest. This seems to be with them a rather difficult matter to settle ; for I have known of a pair remaining in an orchard a fortnight, examining every tree and its peculiar advantages, before they made a selec- tion. At last, when the location is decided, both birds com- mence work, and the nest is soon completed. It is usually placed on the branch of an apple or pear tree, in a small cluster of twigs or a crotch of a limb : it is constructed outwardly of coarse grasses, mosses, twigs, roots, and weeds; and is deeply hollowed, and lined with fine roots, horse-hairs, and grasses. About the 1st of June, the eggs are laid : these are usually five in number ; their ground- color is a very delicate creamy-white, with irregular spatters and spots of different shades of brown, and some obscure 130 OENITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. spots of lavender. Dimensions of a nest complement of five eggs: 1.06 by .71 inch; 1.04 by .70 inch; 1.02 by .72 inch ; 1 by .74 inch ; and .94 by .75 inch. During the mating and breeding season, the pugnacity and courage of the King-bird are proverbial : if any bird approach the neighborhood of his nest, he immediately attacks it; and, whether crow (his particular dislike), hawk, or eagle, the intruder is obliged to flee, so fierce an onslaught does this little warrior make on him. As soon as the cry of a crow is heard, he is all activity : he flies Irom the tree where he is perching to reconnoitre, uttering his shrill twitter, and vibrating his wings in short, quick, nervous strokes ; as soon as the crow appears, the King- bird pursues it, his flight now being very swift and powerful. As soon as he nears his foe, he flies above him, and, dart- ing down on his back and head, attacks him with such vigor that the crow dives and dodges to avoid him. He repeats his attack, and follows his enemy, sometimes to the distance of a mile and more : then, returning to his mate, he perches on the tree by her nest, and twitters a volley of courageous songs. The food of the King-bird consists principally of insects, which he captures usually while on the wing. It seems a provision of nature, that all the Flycatchers shall only take those insects that have taken flight from the foliage of trees and shrubs, at the same time making the warblers and other birds capture those which remain concealed in such places. The King-bird, in seizing a flying insect, flies in a sort of half-flitting hover, and seizes it with a sharp snap of the bill. Sometimes he descends from his perch, and captures a grasshopper that has just taken a short flight, and occasionally seizes one that is crawling up some tall stalk of grass. Those farmers who keep bees dislike this bird because of his bad habit of eating as many of those insects as show themselves in the neighborhood of his nest'; but they should remember that the general KjLNG-iiiKo, Ti/rauHus Carolinensis. Baircl. THE GREAT-CRESTED FLYCATCHER. 131 interests of agriculture are greater than those of a hive of bees. About the middle of September, this bird with his family and neighbors gather into a scattered flock, and depart for the south, spending the winter in Central America and Southern Mexico. MYIARCHUS, Cabanis. MyiarcTius, Cabanis, Fauna Peruana (1844-46) 152. Burmeister, Thiere Bra- siliens, II. Vogel (1856) 469. Tarsus equal to, or not longer than, the middle toe, which is decidedly longer than the hinder one ; bill wider at base than half the culmen ; tail broad, long, even, or slightly rounded, about equal to the wings, which scarcelj' reach the middle of the tail, the first primary shorter than the sixth; head with elongated lanceolate distinct feathers; above brownish'Olive; throat ash; belly yellow; tail and wing feathers varied with rufous. MYIARCHUS CEINITUS. — Cabanis. The Great-crested Flycatcher. Muscicapa crinita, Linnseus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 325. Wilson, Am. Orn., II. (1810) 75. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 176; V. 423. Tyrannus crinitm. Nutt. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 302. Description. Head with a depressed crest; third quill longest, fourth and second successively but little shorter, first a little longer than seventh, much shorter than sixth ; tail decidedly rounded or even graduated, the lateral feather about twenty-five one- hundredths of an inch shorter ; upper parts dull greenish-olive, with the feathers of the crown, and to some extent of the back, showing their brown centres; upper tail coverts turning to pale rusty-brown; small feathers at the base of the bill, ceres, sides of the head as high as the upper eyelid, sides of the neck, throat, and forepart of the breast, bluish-ashy; the rest of the lower parts, including axillaries and lower wing coverts, bright sulphur-yellow ; a pale ring round the eye ; sides of the breast and body tinged with olivaceous; the wings brown, the first and second rows of coverts, with the secondary and tertial quills, margined externally with dull-white, or on the latter slightly tinged with olivaceous-yellow; primaries margined exter- nally for more than half their length from the base with ferruginous, great portion of the inner webs of all the quills very pale-ferruginous; the two middle tail feathers light brown, shafts paler, the rest have the outer web and a narrow line on the inner sides of the shaft brown, pale olivaceous on the outer edge, the remainder fen-uginous to the very tip; outer web of exterior feather dull brownish-yellow; feet black; bill dark -brown above and at the tip below, paler towards the base. The female appears to have no brown on the inner web of the quills along the shaft, or else it is confined chiefly to the outer feathers. Length, eight and seventy-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, four and twenty- 132 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. five one-hundredths ; tail, four and ten one-hundredths ; tarsus, eighty-five one- hundredths. Hab. — Eastern North America to the Missouri, and south to Eastern Texas (not yet observed further west). This species is a rare summer inhabitant of New England. It arrives from the South about the 10th of May in the lati- tude of Massachusetts, — that is, so far as so irregular a visitor may be said to arrive, — and spreads throughout these States. It is less rare in the southern districts than in the middle, and hardly penetrates as far north as the latitude of the middle of Maine. It has been ascertained to breed in all these States ; and two nests, with their con- tents, are before me. One of these was found in a hollow tree in Plymouth, Mass., on the 10th of June ; the other was found in Middleton, Mass., on the 4th of June. These nests are composed of straws, leaves, feathers, and the cast- off skins of snakes ; and it seems a distinguishing character- istic of the nests of this species to have the skins of one or more snakes woven into the other materials. The first of these nests had five eggs ; the other, three. These are of a beautiful creamy-buff, and covered with irregular scratches and lines of different shades of purple. Wilson says of these eggs, " The female lays four eggs of a dull cream-color, thickly scratched with purple lines of various tints, as if done with a pen." Dimensions of eggs vary from .95 by .78 inches to 1 by .80 inch. As this species is quite rare in these States, I have had but very few chances for observing its habits. It appears to be equally courageous and quarrelsome with the King- bird, and has many of the peculiarities of that bird. Its food consists of insects, which it captures while on the wing, after the manner of the other species. Wlien the young leave the nest, they feed on berries and caterpillars, and are fond of crickets and grasshoppers. By the middle of Sep- tember, the whole family leave for the South. THE PEWEE. 138 SAYORNIS, Bonaparte. Sayornis, Bonaparte? Ateneo Italiano (1854). lb., Comptes Rendus (1854), Notes Orn. Delattre. Head with a blended depressed moderate crest; tarsus decidedly longer than middle toe, which is scarcely longer than the hind toe ; bill rather narrow, width at base about half the culmen ; tail broad, long, slightly forked, equal to the wings, which are moderately pointed, and reach to the middle of the tail, first primary BLorter than the sixth. SATOENIS TJJSGTJS. — Baird. The Pewee; Phebe-bird. Muscicapafusca,Gmelm. Syst. Nat, I. (1788) 931. Aud. Orn. BJog., II. (1834) 122; V. (1839) 424. lb., Birds Amer., I. (1840) 223. Tyrannusfuscus, Nuttall. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 312. Miiscicapa nunciola, Wilson. Am. Om., II. (1810) 78; pi. xiii. Description. Sides of 'breast and upper parts dull olive-brown, fading slightly toward the tail; top and sides of head dark-brown ; a few dull-white feathers on the eyelids ; lower parts dull yellowish-white, mixed with brown on the chin, and in some individuals across the breast; quills brown, the outer primarj', secondaries, and tertials edged with dull-white; in some individuals the greater coverts faintly edged with dull- white; tail brown, outer edge of lateral feather dull-white, outer edges of the rest like the back ; tibiae brown ; bill and feet black ; bill slender, edges nearly straight ; tail rather broad, and slightly forked, third quill longest, second and fourth nearly equal, the first shorter than sixth. Length, seven inches; wing, three and forty-two one-hundredths ; tail, three and thirty one-hundredths. Hab. — Eastern North America. In autumn, and occasionally in early spring, the colors are much clearer and brighter. Whole lower parts sometimes bright sulphur-yellow, above greenish-olive, top and sides of the head tinged with sooty ; in the young of the year, the colors are much duller; all the wing coverts broadly tipped with light-ferruginous, as also the extreme ends of the wings and tail feathers; the brown is prevalent on the whole throat and breast ; the hind part of the back, rump, and tail, strongly ferruginous. The tail of this species is quite deeply forked, the external feather being from thirty-five one-hundredths to forty one-hundredths of an inch longer than the middle one. This well-known bird is a very common summer inliabl tant of all New England. It arrives from the South often as early as the middle of March, sometimes before the last snowstorm of the season. As soon as the birds have paired, usually by the last of April, they commence build- 134 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. ing. The nest is usually placed under a bridge, sometimes under an eave, or ledge of rock, sometimes in a barn or other building. It is constructed of fine roots, grasses, fine moss, and hairs, which are plastered together, and to the object the nest is built on, by pellets of mud : it is hollowed about an inch and a half, and lined with soft grasses, wool, and feathers. The eggs are usually five in number : their color is white, with a very delicate cream tint. There are usually in each litter one or two eggs with a few spots thinly scattered over the larger end : these spots are of a reddish-brown. The period of incubation is thirteen days, and two broods are often reared in the season in this latitude. The length of eggs varies from .72 to .78 inch ; breadth, from .54 to .56 inch. The familiar cheerful habits of this species, and the fact that it is one of the first birds to remind us of the return of spring, have made it a universal favorite ; and many residents in the country are so attached to it, that they protect it, and encourage its visits, and even provide quarters for the establishment of its nest. It seems to pre- fer the neighborhood of a pond or stream of water for its home, where, perching on the branch of an overhanging tree, or on the railing of a bridge, or darting about in dif- ferent directions, it busies itself through the day in catching the insects that swarm in myriads in such localities. When perching, it frequently flirts its tail, and erects the feathers of its head, uttering the notes phebe-phebee in a soft plaintive key. Sometimes, this note is more lively, resem- bling the word peweet, peweet, uttered in a quick, cheerful manner. The beautiful description of the habits of this bird, given by Audubon, is certainly one of the best efforts of that naturalist; and I would advise all who are interested in the history of the bird to read it. After the young have left the nest, the parents remain together in the neighborhood of their home until their departure, about the middle of October. At this time, they THE OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER. 135 are a little more shy than they were during the season of incubation, and their note is seldom heard ; and, when it is, it consists of a melancholy strain, quite different from that uttered in the spring and early summer. CONTOPUS, Gabanis. Contopus, Cabanis, Journal fur Ornithologie, III. (Nov., 1855) 479. (Type iluscicapa virens, L.) Tarsus very short, but stout, less than the middle toe, and scarcely longer than the hinder j bill quite broad at the base, wider than half the culmen; tail mod- erately forked, much shorter than the wings (rather more than three-fourths); wings very long and much pointed, reaching beyond the middle of the tail, the first primary about equal to the fourth; all the primaries slender and rather acute, but not attenuated; head moderately crested; color, olive above, pale-yellowish beneath, with a darker patch on the sides of the breast; under tail coverts streaked. CONTOPUS BOR-EALIS.—Baird. The Olive-sided Flycatcher. Tyrannus borealis, Sw. and Rich. F. Bor. Am., II. (1831) 141; plate. Mnscicapa Cooperi, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 282. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 422; V. (1839) 422. Tyrannus Coopen, Bonaparte. List (1838). Nutt. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 298. Muscicapa inornaia, Nuttall. Man. I. (1832) 282. Description. Wings long, much pointed, the second quill longest, the first longer than the third; tail deeply forked ; tarsi short; the upper parts ashy-brown, showing darker brown centres of the feathers, this is eminently the case on the top of the head ; the sides of the head and neck, of the breast and body resembling the back, but with the edges of the feathers tinged with gray, leaving a darker central streak ; the chin, throat, narrow line down the middle of the breast and body, abdomen, and lower tail coverts white, or sometimes with a faint tinge of yellow; the lower tail coverts somewhat streaked with brown in the centre; on each side of the rump, generally concealed by the wings, is an elongated bunch of white silkj' feathers ; the wings and tail very dark brown, the former with the edges of the secondaries and tertials edged with dull-white ; the lower wing coverts and axillaries grayish- brown; the tips of the primaries and tail feathers rather paler; feet and upper mandible black, lower mandible brown; the young of the year similar, but the color duller; feet light-brown. Length, seven and fiftj' one-hundredths inches ; wing, four and thirty-three one- hundredths; tail, three and thirty one-hundredths; tarsus, sixty one-hundredths. Sa6. — Rare on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States. Not observed in the interior, except to the north. Found in Greenland. (Reinhardt.) This bird is a not very common summer inhabitant of New England. It arrives from the South about the 20th 136 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. of May, and is most frequently observed in low growths of oak and chestnut : it seems always busily employed in catching winged insects, of which its food almost entirely consists ; these it seizes in the manner of the King-bird, which bird it resembles in both its habits and disposition I have sometimes seen two birds of this species engaged in a fight, which, for fierceness, I have hardly seen surpassed. They would rush together in mid-air, snapping their bills, beating with their wings, and pecking each other, until they both descended to the trees beneath, actually exhausted with their exertions. Mr. Verrill says that it breeds quite common near the Umbagog Lakes, Me. ; but I have never been able to find its nest there or elsewhere, although I have looked for it with great care. It has been found breeding in Vermont ; and Dr. Thomp- son, in his work on the birds of that State, gives a descrip- tion of the nest and eggs. Three nests have been found in Massachusetts within two years ; two in West Roxbury, and one in Dorchester. These were all built in forked twigs of apple-trees, in old neglected orchards, facing to the southward, and were constructed of the same material that the King-bird uses in its nest. In fact, they were almost exactly like the King-bird's nest, but were a little smaller. Two of the nests had three eggs each, and the other had but two. They were all found in the first week in June, and the eggs were freshly laid : probably, if they had been unmolested, more eggs would have been deposited. Three of these eggs are in my cabinet. To compare them with the eggs of any other bird, I should say they seem like exceedingly large Wood Pewee's : for they are almost exactly like them in shape, color, and markings ; being of a creamy- white, with large blotches and spatters of lilac, lavender, and brownish-red. Their dimensions are .88 by .68 ; .88 by .66; .86 by .68 inch. Mr. Nuttall, who found a nest in Cambridge, Mass., THE WOOD PEWEE. 137 describes it as follows: "It was built in the horizontal branch of a tall red cedar, forty or fifty feet from the ground. It was formed much in the manner of the King- bird's, externally made of interlaced dead twigs of the cedar ; internally, of the wire stolons of the common Lichen or Usnea. It contained three young, and had had probably four eggs. The eggs had been hatched about the 20th of June, so that the pair had arrived in this vicinity about the close of May." He also describes the bird's note as follows : " The female had a whistling, oft-repeated, whin- ing call of 'pu 'pu, then varied to 'pu 'pip, and 'pip 'pu, also at times 'pip 'pip 'pu, 'pip 'pip 'pip, 'pu 'pii 'pip, or 'tu 'ta 'tu, and 'tu 'tu. The male, besides this note, had, at long intervals, a call of seh' phebee or 'h' phehed, almost exactly in the tone of the circular tin whistle or bird-call." By the second week in September, none of these birds are to be seen ; and, probably before that time, they have all departed on their migrations. CONTOPUS VIRENS. — Cahanis. The Wood Pewee. Muscicapa virens, Linneeus. Syst. Nat, I. (1766) 327. Nutt. Man., I. (183i!) 285. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 93; V. (1839) 425. Muscicapa rapax, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 81. Tyrannus virens, Nuttall. ' Man., I. {2d ed., 1840) 316. Desceiption. The second quill longest, the third a little shorter, the first shorter than the fourth, the latter nearly forty one-hundredths longer than the fifth ; the primaries more than an inch longer than the secondaries ; the upper parts, sides of the head, neck, and breast, dark olivaceous-brown, the latter rather paler, the head darker; a narrow white ring round the eye; the lower parts pale-yellowish, deepest on the abdomen; across the breast tinged with ash; this pale ash sometimes occupies the whole of the breast, and even occasionally extends up to the chin ; it is also sometimes glossed with olivaceous; the wings and tail dark-brown, generally deeper than in S. fuscus; two narrow bands across the wing, the outer edge of first primary and of the secondaries and tertials dull-white; the edges of the tail feathers like the back, the outer one scarcely lighter ; upper mandible black, the lower yel- low, but brown at the tip. Length, six and fifteen one-hundredths inches; wing, three and fifty one-hun- dredths; tail, three and five one-hundredths. Hah. — Eastern North America to the borders of the high central plains, south to New Granada. 138 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. This bird is a common summer inhabitant of New Eng- land, making its appearance from the Soutli from about the 10th to the 20th of May. It prefers the solitudes of the deep forests to the more open districts, and is a more retiring species than any of its cousins in these States. About the last of May, the birds, having chosen their mates, commence building. The nest is placed usually on the horizontal limb of a tree, generally at a height of about twenty feet from the ground : it is composed of pine leaves and cottony substances, and covered with lichens and mosses, which are fixed on after the manner of the Hum- ming-bird. I think Nuttall's description of the nest the best that I have seen : it is as follows : — " The nest is extremely neat and curious, almost universally saddled upon an old moss-grown and decayed limb in a horizontal position, and is so remarkably shallow, and incorporated upon the branch, as to be easily overlooked. The body of the fabric con- sists of wiry grass and root fibres, often blended with small branch- ing lichens, held together with cobwebs and caterpillars' silk, moistened with saliva ; externally, it is so coated over with bluish, crustaceous lichens as to be hardly discernible from the moss upon the tree. It is lined with finer root-fibres, or slender grass- stalks." THE WOOD PEWEE. 139 The eggs are generally four in number. They are very beautiful, being of a delicate cream-color, with blotches and spots of lilac and brown around the larger end : there are two shades of lilac, — one obscure, and the other decided, even a lavender. The eggs are generally oval in shape, and but little larger at one end than at the other. Length from .72 to .78 inch ; breadth from .54 to .56 inch. But one brood is reared in the season in New England. The period of incubation is fourteen days. The habits of this species are not generally so well known as those of the Phebe, which bird it resembles in many respects. Although it is usually found in the wildest and most thickly wooded localities, it sometimes frequents the orchards and open pastures ; and I have occasionally seen individuals on the trees on Boston Common, busily engaged in hunting insects, and apparently having families in the neighborhood. The note is different from that of the Phebe, being more plaintive and drawling, sounding like the syl- lables '■'■ pe-weeee,^^ '■'- pe-weeee.^^ When the nest is ap- proached, both the parents fly to meet the intruder, hovering over his head, snapping their bills, and uttering short notes of complaint like chijo-pee, pe-peu : they often alight on a twig near him, and flirt their tails and quiver their wings in a nervous, irritable manner. After the young have left the nest, the old birds separate ; and, though still frequenting the same localities they inhabited during the season of incubation, they are seldom seen together, each seeming to avoid the other. They are now generally silent, and, when approached, are quite shy. They leave the New-England States by the 10th of September, and probably winter in South America. EMPIDONAX, Cabakis. Empidonax, Cabanis, Journal fiir Omithologie, III. (Nov., 1855) 480 (tj-pe Tyrnnnula pusilla. Tyrannula of most authors. 140 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. Tarsus lengthened, considerably longer than the middle toe, which is decidedly longer than the hind toe; bill variable; tail very slightly forked, even, or rounded, a little shorter only than the wings, which are considerably rounded, the first pri- mary much shorter than the fourth; head moderately crested; color olivaceous above, yellowish beneath ; throat generally gray. EMPIDONAX TB.AlLLll.—Baird. The Traill's Flycatcher. Ifuscicapa trailUi, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. (1832) 236; V. (1839) 426. Tyrannus traiUii, Nuttall. Man., L (2d ed., 1840) 323. Description. Third quill longest, second scarcely shorter than fourth, first shorter than fifth, about thirty ■•five one-hundredths shorter than the longest ; primaries about seventy- five one-hundredths of an inch longer than secondaries; tail even; upper parts dark olive-green, lighter under the wings, and duller and more tinged with ash on nape and sides of the neck ; centre of the crown feathers brown ; a pale yellowish-white ring (in some specimens altogether white) round the eye; loral feathers mixed with white; chin and throat white; the breast and sides of throat light-ash tinged with olive, its intensity varying in individuals, the former sometimes faintly tinged with olive; sides of the breast much like the back; middle of the belly nearly white ; sides of the belly, abdomen, and the lower tail coverts sulphur-yellow ; the quills and tail feathers dark-brown, as dark (if not more so) as these parts in C. virens; two olivaceous yellow-white bands on the wing, formed by the tips of the first and second coverts, succeeded by a brown one, the edge of the first primary and of secondaries and tertials a little lighter shade of the same; the outer edge of the tail feathers like the back, that of the lateral one rather lighter; bill above dark- brown, dull-brownish beneath. Length, nearly six inches; wing, two and ninety one-hundredths ; tail, two and sixty one-hundredths. Hab. — Eastern United States, and south to Mexico. This bird is occasionally found as a spring and autumn visitor in New England, arriving about the 15th or 20th of May. In its habits, it resembles the Least Flycatcher (^. minimus'), as it does also in its plumage: in fact, these two birds and the Green-crested Flycatcher have been so mucli mistaken for each other by different naturalists, the confu- sion in whose descriptions is so great, that it requires a ver/ careful examination to identify either of these birds per- fectly and accurately. I have had no opportunities for observing the habits of tlie bird now before us, and can add nothing to its history. Thompson, in his " Vermont Birds," THE LEAST FLYCATCHER. 141 gives it as breeding in that State ; and I have no doubt it occasionally passes the summer in each of the New-England States. I had a nest and four eggs brought me in June, 1864, found in Eastern Massachusetts, that were almost exactly like those of E. minimus; but the bird brought with the nest was unquestionably of this species : whether or not the two belonged together I cannot say, but think that they probably did. The person who collected them informed me that the nest was found in an apple-tree in an old orchard : it was built in a small fork about twenty feet from the ground. The bird attacked the person who found it, courageously flying in his face, and snapping its bill with anger, and uttering a querulous twitter like that of the Phebe. The eggs were nearly hatched ; and, as they were found on the 20th of June, they must have been laid by the 10th of that month. Two eggs in my cabinet, from near Quebec, Lower Can- ada, collected by William Couper, Esq., who informs me this species is occasionally met with there, are of a creamy- white color, like that of the eggs of E. mininms ; each egg having a very few pale reddish-brown dots. The form of the eggs is more elongated than that of the eggs of minimus, the dimensions being .77 by .53 inch, and .76 by .55 inch. EMPIDONAX MINIMUS. — £ajV(f. The Least Flycatcher; Chebec. Tyrannula minima, William M. and S. F. Baird. Pr. A. N. So. I. (July, 1843) 284. lb., Sillim. Am. Jour. Sc. (July, 1844). And., Birds Amer. VII. (1844) 343, pL 491. Description. Second quill longest, third and fourth but little shorter, fifth a little less, first intermediate between fifth and sixth; tail even; above olive-brown, darker on the head, becoming paler on the rump and upper tail coverts; the middle of the back most strongly olivaceous; the nape (in some individuals) and sides of the head tinged with ash; a ring round the eye, and some of the loral feathers white, the chin and throat white; the sides of the throat and across- the breast dull-ash, the color on the latter sometimes nearly obsolete; sides of the breast similar to the back, but of a lighter tint; .middle of the belly very pale yellowish-white, turning to pale sulphur- yellow on the sides of the belly, abdomen, and lower tail coverts ; wings brown 142 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. two narrow white bands on wing, formed by the tips of the first and second cov- ert?, succeeded by one of brown; the edge of the first primary, and of the second- aries and tertials, white; tail rather lighter brown, edged external]}' like the back; feathers narrow, not acuminate, with the ends rather blunt. In autumn, the white parts are strongly tinged with yellow. Length, about five inches; wing, two and sixty-five one-hundredths ; tail, two and fifty one-hundredths. Hab. — Eastern United States to Missouri plains. This species arrives from the South usually about the last week in April. The birds commence building about the 20th or 25th of May. The nest is placed usually in a small fork of a limb of an apple-tree, in the orchard, and often quite near the house : it is composed of soft, fine grass, cobwebs, twine, cotton, — in fact, almost any thing that will help to make a smooth, compact fabric : the interior is lined with soft grass, bristles, fine roots, feathers, and wool. The eggs are usually four in number, sometimes three, some- times five : they are of a beautiful creamy-white color ; and their form is nearly pyriform, being abruptly tapered to the small end. Dimensions of a nest complement of four eggs, taken at random from a large number, collected in different parts of New England : .63 by .50 inch, .64 by .51 inch, .61 by .53 inch, .60 by .53 inch. This species often breeds twice in the season in New England. The period of incuba- tion is thirteen days. This bird, being very abundantly distributed as a summer resident throughout New England, is well known, and its habits are familiar to all. It prefers the neighborhood of civilization, and is most frequently found in orchards and gardens. A pair once built in an apple-tree, immediately beneath my chamber window, — so near that I could touch the nest with a rod four feet in length. The nest was com- menced on the 5th of June, and was finished by the 10th ; both birds working in its construction. The female laid four eggs in three days' time, and commenced sitting when the fourth was laid. Both birds incubated, and the male remained on the nest nearly as long as his mate. When he THE SMALL GREEN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER. 143 was off the nest, he was very pugnacious ; attacking every bird that came near, and even forcing a robin to retreat, so fierce was the onslaught he made on it. He always, in attacking other birds, uttered his shrill cry, chehec^ cliebec, and snapped his bill loudly and fiercely. When perching, he often flirted his tail in the manner of the Phebe ; and, every few seconds, he emitted his note, — chebec, chebec, eJiebec; varied sometimes into chebec-trree-treo, chebe c-treee- cheu. The young were all hatched by the fourteenth day, and left the nest within a month from their birth. They were fed abundantly, while on the nest, by the parents, with insects, which they caught and crushed between their bills : they were fed a few days after they left the nest, and then turned adrift ; the parents having begun another nest on the same tree. The Least Flycatcher has often been called the Small Green-crested or Acadican Flycatcher. I would caution those who are interested in the history of these birds to observe great care, and be certain of their identity before naming them. By the second week in September, it leaves on its south- ern migration. EMPIDONAX ACADICUS. — Baird. The Small Green-crested Flycatcher. f Muscicapa acadica, Gmelin. Syst. Nat, I. (1788) 947. Aud. Orn. Biog., 11. (1834) 256; V. (1839) 429. Nutt. Man., L (1832) 208. Muscicapa querula, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 77. Tyrannus acadica, Nuttall. Man. I. (2d ed., 1840) 320. Description. The second and third quills are longest, and about equal; the fourth a little shorter, the first about equal to the fifth, and about thirty-five one-hundredths less than the longest; tail even; the upper parts, with sides of the head and neck, olive- green, the crown very little if any darker; a yellowish-white ring round the eye; the sides of the body under the wings like the back, but fainter olive, a tinge of the same across the breast; the chin, throat, and middle of the belly white; the abdo- men, lower tail and wing coverts, and sides of the body not covered by the wings, pale greenish-yellow ; edges of the first primary, secondaries, and tertials margined 144 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. with dull yellowish-white, most broadly on the latter; two transverse bands of pale- yellowish across the wings, formed by the tips of the secondary and primary coverts, succeeded by a brown one; tail light-brown, margined externally like the back; upper mandible light-brown above, pale-yellow beneath. In autumn, the lower parts are more yellow. Length, five and sixty-five one-hundredths inches; wing, three; tail, two and seventy-five one-hundredths inches. Hah. — Eastern United States to the Mississippi. This bird is a rare summer inhabitant of any of the New- England States, seldom coming so far north. I have had no opportunities of observing its habits, and can give no description from my own observati'on. Mr. Allen says that it breeds in swamps and low moist thickets, which are its exclusive haunts. Giraud, in his " Birds of Long Island," says, " In habits, it is solitary ; generally seen on the lower branches of the largest trees ; utters a quick, sharp note ; arrives among us in the latter part of May, and retires southward early in September." I have no nest, but understand that it resembles that of the Least Flycatcher. Five eggs before me, furnished by J. P. Norris, Esq., of Philadelphia, are of a pale creamy- white color, with a few thin spots of reddish-brown scattered over their larger end. They vary in size from .78 inch in length by about .56 inch in breadth, to .72 inch in length by .55 inch in breadth. The form is like that of E. traillii '; but the spots are larger and more numerous. OSCINES. SINGING BIRDS. 145 SUB-ORDER OSCINES. Singing Birds. Toes, three anterior, one behind, all at the same level, and none versatile, the outer anterior never entirely tree to the base ; tail feathers twelve ; primaries, either nine only, or else the first is spurious or much shorter than the second, making the tenth; tail feathers usually twelve; tarsi feathered to the knee, the plates on the anterior face either fused into one or with distinct divisions, the posterior portion of the sides covered by one continuous plate on either side, meeting in a sharp edge behind, or with only a few divisions inferiorly. Occasionally, the hinder side has transverse plates, corresponding in number to the anterior; but there are then usually none on the sides. Larynx provided with a peculiar muscular apparatus for singing, composed of five pairs of muscles. Family TURDID^. The Thrushes. The following characteristics of this fkmily and its genera, represented in New England, are given by Professor Spencer F. Baird, in his recent " Review of the Birds of North America," published in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collec- tions : — "Primaries ten, the first of which is either spurious or much shorter than the second. The bill is elongated and subulate, moderately slender, and usually notched at tip; nostrils uncovered; the culmen moderately curved from the base, and the mouth well provided with bristles, except in a few cases. Usually, the scutellaa' covering the front and sides of the tarsus are fused into one continuous plate, or else scarcely appreciable, except on the inner edge only ; in the Mocking Thrushes, they are, however, distinct^ marked. The lateral toes are nearly equal, the outer rather the longer." These general characteristics apply also to the SaxicolidcB, more fully spoken of in a succeeding page. The peculiar characteristics of the family Turdidce are: "Wings moderate, more rounded, not reaching beyond middle of the often rounded tail, and not more than one and a third the latter, usuallj- more nearly equal. Spurious primary sometimes half the length of second quill, the second quill shorter than the fourth. In the closed wing, the outer secondary reaches three-fourths or more the ^^ngth of longest primary." Professor Baird divides this family into the sub-families Turdince, which have "tarsi covered anteriorly with a continuous plate;" and the IlimincE, whose tarsi are scutellate anteriorly ; scutell® seven. Sub-Family Turdin^. Nostrils oval ; bristles along the base of the bill from gape to nostrils, those of rictus not reaching beyond nostrils; the loral feathers with bristly points; quill longer than sixth; outer lateral toes longer; wings long. 10 146 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. TUKDUS, LiNN^us. Turdus, LiNN.EUS, Syst. Nat. (1735). (Tj'pe T. viscivonis, fide G. R. Gray.) Bill rather stout; commissure straight to near the tip, which is quite abruptly decurved, and usually distinctly notched; culmen gently convex from base; bill shorter than the head, both outlines curved; tarsi longer than the middle toe; lateral toes nearly equal, outer longer; wings much longer than the tail, pointed; the first quill spurious and very small, not one-fourth the length of longest; tail short, nearly even, or slightly emarginate. TURDUS MUSTELINUS. — Gmelin. The Song Thrush ; Wood Thrush. Turdus musieUnus, Gmelin. Syst. Nat, I. (1788) 817. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 343. Aud. Orn. Biog., L (1832) 372; V. (1839) 446. Turdus melodus, Wilson. Am. Orn., L (1808) 35, pi. ii. Description. Above, clear cinnamon-brown, on the top of the head becoming more rufous, on the rump and tail olivaceous; the under parts are clear-white, sometimes tinged with butf on the breast or anteriorly, and thickly marked beneath, except on the chin and throat, and about the vent and tail coverts, with "sub-triangular, sharply defined spots of blackish ; the sides of the head are dark-brown, streaked with ivhite, and there is also a maxillary series of streaks on each side of the throat, the central por- tion of which sometimes has indications of small spots. Length, eight and ten-liundredths inches : wing, four and twentj--five one-hun- dredths; tail, three and five one-hundredths ; tarsus, one and twenty-six one- hundredths. Hah. — Eastern United States to Missouri River, south to Guatemala. THIS beautiful songster is a pretty common summer inhabitant of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, In the other New-England States, it is rarely seen ; and, when we hear of a Song Thrush occurring there, refer- ence is probably made either to the Hermit or Olive-backed Thrush. 1\ arrives from the South about the 10th of May, both sexes making their appearance at about the same time. They soon commence pairing, and frequent the moist thick- ets and thickly wooded glens, where their amours are con- ducted in privacy and peace. At this season, the beautiful song of the male is heard at early dawn and early twilight : it seldom sings in the middle of the day, unless the weather is dark and cloudy. This song is a beautiful, melancholy strain, similar to the tone THE SONG THRUSH. l^T produced on a flute : the notes are difficult of description. Mr. Nuttall, who was particularly happy in his descriptions of bird-songs, speaks of this as follows : — " The prelude to this song resembles almost the double-tonguing of the flute, blended with a tinkling, shrill, and solemn warble, which re-echoes from his solitary retreat like the dirge of some sad recluse, who shuns the busy haunts of life. The whole air consists usually of four parts, or bars, which succeed, in deliberate time, and finally blend together in impressive and soothing harmony, becoming more mellow and sweet at every repetition. Rival per- formers seem to challenge each other from various parts of the wood, vying for the favor of their mates with sympathetic respon- ses and softer tones. And some, waging a jealous strife, terminate the warm dispute by an appeal to combat and violence. Like the Robin and the Thrasher, in dark and gloomy weather, when other birds are sheltered and silent, the clear notes of the "Wood Thrush are heard through the dropping woods, from dawn to dusk ; so that, the sadder the day, the sweeter and more constant is his song. His clear and interrupted whistle is likewise often nearly the only voice of melody heard by the traveller, to mid-day, in the heat of sum- mer, as he traverses the silent, dark, and wooded wilderness, remote from the haunts of men. It is nearly impossible by words to con- vey any idea of the peculiar warble of this vocal hermit; but, amongst his phrases, the sound of 'airoee, peculiarly liquid, and followed by a trill, repeated in two separate bars, is readily recog- nizable. At times, their notes bear a considerable resemblance to those of Wilson's Thrush : such as eh rhehu 'vrhehu, then varied to 'eh villia villia, 'eh villia vrhehu, then 'eh velu villu, high and shrill." About the 20th of May, the Song Thrush builds its nest. This is placed usually in a low alder or birch shrub, in a retired locality, almost always in the deep woods. It is composed outwardly of grass, leaves, and weeds, bent and twined together. In this is built a nest composed of mud and grass, and the whole is lined with fibrous roots and soft grass and moss. It is placed on a low branch of a tree, or in the branches of a shrub. I give Wilson's description of 148 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. the nest, not because it is essentially different from my own, but to confirm my own observation, and to help clear up the confusion that exists in many districts concerning the identity of the thrushes. It is as follows : — " The favorite haunts of the Wood Thrush are low, thick-shaded hollows, through which a small brook or rill meanders, overhung with cedar-bushes that are mantled with wild vines. Near such a scene, he generally builds his nest in a laurel or alder bush. Out- wardly, it is composed of withered beech-leaves of the preceding year, laid at bottom in considerable quantfties, no doubt to prevent damp and moisture from ascending through, being generally built in low, wet situations : above these are layers of knotty stalks or withered grass, mixed with mud, and smoothly plastered, above which is laid a slight lining of fine black fibrous roots of plants." The eggs are usually four in number ; they are of a uni- form light-blue color, without spots, and with a very slight tint of green ; their form is rather long and pointed. The following are the dimensions of a nest complement of four eggs, found in Milton, Mass. : 1.12 by .68 inch, 1.12 by .69 inch, 1.07 by 70 inch, 1 by .73 inch. But one brood is usually reared in the season in New England. TURDUS PALLASn. — Cabanis. The Hermit Thrush. Turdus paUasii, Cabanis. Wieggman's Archiv. (1847), I. 205. Turdus solitarius, Wilson. Am. Cm., V. (1812) 95 (not of Linnaeus. The figure quoted pi. xliii. fig. 2, belongs to T. Swainsonii). Aud. Syn. (1839). lb., Birds Am., m. (1841) 29, pi. 146. Turdus minor, Bonaparte. Obs. Wilson (1825), No. 72. lb., Syn. (1828), 75. Nutt. Man., L (1830) 346. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 303; V. 445, pi. 58. Desceiption. Fourth quill longest; third and fourth a little shorter; second about equal to the eixth (about a thirtieth of an inch shorter than the longest); tail slightly emargi- nate; above light olive-brown, with a scarcely perceptible shade of reddish, passing, however, into decided rufous on the rump, upper tail coverts, and tail, and to a less degree on the outer surface of the wings; beneath white, with a scarcely appreciable shade of pale-buff across the fore part of the breast, and sometimes on the throat; the sides of the throat and the fore part of the breast with rather sharply defined THE HERMIT THRUSH. 149 Bubtriangular spots of dark olive-brown; the sides of the breast with paler and less distinct spots of the same ; sides of the body under the wings of a paler shade than the back ; a whitish ring round the eye ; ear coverts very obscurely streaked with paler. Length, seven and fiftj' one-hundredths inches; wing, three and eighty-four one- hundredths ; tail, three and twenty -five one-hundredths ; tarsus, one and sixteen one-hundredths. Hab. — Eastern North America to the Mississippi River. This bird, although not so well known in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, is quite familiar to the people of the other States in New England. It arrives from the South about the middle of April, and passes leisurely to the North, where it arrives about the middle of May. It very seldom breeds in any districts south of the latitude of the middle of Maine ; and from thence north it is quite abundant, where it is known by the name of the Swamp Robin. I have been so fortunate as to find several nests of this species ; and they were all built in very low scrubby trees or bushes, quite near the ground. They were com- posed of twigs, grasses, mosses, and leaves ; they were deeply hollowed, and no mud was used in their composition, as with several other species ; they were lined with soft grasses, mosses, and fine fibrous roots. The eggs were, in one nest, three in number ; and, in the others, four. This was about the 10th of June. The localities were in the neigh- borhood of Lake Umbagog and in the valley of the Magal- loway River, in Maine. The eggs of this species are of a somewhat elongated oval form, and their color is a light- blue with a very faint tint of green : " about one in every four has very thinly scattered spots of reddish-brown, and occasionally one is met with having an abundance of coarser spots of two shades of brown." Dimensions of specimens from various localities vary from .92 by .65 to .88 by .60 inch. Mr. C. L. Paine, of Randolph, Vt., writes me that he has found numbers of the nests of this bird, and that they were invariably built on the ground. He also says that the eggs 150 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. are always blue in color, and he has never met with one that was spotted in any manner. I have quite a number of specimens in my collection, and not one is spotted. I have also seen many others, and they were not marked ; and I think that the above quotation must be received with cau- tion. A nest sent me from Upton, Me., is composed almost entirely of mosses. It contains five eggs, all unspotted. Mr. Paine writes me that the Olive-backed Thrush breeds in his neighborhood, which, with the other, are the only thrushes breeding there. In answer to his remark that the Hermit Thrush always builds on the ground, I can only say that I found the nests as above. I have noticed that the Tawny or Wilson's Thrush builds on the ground in some localities and in bushes in others, and conclude that the Hermit is also variable in its choice of a nesting-place. The habits, song, and general characteristics of this bird are almost exactly similar to those of the Song Thrush. Its song resembles it so much, that I always supposed the bird was the same, until I examined some of them that I heard singing, when I found my mistake. About the middle of October, the last individuals that are seen in Massachusetts leave for the South. At this time, as in the spring, they are silent and shy: their note is a faint chirp, "Uttered in a listless, melancholy tone ; and their whole appearance is in keeping with the great change which has come over the face of Nature. In fact, the Hermit Thrush is always associated in my mind with the falling of leaves, the rattling of acorns, and the whirring of the Ruffed Grouse through the birches and alders of the swampy glens. TUEDUS TJJSGESGEiaS. — Stephens. The Tawny Thrush; Wilson's Thrush. Turdus fuscescens, Stephens. Shaw's Zool. Birds, X. (1817) 182. Gray, Genera (1849). Turdus mustelinus, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. (1812) 98 (not of Gm.). Turdus Wilsonii, Nuttall. Man., L (1832) 349. Aud. Orn. Biog., IL (1834) 362; V. 446.- lb., Birds Am., IIL (1841) 27, pi. 145. THE TAWNY THRUSH. 151 Description. Third quill Icjigest, fourth a little shorter, second nearly a quarter of an inch longer than the fifth ; above, and on sides of head and neck, nearly uniform light reddish-brown, Avith a faint tendency to orange on the crown and tail; beneath white, the fore part of the breast and throat (paler on the chin) tinged with pale brownish-yellow, in decided contrast to the white of the belly; the sides of the throat and the fore part of the breast, as colored, are marked with small triangular spots of light-brownish, nearly like the back, but not well defined; there are a few obsolete blotches on the sides of the breast (in the white) of pale-oHvaceous, the Bides of the body tinged with the same; tibiie white; the lower mandible is brown- ish only at the tip; the lores are ash-colored. Length, se^en and fifty one-huudredths inches; wing, four and twenty-five one- hundredths ; tail, three and twenty one-hundredths inches ; tarsus, one and twenty one-hundredths. Hah. — Eastern North America to the Missouri, north to fhr countries. This species is well distinguished among the American thrushes by the indis- tinctness of the spots beneath, and their being confined mainly to the fore part of the breast. In some specimens, there is a faint tendency to a more vivid color on the rump; but this is usually like the back, which is very nearly the color of the rump in T. pallasii. This quite common species is a summer inhabitant of southern New England. It is quite abundant until we reach the southern portions of Maine, New Hampshire, and Ver- mont, when it begins to grow less common until we reach the latitude of the middle of these States, where it begins to be replaced by the Hermit Thrush, and soon ceases to occur to the north of this latitude. It makes its appearance from the South about the first week in May, often earlier, and commences building about the 20th of May. The nest is placed occasionally in a low shrub, or tangled clump of briers, usually on the ground. The situation is retired, often in the depths of the woods. The nest is constructed of grass, leaves, and weeds ; in some cases, the outer bark of the grape-vine is the principal material used : it is quite thoroughly made, and is deeply hollowed, and lined with fine roots and horsehair. The eggs are usually four in number, sometimes five ; their color is bluish-green, deeper than that of the eggs of the Hermit Thrush, but not so dark as in those of the Cat Bird ; their form is generally an oval, sometimes lengthened and sharpened ; their average size is 152 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. about .90 by .66 inch. As in many other eggs, the longest specimens are not always the broadest. The following are the dimensions of four eggs, taken at random from a large number of this species : .92 by .64 inch, .88 by .64 inch, .86 by M inch, .87 by .67 inch. From the first arrival of this bird, during its whole stay here, it seems to prefer the neighborhood of a swampy wood for its home. There, during the mating and incubating seasons, the notes of the male may be heard at the earliest hours of the morning and evening ; and, in cloudy weather, through the day, and sometimes in the night. The song is a peculiar one, with a singular metallic ring, exceedingly difficult to describe : it begins quite loud, the syllables cheury^ cheury, clieury^ clie{iry^ decreasing in tone to a quite faint lisp ; then, after a short pause, the notes, cheou Hwit^ tritter, Hritter, are uttered ; and the whole is finished usually with the ejaculation, chichwheu. This song is often re- peated ; and sometimes two or three males, perching on a low shrub or tree, emulate each other in a musical contest that is very pleasing to hear. This thrush, as are all the others, is eminently insectivorous ; and through the whole day he may be heard busily searching among the fallen leaves for his favorite food. About the 10th of September, it leaves for the South : at this time, like most of the others, it is silent and retiring, and is found only in localities that are thickly wooded with a growth of small birches and oaks. TURDUS SWAINSONIL— CaSanis. The Olive-backed Thrush; Swainson's Thrush. Turdus Swainsonii. Cab. in Tschudi F. Peruana (1844-46) 188. Turdus solitarius, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. Description. Third quill longest, second and fourth but little shorter, and much longer than the fifth (by thirty-five one-hundredths of an inch); upper parts uniform olivaceous, with a decided shade of green; the fore part of breast, the throat, and chin, pale brownish-yellow; rest of lower parts white, the sides washed with brownish-olive; THE OLIVE-BACKED THEUSH. 153 sides of the throat and fore part of the breast with sub-rounded spots of well-defined brown, darker than the back; the rest of the breast (except medially) with rather less distinct spots that are more olivaceous; tibiae yellowish-brown; broad ring round the eye; loral region, and a general tinge on the side of the head, clear reddish-buff. Length, seven inches; wing, four and fifteen one-hundredths ; tail, three and ten one-hundredths inches; tarsus, one and ten one-hundredths. Hab. — Eastern North America to the Black Hills, south to Mexico and Peru, north to Greenland. Accidental in Europe and Siberia. This species is at once distinguished from the others by the perfectly uniform and pure dull-olivaceous shade of its upper parts, most strongly marked and appreciable on the rump and tail. The throat and breast are perhaps more reddish than in any of our species, and the tinge in the marking on the side of the head is very much more decided than in any other. The spots on the breast larger than in T. ustulatus, and rather more numerous than in pallasii. This species is the least common of all the New-England thrushes. It is rarely observed in its passage through the southern portions of these States, and only begins to choose a home for the summer on arriving at the northern districts. I have looked for it repeatedly, but have not been able to find it south of the latitude of Lake Umbagog, in the breed- ing season ; and even there it is not often met with. It arrives in the localities where it breeds about the first week in June. In common with the Hermit Thrush, it is called the " Swamp Robin," and can hardly be distinguished from that bird, either by its song, which is beautiful, or by its breeding habits or nests. The eggs are different, being of a deeper green color : they are always (so far as my experi- ence goes) thinly spotted with dots and blotches of reddish and brown. The following are the dimensions of four eggs that I found in a nest near Wilson's Mills, Me., on the 16th of June,' 1864: .93 by .64 inch, .93 by .63 inch, .92 by .60 inch, .90 by .61 inch. The only difference in the habits of this species from those of the Hermit Thrush is, that, while the latter is most usually found in swampy localities, the other is most often seen in dry, scrubby woods, where it is almost always busily engaged in the pursuit of its favorite insect food. J. A. Allen, in his paper on the birds of Springfield, Mass., before referred to, is of the opinion that this species 154 OENITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. and the Turdus alicice are the same. In a conversation with Professor Baird, since the issue of Allen's paper, I was in- formed, that, in a large suite of specimens of both species, to which he had access, he could identify each by character- istics so fixed that any confusion was impossible : he was of the opinion that Mr. Allen had not seen the bird he calls alicice. I have therefore not given that species as a bird of New England, and think that it yet remains to be proved as such. Dr. Bryant, in describing the habits of the Olive-backed Thrush, says : — " Its note differs entirely from that of T. pallasii, and the birds also differ very miich in their habits ; the latter species being gen- erally seen on the ground, while the Olive-backed Thrush prefers to procure its food among the branches. The one seen at Big Mud Lake, Grand Manan, was perched on the top of a small dwarf-fir, and was hunting the passing insects with all the dexterity of a typical Flycatcher." TURDUS mGHATORlVS. — LinncBus. The Robin. Turdus migratorius, Linnceus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 292. Wilson, Am. Orn., I. (1808) 35. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 190. Merula migratoria, Sw. and Eich. Fauna Bor. Amer., II. (1831) 176. Description. Third and fourth quills about equal, fifth a little shorter, second longer than sixth; tail slightly rounded; above olive-gray, top and sides of the head black; chin and throat white, streaked with black; eyelids, and a spot above the eye an- teriorly, white; under parts and inside of the wings chestnut-brown; the under tail coverts and anal region with tibiae white, showing the plumbeous inner portions of the feathers ; wings dark-brown, the feathers all edged more or less with pale-ash ; tail still darker, the extreme feathers tipped with white ; bill yellow, dusky along the ridge and at the tip. Length, nine and seventy-five one-hundredths inches; wing, five and forty-three one-hundredths ; tail, four and seventy-five one-hundredths inches ; tarsus, one and twenty-five one-hundredths. Hab. — Continent of North America to Mexico. It is very seldom that specimens exhibit the colors exactly as described. Nearly always in winter, and in most cases at other times, the rufous feathers are margined with whitish, sometimes quite obscuring the color. The black feathers of the head. THE ROBIN. 155 too, have brownish edgings. The white spot above the eye sometimes extends for- wards towards the nostrils, but is usually quite restricted. The white patches on the two eyelids are separated from each other, anteriorly and posteriorly.' This very common and well-known bird is a summer in- habitant of all New England, and, in mild winters, remains in the southern districts of these States through the year. The great body of the birdSj however, arrive from the South about the middle of March. They commence build- ing from the middle of April to the first week in May, according to lati- tude. The nest is built more often in the trees of the orchards and gardens, near houses, than in the deep woods. It is a large, elaborately built affair, constructed first of a thick layer of straws, weeds, roots, and mosses : on this is built the nest proper, which is made of straws and weeds, woven together in a circular form, and plastered together with mud ; this is lined with soft grasses and moss, the whole making a durable structure, often holding together through the entire year. The eggs are usually four in num- ber : their color is a beautiful greenish-blue, almost the same as that of the Wood Thrush's egg, which they resemble in shape, except they are a trifle broader. Dimensions of a nest-complement of four eggs : 1.16 by .82 inch, 1.16 by .82 inch, 1.10 by .75 inch, 1.10 by .80 inch. Many cases occur, in the southern districts of New England, of two broods being reared in the season, and I have known of three broods being reared in Massachusetts ; but, in the northern districts, I think that the second brood is the exception, instead of the rule. Perhaps none of our birds are more unpopular with horti- culturists than this ; and I will here give the observations 156 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. of different scientific men, and my own, to show that the prejudice against the bird is unjust and unfounded. Mr. Trouvelot, of Medford, Mass., who is engaged in rearing silkworms, for the production of silk, is troubled by the Robin to a degree surpassing most other birds. He has a tract of about seven or eight acres enclosed, and mostly covered with netting. He is obliged, in self-defence, to kill the birds which penetrate into the enclosure and destroy the worms. Through the season, probably ten robins, for one of all others, thus molest him ; and, of scores of these birds which he has opened and examined, none had any fruit or berries in their stomachs, — nothing but insects. It is to be understood that this was not in a part of the summer when berries were unripe : on the contrary, it was all through the season. His land is surrounded with scrub- oaks and huckleberry-bushes. These latter were loaded with fruit, which was easier of access to the birds than the worms ; but none were found in them. He says they came from all quarters to destroy his silkworms, and gave him more trouble than all the other birds together. He said that, in his opinion, if the birds were all killed off, vegeta- tion would be entirely destroyed. To test the destructive- ness of these marauders, as he regarded them, he placed on a small scrub-oak near his door two thousand of his silk- worms. (These, let me say, resemble, when small, the young caterpillar of the apple-tree moth.) In a very few days they were all eaten by Cat-birds and Robins, — birds closely allied, and of the same habits. This was in the .berry season, when an abundance of this kind of food was easily accessible ; but they preferred his worms. Why ? Because the young of these, as well as those of most other birds, must be fed on animal food. Earthworms assist in the regimen ; but how often can birds like the Robin, Cat- bird, Thrush, &c., get these ? Any farmer knows, that, when the surface of the ground is dry, they go to the subsoil, out of the reach of birds ; and it is not necessary here to say THE EOBIN. 157 what proportion of the time the ground is very dry through the summer. Caterpillars, grubs of various kinds, and insects, therefore constitute the chief food of these birds ; and of these, caterpillars and grubs being the most abun- dant, and most easily caught, furnish, of course, the larger proportion. In fact, the Thrushes seem designed by nature to rid the surface of the soil of noxious insects not often pursued by most other birds. The warblers capture the insects that prey on the foliage of the trees ; the flycatchers seize these insects as they fly from the trees ; the swallows capture those which have escaped all these ; the woodpeckers destroy them when in the larva state in the wood ; the wrens, nut- hatches, titmice, and creepers eat the eggs and young that live on and beneath the bark ; but the thrushes subsist on those that destroy the vegetation on the surface of the earth. They destroy nearly all kinds of grubs, caterpillars, and worms that live upon the greensward and cultivated soil, and large quantities of crickets and grasshoppers before they have become perfect insects. The grubs of locusts, of harvest-flies, and of beetles, which are turned up by the plough or the hoe, and their pupse when emerging from the soil ; apple-worms, when they leave the fruit and crawl about in quest of new shelter ; and those subterranean caterpillars, the cutworms, that come out of the earth to take their food, — all these, and many others, are eagerly devoured by the Robin and other Thrushes. The cutworms emerge from the soil during the night to seek for food ; and the Robin, which is one of the earliest birds to go abroad in the morn- ing, is very diligent at the dawn of day in hunting for these vermin before they have gone back into their retreat. The number of these destructive grubs is immense. " Whole cornfields," says Dr. Harris, " are sometimes laid waste by them. Cabbage-plants, till they are grown to a considerable size, are very apt to be cut ofl" and destroyed by them. Po- tato-vines, beans, beets, and various other culinary plants, 158 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. suffer in the same way." The services of the robins, in destroying these alone, would more than pay for all the fruit they devour. Indeed, during the breeding season, a robin is seldom seen without having in his mouth one of these cater- pillars, or some similar grub, which he designs for his young; and as the Robin often raises three broods of young during the season, his species must destroy more of this class of noxious insects than almost all other birds together. In my own gardening experiences, I have had my full share of cutworms ; and I have always noticed the Robin, Brown Thrush, and Cat-bird busy early in the morning, — almost before. other birds are out of their feather-beds, figuratively speaking, — catching these vermin and eating them, or carrying them for food to their young. To show further the food of this bird, I present the follow- ing experiment. At a meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, a communication was read from Professor Treadwell, of Cambridge, giving a detailed account of the feeding and growth of this bird during a period of thirty- two days, commencing with the 5tli of June. The following is the substance of this report : — When caught, the two were quite young, their tail feathers being less than an inch in length, and the weight of each about twenty-five pennyweights, — less than half the weight of the full-grown birds : both were plump and vigorous, and had evidently been very recently turned out of the nest. He began feeding them with earthworms, giving three to each bird that night. The second day, he gave them ten worms each, which they ate ravenously. Thinking this beyond what their parents could naturally supply them with, he limited them to this allowance. On the third day, he gave them eight worms each in the forenoon ; but in the afternoon he found one becoming feeble, and it soon lost its strength, refused food, and died. On opening it, he found the pro- ventriculus, gizzard, and intestines entirely empty, and con- cluded therefore that it died from want of sufficient food ; THE EOBIN. 159 the effect of hunger being increased perhaps by the cold, as the thermometer was about sixty degrees. The other bird, still vigorous, he put in a warmer place, and increased its food, giving it the third day fifteen worms, on the fourth day twenty-four, on the fifth twenty-five, on the sixth thirty, and on the seventh thirty-one worms. They seemed insufficient, and the bird appeared to be losing plumpness and weight. He began to weigh both the bird and its food, and the results were given in a tabular form. On the fifteenth day, he tried a small quantity of raw meat, and, finding it readily eaten, increased it gradually, to the exclusion of worms. With it the bird ate a large quantity of earth and gravel, and drank freely after eating. By the table, it appears that though the food was increased to forty worms, weighing twenty pennyweights, on the eleventh day the weight of the bird ratlier fell off; and it was not until the fourteenth day, when he ate sixty-eight worms, or thirty- four pennyweights, that he began to increase. On this day, the weight of the bird was twenty-four pennyweights : he therefore ate forty-one per cent more than his own weight in twelve hours, weighing after it twenty-nine pennyweights, or fifteen per cent less than the food he had eaten in that time. The length of these worms, if laid end to end, would be about fourteen feet, or ten times the length of the intes- tines. To meet the objection, that the earthworm contains but a small quantity of nutritious matter, on the twenty-seventh day he was fed exclusively on clear beef, in quantity twenty- seven pennyweights. At night, the bird weighed fifty-two pennyweights, but little more than twice the amount of flesh consumed during the day, not taking into account the water and earth swallowed. This presents a wonderful contrast with the amount of food required by the cold-blooded ver- tebrates, fishes, and reptiles, many of which can live for months without food, and also with that required by mammalia. Man, at this rate, would eat about seventy 160 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. pounds of flesh a day, and drink five or six gallons of water. The question immediately presents itself, How can this immense amount of food, required by the young birds, be supplied by the parents ? Suppose a pair of old robins, with the usual number of four young ones. These would require, according to the consumption of this bird, two hundred and fifty worms, or their equivalent in insect or other food, daily. Suppose the parents to work ten hours, or six hundred min- utes, to procure this supply : this would be a worm to every two and two-fifths minutes ; or each parent must procure a worm or its equivalent in less than five minutes during ten hours, in addition to the food required for its own support. After the thirty-second day, the bird had attained its full size, and was intrusted to the care of another person during his absence of eighteen days. At the end of that period, the bird was strong and healthy, with no increase of weight, though its feathers had grown longer and smoother. Its food had been weighed daily, and averaged fifteen penny- weights of weight, two or three earthworms, and a small quantity of bread each day, the whole being equal to eigh- teen pennyweights of meat, or thirty-six pennyweights of earthworms ; and it continued up to the time of the pres- entation of the report. The bird having continued in con- finement, with certainly much less exercise than in the wild state, to eat one-third of its weight in clear flesh daily, the Professor concludes that the food it consumed when young was not much more than must always be provided by the parents of wild birds. The food was never passed undi- gested ; the excretions were made up of gravel and dirt, and a small quantity of semi-solid urine. He thought that every admirer of trees may derive from these facts a lesson, showing the immense power of birds ^to destroy the insects by which our trees, especially our apple-trees, elms, and lindens, are every few years stripped of their foliage, and often many of them killed. THE ROBIN. 161 "The food of the Robin," the Professor says, "while with us, consists principally of worms, various insects, their larvae and eggs, and a few cherries. Of worms and cherries they can procure but few, and those during but a short period ; and they are obliged, therefore, to subsist principally upon the great destroyers of leaves, — canker-worms, and some other kinds of caterpillars and bugs. If each robin, old and young, requires for its support an amount of these equal to the weight consumed by this bird, it is easy to see what a prodigious havoc a few hundred of these must make upon the insects of an orchard or nursery." Wilson Flagg, an acute and careful observer of the habits of our birds, gives some of his experiences of the Robin, as follows. He says, — " Before I had investigated the habits of this bird, with particular reference to the service he renders to agriculture, I supposed he was only of secondary importance, compared with the Blackbird and others that possess the faculty of discovering and seizing the grubs that lie concealed beneath the surface of the ground. Though the Robin does not possess this faculty, he is pre-eminently service- able in other ways ; and the more I have studied his habits, the more I am convinced of his usefulness. Indeed, I am now fully persuaded that he is valuable beyond all other species of birds, and that his services are absolutely indispensable to the farmers of New England. Some persons believe that the Robin is exclusively a frugivorous bird, and that for fruit he will reject all other food that is within his reach. Others believe that his diet consists about equally of fruits and angle-worms, but that he is not a general con- sumer of insects. The truth is, the Robin is almost exclusively insectivorous, and uses fruit, as we do, only as a dessert, and not for his subsistence, except in the winter, when his insect food cannot be obtained. He is not omnivorous, like the Crow, the Jay, and the Blackbird. He rejects farinaceous food unless it is artificially pre- pared, derives almost his entire support from insects and grubs, and consumes, probably, a greater variety of species than any other bird. I am entirely at a loss to account for this very prevalent and mistaken notion respecting the frugivorous habits of the Robin. 11 162 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. "Early in May," he says, "my son caught and caged three young Robins, and I encouraged him in the act, that I might be enabled to study their habits of feeding. He commenced by feed- ing them with angle-worms and soaked bread, giving them the latter very sparingly. They soon died, evidently from an excess of the farinaceous part of their diet. He then took three others from different nests, and fed them more exclusively on worms, and some fruit. Two of these also soon djed, and the remaining one ap- peared ill and drooping. I suggested that the bird probably needed insects as well as worms, which alone were not sufficient to supply all the wants of the system ; though he had access to cherries and soaked bread, of which he could eat whenever he wanted them. After this, he was supplied with all sorts of grubs and insects which my son was able to capture. The robin devoured these indiscrimi- nately and with great eagerness. He was never known to refuse one of any description. All kinds of beetles, moths, bugs, grubs, vine- worms, chrysalids, and caterpillars, which were presented to him, he devoured. After this improvement of his diet, the bird soon recovered his health ; and the experiment proved conclusively that this variety of insect food was necessary to the life of the bird, at least while he was young. " These insects were not put into his mouth : they were placed upon the floor of his cage, and he picked them up, killing them in a way that showed that he knew instinctively how to manage them. " He was particular in beating the vine-worm considerably before he swallowed it ; but he never refused one, or neglected to eat it. On one occasion, having swallowed a hard beetle, and finding it incommodious, he threw it out of his crop by a voluntary effort, beat it awhile with his bill against the floor, and then swallowed it again. This fact also proved his instinctive knowledge of the mode of proceeding in such emergencies. "It is a fact worthy of notice, that the Baltimore Oriole, or Golden Robin, which has the reputation of performing more ser- vice than the common Robin, may, when confined in a cage, be fed almost entirely on farinaceous food, without injury to his health. This fact is good evidence that the common Robin is more entirely insectivorous than the other. The contrary is generally believed. The fondness of the Robin and others for fruit is not peculiar to his THE BROWN THRUSH. 163 species : it is equally remarkable in almost all other insectivorous birds." I have given these accounts, as I remarked before, for the purpose of removing a prejudice that is too well established against this bird. Instances like the above might be pre- sented to almost any extent ; but my limits will not permit a further notice of this species. ^ Sub-Family MiMiNiE. — Mocking Birds. Tail long, vaulted at the base, the feathers more or less graduated ; size large ; general appearance thrush-like ; rictus with distinct bristles ; frontal feathers normal, directed backwards ; anterior half of outer side of tarsi distinctly scutellate. 1 HARPORHYNCHUS, Cabanis. HarporJiynchus, Cabanis, Wiegmann's Archiv. (1848), I. 98. (Type Harpes rediiivus.) Bill from front as long as, or longer than the head, nearly straight to near the tip, or bow-shaped, without any notch ; tarsus as long as, or longer than the middle toe, conspicuously scutellate ; outer lateral toe a little the longer, not reaching the base of the middle claw ; hind toe longer than lateral, its claw equal to its remaining portion ; wings short, rounded, the fourth or fifth longest; the exposed portion of the first about half that of longest; tail longer than the wings, broad, more or less graduated. HAEPOEHTNCHUS RVFVS.— Cabanis. The Brown Thrush; Brown Thrasher. Turdus rufus, Lmnseus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 293. Wilson, Am. Om., II. (1810) 83. Aud. Om. Biog., II. (1834) 102; V, (1839) 441. Orpheus rufus, Swainson. F. Bor. Am., H. (1831) 187. NuttaU, Man. I. (1832) 328. Description. Fifth quill longest; the third, fourth, and sixth little shorter; second equal to ninth ; exposed portion of the bill shorter than the head ; outline of lower mandible straight; above light cinnamon-red, beneath pale rufous-white with longitudinal 1 This genus, together with the following, has been removed from its position in the Ltotrichidce, as given in vol. IX. Pac. R.R. Reports, and placed in the Turdidce by Professor Baird, in his recent Review of the Birds of North America. 2 See Appendix. 164 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. streaks of dark-brown, excepting on the chin, throat, middle of the belly, and ui;der tail coverts ; these spots, anteriorly, are reddish-brown in their terminal portion ; the inner surface of the wmg and the inner edges of the primaries are cinnamon ; the con- cealed portion of the quills otherwise is dark-brown ; the median and greater wing coverts become blackish-brown towards the end, followed by white, producing two conspicuous bands ; the tail feathers are all rufous, the external ones obscurely tipped with whitish ; the shafts of the same color with the vanes. Length, eleven and fifteen one-hundredths inches; wing, four and fifteen one- hundredths; tail, five and twenty one-hundredths inches; tarsus, one and thirty one-hundredths; iris, golden-yellow. Probably none of our summer visitors are better known, and none are greater favorites than this bird. Its beautiful song and well-known beneficial habits have endeared it to the farmer, who takes it under his protection, as he should all the Thrushes, and encourages its approach to the garden and orchard. The Brown Thrush arrives from the South about the middle of April in Connecticut and Rhode Island, and the 10th of May in Maine and the other northern dis- tricts. The birds seem to be mated before their arrival here, as they are almost always observed in pairs at their first appearance. The nest is built about the middle of May, sooner or later, according to latitude. It is usually placed in a bush or thicket of briers or vines, sometimes on the ground at the foot of a clump of bushes. It is com- posed first of a layer of twigs, then leaves and strips of cedar and grape-vine bark, and the whole is covered with fibrous roots : the nest is pretty deeply hollowed, and lined with fine roots and hairs. The eggs are from three to five in number. Their color is a greenish or dirty white, over which are thickly sprinkled minute dots of reddish-brown : their shape is ovate, and their dimensions vary from 1.16 by .80 inch to 1.06 by .76 inch. A great number before me exhibit these variations, which probably are the greatest of this species, as the eggs are generally nearly of a size. Four eggs in a nest collected in New Hampshire have the follow- ing measurements : 1.12 by .78 inch, 1.12 by .76 inch, 1.08 by .76 inch, 1.06 by .76 inch. But one brood is reared in the season in the Northern States. THE BROWN THRUSH. 165 The song of this bird is difficult of description : it is a Bort of confused mixture of the notes of different birds, or rather seems to be, but is really its own song ; as different individuals all sing nearly alike. The fact that it resembles the Mocking-bird in its medley of notes has caused it to be called, in some localities, the Brown Mocker ; and it is also sometimes called the Mavis and Nightingale, from its habit of singing in the night during the mating season. The description of Wilson's, of the habits of this bird, is pretty comprehensive, in fact, the best that I have seen, and I give it almost entire. He says, — " It is the largest of all our Thrushes, and is a well-known and very distinguished songster. About the middle or 20th of April, or generally about the time the cherry-trees begin to blossom, he arrives in Pennsylvania; and, from the tops of our hedge-rows, sassafras, apple, or cherry trees, he salutes the opening morning with his charming song, which is loud, emphatical, and full of variety. At that serene hour, you may plainly distinguish his voice fully half a mile off. These notes are not imitative, as his name would import, and as some people believe, but seem solely his own, and have considerable resemblance to the notes of the Song Thrush {Turdus musicus) of Britain. Early in May he builds his nest, choosing a thorn-bush, low cedar, thicket of briers, dogwood-sapling, or cluster of vines, for its situation, generally within a few feet of the ground. Outwardly, it is constructed of small sticks ; then, layers of dry leaves ; and, lastly, lined with fine, fibrous roots, but without any plaster. The eggs are five, thickly sprinkled with fer- ruginous grains, on a very pale-bluish ground. They generally have two broods in a season. Like all birds that build near the ground, he shows great anxiety for the safety of his nest and young, and often attacks the black snake in their defence ; generally, too, with success, his strength being greater, and his bill stronger and more powerful, than any other of his tribe within the United States. His food consists of worms, which he scratches from the ground, cater- pillars, and many kinds of berries. Beetles, and the whole race of coleopterous insects, wherever he can meet with them, are sure to suffer. He is accused, by some people, of scratching up the hUls 166 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. of Indian corn, in planting time. This may be partly true ; but, for every grain of maize he pilfers, I am persuaded he destroys five hundred insects, particularly a large dirty-colored grub, with a black head, which is more pernicious to the corn, and other grain and vegetables, than nine-tenths of the whole feathered race. He is an active, vigorous bird, flies generally low, from one thicket to another, with his long, broad tail spread like a fan ; is often seen about brier and bramble bushes, along fences ; and has a single note or chuck, when you approach his nest. In Pennsylvania, they are numerous, but never fly in flocks. About the middle of September, or as soon as they have well recovered from moulting, in which they suffer severely, they disappear for the season. In passing through the southern parts of Virginia, and south as far as Georgia, in the depth of winter, I found them lingering in sheltered situations, particularly on the border of swamps and rivers. On the 1st of March, they were in full song round the commons at Savannah, as if straining to outstrip the Mocking-bird, that prince of feathered musicians. " The Thrasher is a welcome visitant in spring, to every lover of rural scenery and rural song. In the months of April and May, when our woods, hedge-rows, orchards, and cherry-trees, are one profusion of blossoms ; when every object around conveys the sweet sensations of joy, and Heaven's abundance is, as it were, showering around us, — the grateful heart beats in unison with the varying, elevated strains of this excellent bird : we listen to its notes with a kind of devotional ecstasy, as a morning hymn to the great and most adorable Creator of all. The human being who, amidst such scenes, and in such seasons of rural serenity and delight, can pass them with cold indifference, and even contempt, I sincerely pity ; for abject must that heart be, and callous those feelings, and de- praved that taste, which neither the charms of nature, nor the melody of innocence, nor the voice of gratitude or devotion, can reach. " Concerning the sagacity and reasoning faculty of this bird, my venerable friend, Mr. Bartram, writes me as follows : ' I remember to have reared one of these birds from the nest, which, when full grown, became very tame and docile. I frequently let him out of his cage, to give him a taste of liberty. After fluttering, and dusting THE MOCKING-BIRD. 167 himself in dry sand and earth, and bathing, washing, and dressing himself, he would proceed to hunt insects, such as beetles, crickets, and other shelly tribes ; but, being very fond of wasps, after catch- ing them, and knocking them about to break their wings, he would lay them down, then examine if they had a sting, and, with his bill, squeeze the abdomen to clear it of the reservoir of poison before he would swallow his prey. When in his cage, being very fond of dry crusts of bread, if upon trial the corners of the crumbs were too hard and sharp for his throat, he would throw them up, cany and put them in his water-dish to soften, then take them out and swallow them.' " By the first week in October, the Brown Thrush departs on its southern migration, and passes tlie winter in the West Indies and Mexico. MEMUS, BoiE. llimus, BoiE, Isis (Oct., 1826) 972. (Type Turdus pohjghttus.) Bill shorter than the head, decurved from the base, distinctly notched at tip; tarsi longer than the middle toe; lateral toes equal, not reaching the base of the middle claw, and shorter than the hind toe, the claw of which is half the total length; tail variable, equal to or longer than the wings, moderately graduated; wings rounded, the exposed portion of the first nearly or quite half that of the second, which is considerably shorter than the third. MIMUS POLYGLOTTUS Boie. The Mocking-bird, Turdus poly glottus,lAmidius. Syst. Nat, I. (1766) 293. Wilson, Am. Om., II. (1810) 14. And. Om. Biog., I. (1831) 108; V. (1839) 438. Miimis polygloitus, Boie. Isis (Oct., 1826), 972. Orpheus polygloitus, Swainson. Zool. Jour., III. (1827) 167. Description. Third to sixth quills nearly equal, second shorter than seventh; tail considerably graduated, above ashy-brown, the feathers very obsoletely darker centrally, and towards the light plumbeous downy basal portion (scarcely appreciable, except when the feathers are lifted); the under parts are white, with a faint brownish tinge, except on the chin, and with a shade of ash across the breast; there is a pale super- ciliary' stripe, but the lores are dusky; the wings and tail are nearly black, except the lesser wing coverts, which are like the back, the middle and greater tipped with white, forming two bands, the basal portion of the primaries white, most extended on the inner primaries; the outer tail feather is white, the second is mostly white, 168 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. except on the outer web and towards the base, the third with a white spot on the end, the rest, except the middle, very slightly tipped with white ; the bill and legs are black. Length, nine and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, four and fifty one-hun- dredths; tail, five inches; iris, light-yellow. This bird is so exceedingly rare in New England, that it can scarcely be regarded otherwise than as an accidental visitor; and Massachusetts is certainly its northern limit. Mr. Allen, before referred to, says that it has been known to breed in Springfield several times within five years, and in 1860 two pairs nested there. In Jnne, 1860, he found a nest containing three freshly laid eggs, incubation not having been begun: the locality was a sandy field, growing up to pitch-pines, in one of which the nest was placed, about three feet from the ground ; the pair was secured with the nest and eggs. As I have had no opportunities of observing the habits of this beautiful songster, I will give the very interesting description by Wilson. He says, — " The precise time at which the Mocking-bird begins to build his nest varies according to the latitude in which he resides. lu the lower parts of Georgia, he commences building early in April, t)ut in Pennsylvania rarely before the 10th of May ; and in New THE MOCKING-BIRD. 169 York, and the States of New England, still later. There are par- ticular situations to which he gives the preference. A solitaiy thorn bush, an almost impenetrable thicket, an orange-tree, cedar, or holly bush, are favorite spots, and frequently selected. It is no great objection with him, that these happen, sometimes, to be near the farm or mansion-house. Always ready to defend, but never over-anxious to conceal, his nest, he very often builds within a small distance of the house, and not unfrequently in a pear or apple tree ; rarely at a greater height than six or seven feet from the ground. The nest varies a little in different individuals, according to the conveniency of collecting suitable materials. A very complete one is now lying before me, and is composed of the following substances : First, a quantity of dry twigs and sticks ; then, withered tops of weeds, of the preceding year, intermixed with fine straws, hay, pieces of wool and tow ; and, lastly, a thick layer of fine fibrous roots, of a light-brown color, lines the whole. The eggs are four, sometimes five, of a cinereous-blue, marked with large blotches of brown. The female sits fourteen days, and gener- ally produces two broods in the season, unless robbed of her eggs, in which case she will even build and lay the third time. She is, however, extremely jealous of her nest, and very apt to forsake it if much disturbed. It is even asserted by some of our bird-dealers, that the old ones will actually destroy the eggs, and poison the young, if either the one or the other have been handled. But I cannot give credit to this unnatural report. I know, from my own experience at least, that it is not always their practice ; neither have I ever witnessed a case of the kind above mentioned. During the period of incubation, neither cat, dog, animal, nor man can approach the nest without being attacked. The cats, in particular, are persecuted whenever they make their appearance, till obliged to retreat. But his whole vengeance is most particularly directed against that mortal enemy of his eggs and young, the black snake. Whenever the insidious approaches of this reptile are discovered, the male darts upon it with the rapidity of an arrow, dexterously eluding its bite, and striking it violently and incessantly about the head, where it is very vulnerable. The snake soon becomes sensible of its danger, and seeks to escape ; but the intrepid defender of his young redoubles his exertions, and, unless his 170 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. antagonist be of great magnitude, often succeeds in destroying him. All its pretended powers of fascination avail it nothing against the vengeance of this noble bird. As the snake's strength begins to flag, the Mocking-bird seizes and lifts it up partly from the ground, beating it with his wings ; and, when the business is com- pleted, he returns to the repository of his young, mounts the summit of the bush, and pours out a torrent of song in token of victory. " The plumage of the Mocking-bird, though none of the home- liest, has nothing gaudy or brilliant in it, and, had he nothing else to recommend him, would scarcely entitle him to notice ; but his figure is well proportioned, and even handsome. The ease, ele- gance, and rapidity of his movements, the animation of his eye, and the intelligence he displays in listening and laying up lessons from almost every species of the feathered creation within his hearing, are really surprising, and mark the peculiarity of his genius. To these qualities we may add that of a voice full, strong, and musical, and capable of almost every modulation, from the clear, mellow tones of the Wood Thrush, to the savage scream of the Bald Eagle. In measure and accent, he faithfully follows his originals. In force and sweetness of expression, he greatly im- proves upon them. In his native groves, mounted on the top of a tall bush or half-grown tree, in the dawn of dewy morning, while the woods are already vocal with a multitude of warblers, his admirable song rises pre-eminent over every competitor. The ear can listen to his music alone, to which that of all the others seems a mere accompaniment. Neither is this strain altogether imitative. His own native notes, which are easily distinguishable by such as are well acquainted with those of our various song-birds, are bold and full, and varied seemingly beyond all limits. They consist of short expressions of two, three, or, at the most, five or six syllables, generally interspersed with imitations, and all of them uttered with great emphasis and rapidity, and continued with undiminished ardor for half an hour or an hour at a time. His expanded wings and tail, glistening with white, and the buoyant gayety of his action, arresting the eye, as his song most irresistibly does the ear, he sweeps round with enthusiastic ecstasy ; he mounts and de- scends as his song swells or dies away ; and, as my friend IVlr. THE MOCKING-BIRD. 171 Bartram has beautifully expressed it, ' He bounds aloft with the celerity of an arrow, as if to recover or recall his very soul, expired in the last elevated strain.' ^ While thus exerting him- self, a bystander destitute of sight would suppose that the whole feathered tribes had assembled together, on a trial of skill, each striving to produce his utmost effect, so perfect are his imita- tions. He many times deceives the sportsman, and sends him in search of birds that perhaps are not within miles of him, but whose notes he exactly imitates; even birds themselves are fre- quently imposed on by this admirable mimic, and are decoyed by the fancied calls of their mates, or dive with precipitation into the depth of thickets at the scream of what they suppose to be the Sparrow-hawk. " The Mocking-bird loses little of the power and energy of his song by confinement. In his domesticated state, when he com- mences his career of song, it is impossible to stand by uninterested. He whistles for the dog, — Caesar starts up, wags his tail, and runs to meet his master. He squeaks out like a hurt chicken, — and the hen hurries about with hanging wings and bristled feathers, clucking to protect its injured brood. The barking of the dog, the mewing of the cat, the creaking of a passing wheelbarrow, follow with great truth and rapidity. He repeats the tune taught him by his master, though of considerable length, fully and faithfully. He runs over the quiverings of the Canary, and the clear whistlings of the Virginia Nightingale, or Red-bird, with such superior execu- tion and effect, that the mortified songsters feel their own inferiority, and become altogether silent, while he seems to triumph in their defeat by redoubling his exertions. " This excessive fondness for variety, however, in the opinion of some, injures his song. His elevated imitations of the Brown Thrush are frequently interrupted by the crowing of cocks ; and the warblings of the Blue-bird, which he exquisitely manages, are mingled with the screaming of swallows, or the cackling of hens ; amidst the simple melody of the Robin, we are suddenly surprised by the shrill reiterations of the Whippoorwill ; while the notes of the Killdeer, Blue Jay, Martin, Baltimore, and twenty others, suc- ceed with such imposing reality, that we look round for the origi- 1 Travels, p. 32. Introd. 172 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. nals, and discover, with astonishment, that the sole performer in this singular concert is the admirable bird now before us. During this exhibition of his powers, he spreads his wings, expands his tail, and throws himself around the cage in all the ecstasy of enthu- siasm, seeming not only to sing, but to dance, keeping time to the measure of his own music. Both in his native and domesticated state, during the solemn stillness of night, as soon as the moon rises in silent majesty, he begins his delightful solo, and sere- nades us the livelong night with a full display of his vocal powers, making the whole neighborhood ring with his inimitable medley." A number of eggs in my collection average about .98 of an inch in length by about .70 inch in breadth ; their form is generally ovate, and their color a pale emerald-green, with spots of ferruginous and brown. GALEOSCOPTES, Cabanis. Galeoscoptes, Cabanis, Mus. Hein., L (1850) 82. (Type Muscicapa Caroli- nensis.) Bill shorter than the head, rather broad at base ; rictal bristles moderately devel- oped, reaching to the nostrils; wings a little shorter than the tail, rounded; second- aries well developed, fourth and fifth quills longest, third and sixth little shorter, first and ninth about equal, and about the length of secondaries, first quill more than half the second, about half the third ; tail graduated, tail feather about seventy one-hundredths inch shorter than the middle ; tarsi longer than lateral middle toe and claw by about an additional half claw, scutellate anteriorly, more or less dis- tinctly in different specimens; scutellaa about seven. The conspicuous naked membranous border round the eye of some thrushes, with the bare space behind it, not appreciable. GAIiEOSCOPTES CAEOLINENSIS. — Cabanis. The Cat-bird. Muscicapa Carolinensis, Linnceus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 328. Orpheus Cay-olinensis, Audahon. Syn. (1839), 88. Mimtis Carolinensis, Gray. Genera (1844-49). Turdus felirox, Vieillot. Ois. Am. Sept., II. (1807) 10. Aud. Om. Biog., XL (1831)171; V. 1839,440. Orpheus felivox, Swainson. F. Bor. Am., II. (1831) 192. Turdus lividus, Wilson. Am. Om., IL (1810) 90. THE CAT-BIRD. 173 Description. Third quill longest, first shorter than sixth; prevailing color dark plumbeous, more ashy beneath ; crown and nape dark sooty-brown ; wings dark -brown, edged with plumbeous; tail greenish-black, the lateral feathers obscurely tipped with plumbeous; the under tail coverts dark-brownish chestnut; female smaller. Length, eight and eighty-five one-hundredths inches; wing, three and sixty-five one-hundredths ; tail, four; tarsus, one and five one-hundredths inch. This very common and well-known species arrives in New England about the first week in May, — in Maine, perhaps about the 15th of that month. It is distributed abundantly throughout these States, and its habits are so well known that a description here is hardly necessary. During the mating season, and indeed through the greater part of the summer, the song of the male is heard in the woods, pastures, and gardens at early morning, and some- times through the day ; and, although most persons describe it as being harsh and uncouth, it is really very pleasing and melodious. It is a sort of medley, like that of the Brown Thrush, but not near so loud : the bird usually perches on a low tree, where, standing nearly erect, his wings slightly expanded, and his tail spread beneath him, he pours forth his notes sometimes for half an hour at a time. In addition to this song, he, in common with the female, has a plaintive note almost exactly like the mewing of a cat ; and the spe- cific name of felivox, given it by some authors, is much more descriptive and appropriate than that of CaroUnensis, which is neither descriptive nor proper. The alarm-note is a rattling cry, like the sound of quick breaking of several strong sticks : it is perhaps well ex- pressed by the syllables trat-tat-tat-tat, uttered very quickly. I have noticed that this bird, as do many others, prefers the neighborhood of thickly settled districts, even a home in their midst, to others of a wilder character ; and, when travelling through the deep forests, I have invariably found, that, when these birds became abundant, a settlement was near. Soon after mating, the birds build : this is from about the 174 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 20th of May to the first week in June. The nest is usually placed in bushes and shrubs, seldom more than four or five feet from the ground ; the location as often in the deep woods as in the fields or pastures. It is constructed first of a layer of twigs and sticks, on which is built the body of the nest, which is composed of strips of grape-vine bark, fine twigs, leaves, and straws : it is deeply hollowed, and lined with fibrous roots and hairs, and sometimes fine grass. The eggs are usually four in number, sometimes five : their color is a bright, deep emerald-green, and their form gener- ally ovate. A great number of specimens before me do not exhibit great variations in measurement from the dimen- sions of a nest complement of four collected in Thornton, N.H. ; they are as follows : .95 by .67 inch ; .95 by .66 inch ; .93 by .67 inch ; .93 by M inch. Two broods are reared in the season, seldom three in this latitude. About the middle of October, this species moves in its THE BLUE-BIRD. 175 Family SAXICOLID^.^ The Rock Inhabiters. Wings very long and much pointed, reaching beyond the middle of the short B(iuare or emarginated tail, and one and a half times or more the length of the latter; the spurious primary very short, the second quill longer than the fourth; in the closed wing, the outer secondary reaches only about two-thirds the length of the longest primary. SIALIA, SwAiNSON. Sialia, Swainson, Zool. Jour., III. (Sept., 1827) 173. {S. Wikonii.) Bill short, stout, broader than high at the base, then compressed, slightly notched at tip; rictus with short bristles; tarsi not longer than the middle toe; claws con- siderably curved; wings much longer than the tail, the first primary spurious, not one-fourth the longest ; tail moderate, slightly forked. SIALIA SIALIS. — Baird. The Blue-bird; Eed-breasted Blue-bird. MotaciUa sialis, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1758) 187. Gmelin, Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 989. Srjlvia sialis, Latham. Index Om., II. (1790) 522. Wilson, Am. Om., I. (1808) 56. Aud. Om. Biog., II. (1834) 84; V. (1839) 452. Ampelis sialis, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 444. Description. Entire upper parts, including wings and tail, continuous and uniform azure-blue, the cheeks of a duller tint of the same; beneath reddish-brown; the abdomen, anal region, and under tail coverts white; bill and feet black; shafts of the quills and tail feathers black ; female with the blue lighter, and tinged with bro-mi on the head and back. Length, six and seventy-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, four inches ; tail, two and ninety one-hundredths inches. THIS beautiful bird is a very common summer inhabitant of all New England. It is one of the earliest in its arrival from the South, often making its appearance by the middle of March, sometimes even earlier. About the middle of April, immediately after mating, the birds commence pre- paring their nest : this is made in a deserted woodpecker's 1 I have adopted the arrangement given by Professor Baird in his recent review, in this family and the succeeding, as far as Stlvicolid.e. 176 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. hole, in a martin's box, or in a knot-liole in a fence-post. Tlie materials used in its construction are generally soft grasses, feathers, and wools : these are thrown together without any great care, the object being to get comfort and warmth in the early season in which the first litter of eggs is laid. The eggs are either four or five in number : they are of a light-blue color, with a very faint greenish tint. Five specimens, taken at random from a great number, exhibit the following measurements : .86 by .62 inch, .85 by .62 inch, .84 by .61 inch, .82 by .60 inch, .80 by .60 inch. This species raises two broods, usually in the same nest, in the season. The Blue-bird's habits are pretty well known; and its insectivorous character, and social and happy disposition, have established it as a great favorite. THE BLUE-BIRD. 177 Its song is a soft pleasing warble, which is often repeated, and is uttered by the bird both when flying and perching. In capturing insects, it has many of the habits of the Fly- catchers. It remains perching on a post or twig until its prey shows itself, when it suddenly flies at it flapping its wings rapidly, seizes it, and returns to its perch to eat it. It often descends quickly, and seizes a grasshopper that is crawling on a straw or weed ; and, if it misses its aim, even follows it while flying. About the last week of October, the parents and young leave in a detached flock for the South. 12 178 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. Family SYLVIID^. The "Wood-inhabiters. " Bill slender, broad, and depressed at the base, distinctly notched and dccurved at the tij^; culmen sharp ridged at base; frontal feathers reaching to the nostrils, which are oval, with membrane above, and overhung — not concealed — by a few bristles or by a feather; rictal bristles extending beyond nostrils; tarsi booted or scutellate; basal joint of middle toe attached its whole length externally, half-way internally; primaries ten; spurious primary about half the second, which is shorter than the seventh; lateral toes equal." — Baied. EEGULUS, CuviEK. Regulus, Cuvier, Lepons d'Anat. Comp., 1799-1800 (Agassiz). (Tj'pe Motacilla regulus, Linnaeus; Regulus cristatus, Koch.) Bill slender, much shorter than the head, depressed at base, but becoming rapidly compressed, moderately notched at tip; culmen straight to near the tip, then gently curved; commissure straight; gonys convex; rictus well provided with bristles; nostril covered by a single bristly feather directed forwards; tarsi elongated, exceeding considerably the middle toe, and without scutellse; lateral toes about equal, hind toe with the claw longer than the middle one, and about half the toe; claws all much curved; first primary about one-third as long as the longest, second equal to fifth oi- sixth ; tail shorter than the wings, moderately forked, the feathers acuminate ; colors olive-green above, whitish beneath ; size very small. EEGULUS CALENDULA. — ZicAf. The Ruby-crowned "Wren. Motacilla calendula, Linnmus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 337. Sylvia calendula, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 83. Regulus calendula, Nuttall. Man., L (1832) 415. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 546 Description. Above dark greenish-olive, passing into bright olive-green on the rump and outer edges of the wings and tail ; crown with a large concealed patch of scarlet feathers, which are white at the base; the under parts are grayish-white tinged with pale olive-yellow, especially behind; a ring round the eye, two bands on the wing coverts, and the exterior of the inner tertials white. Young without the red on the crown. The female differs very little in color. It is quite probable that the species does not attain the red patch in the crown until the second year, as the spring migrations of the species always embrace a considerable number with the head perfectly plain. Length, four and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, tAvo and thirty -three one- hundredths ; tail, one and eighty-five one-hundredths. THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. 179 THIS diminutive species is a quite common spring and autumn visitor in New England, arriving from the South from April the 13th to the 20th in the different States. They are generally j&rst seen in evergreen woods; but later are found among the opening foliage and blossoms of forest and orchard trees, — particularly the oak, elm, maple, and apple, — darting about, climbing on the small twigs, and prying in all directions in search of minute flying insects, their eggs and larv^, frequenting the tops of the trees as well as the lower branches. By the 12th of May, they depart for the North to rear their young, — breeding in Canada, Labrador, &c. From about the 1st of October to the last of that month, they are again with us, and are seen diligently engaged in pursuit of food in our woods and orchards. They are not shy in their habits, and will permit one to approach quite near them. I have noticed that they remain in one cluster of twigs until it is completely cleared of insects, and they often employ ten minutes in searching it thoroughly. The Ruby Crown winters m the more southern States of the Union and in Mexico. On clear, fine days in spring, I have heard this bird warble a beautiful song ; and it has also a peculiar guttural, querulous call-note, which often precedes this song. EEGULUS SATRAPA. -Licht. The Golden-crested "Wren, Reffulus satrapa, Lichtenstein. Verzeich. Doubl. (1823), No. 410 (Quotes Partts satrapa, Uliger, — probably a museum name). Aud. Syn. (18.39), 82. /6., Birds Amer., II. (1841) 165. Sylvia regulus, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 126. Regulus tricolor, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832), 420. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 47t> Desceiption. Above olive-green, brightest on the outer edges of the wing; tail feathers tinged frith brownish-gray towards the head; forehead, a line over the eye and a space 180 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. beneath it, white; exterior of the crown before and laterally black, embracing a central patch of orange-red, encircled by gamboge-yellow ; a dusky space around the eye; wing coverts with two yellowish-white bands, the posterior covering, a similar band on the quills, succeeded by a broad dusky one; imder parts dull whitish. The black of the head immediately succeeds the white frontal band as one of about tlie same width, passing behind on each side. Generally the white line over the ej'e is separated from the white forehead by a dusky lore. There is also a dusky space beneath the whitish under the eye. The yellow of the crown generally overlies and conceals the orange. The orange is wanting in the fe- male. The young birds always appear to have at least the yellow and black of the Length, under four inches ; wing, two and twenty-five one-hundredths inches ; tail, one and eighty one-hundredths inches. This handsome and active species is also a common bird, coming to us from the North the last of September, but, unlike the preceding, braving the rigors of our winter; and it leaves again by the 15th of April. Numbers, how- ever, winter farther south ; and it is in spring and autumn that the species is most abundant. On their arrival in autumn, they frequent orchard trees, feeding among the leaves of the apple-trees, which, at this season, are infested with insects. Later, and in winter, they resort more often to the evergreens, — such as the pine, spruce, and cedar, but rove wherever they can find food, generally in company with the Chickadees, and occasionally the White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, and Downy Woodpecker; the whole forming a lively, busy winter party, as they perambu- late the country, intent on gathering their now scanty food. Their call-note at this season, indeed the only note that I have heard at any time, is a faint pipe or whistle, sounded quickly three or four times. I have never heard this bird utter the querulous note assigned to it by Audubon and Nuttall, but have often heard the Ruby Crown give this strain. In spring, having similar habits and diet with the Ruby Crowns, they frequent the same hunting-grounds, and are seen hanging to the extremities of twigs, head down- wards, and sometimes fluttering in the air in front of them, seizing small flies, " and often exposing the golden feathers THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. 181 of their head, which are opened and shut with great adroit- ness." This species may possibly breed in Maine, having been seen there in summer ; but I do not remember of its having been found in the breeding season south of that State. 182 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. Family PARIDiE. Bill generally short, conical, not notched nor decurved at tip; culmen hroad and rounded, not sharp-ridged at base ; nostrils rounded, basal, and concealed by dense bristles or bristly feathers; loral feathers rough and bristly, directed forwards; tarsi distinctly scutellate; basal joints of anterior toes abbreviated, that of middle toe united about equally for three-fourths its length to the lateral, in ParincB forming a kind of palm for grasping; outer lateral toe decidedly longer than the inner; prima- ries ten, the tirst much shorter than the second ; tail feathers without soft tips. The two sub-families may be thus distinguished: — Parince. — Body compressed ; bill shorter than the head ; wings rounded, equal to or shorter than the rounded tail, second quill as short as the tenth ; tarsus longer than the middle toe and claw, which are about equal to the hinder; soles of toes widened into a palm; plumage rather soft and lax. Silthm. — Body depressed; bill about equal to or longer than the head; wings much pointed, much longer than the nearly even tail ; tarsus shorter than the mid- dle toe and claw, which are about equal to the hinder; plumage more compact. Sub-Family Paring. — The Titmice. PARUS, Linnaeus. Parus, Liira.Eus, Syst. Nat., 1735 (Agassiz). (Type P. majoi'.) Head not crested; body and head stout; tail moderately long, and slightly rounded; bill conical, not verj' stout, the upper and under outlines very gently and slightly convex ; tarsus but little longer than middle toe ; crown and throat gener- ally black. PARUS ATRICAPILLUS. — I,»i?MCMS. The Black-cap Titmouse; Chick-a-dee. Parus atricapillus, Linna?ns. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 341. Wilson, Am. Cm., I (1808) 134. Aud. Cm. Biog., IV. (1838). Parus palustris, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 79. Description. Second quill as long as the secondaries; tail very slightly rounded, lateral feathers about ten one-hundredths shorter than middle ; back brownish-ashy ; top of head and throat black, sides of head between them white, beneath whitish; brown- ish-white on the sides ; outer tail feathers, some of primaries, and secondaries con- spicuousl}- margined with white. Length, five inches; wing, two and fifty one-hundredths inches; tail, two and fifty one-hundredths inches. THIS well-known little bird is a very common resident of all New England throughout the year. It is one of the very few species that are as abundant in the depths of THE BLACK-CAP TITMOUSE. 183 and it is deservedly one Hudson's Bay Titmouse, upper fig. Black-cap Titmouse, lower fig. winter as through the summer, of the greatest favorites. It commences building as early as the second week in May. The nest is placed in a hole exca- vated in a dead tree or stump. This hole is, like that of the Woodpecker, gradually widened at the bottom,' and is about nine or ten inches in depth. The' nest is constructed of soft moss and the hairs of different ani- mals. One beautiful specimen that I found in the northern part of Maine is composed of the hair of the common deer, moose, and hare, a few feathers of the Euffed Grouse, and a few fragments of soft mosses. They are woven into a warm and comfortable tenement. The eggs are from six to ten in number, usually about six. They are of a nearly pure-white color, with a faint reddish tint, and are spotted thickly, at the greater end, with markings of reddish-brown : their form is nearly spher- ical, and their dimensions vary from .65 by .52 inch to .60 by .50 inch. Two broods are often reared in the season. The habits of this little bird are so well known, and have been written about so much, that any description here is almost superfluous. It is eminently kindly and sociable in its disposition; and, although almost always in company with other birds, — such as the Golden-crested and Ruby- crowned Wrens, Nuthatches, &c., — it is never seen quar relling with them, but fraternizes with them in the most cordial manner. Often, when seated in the woods, have I been surrounded by them ; and their curiosity to learn the cause of my presence and my employment was so great, that they would often perch on a twig within two feet of my 184 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. head, and scrutinize me with their shining black eyes in a manner amusing to witness. Ostensibly, they were searching beneath the bark for their food; but really they were watching me. I once had one perch on my boot, and look in my face with a perfectly plain " what-do-you-want-here " expression on its countenance. Always at short intervals, while perched in trees, and some- times while flying, this bird utters its song, which consists of several notes, that may be described by the syllables cheiveek-a-dee-dee-dee, c7ieweek-a-dee-dee-dee, emitted in a clear, sweet tone, easily recognized, and not to be mistaken for any other song. The flight of this species is wavering, and not protracted; the bird seldom extending it further than from one tree to another. When in the air at any considerable height, it resembles the flight of the Wood- peckers, being undulating and partly gliding. In some localities, the Titmouse is regarded as injurious, from the fact that it is often seen among the branches and leaves of the fruit-trees and shrubs, pecking off and destroy- ing the buds. It does not do this to the bud for food, but really for the grub contained in it. If these buds be exam- ined after the Chick-a-dee has thrown them away, the bur- row of a grub or caterpillar will appear in the very heart of them. The bird is able to discover the presence of these vermin much more readily than man could ; and it is thus able to assail them at a period of their existence when they are doing the most harm. But it is not the insects and their larvse alone that he destroys. His microscopic eyes enable him to discover their eggs deposited on and in the crevices of the bark and in the buds, and in an instant he can destroy the whole future brood. The eggs of the moth of the destructive leaf-rolling caterpillar, those of the canker- worm, the apple-tree moth, and others of these well-known plagues, are greedily eaten by it ; and this is in the inclem- ent winter, when most of our other birds have abandoned us for a more genial climate. THE HUDSON'S BAY TITMOUSE. 185 In the summer time, the Chick-a-dee's labors are more easily noticed ; and as he raises a large brood of young, the female laying six or eight eggs at a litter, he is very busy through the whole day in capturing vast quantities of cater- pillars, flies, and grubs. It has been calculated that a single pair of these birds destroy, on the average, not less than five hundred of these pests daily ; a labor which could hardly be surpassed by a man, even if he gave his whole time to the task. " Moreover, the man could not be as successful at so small a cost ; for, setting aside the value of his time and the amount of a laborer's daily wages, he could not reach the denser and loftier twigs on which the caterpillars revel, and which the Titmouse can traverse with perfect ease. No man can investigate a tree, and clear it of the insect hosts that constantly beleaguer it, without doing some damage to the buds and young leaves by his rough handling ; whereas the Chick-a-dee trips along the branches, peeps under every leaf, swings himself round upon his perch, spies out every insect, and secures it with a peck so rapid that it is hardly perceptible." In some observations made on the habits of this and some other birds in Paris, it was found that the Titmouse destroys, at the lowest computation, over two hundred thousand eggs alone of noxious insects in the course of a year. That one small bird is thus able to accomplish so much good in destroying these myriads of vermin is an appeal to the good sense of the farmer, for the protection of the ivliole class, that should not be slighted. PARUS HUDSONICUS. — Forster, The Hudson's Bay Titmouse. Panes Eudsonicus, Forster. Philos. Trans., LXII. (1772) 383, 430. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 543. lb., Birds Amer., II. (1841) 155. Description. Above yellowish olivaceous-brown; top of head purer brown, not very different in tint; chin and throat dark sooty-brown; sides of head white; beneath white; 186 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. sides and anal regions light brownish-chestnut; no whitish on wings or tail; tail nearly even, or slightly emarginate and rounded ; lateral feathers about twenty one- hundredths inch shortest. Length, about five inches; wing, two and forty one-hundredths inches; tail, two and sixty-six one-hundredths inches. Edb. — North-eastern portions of North America to the North Atlantic States. This bird occurs in New England only in the most northern parts of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, wliere it is sometimes resident. I have never met with it alive, and will be obliged to avail myself of Audubon's description of its habits, nest, &c. He says, in describing the nest : — " It was placed at the height of not more than three feet from the ground, in the hollow of a decayed low stump, scarcely thicker than a man's leg ; the whole so rotten that it crumbled to pieces on being touched. I cautiously removed the woody enclosure, and took possession of the nest, which I obtained in perfect order. It was shaped like a purse, eight inches in depth, two in diameter inside ; its sides about half an inch thick. It was entirely com- posed of the finest fur of different quadrupeds, but principally of the great northern hare, so thickly and ingeniously matted through- out, that it looked as if it had been ' felted ' by the hand of man. It was quite elastic throughout, and rather wider at the bottom, probably in consequence of the natural growth of the young." This hardy little bird resembles in its manners the other species of its interesting and beautiful tribe : its notes resemble those of our southern Black-headed Titmouse, but are much weaker. Sub-Family Sittin^e. — The Nuthatches. SITTA, LiNN^us. Sitta, LiNN^us, Syst. Nat. 1735 (Agassiz). Bill subulate, acutely pointed, compressed, about as long as the head; culmen and commissure nearly straight; gonys convex and ascending; nostrils covered by a tuft o.f bristles directed forward; tarsi stout, scutellate, about equal to the middle toe, much shorter than the hinder, the claw of which is half the total length ; outer THE WHITE-BELLIED NUTHATCH. 187 lateral toe much longer than inner, and nearly equal to the middle ; tail very short, broad, and nearly even, the feathers soft and truncate; wings reaching nearly to the end of the tail, long and acute, the first primarj' one-third of (or less) the third, or longest. SITTA CAROLINENSIS. — Gmelin. The "White-bellied Nuthatch. Sitta Carolinensis, Latham. Ind. Orn., I. (1790) 262. Wilson, Am. Om., L (1808) 40. Nutt. Man., L (1832) 581. Aud. Orn. Biog., IL (1834) 299; V. (1839) 473. Description. Above ashy-blue; top of head and neck black; under parts and sides of head, to a short distance above the eye, white; under tail coverts and tibial feathers brown; concealed primaries white ; bill stout. Length, about six inches; wing, about three and three-quarters inches. Hab. — Eastern North America to the high central plains. West of this, replaced by S. aculeata. This species is a not uncommon one in New England, where it is found through the winter. In the more north- ern districts, it is a summer resident ; and it regularly breeds as far south as Massachusetts. A nest was found in Cambridge, Mass., in June, 1865. It was made in an exca- vation in a dead tree (or rather stump), which was carried to the depth of perhaps eight inches. The nest was com- posed of soft grasses, hairs, and a few feathers : these were arranged compactly in the bottom of the hole to the depth of perhaps an inch and a half. The eggs were six in num- ber, four of them are now before me : they are ovoidal in shape, of a beautiful roseate-white color, and covered more or less thickly with fine spots and dashes of light-reddish. Their dimensions are .80 by .61 inch, .80 by .60 inch, .78 by .58 inch, .75 by .57 inch. Another specimen, collected in the Adirondack Mountains, is marked more sparingly with coarser and darker spots : its dimensions are .70 by .57 inch. The habits of this species are very similar to those of the small woodpeckers ; and they are equally industrious with those birds in their search for the larv£e and eggs of insects, which they obtain by boring in the bark, and knocking off 188 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. the moss and dead pieces of trees with their sharp, powerful bill. In traversing the limbs of trees, they resemble in their movements the Downy Woodpecker ; and their flight is also similar to that bird's. The note is a short, harsh call, simi- lar to the syllables cJia-cha-c7ia-chd, uttered quickly, and with emj^hasis. SITTA CANADENSIS. — Linnceus. The Bed-bellied Nuthatch. Siita Canadensis, Linnseus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 177. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 583. Aud. Orn. Biog., IL (1834) 24; V. 474. Sitta varia, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 40. Desckiption. Above ashy-blue; top of head black; a white line above and a black one through the eye ; chin white ; rest of under parts brownish-rusty. Length, about four and a half inches; wing, two and two-thirds inches. ffab. — North America to the Rocky Mountains, probably also to the Pacific. The same remarks as to distribution, habits,