Pe ee ee PPP TE AL tials Ws Ea bet Rae (ratty Be em) i jue antl Se itis Hi cen Hut Ad Hon haifa Malta ttf tate Gara « ei halts a mae : NY ) he ' F POLY a en a wat Nyy Sa seh ite st) Mit Ast he GS ais ity ean pt ie va ata wt PAN Maa SW tod Pa i) a Adi ‘ i “ ie My ‘ UU ey he, ars etvitaiattaits i ns ‘ (i BA ie Om) ht we ah hy ci Mt Mh : ‘ fhe ( ‘ iy UM I she sthey i he er si ey bad Kay et ty ant 8 on i ¥ Hy byt hei Teal eh Hal ne a i wih) ait a iV ‘ hay Wt Waa ie y ; i vio if hy NT pet sith ie i" Mi NNER DC ORS i i ae iN ( : ' Heth es < , ( 5 "1 i POP Pron ell i HERE ve BG ’ 4 Fina FT MEALS My y Y t) f ( ie : sk i in iW Hy} ni a Ne is a a oe v vi a ey ‘ : ane Wty ite ry CYS RL ATED Ht) Via Bit a i Wie Py any) ts a iy ifr i tea te aft ‘y ft ont i rit Hah, yay t Lys hi ib salt det DC ny ‘i i ‘hai ia se Ath ie 1 ii oH 1 i ie tt TAD a tbh name ea Nant oah Hist AHN) ‘nh aN ht ne it a th avanti DACA EO } Haba as sant i What ay it hana weit nh ' Cater eats Qs Le Wa et ee Wijhites Biya on AAA Thies a bette Nata i ati bce sith iV REA iit SUMAN (4 say Ki anit ff iii SRA ant Maa wily il - ant ae fl ad } ae A EAA ME ah DA AT eS ANU SA Ea AA wi Ba REL ies Re He Bet RC IL De PCS MS NA) TMX eit AA Cai. AOR MAAC ALE AN i AAA ey SO Ra Ei SEEM NCL HAE MIO ea eri sail 1 rR) aK Aaa f z pad We ¢ } s RTP i if ‘ fe ay ath aadiina! a ye iy Way 44 Wan ia My Mh ot (un ht) 1 ny oa iNew eal ca at hee Da OG a et Ay Ltt vA y oan WY MOURA RE HOC HE RSS HN hehe gats| Wy Mi nay hit) iF 590) haw Wnt AB Pa atl a) Deital if RuNaties ie “tly a te righ Hi a BONE re TA AN ah ny cone Ce Wer Ae daa H a a Hy" ath Heike Cs hist NG Mt y a ua Hh ei at iH A CN) ie Yi Ka if . Hi Mi! ne : i: SUN il wah ‘Kl nN i i fh Wh Wider deity SU aL scat ist) iy bi oS MN i mesa ! ah a tiie Wie ie it in oe i ay ae beat ») te a eae cae a ie a oo apis tiinteaitee a Ma A MONTE HC AD et HM i nie as ih nee Ne at Pat HHO RR a th Hy an Rt " AU ul a Ny! He ou 7 : a # i al ne oe ue uo vi a ya at Y hd ae Mi tity padi hoy CI s/ AG | HEAD ede ed ay Wd NYS AIO aN aS ae A Wh We , , MW MN nag OM a ‘a ty iN a AN a bt {) U i tae \e 1 en i) Ne a“ i wh - Ha Mea ‘ ) a} } NWR i i} 3h AN aie i) | iu a Pee " WA Ay ka iN ah nn sa 4A i) aR Au f Ny \ 1 il Wi) ya hy A Nt \ SA i wih Hh va aut i f Nb dha et dy K if I AWE TNT ARUN Lai IN ah BY NaR he j { hes Ayal ‘4 3 ies 4 uh ns A et AS ae aes iy idle ed Wi itt i) ad tint | dee Ua Leda ih (Wei) DAM iahe : ut aS i - a au : ai iy! ee ity a) Cana Py is tay i A i ee fede ie i it nN oe . 4 4 ce (hh: ‘ont (tk Mt i hava COLES ’ q HA edt aia Wi ) a faye Nah NN PMN shit ln Mi a ny Aan i Ni Nh ty Via? ) wi ui oe ; WA MN ie ata Ni sti aly STEN Ei) i ny) tiv yt Wat Hb shi Wank tats Hi Ve 2h tei ait an \ a Paik ANS ia Wh \ uy Hath Rha Mi fy ci HAO Aon iy Pyat a) BF N y sa ae Hy cM in a Le 1g! uh iaiild ABU aE ite tad ) 4 ieata ih i hele ey ; Ki si i Haat oe te Co aL HAN ft ; \ YD) a hid ‘i 4 4 ay i! +A ‘ ya i ene Ae ii a Mitre a ia) be * ‘ yy naa MY] | Li Wea Meth NO REC eh Miah Yer AG BAY BIRLA: Asad advance Mie i! i I att ANG i) i ae at tt \ aan faite ga ¢ Wie AL Nig Pa “AN Mi : Hi Ht fi : i : y +a i a r Hippy we t ap yak 0 A . hi ate i boy > ne NOt i Ruy Uitith Aik antag ‘ (ia ie i en! bea ! ACh at wh a (i ik ah Cr Je a Hae ty an i A SO RUE) TURN ait ies ; ib api yt id | on ia Ue ANNONA GE Nay ns aun i : Wh, Se uk i i nh al ay Wied 3 ae ass ae =e. 5 a ae fi a U eG his Na Hayat A i RU TT Mata aie ROBART en Hi Tale fetta Ait Sree: i ALE 4 Ay tah. Heitg file ey Wn ra i mit Ay i OA by 8 M4 an es hie ae ‘i 4 ‘ iy Hib ih a wy ey Ha iM t == Aa eas 0 vi nN} Wie it Hea ie et HN aa tA it es = D i alia Hat ie Vane q ‘ in FATAL Bat ie i) ay nh da Rl tae all t} 41 a El hi HE) Aa iffy pus UAL WN We Ot wits ait ae Ait we it ie { ia Gey ese : i Ne aff ; fia Hi “! ‘i ne Ne A ii f ett Ht) i Naa sci tN ae ee Katy yh WHA Wye ee aed MN nn Y} ila fi Hy By An GR va Ween Walt uy pig 4 ya a OM iF DAY eae daiteit (T They Vit TE Hea alti ain iin 4 A sc fone ly aN Nts i ie a Sean a PRO aiitive ay Py Ra tai tad i CUS FANUC ik att Ht Mh : a A vy i: sa Hy ye Ke ih Bias a in| ity As ae ie Paine ais Ay vt ae eT i o i? me a a un A ER Ny He ie hola i Prive te ii Hs Un Ma AY! aM Nth Vv fi Pan vi Wilt NS RAK 1) \ \ ais x ey ata ‘ i ’ Giana i i at i GN Tok MAL ONT nh hth DG Ha ie RON (WT eet Soe i! al Wee Lah Hae thw by ASKS ate! Mite Aantal & ‘ Ari hae ae At bis Mate AMR ee SR aw Md pale { “ \ RWG Sat dade oy ‘ ' a " HL uhh i eo ae i a a yi phe i ih ae UA 4 tN, atte (4) arth wig Vt ' 4 ye 4 ts) UN aia Tata hy Aa Day Wath a ae iN thy f i a ) a a) ‘i pls Lay PY Ses ae R.W.Shufeldt, pinx. i Ackermann & Co: Lith Boston. ANATOMY OF PIGEON. Coue's Key N.ABirds. | ; spate Reo - Ort { | ; TO i Nori H AMERICAN BIRDS @ ; Y sian CONTAINING A CONCISE ACCOUNT OF EVERY SPECIES OF LIVING AND FOSSIL BIRD AT PRESENT KNOWN FROM THE CONTINENT NORTH OF THE MEXICAN AND UNITED STATES BOUNDARY, INCLUSIVE OF GREENLAND AND LOWER CALIFORNIA, WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED GENERAL ORNITHOLOGY: AN OUTLINE OF THE STRUCTURE AND CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS; AND FIELD ORNITHOLOGY, A MANUAL OF COLLECTING, PREPARING, AND PRESERVING BIRDS. Che Fourth Litton, EXHIBITING THE NEW NOMENCLATURE OF THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION, AND INCLUDING DESCRIPTIONS OF ADDITIONAL SPECIES, ETC. Bw IULMOW COWES, ASIN, WEDS, IPI). (so: 8 Late Captain and Assistant Surgeon U.S. Army and Secretary U.S. Geological Survey ; Vice-President of the American Ornithologists’ Union, and Chairman of the Committee on the Classification and Nomenclature of North American Birds; Foreign Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union ; Corresponding Member of the Zodlogical Society of London ; Member of the National Academy of Sciences, of the Faculty of the National Medical College, of the Philosophical and Biological Societies of Washington, of the General Council of the Theosophical Society of India, etc. PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. IOS) IO) Ne IBS WBS) VeVIN ID) I eV IRIAN 1896. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by F. W. PUTNAM AND ELLIOTT COUEs, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, ny F. W. PUTNAM AND ELLIOTT COUES, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. Copyright, 1882, 1884, and 1887, By EsTEs AND LAURIAT. UNIVERSITY PRESS: JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE. Co SvaNGChR RULE RTON BAIND, NESTOR OF AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS, Chts dork, BOAKINGSLOSODIERS DH LORCH RECEIVED BROM HIM IN EARLIER DAYS; is Dedicated. ty ae Ae ‘+ Ue ” U 4 \ ) IO Hay bag CONTENTS. aD lg oo! Opt ean ACMI i ts: SRA) ate cee A a es er ee 1 TDyamicaamionsy 6 SBR See se ENS ie 75 Pee ke eA WONG USWRMMCMM Een 1) eyo (ey Peierls ey ala pele @ 6. eran In ve Vv EIS ROR CATER TON CMa ue eM only Cerna Nr ias otis Bisul 6 Wor col wer ol ope Lo ees) Seema IPalesIe Ie FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. § 1. Implements for Sage EVE] OSM WISTS 4 Se) em ee rT ‘25 IDogs 6 6 > SM RN PUMN oI oKeNs* ito fe) eyo:: ej!) coo omar 9 § 3. Various Gee sions “ata dinections fer field. “Honk 9 § 4. Hygiene of collectorship . 19 § 5. Registration and labelling é 21 § 6. Instruments, materials, and fixtures i preparing “Thistle sine ; 25 § 7. How to make a birdskin . 28 § 8. Miscellaneous particulars 45 § 9. Collection of nests and eggs 50 SOS C archoearcollechionvmrymrsmr at pemismen ire | etmaibe Ms MUIAMIO LEN ec gai 0 54 PART If. GENERAL ORNITHOLOGY. § 1. Dennen GTS so oo 6 3951. 61.6 COMERIMER nt Nice etik be nC unersie DM baite 50 § 2. Principles and practice of eanation Pincwie I Kon omhiciae tot i feeds wite BO) § 3. Definitions and descriptions of the exterior parts of hinds AS EG baer rdae Gly ftoke) Ce Omineneat hers corso lWUMaAse her wt mmronn mits Ost oe, vSo isis oi US Ue Verio e)) oc 0 0). 89 PNR LOpooraphivgombicd se eo Momma a ao No ai ee) ls 2 OD Il, Ivestiomg Or wae lOohy 6 5 6° 6 Oe Maou Umea eA AAW to oys Seni 8 GOA 2. Of the members ; their parts aries CHARMS Eo BGR MGT OG E toro o oun) IRM CF Ot Leones et Mia MINOR MEM rs oPs cea op eri cy pie (ty etic LOO LCR WAS Some Me oe eRe MEME ect) he os etre i csi Macias, OG Hit) ON nye TE Se) 8 a pypleee © so TG, Win MY LR gS a CEU gE es sn ae Ll Te) SENS MSR os ee pei b Wes is Pb OM Sasa Salt Meds ae aie eo an RST Vi CONTENTS. | PAGE (i4e0) Anintroduction\to) the Anatomy, oil bindsieig r-rel oimenmmennre nine irae mean nnr mn mean FS) OD Osicoloay 3 Wie OSSs0Us Sy, Ge Malin 6 5 566 66 65 0.6 6 6 0 IBA IL, “ig sotall colimrmm , 5 6 NOL RS cy weer” Ly) aurea é.. red ayy 2. The thorax: ribs and Sernam MIC) ee oe oar Oh on Geo. ald CM Mier ene Gono N 5 YO 6 6 5 0 4 010 010 0 0 0 6 'o LAB A. The spelvictarchi<. is) ce hue! se.) ie) ou yaoi regione) ch (oy rol et naar ms mieCne eeL 7) Wg gamle, 6 ce b . ; 3 ale gitiked Nome rton ate aul 6. Neurology: the nervous sien organs of speci SIMS 5 6 6 6 6 oo ol LA c. Myology: the muscular system . . . Sb ons an mm me aEa i Go. LOY d. Angeiology: the vascular or circulatory seareme oVoteniG las) Spe tices ce) eb teecnmR amo Go LEWANOENOOAre UNS MEOMEMKOINT HYMIM 5 6 6 50 06006006000 6 0 ID Jo plencliinolossye tie Chiang SYMON o 0 6 0 6 06 000000 0 ol WY Gh OMlkoerrs wis WONKA NM 6 6 6 0 6 56 6 6 0 6 0 0 0 0 oo wg MME Wo. Directions ormusine i nesanhiticial sey s\n itnt mil tun Hnrcnnte wnt mit -aat unt mn a 71 ARMANI IKGobe Gyo) Geno) (Oioias Ani SIRI , 6 6 6 50 6 6 6 0 0 6 6 6 oO) BRK) IARTIFICTAL KGhy ‘TO THE: WAMDPLTES ;. i cencce Sh ccnee cy ton an eae Ce ear tana) ATC TABULAR VIEW OF THE GROUPS HIGHER THAN GENERA ss 6 6 6 6 6 eee see Gad PART III. SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. I. Order PASSERES: Insessores, or Perchers Proper .. . smeared = 4O38 1. Suborder PASSERES ACROMYODTI, or OSCINES: UE Bihik S oo 6 MAW 1. Family Turpipm: Thrushes, etc... . ; S66 0 0 MAD 1. Subfamily Zurdine: Typical Muncie obit Bi ik pee ne OC 1G 9. Subtamily Wmine: Mocks Thrushes) 05) einen nnn aO 3. Subfamily Cinclhine: Dippers . . . othe guetta eee oO 4. Subfamily Sazicoline: Stone-chats and Ble: ane eliyiel ete) meee eee 5. Subfamily Reguline: Kinglets and Wood-wrens. . . . . . ~. 959 6. Subfamily Poliopiiine: Gnat-catchers. . . © . . . = =» © 260 Cy ene, (Crewaiezbonyle MIRCHI 6 5 6 6 6 6 6 0 0 oo 0 lw ol BOY Gy Weniavlby lenny 3 Annet, Ore Chiles 5 6 5 0 5 0 4 0 6 oo GB f. Suloenmiby Japoee iiane Wines 5 6 6 5 6 6 6 5 0 oo BOS Hy Wenraillyy (Suentanys| 8 INNRMENNES G6 950 6 Fo BOY 5. Family CertHtpm: Creepers . . Stengel 5 eae ice. Ronen amare orp 8. Subfamily Certhiine: Typical Greener ec theupanatt cat neawre ce ie abe es deem) Tk) 6. Family Troctopytip#: Wrens . . aear wont ere a) ATS) 9. Subfamily Compylorhynchine : Fan- led waene & Bit Gah are armen A 10, Sworn; Wrolocyuon@s Mis WRS . 6 5 6 6 oo i 7 Family Ataupip#: Larks. . . si. ioe MetRh Yon ete abit Sean, © OD 11. Subfamily Calandritine : Shaw Tereey w Nishi jira acs One eu omeea? Ol Qe SubtamilypAlacdineeS key a.tkcs eae ee rome ner ee ee Se So) Hamily Monaciunmm aca stalls ian cee) bS aaa maine an an ie Sic} lig, fulokvelhy WMoneinnes Weill 5 6 6 5 66 0 © 6 6 0 Bxh Is Sulack “Lee 2 Jenni, Oe WME 5 5 5 5 8 oo on OS CONTENTS. 9. Family Sytviconipm: American Warblers .. . . 15. Subfamily Sylvicoline: True Warblers 16. Subfamily Ictenine: Chats 17. Subfamily Setophagine: Ely- cation Terlians : 10. Family Cernpipm: Honey Creepers Eeteb on 11. Family Tanacripm™: Tanagers 12. Family Hirunpintpm™: Swallows 13. Family AMPELID#: Chatterers 18. Subfamily Ampeline: Went. 19. Subfamily Ptilogonating: Fly-snappers : 20. Subfamily Mycadestine: Fly-catching fitnanlies. 14. Family Vrrtonipm™: Vireos, or Greenlets . : 15, Family Lanrip#: Shrikes . 21. Subfamily Lanune: True Shrikes 16. Family Frinertitip#: Finches, ete. . 17. Family Icter1ipm: American Starlings ; Blackbirds, ile 5 22. Subfamily 4yeleine: Marsh Blackbirds 23. Subfamily Sturnelline: Meadow Starlings 24. Subfamily Jcterine: Orioles . . 25. Subfamily Quiscaline: Crow Bawah 18. Family Corvin#: Crows, Jays, ete. 26. Subfamily Corvine: Crows 27. Subfamily Garruline: Jays . . 19. Family Sturnip#: Old World Starlings 28. Subfamily Sturnine: Typical Starlings 2. Suborder PASSERES MESOMYODI, or CLAMATORES: Sones iSaggens : 20. Family Tyrannipm: American Flycatchers 29. Subfamily Zyrannine: True Tyrant ailvendhar. iI. Order PICARILZ: Picarian Birds . . . 3. Suborder CYPSELIFORMES: Cypseliform Birds 21. Family Caprimuteip™: Goatsuckers 30. Subfamily Capfrimulging : True Boninacax 22, WPamily CypseLipa: Swifts ; Leen 31. Subfamily Cypseline: Typical Swifts 32. Subfamily Cheturine: Spine-tail Swifts 23. Family Trocuitip™: Humming-birds 33. Subfamily Zrochiline: Humming-birds 4. Suborder CUCULIFORMES: Cuculiform Birds 24. Family TRocontip™: Trogons . 84. Subfamily Zrogonine: Trogons . [-——. .Family Momotips: Sawhills] . 25. Family Aucepinipm: Kingfishers . 35. Subfamily Alcedinide: Piscivorous Kingfisher 5 26. Family CucuLtips: Cuckoos 36. Subfamily Crotophagine: Anis 37. Subfamily Scurotherine: Ground @hickoos 88. Subfamily Coccygine: American Cuckoos . 5. Suborder PICIFORMES: Piciform Birds ; 27. Family Prcipm: Woodpeckers . vill CONTENTS. fir) Order PSILTACL: Parrots en ee 28 Family Psitractipm: Parrots 39. Subfamily Arvine: Parrots . IV. Order RAPTORES: Birds of Prey . 6. Suborder STRIGES: Nocturnal Birds of pee 29. Family Atuconip#: Barn Owls 30. Family Strieipm: Other Owls . 40. Subfamily Strigine : 41. Subfamily Budonine: : % Suborder ACCIPITRES: Diurnal Birds of Prey : 4 $1. Family Fatconipa: Vultures, Falcons, Hawks, gies ate 42. Subfamily Circine: Harriers 43. Subfamily Wilving: Kites . 44, Subfamily Accipitrine: Hawks 45. Subfamily Falconine: Falcons 46. Subfamily Polyborine: Caracaras : 47. Subfamily Buteonine: Buzzards and Bieles ! 32. Family Panpionipm#: Fish Hawks, or Ospreys 8. Suborder CATHARTIDES: American Vultures 33. Family Catuartrp™: American Vultures . V. Order COLUMBA: Columbine Birds 9. Suborder PHRISTERA: True Columbine Birds . 34. Family CotumBip#: Pigeons 48. Subfamily Columbine : Rail Pipes? 49. Subfamily Zenaidine: Ground Doves 50. Subfamily Starnenadine : Quail Doves VI. Order GALLINZE: Gallinaceous Birds; Fowls . s 10. Suborder PERISTEROPODES : Pigeon-toed fowls . sit 35. Family Cracip@: Curassows . Re eee et Oke Tee tc 51. Subfamily Penelopine: Guans » . 11. Suborder ALECTOROPODES: True Fowls 36. Family Meteacripipm: Turkeys 37. Family TetRaonip®: Grouse; Partridge; Gul 52. Subfamily Zetraonine: Grouse 53. Subfamily Odontophoring: American parendees aa Anal : [—. Subfamily Perdicine : Old World Partridges and Quails . VII. Order LIMICOL®: Shore-birds 88. Family Cuaraprimp®: Plover : 54. Subfamily Charadriine: True Plone 55. Subfamily Aphrizine: Surf-birds Mans 39. Family Hmmatopopip®: Oyster-catchers ; Turnstones 56. Subfamily Hematopodine : Oyster-catchers 57. Subfamily Strepsilaine : Turnstones 40. Family Recurvirostrip#: Avocets; Stilts . 41, Family PoHataropopipm®: Phalaropes 42. Kamily Scotopacipm: Snipe, ete. PAGE 494 4.95 4.95 495 498 500 502 502 503 517 519 521 522 526 531 539 54] 556 557 557 56) 562 562 564 566 571 571 572 572 573 573 576 576 577 588 594: 596 597 597 605 606 606 608 609 612 614 CONTENTS. VIII. Order HERODIONES: Herons and their Allies. . . . 12. Suborder IBIDES: The Ibis Series . sR nuNtoeery: Gia (Ce PR, Wemimvillyy Ireremranyene, Morse), ob oie aI A RY oto 5 44. Family Puatateip#: Spoonbills . 13. Suborder PELARGI: The Stork Series . 45. Family Ciconirpm: Storks . 58. Subfamily Zantuline: Wood TRG 59. Subfamily Ciconiine: True Storks . 14. Suborder HERODIL: The Heron Series 46. Family ARpEID#&: Herons . 4 60. Subfamily Ardeine: True Bena ; 61. Subfamily Botauwrine: Bitterns . IX. Order ALECTORIDES: Cranes, Rails, and their Allies . . 15. Suborder GRUIFORMES: Cranes and their Alles . ASR: 47, Family Gruipm: Cranes ° 48. Family ARamrip®: Courlans . . 16. Suborder RALLIFORMES: Ralliform Buide , 49. Family Parripa: Jacanas . 50. Family Ratupm: Rails, ete... . . . 62. Subfamily Ralline: True Rails . 63. Subfamily Gallinuling: Gallinules . 64. Subfamily Fudicine : Coots X. Order LAMELLIROSTRES: Anserine Birds . 17. Suborder ODONTOGLOSS: Grallatorial Anseres 61. Wamily PH@nicorpteRipam: Flamingoes. . . . .. . .- 18. Suborder ANSHRES: Anserine Birds Proper. ... . 52. Wamily Anatrpa: Geese, Ducks, ete. . . . . . « « » 65. Subfamily Cyguine: Swans 66. Subfamily Anserine: Geese . 67. Subfamily Avatine: River Ducks 68. Subfamily Puliguline: Sea Ducks 69. Subfamily Merging: Mergansers . .. . . «© - XI. Order STEGANOPODES : eee LST IS, a a ena ales 53. Family Sunipm: Gannets .. . 3. MANS IES oulpse ciate 54. Hamily PeLecanipm: Pelicans . : 55. Family PHatacrocoracipa: ‘Cocnowints 5 5. Wermnilhy Pioumyae IDES 5 5 0 6 6 UO oo Hijo Warmly Macesnpomianie INGE ooo 0 G10 6 0 616 58. Family PHaitHontips: Tropic Birds XII. Order LONGIPENNES: Long-winged Swimmers 19. Suborder GAVIA: Slit-nosed Longwings 59. Family Larma@: Gulls, Terns, etc. . . . 5 0 0 70. Subfamily Lestridine: Jaegers, or Sn Gulls 5 6 71. Subfamily Zaring: Gulls . US ca a (2. Siloennlky Suoae s Weg 65 5) oS a a Bo 73. Subfamily Rhynchopine: Skimmers 172 x CONTENTS. , PAGE 20. Suborder TUBINARES: Petrels. . .. . mish Poh belie Reeve tek ea pia hoe ce athe. 60. Family ProcreLLarinp®. Petrels. . . RUPE Ch tas re a CTT 74. Subfamily Diomedeine : Mineosces Od out oe NO ee Le (oe) a Subtamily ee 7oceliante maser Samet ns) enn werent rem 710 NED (Order PVG ORODHSE MD ivan eer Seneca a7 97 61, Hamily;ConymB rye OOnSii W4) iene Neel se acme LOO) OZ, Wanmlyy Lowytonemoponys \GreANES 9. os 5 6 oo 6 og 8 oo 8 8 HSB 68. Family Ancipm: Auks . . . SRG Pah vay Peseualuc i enc eno 76. Subfamily Phaleridine : Bao Aviles, alin, ae Soh pe vo HOO 77. Subfamily Alcene: Guillemots, Murres, and Auks aronee 6 6 (6 Slo least ID SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS OF THE FOSSIL BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. AVNET ERTIARY BIRDS, vie oe oe te OE aT oe as re 9 CD BEN CRETACEOUS BrRDs (0 ot em re) MN SCO OR ONT PER ae re ge ND Ce JURASSIC BIRDS {e506 Ce Se OE Re Ue: UZ SEL SORA NIT LUNE a) TIN eee a ee ORO IAEE SACI ant Us RASTER) Be ne SS NE IEAINIDX Ph Dn os TSE co eee rr PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. N presenting a new edition of the Kry to those who are interested in North American Birds, the publishers desire the author to add a word by way of preface. But little need be said of a book which speaks for itself in passing through several editions to supply that demand for a standard textbook of ornithology which this work has itself done much to create, by stimulating and satisfying an interest in one of the most delightful departments of Natural History. The part which the Key has taken in the evolution of the subject since 1872 is sketched in the “ Historical Preface ” (pp. xxvi-xxx), first introduced in the Second Edition, 1884. Since the founding of the American Ornitholo- gists’ Union in 1883 the impetus then given to the study of birds has resulted in a momentum directly proportionate to the number of workers in this field and to the length of time these have been engaged. I could wish the fruits of such unparalleled activity were all sound and ripe, but they are not; growth has been forced to some extent in rival hot-houses, and the familiar parable of wheat and tares finds a fresh illustration. Too quick transition from an old to a new order of things in the technicalities of our subject has brought disorder, as usual. ‘Tull the pace slackens somewhat, so that we can see where we stand, I do not think it would be wise to recast the KEY. | Therefore, the only change in the present edition is the addition of a Second Appendix, beginning page 897. E. C. Fee Ca Ce BCS iy eke ANE He EA vate, Whig ae iy wei bith: | ay j PN roe } eee ay LF eB rt H aye y Ms ¥ fier Pek yy At 4. vent MOT ae < Le hit ly, ainda th, ay ul antullls Maat A) oh r oe ‘ole ar KONTO ta avert) ae i sits PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. HE second edition of the “Key,” which appeared in May, 1884, has al- ready been out of print for more than a year. Though aware of the continued demand for a standard work of reference, the author has been unable to meet it more promptly, having meanwhile accepted some other literary en- eagements which proved imperative in their demand upon his capacity for work. Slight as the requisite revision of this book has proven to be, it did not seem ex- vedient to go to press again without recognizing the steps American Ornithology has taken during the past three years, though these may be called many rather than great ones. There is so little to change in the substance of the book that it has been thought decidedly best to reprint from the same plates, and put what new matter has come to hand in the form of an Appendix. However much there is that might have advantageously gone into the second edition, but did not, the author is satisfied with nearly everything that did go in, and quite ready to submit it all to the still further test of time. The transition from what some of his friends have called the “Couesian Period” may mean a change in form rather than in fact. The naming of our birds, as an art distinguished from the science of know- ing them, has lately been pitched in a key so high that the familiar notes of the former “Key” might jangle out of tune, or be lost entirely, were the attempt made to reset them just now. During the confusion unavoidably incident to such sweeping changes in nomenclature as we have recently made, it will be a decided benefit to the student, the sportsman, and the amateur, if not also to every working ornithologist, to be provided with a convenient means of compar- ing the older with the newer style of nomenclature we have adopted, until each one shall have grown accustomed to the change of spectacles. This accommoda- tion is afforded by the present edition, which leaves the names and their num- il IPO IHAUOIR MO) isla, MieUlesID) IBID IILIOIN. bers untouched in the body of the text, and then adjusts them to the new angle of vision in the Appendix, in parallel columns. Thus the new “Key” turns either way: or, to vary the metaphor, the renovated structure stands Janus- faced, looking both ways at once— backward upon its old self, of which it has no cause to be ashamed; forward upon another self, of which it has much reason to be proud. The train of incidents which resulted in what may be called a nomenclatural explosion was fired at the founding of the American Ornithologists’ Union at New York, in September, 1883. As one of three persons who brought that happy episode upon an unsuspecting bird-world, which nevertheless greeted their stroke with acclamation, the author must plead a modesty act in bar of trial of his pen on that particular count. But as the honor was his of presiding over the first Congress of the Union, whilst the ideas of its founders were shapen in- to a permanent and world-wide organization, so also it fell to his lot to appoint several committees for the despatch of business the Union at once took in hand ; and of one ot these he has to speak here. This particular wheel within other wheels turned upon a resolution of the Union “that the Chairman appoint a committee of five, including himself, to whom shall be referred the question of a revision of the Classification and Nomenclature of the Birds of North America.’ Having accepted the situation, the author held with his esteemed colleagues many sessions of the Committee in Washington and New York, and in April, 1885, offered to the Union the result of much joint labor. The report of the Committee being accepted, it was ordered to be printed, and it appeared in 1886 in an octavo volume of 400 pages, entitled “The Code of Nomenclature and Check-lst of North American Birds, adopted by the American Ornithologists’ Union,” ete. The objects which we kept steadily in view were: first, to establish certain sound principles or canons of nomenclature applicable to zodlogy at large as well as to ornithology: and, secondly, to apply these rules consistently and effectually to the naming of North American birds. Others must be left to judge how well or ill these purposes may have been accomplished, but the simple fact is that no sooner had the book appeared than it became the standard and indeed the only recognized Nomenclator in American Ornithology. That which the Committee had stamped with the seal. of the Union became the current coin of the realm, other than which our venerable fowl, The Auk, should know none. PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. lil In estimating the probable consequences for the long run, it is necessary to discriminate between any given ornithological fact and the handle we may agree to give that fact. The former is a natural fixity, the latter is a movable furni- ture; the former is subject to no authority we can set up, the latter is wholly ar- bitrary, determinable at our pleasure. Uniformity of nomenclature is so obvious and decided a practical convenience that even at the risk of seeming to laud work in which he had a hand, the author cannot too strongly urge comphance with the Union’s code, and adherence to the set of names the Union has adopted. These may not be the best possible, but they are the best we have. The author’s insistence upon this point does not of course extend to any case where an error of ornithological fact may appear. That is an entirely different matter. Reserving to himself, as he certainly does, the right of indi- vidual judgment in every question of ornithological science, he is the last to persuade others to refrain from equal freedom of expert opinion. “So many men, so many minds,” even when the number is only five; no individual opinion is necessarily reflected upon any point in the Code and Check-list ; it is the collec- tive voice of a majority of the Committee that is heard in every instance. The occasion for individual dissent on the part of any member of that body, as of any other writer upon the subject, arises when in his private capacity as an author he has, as it were, to pass upon and approve or disapprove any results of the labors of others. The Appendix to the present edition of the “ Key” unavoidably brings up such an occasion. Yet that he may not even seem to reflect upon any of his co-workers, his criticism express or implied has been sedulously reduced to its lowest terms. It consists chiefly in declining to admit to the “Key” some forms that the Committee have deemed worthy of recognition by name. Indeed he has preferred to err, if at all, on the other side, desiring to give the user of this book the later results of the whole Committee. Nevertheless he must here record an earnest protest, futile though it may be, against the fatal facility with which the system of trinomials lends itself to sad consequences in the hands of immature or inexperienced specialists. No allusion is here intended to anything that has been done, but he must reiterate what was said before ( Key, p. xxvii ) respecting what may be done hereafter if more judicious conservatism than we have enjoyed of late be not brought to bear down hard upon trifling incompetents. The “trinomial tool” is too sharp to be made a toy; and even if we do not cut our own fingers with it, we are likely to cut the throat of the whole system of naming we have reared with such iv PREACH LOVES LETT D DIONE care. Better throw the instrument away than use it to shee species so thin that it takes a microscope to perceive them. It may be assumed, as a safe rule of procedure, that it is useless to divide and subdivide beyond the fair average ability of ornithologists to recognize and verify the result. Named varieties of birds that require to be “compared with the types” by holding them up slant- wise in a good strong light, — just as the ladies match crewels in the milliner’s shop, — such often exist in the cabinets or in the books of their describers, but | seldom in the woods and fields. 10, (Cr SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, WASHINGTON, D.C., April, 1887. HISTORICAL PREFACE. WerE a modern Hesiod to essay — neither a cos- mogony nor a theogony — but the genesis of even the E least department of human knowledge, — were he to -sSS38CS“\ sseek the beginnings of American Ornithology, he would SS find it only in Chaos. For from this sprang all things, great and small alike, to pass through Night and Nemesis to the light of days which first see orderly pro- gress in the course of natural evolution, when is first estab- lished some sequence of events we recognize as causes and effects. Then there is system, and formal law ; there BS science becomes possi- ; ble; there its possible history begins. Long was the time during which the birds of our country were known to its imhab- itants, after the fash- ion of the people of those days, — known LASS as things of which use AS —— RAR a could be made, and IMM S's >= studied, too, that use ar 2 6 ~~ might bemadeofthem. But this period is pre- historic; no evidence remains, save in some quaint pictograph or rudely graven image. There followed a period— shorter by far than the former one, though it endures to-day — when the same ry xi HISTORICAL PREFACE. birds awakened in other men an interest they could not excite in a savage breast, and the sense of beauty was felt. Use and Beauty! What may not spring from such divinely mated pair, when once they brood upon the human mind, like haleyons stilling troubled waters, sinking the instincts of the animal in the restful, satisfying reflections of the man ? The history of American Ornithology begins at the time when men first wrote upon American birds ; for men write nothing without some reason, and to reason at all is the beginning of science, even as to reason aright is its end. The date no one can assign, unless it be arbitrarily ; it was during the latter part of the sixteenth century, which, with the whole of the seventeenth, represents the formative or embryonic period during which were gathering about the germ the crude materials out of which an ornithology of North America was to be fashioned. As these accumulated and were assimilated, — as the writings multiplied and books bred books, “each after its kind,” this special depart- ment of knowledge grew up, and its form changed with each new impress made upon its plastic organization. Viewing in proper perspective these three centuries and more which our subject has seen — passing in retrospect the steps of its development — we find that it offers several phases, representing as many “ epochs ” or major divisions, of very unequal duration, and of scientific significance inversely proportionate to their respective lengths. All that went before 1700 constitutes the first of these, which may be termed the Archarc epoch. The eighteenth century witnessed an extraordinary event, the consequence of which to systematic zodlogy cannot be over-estimated ; it occurred almost exactly in the middle of the century, which is thus sharply divided into a Pre-Linnean epoch, before the institu- tion of the binomial nomenclature, and a Post-Linnean epoch, during which this technic of modern zodlogy was established, — each approximately of half a century’s duration. In respect of our particular theme, the first quarter of the nineteenth century saw the “father of American ornithology,” whose spirit pointed the crescent in the sky of the Wilsonian epoch. During the second quarter, these horns were filled with the genius of the Audubonian epoch. In the third, the plenteousness of a master mind has marked the Bairdian epoch. Clearly as these six epochs may be recognized, there is of course no break between them ; they not only meet, but merge in one another. The sharpest line is that which runs across Linneus at 1758; but even that is only visible in historical perspective, while the assignation of the dates 1700 and 1800 is rather a chronological convenience than otherwise. Nothing absolutely marks the former; and Wilson was unseen till 1808. The Archaic epoch stretches into the dim past with unshifting scene, even at the turning-point of the two centuries in which it lies. It is otherwise with the rest ; their shapes have incessantly changed; and several have been the periods in each of them dur- ing which their course of development has been accelerated or retarded, or modified in some special feature. These changes have invariably coincided with — have in fact been induced by — the appearance of some great work ; great, not necessarily in itself, but in its relation to the times, and thus in the consequences of the interaction between the times and the author who left the science other than he found it. The edifice as it stands to-day is the work of all, even of the humblest, builders; but its plan is that of the architects who have modelled its main features, and the changes they have success- - HISTORICAL PREFACE. xiii ively wrought are the marks of progress. It is consequently possible, and it will be found convenient, to subdivide the epochs named (excepting the first) into lesser natural inter- vals of time, which may be called “ periods,” to each of which may attach the name of the architect whose design is expressed most clearly. I recognize fifteen such periods, of very unequal duration, to which specific dates may attach. Seven of these fall in the last century ; eight in the three-quarters of the present century. We may pass them in brief review. THe ArcHAIC Eprocu: to 1700. Mere mention or fragmentary notice of North American birds may be traced back to the middle of the sixteenth century ; but, up to the eighteenth, no book entirely and exclusively devoted to the subject had appeared. The Turkey and the Humming-bird were among the earliest to appear in print ; the latter forms the subject of the earliest paper I have found, exclusively and formally treating of any North American bird as such, and this was not until 1693, when Hamersly described the “ American Tomineius,” as it was called. One of the largest, as well as the smallest of our birds, — the turkey, early came in for a share of attention. The germs of the modern “ faunal list,’ — that is to say, notes upon the birds of some particular region or locality, — appeared early in the seventeenth century, and continued throughout ; but only as incidental and very slight features of books published by colonists, adventurers, and missionaries, in their several interests, — unless Hernandez’s famous “‘ Thesaurus” be brought into the present connec- tion. Among such books containing bird-matter may be noted Smith’s “‘ Virginia,” 16125 Hamor’s “ Virginia,” 1615; Whitbourne’s ‘‘ Newfoundland,” 1620; Higginson’s “ New England,” 1630; Morton’s “ New English Canaan,” 1632 ; Wood’s “ New England’s Prospect,” 1634; Sagard Theodat’s “ Voyage,” 1632; Josselyn’s “ New England’s Rarities,” 1672 ; — and so on, with a few more, — sometimes mere paragraphs, some- times a page or a formal chapter, — but scarcely anything to be now considered except in a spirit of curiosity. THE Pre-Linnman Epocn : 1700-1758. (1700-1730.) | The Lawsonian Period. — It may be a lueus a non to call this the ‘“ Lawsonian” period ; but aname is needed for the portion of this epoch prior to Catesby, during which no other name is so prominent as that of John Lawson, Gentleman, Surveyor-General of North Carolina, whose “ Description and Natural History ” of that country contains one of the most considerable faunal lists of our birds which appeared before 1730, and went through many editions, — the last of these being published at Raleigh, in 1860. The several early editions devote some fifteen or twenty pages to birds, —an amount aue- mented considerably when Brickell appropriated the work in 1737. The Baron de la Hontan did similar service to Canadian birds in his “ Voyages,” 1793; but, on the whole, this period is scarcely more than archaic. (1730-1748.) The Catesbian Period. — This comprises the time when Mark Catesby’s great work was appearing by instalments. ‘‘The Natural History of Carolina, Florida,” etc. is the XIV HISTORICAL PREFACE. first really great work to come under our notice ; its influence was immediate, and is even now felt. It is the ‘“‘ Audubon” of that time ; a folioin two volumes, dating respectively 1731 and 1743, with an appendix, 1748; passing to a second edition in 1754, to a third in 1771, under the supervision of Edwards ; reproduced in Germany, in “ Selig- mann’s Sammlung,” 1749-76. It was published in parts, the date of the first of which I believe to have been 1730, though it may have been a little earlier. Volume I, contain- _ ing the birds, appears to have been issued in five parts, and was made up in 1731 ; it consists of a hundred colored plates of birds, with as many leaves of text ; a few more birds are given in the appendix, raising the number to 113. These illustrations are recognizable almost without exception ; most of the species are for the first time described and figured ; they furnish the basis of many subsequently named in the Linnean system ; the work was eventually provided by Edwards with a Linnean concordance or index ; and alto- gether it is not easy to overestimate the significance of the Catesbian period, due to this one work ; for no other book requires or indeed deserves to be mentioned in the same connection, though a tew contributions, of somewhat “archaic” character, were made by various writers. (1748-1758.) The Edwardsian Period. — This bridges the interval between Catesby and the estab- lishment of the binomial nomenclature, and finishes the Pre-Linnean epoch. No great name of exclusive pertinence to North American ornithology appears in this decade. But the great naturalist whose name is inseparably associated with that of Catesby had begun in 1741 the “ Natural History of Uncommon Birds,” which he completed in four parts or volumes, in 1751, and in which the North American element is conspicuous. This work contains two hundred and ten colored plates, with accompanying text, forming a treatise which easily ranks among the half-dozen greatest works of the kind of the Pre- Linnean epoch, and passed through several editions in different languages. Its impress upon American ornithology of the time is second only to that made by Catesby’s, of which it was the natural sequence, if not consequence It bore similarly upon birds soon t- be described in binomial terms, and was shortly followed by the not less famous ‘Gleanings of Natural History,” 1758-64, a work of precisely the same character, and in fact a continuation of the former. Edwards also made some of our birds the subject of special papers before the Philosophical Society, as those of 1755 and 1758 upon the Ruffed Grouse and the Phalarope. It may be noted here that one of the few special papers upon any American bird which Linnzeus published appeared in this period, he having in 1750 first described the Louisiana Nonpareil (Passerina ciris). This period also saw the publication of part of the original Swedish edition of Peter Kalm’s “ Travels,” 1753-61, which went through numerous editions in different languages. Kalm was a correspondent of Linneus; the genus of plants, Aalmia, commemorates his name; his work contains accounts of many of our birds, some of them the bases of Linnean species ; and. he also published, in 1759, a special paper upon the Wild Pigeon. As in the Catesbian period, various lesser contributions were made, but none requiring comment. Thus Lawson, as representing the continuation of a preceding epoch, and the associated names of Catesby and Edwards in the present one, have carried us past the middle of the last century. HISTORICAL PREFACE. XV THe Post-LinnzZan Epocu: 1758-1800. (1758-1766. ) The Linnean Period. — An interregnum here, during which not a notable work or worker appears in North American ornithology itself. But events elsewhere occurred, the reflex action of which upon our theme is simply incalculable, fully requiring the recognition of this period. The dates, 1758-1766, are respectively those of the appear- ance of the tenth and of the twelth edition of the “Systema Nature” of Linneus. In the former the illustrious Swede first formally and consistently applied his system of nomenclature to all birds known to him; the latter is his completed system, as it finally left his hands ; and from then to now, zoologists and especially ornithologists have dis- puted whether 1758 or 1766 should be taken as the starting-point of zoological nomen- clature. In ornithology, the matter is still at issue between the American and the British schools. However this may result, the fact remains that during this ‘“ Linnean period,” 1758 to 1766, we have the origin of all the tenable specific names of those of our birds which were known to Linneeus; the gathering up and methodical digestion and systematic arrangement of all that had gone before. Let this scant decade stand, — mute in America, but eloquent in Sweden, and since applauded to the echo of the world. Nor is this all. The year 1760 saw the famous “Ornithologia” of Mathurin Jacques Brisson (born April 20, 1725 —died June 23, 1806), in six portly quartos with 261 folded plates, and elaborate descriptions in Latin and French of hundreds of birds, a fair pro- portion of which are North American. Many are described for the first time, though unfortunately not in the binomial nomenclature. The work holds permanent place ; and most of the original descriptions of Brisson’s are among the surest bases of Linnean species. (1766-1785.) The Forstervan Period. — Nearly twenty years have now elapsed with so little in- cident that two brochures determine the complexion of this period. John Reinhold Forster was a learned and able man, whose connection with North American ornithology is interesting. In 1771 he published a tract, now very scarce and of no consequence whatever, entitled “A Catalogue of the Animals of North America.” But it was the first attempt to do anything of the sort, —in short, the first thing of its kind. It gives 302 birds, neither described nor even named scientifically. But that was a large num- ber of North American birds to even mention in those days, —more than Wilson gave in 1814. Forster followed up this exploit in 1772 with an interesting and valuable account of 58 birds from Hudson’s Bay, occupying some fifty pages of the “ Philosophical Transactions.” Several of these birds were new to science, and were formally named, — such as our White-throated Sparrow, Black-poll Warbler, Hudsonian Titmouse, and Eskimo Curlew. Aside from its intrinsic merit, this paper is notable as the first formal treatise exclusively devoted to a collection of North American birds sent abroad. The period is otherwise marked by the publication in 1780 of Fabricius’ ‘‘ Fauna Groenlandica,” in which some 50 birds of Greenland receive attention ; and especially by the appearance of a great statesman and one of the Presidents of the United States in the rdle of orni- thologist, Thomas Jefferson’s ‘‘ Notes on the State of Virginia” having been first pri- ‘Xvi HISTORICAL PREFACE vately printed in Paris in 1782, though the authorized publication was not till 1787. It contains a list of 77 birds of Virginia, fortified with references to Catesby, Linneus, and Brisson, as the author’s authorities. There were many editions, one dating 1853. The long publication in France of one of the monumental works on general orni- thology coincides very nearly with this period. I refer of course to Buffon and his collaborators. The “ Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux,” by Buffon and Montbeillard, dates in its original edition 1770-1783, being in nine quarto volumes with 264 plain plates. It forms a part of the grand set of volumes dating 1749-1804 in their original editions. With the nine bird-volumes are associated the magnificent series of colored plates known as the “Planches Enluminees,’ published in 42 fascicles from 1765 to 1781. The plates are 1008 in number, of which 973 represent birds. (1785-1791.) The Pennantian Period. — A great landmark — one of the most conspicuous of the last century — was set up with the appearance in 1785 of the second volume of Thomas Pennant’s ‘Arctic Zoology.” The whole work, in three quarto volumes with many plates, 1784-1787, was ‘designed as a sketch of the Zoology of North America.” In this year, also, John Latham completed the third volume (or sixth part) of his “General Synopsis of Birds.” These two great works have much in common, in so far as a more restricted treatise can be compared with a more comprehensive one; and in the history of our subject the names of Latham and Pennant are linked as closely as those of Catesby and Edwards. The parallel may be drawn still further; for neither Pennant nor Latham (up to the date in mention) used binomial names; their species had consequently no standing; but they furnished to Gmelin in 1788 the same bases of formally-named species of the thirteenth edition of the “Systema Nature,” that Catesby and Edwards had afforded Linneus in 1758 and 1766. Pennant treated up- wards of 500 nominal species of North American Birds. The events at large of this brief but important period were the progress of Latham’s Supplement to his Synopsis, the first volume of which appeared in 1787, though the second was not completed till 1801 ; the appearance in 1790 of Latham’s “ Index Ornithologicus,” in whieh his birds receive Latin names in due form; and the publication in 1788 of the thirteenth edition of the “Systema Naturze,”’ as just said. We are so accustomed to see ‘‘ Linn.” and “Gm.” after the names of our longest- known birds that we almost unconsciously acquire the notion that Linneus and Gmelin were great discoverers or describers of birds in those days. But the men who made North American ornithology what it was during the last century were Catesby, Edwards, Forster, Pennant, Latham, and Bartram. For “the illustrious Swede” was in this case little more than a methodical cataloguer, or systematic indexer ; while his editor, Gmelin, was merely an industrious, indiscriminate compiler and transcriber. Neither of these men discovered anything to speak of in this connection. (1791-1800.) The Bartramian Period. — William Bartram’s figure in the events we are sketching is a notable one, — rather more on account of his bearing upon Wilson’s subsequent ca- reer than of his own actual achievements. Wilson is often called the “father of Ameri- HISTORICAL PREFACE. XVli can ornithology ;” if this designation be apt, then Bartram may be styled its godfather. Few are fully aware how much Wilson owed to Bartram, his “guide, philosopher, and friend,” who published in 1791 his “Travels through North and South Carolina,” con- taining much ornithological matter that was novel and valuable, including a formal catalogue of the birds of the Eastern United States, in which many species are named as new. I have always contended that those of his names which are identifiable are available, though Bartram frequently lapsed from strict binomial propriety ; and the question furnishes a bone of contention to this day. Many birds which Wilson first fully described and figured were really named by Bartram, and several of the latter’s designations were simply adopted by Wilson, who, in relation to Bartram, is as the broader and clearer stream to its principal tributary affluent. The notable ‘“ Travels,” freighted with its unpretending yet almost portentous bird-matter, went through several editions and at least two translations ; and I consider it the starting-point of a distinctively American school of ornithology. We have seen, in several earlier periods, that men’s names appear in pairs, if not also as mates. Thus, Catesby and Edwards; Linneeus and Gmelin; Pennant and ‘Latham ; and, perhaps, Buffon and Brisson. The Bartramian alter ego is not Wilson, but Barton, whose ‘‘ Fragments of the Natural History of Pennsylvania,” 1799, closed the period which Bartram had opened, and with it the century also. Benjamin Smith Barton’s tract, a folio now very scarce, is doubly a “fragment,” being at once a work never finished, and very imperfect as far as it went; but it is one of the most notable special treatises of the last century, and I think the first book published in this country that is entirely devoted to ornithology. But its author’s laurels must rest mainly upon this count, for its influence or impression upon the course of events is scarcely to be rec- ognized, —is incomparably less than that made by Bartram’s “Travels,” and by his mentorship of Wilson. . By the side of Bartram and Barton stand several lesser figures in the picture of this period. Jeremy Belknap treated the birds of New Hampshire in his “ History ” of that state (1792). Samuel Williams did like service for those of Vermont in his ‘“ History ” (1794). Samuel Hearne, a pioneer ornithologist in the northerly parts of America, fore- shadowed, as it were, the much later ‘‘ Fauna Boreali-Americana” in the narrative of his journey from Hudson’s Bay to the Northern Ocean —a stout quarto published in 1795. Here a chapter of fifty pages is devoted to about as many species of birds; and Hearne’s observations have a value which “ time, the destroyer,” has not yet wholly effaced. THe Witsontan Erocu: 1800-1824. (1800-1808.) The Vieillotian Period. — As we round the turn of the century a great work occupies the opening years, before the appearance of Wilson, —a work by a foreigner, a French- man, almost unknown to or ignored by his contemporaries in America, although he was already the author of several illustrated works on ornithology when, in 1807, his ‘‘ Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux de ?Amérique Septentrionale” was completed in two large folio volumes, containing more than a hundred engravings, with text relating to several hun- dred species of birds of North America and the West Indies; many of them figured for XVill HISTORICAL PREFACE. the first time, or entirely new to science. This work, bearing much the same relation to its times that Catesby’s and Edwards’ respectively did to theirs, is said to have been published in twenty-two parts of six plates each, probably during several years; but the date of its inception I have never been able to ascertain. However this may be, Vieillot alone and completely fills a period of eight years, during which no other notable or even mentionable treatise upon North American birds saw the light. Vieillot’s case is an exceptional one. As the author of numerous splendidly illustrated works, all of which live; of a system of ornithology, most of the generic names contained in which are ingrained in the science; of very extensive encyclopedic work in which hundreds of species of birds receive new technical names: Vieillot has a fame which time rather brightens than obscures. Yet it is to be feared that the world was unkind during his lifetime. At Paris, he stood in the shadow of Cuvier’s great name; Temminck assailed him from Holland ; while, as to his work upon our birds, many years passed before it was appreciated or in any way adequately recognized. Thus, singularly, so great a work as the “‘ Histoire Naturelle’? — one absolutely characteristic of a period — had no appre- clable effect upon the course of events till long after the times that saw its birth, when Cassin, Baird, and others brought Vieillot into proper perspective. There is so little. trace of Vieillot during the Wilsonian and Audubonian epochs, that his “ Birds of North America” may almost be said to have slept for half a century. But to-day, the solitary figure of the Vieillotian period stands out in bold relief. (1808-1824.) The Wilsonian Period. — The “ Paisley weaver ;” the “ Scotch pedler ;” the “ melan- choly poet-naturalist ;” the “father of American ornithology,” — strange indeed are the guises of genius, yet stranger its disguises in the epithets by which we attempt to label and pigeon-hole that thing which has no name but its own, no place but its own. Alex- ander Wilson had genius, and not much of anything else — very little learning, scarcely any money, not many friends, and a paltry share of ‘‘the world’s regard” while he lived. But genius brings a message which men must hear, and never tire of hearing; it is the word that comes when the passion that conceives is wedded with the patience that achieves. Wilson was a poet by nature, a naturalist by force of circumstances, an Ameri- can ornithologist by mere accident, — that is, if anything can be accidental in the life of aman of genius. As a poet, he missed greatness by those limitations of passion which seem so sad and so unaccountable ; as the naturalist, he achieved it by the patience that knew no limitation till death interposed. As between the man and his works, the very touchstone of genius is there; for the man was greater than all his works are. Genius may do that which satisfies all men, but never that which satisfies itself; for its inspira- tion is infinite and divine, its accomplishment finite and human. Such is the penalty of its possession. Wilson made, of course, the epoch in which his work appeared, and I cannot restrict the Wilsonian period otherwise than by giving to Vieillot his own. The period of Wil- son’s actual authorship was brief; it began in September, 1808, when the first volume of the “ American Ornithology” appeared, and was cut short by death before the work was finished. Wilson, having been born July 6, 1766, and come to America in 1794, died August 23, 1813, when his seventh volume was finished ; the eighth and ninth being HISTORICAL PREFACE. XIX completed in 1814 by his friend and editor, George Ord. But from this time to 1824, when Bonaparte began to write, the reigning work was still Wilson’s, nothing appearing during these years to alter the complexion of American ornithology appreciably. Wil- son’s name overshadows nearly the whole epoch, —not that others were not then great, but that he was so much greater. This author treated about 280 species, giving faithful descriptions of all, and colored illustrations of most of them. There are numerous editions of his work, of which the principal are Ord’s, 1828-29, in three volumes ; Jameson’s, 1831, in four; Jardine’s, 1832, in three; and Brewer's, 1840, in one; all of these, excepting of course the first one, containing Bonaparte’s “ American Orni- thology” and other matter foreign to the original “‘ Wilson.” In 1814, just as “ Wilson” was finished, appeared the history of the memorable expedition under Lewis and Clarke —an expedition which furnished some material to Wilson himself, as witness Lewis’ Woodpecker, Clarke’s Crow, and the “‘ Louisiana” Tanager; and more to Ord, who con- tributed to the second edition of “ Guthmie’s Geography ” an article upon ornithology. Ord’s prominence in this science, however, rests mainly upon his conne¢tion with Wilson’s work, as already noted. Near the close of the Wilsonian period, Thomas Say gave us important notices of Western birds, upon the basis of material acquired through Long’s Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, the account of which appeared in 1823. In this work, Say described sundry species of birds new to science; but he was rather an ento- mologist than an ornithologist, and his imprint upon our subject is scarcely to be found outside the volume just named. A noted —some might say rather notorious — character appeared upon the scene during this period, in the person of C. S. Rafinesque, who seems to have been a genius, but one so awry that it is difficult to do aught else than mis- understand him, unless we confess that we scarcely understand him at all. In the elegant vernacular of the present day he would be called a crank ; but I presume that term means that kind of genius which fails of interpretation ; for an unsuccessful genius is a crank, and a successful crank is a genius. For the rest, the Wilsonian period was marked by great activity in Arctic exploration, in connection with the ornithological results of which appear prominently the names of William E. Leach and Edward Sabine. 7 As illustrating the relation between Wilson and Bartram, which I have already pointedly mentioned, I may quote a few lines from Ord’s “Life of Wilson.” ? 1 * Fis school-heuse and residence being but a short distance from Bartram’s Botanic Garden, situated on the west bank of the Schuylkill: a sequestered spot, possessing attractions of no ordinary kind; an acquaintance was soon contracted with that venerable naturalist, Mr. William Bartram, which grew into an uncommon friend- ship, and continued without the least abatement until severed by death. Here it was that Wilson found him- self translated, if we may so speak, into a new existence. He had long been a lover of the works of Nature, and had derived more happiness from the contemplation of her simple beauties, than from any other source of gratifi- cation. But he had hitherto been a mere novice ; he was now about to receive instructions from one whom the experiences of a long life, spent in travel and rural retirement, had rendered qualified to teach. Mr. Bartram soon perceived the bent of his friend’s mind, and its congeniality to his own; and took every pains to encourage him in a study, which, while it expands the faculties, and purifies the heart, insensibly leads to the contemplation of the glorious Author of Nature himself. From his youth Wilson had been an observer of the manners of birds; and since his arrival in America he had found them objects of uncommon interest; but he had not yet viewed them with the eye of a naturalist.”’ , This was about 1800 — rather a little later. Wilson’s ‘“‘ novitiate’? was the Vieillotian period, almost exactly. Bartram survived till July 22, 1823, his eighty-fourth year; the date of his death thus coinciding very nearly with the close of the Wilsonian epoch and period. XK HISTORICAL PREFACE. THe AvpuUBONIAN EpooH: 1824-1853. (1824-1831.) The Bonapartian Period. — A princely person, destined to die one of the most famous of modern naturalists — Charles Lucien Bonaparte, early conceived and executed the plan of continuing Wilson’s work in similar style, if not in the same spirit. He began by publishing a series of “ Observations on the Nomenclature of Wilson’s Orni- thology,” in the “Journal” of the Philadelphia Academy, 1824-25, republished in an octavo volume, 1826. This valuable critical commentary introduced a new feature, — decided changes in nomenclature resulting from the sifting and rectification of synonymy. to-day the bane and drudgery of the working naturalist — first acquire prominence in the history of our special subject. There had been very little of 1t before, and Wilson himself, the least “bookish” of men, gave it scarcely any attention. Bonaparte also in 1825 added several species to our fauna upon material collected in Florida by the now venerable Titian R. Peale, — whose honored name is thus the first of those of men still living to appear in these annals. Bonaparte’s “ American Ornithology,” uniform with ‘ Wilson,” and generally incorporated therewith in subsequent editions, as a continuation of Wilson’s work, was originally published in four large quarto volumes, running 1825-33. The year 1827, in the midst of this work of Bonaparte’s, was a notable one in several particulars. Bonaparte himself was very busy, producing a “‘ Catalogue of the Birds of the United States,” which, with a “Supplement,” raised the number of species to 366, and of genera to 83; nearly a hundred species having been thus become known to us since Ord laid aside the pen that Wilson had dropped. William Swainson the same year described a number of new Mexican species and genera, many of which come also into the ‘‘ North American” fauna. But the most notable event of the year was the appearance of the first five parts of Audubon’s elephant folio plates. In 1828-29, as may also be noted, Ord brought out his three-vol. 8vo edition of Wilson. In 1828, Bonaparte returned to the charge of systematically cata- locuing the birds of North America, giving now 382 species; and about this time he also produced a comparative list of the birds of Rome and Philadelphia. His main work having been completed in 1835, as just said, Bonaparte continued his labors with a “Geographical and Comparative List of the Birds of Europe and North America,” published in London in 1838. This brochure gives 503 European and 471 American species. The celebrated zoologist wrote until 1857, but his connection with North American birds was only incidental after 1838. The period here assigned him, 1824— 1831, may seem too short: but this was the opening of the Audubonian epoch—a period of brilliant inception, and one in which events that were soon to mature their splendid fruit came crowding fast; so that room must be made at once for others who were early in the present epoch. It is here that questions of synonymy (1831-1832. ) The Swainsonio-Richardsonian Period. —The “Fauna Boreali-Americana,” the ornithological volume of which was published in 1831, made an impression so indelible that a period, albeit a brief one, must be put here. The technic of this celebrated HISTORICAL PREFACE. XX1 treatise, more valuable for its descriptions of new species and genera than for its methods of classification, was by William Swainson, as were the elegant and accurate colored plates ; the biographical matter, by Dr. (later Sir) John Richardson, increased our knowl- edge of the life-history of the northerly birds so largely, that it became a fountain of facts to be drawn upon by nearly every writer of prominence from that day to this, Each of the distinguished authors had previously appeared in connection with our birds, — Swainson as above said; Richardson in 1825, in the appendix to Captain Parry’s “Journal.” The influence of the work on the whole cannot be well overstated. Two events, besides the appearance of the “‘ Fauna,” mark the year 1831. One of these is the publication of the first volume of Audubon’s ‘“ Ornithological Biography,” being the beginning of the text belonging to his great folio plates. The other is the completion of the bird-volumes of Peter Pallas’ famous “* Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica,” one of the most important contributions ever made to our subject, treating so largely as it does of the birds of the region now called Alaska. The same year saw also the Jameson edition of “Wilson and Bonaparte.” (1832-1834.) The Nuttallian Period.—Thomas Nuttall (born 1786—died 1859) was rather botanist than ornithologist; but the travels of this distinguished English-American naturalist made him the personal acquaintance of many of our birds, his love for which bore fruit in his “‘ Manual of the Ornithology of the United States and Canada,” of which the first volume appeared in 1832, the second in 1834. The work is notable as the first ‘‘ hand- book” of the subject ; it possesses an agreeable flavor, and I think was the first formal treatise, excepting Wilson’s, to pass to a second edition, as it did in 1840. Nuttall’s name is permanent in our annals; and many years after he wrote, the honored title was chosen to be borne by the first distinctively ornithological association of this country, — the “ Nuttall Ornithological Club,” founded at Cambridge in 1873, and still flourishing. (1834-1853. ) The Audubonian Period. — Meanwhile, the incomparable work of Audubon —~ “the ereatest monument erected by art to nature’? — was steadily progressing. The splendid genius of the man, surmounting every difficulty and discouragement of the author, had found and claimed its own. That which was always great had come to be known and named as such, victorious in its impetuous yet long-enduring battle with that curse of the world,—I mean the commonplace; the commonplace, with which genius never yet effected a compromise, since genius is necessarily a perpetual menace to mediocrity. Audubon and his work were one; he lived in his work, and in his work will live forever. When did Audubon die. We may read, indeed, ‘on Thurs- day morning, January 27th, 1851, when a deep pallor overspread his countenance.... Then, though he did not speak, his eyes, which had been so long nearly quenched, rekindled with their former lustre and beauty; his spirit seemed to be conscious that it was approaching the Spirit-land.” And yet there are those who are wont to exclaim, ‘‘a soul! a soul! what is that?” Happy indeed are they who are conscious of its existence in themselves, and who can see it in others, every instant of time during their lives! XXil HISTORICAL PREFACE. Audubon’s first publication, perhaps, was in 1826,—an account of the Turkey- buzzard, in the “ Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal,’ and some other minor notices came from his pen. But his energies were already focused on his life-work, with that intense and perfect absorption of self which only genius knows. ‘The first volume of the magnificent folio plates, an hundred in number, appeared in 1827-30, in five parts ; the second, in 1831-34, of the same number of plates; the third, in 1834-35, likewise of the same number of plates; the whole series of 4 volumes, 87 parts, 435 plates and 1065 figures of birds, being completed in June, 1839. Meanwhile, the text of the ‘“‘ Birds of America,” entitled ‘ Ornithological Biography,” was steadily progressing, the first of these royal octavo volumes appearing in 1831, the fifth and last in 1839. In this latter year also appeared the “Synopsis of the Birds of North America,” a single handy volume serving as a systematic index to the whole work. In 1840-44 appeared the standard octavo edition in seven volumes, with the plates reduced to octavo size and the text rearranged systematically ; with a later and better nomenclature than that given in the “ Ornithological Biography,” and some other changes, including an appendix describing various new species procured during the author's journey to the upper Mis- sourl in 1843. In the original elephant folios there were 435 plates ; with the reduction in size the number was raised to 483, by the separation of various figures which had previously occupied the same plate; and to these 17 new ones were added, making 500 in all. The species of birds treated in the “Synopsis ” are 491 in number; those in the work, as it finally left the illustrious author’s hands, are 506 in number, nearly all of them splendidly figured in colors. In estimating the influence of so grand an accomplishment as this, we must not leave Audubon “alone in his glory.” Vivid and ardent was his genius ; matchless he was both with pen and pencil in giving life and spirit to the beautiful objects he delineated with passionate love ; but there was a strong and patient worker by his side, — William Macgillivray, the countryman of Wilson, destined to lend the sturdy Scotch fibre to an Audubonian epoch. The brilliant French-American naturalist was little of a *‘scientist.” Of his work, the magical beauties of form and color and movement are all his; his page is redolent of Nature’s fragrance: but Macgillivray’s are the bone and sinew, the hidden anatomical parts beneath the lovely face, the nomenclature, the classification, —in a word, the technicalities of the science. Not that Macgillivray was only a closet-naturalist ; he was a naturalist in the best sense——in every sense —of the word, and the “vital spark” is gleaming all through his works upon British birds, showing his intense and loyal love of Nature in all her moods. But his place in the Audubonian epoch in American ornithology is as has been said. The anatomical struc- ture of American birds was first disclosed in any systematic manner, and to any consider- able extent, by him. But only to-day, as it were, is this most important department of ornithology assuming its rightful place; and have we a modern Macgillivray to come ? | The sensuous beauty with which Audubon endowed the object of his life was long in acquiring, with loss of no comeliness, the aspect more strict and severe of a later and maturer epoch. Audubon was practically accomplished in 1844, the year which saw his completed work ; but I note no special or material change in the course of events, — no name of assured prominence, till 1853, when a new regime, that had meanwhile been — . HISTORICAL PREFACE. XX insensibly established, may be considered to have closed the Andubonian epoch, — the Audubonian period thus extending through the nine years after 1844. While Audubon was finishing, several mentionable events occurred. I have already spoken of Bonaparte’s “ List” of 1838, and of the 1840 edition of Nuttall’s “ Manual.” Richardson in 1837 contributed to the Report of the Sixth Meeting of the British Asso- ciation for the Advancement of Science an elaborate and important “‘ Report on North American Zodlogy,” relating in due part to birds. The distinguished Danish naturalist, Reinhardt, wrote a special treatise on Greenland Birds, 1838; W. B. O. Peabody one upon the birds of Massachusetts, 1839. The important Zodlogy of Captain Beechey’s Voyage appeared in 1839, with the birds done by N. A. Vigors. Maximilian, Prince of Wied, published his ‘“ Reise in das Innere Nord-America” in 1839-41. Sixteen new species of birds from Texas were described and figured by J. P. Giraud in 1841, and the same author’s useful ‘Birds of Long Island” was published in 1844. This year saw also the bird-volume of De Kay’s “ Zoology of New York.” The Rev. J. H. Linsley furnished a notable catalogue of the birds of Connecticut in 1843. A name intimately associated with Audubon’s is that of J. K. Townsend, whose fruitful travels in the West in company with Nuttall in 1834 resulted in adding to our list the many new species which were published by Townsend himself in 1837, and also utilized by Audubon. Townsend’s “ Narrative” of his journey appeared in 1839; and the same year saw the beginning of a large work which Townsend projected, an “ Ornithology of the United States,” which, however, progressed no further than one part or number, being killed by the octavo edition of Audubon. In 1837 I first find the name of a friend of Audubon which often appears in his work — that of Dr. Thomas Mayo Brewer, who wrote on the birds of Massachusetts in this year, and in 1840 brought out his use- ful and convenient duodecimo edition of “‘ Wilson,” in one volume. In 1844, Audubon’s last effectual year, the brothers Wm. M. and S. F. Baird appear, with a list of the birds of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, having the year previously, in July, 1843, described two new species of flycatchers, in the first paper ever written by the one who was to make the succeeding epoch; and it is significant that the last bird in Audubon’s work was named “Hmberiza barrdw.” Such were the aspects of the ornithological sky as the glorious Audubonian sun approached and passed the zenith ; still more significant were the signs of the times as that orb neared its golden western horizon. In the interval between 1844 and 1853, Baird and Brewer continued ; Cassin and Lawrence appeared in various papers; and round these names are grouped those of William Gambel, with new and interesting ob- servations in the Southwest; of George A. McCall and S. W. Woodhouse, in the same connection; and of Holboll in respect of Greenland birds. The most important con- tributions were the several papers published by Gambel, in 1845 and subsequently, and Baird’s Zodlogy of Stansbury’s Expedition, 1852. But no period-marking, still less epoch- making, work accelerated the setting of the sun of Audubon. Tur Bartrpian Epocu: 1853-18 —. (1853-1858. ) The Cassimvan Period. — While much material was accumulating from the explora- tion of the great West, and the Bairdian period was rapidly nearing ; while Brewer and OS pps wee XX1V HISTORICAL PREFACE. Lawrence were continuing their studies and writings, and many other names of lesser note were contributing their several shares to the whole result: the figure of John Cassin stands prominent. Cassin was born September 6, 1813, and passed from view in the Quaker City, January 10, 1869. Numerous valuable papers and several important works attest the assiduity and success with which he cultivated his favorite science to the end of his days. I think that his first paper was the description of a new hawk, Cymindis wilsont, in 1847. Among his most important works are the Ornithology of the Wilkes Exploring Expedition ; of the Perry Japan Expedition ; and of the Gilliss Expedition to Chili. Aside from his strong codperation with Baird in the great work to be presently noticed, Cassin’s seal is set upon North American ornithology in the beautiful book begun in 1853 and finished in 1856, entitled “Illustrations of the Birds of California,” etc., forming a large octavo volume, illustrated with fifty colored plates. His distince- tive place in ornithology is this: he was the only ornithologist this country has ever produced who was as familiar with the birds of the Old World as with those of America. Enjoying the facilities of the then unrivalled collection of the Philadelphia Academy, his monographic studies were pushed into almost every group of birds of the world at large. He was patient and laborious in the technic of his art, and full of book-learning in the history of his subject ; with the result, that the Cassinian period, largely by the work of Cassin himself, is marked by its “bookishness,” by its breadth and scope in ornithology at large, and by the first decided change since Audubon in the aspect of the classification and nomenclature of the birds of our country. The Cassinian period marks the culmination of the changes that wrought the fall of the Audubonian sceptre in all that relates to the technicalities of the science, and consequently represents the beginning of a new epoch. The peers of this period are only three, — Lawrence, Brewer, and Baird. The for- mer of these, already an eminent ornithologist, continued his rapidly succeeding papers and was preparing his share of Baird’s great work of 1858; though later his attention be- came so closely fixed upon the birds of Central and South America, that a “ Lawrencian period” is to be found in the history of the ornithology of those countries rather than of our own. Dr. Brewer’s various articles appeared, and in 1857 this author, so well known since Audubonian times, became the recognized leading oologist of North America, through the publication of the first part of his “ North American Oclogy ” — a work unfor- tunately suspended at this point. Though thus fragmentary, this quarto volume stands as the first systematic treatise published in this country exclusively devoted to odlogy, and giving a considerable series of colored illustrations of eggs. But a larger measure of the world’s regard became his much later, when, in 1874, appeared the great “ History of North American Birds,” in three quarto volumes, all the biographical matter of which was by him; and, even as I write, two more volumes are about to appear, in which he has hke large share. Thus closely is the name of Brewer identified with the progress of the science for nearly half a century, — from 1837 at least, to 1884, some four years after his death, which occurred January 23, 1880. He was born in Boston, November 21, 1814. Baird published little during the Cassinian period, being then intent upon the great work about to appear; but the number of workers in special fields attests the activity of the times. S. W. Woodhouse published his completed observations upon the birds of the Southwest in an illustrated octavo volume. Zadock Thompson’s “ Natural History 7 HISTORICAL PREFACE. XXV of Vermont” (1853) paid attention to the birds of that state. Birds of Wisconsin were catalogued by P. R. Hoy; of Ohio, by M. C. Read and Robert Kennicott ; of Llinois, by H. Pratten ; of Indiana, by R. Haymond ; of Massachusetts, by F. W. Putnam; and - various other ‘faunal lists”? and local annotations appeared, including President Jeffer- son’s Virginian ornithology, three-quarters of a century out of date. Dr. T. C. Henry and Dr. A. L. Heermann wrote upon birds of the Southwest ; Reinhardt continued ob- servations on Greenland birds; Dr. Henry Bryant published some valuable papers. The since very eminent English ornithologist, Dr. P. L. Sclater, appeared during this period in the present connection. The series of Pacific Railroad Reports, which were to culminate, so far as ornithology is concerned, with the famous ninth volume, were in progress; the sixth volume, containing Dr. J. 8. Newberry’s valuable and interesting article upon the birds of California and Oregon, was published in 1857. Thus the Cassinian period, besides being marked as already said in its broader features, was notable in its details for the increase in the number of active workers, the extent and vaniety of their independent observations, and the consequent accumulation of materials ready to be worked into shape and system. (1858-18—.) The Bairdian Period. — The ninth volume of the “ Pacific Railroad Reports ” was an epoch-making work, bearing the same relation to the times that the respective works of Audubon and Wilson had sustained in former years. A great amount of material — not all of which is more than hinted at in the foregoing paragraph — was at the service of Professor Baird. In the hands of a less methodical, learned, and sagacious naturalist, — of one less capable of elaborating and systematizing, — the result would probably have been an ordinary official report upon the collections of birds secured during a few years by the naturalists of the several explorations and surveys for a railroad route from the ‘Mississippi Valley to the Pacific Ocean. But having already transformed the eighth volume of the Reports from such a “public document” into a systematic treatise on North American Mammals, this author did the same for the birds of North America, with the cooperation of Cassin and Lawrence. This portly quarto volume, published in 1858, represents the most important and decided single step ever taken in North Ameri- can ornithology in all that relates to the technicalities of the science. It effected a revolution — one already imminent in consequence of Cassin’s studies — in classification and nomenclature, nearly all the names of our birds which had been in use in the Audubonian epoch being changed in accordance with more modern usages in generic and specific determinations. While the work contains no biographical matter, — nothing of the life-history of birds, it gives lucid and exact diagnoses of the species and genera known at the time, with copious synonymy and critical commentary. Various new genera are characterized, and many new species are described. The influence of the great work was immediate and widespread, and for many years the list of names of the 738 species contained in the work remained a standard of nomenclature from which few desired or indeed were in position to deviate. The value of the work was further enhanced in 1860 by its republication, identical in the text, but with the addition of an atlas of 100 colored plates. Many of these plates were the same as those which had appeared in other volumes of the Pacific Railroad Reports, notably the sixth and tenth XXV1 HISTORICAL PREFACE. and twelfth (the two latter volumes having appeared in 1859); others were those con- tained in the ‘“‘ Mexican Boundary Report” which had appeared under Professor Baird’s editorship in 1859; about half of them were new. I have spoken of the collaboration of Cassin and Lawrence in the production of this remarkable treatise. Considering it only as one of a series of reports upon the Pacific Railroad Surveys, I should bring into somewhat of association the names of those who contributed the ornithological portions of other volumes, as the fourth, sixth, tenth, and twelfth, — Dr. C. B. R. Kennerly, Dr. J. 8. Newberry, Dr. A. L. Heermann, Dr. J. G. Cooper, and Dr. George Suckley. Nor should it be forgotten that numberless other col- lectors and contributors, whose specimens are catalogued throughout the volume, brought their hands to bear upon the erection of this grand monument. But what of the genius of this work? — for I have not measured my words in speak- ing of Wilson and Audubon. Can any work be really great without that mysterious quality ? Certainly not. This work is instinct with the genius of the times that saw its birth. This work is the spirit of an epoch embodied. But here I must pause. My little sketch is brought upon the threshold of contem- poraneous history, —to the beginning of the Bairdian period, of the close of which, as of the duration of the Bairdian epoch, it is not for me to speak. When the splendid achievements of American ornithologists during the past quarter of a century shall be seen in historical perspective; when the brilliant possibilities of our near future shall have become the realizations of a past; when the glowing names that went before shall have fired another generation with a noble zeal, a lofty purpose, and a generous emulation — then, perhaps, the thread here dropped may be recovered by another hand. Yet a few words of Preface proper to the present work appear to be required. The ~ original edition of the “ Key” was published in October, 1872, in an issue of about 2,200 copies. It was not stereotyped, and has been for some years entirely out of print. It formed an imperial octavo of 361 pages, illustrated with 238 woodcuts in the text and 6 steel plates. It was designed as a manual or text-book of North American Ornithology. To meet this design, the Introduction consisted of a general account of the external characters of birds, an explanation of the technical terms used in describing them, and some exposition of the leading principles of classification and nomenclature. An artificial “key” or analysis of the genera, constructed upon a plan found practically useful in botany, but seldom applied to zodlogy, was introduced, to enable one who had some knowledge of the technical terms to refer a given specimen to its proper genus. Then, in the body of the work, each species was briefly described, with indication of its geographical distribution and references to several leading authorities. The families and orders of North American birds were also characterized, and a synopsis of the fossil birds was appended. The work introduced many decided changes in classification and nomen- clature which the then state of the science seemed to require, and systematically recog- nized a large number of those subspecies or geographical races which are now indicated by the use of trinomial nomenclature, — a method now fully established and recognized as peculiar to the ‘‘ American school.” The central idea of the treatise was to enable one HISTORICAL PREFACE. XXVi to identify and label his specimens, though he might have no other knowledge of orni- thology than such as the book itself gave him. I have been given to understand that the work has answered its purpose, and has had a useful career; and I have long since been advised by my esteemed publishers that they were ready to issue a second edition, which I have only just now found time to complete. The present edition of the ‘“‘ Key ” is conceived in the same spirit as the former one, to fulfil precisely the same purpose. But it has been entirely rewritten, and is quite another work, though the old title is preserved. An author who practises his profession diligently for twenty years is apt to find fault with his first book, and seek to remedy its defects when opportunity offers. It has become quite clear to me, as it doubtless has to others, that the old “ Key” no longer turns in the lock with ease and precision, — not that it has rusted from disuse, but that the more complicated mechanism of the lock re- quires its key to be refitted. During no previous period has our knowledge gone faster or farther or more surely than in the interval between the two editions of the “‘ Key ;” there are scores of active and enthusiastic workers where there was one before ; scores of important treatises have appeared ; the literature of the subject has been searched, sifted, and systematized ; every corner of our country has been ransacked for birds, and the list of our species and subspecies has reached about 900 by the many late discoveries ; active interest in this branch of science is no longer confined to professed ornithologists ; the importance of avian anatomy is as fully recognized as is the beauty of the life-history of birds ; a distinctively American school of ornithology has grown up, introducing radical changes in nomenclature and classification ; a quarterly journal of ornithology has reached its ninth annual volume ; an American Ornithologists’ Union, the membership of which extends to every quarter of the globe, has been founded. So rapid, indeed, has been the progress, and so radical the changes wrought during the last few years, that I doubt not this is the time to take our bearings anew and proceed with judicious conservatism. Neither do I doubt that just at this moment a new departure is imminent, hinging upon the establishment of the American Ornithologists’ Union. It behooves us, therefore, to consider the question, not alone of where we stand to-day, but also, of whither we are tending ; for we are certainly in a transition state, and not even the near future can as yet be accurately forecast. The pliability and elasticity of our trinomial system of nomenclature is very great; and the method lends itself so readily to the nicest discriminations of geographical races, — of the finest shades of variation in sub- specific characters with climatic and other local conditions of environment, that our new toy may not impossibly prove a dangerous instrument, if it be not used with judgment and cau- tion. We seem to be in danger of going too far, if not too fast, in this direction. It is not to ery “halt!” — for any advance is better than any standstill ; but it is to urge prudence, caution, and circumspection, lest we be forced to recede ingloriously from an untenable position, — that these words are penned, with a serious sense of their necessity. In the present unsettled and perplexing state of our nomenclature, when appeal to no “ authority ” or ultimate jurisdiction is possible, it is well to formulate and codify some canons of nomenclature by which to agree to abide. It is well to apply such canons rigidly, with thorough sifting of synonymy, no matter what precedents be disre- garded, what innovations be caused. It is well to use trinomials for subspecific deter- minations. But it is not well to overdo the “variety business ;” feather-splittine is XXV1l HISTORICAL PREFACE. no better than hair-splitting, and the liberties of the “ American idea” must never degenerate into license. Our action in this regard must stop short of a point where an unfavorable reaction would be the inevitable result. But I have digressed, in saying a warning word, from the point of the conclusion of this Preface, which is simply to describe the new edition of the “ Key” with special reference to its difference from the former one. The classification and nomenclature are materially different, in consequence of the progress of our knowledge during the past twelve years. In 1873, a year after the old “Key” appeared, I published a “ Check List,” con- formed exactly with the nomenclature of the “‘ Key.” In 1882, when I had recast the “‘ Key,” I published a second edition of the “ Check List” in conformity with the*new “ Key.” The present work, therefore, gives the same names, with scarcely any variance, though with a few additional ones; the new “ Check List” and the new “ Key” being practically one in all that pertains to nomenclature, and representing a particular phase of the subject. The numbering of the species, also, corresponds with that in the ‘“ Check List.” Part I. of the present work consists of my ‘“ Field Ornithology,” originally published as a separate treatise in 1874, and now for the first time incorporated with the “Key.” It is reprinted nearly verbatim, but with some little amplification towards its end, and the intro- duction of a few illustrations. Part II. consists of the introductory matter of the old “‘ Key,” very greatly amplified. In its present shape it is a sort of “ Closet Ornithology ” as distinguished from a “ Field Ornithology ;” being a treatise on the classification and structure of birds, explaining and defining the technical terms used in ornithology, —in short, teaching the principles of the science and illustrating their application. Part III., the main body of the work, describes all the species and subspecies of North American birds known to me, defines the genera, and characterizes the families and higher groups. The descriptions are much more elaborate than those of the old “ Key,” and I trust that such amplification has been made without loss of that sharpness of definition which was the aim of the first edition. I have kept steadily in view my main purpose — the ready identification of specimens. In many cases I have drawn upon my other works — such as the “ Birds of the Colorado Valley,” the “Birds of the North- west,’ and several of my Monographs, — for available ready-made descriptions ; but for the most part the matter of this kind is new. Scarcely any of this part of the old “Key ” remains as it was. One improvement, I think, will be found in the removal of the unnecessary references to authorities which closed the descriptive paragraphs of the old “Key,” and the utilization of the space thus gained by introducing terse biograph- ical items, with special reference to nests and eggs, to song, flight, migrative and other habits ; the technical descriptions of the species thus also epitomizing the life-history of the birds. Geographical distribution is also more fully treated, as its importance de- serves. More attention has been paid to the description of the plumages of females and young birds. The specific names head their respective paragraphs, instead of tailing-off the same; they are also marked for accent, and their etymology is concisely stated, — though for this matter the student should continue to use the new “Check List.” As regards the artificial “key to the genera” of the old work, it has proven that too much was attempted in undertaking to carry the student at once to our refined mod- ern genera. I have accordingly substituted artificial keys to the orders and families ; HISTORICAL PREFACE. > OIUK and throughout the work have analyzed species under their respective genera, these under their subfamilies or families, and these again under their orders. Part IV. consists of a Synopsis of the Fossil birds of North America, corresponding to the appendix of the old “ Key,” but augmented by later discoveries. As before, this part of the work has been revised by Professor O. C. Marsh. | In the mechanical execution of the work, it has been my aim to compress the most matter into the least space and leave no waste paper, in order to keep the treatise within a single portable volume of convenient text-book size. I judge that there is nearly four times as much matter in the present volume as there was in the original edition, the page being much more closely printed, in a smaller type, and on thinner paper. The old “ Key” was insufficiently illustrated, and the average character of the cuts was not entirely satisfactory. The present edition more than doubles the number of illustrations. These are in part original, in part derived from various sources, all of which are duly accredited in the text. The basis of the series is of course the cuts of the former edition ; but many of these have been discarded and replaced by better ones. About fifty of the most effective engravings were secured by my publishers from Brehin’s “ Thierleben ;” nearly as many more are from Dixon’s “ Rural Bird Life,” the American edition of which is owned by the same firm. A few have been copied from D. G. Elhot’s “ Birds of America,” and a few others from the Proceedings of the Zodlogical Society of London. About fifty of the prettiest ones were drawn by Mr. Edwin Sheppard and en- graved by Mr. H. H. Nichols, expressly for this edition. Another set—- how many there are of them I do not know —are from my own drawings, and have mostly appeared in other of my publications. Several of Mr. R. Ridgway’s drawings have been placed at my service, through his kind attentions, and with Professor Baird’s permission. I am in- debted to Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, U. S. A., for about thirty original anatomical drawings, as well as for the colored frontispiece. Mr. Henry W. Elliott has kindly put at my dis- position several of his own artistic compositions, and I have received some very beautiful engravings with the compliments of the Century Company of New York. it is always agreeable to pay one’s respects when due, and acknowledge assistance and encouragement received in the preparation of one’s books. Yet what an embarrass- ment is mine now! For there is no writer of repute on North Amerniwan ornithology, and scarcely a leader of the science at large, who has not assisted in the making of the “ Key ;” and there is no reader of the work who has not encouraged its author to produce this new edition. I am trebly in debt, —to thousands whose names I know not; to hundreds [ only know by name and fame; to scores of tried and trusted friends. But let me say how much I am indebted to my compositors and proof-readers of the University Press at Cambridge for the skill with which they have turned copy into print, and to the proprietors of that justly-celebrated establishment for the pains they have taken in making the book an example of beautiful and accurate typography. Let me recognize here the liberality and generosity of my friend, Mr. Dana Estes, senior of the firm of Estes and Lauriat, in permitting me to make the book to suit myself, and in sparing no expense to which he might be put in consequence. Let me not forget that during its preparation, as for many vears previously, I have enjoyed te the fullest extent the privileges of the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum, through the courtesy of Professor Baird, my access to the great collection of birds being always facili- xxx HISTORICAL PREFACE. tated by the attentions of Mr. Robert Ridgway, the Curator of Ornithology. And may that less tangible but not less real source of strength which inheres in the sympathetic and genial intercourse of a lifetime continue to be mine to draw upon, for all my works, from my warm friend, J. A. Allen, the first President of the American Ornithologists’ Union. ‘ Prefaces,” says some one, “ever were and still are but of two sorts; . . . still the author keeps to his old and wonted method of prefacing, when, at the beginning of his book he enters, either with a halter about his neck, submitting himself to his reader’s mercy whether he shall be hanged, or no; or else in a huffing manner he appears with the halter in his hand, and threatens to hang his reader, if he gives him not his good word.” But I wish neither to hang nor be hanged ; I wish the work were better than ib — is, for my reader’s sake ; I wish the author were better than he is, for my own sake ; and above all I wish that every author may rise superior to his best work, to the end that the man himself be judged above his largest achievements. It is well to do great things, but better still to be great. E. C. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Wasuineton, D.C., Aprit, 1884. | PANG Daa OB FIELD ORNITHOLOGY: BEING A MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION FOR COLLECTING, PREPARING, AND PRESERVING BIRDS. IELD ORNITHOLOGY must lead the way to Systematic and Descriptive Ornithology. The study of Birds in the field is an indispensable prerequisite to their study in the library and the museum. Directions for observing aud collecting birds, for preparing and pre- serving them as objects of natural history, will greatly help the student on his way to become a successful Ornithologist, if he will faithfully and intelligently observe them. It is believed that the practical Instructions which the author has to give will, if followed out, enable any one who has the least taste or aptitude for such pursuits to become proficient in the necessary qualifications of the good working ornithologist. These instructions are derived from the writer’s own experience, reaching in time over twenty years, and extending in area over large’ portions of North America. Having made in the field the personal acquaintance of most species of North American birds, and having shot and skinned with his own hands several thousand specimens, he may reasonably venture to speak with confidence, if not also with authority, respecting methods of study and manipulation. Feeling so much at home in the field, with his gun for destroying birds, and his instruments for preserving their skins, he wishes to put the most imexperienced student equally at ease; and therefore begs to lay formality aside, that he may address the reader familiarly, as if chatting with a friend on a subject of mutual interest. § 1.—IMPLEMENTS FOR COLLECTING, AND THEIR USE. The Double-barrelled Shot Gun is your main reliance. Under some circumstances you may trap or snare birds, catch them with bird-lime, or use other devices; but such cases are exceptions to the rule that you will shoot birds, and for this purpose no weapon compares with the one just mentioned. The soul of good advice respecting the selection of a gun is, Get the best one you can afford to buy ; go the full length of your purse in the matters of material and workmanship. To say nothing of the prime requisite, safety, or of the next most desirable quality, efficiency, the durability of a high-priced gun makes it cheapest in the end. 1 2 FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. Style of finish is obviously of little consequence, except as an index of other qualities; for inferior guns rarely, if ever, display the exquisite appointments that mark a first-rate arm. There is really so little choice among good guns that nothing need be said on this score; you cannot miss it if you pay enough to any reputable maker or reliable dealer. But collecting is a specialty, and some guns are better adapted than others to your particular purpose, which is the destruction, as a rule, of small birds, at moderate range, with the least possible injury to their plumage. Probably three-fourths or more of the birds of a miscellaneous collection average under the size of a pigeon, and were shot within thirty yards. A heavy gun is there- fore unnecessary, in fact ineligible, the extra weight being useless. You will find a gun of 74% to 8 pounds weight most suitable. For similar reasons the bore should be small; I prefer 14 gauge, and should not think of going over 12. To judge from the best sporting authorities, length of barrel is of less consequence than many suppose; for myself, I incline to a rather long barrel, — one nearer 33 than 28 inches, —believing that such a barrel may throw shot better; but Iam not sure that this is even the rule, while it is well known that several circumstances of loading, besides some almost inappreciable differences in the way barrels are bored, will cause guns apparently exactly alike to throw shot differently. Length and crook of stock should of course be adapted to your figure, —a gun may be made to fit you, as well as a coat. For wild-fowl shooting, and on some other special occasions, a heavier and altogether more powerful gun will be preferable. Breech-Loader vs. Muzzle-Loader, a case long argued, may be considered settled in favor of the former. Provided the mechanism and workmanship of the breech be what they should, there are no valid objections to offset obvious advantages, some of which are these : ease and rapidity of loading, and consequently delivery of shots in quick succession ; facility of cleaning; compactness and portability of ammunition ; readiness with which different-sized shot may be used. This last is highly important to the collector, who never knows the moment he may wish to fire at a very different bird from such as he has already loaded for. The muzzle-loader must always contain the fine shot with which nine-tenths of your specimens will be secured; if in both barrels, you cannot deal with a hawk or other large bird with reasonable prospects of success; if in only one barrel, the other being more heavily charged, ° you are crippled to the extent of exactly one-half of your resources for ordinary shooting. Whereas, with the breech-loader you will habitually use mustard-seed in both barrels, and yet can slip in a different shell in time to seize most opportunities requiring large shot. This con- sideration alone should decide the case. But, moreover, the time spent in the field in loading an ordinary gun is no small item; while cartridges may be charged in your leisure at home. This should become the natural occupation of your spare moments. No time is really gained ; you simply change to advantage the time consumed. Metal shells, charged with loose ammu- nition, and susceptible of being reloaded many times, may be used instead of any special fixed ammunition which, once exhausted in a distant place (and circumstances may upset the best calculations on that score), leaves the gun useless. On charging the shells mark the number of the shot used on the outside wad; or better, use colored wads, say plain white for dust shot, and red, blue, and green for certain other sizes. If going far away, take as many shells as you think can possibly be wanted — and «a few more. Experience, however, will soon teach you to prefer paper cartridges for breech-loaders. They may of course be loaded according to circumstances, with the same facility as metal shells, and even reloaded if desired. It is a good deal of trouble to take care of metal shells, to prevent loss, keep them clean, and avoid bending or indenting ; while there is often a prac- tical difficulty in recapping— at least with the common styles that take a special primer. Those fitted with a screw top holdimg a nipple for ordinary caps are expensive. Paper cart- IMPLEMENTS FOR COLLECTING, AND THEIR USE. 5) ridges come already capped, so that this bother is avoided, as it is not ordinarily worth while to reload them. They are made of different colors, distinguishing various sizes of shot used without employ of colored wads otherwise required. ‘They may be taken into the field empty and loaded on occasion to suit; but it is better to pay a trifle extra to have them loaded at the shop. In such case, about four-fifths of the stock should contain mustard-seed, nearly all the rest about No. 7, a very few being reserved for about No. 4. Cost of ammunition is hardly appreciably increased; its weight is put in the most conveniently portable shape; the whole apparatus for carrying it, and loading the shells, is dispensed with; much time is saved, the entire drudgery (excepting gun-cleaning) of collecting being avoided. I was prepared in this way during the summer of 1873 for the heaviest work I ever succeeded in accomplishing during the same length of time. In June, when birds were plentiful, I easily averaged fifteen skins a day, and occasionally made twice as many. As items serving to base calculations, I may mention that in four months I used about two thousand cartridges, loaded, at $42 per M., with seven-eighths of an ounce of shot and two and three-fourths drachms of powder; only about three hundred were charged with shot larger than mustard-seed. In estimating the size of a collection that may result from use of a given number of cartridges, it may not be safe for even a good shot to count on much more than half as many specimens as cartridges. The number is practically reduced by the following steps: — Cartridges lost or damaged, or orig- inally defective; shots missed; birds killed or wounded, not recovered; specimens secured unfit for preservation, or not preserved for any reason; specimens accidentally spoilt in stuffing, or subsequently damaged so as to be not worth keeping; and finally, use of cartridges to supply the table. Other Weapons, etc. — An ordinary single-barrel gun will of course answer; but is a sorry makeshift, for it is sometimes so poorly constructed as to be unsafe, and can at best be only just half as effective. This remark does not apply to any of the fine single-barrelled breech- loaders now made. You will find them very effective weapons, and they are not at all expen- sive. An arm now much used by collectors is a kind of breech-loading pistol, with or without a skeleton gun-stock to screw into the handle, and taking a particular style of metal cartridge, charged with a few grains of powder, or with nothing but the fulminate. They are very light, very cheap, safe and easy to work, and astonishingly effective up to twenty or thirty yards; making probably the best ‘‘ second choice” after the matchless double-barrelled breech- loader itself. The cane-gun should be mentioned in this connection. It is a single-barrel, lacquered to look like a stick, with a brass stopper at the muzzle to imitate a ferule, counter- sunk hammer and trigger, and either a simple curved handle, or a light gunstock-shaped piece that screws in. The affair is easily mistaken for a cane. Some have acquired considerable dexterity in its use; my own experience with it is very limited and unsatisfactory ; the handle always hit me in the face, and I generally missed my bird. It has only two recommendations. If you approve of shooting on Sunday and yet scruple to shock popular prejudice, you can slip out of town unsuspected. If you are shooting where the law forbids destruction of small birds, —a wise and good law that you may sometimes be inclined to defy, —artfully careless handling of the deceitful implement may prevent arrest and fine. A blow-gwn is sometimes used. It is a long slender tube of wood, metal, or glass, through which clay-balls, tiny arrows, ete., are projected by force of the breath. It must be quite an art to use such a weapon successfully, and its employment is necessarily exceptional. Some uncivilized tribes are said to possess marvellous skill in the use of long bamboo blow-guns; and such people are often valuable employés of the collector. I have had no experience with the noiseless air-gun, which is, in effect, a modified blow-gun, compressed air being the explosive power. Nor can I say much of various methods of trapping birds that may be practised. On these points I must leave you to your own devices, with the remark that horse-hair snares, set over a nest, are often of great 4. FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. service in securing the parent of eggs that might otherwise remain unidentified. I have no practical knowledge of bird-lime ; I believe it is seldom used in this country. A methéd of netting birds alive, which I have tried, is both easy and successful. A net of fine green silk, some 8 or 10 feet square, is stretched perpendicularly across a narrow part of one of the tiny brooks, overgrown with briers and shrubbery, that intersect many of our meadows. Retreating to a distance, the collector beats along the shrubbery making all the noise he can, urging on the little birds till they reach the almost invisible net and become entangled in trying to fly through. I have in this manner taken a dozen sparrows and the like at one ‘‘ drive.” But the gun can rarely be laid aside for this or any similar device. Ammunition,— The best powder is that combining strength and cleanliness in the highest compatible degree. In some brands too much of the latter is sacrificed to the former. Other things being equal, a rather coarse powder is preferable, since its slower action tends to throw shot closer. Some numbers are said to be ‘‘too quick” for fine breech-loaders. Inexperienced sportsmen and collectors almost invariably use too coarse shot. When unnecessarily large, two evils result: the number of pellets in a load is decreased, the chances of killing being corre- spondingly lessened; and the plumage is unnecessarily injured, either by direct mutilation, or by subsequent bleeding through large holes. As already hinted, shot cannot be too fine for your routine collecting. Use ‘‘ mustard-seed,” or ‘‘ dust-shot,” as it is variously called; it is smaller than any of the sizes usually numbered. As the very finest can only be procured in cities, provide yourself liberally on leaving any centre of civilization for even a country village, to say nothing of remote regions. A small bird that would have been torn to pieces by a few large pellets, may be riddled with mustard-seed and yet be preservable ; moreover, there is, as a rule, little or no bleeding from such minute holes, which close up by the elasticity of the tissues involved. It is astonishing what large birds may be brought down with the tiny pellets. I have killed hawks with such shot, knocked over a wood ibis at forty yards and once shot a wolf dead with No. 10, though I am bound to say the animal was within a few feet of me. After dust-shot, and the nearest number or two, No. 8 or 7 will be found most useful. Water- fowl, thick-skinned sea-birds, like loons, cormorants, and pelicans, and a few of the largest land birds, require heavier shot. I have had no experience with the substitution of fine gravel or sand, much less water, as a projectile; besides shot I never fired anything at a bird except my ramrod, on one or two occasions, when I never afterwards saw either the bird or the stick. The comparatively trivial matter of caps will repay attention. Breech-loaders not discharged with a pin take a particular style of short cap called a “‘ primer; ” for other guns the best water-proof lined caps will prevent annoyance and disappointment in wet weather, and may save you an eye, for they only split when exploded; whereas, the flimsy cheap ones — that ““G D” trash, for instance, sold in the corner grocery at ten cents a hundred — usually fly to pieces. Cut felt wads are the only suitable article. Ely’s ‘‘chemically prepared ” wadding is the best. It is well, when using plain wads, occasionally to drive a greased one through the barrel. Since you may sometimes run out of wads through an unexpected contingency, always keep a wad-cutter to fit your gun. You can make serviceable wads of pasteboard, but they are inferior to felt. Cut them on the flat sawn end of a stick of firewood: the side of a plank does not do very well. Use a wooden mallet, instead of a hammer or hatchet, and so Save your cutter. Soft paper is next best after wads; I have never used rags, cotton or tow, fearing these tinder-like substances might leave a spark in the barrels. Crumbled leaves or grass will answer at a pinch. I have occasionally, in a desperate hurry, loaded and killed without any wadding. 4 Other Equipments. — (a.) For the Gun. A gun-case will come cheap in the end, especially if you travel much. The usual box, divided into compartments, and well lined, IMPLEMENTS FOR COLLECTING, AND THEIR USE. 9) s is the best, though the full length leather or india-rubber cloth case answers very well. The box should contain a small kit of tools, such as mainspring-vice, nipple-wrench, screw-driver, ete. A stout hard-wood cleaning rod, with wormer, will be required. It is always safe to — have parts of the gun-lock, especially mainspring, in duplicate. For muzzle-loaders extra nipples and extra ramrod heads and tips often come into use. For breech-loaders the appara- tus for charging the shells is so useful as to be practically indispensable. (0.) For ammun- tion. Metal shells or paper cartridges may be carried loose in the large lower coat pocket, or in a leather satchel. There is said to be a chance of explosion by some unlucky blow, when they are so carried, but I never knew of an instance. Another way is to fix them separately in a row in snug loops of soft leather sewn continuously along a stout waist-belt; or in several such horizontal rows on a square piece of thick leather, to be slung by a strap over the shoul- der. But better than anything else is a stout linen vest, similarly furnished with loops holding each a cartridge; this distributes the weight so perfectly, that the usual “forty rounds” may be carried without feeling it. The appliances for loose ammunition are almost endlessly varied, so every one may consult his taste or convenience. But now that everybody uses the breech-loader, shot-pouches and powder-flasks are among the things that were. (c¢.) For specrmens. You must always carry paper in which to wrap up your specimens, as more par- ticularly directed beyond. Nothing is better for this purpose than writing-paper; ‘ rejected” or otherwise useless MSS. may thus be utilized. The ordinary game bag, with leather back and network front, answers very well; but a light basket, fitting the body, such as is used by fishermen, is the best thing to carry specimens in. Avoid putting specimens into pockets, unless you have your coat-tail largely excavated: crowding them into a close pocket, where they press each other, and receive warmth from the person, will injure them. It is always well to take a little cotton into the field, to plug up shot-holes, mouth, nostrils, or vent, imme- diately, if required. (d.) For Yourself. The indications to be fulfilled in your clothing are these: Adaptability to the weather; and since a shooting-coat is not conveniently changed, while an overcoat is ordinarily ineligible, the requirement is best met by different underclothes. Easy fit, allowing perfect freedom of muscular action, especially of the arms. Strength of fabric, to resist briers and stand wear; velveteen and corduroy are excellent materials. Sub- dued color, to render you as inconspicuous as possible, and to show dirt the least. Multiplicity of pockets — a perfect shooting-coat is an ingenious system of hanging pouches about the person. Broad-soled, low-heeled boots or shoes, giving a firm tread even when wet. Close- fitting cap with prominent visor, or low soft felt hat, rather broad brimmed. Let india-rubber goods alone ; the field is no place for a sweat-bath. Qualifications for Success. — With the outfit just indicated you command all the required appliances that you can buy, and the rest lies with yourself. Success hangs upon your own exertions; upon your energy, industry, and perseverance; your knowledge and skill; your zeal and enthusiasm, in collecting birds, much as in other affairs of life. But that your efforts —maiden attempts they must once have been if they be not such now—may be directed to best advantage, further instructions may not be unacceptable. To Carry a Gun without peril to human life or limb is the a b ¢ of its use. ‘* There’s death in the pot.” Such constant care is required to avoid accidents that no man can give it by continual voluntary efforts: safe carriage of the gun must become an unconscious habit, fixed as the movements of an automaton. The golden rule and whole secret is: the muzzle must never sweep the horizon ; accidental discharge should send the shot into the ground before your feet, or away up in the air. There are several safe and easy ways of holding a piece: they will be employed by turns to relieve particular muscles when fatigued. 1. Hold it in the hollow of the arm (preferably the left, as you can recover to aim in less time than from the 9) FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. Q right), across the front of your person, the hand on the grip, the muzzle elevated about 45°. 9. Hang it by the trigger guard hitched over the forearm brought round to the breast, the stock passing behind the upper arm, the muzzle pointing to the ground a pace or so in front of you. 3. Shoulder it, the hand on the grip or heel-plate, the muzzle pointing upward at least 45°. 4. Shoulder it reversed, the hand grasping the barrels about their middle, the muzzle pointing forward and downward: this is perfectly adinissible, but is the most awkward position of all to recover from. Always carry a loaded gun at half-cock, unless you are about to shoot. Most good guns are now fitted with rebounding locks, an arrangement by which the hammer is thrown back to half-cock as soon as the blow is delivered on the pin. This admirable device is a great safe-guard, and is particularly eligible for breech-loaders, as the barrels may be unlocked and relocked without touching the hammers. Unless the lock fail, accidental discharge is impossible, except under these circumstances: a, a direct blow on the nipple or pin; 0, catching of both hammer and trigger simultaneously, drawing back of the former and its release whilst the trigger is still held, —the chances against which are simply incalculable. Full-cock, ticklish as it seems, is safer than no-cock, when a tap on the hammer or even the heel-plate, or a slight catch and release of the hammer, may cause discharge. Never let the muzzle of a loaded gun point toward your own person for a single instant. Get your gun over fences, or into boats or carriages, before you get over or in yourself, or at any rate no later. Remove caps or cartridges on entering a house. Never aim a gun, loaded or not, at any object, unless you mean to press the trigger. Never put a loaded gun away long’enough to forget whether it is loaded or not; never leave a loaded gun to be found by others under circumstances reasonably presupposing it to be un- loaded. Never put a gun where it can be knocked down by a dog or a child. Never imagine that there can be any excuse for leaving a breech-loader loaded under any circumstances. Never forget that the idiots who kill people because they ‘‘ did n’t know it was loaded,” are perennial. Never forget that though a gunning accident may be sometimes interpreted (from a certain standpoint) as a ‘dispensation of Providence,” such dispensations happen oftenest to the careless. To Clean a Gun properly requires some knowledge, more good temper, and most ‘‘ elbow-grease ;” it is dirty, disagreeable, mevitable work, which laziness, business, tiredness, indifference, and good taste will by turns tempt you to shirk. After a hunt you are tired, have your clothes to change, a meal to eat, a lot of birds to skin, a journal to write up. If you ‘“sub-let ” the contract the chances are it is but half fulfilled; serve yourself, if you want to be well served. If you cannot find time for a regular cleaning, an intolerably foul gun may be made to do another day’s work by swabbing for a few moments with a wet (not dripping) rag, and then with an oiled one. For the full wash use cold water first ; it loosens dirt better than hot water. Set the barrels in a pail of water; wrap the end of the cleaning rod with tow or cloth, and pump away till your arms ache. Change the rag or tow, and the water too, till they both stay clean for all the swabbing you can do. Fill the barrels with boiling water till they are well heated; pour it out, wipe as dry as possible inside and out, and set them by a fire. Finish with a light oiling, inside and out; touch up all the metal about the stock, and polish the wood-work. Do not remove the locks oftener than is necessary ; every time they are taken out, something of the exquisite fitting that marks a good gun may be lost; as long as they work smoothly take it for granted they are all right. The same direction applies to nipples. To keep a gun well, under long disuse, it should have had a particularly thorough cleaning ; the chambers should be packed with greasy tow; greased wads may be rammed at intervals along the barrels; or the barrels may be filled with melted tallow. Neat’s-foot is recommended as the best easily procured oil ; porpoise-oil which is, I believe, used by watch- makers, is the very best; the oil made for use on sewing-machines is excellent; “olive” oil IMPLEMENTS FOR COLLECTING, AND THEIR USE. T (made of lard) for table use answers the purpose. The quality of any oil may be improved by putting in it a few tacks, or seraps of zinc, — the oil expends its rusty capacity in oxidizing the metal. Inferior oils get ‘‘sticky.” One of the best preventives of rust is mercurial (‘‘ blue”) ointment: it may be freely used. Kerosene will remove rust; but use it sparingly for it “‘eats” sound metal too. To Load a Gun effectively requires something more than knowledge of the facts that the powder should go in before the shot, and that each should have a wad a-top. Probably the most nearly universal fault is use of too much shot for the amount of powder; and the next, too much of both. The rule is bulk for bulk of powder and shot. If not exactly this, then rather less shot than powder. It is absurd to suppose, as some persons who ought to know better do, that the more shot in a gun the greater the chances of killing. The projectile force of a charge cannot possibly be greater than the wis mertie of the gun as held by the shooter. The explosion is manifested in all directions, and blows the shot one way simply and only because it has no other escape. If the resistance in front of the powder were greater than elsewhere, the shot would not budge, but the gun would fly backward, or burst. This always reminds me of Lord Dundreary’s famous conundrum — Why does a dog wag his tail? Because he is bigger than his tail; otherwise the tail would wag lim. A gun shoots shot because the gun is the heavier; otherwise the shot would shoot the gun. Every unnecessary pellet is a pellet against you, notagainst the game. The experienced sports : inan uses about one-third less shot than the tyro, with proportionally better result, other things being equal. As to powder, moreover, a gun can only burn just so much, and every grain blown out unburnt is wasted if nothing more. No express directions for absolute weight or measures of either powder or shot can be given; in fact, different guns take as their most effective charge such a variable amount of ammunition, that one of the first things you have to learn about your own arm is, its normal charge-gauge. Find out, by assiduous target practice, what absolute amounts (and to a slight degree, what relative proportion) of powder and shot are required to shoot the furthest and distribute the pellets most evenly. This practice, further- more, will acquaint you with the gun’s capacities in every respect. You should learn exactly what it will and what it will not do, so as to feel perfect confidence in your ari within a cer- tain range, and to waste no shots in attempting miracles. Immoderate recoil is a pretty sure sign that the gun was overloaded, or otherwise wrongly charged ; and all force of recoil is sub- tracted from the impulse of the shot. It is useless to ram powder very hard; two or three smart taps of the rod will suffice, and more will not increase the explosive force. On the shot the wad should simply be pressed close enough to fix the pellets immovably. All these direc- tions apply to the charging of metal or paper cartridges as well as to loading by the muzzle. The latter operation is so rarely required, now that guns of every grade break at the breach, that advice on this score may seem quite anachronistic; nevertheless, I let what I said in the original edition stand. When about to recharge one barrel see that the hammer of the other stands at half-cock. Do not drop the ramrod into the other barrel, for a stray shot might impact between the swell of the head and the gun and make it difficult to withdraw the rod. During the whole operation keep the muzzle as far from your person as you conveniently can. Never force home a wad with the flat of your hand over the end of the rod, but hold the rod between your fingers and thumb; in case of premature explosion, it will make just the differ- ence of lacerated finger tips, or a blown-up hand. Never look into a loaded gun-barrel; you might as wisely put your head into a lion’s mouth to see what the animal had for dinner. After a miss-fire hold the gun up a few moments and be slow to reload; the fire sometimes “hangs” for several seconds. Finally, let me strongly impress upon you the expediency of light loading in your routine collecting. Three-fourths of your shots need not bring into action the gun’s full powers of execution. You will shoot more birds under than over 30 yards; not 8 FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. : a few you must secure, if at all, at 10 or 15 yards ; and your object is always to kill them with the least possible damage to the plumage. I have, on particular occasions, loaded even down to $0z. of shot and ljdr. of powder. There is astonishing force compressed in a few grains of powder ; an astonishing number of pellets in the smallest load of mustard-seed. If you can load so nicely as to just drive the shot into a bird and not through it and out again, do so, and save half the holes in the skin. To Shoot successfully is an art which may be acquired by practice, and can be learned only in the school of experience. No general directions will make you a good shot, any more than a proficient in music or painting. ‘To tell you that in order to hit a bird you must point the gun at it and press the trigger, is like saying that to play on the fiddle you must shove the bow across the strings with one hand while you finger them with the other; in either case the result is the same, a noise —vox et preterea nikil—but neither music nor game. Nor is it possible for every one to become an artist in gunnery; a ‘“‘crack shot,” like a poet, is born, not made. For myself I make no pretensions to genius in that direction; for although I generally make fair bags, and have destroyed many thousand birds in my time, this is rather owing to some familiarity I have gained with the habits of birds, and a certain knack, acquired by long practice, of picking them out of trees and bnshes, than to skilful shooting from the sportsman’s standpoint ; in fact, if I cut down two or three birds on the wing without a miss I am working quite up to my average in that line. But any one not a purblind “ butter fin- gers,” can become a reasonably fair shot by practice, and do good collecting. It is not so hard, after all, to sight a gun correctly on an immovable object, and collecting differs from sporting proper in this, that comparatively few birds are shot on the wing. But I do not mean to imply that it requires less skill to collect successfully than to secure game; on the contrary, it is finer shooting, I think, to drop a warbler skipping about a tree-top than to stop a quail at full speed ; while hitting a sparrow that springs from the grass at one’s feet to flicker in sight a few seconds and disappear is the most difficult of all shooting. Besides, a crack shot, as understood, aims unconsciously, with mechanical accuracy and certitude of hitting; he simply wills, and the trained muscles obey without his superintendence, just as the fingers form letters with the pen in writing ; whereas the collector must usually supervise his muscles all through the act and see that they mind. In spite of the proportion of snap shots of all sorts you will have to take, your collecting shots, as a rule, are made with deliberate aim. There is much the same difference, on the whole, between the sportsman’s work and the collector’s, that there is between shot-gun and rifle practice, collecting being comparable to the latter. It is gener- ally understood that the acme of skill with the two weapons is an incompatibility ; and, cer- tainly, the best shot is not always the best collector, even supposing the two to be on a par in their knowledge of birds’ haunts and habits. Still a hopelessly poor shot can only attain fair results by extraordinary diligence and perseverance. Certain principles of shooting may per- haps be reduced to words. Aim deliberately directly at an immovable object at fair range. Hold over a motionless object when far off, as the trajectory of the shot curves downward. Hold a little to one side of a stationary object when very near, preferring rather to take the chances of missing it with the peripheral pellets, than of hopelessly mutilating it with the main body of the charge. Fire at the first fair aim, without trying to improve what is good enough already. Never ‘‘pull” the trigger, but press it. Bear the shock of discharge with- out flinching. In shooting on the wing, fire the instant the but of the gun taps your shoulder; you will miss at first, but by and by the birds will begin to drop, and you will have laid the foundation of good shooting, the knack of ‘ covering” a bird unconsciously. The habit of ‘‘ poking” after a bird on the wing is an almost incurable vice, and may keep you a poor shot all your life. (The collector’s frequent necessity of poking after little birds in the bush is just what so often hinders him from acquiring brilliant execution.) Aim ahead of a 2 re ee SUGGESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FIELD-WORK. 9 flying bird —the calculation to be made varies, according to the distance of the object, its velocity, its course and the wind, from a few inches to several feet; practice will finally render it intuitive. § 2.— DOGS. A Good Dog is one of the most faithful, respectful, affectionate and sensible of brutes ; deference to such rare qualities demands a chapter, however brief. A trained dog is the indis- pensable servant of the sportsman in his pursuit of most kinds of game; but I trust I am guilty of no discourtesy to the noble animal, when I say that he is a luxury rather than a necessity tv the collector —a pleasant companion, who knows almost everything except how to talk, wha converses with his eyes and ears and tail, shares comforts and discomforts with equal alacrity, and occasionally makes himself useful. So far as a collector’s work tallies with that of a sportsman, the dog is equally useful to both ; but finding and telling of game aside, your dog’s services are restricted to companionship and retrieving. He may, indeed, flush many sorts of birds for you; but he does it, if atall, at random, while capering about ; for the brute intellect is limited after all, and cannot comprehend a naturalist. The best trained setter or pointer that ever marked a quail could not be made to understand what you are about, and it would ruin him for sporting purposes if he did. Take a well-bred dog out with you, and the chances are he will soon trot home in disgust at your performances with jack-sparrows and tomtits. It implies such a lowering and perversion of a good dog’s instincts to make him really a useful servant of yours, that I am half inclined to say nothing about retrieving, and tell you to make a companion of your dog, or let him alone. I was followed for several years by “ the best dog I ever saw” (every one’s gun, dog, and child is the best ever seen), and a first-rate retriever ; yet I always preferred, when practicable, to pick up my own birds, rather than let a delicate plumage into a dog’s mouth, and scolded away the poor brute so often, that she very properly returned the compliment, in the end, by retrieving just when she felt like it. However, we remained the best of friends. Any good setter, pointer, or spaniel, and some kinds of curs, may be trained to retrieve. The great point is to teach them not to ‘‘mouth” a bird; it may be accomplished by sticking pins in the ball with which their early lessons are taught. Such dogs are particularly useful in bringing birds out of the water, and in searching for them when lost. One point in training should never be neglected: teach a dog what ‘‘to heel” means, and make him obey this command. A riotous brute is simply unendurable under any circumstances. § 3.— VARIOUS SUGGESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FIELD-WORK. To be a Good Collector, and nothing more, is a small affair; great skill may be ac- quired in the art, without a single quality commanding respect. One of the most vulgar, brutal, and ignorant men I ever knew was a sharp collector and an excellent taxidermist. Collecting stands much in the same relation to ornithology that the useful and imdispensable office of an apothecary bears to the duties of a physician. A field-naturalist is always more or less of a collector; the latter is sometimes found to know almost nothing of natural history worth knowing. The true ornithologist goes out to study birds alive and destroys some of them simply because that is the only way of learning their structure and technical characters. There is much more about a bird than can be discovered in its dead body, —how much more, then, than can be found out from its stuffed skin! In my humble opinion the man who only gathers birds, as a miser money, to swell his cabinet, and that other man who gloats, as miser- like, over the same hoard, both work on a plane far beneath where the enlightened naturalist stands. One looks at Nature, and never knows that she is beautiful; the other knows she is beautiful, as even a corpse may be; the naturalist catches her sentient expression, and knows 10 FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. how beautiful she is! I would have you to know and love her; for fairer mistress never swayed the heart of man. Aim high! — press on, and leave the half-way house of mere col- lectorship far behind in your pursuit of a delightful study, nor fancy the closet its goal. Birds may be sought anywhere, at any time; they should be sought everywhere, at all times. Some come about your doorstep to tell their stories unasked. Others spring up before you as you stroll in the field, like the flowers that enticed the feet of Proserpine. Birds flit by as you measure the tired roadside, lending a tithe of their life to quicken your dusty steps. They disport overhead at hide-and-seek with the foliage as you loiter in the shade of the forest, and their music now answers the sigh of the tree-tops, now ripples an echo to the voice of the brook. But you will not always so pluck a thornless rose. Birds hedge them- selves about with a bristling girdle of brier and bramble you cannot break; they build their tiny castles in the air surrounded by impassable moats, and the drawbridges are never down. They crown the mountain-top you may lose your breath to climb; they sprinkle the desert where your parched lips may find no cooling draught; they fleck the snow-wreath when the nipping blast may make you turn your back; they breathe unharmed the pestilent vapors of the swamp that mean disease, if not death, for you; they outride the storm at sea that sends strong men to their last account. Where now will you look for birds? And yet, as skilled labor is always most productive, so expert search yields more than random or blundering pursuit. Imprimis ; The more varied the face of a country, the more varied its birds. A place all plain, all marsh, all woodland, yields its particular set of birds, perhaps in profusion: but the kinds will be limited in number. It is of first importance to remember this, when you are so fortunate as to have choice of a collecting-ground ; and it will guide your steps aright in a day’s walk anywhere, for it will make you leave covert for open, wet for dry, high for low and back again. Well-watered country is more fruitful of bird-life. than desert or even prairie; warm regions are more productive thon cold ones. As a rule, variety and abundance of birds are in direct ratio to diversity and luxuriance of vegetation. Your most valuable as well as largest bags may be made in the regions most favored botani- eally, up to the point where exuberance of plant-growth mechanically opposes your operations. Search for particular Birds can only be well directed, of course, by a knowledge of their special haunts and habits, and is one of the mysteries of wood-craft only solved by long experience and close observation. Here is where the true naturalist bears himself with eon- scious pride and strength, winning laurels that become him, and do honor to his calling. Where to find game (‘‘game” is anything that vulgar people do not ridicule you for shooting) of all the kinds we have in this country has been so often and so minutely detailed in sporting- works that it need not be here enlarged upon, especially since, being the best known, it is the least valuable of ornithological material. Most large or otherwise conspicuous birds have very special haunts that may be soon learned; and as a rule such rank next after game in ornitho- logical disesteem. Birds of prey are an exception to these statements; they range everywhere, and most of them are worth securing. Hawks will unwittingly fly in your way oftener than they will allow you to approach them when perched: be ready for them. Owls will be startled out of their retreats in thick bushes, dense foliage, and hollow trees, in the daytime ; if hunting them at night, good aim in the dark may be taken by rubbing a wet lucifer match on the sight of the gun, causing a momentary glimmer. Large and small waders are to be found by any water’s edge, in open marshes, and often on dry plains; the herons more particu- larly in heavy bogs and dense swamps. Under cover, waders are oftenest approached by stealth ; in the open, by strategy; but most of the smaller kinds require the exercise of no special precautions. Swimming birds, aside from water-fowl (as the ‘‘ game” kinds are called), are gen- erally shot from a boat, as they fly past; but at their breeding places many kinds that congre- « ” SUGGESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FIELD-WORK. 11 gate in vast numbeis : re more readily reached. There is a knack of shooting loons and grebes on the water; if they are to be reached at all by the shot it will be by aiming not directly at them but at the water just in front of them. ‘They do not go under just where they float, but kick up behind like a jumping-jack and plunge forward. Rails and several kinds of sparrows are confined to reedy marshes. But why prolong such desultory remarks? Little can be said to the point without at least a miniature treatise on ornithology; and I have not yet even alluded to the diversified host of small insectivorous and granivorous birds that fill our woods and fields. The very existence of most of these is unknown to all but the mitiated ; yet they include the treasures of the ornithologist. Some are plain and humble, others are among the most beautiful objects in nature; but most agree in being small, and therefore liable to be overlooked. The sum of my advice about them must be brief. Get over as much ground, both wooded and open, as you can thoroughly examine in a day’s tramp, and go out as many days as you can. It is not always necessary, however, to keep on the tramp, especially dur- ing the migration of the restless insectivorous species. One may often shoot for hours without moving more than a few yards, by selecting a favorable locality and allowing the birds to come to him as they pass in varied troops through the low woodlands or swampy thickets. Keep your eyes and ears wide open. Look out for every rustling leaf and swaying twig and bending blade of grass. Hearken to every note, however faint ; when there is no sound, listen for a chirp. Habitually move as noiselessly as possible. Keep your gun always ready. Improve every opportunity of studying a bird you do not wish to destroy; you may often make observations more valuable than the specimen. Let this be the rule with all birds you recognize. But I fear I must tell you to shoot an unknown bird on sight ; it may give you the slip in a moment and a prize may be lost. One of the most fascinating things about field- work is its delightful uncertainty: you never know what’s in store for you as you start out; you never can tell what will happen next; surprises are always in order, and excitement is continually whetted on the chances of the varied chase. For myself, the time is past, happily or not, when every bird was an agreeable surprise, for dewdrops do not last all day; but I have never yet walked in the woods without learning something pleasant that I did not know before. I should consider a bird new to science ample reward for a month’s steady work; one bird new to a locality would repay a week’s search ; a day is happily spent that shows me any bird that I never saw alive before. How then can you, with so much before you, keep out of the woods another minute ? All Times are good times to go a-shooting; but some are better than others. (a.) Time of year. In all temperate latitudes, spring and fall — periods of migration with most birds — are the most profitable seasons for collecting. Not only are birds then most numerous, both as species and as individuals, and most active, so as to be the more readily found, but they include a far larger proportion of rare and valuable kinds. In every locality in this country the periodical visitants outnumber the permanent residents; in most regions the number of regular migrants, that simply pass through in the spring and fall, equals or exceeds that of either of the sets of species that come from the south in spring to breed during the summer, or from the north to spend the winter. Far north, of course, on or near the limit of the vernal migration, where there are few if any migrants passing through, and where the winter birds are extremely few, nearly all the bird fauna is composed of “‘summer visitants;” far south, In this country, the reverse is somewhat the case, though with many qualifications. Between these extremes, what is conventionally known as “a season ” means the period of the vernal or autumnal migration. For example, the body of birds present in the District of Columbia (where I collected for several years) in the two months from April 20th to May 20th, and from Septem- ber 10th to October 10th, is undoubtedly greater, as far as individuals are concerned, than the total number found there at all other seasons of the year together. As for species, the number 12 FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. of migrants about equals that of summer visitants; the permanent residents equal the winter residents, both these being fewer than either of the first mentioned sets; while the irregular vis- ‘tors, or stragglers, that complete the bird fauna, are about, or rather less than one-half as many as the species of either of the other categories. About Washington, therefore, I would readily undertake to secure a greater variety of birds in the nine weeks above specified than in all the rest of the year; for in that time would be found, not only all the permanent residents, but nearly all the migrants, and almost all the summer visitants ; while the number of individual birds that might be taken exceeds, by quite as much, the number of those procurable in the same length of time at any other season. Mutatis mutandis, it is the same everywhere in this country. Look out then, for ‘“‘the season;” work all through it at a rate you could not possibly sustain the year around; and make hay while the sun shines. (b.) Time of day. Early in the morning and late in the afternoon are the best times for birds. There is a myste- rious something in these diurnal crises that sets bird-life astir, over and above what is ex- plainable by the simple fact that they are the transition periods from repose to activity, or the reverse. Subtile meteorological changes occur; various delicate instruments used in physicists’ researches are sometimes inexplicably disturbed ; diseases have often their turning point for better or worse; people are apt to be born or die; and the susceptible organisms of birds manifest various excitements. Whatever the operative influence, the fact is, birds are particularly lively at such hours. In the dark, they rest —most of them do; at noonday, again, they are comparatively still; between these times they are passing to or from their feeding grounds or roosting places; they are foraging for food, they are singing; at any rate, they are in motion. Many migratory birds (among them warblers, ete.) perform their journeys by night ; just at daybreak they may be seen to descend from the upper regions, rest a while, and then move about briskly, singing and searching for food. Their meal taken, they recu- perate by resting till towards evening; feed again and are off for the night. If you have had some experience, don’t you remember what a fine spurt you made early that morning ? — how many unexpected shots offered as you trudged home belated that evening? Now I am no fowl, and have no desire to adopt the habits of the hen-yard; I have my opinion of those who like the world before it is aired; I think it served the worm right for getting up, when caught by the early bird; nevertheless I go shooting betimes in the morning, and would walk all night to find a rare bird at daylight. (¢c.) Weather. It rarely occurs in this country that either heat or cold is unendurably severe; but extremes of temperature are unfavorable, for two reasons: they both occasion great personal discomfort ; and in one extreme only a few hardy birds will be found, while in the other most birds are languid, disposed to seek shelter, and therefore less likely to be found. A still, cloudy day of moderate temperature offers as a rule the best chance ; among other reasons, there is no sun to blind the eyes, as always occurs on a bright day in one direction, particularly when the sun is low. While a bright day has its good influence in setting many birds astir, some others are most easily approached in heavy or fall- ing weather. Some kinds are more likely to be secured during a light snowfall, or after a storm. Singular as it may seem, a thoroughly wet day offers some peculiar inducements to the collector. I cannot well specify them, but I heartily indorse a remark John Cassin once made to me: —‘‘T like,” said he, ‘‘to go shooting in the rain sometimes; there are some curious things to be learned about birds when the trees are dripping, things too that have not yet found their way into the books.” How many Birds of the Same Kind do you want ? — All you can get — with some reasonable limitations: say fifty or a hundred of any but the most abundant and widely diffused species. You may often be provoked with your friend for speaking of some bird he shot, but did not bring you, because, he says, ‘‘Why, you’ve got one like that!” Birdskins are capital ; capital unemployed may be useless, but can never be worthless. Birdskins are a SUGGESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FIELD-WORK. 15 medium of exchange among ornithologists the world over; they represent value, —money value and scientific value. If you have more of one kind than you can use, exchange with some one for species you lack; both parties to the transaction are equally benefited. Let me bring’ this matter under several heads. (a.) Your own ‘‘ series” of skins of any species is incomplete until it contains at least one example of each sex, of every normal state of plumage, and every normal transition stage of plumage, and further illustrates at least the principal abnormal variations in size, form, and color to which the species may be subject; I will even add that every different faunal area the bird is known to inhabit should be represented by a specimen, particularly if there be anything exceptional in the geographical distribution of the species. Any additional specimens to all such are your only ‘‘ duplicates,” properly speaking. (b.) Birds vary so much in their size, form, and coloring, that a “‘ specific character” can only be pre- cisely determined from examination of a large number of specimens, shot at different times, in different places; still less can the “ limits of variation” in these respects be settled without ample materials. (¢.) The rarity of any bird is necessarily an arbitrary and fluctuating con- sideration, because in the nature of the case there can be no natural unit of comparison, nor standard of appreciation. It may be said, in general terms, no bird is actually ‘ rare.” With a few possible exceptions, as in the cases of birds occupying extraordinarily limited areas, like some of the birds of paradise, or about to become extinct, like the pied duck, enough birds of all kinds exist to overstock every public and private collection in the world, without sensible diminution of their numbers. ‘‘ Rarity” or the reverse is only predicable upon the accidental (so to speak) circumstances that throw, or tend to throw, specimens into naturalists’ hands. Accessibility is the variable element in every case. ‘The fulmar petrel is said (on what authority I know not) to exceed any other bird in its aggregate of individuals ; how do the skins of that bird you have handled compare in number with specimens you have _ seen of the ‘‘ rare” warbler of your own vicinity? All birds are common somewhere at some season; the point is, have collectors been there at the time? Moreover, even the arbitrary appreciation of ‘‘ rarity ” is fluctuating, and may change at any time; long sought and highly prized birds are liable to appear suddenly in great numbers in places that knew them not before ; a single heavy ‘‘invoice” of a bird from some distant or little-explored region may at once stock the market, and depreciate the current value of the species to almost nothing. For example, Baird’s bunting and Sprague’s lark remained for thirty years among our special desiderata, only one specimen of the former and two or three of the latter beng known. Yet they are two of the most abundant birds of Dakota, where in 1873 I took as many of both as I desired; and specimens enough have lately been secured to stock all the leading museums of this country and Europe. (d.) Some practical deductions are to be made from these premises. Your object is to make yourself acquainted with all the birds of your vicinity, and to preserve a complete suite of specimens of every species. Begin by shooting every bird you can, coupling this sad destruction, however, with the closest observations upon habits. You _ will very soon fill your series of a few kinds, that you find almost everywhere, almost daily. Then if you are in a region the ornithology of which is well known to the profession, at once stop killmg these common birds —they are in every collection. You should not, as a rule, destroy any more robins, bluebirds, song-sparrows, and the like, than you want for yourself. Keep an eye on them, studying them always, but turn your actual pursuit into other channels, until in this way, gradually eliminating the undesirables, you exhaust the bird fauna as far as. “possible (you will not quite exhaust it— at least for many years). But if you are in a new or little-known locality, I had almost said the very reverse course is the best. The chances are that the most abundant and characteristic birds are ‘‘ rare” in collections. Many a bird’s range is quite restricted: you may happen to be just at its metropolis ; seize the opportunity. and get good store, — yes, up to fifty or a hundred; all you ean spare will be thankfully received by those who have none. Quite as likely, birds that are scarce just where you happen 14 FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. to be, are so only because you are on the edge of their habitat, and are plentiful in more acces- sible regions. But, rare or not, it is always a point to determine the exact geographical “distribution of a species; and this is fixed best by having specimens to tell each its own tale, from as many different and widely separated localities as possible. This’ alone warrants pro- curing one or more specimens in every locality ; the commonest bird acquires a certai value if it be captured away from its ordinary range. An Eastern bluebird (Stalia sialis) shot in California might be considered more valuable than the ‘‘rarest” bird of that State, and would certainly be worth a hundred Massachusetts skins; a varied thrush (Turdus nevius) killed in Massachusetts is worth a like number from Oregon. But let all your justifiable destruction of birds be tempered with mercy ; your humanity will be continually shocked with the havoe you work, and should never permit you to take life wantonly. Never shoot a bird you do not fully intend to preserve, or to utilize in some proper way. JBird-life is too beautiful a thing to destroy to no purpose; too sacred a thing, like all life, to be sacrificed, unless the tribute is hal- lowed by worthiness of motive. ‘‘ Not a sparrow falleth to the ground without His notice.” I should not neglect to speak particularly of the care to be taken to secure full suites of females. Most miscellaneous collections contain four or more males to every female, — a dis- proportion that should be as far reduced as possible. The occasion of the disparity is obvious : females are usually more shy and retirimg in disposition, and consequently less frequently noticed, while their smaller size and plainer plumage, as a rule, further favor their eluding observation. The difference in coloring is greatest among those groups where the males are most richly clad, and the shyness of the mother birds is most marked during the breeding season, just when the males, full of song, and in their nuptial attire, become most conspicuous. It is often worth while to neglect the gay Benedicts, to trace out and secure the plainer but not less interesting females. This pursuit, moreover, often leads to discovery of the nests and eggs, — an important consideration. Although both sexes are generally found together when breeding, and mixing indiscriminately at other seasons, they often go in separate flocks, and often migrate independently of each other; in this case the males usually in advance. Towards the end of the passage of some warblers, for instance, we may get almost nothing but females, all our specimens of a few days before having been males. The notable excep- tions to the rule of smaller size of the female are among rapacious birds and many waders, though in these last the disparity is not so marked. I only recall one instance, among Amer- ican birds, of the female being more richly colored than the male — the phalaropes. When the sexes are notably different in adult life, the young of both sexes usually resemble the adult female, the young males gradually assuming their distinctive chamagiens: When the adults of both sexes are alike, the young commonly differ from them. In the same connection I wish to urge a point, the importance of which is often over- looked ; it is our practical interpretation of the adage, ‘‘ a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” Always keep the first specimen you secure of a species till you get another; no matter how common the species, how poor the specimen, or how certain you may feel of getting other better ones, keep a. Your most reasonable calculations may come to naught, from a variety of circumstances, and any specimen is better than no specimen, on general principles. And in general, do not, if you can help it, discard any specimen wm the field. No tyro can tell what will prove valuable and what not ; while even the expert may regret to find that a point comes up which a specimen he injudiciously discarded might have determined. Let a collection be “weeded out,” if at all, only after deliberate and mature examination, when the scientific results it affords have been elaborated by a competent ornithologist ; and even then, the refuse (with certain limitations) had better be put where it will do some good, than be destroyed utterly. For instance, I myself once valued, and used, some Smithsonian ‘‘sweepings”; and I know very weil what to do with specimens, now, to which I would not give house-room in my own eabinet. If forced to reduce bulk, owing to limited facilities for transportation in the field SUGGESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FIELD-WORK. 15 (as too often happens), throw away according to size, other things being equal. Given only so many cubic inches or feet, eliminate the few large birds which take up the space that would contain fifty or a hundred different little ones. If you have a fine large bald eagle or pelican, for instance, throw it away first, and follow it with your ducks, geese, ete. In this way, the bulk of a large miscellaneous collection may be reduced one half, perhaps, with very little depreciation of its actual value. The same principle may be extended to other collections in natural history (excepting fossils, which are always weighty, if not also bulky) ; very few bird- skins, indeed, being as valuable contributions to science as, for example, a vial of miscella- neous insects that occupies no more room may prove to be. What is “ A Good Day’s Work ? ” — Fifty birds shot, their skins preserved, and obser- vations recorded, is a very good day’s work; it is sharp practice, even when birds are plentiful. I never knew a person to average anywhere near it; even during the ‘‘ season” such work cannot possibly be sustained. You may, of course, by a murderous discharge into a flock, as of blackbirds or reedbirds, get a hundred or more in a moment; but I refer to collecting a fair variety of birds. You will do very well if you average a dozen a day during the seasons. I doubt whether any collector ever averaged as many the year around; it would be over fom thousand specimens annually. The greatest number I ever procured and prepared in one day was forty, and I have not often gone over twenty. Even when collecting regularly and assiduously, I am satisfied to average a dozen a day during the migrations, and one-third or one-fourth as many the rest of the year. Probably this implies the shooting of about one in five not skinned for various reasons, as mutilation, decay, or want of time. Approaching Birds.— There is little if any trouble in getting near enough to shoot most birds. With notable exceptions, they are harder to see when near enough, or to hit when seen; particularly small birds that are almost incessantly in motion. As a rule—anda curious one it is— difficulty of approach is in direct ratio to the seze of the bird; it is perhaps because large conspicuous birds are objects of more general pursuit than the little ones you ordinarily search for. The qualities that birds possess for self-preservation may be called wariness in large birds, shyness in small ones. The former make off knowingly from a sus- picious object; the latter fly from anything that is strange to them, be it dangerous or not. This is strikingly illustrated in the behavior of small birds in the wilderness, as contrasted with their actions about towns; singular as it may seem, they are more timid under the former cir- cumstances than when grown accustomed to the presence of man. It is just the reverse with a hawk or raven, for instance ; in populous districts they spend much of their time in trying to save their skins, while in a new country they have not learned, like Indians, that a white man is ‘“‘ mighty uncertain.” In stealing on a shy bird, you will of course take advantage of any cover that may offer, as inequalities of the ground, thick bushes, the trunks of trees; and it is often worth while to make a considerable détour to secure unobserved approach. I think that birds are more likely, as a rule, to be frightened away by the movements of the collector, than by his simple presence, however near, and that they are more afraid of noise than of mere motion. Crackling of twigs and rustling of leaves are sharp sounds, though not loud ones; you may have sometimes been surprised to find how distinetly you could hear the move- ments of a horse or cow in underbrush at some distance. Birds have sharp ears for such sounds. Forma habit of stealthy movement ; 7 tells, in the long run, m comparison with lumbering tread. There are no special precautions to be taken in shooting through high open forest ; you have only to saunter along with your eyes in the tree-tops. It is ordinarily the easiest and on the whole the most renumerative path of the collector. In traversing fields and meadows move briskly, your principal object being to flush birds out of the grass; and as most of your shots will be snap ones, keep in readiness for instant action. Excellent and varied toe FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. f shooting is to be had along the hedge rows, and in the rank herbage that fringes fences. 11 is best to keep at a little distance, yet near enough to arouse all the birds as you pass: you may catch them on wing, or pick them off just as they settle after a short flight. In this shooting, two persons, one on each side, can together do more than twice as much work as one. Thick- ets and tangled undergrowth are favorite resorts of many birds; but when very close, or, as often happens, over miry ground, they are hard places to shoot in. As you come thrashing through the brush, the little inhabitants are scared into deeper recesses ; but if you keep still a few minutes in some favorable spot, they are reassured, and will often come back to take a peep at you. A good deal of standing still will repay you at such times; needless to add, you cannot be too lightly loaded for such shooting, when birds are mostly out of sight if a dozen yards off. When yourself concealed in a thicket, and no birds appear, you can often call num- bers about you by a simple artifice. Apply the back of your hand to your slightly parted lips, and suck in air; it makes a nondescript ‘* screeping” noise, variable in intonation at your whim, and some of the sounds resemble the cries of a wounded bird, or a young one in distress. It wakes up the whole neighborhood, and sometimes puts certain birds almost beside themselves, particularly in the breeding season. ‘Torturing a wounded bird to make it scream in agony accomplishes the same result, but of course is only permissible under great exigency. In pen- etrating swamps and marshes, the best advice I can give you is to tell you to get along the best way you can. Shooting on perfectly open ground offers much the same case; you must be left to your own devices. I will say, however, you can ride on horseback, or even in a buggy, nearer birds than they will allow you to walk up to them. Sportsmen take advantage of this to get within a shot of the upland plover, usually a very wary bird in populous districts ; I have driven right into a flock of wild geese; in California they often train a bullock to graze gradually up to geese, the gunner being hidden by its body. There is one trick worth know- ing; it is not to let a bird that has seen you know by your action that you have seen 7, but to keep on unconcernedly, gradually sidling nearer. I have secured many hawks in this way, when the bird would have flown off at the first step of direct approach. Numberless other little arts will come to you as your wood-craft matures. Recovering Birds. — It is not always that you secure the birds you kill; you may not be able to find them, or you may see them lying, perhaps but a few feet off, in a spot practi- cally inaccessible. Under such circumstances a retriever does excellent service, as already hinted ; he is equally useful when a bird properly ‘* marked down” is not found there, having fluttered or run away and hidden elsewhere. The most difficult of all places to find birds is among reeds, the eternal sameness of which makes it almost impossible to rediscover a spot whence the eye has once wandered, while the peculiar growth allows birds to slip far down out of sight. In rank grass or weeds, when you have walked up with your eye fixed on the spot where the bird seemed to fall, yet failed to discover it, drop your cap or handkerchief for a mark, and hunt around it as a centre, in enlarging circles. In thickets, make a ‘ bee line” for the spot, if possible keeping your eye on the spray from which the bird fell, and not for- getting where you stood on firmg; you may require to come back to the spot and take a new departure. You will not seldom see a bird just shot at fly off as if unharmed, when really it will drop dead in a few moments. In all cases therefore when the bird does not drop at the shot, follow it with your eyes as far as you can; if you see it finally drop, or even flutter languidly downward, mark it on the principles just mentioned, and go in search. Make every endeavor to secure wounded birds, on the score of humanity; they should not be left to pine away and die in lingering misery if it can possibly be avoided. Killing Wounded Birds. — You will often recover winged birds, as full of life as before the bone was broken ; and others too grievously hurt to fly, yet far from death. Your object is SUGGESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FIELD-WORK. Li tu kill them as quickly and as painlessly as possible, without injurmg the plumage. This is to be accomplished, with all small birds, by suffocation. The respiration and circulation of birds is very active, and most of them die in a few moments if the lungs are so compressed that they cannot breathe. Squeeze the bird tightly across the chest, under the wings, thumb on one side, middle finger on the other, forefinger pressed in the hollow at the root of the neck, between the forks of the merrythought. Press firmly, hard enough to fix the chest immovably and compress the lungs, but not to break inthe ribs. The bird will make vigorous but ineffect- ual efforts to breathe, when the muscles will contract spasmodically ; but in a moment more, the system relaxes with a painful shiver, light fades from the eyes, and the lids close. I assure you, it will make you wince the first few times; you had better habitually hold the poor creature behind you. You can tell by its limp feel and motionlessness when it is dead, without watching the sad struggle. Large birds obviously cannot be dealt with in this way; I would as soon attempt to throttle a dog as a loon, for imstance, upon which all the pressure you can give makes no sensible impression. A winged hawk, again, will throw itself on its back as you come up, and show such good fight with beak and talons, that you may be quite severely scratched in the encounter: meanwhile the struggling bird may be bespattering its plumage with blood. In such a case — in any case of a large bird making decided resist- ance —I think it best to step back a few paces and settle the matter with a light charge of mustard-seed. Any large bird once secured may be speedily dispatched by stabbing to the heart with some slender instrument thrust in under the wing — care must be taken too about the bleeding ; or, it may be instantly killed by piercing the brain with a knife introduced into the mouth and driven upward and obliquely backward from the palate. The latter method is preferable as it leaves no outward sign and causes no bleeding to speak of. With your thumb, you may indent the back part of a bird’s skull so as to compress the cerebellum; if you can get deep enough in, without materially disordering the plumage, or breaking the skin, the method is unobjectionable. Handling Bleeding Birds.— Bleeding depends altogether upon the part or organ wounded ; but other things being equal, violence of the hemorrhage is usually in direct pro- portion to the size of the shot-hole ; when mustard-seed is used it is ordinarily very trifling, if it occur at all. Blood flows oftener from the orifice of exit of a shot, than from the wound of entrance, for the latter is usually plugged with a little wad of feathers driven in. Bleeding from the mouth or nostrils is the rule when the lungs are wounded. When it ocecurs, hold up the bird by the feet, and let it drip; a general squeeze of the body in that position will facilitate the drainage. In general, hold a bird so that a bleeding place is most dependent; then, pres- sure about the part will help the flow. A ‘*‘ gob” of blood, which is simply a forming clot, on the plumage may often be dexterously flipped almost clean away with a snap of the finger. It is first-rate practice to take cotton and forceps into the field to plug up shot-holes, and stop the mouth and nostrils and vent on the spot. I follow the custom of the books in reeommend- ing this, but I will confess I have rarely done it myself, and I suspect that only a few of our most leisurely and elegant collectors do so habitually. Shot-holes may be found by gently raising the feathers, or blowing them aside; you can of course get only a tiny plug into the wound itself, but it should be one end of a sizable pledget, the rest lying fluffy among the feathers. In stopping the mouth or vent, ram the fluff of cotton, entirely inside. You cannot conveniently stop up the nostrils of small birds separately ; but take a light cylinder of cotton, lay it transversely across the base of the upper mandible, closely covering the nostrils, and confine it there by tucking each end tightly into the commer of the mouth. In default of such nice fixing as this, a pinch of dry loam pressed on a bleeding spot will plaster itself there and stop further mischief. Never try to wipe off fresh blood that has already wetted the plumage ; you will only make matters worse. Let it dry on, and then — but the treatment of blood- stains, and other soilings of plumage, is given beyond. 2 18 FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. Carrying Birds Home Safe. — Suppose you have secured a fine specimen, very likely without a soiled or ruffled feather; your next care will be to keep it so till you are ready to skin it. But if you pocket or bag it directly, it will be a sorry-looking object before you get home. Each specimen must be separately cared for, by wrapping in stout paper; writing paper is as good as any, if not the best. It will repay you to prepare a stock of paper before starting out; your most convenient sizes are those of a half-sheet of note, of letter, and of cap respectively. Hither take these, or fold and cut newspaper to correspond; besides, it is always well to have a whole newspaper or two for large birds. Plenty of paper will go in the breast pockets of the shooting-coat. Make a “‘ cornucopia,” — the simplest thing in the world, but, like tying a particular knot, hard to explain. Setting the wings closely, adjusting disturbed feathers, and seeing that the bill points straight forward, thrust the bird head first into one of these paper cones, till it will go no further, being bound by the bulge of the breast. Let the cone be large enough for the open end to fold over or pinch together entirely beyond the tail. Be particular not to crumple or bend the tail-feathers. Lay the paper cases in the game bag or great pocket so that they very nearly run parallel and lie horizontal; they will carry better than if thrown in at random. Avoid overcrowding the packages, as far as is reasonably practicable ; moderate pressure will do no harm, as a rule, but if great it may make birds bleed afresh, or cause the fluids of a wounded intestine to ooze out and soak the plumage of the belly, —a very bad accident indeed. For similar obvious reasons, do not put a large heavy bird ou top of a lot of little ones; I would sooner sling a hawk or heron over my shoulder, or carry it by hand. If it goes in the bag, see that it gets to the bottom. Avoid putting birds in pockets that are close about your,person; they are almost always unduly pressed, and may gain just enough additional warmth from your body to make them begin to decompose before you can get at skinning them. Handle birds no more than is necessary, especially white- plumaged ones; ten to one your hands are powder-begrimed: and besides, even the warmth and moisture of your palms may tend to injure a delicate feathering. Ordinarily pick up a bird by the feet or bill; as you need both hands to make the cornucopia, let the specimen dangle by the toes from your teeth while you are so employed. In catching at a wounded bird, aim to cover it entirely with your hand; but whatever you do, never seize it by the tail, which then will often be left in your hands for your pains. Never grasp wing-tips or tail- feathers; these large flat quills would get a peculiar crimping all along the webs, very difficult to efface. Finally, I would add there is a certain knack or art in manipulating, either of a dead bird or a birdskin, by which you may handle it with seeming carelessness and perfect impunity; whilst the most gingerly fingering of an inexperienced person will leave its rude trace. You will naturally acquire the correct touch; but it can be neither taught nor described. A Special Case. — While the ordinary run of land birds will be brought home in good order by the foregoing method, some require special precautions. I refer to sea birds, such as gulls, terns, petrels, etc., shot from a boat. In the first place, the plumage of most of them is, in part at least, white and of exquisite purity. Then, fish-eating birds usually vomit and purge when shot. They are necessarily fished all dripping from the water. They are too large for pocketing. If you put them on the thwarts or elsewhere about the boat, they usually fall off, or are knocked off, into the bilge water ; if you stow them in the cubby-hole, they will assuredly soil by mutual pressure, or by rolling about. It will repay you to pick them from the water by the bill, and shake off all the water you can; hold them up, or let some one do it, till they are tolerably dry ; plug the mouth, nostrils, and vent, if not also shot-holes ; wrap each one separately in a cloth (not paper) or a mass of tow, and pack steadily in a covered box or basket taken on board for this purpose. With such precautions as these birds most liable to be soiled reach the skinning table in perfect order; and your care will afterward transform them into specimens without spot or blemish. HYGIENE OF COLLECTORSHIP. 19 § 4.— HYGIENE OF COLLECTORSHIP. It is Unnecessary to speak of the Healthfulness of a pursuit that, like the collector’s occupation, demands regular bodily exercise, and at the same time stimulates the mind by supplying an object, thus calling the whole system into exhilarating action. Yet collecting has its perils, not to be overlooked if we would adequately guard against them, as fortunately we may, in most cases, by simple precautions. The dangers of taxidermy itself are elsewhere noticed; but, besides these, the collector is exposed to vicissitudes of the weather, may endure great fatigue, may breathe miasm, and may be mechanically mjured. Accidents from the Gun have been already treated; a few special rules will render others little liable to oceur. The secret of safe climbing is never to relax one hold until another is secured; it is in spirit equally applicable to scrambling over rocks, a particularly difficult thing to do safely with a loaded gun. ‘Test rotten, slippery, or otherwise suspicious holds before trusting them. In lifting the body up anywhere, keep the mouth shut, breathe through the nostrils, and go slowly. In swimming, waste no strength unnecessarily in trying to stem a current; yield partly, and land obliquely lower down; if exhausted, float; the slightest motion of the hands will ordinarily keep the face above water; and in any event keep your wits collected. In fording deeply, a heavy stone will strengthen your position. Never sail a boat experimentally ; if you are no sailor, take one with you or stay on land. In cross- ing a high, narrow footpath, never look lower than your feet; the muscles will work true if not confused with faltering instructions from a giddy brain. On soft ground, see what, if anything, has preceded you; large hoof-marks generally mean that the way is safe; if none are found, inquire for yourself before going on. Quicksand is the most treacherous, because far more dangerous than it looks; but I have seen a mule’s ears finally disappear in genuine mud. Cattle paths, however erratic, commonly prove the surest way out of a difficult place, whether of uncertain footing or dense undergrowth. Miasm. — Unguarded exposure in malarious regions usually entails sickness, often pre- ventable. however, by due precautions. It is worth knowing, in the first place, that miasmatic poison is most powerful between sunset and sunrise; more exactly, from the damp of the evening until night vapors are dissipated; we may be out in the daytime with comparative impunity, where to pass a night would be almost certain disease. If forced to camp out, seek the highest and dryest spot, put a good fire on the swamp side, and also, if possible, let trees intervene. Never go out on an empty stomach ; just a cup of coffee and a crust may make a decided difference. Meet the earliest unfavorable symptoms with quinine; I should rather say, if unacclimated, anticipate them with this invaluable agent. Endeavor to maintain high health of all functions by the natural means of regularity and temperance in diet, exercise, and repose. “ Taking Cold.” — This vague ‘‘ household word” indicates one or more of a long varied train of unpleasant affections, nearly always traceable to one or the other of only two causes: sudden change of temperature, and wnequal distribution of temperature. No extremes of heat or cold can alone effect this result ; persons frozen to death do not ‘‘ take cold” during the process. But if a part of the body be rapidly cooled, as by evaporation from a wet article of clothing, or by sitting in a draught of air, the rest of the body remaining at an ordinary tem- perature; or if the temperature of the whole be suddenly changed by going out into the cold, or, especially, by coming into a warm room, there is much liability of trouble. There is an old saying, — “When the air comes through a hole Say your prayers to save your soul;”’ 20 FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. and I should think almost any one could get a ‘‘ cold” with a spoonful of water on the wrist held to a key-hole. Singular as it may seem, sudden warming when cold is more dangerous than the reverse; every one has noticed how soon the handkerchief is required on entering a heated room on a cold day. Frost-bite is an extreme illustration of this. As the Irishman said on picking himself up, it was not the fall, but stopping so quickly that hurt him; it is not the lowering of the temperature to the freezing point, but its subsequent elevation, that devitalizes the tissue. This is why rubbing with snow, or bathing in cold water, is required to restore safely a frozen part; the arrested circulation must be very gradually re-established, or inflammation, perhaps mortification, ensues. General precautions against taking cold are almost self-evident, in this light. There is ordinarily little if any danger to be apprehended from wet clothes, so long as exercise is kept up; for the ‘‘ glow” about compensates for the extra cooling by evaporation. Nor is a complete drenching more likely to be injurious than wetting of one part. But never sit still wet; and in changing rub the body dry. There is a general tendency, springing from fatigue, indolence, or indifference, to neglect damp feet ; that is to say, to dry them by the fire; but this process is tedious and uncertain. I would say especially, off with the muddy boots and sodden socks at once; dry stockings and slippers, after a hunt, may make just the difference of your being able to go out again or never. Take care never to check perspiration ; during this process, the body is in a somewhat critical condi- tion, and sudden arrest of the function may result disastrously, even fatally. One part of the business of perspiration is to equalize bodily temperature, and it must not be interfered with. The secret of much that might be said about bathing when heated, lies here. A person over- heated, panting it may be, with throbbing temples and a dry skin, is in danger partly because the natural cooling by evaporation from the skin is denied, and this condition is sometimes not far from a ‘‘sunstroke.” Under these circumstances, a person of fairly good constitution may plunge into the water with impunity, even with benefit. But if the body be already cooling by sweating, rapid abstraction of heat from the surface may cause internal congestion, never unattended with danger. Drinking ice-water offers a somewhat parallel case; even on stoop- ing to drink at the brook, when flushed with heat, it is well to bathe the face and hands first, and to taste the water before a full draught. It is a well-known excellent rule, not to bathe immediately after a full meal; because during digestion the organs concerned are compara- tively engorged, and any sudden disturbance of the circulation may be disastrous. The imperative necessity of resisting drowsiness under extreme cold requires no comment. In walking under a hot sun, the head may be sensibly protected by green leaves or grass in the hat; they may be advantageously moistened, but not enough to drip about the ears. Under such circumstances the slightest giddiness, dimness of sight, or confusion of ideas, should be taken as a warning of possible sunstroke, instantly demanding rest and shelter. Hunger and Fatigue are more closely related than they might seem to be; one is a sign that the fuel is out, and the other asks for it. Extreme fatigue, indeed, destroys appetite ; this simply means, temporary incapacity for digestion. But even far short of this, food is more easily digested and better relished after a little preparation of the furnace. On coming home tired, it is much better to make a leisurely and reasonably nice toilet than to eat at once, or to le still thinking how tired you are; after a change and a wash you will feel like a ‘ new man,” and go to table in capital state. Whatever dietetic irregularities a high state of civili- zation may demand or render practicable, a normally healthy person is inconvenienced almost as soon as his regular meal-time passes without food; a few can work comfortably or profit- ably fasting over six or eight hours. Eat before starting; if for a day’s tramp, take a lunch ; the most frugal meal will appease if it do not satisfy hunger, and so postpone its urgency. As a sinall scrap of practical wisdom, I would add, keep the remnants of the lunch, if there are any; for you cannot always be sure of getting in to supper. a ae REGISTRATION AND LABELLING. mall Stimulation. — When cold, fatigued, depressed in mind, and on other occasions, you may feel inclined to resort to artificial stimulus. Respecting this many-sided theme I have a few words to offer of direct bearing on the collector’s case. It should be clearly understood in the first place that a stimulant confers no strength whatever ; it simply calls the powers that be into increased action at their own expense. Seeking real strength in stimulus is as wise as an attempt to lift yourself up by the boot-straps. You may gather yourself to leap the ditch and you clear it; but no such muscular energy can be sustained; exhaustion speedily renders further expenditure impossible. But now suppose a very powerful mental impression be made, say the circumstance of a succession of ditches in front, and a mad dog behind; if the stimulus of terror be sufficiently strong, you may leap on till you drop senseless. Alcoholic stimulus is a parallel case, and is not seldom pushed to the same extreme. Under its influence you never can tell when you are tired; the expenditure goes on, indeed, with unnatural rapidity, only it is not felt at the time; but the upshot is you have all the original fatigue to endure and to recover from, plus the fatigue resulting from over-excitation of the system. Taken as a forti- fication against cold, alcohol is as unsatisfactory as a remedy for fatigue. Insensibility to cold does not imply protection. The fact is the exposure is greater than before; the circulation and respiration being hurried, the waste is greater, and as sound fuel cannot be immediately supplied, the temperature of the body is soon lowered. ‘The transient warmth and glow over, the system has both cold and depression to endure ; there is no use in borrowing from yourself and fancy- ing you are richer. Secondly, the value of any stimulus (except in a few exigencies of disease or injury) is im proportion, not to the intensity, but to the equableness and durability of its effect. This is one reason why tea, coffee, and articles of corresponding qualities, are preferable to alcoholic drinks ; they work so smoothly that their effect is often unnoticed, and they ‘“ stay by” well; the friction of aleohol is tremendous in comparison. A glass of grog may help a veteran over the fence, but no one, young or old, can shoot all day on liquor. I have had so much experience in the use of tobacco as a mild stimulant that [am probably no impartial judge of its merits: I will simply say I do not use it in the field, because it indisposes to mus- cular activity, and favors reflection when observation is required; and because temporary abstinence provokes the morbid appetite and renders the weed more grateful afterwards. Thirdly, undue excitation of any physical function is followed by corresponding depression, on the simple principle that action and reaction are equal; and the balance of health turns too easily to be wilfully disturbed. Stimulation is a draft upon vital capital, when interest alone should suffice; it may be needed at times to bridge a chasm, but habitual living beyond vital income infallibly entails bankruptcy in health. The use of alcohol in health seems practically restricted to purposes of sensuous gratification on the part of those prepared to pay a round price for this luxury. The three golden rules here are, —never drink before breakfast, never drink alone, and never drink bad liquor; their observance may make even the abuse of alcohol tolerable. Serious objections for a naturalist, at least, are that science, viewed through a glass, seems distant and uncertain, while the joys of rum are immediate and unques- tionable; and that intemperance, being an attempt to ey certain physical laws, is therefore eminently unscientific. §5— REGISTRATION AND LABELLING. A mere Outline of a Field Naturalist’s Duties would be inexcusably incomplete with- out mention of these important matters; and, because so much of the business of collecting must be lett to be acquired in the school of experience, I am the more anxious to give explicit directions whenever, as in this instance, it is possible to do so. Record your Observations Daily. — In one sense the specimens themselves are your record, — prima facie evidence of your industry and ability; and if labelled, as I shall presently 22 FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. advise, they tell no small part of the whole story. But this is not enough; indeed, I am not sure that an ably conducted ornithological journal is not the better half of your operations. Under your editorship of labelling, specimens tell what they know about themselves ; but you ean tell much more yourself. Let us look at a day’s work: You have shot and skinned so many birds and laid them away labelled. You have made observations about them before shooting, aud have observed a number of birds that you did not shoot. You have items of haunts and habits, abundance or scarcity ; of manners and actions under special circumstances, as of pairing, nesting, laying, rearmg young, feeding, migrating, and what not; various notes of birds are still rmging in your ears ; and finally, you may have noted the absence of species you saw a while before, or had expected to occur in your vicinity. Meteorological and topographi- eal items, especially when travelling, are often of great assistance in explaining the occurrences and actions of birds. Now yow know these things, but very likely no one else does; and you know them at the tume, but you will not recollect a tithe of them in a few weeks or months, to say nothing of years. Don’t trust your memory : it will trip you up; what is clear now will grow obscure; what is found will be lost. Write down everything while it is fresh in your mind ; write it out in full: time so spent now will be time saved in the end, when you offer your researches to the discriminating public. Don’t be satisfied with a dry-as-dust item ; clothe a skeleton fact, and breathe life into it with thoughts that glow; let the paper smell of the woods. There’s a pulse in a new fact; catch the rhythm before it dies. Keep off the quicksands of mere memorandum— that means something ‘‘ to be remembered,” which is just what you cannot do. Shun abbreviations; such keys rust with disuse, and may fail in after times to unlock the secret that should have been laid bare in the beginning. Use no signs intelligible only to yourself: your note-books may come to be overhauled by others whom you would not wish to disappoint. Be sparing of sentiment, a delicate thing, easily degraded to drivel: crude enthusiasm always hacks instead of hewing. Beware of literary infelicities : ‘‘ the written word remains,” it may be, after you have passed away; put down nothing for your friend’s blush, or your enemy’s sneer; write as if a stranger were looking over your shoulder. Ornithological Book-keeping may be left to your discretion and good taste in the details of execution. Hach may consult his preferences for rulings, headings, and blank forms of all sorts, as well as particular modes of entry. But my experience has been that the entries it is advisable to make are too multifarious to be accommodated by the most ingenious formal ruling; unless, indeed, you make the conventional heading ‘‘ Remarks” disproportionately wide, and commit to it everything not otherwise provided for. My preference is decidedly for a plain page. I use a strongly bound blank book, cap size, containing at least six or eight quires of good smooth paper; but smaller may be needed for travelling, even down to a pocket note-book. I would not advise a multiplicity of books, splitting up your record into different departments: let it be journal and register of specimens combined. (The registry of your own collecting has nothing to do with the register of your cabinet of birds, which is sure to include a proportion of specimens from other sources, received in exchange, donated, or pur- chased. I speak of this beyond.) I have found it convenient to commence a day’s record with a register of the specimens secured, each entry consisting of a duplicate of the bird’s label (see beyond), accompanied by any further remarks I have to offer respecting the particular specimens ; then to go on with the full of my day’s observations, as suggested in the last para- graph. You thus have a “register of collections” in chronological order, told off with an unbroken series of numbers, checked with the routine label-items, and continually interspersed with the balance of your ornithological studies. Since your private field-number is sometimes an indispensable clew to the authentication of a specimen after it has left your own hands, never duplicate it. If you are collecting other objects of natural history besides birds, still have m ds ae REGISTRATION AND LABELLING. 23 but one series of numbers; duly enter your mammal, or mineral, or whatever it is, in its place, with the number under which it happens to fall. Be scrupulously accurate with these and all other figures, as of dates and measurements. Always use black ink; the “ faney ” writing-fluids, even the useful carmine, fade sooner than black, while lead-pencilling is never safe. Labelling. — This should never be neglected. It is enough to make a sensitive ornithol- ogist shiver to see a specimen without that indispensable appendage — a label. Iam sorry to observe that the routine labelling of most collections is far from being satisfactory. A well- appointed label is something more than a slip of paper with the bird’s name on it, and is still defective, if, as is too often the case, only the locality and collector are added. A complete label records the following particulars: 1. Title of the survey, voyage, exploration, or other expedition (if any), during which the specimen was collected. 2. Name of the person in charge of the same (and it may be remarked that the less he really cares about birds, and the less he actually interests himself to procure them, the more particular he will be about this). 3. Title of the institution or association (if any) under the auspices or patronage of which the specimen was procured, or for which it is designed. 4. Name of collector; partly to give eredit where it is due, but principally to fix responsibility, and authenticate the rest of the items. 5. Collector’s number, referring to his note-book, as just explained; if the specimen afterwards forms part of a general collection it usually acquires another number by new regis- try; the collectors then becoming the “ original,” as distinguished from the ‘‘ current,” number. 6. Locality, perhaps the most important of all the items. A specimen of unknown or even uncertain origin is worthless or nearly so; while lamentable confusion has only too often arisen in ornithological writings from vague or erroneous indications of locality: I should say that a specimen *‘not authentic” in this particular had better have its swpposed origin erased and be let alone. Nor will it do to say simply, for stance, ‘‘ North Aimerica” or even ‘United States.” The general geographical distribution of birds being according to recognized faunal areas, ornithologists generally know already the quarter of the globe from which any bird comes ; the locality of particular specimens, therefore, should be fixed down to the very spot. If this be obscure add the name of the nearest place to be found on a fairly good map, giving distance and direction. 7. Date of collection, —day of the month, and year. Among other reasons for this may be mentioned the fact that it is often important to know what season a particular plumage indicates. §. Sex, and if possible also age, of the specimen, — an item that bespeaks its own importance. Ornithologists of all countries are agreed upon certain signs to indicate sex. These are: ¢ for male, 2 for female,—the symbols respectively of Mars and Venus. Immaturity is often denoted by the sign 5; thus, @ ,, young male. Or, we may write 2 ad., 9 yg., for adult female, young female, respectively. It is preferable, however, to use the language of science, not our vernacular, and say @ juv. (juvenis, young). ““ Nupt.” signifies breeding plumage; ‘‘ hornot.” means a bird of the year. 9. Measurements of length, and of extent of wings; the former can only be obtained approximately, and the latter not at all, from a prepared specimen. 10. Color of the eyes, and of the bill, feet, or other naked or soft parts, the tints of which may change in drying. 11. Miscellaneous partic- ulars, such as contents of stomach, special circumstances of capture, vernacular name, ete. 12. Scientific name of the bird. This is really the least important item of all, though generally thought to take precedence. But a bird labels itself, so to speak; and nature’s label may be deciphered at any time. In fact, I would enjoin upon the collector not to write out the supposed name of the bird in the field, unless the species is so well known as to be absolutely unquestionable. Proper identification, in any case to which the slightest doubt may attach, can only be made after critical study in the closet with ample facilities for examination and comparison. The first eight items, and the twelfth, usually constitute the 24 FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. face of a label; the rest are commonly written on the back. Labels should be of light card- board, or very stiff writing paper; they may be dressed attractively, as fancy suggests; the general items of a large number of specimens are best printed; the special ones must of course be written. Shape is immaterial; small ‘‘cards” or ‘‘ tickets” are preferred by some, and certainly look very well when ueatly appointed; but I think, on the whole, that a shape answering the idea of a “slip” rather than a ‘“‘ ticket” is most eligible. A slip about three inches long and two thirds of an inch wide will do very well for anything, from a hawk to a humming-bird. Something like the ‘‘ shipping tag” used by merchants is excellent, particu- larly for larger objects. It seems most natural to attach the string to the left-hand end. The slip should be tied so as to swing just clear of the bird’s legs, but not loose enough to dangle several inches, for in that case the labels are continually tangling with each other when the birds are laid away in drawers. The following ‘diagrams show the face and back of the last label I happened to write before these lines were originally penned; they represent the size and shape that I find most convenient for general purposes; while the “‘ legend” illustrates every one of the twelve items above specified. Explorations in Dakota. Dr. Elliott Coues, U.S. A. No. 2655. Buteo borealis (Gm.) V. 2 juv. Fort Randall, Missouri River. Oct. 29, 1872. “uOIyNy SUT g ee = 3 MR q a= q nN Obverse. 23.00 x 53.00 x 17.50. — Eyes yellowish-gray; bill horn-blue, darker at tip; cere wax-yellow; tarsi dull yellowish; claws bluish-black. Stomach contained portions of a rabbit; also, a large tapeworm. Reverse. Directions for Measurement may be inserted here, as this matter pertains rightfully to the recording of specimens. The following instructions apply not only to length and extent, but to the principal other dimensions, which may be taken at any time. For large birds, a tape-line showing inches and fourths will do; for smaller ones, a foot-rule graduated for inches and eighths, or better, decimals to hundredths, must be used; and for all nice measurements the dividers are indispensable. ‘‘ Length: ” Distance between the tip of the bill and end of the longest tail-feather. Lay the bird on its back on the ruler on a table; take hold of the bill with one hand and of both legs with the other; pull with reasonable force to get the curve all out of the neck; hold the bird thus with the tip of the bill flush with one end of the ruler, and see where the end of the tail points. Put the tape-line in place of the ruler, in the same way, for larger birds. ‘‘ Haxtent:” Distance between the tips of the outspread wings. They must be fully outstretched, with the bird on its back, crosswise on the ruler, its bill pointing to your breast. Take hold of right and left metacarpus with the thumb and forefinger of your left and right hand respectively, stretch with reasonable force, getting one wing-tip flush with one end of the ruler, and see how much the other wing-tip reaches. With large birds pull away as hard as you please, and use the table, floor, or side of the room; mark the points and apply tape-line. ‘‘ Length of wing:” Distance from the carpal angle formed at the bend of the wing to the end of the longest primary. Get it with compasses for small birds. In birds with a convex wing, do not lay the tape-line over the curve, but under the wing in a straight line. This measurement is the one called, for short, ‘‘ the wing.” ‘‘ Length of tail: Distance = MATERIALS FOR PREPARING BIRDSKINS. 25 from the roots of the rectrices to the end of the longest one. Feel for the pope’s nose; in either a fresh or dried specimen there is more or less of a palpable lump into which the tail-feathers stick. Guess as near as you can to the middle of this lump; place the end of the ruler opposite this point, and see where the tip of the longest tail-feather comes. ‘‘ Length of bill: ” Some take the curve of the upper mandible; others the side of the upper mandible from the feathers ; others the gape, etc. I take the chord of the culmen. Place one foot of the dividers on the culmen just where the feathers end; no matter whether the culmen runs up on the forehead, or the frontal feathers run out on the culmen, and no matter whether the culmen is straight or curved. Then with me the length of the bill is the shortest distance from the point just indi- cated to the tip of the upper mandible ; measure it with the dividers. In a straight bill of course it is the length of the culmen itself; in a curved bill, however, it is quite another thing. ‘* Length of tarsus:” Distance between the joint of the tarsus with the leg above, and that with the first phalanx of the middle toe below. Measure it always with dividers, and in front of the leg. ‘* Length of toes: ” Distance in a straight line along the upper surface of a toe from the point last indicated to the root of the claw on top. Length of toe is to be taken without the claw, unless otherwise specified. ‘‘ Length of the claws:” Distance in a straight line from the point last indicated to the tip of the claw. ‘‘ Length of head” is often a convenient dimension for comparison with the bill. Set one foot of the dividers over the base of the culmen (determined as above) and allow the other to slip snugly down over the arch of the occiput. § 6.— INSTRUMENTS, MATERIALS, AND FIXTURES FOR PREPARING BIRDSKINS. Instruments. — The only indispensable instrument is a pair of scissors or a knife ; although practically you want both of these, a pair of spring forceps, and a knitting-needle, or some similar wooden or ivory object, yet I have made hundreds of birdskins consecutively without touching another tool. ‘ Persicos odi, puer, apparatus!” I always mistrust the emphasis of a collector who makes a flourish of instruments. You might be surprised to see . what a meagre, shabby-looking kit our best taxidermists work with. Stick to your scissors, knife, forceps, and needle. But you may as well buy, at the outset, a common dissecting-case, just what medical students begin business with; it is very cheap, and if there are soine unneces- sary things in it, it makes a nice little box in which to keep your tools. The case contains, among other things, several scalpels, just the knives you want; a ‘‘ cartilage-knife,” which is nothing but a stout scalpel, suitable for large birds; the best kind of scissors for your purpose, with short blades and long handles —if ‘‘ kneed” at the hinge so much the better; spring forceps, the very thing; a blow-pipe, useful in many ways and answering well for a knitting- needle ; and some little steel-hooks, chained together, which you may want to use. But you will also require, for large birds, a very heavy pair of scissors, or small shears, short-bladed and long-handled, and a stout pair of bone-nippers. Have some pins and needles ; surgical needles, which cut instead of punching, are the best. Get a hone or strop, if you wish, anda feather duster. Use of scissors requires no comment, and I would urge their habitual employ instead of the knife-blade ; I do nine-tenths of my cutting with scissors, and find it much the easiest. A double-lever is twice as effective as a single one, and besides, you gain in cutting soft, yielding substances by opposing two blades. Moreover, scalpels need constant sharpen- ing; mine are generally too dull to cut much with, and I suppose I am like other people — while scissors stay sharp enough. The flat, thin ivory or ebony handle of the scalpel is about ns useful as the blade. Finger-nails, which were made before scalpels, are a mighty help. Forceps are almost indispensable for seizing and holding parts too small or too remote to be grasped by the fingers. The knitting-needle is wanted for a specific purpose noted beyond. The shears or nippers are only needed for what the ordinary scissors are too weak to do. Our instruments, you see new, are ‘‘ a short horse soon curried.” is) op) FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. Materials. — (a.) For stuffing. ‘‘ What do you stuff ’em with?” is usually the first question of idle curiosity about taxidermy, as if that were the great poimt; whereas, the stuffing is so small a matter that I generally reply, ‘‘ anything, except brickbats!” But if stuffing birds were the final cause of Cotton, that admirable substance could not be more perfectly adapted than it is to the purpose. Ordinary raw cotton-batting or wadding is what you want. When I can get it I never think of using anything else for small birds. I would use it for all birds were expense no object. Here tow comes in; there is a fine, clean, bleached article of tow prepared for surgical dressings; this is the best, but any will do. Some say chop your tow fine; this is harmless, but unnecessary. A crumpled newspaper, wrapped with tow, is first-rate for a large bird. Failing cotton or tow, any soft, light, dry, vegetable substance may be made to answer, — rags, paper, crumbled leaves, fine dried grass, soft fibrous inner bark, etc. ; the down of certain plants, as thistle and silkweed, makes an exquisite filling for small birds. But I will qualify my remark about brickbats by saying: never put hair, wool, feathers, or any other ANIMAL substance in a birdskin ; far better leave it empty: for, as we shall see in the sequel, bugs come fast enough, without being invited into a snug nest. (b.) For preserv- ing. ARSENIC, — not the pure metal properly so called, but arsenic of the shops, or arsenious acid, —is the great preservative. Use dry powdered arsenic, plenty of it, and nothing else. There is no substitute for arsenic worthy cf the name, and no preparation of arsenic so good as the simple substance. Various kinds of ‘ arsenical soap” were and may still be in vogue; it is a nasty greasy substance, not fit to handle; and although efficacious enough, there is a very serious hygienic objection to its use.t Arsenic, I need not say, is a violent irritant poison, and must therefore be duly guarded, but may be used with perfect impunity. It is a very heavy substance, not appreciably volatile at ordinary temperatures, and therefore not liable, as some suppose, to be breathed, to any perceptible, much less injurious, extent. It will not even at once enter the pores of healthy unbroken skin ; so it is no matter if it gets on the fingers. The exceedingly minute quantity that may be supposed to find its way into the system in the course of time is believed by many competent physicians to be rather beneficial as a tonic. I will not commit myself to this; for, though I have never felt better than when working daily with arsenic, I do not know how much my health was improved by the out-door exercise always taken at the same time. The simple precautions are, not to let it lie too long in con- tact with the skin, nor get into an abrasion, nor under the nails. It will convert a scratch or cut into a festering sore of some little severity ; while if lodged under the nails it soon shows itself by soreness, increased by pressure; a white speck appears, then a tiny abscess forms, dis- charges and gets well in a few days. Your precautions really respect other persons more than yourself; the receptacle should be conspicuously labelled ‘‘POISON!” Arsenic is a good friend of ours; besides preserving our birds, it keeps busybodies and meddlesome folks away from the scene of operations, by raising a wholesome suspicion of the taxidermist’s surround- ings. It may be kept in the tin pots in which it is usually sold; but some shallower, broader receptacle is more convenient. A little drawer say 6 x6 inches, and an inch deep, to slip under the edge of the table, or a similar compartment in a large drawer, will be found handy. A salt-spoon, or little wooden shovel whittled like one, is nice to use it with, though in effect, I always shovel it up with the handle of a scalpel. As stated, there is no substitute for arsenic; i **Strange as it may appear to some, I would say avoid especially all the so-called arsenical soaps ; they are at best but filthy preparations ; besides, it is a fact to which I can bear painful testimony that they are, especially when applied to a greasy skin, poisonous in the extreme. I have been so badly poisoned, while working upon the skins of some fat water birds that had been prepared with arsenical soap, as to be made seriously ill, the poison having worked into the system through some small wounds or scratches on my hand. Had pure arsenic been used in preparing the skins, the effect would not have been as bad, although grease and arsenic are generally a blood-poison in some degree; but when combined with ‘soap’ the effect, at least as far as my experience goes, is much more injurious.”” (MAYNARD, Guide, p. 12.) . In endorsing this, I would add that the combination is the more poisonous, in all probability, simply because the soap, being detersive, mechanically facilitates the entrance of the poison, without, however, chemically increasing its virulence. MATERIALS FOR PREPARING BIRDSKINS. 27 , but at a pinch you can make temporary shift with the following, among other articles: — table salt, or saltpetre, or charcoal strewn plentifully; strong solution of corrosive sublimate, brushed over the skin inside ; creosote; impure carbolic acid; these last two are quite efficacious, but they smell horribly for an indefinite period. A bird threatening to decompose before you can -_get at it to skin, may be saved for a while by squirting weak carbolic acid or crevsote down the throat and up the fundament; or by disembowelling, and filling the cavity with powdered charcoal. (¢.) For cleansing. Gypsum is an almost indispensable material for cleansing soiled plumage. ‘‘ Gypsum ” is properly native hydrated sulphate of lime ; the article referred to is ‘‘ plaster of Paris” or gypsum heated up to 260° F. (by which the water of crystalliza- tion is driven off) and then finely pulverized. When mixed with water it soon solidifies, the original hydrate being agaim formed. ‘The mode of using it is indicated beyond. It is most conveniently kept in a shallow tray, say a foot square, and an inch or two deep, which had better, furthermore, slide under the table as a drawer; or form a compartment of a larger drawer. Keep gypsum and arsenic in different-looking receptacles, not so much to keep from poisoning yourself, as to keep from not poisoning a birdskin. They look much alike, and skinning becomes such a mechanical process that you may get hold of the wrong article when your thoughts are wandering in the woods. Gypsum, like arsenic, has no worthy rival in its own field ; some substitutes, in the order of their applicability, are: — corn-meal, probably the best thing after gypsum; calcined magnesia (very good, but too light —it floats in the air, and makes you cough); bicarbonate of magnesia; powdered chalk (‘‘ prepared chalk,” ereta preparata of the drug shops, is the best kind); fine wood-ashes; clean dry loam. No article, however powdery when dry, that contains a glutinous principle, as for instance gum-arabic or flour, is admissible. (d.) For wrapping, you want a thin, pliable, strong paper ; water-closet paper is the very best; newspaper is pretty good. For making the cones or cylinders in which birdskins may be set to dry, a stiffer article is required; writing paper answers perfectly. Naturalists habitually carry a Pocket Lens, much as other people do a watch. You will find a magnifying glass very convenient in your search for the sexual organs of small birds when obscure, as they frequently are, out of the breeding season; in picking lice from plumage, to send to your entomological friend, who will very likely pronounce them to be of a ‘“new species ; ” and for other purposes. Fixtures. When travelling, your fixtures must ordinarily be limited to a collecting- chest ; you will have to skin birds on the top of this, on the tail-board of a wagon, or on your lap, as the case may be. The chest should be very substantial —iron-bound is best; strong as to hinges and lock—and have handles. ) HOW TO MAKE A BIRDSKIN. 31 jeave in one of the two fore-arm bones, to preserve sufficiently the shape of the limb, but to remove the other, with the upper-arm bone and all the flesh. It is done ina moment: stick the point of the scissors between the heads of the two fore-arm bones, and cut the hinder one (ulna) away from the elbow; then the other fore-arm bone (radius), bearing on its near end the elbow and the whole upper arm, is to be stripped away from the ulna, taking with it the flesh of the fore-arm, and to be cut off at its far end close to the wrist-joint, one stroke severing the bone and all the tendons that pass over the wrist to the hand; then the ulna, bare of flesh, is alone left in, attached at the wrist. Draw gently on the wing from the outside till it slips into the natural position whence you everted it. Do the same for the other wing. This finishes the skinning process. The skin is now to be turned right side out. Begin any way you please, till you see the point of the bill reappearing among the feathers; seize it with fingers or forceps, as convenient, and use it for gentle traction. But by no means pull it out by holding on to the rear end of the skin —that would infallibly stretch the skin. Holding the bill, make a cylinder of your left hand and coax the skin backward with a sort of milking motion. It will come easily enough, until the final stage of getting the head back into its skull-cap; this may require some little dexterity ; but you cannot fail to get the head in, if you remember what you did to get it out. When this is fairly accomplished, you for the first time have the pleasure of seeing something that looks like a birdskin. Your next! care is to apply arsenic. Lay the skin on its back, the opening toward you and wide spread, so the interior is in view. Run the scalpel-handle iuto the neck to dilate that cylinder until you can see the skull; find your way to the orifices of the legs and wings; expose the pope’s-nose ; thus you have not only the general skin surface, but all the pomts where some traces of flesh were left, fairly in view. Shovel in arsenic; dump some down the neck, making sure it reaches and plentifully besprmkles the whole skull; drop a little in each wing hole and leg hole; leave a small pile at the root of the tail; strew some more over the skin at large. The simple rule is, put in as much arsenic as will stick anywhere. Then close the opening, and shake up the skin; move the head about by the bill; rustle the wings and move the legs; this distrib- utes the poison thoroughly. If you have got in more than is necessary, as you may judge by seeing it piled up dry, anywhere, hold the skin with the opening downward over the poison- drawer, and give it a flip and let- the superfluous powder fall out. Now for the ‘make up,” upon which the beauty of the preparation depends. First get the empty skin into good shape. Let it lie on its back; draw it straight out to its natural length. See that the skin of the head fits snugly; that the eyes, ears, and jaws are in place. Expand the wings to make sure _ that the bone is in place, and fold them so that the quills override each other naturally ; set the tail-feathers shinglewise also; draw down the legs and leave them straddling wide apart. Give the plumage a preliminary dressing; if the skin is free from kinks and creases, the feath- ers come naturally into place; particular ones that may be awry should be set right, as may be generally done by stroking, or by lifting them free repeatedly, and letting them fall; if any (through carelessness) remain turned into the opening, they should be carefully picked out. Remove all traces of gypsum or arsenic with the feather duster. The stuffing is to be put in through the opening in the belly; the art is to get in just enough, in the right places. It would never do to push in pellets of cotton, as you would stuff a pillow-ease, till the skin is filled up; no subsequent skill in setting could remove the distortion that would result. It takes just fowr? pieces of stuffing — one for each eye, one for the neck, and one for the body; 1 Some direct the poisoning to be done while the skin is still wrong side out; and it may be very thoroughly effected at that stage. I wait, because the arsenic generally strews over the table in the operation of reversing the skin, if you use as much as I think advisable; and it is better to have a cavity to put it into than a surface to Strew it on. 2 For any ordinary bird up to the size of a crow. It is often directed that the leg-bones and wing-bones be wrapped with cotton or tow. I should not think of putting anything around the wing-bones of any bird up to the size of an eagle, swan, or pelican. Examination of a skinned wing will show how extremely compact it is, except 9 to FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. while it requires rather less than half as much stuffing as an inexperienced person might suppose. Take a shred of cotton that will make a tight ball as large as the bird’s eye; stick it on the end of your knitting-needle, and by twirling the needle whilst the cotton is confined in your finger tips, you make a neat ball. Introduce this through the belly-opening, into the eye-socket ; if you have cut away skull enough, as already directed, it will go right in; disengage the needle with a reverse twirl, and withdraw it. Take hold of the bill with one hand, and with the forceps in the other, dress the eyelids neatly and naturally over the elastic substance within. Repeat for the other eye. Take next a shred of cotton that will roll into a firm cylinder rather less than the size of the bird’s neck. Rol it on the needle much as you did the eye-ball, introduce it in the same way, and ram it firmly into the base of the skull; disengage the needle by twirling it the other way, and withdraw it, taking care not to dislodge the cotton neck. If now you peep into the skin you will see the end of this artificial neck; push it up against the skin of the breast, — it must not lie down on the back between the shoulders.1 The body-wad comes next; you want to imitate the size and shape of the bird’s trunk. Take amass of cotton you think will be enough, and take about half of this; that will be plenty (cotton is very elastic). It should make a tolerably firm ball, rather egg-shaped, swelling at the breast, smaller behind. If you simply squeeze up the cotton, it will not stay compressed ; it requires a movion something like that which bakers employ to knead dough into the shape of a loaf. Keep tucking over the borders of the cotton till the desired shape and firmness are attained. Insert the ball between the blades of the forceps in such way that the instrument confines the folded-over edges, and with a wriggling motion insinuate it aright imto the body. Before relaxing the forceps, put your thumb and forefinger in the bird’s armpits, and pinch the shoulders together till they almost touch; this is to make sure that there is no stuffing between the shoulders, — the whole mass lying breastwards. Loosen the forceps and witharaw them. If the ball is rightly made and tucked in, the elasticity of the cotton will chiefly expend itself in puffing out the breast, which is just what is wanted. Be careful not to push the body too far in; if it impacts against the skin of the neck, this will infallibly stretch, driving the shoulders apart, and no art will remedy the unsightly gape resulting. You see I dwell on this matter of the shoulders ; the whole knack of stuffing correctly focuses just over the shoulders. If you find you have made the body too large, pull it out and make a smaller one; if it fits nicely about the shoulders, but is too long to go in, or too puffy over the belly, let it stay, and pick away shreds at the open end till the redundancy is remedied. Your bird is now sturfed. Close the opening by bringing the edges of the original cut together. There is no use of sewing? up the cut, for a small bird; if the stuffing is correct, the feathers will hide the opening; and if they do not, it is no matter. You are not making an object for a show case, but for a naturalist’s just at the shoulder. What you remove will never make any difference from the outside, while you would almost inevitably get in too much, not of the right shape, and make an awkward bulging no art would remedy; I say, then, leave the wings of all but theargest birds empty, and put in very little under any circumstances. As for legs, the whole host of small perching birds need no wrapping whatever; depend upon it you will make a nicer skin without wrapping. But large birds and those with very muscular or otherwise prominent legs must have the removal of flesh compensated for. I treat of these cases beyond. 1 Although a bird’s neck is really, of course, in direct continuation of the back-bone, yet the natural sigmoid curve of the neck is such that it virtually takes departure rather from the breast, its lower curve being received between the prongs of the merrythought. This is what we must imitate instead of the true anatomy. If you let the end of the neck lie between the shoulders, it will infallibly press them apart, so that the interscapular plumage cannot shingle over the scapular feathers as it should, and a gaping place, showing down or even naked skin, will result. Likewise if the neck be made too large (the chances are that way, at first), the same result follows. These seemingly trifling points are very important indeed; I never made a decent birdskin till I learned to get the neck small enough and to shove the end of it against the breast. 2 But sew it up, if you please, though you may be perhaps giving the man who subsequently mounts the bird the trouble of ripping out the stitches. Stitches, however, will not come amiss with a darge bird. I generally, in such cases, pin the edges of the cut in one or more places. HOW TO MAKE A BIRDSKIN. 3%) cabinet. Supposing you to have been so far successful, little remains to be done; the skin already looks very much like a dead bird; you have only to give the finishing touches, and “set” it. Fixmg the wings nicely isa great point. Fold each wing closely; see that the carpal bend is well defined, that the coverts show their several oblique rows perfectly, that all the quills override each other like shingles. Tuck the folded wings close up to the body — rather on the bird’s back than along its sides; see that the wing tips meet over the tail (under the tail as the bird lies on its back); let the carpal angle nestle in the plumage; have the shoulders close together, so that the interscapulars shingle over the scapulars. If the wing be pressed in too tightly, the scapulars will rise up on end; there must be neither furrow nor ridge about the insertion of the wings; everything must lie perfectly smooth. At this stage of the process, I generally lift up the skin gingerly, and let it slp head first through one hand after the other, pressing here or there to correct a deformity, or uniformly to make the whole skin compact. The wings set, next bring the legs together, so that the bones within the skin lie parallel with each other; bend the heel-joint a little, to let the tarsi cross each other about their middle; lay them sidewise on the tail, so that the naturally flexed toes lie flat, all the claws mutually facing each other. See that the neck is perfectly straight, and, if anything, shortened rather than outstretched ; have the crown of the head flat on the table, the bill point- ing straight forward, the mandibles shut tightly. Never attempt any ‘‘fancy” attitudes with a birdskin; the simpler and more compactly it is made up the better. Finally, I say, hang over your bird Gf you have time); dress better the feathers that were well dressed before ; ° perfect every curve; finish caressingly, and put it away tenderly, as you hope to be shriven yourself when the time comes. There are several ways of laying a birdskin. A common, easy, and slovenly way is to thrust it head first into a paper cone; but it makes a hollow-chested, pot-bellied object, unpleasant to see, and renders your nice work on the make-up futile. A paper cylinder, corresponding in calibre to the greatest girth of the birdskin, binds the wings well, and makes a good ordinary specimen, — perhaps better than the average. Remarking that there are some detestable practices, such as hanging up a bird by a string through the nose (methods only to be mentioned to be condemned), I will tell you the easiest and best way, by which the most elegant and tasteful results are almost necessarily secured. The skins are simply laid away in cotton, just as they come from your hands. Take a considerable wad of cotton, make a “bed ” of it, lay the specimen in, and tuck it up nicely around the edges. In effect, I gener- ally take a thin sheet of cotton wadding, the sizing of which confers some textile consistency, and wrap the bird completely but lightly in it. By loosening or tightening a trifle here or there, laymg down a “‘ pillow” or other special slight pressure, the most delicate contour-lines may be preserved with perfect fidelity. Unnecessary pother is sometimes made about drying 1 Exceptions. Woodpeckers, ducks, and some other birds treated of beyond, are best set with the head flat on one side, the bill pointing obliquely to the right or left; owls, with the bill pointing straight up in the air as the bird lies on its back. 2 If the mandibles gape, run a thread through the nostrils and tie it tightly under the bill. Or, since this injures the nostrils (and we frequently want to examine their structure). stick a pin in under the bill close to the gonys, driving it obliquely into the palate. Sometimes the skin of the throat looks sunken betwixt the sides of the jaw. A shred of cotton introduced with forceps through the mouth will obviate this. 3 Don’t cock up the head, trying to impart a knowing air — it cannot be done, and only makes the poor bird look ridiculous. Don’t lay the skin on one side, with the legs in perching position, and don’t spread the wings — the bird will never perch nor fly again, and the suggestion is unartistic because incongruous. The only permis- sible departure from the rule of severe simplicity is when some special ornament, as a fine crest, may be naturally displayed, or some hidden markings are desired to be brought out, or a shape of tail or wing to be perpetuated ; but in all such cases the ‘‘flowery”’ inclination should be sparingly and judiciously indulged. It is, however, frequently desirable to give some special set to hide a defect, as loss of plumage, etc.; this may often be accom- plished very cunningly, with excellent result. No rules for this can be laid down, since the details vary in every case; but in general the weak spot may be hidden by contracting the skin of the place, and then setting the bird in an attitude that naturally corresponds, thus making a virtue of necessity. 3 o4 FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. skins; the fact being that under ordinary circumstances they could not be kept from drying perfectly ; and they dry in exactly the shape they are set, if not accidentally pressed upon. At sea, however, or during unusually protracted wet weather, they of course dry slowly, and may require some attention to prevent mildew or souring, especially in the cases of very large, thick-skinned, or greasy specimens. Thorough poisoning, and drying by a fire, or placing in the sun, will always answer. Very close packing retards drying. When travelling, or operating under other circumstances requirmg economy of space, you must not expect to turn out your collection in elegant order. Perfection of contour-lines can only be secured by putting each specimen away by itself; undue pressure is always lable to produce unhappily outré configuration of a skin. ‘Trays in a packing box are of great service in limiting possi- bilities of pressure ; they should be shallow; one four inches deep will take a well stuffed hen- hawk, for example, or accommodate from three to six sparrows a-top of one another. It is well to sort out your specimens somewhat according to size, to keep heavy ones off little ones; though the chinks around the former may usually be economized with advantage by packing im the less valuable or the less neatly prepared of the latter. When limited to a travelling chest, I generally pass in the skins as fast as made, packing them ‘“ solid” in one sense, yet hunting up a nice resting-place for each. If each rests in its own cotton coffin, it is astonishing how close they may be laid without harm, and how many will go in a given space; a tray 30 x 18 x 4 inches will easily hold three hundred and fifty birds six inches long. As a tray fills ‘ up, the drier ones first put in may be submitted to more pressure. A skin originally dried in good shape may subsequently be pressed perfectly flat without material injury; the only thing to avoid being contortion. The whole knack of packing birds corresponds to that of filling a trunk solidly full of clothes, as may easily be done without damage to an immaculate shirt- front. Finally, I would say, never put away a bird unlabelled, not even for an hour; you may forget it or die. Never tie a label to a bird’s bill, wing, or tail; tie it securely to both legs where they cross, and it will be just half as liable to become detached as if tied to one leg only. Never paste a label, or even a number, on a bird’s plumage. Never put in glass eyes before mounting. Never paint or varnish a bird’s bill or feet. Never replace missing plumage of one bird with the feathers of another — no, not even if the birds came out of the same nest. b. SPECIAL PROCESSES; COMPLICATIONS AND ACCIDENTS. The Foregoing Method of procedure is a routine practice applicable to three-fourths if not nine-tenths of the ‘‘ general run” of birds. But there are several cases requiring a modi- fication of this programme; while several circumstances may tend to embarrass your operations. The principal special conditions may therefore be separately treated to your advantage. Size. — Other things being equal, a large bird is more difficult to prepare than a small one. Jn one case, you only need a certain delicacy of touch, easily acquired and soon becom- ing mechanical ; in the other, demand on your strength may be made, till your muscles ache. It takes longer, too;1 I could put away a dozen sparrows in the time I should spend over an eagle; and I would rather undertake a hundred humming-birds than one ostrich. For I The reader may be curious to know something of the statistics on this score — how long it ought to take him to prepare an ordinary skin. He can scarcely imagine, from his first tedious operations, how expert he may become, not only in beauty of result, but in rapidity of execution. I have seen taxidermists make good small skins at the rate of ten an hour; but this is extraordinary. The quickest work I ever did myself was eight an hour, or an average of seven and a half minutes apiece, and fairly good skins. But I picked my birds, allsmall _ ones, well shot, labelled, measured, and plugged beforehand, so that the rate of work was exceptional, besides including only the actual manipulations from first cut to laying away. No one averages eight birds an hour, even excluding the necessary preliminaries of cleansing, plugging, etc. Four birds an hour, everything included, is good work. A very eminent ornithologist of this country, and an expert taxidermist, once laid a whimsical wager, that he would skin and stuff a bird before a certain friend of his could pick all the feathers off a specimen of the same kind. I forget the time, but he won, and his friend ate crow, literally, that night. HOW TO MAKE A BIRDSKIN. | 30 “large” birds, say anything from a hen-hawk upward, various special manipulations I have directed may be foregone, while however you observe their general drift and intent. You may open the bird as directed, or, turning it tail to you, cut with a knife.t Forceps are rarely required; there is not much that is too small to be taken in hand. As soon as the tail is divided, hang up the bird by the rump, so you will have both hands free. Let it swing clear of the wall or table, at any height most conyenient. The steel hooks of a dissecting case are not always large enough; use a stout fish-hook with the barb filed off. Work with your nails, assisted by the scalpel if necessary. I know of no bird, and I think there is none, in this country at least, the skin of which is so intimately adherent by fibrous or muscular tissue as to require actual dissecting throughout; a pelican comes, perhaps, as near this as any; but in many cases the knife may be constantly employed with advantage. Use it with long clean sweeping strokes, hugging the skin rather than the body. The knee and shoulder commonly require disarticulation, unless you use bone-nippers or strong shears; the four cuts of the skull may presuppose a very able-bodied instrument, even a chisel. The wings will give you the most trouble, and they require a special process; for you cannot readily break up the adhesions of the secondary quills to the ulna, nor is it desirable that very large feathers should be deprived of this natural support. Hammer or nip off the great head of the upper arm-bone, just below the insertion of the breast muscles; clean the rest of that bone and leave it in. Tie a string around it (what sailors call ‘“‘two half hitches” gives a secure hold on the bony cylinder), and tie it to the other humerus, inside the skin, so that the two bones shall be rather less than their natural distance apart. After the skin is brought right side out, attack the wings thus: Spread the wing under side uppermost, and secure it on the table by driving a tack or brad through the wrist-joint; this fixes the far.end, while the weight of the skin steadies the other. Raise a whole layer of the under wing-coyerts, and make a cut in the skin thus exposed, from elbow to wrist, in the middle line between the two forearm bones. Raise the flaps of skin and all the muscle is laid bare; it is to be removed. This is best done by lifting each muscle from its bed separately, slipping the handle of the scalpel under the individual bellies; there is little if any bony attachment except at each end, and this is readily severed. Strew in arsenic; a little cotton may be used to fill the bed of muscle removed from a very large bird; bring the flaps of skin together, and smooth down the coverts; you need not be particular to sew up the cut, for the coverts will hide the opening; in fact, the operation does not show at all after the make-up. Stuffing of large birds is not commonly done with only the four pieces already directed. ‘The eyeballs, and usually the neck-cylinder, go in as before; the body may be filled any way you please, provided you do not put in too much stuffing nor get any between the shoulders. All large birds had better have the leg-bones wrapped to nearly natural size. Observe that the leg-muscles do not form a cylinder, but a cone; let the wrapping taper naturally from top to bottom. Attention to this point is neces- sary for all large or medium-sized birds with naturally prominent legs. The large finely feathered legs of a hawk, for example, ought to be well displayed ; with these birds, and also with rails, ete., moreover, imitate the bulge of the thigh with a special wad laid inside the skin. Large birds commonly require also a special wad introduced by the mouth, to make the swell of the throat; this wad should be rather fluffy than firm. As a rule, do not fill out 1 Certain among larger birds are often opened elsewhere than along the belly, with what advantage I cannot say from my own experience. Various water birds, such as loons, grebes, auks, gulls, and ducks (in fact any swimming bird with dense under plumage) may be opened along the side by a cut under the wings from the shoulder over the hip to the rump; the cut is completely hidden by the make-up, and the plumage is never ruffled. But I see no necessity for this; for, as a rule, the belly opening can, if desired, be completely effaced with due care, though a very greasy bird with white under plumage generally stains where opened, in spite of every precaution. Such birds as loons, grebes, cormorants, and penguins are often opened by a cut across the fundament from one leg to the other; their conformation in fact suggests and favors this operation. I have often seen water birds slit tlown the back; but I consider it very poor practice. 36 FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. large birds to their natural dimensions; they take up too much room. Let the head, neck, and legs be accurately prepared, but leave the main cavity one-third if not one-half empty ; no more is required than will fairly smooth out creases in the skin. Reduce bulk rather by flattening out than by general compression. Use tow instead of cotton; and if at all short of tow, economize with paper, hay, ete., at least for the deeper portions of the main stuffing. Large birds may be ‘‘set” in a great quantity of tow; wrapped in paper, much like any other pareel ; or simply left to dry on the table, the wings being only supported by cushioning or other suitable means. Shape. — Some special configurations have been noticed in the last paragraph, prema- turely perhaps, but leading directly up to further considerations respecting shape of certain birds as a modifying element in the process of preparation. As for skinning, there is one extremely important matter. Most ducks, many woodpeckers, flamingoes, and doubtless some others with which I am not familiar, cannot be skinned in the usual way, because the head is too large for the calibre of the neck and cannot be drawn through. In such cases, skin as usual to the base of the skull, cut off the head there (inside the skin of course), and operate upon it, after turning the skin right side out, as follows: Part the feathers carefully in a straight line down the back of the skull, make a cut through the skin, just long enough to permit the head to pass, draw out the skull through this opening, and dress it as already directed. Return it, draw the edges of the cut nicely together, and sew up the opening with a great many fine stitches. Simple as it may appear, this process is often embarrassing, for the cut has an unhappy tendency to wander about the neck, enlarging itself even under the most careful manipulation ; while the feathers of the parts are usually so short, that it is diffi- cult to efface all traces of the operation. I consider it very disagreeable ; but for ducks I know of no alternative. I have however found out a way to avoid it with woodpeckers, excepting the very largest; it is this: Before skinning, part the eyelids, and plunge the scalpel right into the eyeballs; seize the cut edge of the ball with the forceps, and pull the eye right out. It may be dexterously done without spilling the eye-water on the plumage; but, for fear of this, previously put a little pile of plaster on the spot. Throw arsenic into the socket, and then fill it with cotton poked in between the lids. The eyes are thus disposed of. Then, in skinning, when you come to the head, dissever it from the neck and work the skull as far out as you can; it may be sufficiently exposed, in all cases, for you to gouge out the base of the skull with the scissors, and get at the brain to remove it. Apply an extra large dose of arsenic, and you will never hear from what jaw-muscle has been left in. In all these cases, as already remarked, the head is preferably set lying on one side, with the bill pointing obliquely to the right or left. Certain birds require a special mode of setting ; these are, birds with very long legs or neck, or both, as swans, geese, pelicans, cormorants, snakebirds, loons, and especially cranes, herons, ibises, and flamingoes. Long legs should be doubled completely on themselves by bending at the heel-joint, and either tucked under the wings, or laid on the under surface ; the chief point is to see that the toes lie flat, so that the claws do not stick un, to catch in things or get broken off. A long neck should be carefully folded; not at a sharp angle with a crease in the skin, but with a short curve, and brought round either to the side of the bird or on its breast, as may seem most convenient. ‘The object is to make a “ bale” of the skin as nearly as may be, and when it is properly effected it is surprising what little space a crane, for instance, occupies. But it is rarely, if ever, admissible to bend a tail back on the body, however inconveniently long it may be. Special dilations of skin, like the pouch of a pelican, or the air sacs of,a prairie hen, may be moderately displayed. Thin Skin. — Loose Plumage. — It is astonishing how much resistance is offered by the thin skin of the smallest bird. Though no thicker than tissue paper, it is not very liable HOW TO MAKE A BIRDSKIN. oT to tear if deftly handled; yet a rent once started often enlarges to an embarrassing extent if the skin be stretched in the least. Accidental rents and enlargements of shot-holes should be neatly sewn up, if occurring in an exposed place ; but in most cases the plumage may be set to hide the openings. The trogons are said to have remarkably thin and delicate skin; I have never handled one in the flesh. Among our birds, the cardinal grosbeak and the species of Caprimulgide have, I think, about the tenderest skins. The obvious indication in all such cases is simply a little extra delicacy of manipulation. In skinning most birds, you should not loose more than a feather or two, excepting those loosened by the shot. Pigeons are peculiar, among our birds, for the very loose insertion of their plumage ; you will have to be particularly careful with them, and in spite of all your precautions a good many feathers will probably drop. As stripping down the secondary quills from the forearm, in the manner already indicated, will almost invariably set these feathers free from the skin, I reeommend you not to attempt it, but to dress the wings as prescribed for large birds. Fatness. — Fat is a substance abhorred of all dissectors; always in the way, embarrass- ing operations and obscuring observations; while it is seldom worth examination after its structure has once been ascertained. It is particularly obnoxious to the taxidermist, since it is liable to soil the plumage during skinning, and also to soak into the feathers afterwards ; and greasy birdskins are never pleasing objects. A few birds never seem to have any fat ; some, like petrels, are always oily ; at times, especially in the indolent autumn season, when birds have little to do but feed, the great majority acquire an embonpoint doubtless to their own satisfaction, but to the taxidermist’s discomfort. In all such cases gypsum should be lavishly employed. Strew plaster plentifully, from the first cut all through the operation; dip your fingers in it frequently, as well as your instruments. The invaluable absorbent will deal with most of the ‘‘running” fat. When the skin is completely reversed, remove as much of the solid fat as possible; it is generally found occupying the areolar tissue of particular definite tracts, and most of it may usually be peeled or flaked off in considerable masses. Since the soft and oozy state of most birds’ fat at ordinary temperatures may be much improved by cold, it will repay you to leave your birds on ice for a while before skinning, if you have the means and time to do so; the fat will become quite firm. There is a device for preventing or at any rate lessening the soiling of the plumage so apt to oceur along the line of your incision; it is invaluable in all cases of white plumage. Take a strip of cloth of greater width than the length of the feathers, long enough to go up one side of the cut and down the other. Sew this closely to the skin all around the cut, and it will form an apron to guard the plumage. You will too frequently find that a bird, prepared without soiling and laid away apparently safe, afterwards grows greasy; if the plumage is white, it soon becomes worse than ever by showing dust that the grease catches. Perhaps the majority of such birds in our museums show the dirty streak along the belly. The reason is, that the grease has oozed out along the eut, or wherever else the skin has been broken, and infiltrated the plumage, being drawn up apparently by capillary attraction, just as a lampwick ‘‘sucks up” oil. Sometimes, without obviously soiling the plumage, the grease will run along the thread that ties the label, and make a uniformly transparent piece of ‘‘oil-paper.” I have no remedy to offer for this gradual infiltration of the plumage. It will not wash out, even with soap and water. Possibly careful and persistent treatment with an ether might be effective, but I am not prepared to say it would be. Removal of all fat that can be got off during skinning, with a liberal use of plaster, will in a measure prevent a difficulty that remains incurable. Bloodstains, etc. — In the nature of the case, this complication is of continual occurrence ; fortunately it is easier dealt with than greasiness. Much may be done in the field to prevent bloodying of the plumage, as already said. A little bleod does not show much on a dark 38 FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. plumage ; but it is of course conspicuous on light or white feathers. Dried blood may often be scraped off, in imitation of the natural process by which a bird cleanses its plumage with the bill; or be pulverized by gently twiddling the feathers between the fingers, and then blown off. But feathers may by due care be washed almost as readily as clothing; and we must ordinarily resort to this to remove all traces of blood, especially from white surfaces. If properly dried they do not show the operation. With a soft rag or pledget of cotton dipped in warm water bathe the place assiduously, pressing down pretty hard, only taking care to stroke the feathers the right way, so as not to crumple them, until the red color disappears ; then you have simply a wet place to deal with. Press gypsum on the spot; it will cake; flake it off and apply more, till it will no longer stick. ‘Then raise the feathers on a knife-blade and sprinkle gypsum in among them; pat it down and shake it up, wrestling with the spot till the moisture is entirely absorbed. ‘Two other fluids of the body will give you occasional annoy- ance, —the juices of the alimentary canal and the eye-water. Escape of the former by mouth, nostrils, or vent is preventable by plugging these orifices, and its occurrence is inexcusable. But shot often lacerates the gullet, crop, and bowels, and though nothing may flow at the time, subsequent jolting or pressure in the game-bag causes the escape of fluids: a seemingly safe specimen may be unwrapped to show the whole belly-plumage a sodden brown mass. Such accidents should be treated precisely like bloodstains ; but it is to be remarked that these stains are not seldom indelible, traces usually persisting in white. plumage at least in spite of our best endeavors. Eye-water, insignificant as it may appear, is often a great annoyance. This liquor is slightly glairy, or rather glassy, and puts a sort of sizing on the plumage difficult to efface; the more so since the soiling necessarily occurs in a conspicuous place, where the plumage is too scanty and delicate to bear much handling. It frequently happens that a lacer- ated eyeball, by the elasticity of the coats, or adhesion of the lids, retains its fluid till this is pressed out in manipulating the parts; and recollecting how the head lies buried in plumage at that stage of the process, it will be seen that not only the head, but much of the neck and even the breast may become wetted. If the parts are extensively soaked, the specimen is almost irreparably damaged, if not ruined. Plaster will abscrb the moisture, but much of the sizing may be retained on the plumage ; therefore, though the place seems simply wet, it should be thoroughly washed with water before the gypsum is applied. I always endeavor to prevent the accident; if I notice a lacerated eyeball, I extract it before skinning, in the manner described for woodpeckers. Miscellaneous stains, from the juices of plants, etc., may be received ; all such are treated on general principles. Blood on the beak and feet of rapacious birds, mud on the bill and legs of waders, etc., etc., may be washed off without the slightest difficulty. A land bird that has fallen in the water should be recovered as soon as possible, picked up by the bill, and shaken ; most of the water will run off, unless the plumage is com- pletely soaked. It should be allowed to dry just as it is, without touching the plumage, before being wrapped and bagged. If a bird fall in soft mud, the dirt should be scraped or snapped off as far as this can be done without plastering the feathers down, and the rest allowed to dry; it may afterward be rubbed fine and dusted off, when no harm will ensue, except to white feathers which may require washing. Mutilation. — You will often be troubled, early in your practice, with broken legs and wings, and various lacerations ; but the injury must be very severe (such as the carrying away of a limb, or blowing off the whole top of a head) that cannot be in great measure remedied by care and skill. Suppose a little bird, shot through the neck or small of the back, comes apart while being skinned; you have only to remove the hinder portion, be that much or little, and go on with the rest as if it were the whole. If the leg bone of a small bird be broken near the heel, let it come away altogether; it will make little if any difference. In case of the same accident to a large bird that ought to have the legs wrapped, whittle out a peg and stick : ipo — ey HOW TO MAKE A BIRDSKIN. 39 it in the hollow stump of the bone; if there is no stump left, file a piece of stout wire toa point and stick it into the heel jomt. If the forearm bone that you usually leave in a small bird is broken, remove it and leave the other in; if both are broken, do not clean the wings so thoroughly that they become detached; an extra pinch of arsenic will condone the omission. In a large bird, if both bones of the forearm are broken, splint them with a bit of wood laid in between, so that one end hitches at the elbow, the other at the wrist. A humerus may be replaced like a leg bone, but this is rarely required. If the skull be smashed, save the pieces, and leave them if you can; if not, imitate the arch of the head with a firm cotton-ball. sale ele kn oe rs =r! So aS GFao Fe awie te fs og 2 Sbea Sey Sy =e © BS ele bo = = San 2 OSS 2S S| Seas = Spo 5-5 © a lie oS PSA ate Sag rsh Siete tS Sg oe a ca OTS ED ep el arate oar Ora eC eee ete Wate BS Doze eS sese o = « ale & ae ftoort fo Se Heo € RE a al oS ane. ae a eee 8 oe oS So Se es Se ae 8 SS SS =O eo S& Ss eS 6 Me OQ fs] S&F 5 CO fm & FD Oy 25 Ss FS SS ff SAS © Ff & S s4~ DP OS OP RR and , In the 7 mouths of the separate or uniting semicircular canals ; opening into tympanum by fenestra ova- lis conducting to meatus auditorius internus by the course of the auditory nerve. eagle, if its irregularities of contour were smoothed out, it would about hold a pea. In the language of human anatomy, the three semicircular canals are the (a) anterior or superior vertical, the (b) posterior or inferior vertical, and the (¢) external or horizontal , the planes of their respective loops are approximately mutually perpendicular, in the three 190 | GENERAL ORNITHOLOGY. planes of any cubical figure. In birds these terms do not apply so well to the situation of the canals with reference to the axes of the body, nor to the direction of the loops; neither is mutual perpendicularity so nearly exhibited. The whole set is tilted over backward to some degree, so that the (@) ‘‘anterior” (though still superior) loops back beyond either of the others ; the (0) ‘‘ posterior” loops behind and below the (c) horizontal, which tilts down backward ; the verticality of the planes of (a) and (0) is better kept. The canals may be better known as the (@) superior (vertical), and (6) inferior (vertical), and (€) internal (horizontal). What- ever its inclination backward, there is no mistaking (a), much the longest of the three, looping high up over the rest, exceeding the petrosal and bedded in the occipital, the upper limb and loop of the arch bas-relieved upon the inner surface of the skull (fig. 70, ase). It makes much more than a semicircle —rather a horse-shoe. ‘The inferior vertical (0) loops lowest of all, though little if any of it reaches further backward than the great loop of (a); it is the second in size; in shape it is quite circular, —rather more than a half-cirele. Its upper limb joins the lower limb of (@), as in man, and the two open by one orifice in the vestibule; but it is not simple union, for the two limbs, before forming a common tube, twine half-round each other (like two fingers of one hand crossed). The loop of (6) reaches very near the back of the skull (outside). The canal (¢) is the smallest, and, as it were, set within the loop of (0), though its plane is nearly the opposite of the plane of (b); and the cavities of (b) and (¢) intereommuni- cate at or near the point of their greatest convexity, farthest from the vestibule. This decus- sation of (6) and (c), like the twining inosculation of (a) and (0), is well known. It may not be so generally understood that there is (in the eagle if not in birds generally) a third extra- vestibular communication of the canals. My sections show this perfectly. The great loop of (a), sweeping past the decussating-place of (b) and (¢), is thrown into a cavity common to all three. Bristles threaded either way through each of the three canals can all three be seen in contact, crossing each other through this curious extra-vestibular chamber, which may be named the trivia, or ‘‘ three-way” place. (The arrangement I make out does not agree well with the figure of the owl’s labyrinth given by Owen, Anat. Vert., ii, 1384. The trivia is at the place where, in fig. 84 or 85, the three membranous canals eross one another. It does not follow, however, that these contained membranous canals imtercommunicate, and it appears from Ibsen’s figures that they do not. Study of these admirable illustrations, with the explanations given under them, should make the details perfectly clear to the reader.) All that precedes relates to the bony labyrinth, —the scrolled cavity of the periotic bone. The membranous labyrinth is asae lying loosely in the hollow of the bone, and shaped just like it, lining the hollow of the vestibule and tubes of the semicircular canals. Withdrawn intact, it would be a perfect ‘‘ cast” of the labyrinth. Originally, this sac is also continuous with one in the cavity of the cochlea, called the membranous cochlea, which afterward becomes shut off from the main sac. This shut-off cochlear part lies between the scala tympani below and the scala vestibuli above ; its interior is the scala media. If demonstrable in birds, it inust be quite as rudimentary as the other scale. The membrane is not attached to the bony walls of the labyrinth, but is separated by a space containing fluid, the perilymph, which also occupies the scala vestibuli and scala tympani. A similar fluid, the endolymph, is contamed in the cavity of the membranous labyrinth, and scala media of the cochlea; in it are found concretions, or oto- liths, of the same character as the great ‘‘ear-stones ” so conspicuous in many fishes. This lymph has a wonderful office —that of equilibration, enabling the animal to preserve its equilibrium. The labyrinth and its contained fluid may be likened to the glass tubes filled with water and a bubble of air, by a combination of which a surveyor, for example, is enabled to adjust his theodolite true to the horizontal. Somehow a bird knows how the fluid stands in the self-registering levelling-tubes, and adjusts itself accordingly. Observations made on pigeons show that ‘‘ when the membranous canals are divided, very remarkable disturbances of equilibrium ensue, which vary in character according to the seat of the lesion. When the = THE ANATOMY OF BIRDS.— NEUROLOGY. 191 horizontal canals are divided rapid movements of the head from side to side, in a horizontal plane, take place, along with oscillation of the eyeballs, and the animal tends to spin round on a vertical axis. When the posterior or inferior vertical canals are divided, the head is moved rapidly backwards and forwards, and the animal tends to execute a backward somersault, head over heels. When the superior vertical canals are divided, the head is moved rapidly forwards and backwards, and the animal tends to execute a forward somersault, heels over head. Com- bined section of the various canals causes the most bizarre contortions of the head and body.” (Ferrier, Funct. of the Brain, 1876, p. 57.) Injury of the canals does not cause loss of hearing, nor does loss of equilibrium follow destruction of the cochlea. ‘Two diverse though intimately connected functions are thus presided over by the acoustic nerve, — audition and equilibration. Senses of Taste and Touch: Gustation and Taction. — The hands of birds being hidden in the feathers which envelop the whole body — their feet and lips, and usually much if not all of the tongue, being sheathed in horn, these faculties would appear to be enjoyed in but small degree. While it is difficult to judge how much appreciation of the sapid qualities of sub- stances birds may be capable of, we must not be hasty in supposing their sense of taste to be much abrogated. One who has had the toothache, or teeth ‘‘ set on edge” by acids, or pain- fully affected by hot or cold drinks, may judge how sensitive to impressions an extremely dense tissue can be. Persons of defective hearing may be assisted to a kind of audition by an instru- ment applied to the teeth; and it is not easy to define the ways in which sensory functions may be vicariously performed or replaced. Birds are circumspect and discriminative, even dainty, in their choice of food, in which they are doubtless guided to some extent by the gustatory sensations they experience. As, however, only some human beings make these an end instead of a natural and proper means to an end, the selection of food by birds may be chiefly upon intuitions of what is wholesome. Such purely gustatory sense as they possess is presided over by the branches of the glosso-pharyngeal nerve which go to the back part of the tongue and mouth. Though the chorda tympani nerve exists, there is no lingual (gustatory) branch of the third division of the fifth cranial nerve. Yet the latter, which goes in mammals to the anterior part of the tongue, is less effectually gustatory than the glosso-pharyngeal ; as we know by the fact that the sensation of taste is not completely experienced until the sapid substance passes to the back of the mouth. Gustation is likewise connected with olfaction; the full effect of nauseous substances for example, being not realizeu if the nose is held. From these alternative considerations, each one may estimate for himself how much birds know of sapidity ; remember- ing also, how soft, thick, and fleshy are the tongue and associate parts in some birds, as parrots ‘and ducks, in comparison with birds whose mouths .are quite horny. The beak is doubtless the principal tactile instrument; nor does its hardness in most birds preclude great sensitiveness ; as witness the case of the teeth, above instanced. Sensation is here governed by the branches of the fifth nerve. In some birds, in which also the terminal filaments of this nerve are largest and most numerous, the bill acquires exquisite sensibility. Such is its state in the snipe family, in most members of which, as the woodcock, true snipe, and sandpipers, the hill is a very delicate nervous probe. The Apteryx also feels in the mud for its food, enjoying moreover the unusual privilege of having its nose at the end of its long exploration. Ducks dabble in the water to sift out proper food between the “ strainers ” with which the sides of their beaks are provided; and the ends of the maxillary and mandibular bones themselves are full of holes, indicating the abundance of the nervous supply (fig. 63). The senses of birds and other animals are commonly reckoned as five —a number which may be defensively increased — as by a sixth, the muscular sense, which gives consciousness of strain or resistance, apart from purely tactile impressions; and perhaps a seventh, the faculty of equilibration, which has a physical mechanism of its own, at least as distinct and complete as that of hearing. The ordinary ‘‘ five senses” are curiously graded. action con- 192 GENERAL ORNITHOLOGY. notes qualities of matter in bulk, as density, roughness, temperature, ete. Gustation, matter dissolved in water — fluidic. Olfaction, matter diffused in air — aeriformed. Audition, atmos- pheric air in undulation. Vaszon, an ethereal substance in undulation. All animals are proba- bly also susceptible of beogenation, which is the affection resulting from the influence of biogen ; a substance consisting of self-conscious force in combination with the minimum of matter required for its manifestation.1 c. MyoLoGy: THE MUSCULAR SYSTEM. Muscular Tissue consists of more or fewer ameebiform animals; separate colonies of which creatures, isolated in various parts of the body, compose the individual different muscles. They are enveloped in fibrous tissue, the sheets of which are called fasci@, and the ends of which, usually attached to bones by direct continuity with the periosteal covering of the latter, form tendons and ligaments. ‘The muscle-animals belong to a genus which may be termed Myamneba, differing from other genera of the amcebiforms which compose the body of a bird less in their physical character of being elongated and spindle-shaped, or even filiform, than in their physiclogical character of contractility. Under appropriate stimulus, as the passage of a current of electricity, or the wave of biogen-substance which constitutes a ‘‘nerve-impulse,” Myamebe shorten and thicken, tending towards a state of tonic contraction which, if completed and long sustained, would cause them to become encysted as spherical bodies; but extreme con- traction is never long continued. By alternate contraction and relaxation all the motions of the body in bulk are effected. The capacity of, or tendency to, contraction is called the tonicity of muscular fibre. The simultaneous contraction of any colony of Myanebe pulls upon the attach- ment of the muscle at each of its ends ; in some cases approximating both ends; oftener moving the part to which one end is attached, the other being fixed. The action of a muscle is upon the simplest mechanical principles, — nothing more or less than pulling upon a part, as by a rope, the line of traction being exactly in the line of contraction of the muscle; though it is often ingeniously changed by the passage of tendons around a corner of bone, or through a loop of fibrous tissue, as if through a pulley. Such movements as those of a turtle protruding its head, or a bird thrusting its beak forward, where muscle seems to push, are fallacious; when analyzed, the motion is invariably resolved into simple pulling. The swelling up of a muscle in contract- ing must indeed impinge upon neighboring parts and shove them aside; but that is an extrinsic result. Muscles contract most powerfully under resistance to their turgescence : what is effected by the fascize which bind them down ; — what the athlete seeks to crease by bandaging his swelling biceps. ‘There are two species of Myameba. M. striata is the ordinary striped fibre of voluntary motion, and also of some motion not under control of the will, as that of the heart. This species is usually of a rich red color (pale pink in many birds of the grouse family), and is the ordinary ‘‘ flesh” of the body. The other species, M. levis, composes the pale or colorless smooth fibre of the involuntary muscles, as those of the intestines, the gullet, ete. A species of contractile tissue commonly referred to the genus Desmameba (indifferent connective-tissue cells) is very near Myameba levis ; example, mammalian dartos. The movements of erectile organs, as the neat combs over the eyes of grouse, or the turkey’s caruncles, are not in any sense myamebic, but depend mechanically upon influx of blood. The Muscular System of Aves can only be touched upon; it is impossible in my limits to even name all the muscles, much jess describe them. I can only note the leading peculiarities, and present a figure in which the principal muscles are named. 1 The reader who may be interested to inquire further in this direction is referred to a publication entitled : — Biogen: A Speculation on the Origin and Nature of Life. Abridged from a paper on the “‘ Possibilities of Proto- plasm,’’ read before the Philosophical Society of Washington, May 6, 1882. By Dr. Elliott Coues, etc. Washing- ton, Judd & Detweiler. 8vo, pp. 27. Second ed., Boston, Estes & Lauriat, 1884. THE ANATOMY OF BIRDS.— MYOLOGY. 193 The subcutaneous sheet of muscle (of which the human ‘‘ muscles of expression” and platysma myoides are segregations) is broken up in birds into a countless number of little slips — which agitate the feathers collectively, and especially the great quills of the wings and tail. There are estimated to be 12,000in a goose. The prime peculiarity of birds’ musculation is the enormous development of the pectorales, or breast muscles, which operate the wings. ‘The great pectoral, p. major or p. primus, arises from the sternal keel, when that special bony sep- tum between the fellow-pectorals exists, and from more or less of the body of the sternum, pass- ing directly to the great pectoral or outer ridge of the humerus, near the upper end of that bone. Its origin may even exceed the limits of the sternum, invading the clavicle, ete. ; it may unite with its fellow. It is the depressor of the humerus, giving the downward stroke of the wing. The next pectoral, p. secundus or p. medius, arises from much or most of the sternum not occu- pied by the first, under cover of which it lies; it passes also the humerus, but by an interesting way it has of running through a pulley at the shoulder it elevates that bone, giving the upward wing-stroke. 4 “GJ s 4 ~~. t] 4, _ j_- Le ae de \ a ee eee Dn as AE SS eee > Pace BoE Za ‘IO ee ae = 36S aS SS een my ——— — Se SE . UW _ Fig. 112 bis. — Diagram of corresponding segments of hind limbs of man, horse, and bird. The lines 1-11 are esotomes, cutting the limbs into morphologically equal parts, or isomeres. 230 GENERAL ORNITHOLOGY. ARTIFICIAL KEY TO THE ORDERS AND SUBORDERS. Page I. Tors 3; 2infront,ibehind .... . co 5 6 6 ee eo ow co oo 6Peciformes of PICARLE Me Ii. Tors 3; 3infront. Toes — cleft or cenntyoeibinayts 99 FOOD 000 6 016 6 6 o JbmRoOT SH ROE — palmate. Nostrils—tubular. ........ . . . LONGIPENNES 732 —nov tabular 5 2 3 2s 2. 2 APyYGoropEs7s4 III. Tors 4; 2in front,2 behind. Bill—ceredand hooked. .....,........ .. . Psrrract 494 — neither cered nor hooked. ‘Tail feathers — 8 or 10 Cuculiformes of PicaRIa@ 444 —12 Piciformes of PIcARIA 444 IV. Tous 4; 3in front, 1 behind. Toes—syndactyle.. . se 8 ew ew ww ww = Cuculiformes of PICARIAD 444 — totipalmate (all ‘ie full-webbéd) 6900056 056600 DO O46 6 o RiMREVaKoOINIOR Wi —palmate. Bill—curvedup .. . 5000 05060 6 0 6 oa 6 lbintaxNOtin EOS — not curved up — lrielinte ~ 2 ee ew we eh hehUw™hWlhUt 6 AMELLIROSTRES 677 — not lamellate. Hallux—lobate . ... . PYGoOPODES 787 —notlobate . . LONGIPENNES 732 —lobate. Tail—rudimentary. . . 60006000 0 6 oo o EEOIROIIS Wx — perfect. — A horny frontal shield sof sie S 8 et Ss 6S ATMCTORIDES 665 Ss INOuxomeNl Mal. G 56 6.06 69 6.056 o 5 6 o IRCA FOR — semipalmate; joined by evident movable basal web (go to A), — cleft to the base or there immovably coherent (go to B). A. Hind toe — elevated. Tibize — feathered below. Nostrils— perforate. . . Cathartides of RAPTORES 496 — imperforate. Gape — reaching below eye Cypseliformes of PICARLA 444 — not reaching below eye GALLIN® 571 — naked below. Nostrils—perforate ..... . . . . ALECTORIDES 665 — imperforate. Tarsi — scutellate in front LIMICOLA 596 —reticulate. Head — bald HERODIONES 647 — feathered LIMICOLA 596 — notelevated. Tibie —naked below .. . 9 0 0 - ce « « © HERODIONES 647 — feathered below. Bill ered and hooked - .. . . « RAPTORES 496 —notcered. Nasal— membrane soft CoLUMBz 561 —sealehard . GALLIN@ 571 B. Hind toe — elevated. Gape— reaching beloweye. .. . . . . . Cypseliformes of PICARIA 444 — not below eye. 1st primary — “ chnentataents orabout=2d . . LimicoLa 596 — not emarginate and shorter than 2d ALECTORIDES 665 — not elevated. Nostrils — opening beneath soft swollen membrane ... . . . COLUMBZ 561 — otherwise. Bill—cered and hooked . ... . . . RAPTORES 496 — otherwise. Secondaries — only six Cypseliformes of PICARLA 444 — more than six (go to a). a. Primaries — 10; Ist more than 3 as long asthe longest . . .... =... ~- Clamatores of — 10; ist not 2 as long as the longest Pale P : . . Oseines of PASSERES 238 — 9 only ° ° . ° ° e ° ? ° ° ° i ; : : ARTIFICIAL KEY TO THE FAMILIES. 231 ARTIFICIAL KEY TO THE FAMILIES. Page TROIS GS Tas Toni, I GssBBsDD 6 6 5 6 6 6 6 6 65 6 0 6 66016 BG 6 6,0 6 ao on Milo Cy TOES 3,—3 INFRONT. (GotoTII.) . TOES 4, —2 IN FRONT, 2 BEHIND. (Go to III.) TOES 4, —3 IN FRONT, 1 BEHIND. (Go to IV.) II. [Tors 3, — 3 In FRONT.| Toes — completely webbed. Nostrils — tubular (Albatrosses). ... ... . . . . .PROCELLARIID 773 — not tubular (Auks, &e.). .. . EAL OLD ATE (90 — incompletely or not webbed. Legs — aboutas long as wings. Bill enpalate (Stilt) RECURVIROSTRIDZ 609 — much shorter than wings (go to a). (a) Tarsus — scutellate in front, about as long as bill (Sanderling) ie 4) SCOLOP ACID A614: — reticulate in front — shorter than red chisel-like bill (Oyster-catcher). HaMATOPODID a 606 — longer than bill(Plovers) ....... . .. . CHARADRIIDZ 597 sa Ill. [Tors 4, — 2 1n FRONT, 2 BEHIND.| Bill — cered and strongly hooked. Tarsus granulated (Parrot) . . Hiatt Wage) Ws PsITTACIDZA 496 — not cered; inner hind toe — 3-jointed; Plumage iridescent (Trogon). . . AS TROGONIDA 468 — 2-jointed ; — tail of — 8 or 10 soft feathers (Gaciaag, &e.) . . CucuLipz 470 —12 (apparently only 10) rigid acuminate feathers (Woodpeckers). ... . PIcIDa 477 IV. |Tors 4,—3 In FRONT, 1 BEHIND.| HIND TOE — INSERTED ABOVE THE LEVEL OF THE REST (AND ALWAYS SHORTER THAN THE SHORTEST FRONT TOE). (Go to A.) — NOT INSERTED ABOVE THE LEVEL OF THE REST (AND GENERALLY BUT NOT ALWAYS NOT SHORTER THAN THE SHORTEST FRONT TOE). (Go to B.) A. |The hind toe elevated.| Feet — TOTIPALMATE (all 4 toes webbed ; hind toe semi-lateral and barely elevated). (Goto Ae) — PALMATE (3 front toes full-webbed, hind toe well up, simple or lobed or connected by slight webbing to base only of inner toe). (Go to B.) — LOBATE (3 front toes partly webbed or not, and conspicuously bordered with plain or scalloped mem- branes ; hind toe free, and simple or lobed). (Go to C.) — SEMIPALMATE (2, or 3, front toes webbed at base only by small yet evident membrane ; hind toe well up, simple). (Goto D.) — SIMPLE ( front toes with no evident membranes ; hind toe well up, simple). (Goto E.) (A.) Tarsus — feathered, partly ; tail deeply forked; bill epignathous (Frigate-bird). . . .TACHYPETID 730 — naked; bill — > tail, hooked at tip, furnished with enormous pouch (Pelicans) PELECANID 721 — < tail; throat — feathered; middle tail feathers filamentous (Tropic-birds) PHAETHONTID 731 — naked; tail — pointed, soft; tomia subserrate(Gannets) SULIDZ 720 — rounded, stiff; bill — paragnathous (Anhinga) PLOTIDZ 729 — epignathous (Cormorants) PHALACROCORACID 723 GENERAL ORNITHOLOGY. Page (B.) Bill — curved up, extremely slender and acute(Avocet). . ..... . . . . RECURVIROSTRIDZ 609 — bent abruptly down, very stout, lamellate(Flamingo) . .. . . . » « PHGNICOPTERID 678 — lamellate; mostly membranous, with nail at end (Swans, Geese, Dwi, &C)) EA NATED ATOM, — not lamellate; nostrils — tubular; hind toe very small (Petrels) . . . . . . PROCELLARIID 773 — not ‘antonio hind toe — free, not lobed (Gulls and Terns). . Laripa 733 — not free, lobed (Loons). . . . . COLYMBIDA 789 (C.) Tail — rudimentary; lores naked (Grebes).. . 2 6 0 0 610 0 0 oo AON OAD [OL — perfect; forehead — covered with a horny shield (Coots) glg Su 0 6 volo. 6 0 oro 6 dawNcrniiny) Gay) — feathered (Phalaropes). . . . . « « « » PHALAROPODIDZ 612 (D.) Mid-claw — pectinate; 4th toe 4-jointed; plumage lax (Contender) . + « « « « CAPRMIULGIDA 447 — not pectinate; hind toe — versatile; plumage compact (Swifts) .. . . . . CYPSELID@ 455 — not versatile; head — naked (go to b). — feathered (go to e). (b.) Nostrils — imperforate; naked leg and foot shorter than tail (Turkey). . . . MELEAGRIDID 576 — perforate; naked leg and foot — shorter than tail (Turkey-buzzards) . CATHARTID@ 557 — longer than tail(Cranes) ... . . . . GRUIDH 666 (e.) Nostrils — feathered, or scaled, in deep fossa of stout hard bill. . . . . . . . TETRAONIDA 576 — not feathered nor scaled, in groove of softish bill; tarsus — reticulate (Plover) @ CHARADRIID 597 — scutellate in front (Snipe, &c.) (H.) Wing—spurred. .. . Des ool Pecan eat eae ey AUR ES LD it tO6D — not spurred ; forehead _ worrensil sth, a noon shield (Gallinules) Shoo 6 oo 6 o LeyNirnOD RR) — feathered; length —2feetormore .. . 6 0 06 6) URANO Bay — under 2 feet; 1st primary — attenuate Gujoedeock . . SCOLOPACIDZ 614 — not attenuate — much shorter than 2d (Rails) RALLIDZ 669 — about equal to 2d (Snipe, &c.) ScoLOPAcIDaA 614 or HAMATOPODIDZ 606 B. |The hind toe not elevated.| \TOES SYNDACTYLOUS; tibize naked below; bill straight, acute (Kingfishers) . . . « » . . ALCEDINIDE 468 TIBIZ NAKED BELOW. (Go to d.) NOSTRILS OPENING BENEATH SOFT SWOLLEN MEMBRANE. (Go toe.) BILL HOOKED AND FURNISHED WITH A CERE. (Go to f.) BIRDS WITHOUT THE ABOVE CHARACTERS. (Go to oe (d.) Middle claw — pectinate (Herons) . . Hitiiahite Sle ey eo ley eA D ETD Ata Got — simple; tarsus — contain § in front (ipises) abe . . . IBIDIDA 648 — reticulate; bill — flat, pacoren ned (Sroonbill\ie PLATALEID® 651 — not flat, stout tapering (Wood Ibis) CIcoNntIDz 652 (e.) Bird over 18 inches long, greenish (TexanGuan)............. . . CRACIDE 572 Birds under 18 inches long (Pigeons) . . . . - . «. COLUMBIDZA 562 (f.) Kyes — lateral, not surrounded by a disc; amstritls m the cere 54 TElospit, ible, &c.) . FALCONID@ 519 or PANDIONID 556 — anterior; face moreor less disc-like; nostrils at edge of cere (Owls); middle claw — simple STRIGIDA 502 — jagged ALUCONIDZ 500 (g-) PRIMARIES — 10; the ist (never spurious) always more than 3 as long as longest (go to h). — 10; the 1st (spurious or) at most not 2 as long as longest (go to i). — 9; the 1st (never spurious) of variable length (go to k). (h.) Tail — 12-feathered; tarsal envelope irregular (Flycatchers) .. . . + «© . . LYRANNIDAD 428 — 10-feathered; secondaries — only 6; bill subulate (Humming- birds) - . . TROCHILIDA 458 — more than 6; bill small, very short (Swifts) . . CYPSELIDA 455 (i.) Tarsus — ‘booted’; wings — shorter than tail, both much rounded; plumage very lax CHAMHIDH 262 — longer than tail; tail—double-rounded. . . . . . . AMPELID@ 325 — not double-rounded (Thrushes, &c.) TURDID 240 | —scutellate; nostrils — concealed; bill —strongly epignathous, toothed and notched (Shrikes) LANIID 336 — paragnathous; — over 7 inches long (Crows and Jays) CORVIDA 414 —not7inches; bill — nearly = head (Nuthatches) SIrTipz 269 — scarcely or not + = head (Tits) PARIDZ 263 ARTIFICIAL KEY TO THE FAMILIES. 233 Page = exposed; length — over 9 inches; color brown or blue . COoRVIDa® 414 — 7-8 inches; crested; ¢ glossy black AMPELIDA 325 —43-61 inches; bill distinctly hooked; tail soft, without black VIREONIDZ 329 —4i-5} inches; bill slender, curved, tail stiff, acute CERTHIIDA 272 — Birds without these characters; rictus — bristled TURDIDZA 240 — unbristled : TROGLODYTIDZ 273 (k.) Tarsus — scutelliplantar; hind claw straight (Larks) . . . - + +++. ++: : ALAUDIDA 280 —laminiplantar; bill — metagnathous, both mandibles falcate, their points crossed FRINGILLIDZ 339 — paragnathous, tomia of up. mand. toothed or lobed near middle (Tanagers) TANAGRID 317 — epignathous, notched and hooked at tip. Length 5;-6; VIREONID& 329 —various. Quills — tipped with red horny appendages; head crested AMPELIDZ 325 —not appendaged; bill — fissirostral (go to 1). —dentirostral or tenui- rostral (go to m). — conirostral (go to n). i.) Bill triangular-depressed, about as wide at base as long, gape twice as long as culmen, reaching about opposite eyes, tarsus not longer than outer toe and claw (Swallows) . . HIRUNDINIDZ 319 (m.) Longest secondary nearly reaching end of primaries in closed wing; hind claw (usually) little curved, nearly twice as long as middle claw (Titlarks) . SM Nin . MOTACILLIDZ 283 Longest secondary not nearly reaching end of primaries in closed wing ; hind claw well eurved, not nearly twice as long as middle claw (Warblers, &c.) . CGiREBIDA 317, or SYLVICOLIDZ 287 (n.) Bill usually thick, stout, and with evident angulation of the commissure. . . . . ICTERID 399 or! FRINGILLIDA 339 1 Note. — These two families cannot be concisely distinguished. IcTERID contains the blackbirds, orioles, meadow starlings, bobolinks, and cowbirds. FRINGILLID#, our largest family, includes all kinds of grosbeaks, buntings, linnets, finches, and sparrows. ’ Fig. 112 ter. Diagram of fore limbs of man, bat, horse, and bird. The lines 1-9 are isotomes, cutting the limbs into morphologically equal parts, or isomeres. 234 GENERAL ORNITHOLOGY. TABULAR VIEW OF THE GROUPS HIGHER THAN GENERA ADOPTED IN THIS WORK FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. Subclass CARINAT 4: Carinate Birds. ORDERS (18). SUBORDERS (20). FAMILIES (63). SUBFAMILIES (77). I. PASSERES. .. . . OSCINES . adits > Lurdid@. - . . Turdine. aN Shiee we ects Slop sed ce outs a ies . Mimine. 6 6 ae. ae mes skeen tatoaes eats i . Cincline. . Saxicolinz. . Reguline. elie Agr sa ea ee ae nzere . Polioptilinee. . Chameide (?) . a es ; 6 IROHPOEKIR = 56 6 0 . Parine. . Sittide . epee Peatouih ok Aira ts . Certhiide. . ; . Certhiinz. . Troglodytide . ; . Campylorhynching. Sucre Kote errs ; . Troglodytine. 7. Alaudide. . . Calandritine. CPEAMATAA vs aah 4 . Alaudine. 8. Motacillide. .. . . Motacillinee. AE eo ete Sows biotin) eos . Anthine. 9. Sylvicolide . : . Sylvicoline. Be Ae rs : . Icteriine. SoG mae rue ae . Setophagine. . Cerebide . mee sel ee . Tanagride . . Mirundinide. . Ampelide (?) . Ampeline. . Ptilogonatine. Nay Hc . Myiadestine. . Vireonide .:. weited ee ye » JECHROOKE 5 o 050 0 o . Laniine. 5 LIFHOG OOD 6 5 6 Sat eoke est 5 JKEREFU 5 5 0 . Ageleine. . Sturnelline. . Icterine. woe ok ME eaten eg ake F . Quiscaline. 18. Corvide . , . Corvine. Sia ns pee eee ee : . Garruline. Soon bails Fede tern LOST unnete e len ae : . Sturnine. Pere cee tie Acree . CLAMATORES .. . 5 FOCHOELI 6 5 6 6 . Tyrannine. PICARIA (?). . . CYPSELIFORMES. . . Caprimulgide. . . . Caprimulgine. 5 ays mL CYDSCLLC CC ater rontne . Cypseline. th eae elgeeet tee ee . Cheturine. ey ete BS Os HIN editepe tel seen te . Trochilide . . . Trochiline. . CUCULIFORMES ?. . . Trogonide . . : . Trogonine. Ba . Alcedinide ... . . Alcedinine. 5 o buff ane dine. (Tawny Thrush, WiESbCLI») iC mnnns : ; : ‘ SC ESCLLCCUCOLCHEN( Upper parts russet silines souls alo marneroun invanine anite Dect, a | buff eye- ring. (Western Olive-backed Thrush.). . .. . 5 oo 6 6 0 OR onIKeTIOIS wl Upper parts dark pure olive ; spots below as before; a puff” eye-ring. (@asiom Olive- lopyeeaol Wave) 6 6 6 o : SS UC2ISONUO Mey Upper parts dark pure olive; satis below as ihefore: no ) butt eye-ring. ‘((Gesiexan) 5 0 9 GhoK@ WG, T. migrato/rius. (Lat. mgratoriwus, migratory; migrator, a wanderer. Figs. 36, 58, 116.) Rosin. ¢, in summer: Upper parts slate-color, with a shade of olive. Head black, the eye- lids and a spot before the eye white, and the throat streaked with white. Quills of the wings dusky, edged with hoary ash, and with the color of the back. Tail blackish, the outer feather usually tipped with white. Under parts, to the vent, including the under wing-coverts, chestnut. Under tail-coverts and tibiz white, showing more or less plumbeous. Bill yellow, often with a dusky tip. Moutb yellow. Eyes dark brown. Feet blackish, the soles yellow- ish. Length about 10.00; extent 16.00; wing 5.00-5.50; tail 4.00-4.50; bill 0.80; tarsus, or middle toe and claw, 1.25. 9, im summer: Similar, but the colors duller; upper parts rather olivaceous-gray , chestnut of the under parts paler, the feathers skirted with gray or Fic. 116. — Robin, nat. size. (Ad. nat. del. E.C.) — white; head and tail less blackish; throat with more white. Bill much clouded with dusky. @ @, in winter, and young: Similar to the adult 2, but receding somewhat farther from the @ in summer by the duller colors, the paleness and restriction of the chestnut, with its extensive skirting with white, lack of distinction of the eolor of the head from that of the back, tendency of the white spot before the eye to run into a superciliary streak, and dark color of most of the bill. Very young birds have the back speckled, each feather being whitish centrally, with a dusky tip; and the cinnamon of the under parts is spotted with blackish. ‘The greater coverts are tipped with white or rufous, frequently persistent, as are also some similar markings on the lesser coverts. N. Am, at large; an abundant and familiar bird, migratory, but breeding anywhere in its range. Nest in trees, usually saddled on a horizontal bough, composed largely of mud; eggs 4-6, about 1.18 X 0.80, uniform greenish-blue, normally unspotied. T. m. propin/quus? (Lat. propinguus, neighboring; as related to the last.) ALLIED Rosin. Quite like 7. migratorius; averaging slightly larger; wing up to 5.60; tail up to 4.70, not so blackish as that of J. migratorius, the outer feather without white, or merely a narrow edging. A scarcely distinguished race, of the Rocky Mt. region and westward. T. confi/nis. (Lat. confinis, allied or related; as to JZ. migratorius.) Sr. Lucas Rosin. Upper parts, including sides of head and neck, uniform grayish-ash, with slight olive shade, scarcely darker on the head; chin and throat white, streaked with ashy-brown ; breast, sides, 5. TURDIDA -— TURDINZ: THRUSHES. . 245 and lining of wings pale yellowish-buff, belly white, flanks ashy. A distinct white super- ciliary stripe; lower eyelid white. Feathers of jugulum and sides with ashy tips; greater wing-coverts tipped with whitish; bill yellowish, upper mandible and tip of lower tinged with dusky; feet pale brown. Wing 5.10; tail 4.10; tarsus 1.20; middle toe and claw 1.07. Lower California ; resembling a young robin, but quite distinct. T. iliacus. (Lat. zhacus, relating to the flanks, which are red. Fig. 113.) Rep-wincEp TurusH. Upper parts hair-brown with an olive shade, darker on the head, paler on the rump. Wing-quills deep brown; coverts and inner secondaries tipped with whitish. Tail dark brown, the outer feather usually white-tipped. Lore blackish; eyelids and superciliary stripe whitish; auriculars streaked with light and dark brown. Throat yellowish-white, streaked with brownish-black ; breast and belly grayish-white; lower tail-coverts whitish, streaked with brown. Sides and under wing-coverts light red. Bill brownish-black, basal half of lower mandible orange-yellow; iris brown; feet flesh-colored. Sexes alike. Length 8.50; extent 14.00; wing 4.50; tail 3.50; bill 0.75; tarsus, or middle toe and claw, 1.15. A European species, only N. American as occurring in Greenland. The upper parts are almost exactly like a robin’s; the lower whitish, streaked with dusky, the sides of the body and lining of the wings bright chestnut. T. ne/vius. (Lat. nevius, spotted, varied; nevus, a birth-mark. Fig. 117.) Vartep THRUSH. OREGON Rosin. 4, in summer: Entire upper parts dark slate-color, varying in shade from a blackish to a plumbeous slate, in less perfect specimens with a slight olive tinge ; wings and tail blackish, with more or less of plumbeous or olive shade, according to the age of the quills; wing-coverts, greater and lesser, tipped with orange-brown form- ing two cross-bars, and quills edged in two or three places with the same; quills also white at base on the inner webs, this marking not visible from the outside; one or several of the lateral tail-feathers tipped with white. A. broad black collar across the breast, mounting on the side of the neck and titi yyy head. Stripe behind the eye, lower 4) eyelid, and under parts orange-brown, gradually giving way to white on the lower belly; vent and crissum mixed white, orange-brown, and plumbeous. Bill black ; feet and claws dull yellow- ish. Length 9.50-10.00; extent about 16.00; wing 5.00; tail 3.75; bill 0.80; tarsus, or middle toe and claw, 1.25. Fig. 117. — Varied Thrush (Turdus nevius), nat. size. (Ad. 2, in summer: Upper parts olivaceous- nat. del. E. C.) plumbeous (almost exactly the shade of the common robin in winter) ; wings and tail scarcely darker; the pectoral collar narrow, like the back in color ; other under parts like those of the @, but duller, paler, and rather rusty than orange-brown, with more white on the lower belly. Markings of head, tail, and wings exactly as in the male. Young: Like the adult ?. Upper parts in many eases with a decided umber-brown wash. No speckled stage, like that of the very young robin, has been observed, though August specimens have been examined. In the young @, the black pectoral bar is at first indicated by interrupted blackish crescents on individual feathers. Young 9 Q sometimes show scarcely a trace of the collar. At all ages, the markings of the head and Wings are much the same. Pacific coast region, Alaska Te 12. 246 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES— OSCINES. to Mexico, abundant, migratory; accidental in Mass., N. J., and Long Island. A beautiful and very distinct species, representing the subgenus Hesperocichla (Gr. éomepos, hesperos, Lat. vesperus, western, and kixda, kichla, a thrush). Nest in bushes, of twigs, grasses, mosses, and lichens; eggs 1.12 X 0.80, light greenish-blue, speckled with dark brown. aN T. musteli/nus. (Lat. mustelinus, weasel-like; i.e., tawny in color; mustela, a weasel. Fig. 118.) Woop Turusu. ¢ 9, adult: Upper parts, including the surface of the closed wings, tawny-brown, purest and deepest on the head, shading insensibly into olivaceous on the rump and tail. Below, pure white, faintly tinged on the breast with buff, and everywhere, except on the throat, middle of belly, and crissum, marked with numerous large, well-defined, rounded or subtriangular blackish spots. Inner webs and ends of quills fuscous, with a white or buffy edging toward the base. Greater under wing-coverts mostly white. Auriculars sharply streaked with dusky and white. Bill blackish-brown, with flesh- colored or yellowish base. Feet like this part of the bill. Length 7.50-8.00; extent about 13.00; wing 4.00-4.25 ; tail 3.00-3.25; bill 0.75; tarsus 1.25; middle toe and claw less. Young: Speckled or streaked above with pale yellowish or whitish, espe- Fia. 118. — Wood Thrush (7. mustelinus), Cially noticeable as triangular spots on the wing- HEM eae (ANGI, Het GOL LB Gy) coverts. But these speedily disappear, when a plumage scarcely different from that of the adult is assumed. The most strongly marked species of the subgenus. In Z. wnalasceé, the only other one showing both tawny and olive on the upper parts, the position of the two colors is reversed, the tawny occupying the rump, the olive the head. In no other species are the spots below so large, sharp, numerous, and generally dispersed. Eastern U. 8., N. to New England only; a famous vocalist, common in low damp woods and thickets; migratory; breeds throughout its range; nest in bushes and low trees, of leaves, grasses, ete., and mud; eggs usually 4-5, plain greenish-blue like those of the robin, but smaller: 1.08 X 0.70. T. fusces/cens. (Lat. jfwscescens, less than fuscws, dark.) Wu~son’s THRUSH. VEBRY. O@ : Upper parts reddish-brown, with slight olive shade; no contrast of color between back and tail; quills and tail-feathers darker and purer brown, the former with white or buff spaces at the concealed bases of the inner webs (as usual in this subgenus). No orbi- tal light ring around the eye; auriculars only obsoletely streaky. Below, white; the sides shaded with hoary-gray or pale grayish-olive; the jugulum buff-colored, contrasting strongly with the white of the breast, and marked with a few small brown arrow-heads, the chin and middle line of throat, however, nearly white and immaculate. A few obsolete grayish-olive spots in the white of the breast; but otherwise the markings confined to the buff area. Bill dark above, mostly pale below, like the feet. @, Length 7.25-7.50; extent about 12.00; wing 4.00—4.25; tail 3.00-3.25 ; bill 0.60; tarsus 1.20. 9, smaller; average of both sexes: ‘length 7.35; extent 11.75; wing 3.90; tail 2.85; tarsus 1.12. Chiefly eastern U.S., but N. to Canada; common, migratory, nesting in northerly parts of its range. Nest on ground or near it, of leaves, grasses, ete., but no mud; eggs 4-5, greenish-blue like those of the wood thrush, normally unspotted, 0.90 x 0.60. A delightful songster, like others of the genus, found in thick woods and swamps; of shy and retiring habits. T. f. salici/cola. (Lat. salix, a willow; colo, I cultivate.) Wi~ttow Tawny Turusn. Like T. fuscescens, but averaging larger, the upper parts less decidedly tawny, the jugulum less distinctly buff. Wing 3.80-4.25, av. 4.02; tail 2.95-3.40, ay. 3.20; bill 0.55-0.60 ; tarsus, av. 1.17; middle toe without claw, av. 0.69. A slight form recently described by Mr. Ridgway, inhabiting the lower willowy portions of the Rocky Mt. region, U.S. This variety is clearly Bitte - 8. 9. ‘10. ti. 12. , | TURDIDA —TURDINA: THRUSHES. 247 referable to 7. fuscescens; but it bears an extraordinary resemblance to 7. ustulatus, in the russet-olive color of the upper parts, and only slightly buff tinge of the jugulum. It is dis- tinguished from ustulatus by lack of the buff orbital ring so characteristic of ustulatus and swainsont, and.other characters by which fuscescens differs, notably the few if any spots in the white breast back of the buff area, and pale hoary gray instead of sordid olive-gray shading of the sides. The nest and eggs are presumably like those of fuscescens, not like those of ustu- latus or swainsont. (Not in Check List, 1882.) T. unalas/ee. (Named from the island of Unalaska.) WsTERN Heruir Turuss. In color absolutely like No. 10; in size slightly less on an average; length scarcely 7.00; wing 3.30: tail 2.50; tarsus 1.15. Pacific coast region of N. A. T. u. au/duboni, (To J. J. Audubon.) AupuBon’s Hermirr TurusH. In color absolutely like No. 10; in size larger on an average; length about 7.75; wing 4.20 ; tail 3.30; tarsus 1.30. Southern Rocky Mt. region. A better marked variety than the last. T.u.na/nus. (Gr. vdvos, Lat. nanus, a dwarf.) EASTERN Hermit TurusH. 2 9, in summer: Upper parts olivaceous, with a brownish cast, and therefore not so pure as in swainsont; this color changing on the rump and upper tail-coverts into the rufous of the tail, in decided contrast with the back. Under parts white, shaded with grayish-olive on the sides ; the breast, jugulum, and sides of the neck more or less strongly tinged with yellowish, and marked with numerous large, angular, dusky spots, which extend back of the yellowish-tinted parts. Throat immaculate. A yellowish orbital ring. Bill brownish-black, most of the under mandible livid whitish; mouth yellow, eyes brown; legs pale brownish. @, length 7.00- 7.25; extent 11.00-12.00; wing 3.50-3.75 ; tail 2.75-3.00. 9, smaller; length 6.75-7.00 ; extent 10.75-11.25; wing 3.25-3.50. Averages of both sexes are: length 7.00; extent 11.25 ; wing 3.60; tail 2.75; tarsus 1.15. The dimensions thus overlap those of both unalasce anA audubomt, and no positive discrimination is possible; the differences, when any, being averages, not of extremes either way. @9, in winter: The olivaceous of the upper parts assumes a more rufous cast, much like that of uwstwlatws, and the yellowish wash of the under parts and sides of the head and neck is more strongly pronounced. But the most rufous speci- mens are readily distinguished from fuscescens by the strong contrast between the color of the tail and other upper parts. Very young: Most of the upper parts marked with pale yellowish longitudinal streaks, with clubbed extremities, and dusky specks at the end; while the feathers of the belly and flanks are often skirted with dusky in addition to the numerous blackish spcts of the rest of the under parts. N. Am. at large, but chiefly the Eastern Province; abundant; migratory, and found in all woodland, but breeds only northerly, from Massachusetts and cor- responding latitudes to the Arctic regions ; winters in the Southern States. Nest and eggs not distinguishable from those of the Veery (No. 7). T. ustula/tus. (Lat. wstwlatus, scorched, singed; referring to the warm russet coloration.) OREGON OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH. RUSSET-BACKED THRUSH. Quite like 7. swainsona proper, No. 18, in uniformity of the color of the whole upper parts, presence of a buff orbital ring, and general character of the shading and spotting of the under parts; but olive of the upper parts not pure, having a decided rufous tinge, resulting in a russet-olive of exactly the shade of that of the upper parts of the Western variety of fwscescens (salicicola) ; from which it is distinguished by the buff orbital ring, and very different shading and marking of the under parts (compare No. 7 a); there being, as in swammsone proper, much olive-gray spotting of the white breast back of the buff area, and much shading of the same olive-gray on the sides. Size of swamsom. Nest in bushes, and eggs spotted, as in the latter. Pacific coast region of the U. S., abundant. T. u. alicia. (To Miss Alice Kennicott, sister of Robert Kennicott.) GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH. Similar to swainsoni in uniformity and purity of the olive of the upper parts, which is as dark and pure (no tendency to the ‘rufous ‘of wstwlatus); but the sides of the head lack- is. 248 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —PASSHRES — OSCINES. ing the yellowish or buffy suffusion seen in swammsoni, being thus like the back, or merely grayer ; no buff ring around eye; breast slightly if at all tmged with yellowish. Rather larger than swainsom, about equalling mustelinus: length 7.50-8.00; extent 12.50-13.50; wing 4,00—4.25 ; tail 3.00-3.25 ; bill over 0.50; average dimensions about the maxima of swainsoni. Distribution and nesting the same, but breeding range more northerly(?). A well-marked variety, perhaps a distinct species. (A local race has been described as smaller, with the bill usually slenderer; Catskill and White Mts.; 7. alicie bicknella Ridgw.) T. u. swain/soni. (To Wm. Swainson, an English naturalist.) OLIvE-BACKED THRUSH. & @: Above, clear olivaceous, of exactly the same shade over all the upper parts; below, white, strongly shaded with olive-gray on the sides and flanks, the throat, breast, and sides of the neck and head strongly tinged with yellowish, the fore parts, excepting the throat, marked with numerous large, broad, dusky spots, which extend backward on the breast and belly, there rather paler, and more like the olivaceous of the upper parts. Edges of eyelids yellowish, forming a strong buff orbital rmg; lores the same. Mouth yellow; bill blackish, the basal half of lower mandible pale; iris dark brown; feet pale ashy-brown. Length of 6, 7.00-7.50% extent 12.00-12.50; wing 3.75-4.00; tail 2.75-3.00; bill 0.50; tarsus 1.10. @ averaging smaller; length 6.75; extent 11.50-12.00, ete. North America, N. to high latitudes, W. to the Rocky Mts., common; migratory ; breeds from New England northward. Nest in bushes and low trees, thus in situation like that of the wood thrush, but no mud in its composition ; eggs unlike those of mustelinus, fuscescens, and the varieties of wnalasce, in being freely speckled with different shades of brown ona greenish-biue ground; size 0.90 < 0.66; number 4—5. 2. Subfamily MIMINAE: Mocking Thrushes. Aberrant Turdide, departing from the prime characteristic of the family in having the tarsi scu- tellate in front (the scutella some- times fusing, however, as in the catbird), and the Ist primary, though short, hardly to be ealled spurious. Wings short and round- ed (for this family), about equal to the tail only in Oroscoptes ; 2d primary shorter than the 6th. Tail large and rounded or much graduated, usually decidedly longer than the wings. ‘Tarsus abou! equal to the middle toe and ciaw ; feet stout, in adaptation to some- what terrestrial life. Bill various /in form, usually longer or at least “iS more curved than in the true Fic. 119. — Mocking-bird, about 3 nat. size. (After Wilson.) thrushes; in Harporhynchus at- taining extraordinary length and curvature. Birds much like overgrown wrens (with which they have been associated by some) ; distinguished chiefly by greater size, different nostrils and rictal bristles, and more deeply-cleft toes. As a group they are rather southern, hardly passing beyond the United States; few species reaching even the Middle States, and the max- imum development being in Central and South America. They are peculiar to America, where they are represented by Oroscoptes, Mimus, Harporhynchus, and five or six related TURDIDA — MIMIN4Z: MOCKING THRUSHES. 249 genera, with upward of forty recorded species, two-thirds of which are certainly genuine. About one-half of these fall in Mimus alone: of Harporhynchus, nearly all the species occur in the United States. In their general habits they resemble wrens as much as thrushes, habitually residing in shrubbery near the ground, relying for concealment as much upon the nature of their resorts as upon their own activity and vigilance. They are all inelodious, and some, like the immortal mocking-bird, are as famous for their powers of mimicry as for the brilliant execution of their proper songs. In compensation for this great gift of music, perhaps that they may not grow too proud, they are plainly clad, grays and browns being the prevail- ing colors. The nest is generally built with little art, in a bush, and the eggs, two to six in number, are blue or green, plain or speckled. Analysis of Genera. Smallest: bill shortest ; wings about equal to tail. Adults speckled below .... . +. + - Oroscoptes 2 Medium : bill moderate; wings a little shorter than tail. Adults plain below. .... .. . .Mimus 3 Largest : bill immoderate ; wings much shorter than tail. Plain or spotted below . . . Harporhynchus 4 OROSCOP'TES. (Gr. dpos, oros, a mountain, and cKemrns, scoptes, a mimic). MOUNTAIN Mocxkers. Wings and tail of equal lengths, the former more pointed than in other genera of Mimne, with the Ist quill not half as long as the 2d, which is between the 6th and 7th; the 3d, 4th, and 5th about equal to one another, and forming the point of the wing. Tail nearly even, its feathers but slightly graduated. ‘Tarsus longer than middle toe and claw, anteriorly distinctly scutellate. Bill much shorter than head, not curved, with obsolete notch near the end. Rictal bristles well developed, the longest reaching beyond the nostrils. O. montanus is the only known species. O. monta/nus. (Lat. montanus, of a mountain.) Mounratn MOCKING-BIRD. SAGE THRASHER. ¢ 9, in summer: Above, grayish or brownish-ash, the feathers with ob- soletely darker centres. Below, whitish, more or less tinged with pale buffy-brown, every- where marked with triangular dusky spots, largest and most crowded across the breast, small and sparse, sometimes wanting, on the throat, lower belly, and crissum. Wings fuscous, ~ with much whitish edging on all the quills, and two white bands formed by the tips of the greater and median coverts. ‘Tail like the wings; the outer feather edged and broadly tipped, and all the rest, excepting usually the middle pair, tipped with white in decreasing amount. Bill and feet black or blackish, the former often with pale base. Length about 8.00; wing and tail, each, about 4.00; tarsus 1.12; bill 0.75. Young: Dull brownish above, conspic- uously streaked with dusky; the markings below streaky and diffuse. Plains to the Pacific, U.S.; also Texas and Lower California; an interesting species, resembling an undersized young mocking-bird, abundant in the sage-brush of the W. Nest on ground or in low bushes ; eggs usually 4, 1.00 X 0.72, light greenish-blue, heavily marked with brown and neutral tint. MI/MUS. (Lat. memus, a mimic.) MockInG-BirDs. Bill much shorter than head, scarcely curved as a whole, but with gently-curved commissure, notched near the end. Rictal vibrissee well developed. Tail rather longer than wings, rounded, the lateral feathers being considerably graduated. Wings rounded. (Tarsal scutella sometimes obsolete.) Tarsi longer than the mid- dle toe and claw. Of this genus there are two well marked sections (represented by the mock- ing-bird and eat-bird respectively), which may be distinguished by color: — Mimus. — Above ashy-brown, below white; lateral tail-feathers and bases of primaries white. (Tarsal seutella always distinct. ) Fig. 120. — Catbird, nat. size. (Ad. nat. del. E. C.) Galeoscoptes. — Blackish-ash, scarcely paler below; crown and tail black, unvaried; crissum rufous. (Tarsal scutella sometimes obsolete.) 15. 250 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSHERES — OSCINES. M. polyglot/tus. (Lat. polyglottus, many-tongued; from Gr. modvs, polus, many, and yNérra, glotta, tongue. Fig. 119.) Mockine-pirp. @, adult: Upper parts ashy-gray; lower parts soiled white. Wings blackish-brown, the primaries, with the exception of the first, marked with a large white space at the base, restricted on the outer quills usually to half or less of these feathers, but occupying nearly all of the inner quills. The shorter white spaces show as a conspicuous spot when the wing is closed, the longer inner ones being hidden by the second- aries. The coverts are also tipped and sometimes edged with white; and there may be much edging or tipping, or both, of the quills themselves. Outer tail-feathers white; next two pair white, except on the outer web; next pair usually white toward the end, and the rest sometimes tipped with white. Bill and feet black, the former often pale at the base below ; soles dull yellowish. Length about 10.00, but ranging from 9.50 to 11.00; extent about 14.00 (18.00 to 15.00); wing 4.00-4.50; tail 4.50-5.00; bill 0.75; tarsus 1.25. 9, adult: Similar, but the colors less clear and pure; above rather brownish than grayish-ash, below sometimes quite brownish-white, at least on the breast. Tail and wings with less white than as above described. But the gradation in these features is by imperceptible degrees, so that there is no infallible color-mark of sex. In general, the clearer and purer are the colors, and the more white there is on the wings and tail, the more likely is the bird to be a @ and prove a good singer. The @ is also smaller than the ¢ on an average, being generally under and rarely over 10 inches in length, with extent of wings usually less than 14.00; the wing little if any over 4.00, the tail about 4.50. Young: Above decidedly brown, and below speckled with dusky. U.S. from Atlantic to Pacific, southerly; rarely N. to New England, and not common N. of 38°, though known to reach 42°; thronging the groves of the South Atlantic and Gulf States. Nest in bushes and low trees, bully and inartistic, of twigs, grasses, leaves, etc.; eggs 4-6, measuring on an average 1.00 X 0.75, bluish-green, heavily speckled and freckled with several brownish shades. ‘Two or three broods are generally reared each season, which in the South extends from March to August. When taken from the nest, the ‘‘ prince of musicians” becomes a contented captive, and has been known to live many years in con- finement. Naturally an accomplished songster, he proves an apt scholar, susceptible of improve- ment by education to an astonishing degree; but there 1 is a great difference with individual birds in this respect. M. carolinen/sis. (Of Carolina: Carolus, Charles IX., of France.) (Figs. 37, 120.) Car- BIRD. @ 92: Slate-gray, paler and more grayish-plumbeous below ; crown of head, tail, bill, and feet black. Quills of the wing blackish, edged with the body-color. Under tail-coverts rich dark chestnut or mahogany-color. Length 8.50-9.00; extent 11.00 or more; wing 3.50- 3.75; tail 4.00; bill 0.66; tarsus 1.00-1.10. Young: Of a more sooty color above, with little or no femiaantonn of a IMlad cap, and comparatively paler below, where the color has a soiled brownish cast. Crissum dull rufous. U.S. and adjoining British Provinces. West to the Rocky Mts., and even Washington Terr., but chiefly Eastern; migratory, but resident in the Southern States, and breeds throughout its range; nest of sticks, leaves, bark, ete., in bushes; eges 4-6, deep greenish-blue, not spotted. An abundant and familiar inhabitant of our groves and briery tracts, remarkable for its harsh ery, like the mewing of a cat (zneaee its name), but also possessed, like all its tribe, of eminent vocal ability. HARPORHYN’CHUS. (Gr. dpay, harpe, a sickle; piyxos, rhygchos, beak; i. e., bow- billed.) TurAsuers. Bill of indeterminate size and shape, ranging from one extreme, in which it is straight and shorter than the head, to the other, in which it exceeds the head in length and is bent like a bow (see figs. 121-125). Feet large and strong, indicating terres- trial habits; tarsus strongly seutellate anteriorly, about equalling or slightly exceeding in length the middle toe with its claw. Wings and tail rounded, the latter decidedly longer than the former. Rictus with well developed bristles. Viewing only the extreme shapes of the bill, as in H. rufus and H. erissalis, it would not seem consistent with the minute subdivis- TURDIDA — MIMINA: MOCKING THRUSHES. 251 ions which now obtain in ornithology to place all the species in one genus; but the gradation of form is so gentle that it seems impossible to dismember the group without violence. The arcuation of the bill proceeds part passw with its elongation; the shortest bills being the straightest, and conversely. There is also a curious correlation of color with shape of bill; the short-billed species being the most richly colored and heavily spotted, while the bow- uv. 18. billed ones are very plain, sometimes with no spots whatever on the under parts. Our nine forms of the genus are with one exception South-western, focusing in Arizona, where occur four species, two of them not known elsewhere; two others are confined to California; two to the Mexican border, leaving only one generally distributed. They furnish the following Analysis of Species and Varieties. Bill not longer than head (0.87-1.12), little or not curved. Breast spotted. Bill 1.00, quite straight. Above rich rusty-red ; below whitish, heavily spotted and streaked with dark brown. Eastern .. . - . rufus 17 Bill 1.12, slightly curved. Above dem nesitifisine rowel alow eHitiehy nearly nattiod cml streaked with blackish. Texas .. . Sel en eLONOLTOSETUSI 1S Bill 1.12, curved. Above Exe bellow whitish, Teast with nena enote of the color of the back. Mexican border and Arizona. .... . - . . ceurvirostris or palmeri 19, 20 Bill 0.87, scarcely curved. Above sro iciniom, wallow ieoxnaniiethecrinitia, breast alone with arrow- heads of the color of the back. Arizona. . . . B 5 0 OBC, IW Bill 1.12, curved. Above pee below iti with Drornee cietines piece brown spots. bowen California . . 3 : SW tplohe cmv “Gr Gi Clamcoanhe Steiner CLILETCLUSMEOS Bill longer than head (1.50), EMOTE erence net qoaiicdl, Dark oily olive-brown, below paler, belly and crissum rufescent. Coast of California . . redivivus 23 Pale ash, paler still below, lower belly and crissum brownish-yellow. Arizona ... . . lecontii 24 Brownish-ash, paler below, crissum chestnut in marked contrast. Arizona, New Mexico, and Omibbiosmey, 6 46 50 6 © 6 (0) SAAD Dae co riot mee 06 0 0 6 0 0 6 o GHISGAIKS U5 H. ru/fus. (Lat. rufus, rufous, reddish. Fig. 121. ): THRASHER. BRowN THRUSH. & 9: Upper parts uniform rich rust-red, ith a bronzy lustre. Concealed portions of quills fuscous. Greater and median wing-coverts blackish near the end, then conspicuously tipped with white. Bastard quills like the coverts. Tail aE like the back, the lateral feathers with paler ends. Under parts white, more or less strongly tinged, especially on the breast, flanks, and crissum, with tawny or pale cinnamon-brown, the breast and sides marked with a profu- sion of well-defined spots of dark brown, oval in front, becoming more linear posteriorly. Throat immaculate, bordered with a necklace of spots; middle of the belly and under tail- coverts likewise unspotted. Bill quite straight, black, with yellow base of the lower mandible : feet pale 8 inal yellow Fig. 121.— Thrasher, nat. size. (Ad. nat. del. E. C.) or orange. Length about 11 inches; extent 12.50-14.00; wing 3.75-4.25 ; tail 5.00 or more; bill 1.00; tarsus 1.25. Eastern U.S. chiefly, but N. to adjoining British Provinces and W. to the Rocky Mts.; migratory, but breeds throughout its range, and winters in the Southern States. A delightful songster, abundant in thickets and shrubbery. Nest in bushes (some- times on ground), bulky and rude, of sticks, leaves, bark, roots, ete.; eggs 4-5, sometimes 6, 1.05 X 0.80, whitish or greenish, profusely speckled with brown. H. r. longiros/tris. (Lat. longus, long, and rostris, from rostrum, beak; i. e., long-billed.) TEXAS THRASHER. Similar to H. rufus ; upper parts dark reddish-brown, instead of rich foxy-red; under parts white, with little if any tawny tinge, the spots large, very numerous, 19. 20. zi. 202 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES — OSCINES. and blackish instead of brown; ends of the rectrices scarcely or not lighter than the rest of these feathers ; bill almost entirely dark-colored. Besides these points of coloration, there is a decided difference in the shape of the bill. In H. rufus, the bill is quite straight, and only just about an inch long; the gonys is straight, and makes an angle with the slightly concave lower outline of the mandibular rami. In H. longirostris, the bill is rather over an inch long, and somewhat curved; the outline of the gonys is a little concave, making with the ramus one con- tinuous curve from base to tip of the bill. Size of H. rufus. Texas and Mexico. H. curviros'tris. (Lat. cwrvus, curved, and rostris; bow-billed.) CURVE-BILLED THRASHER. & 2: Above, uniform ashy-gray (exactly the color of a mocking-bird), the wings and tail darker and purer brown. Below, dull whitish, tinged with ochraceous, especially on the flanks and crissum, and marked with rounded spots of the color of the back, most numerous and blend- ed on the breast. Throat quite white, immaculate, without maxil- lary stripes; lower belly and cris- sum mostly free from spots. No decided markings on the side of the head. Ends of greater and median Fig. 122. — Bow-billed Thrasher, nat. size; bill a little too wing-coyerts white, forming two de- thick. (Ad. nat. del. E. C.) cided cross-bars; tail-feathers dis- tinctly tipped with white. Bill black, over an inch long, curved, stout; feet dark brown. Length of ¢ about 11.00; wing 4.25-4.50; tail 4.50-5.00; bill 1.12; tarsus 1.25; middle toe and claw 1.33. Q averaging rather smaller. Mexico, reaching the U. 8. border of Texas. H. c. pal/meri. (To Edw. Palmer. Fig. 122.) Bow-BILLED THRASHER. Above, grayish- brown, nearly uniform ; wing-coverts and quills with slight whitish edging, the edge of the wing itself white; tail-feathers with slight whitish tips; below, a paler shade of the color of the upper parts, the throat quite whitish, the crissum slightly rufescent, the breast and belly with obscure dark gray spots on the grayish-white ground; no obvious maxillary streaks, but vague speckling on the cheeks; bill black; feet blackish-brown. Length 10.75; bill 1.12; wing 4.25; tail 5.00; tarsus 1.25; middle toe and claw 1.30. 9 smaller; wing 3.75; tail 4.50; tarsus 1.20; middle toe and claw 1.12; bill barely 1.00. Although the differences from the typical form are not easy to express, they are readily appreciable on comparison of specimens. The upper parts are quite similar; but the under parts, instead of being whitish, with decided spotting of the color of the back, are grayish, tinged with rusty, especially behind, and the spotting is nebulous. The white on the ends of the wing-coverts and tail- feathers is reduced to a minimum or en- tirely suppressed. The bill is slenderer and apparently more curved. Arizona, common, in desert regions. Nest in cac- tus, mezquite and other bushes; eggs usually 3, 1.10 x 0.80, pale greenish-blue y Ye YY Ze y /; UY yy y Vy, Zi profusely dotted with reddish-brown. Merny) J Y Y UY) MZ YY Gj Hit Zijz;4 Zi ty tis Y YY ty Yy LE MEL H. bendi/rii. (To Capt. Chas. Bendire, a U.S.A. Fig. 123.) Arizona THRASHER. i a Q: Bill shorter than head, compara- Fig. 123. — Arizona Thrasher, nat. size. (Ad. nat. del. E. C.) tively stout at base, very acute at tip, the culmen quite convex, the gonys just appreciably coneave. Tarsus a little longer than the middle toe and claw. 8d and 4th primaries about equal and longest, 5th and 6th successively slightly shorter, 2d equal to 7th, Ist equal to penul- timate secondary in the closed wing. Entire upper parts, including upper surfaces of wings | ) | | 22. 23. TURDIDE — MIMINA’: MOCKING THRUSHES. 253 and tail, uniform dull pale grayish-brown, with narrow, faintly-rusty edges of the wing- coverts and inner quills, and equally obscure whitish tipping of the tail-feathers. No max- illary nor auricular streaks; no markings about the head except slight speckling on the cheeks. Under parts brownish-white, palest (nearly white) on the belly and throat, more decidedly rusty-brownish on the sides, flanks, and crissum, the breast alone marked with numerous small arrow-head spots of the color of the back. Bill light-colored at base below. @: Length about 9.25; wing 4.00; tail 4.25; bill 0.87; along gape 1.12; tarsus 1.25; middle toe and claw 1.12. Q rather smaller; wing, 3.75, ete. Arizona, less common than palmeri, with which it is associated. Nest in bushes; eggs 2-3, about 1.00 x 0.73, elliptical rather than oval, whitish, spotted and blotched with reddish-brown. H. ciner’eus. (Lat. cinereus, ashy; cinis, cineris, ashes. Fig. 124.) Sr. LucAS THRASHER. 9: Upper parts uniform ashy-brown; wings and tail similar, but rather purer and darker brown, the former crossed with two white bars formed by the tips of the coverts, the latter tipped with white. Below, dull white, often tinged with rusty, especially behind, and thickly marked with small, sharp, tri- angular spots of dark brown or blackish. These spots are all perfectly distinct, cover- ing the lower parts excepting the throat, lower belly, and crissum; becoming smaller anteriorly, they run up each side of the throat in a maxillary series bounding the immacu- late area. Sides of head finely speckled, and auriculars streaked; bill black, liighten- ing at base below, little longer than that of Fic. 124. — St. Lucas Thrasher, nat. size. (Ad nat. H. rufus, though decidedly curved. Length el. E. ©.) of ¢ about 10.00; wing 4.00; tail 4.50; bill 1.12; tarsus 1.25; middle toe and claw 1.25. Q averaging rather smaller. Young: Upper parts strongly tinged with rusty-brown, this color also edging the wings and tipping the tail. The resemblance of this species to the mountain mocking-bird (Oroscoptes montanus) is striking. It is distinguished from any others of the U. 8. by the sharpness of the spotting underneath, which equals that of H. rufus itself, the small and strictly triangular character of the spots, together with the grayish-brown of the upper parts, and inferior dimensions. Lower California, common. Nest a slight shallow structure of twigs in cactus and other bushes; eggs 1.12 & 0.77, greenish-white, profusely speckled. H. redivi'vus. (Lat. redivivus, re- vived; the long-lost species having been rediscovered and so named. Fig. 125.) CALIFORNIA THRASHER. 3d: No spots anywhere; wings and tail without decided barring or tip- ping. Bill as long as the head or longer, bow-shaped, black. Wings y very much shorter than the tail. ~~ | Above, dark oily olive-brown, the Fie. 125. — California Thrasher, nat. size. (Ad. nat. del. E. C.) wings and tail similar, but rather purer brown. Below, a paler shade of the color of the upper parts, the belly and crissum strongly rusty-brown, the throat definitely whitish in marked contrast, and not bordered by decided maxillary streaks. Cheeks and auriculars blackish- brown, with sharp whitish shaft streaks. Length 11.50; wing 4.00 or rather less; tail 5.00 or more; bill (chord of culmen) nearly or quite 1.50; tarsus 1.35; middle toe and claw about 24. ZO. 254 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSHRES — OSCINES. the same. @ similar, rather smaller. Coast region of California, abundant in dense chaparral; nest a rude platform of twigs, roots, grasses, leaves, ete., in bushes; eggs 2-3, 1.15 xX 0.85, bluish-green, with olive and russet-brown spots. H. r. lecon/tii. (To Dr. John L. Le Conte, the entomologist.) Yuma THRASHER. This form, with size and proportions the same as those of redivivus proper, differs very notably in the pallor of all the coloration, being in fact a bleached desert race. Excepting the slight maxillary streaks, there are no decided markings anywhere; and the change from the pale ash of the general under parts to the brownish-yellow of the lower belly and crissum is very gradual. Valley of the Gila and Lower Colorado; very rare. Nest in bush, bulky, loose, deep; eggs 2, 1.15 X0.77, pale greenish, dotted with reddish. H. crissa/lis. (Lat. crissalis, relating to the erisswm, or under tail-coverts. Fig. 126.) CRissaL THRASHER. (4: Brownish-ash, with a faint olive shade, the wings and tail purer and darker fuscous, without white edging or tipping. Below, a paler shade of the color of the upper parts. Throat and side of the lower jaw white, with sharp black maxil- lary streaks. Cheeks and au- riculars speckled with whitish. Fig. 126.—Crissal Thrasher, nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) Under tail-coverts rich ‘chestnut, in marked contrast with the surrounding parts. Bill black, at the maxunum of length, slen- derness, and curvature ; feet blackish. Length about 12.00; wing 4.00-4.25; tail 5.50-6.00 ; its lateral feathers 1.50 shorter than the central ones; bill 1.50; tarsus 1.33; middle toe and claw 1.25. This fine species is distinguished by the strongly chestnut under tail-coverts, the contrast being as great as that seen in the cat-bird. The sharp black maxillary streaks are also a strong character. The bill is extremely slender, the tail at a maximum of length,, and the feet are notably smaller than those of H. redivwus. Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and California in the Colorado Valley, common in chaparral; nest in bushes near the ground, of twigs lined with vegetable fibres; eggs usually 2, emerald green, unspotted. 3. Subfamily CINCLINA:: Dippers. Wing of 10 primaries, the lst of which is spurious, and, like the others, faleate; 2d primary entermg into the point of wing; wing short, stiff, rounded, and concavo- convex. Tail still shorter than the wing, soft, square, of 12 broad, rounded feathers, almost hidden by the coverts, which reach nearly or quite to the end, the under being especially long and full. Tarsi booted, about as long as the middle toe and claw. Lateral toes equal in length. Claws all strongly curved. Bill TURDIDAL — CINCLINA: DIPPERS. 200 shorter than head, slender and compressed throughout, higher than broad at the nostrils, about straight, but seeming to be slightly recurved, owing to a sort of upward tilting of the superior mandible; culmen at first slightly concave, then convex; commissure slightly sinuous, to cor- respond with the culmen, notched near the end; gonys convex. Nostrils linear, opening beneath a large scale partly covered with feathers. No rictal vibrissee, nor any trace of bristles or bristle-tipped feathers about the nostrils. Plumage soft, lustreless, remarkably full and compact, water-proof. Body stout, thick-set. Habits aquatic. A small but remarkable group, in which the characters shared by the Zurdine, Saxicoline, and Sylviine are modified in adaptation to the singular aquatic life the species lead. There is only one genus, with ‘about 12 species, inhabiting clear mountain streams of most parts of the world, chiefly the Northern Hemisphere; easily flying under water, and spending much of their time in that element, where their food, of various aquatic animal substances, is gleaned. CIN/CLUS. (Gr. kiykdos, kigklos, Lat. cinclus, a kind of bird. Figs. 114, 127, 128.) Dur- PERS. Characters those of the subfamily, as above given. = EE Za SSSSSSSSSEZER SSS g S= SEA ZZ Fig. 128. — American Dipper, nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) 30. C. mexica/nus. (Lat. mexicanus, Mexican. Fig. 128.) AmericAN Dipper, or WATER OuzEL. £Q, adult, in summer: Slaty-plumbeous, paler below, inclining on the head to sooty-brown. Quills and tail-feathers fuscous. Eyelids usually white. Bill black; feet yellowish. Length 6.00-7.00; extent 10.00-11.00; wing 3.50-4.00; tail about 2.25; bill 0.60; tarsus 1.12; middle toe and claw rather less. Individuals vary much in size. 9, in winter, and most immature specimens, are still paler below, all the feathers of the under parts being skirted with whitish. The quills of the wing are also tipped with white. The Dill is yellowish at the base. Young: Below, whitish, more or less so according to age, frequently tinged with pale cinnamon-brown ; whole under parts sometimes overlaid with the whitish ends of the feathers, shaded with rufous posteriorly ; throat usually nearly white ; bill mostly yellow ; white tipping of the wing-feathers at a maximum; in some eases the tail-feathers similarly marked. Mountains of Western N. A., from Alaska to Mexico; a sprightly and engaging resi- dent of clear mountain streams, usually observed flitting among the rocks; has a fine song. Nest a pretty ball of green moss lined with grasses, with a hole at the side, hidden in the rift of a rock, or other nook close to the water: eggs about 5, 1.04 x 0.70, pure white, unmarked. 256 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —PASSERES — OSCINES. 4. Subfamily SAXICOLINA: Stone.chats and Blue-birds. Chiefly Old World; repre- sented in North America by two European species and the fainiliar Blue-birds; author assign different limits to thu group, and frequently trans- pose the genera. As usually constituted, it contains up- wards of 100 species, com- monly referred to about 12 genera. Like many othe groups of Passeres, it ha never been defined with pre- cision, being known conven- tionally by the birds orni- thologists put in it. The following birds have booted tarsi; oval nostrils; bristled rictus; rather short, square or emarginate tail; long, pointed wings, with very short spuri- ous Ist quill; tarsus not shorter (except in Stalia much longer) than middle toe and claw ; bill much shorter than head, straight and acute. Fig. 129. — Wheat-ear. (From Dixon.) Analysis of Genera. Bill slender. Tarsus much longer than middle toe and claw. Point of wing formed by 2d-4th quills. Lateral toes of equal lengths. Form slender. Noblue. Terrestrial. ...... . . . Saxicola 6 Bill very slender. Tarsus much longer than middle toe and claw. Point of wing formed by 3d-5th quills. Lateral toes of unequal lengths. Form slender. Throat intense blue and chestnut; tail with chestnut Cyanecula 8 Bill stouter. Tarsus not longer than middle toe and claw. Point of wing formed by 2d-4th quills. Lateral toes of unequal lengths. Blue the chief color. Form stouter. Arboricole . ..... . . Sialia 7 6. SAXI/COLA. (Lat. saxwm, a rock; colo, I inhabit. Fig. 130.) Srons-cuats. Bill shorter than head, slender, straight, depressed at base, com pressed at end, notched. Wings long, pointed, the tij formed by the 2d-4th quills, the Ist spurious, scarcely or not one-fourth as long as the 2d. Tail much shorter than wing, square. ‘Tarsi booted, but with 4 scutella below in front; long and slender, much ex- ceeding the middle toe and claw; lateral toes of about equal lengths, very short, the tips of their claws not reaching the base of the middle claw; claws little curved ; feet thus adapted to terrestrial habits. A large Fie. 130. — Generic details of Saxicola. and widely distributed Old World genus, of some 30 species, inhabiting Europe, Asia, and especially Africa. 26. S. enan/the. (Gr. oivavén, oinanthe, name of a bird, from own, oine, the grape, and av6os, anthos, a flower. Fig. 129.) Svronn-cHaT. WHEAT-EAR. Adult ¢: Ashy-gray; forehead, superciliary line and under parts white, latter often brownish-tinted; upper tail-coverts white ; wings and tail black, latter with most of the feathers white for half or more of their length ; line from nostril to eye, and broad band on side of head, black; bill and feet black. 2 more brownish-gray, the black cheek-stripe replaced by brown. Young without the stripe, above TURDIDHA — SAXICOLINA: BLUE-BIRDS. 2071 olive-brown, superciliary line, edges of wings and tail, and all under parts, cimnamon-brown ; tail black and white as in the adult. Length of ¢ 6.75; extent 12.50; wing 3.75; tail 2.50; tarsus 1.00; middle toe and claw 0.75. Q smaller: length 6.50; extent 11.50, ete. Atlantic coast, from Europe via Greenland; also North Pacific and Arctic coast, from Asia. Common in Greenland, and probably also breeds in Labrador. Nest in holes in the ground or rocks, -erevices of stone walls, ete. ; eggs 4-7, 0.87-0.60, greenish-blue, without spots. SIA/LIA. (Gr. ovadis, sialis, a kind of bird.) BLuE-BIRDS. Primaries 10, the lst spurious and very short. Wings pointed, the tip formed by the 2d, 3d, and 4th quills. Tail much shorter than wings, emarginate. Bill about half as long as head or less, straight, stout, wider than deep at base, compressed beyond nostrils, notched near tip, the culmen at first straight, then gently convex to the end, gonys slightly convex and ascending, commissure slightly curved throughout. Nostrils overhung and nearly concealed by projecting bristly feathers ; lores and chin likewise bristly. Gape ample, the rictus cleft to below the eyes, furnished with a moderately developed set of bristles reaching about opposite the nostrils. Feet short, though rather stout, adapted exclusively for perching (in Saxicola the structure of the feet indicates terrestrial habits). Tarsus not longer than the middle toe; lateral toes of unequal lengths; claws all strongly curved. Blue is the principal color of this beautiful genus, which contains three species. They are strictly arboricole; frequent the skirts of woods, coppices, waysides, and weedy fields ; nest in holes, and lay whole-colored eggs; readily become semi- domesticated, like the swallow, house wren, and house sparrow ; feed upon insects and berries; and have a melodious warbling song. Polygamy is sometimes practised by them, contrary to the rule among Oscines. Blue-birds are peculiar to America, and appear to have no exact representatives in the other hemisphere. Analysis of Species. 6 Rich sky-blue, uniform on back ; throatand breast chestnut, belly white . ...... . sialis 27 4 Rich sky-blue, including throat ; middle of back and breast chestnut, belly whitish. . . . mexicana 28 6 Light blue, paler below, fading to white on belly; mochestnut. .......... . . arctica 29 27. S.si/alis. (Gr. ovadis, stalis,a kind of bird. Fig. 131.) EASTERN BLUE-BIRD. WILSON’S BLUE-BIRD. €@, in full plumage: Rich azure-blue, the ends of the wing-quills blackish ; throat, breast, and sides of the body chestnut; belly and erissum white or bluish-white. The blue sometimes ex- tends around the head on the sides and often fore part of the chin, so that the chestnut is cut off from the bill. Length 6.50-7.00; extent 12.00-13.00; wing 38.75-4.00 ; tail 2.75-3.00; bill 0.45; tarsus 0.70. @, in winter, or when not full-plumaged: Blue of the upper parts inter- rupted by reddish-brown edging of the feathers, or obscured by a general brownish wash. White of belly more ex- tended; tone of the other under parts paler. In many Eastern specimens, the reddish-brown skirting of the feathers blends into a dorsal patch ; when this is accom- G panied by more than ordinary extension of blue on the TG, 18, —TEIMewh, matte. (AG throat they closely resemble S. mexicana. @, in full nat. del. E. C.) plumage: Blue mixed and obscured with dull reddish-brown; becoming bright and pure on the rump, tail, and wings. Under parts paler and more rusty-brown, with more abdominal white than in the male. Little smaller than ¢. Young, newly fledged: Brown, becoming blue on the wings and tail, the back sharply marked with shaft-lines of whitish. Nearly all the under parts closely and uniformly freckled with white and brownish. A white ring round the eye; inner secondaries edged with brown. From this stage, in which the sexes are indistinguishable, to the perfectly adult condition, the bird changes by insensible degrees. 17 SS ‘ 28. 29. 31. 258 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES — OSCINES. Eastern U. S. and Canada, abundant and familiar, almost domestic; W. often to the Rocky Mts. Migratory, but breeds throughout its range; winters in the Southern States and beyond, whence it comes as one of the early harbingers of spring, or during mild winter weather, bringing its bit of blue sky with cheery, voluble song. Nest in natural or artificial hollows of trees, posts, or bird-boxes, loosely constructed of the most miscellaneous materials; eges 4-6, pale bluish, occasionally whitish, unmarked, 0.80 x0.60; two or three broods in one season. S. mexica/na. (Lat. mexicana, of Mexico.) WESTERN BLUE-BIRD. MEXICAN BLUE-BIRD. 6, adult: Rich azure-blue, including the head and neck all around. A patch of purplish- chestnut on the middle of the back; breast and sides rich chestnut ; belly and vent dull blue or bluish-gray. Bill and feet black. Size of the last species. 92, and young: Changes of plumage coincident with those of the Eastern blue-bird. Immature birds may usually be recognized by some difference in color between the middle of the back and the other upper parts, and between the color of the throat and of the breast; but birds in the streaky stage could not be determined if the locality were unknown. In some adult males, the dorsal patch is restricted, or broken into two scapular patches with continuous blue between; the chestnut of the breast sometimes divides, permitting connection of the blue of the throat and belly. Specimens with little trace of the dorsal patch are scarcely distinguished from those of S. szalis in which there is much blue on the throat, —the grayish-blue of the belly, instead of white, being a principal character. U.S. and Mexico, from Eastern foot-hills of the Rocky Mts. to the Pacific; N. to Vancouver; E. occasionally to the Mississippi. Abundant in the West ; habits, nest, and eggs identical with those of S. svalis. S. are'tica. (Lat. arctica, arctic; arctos, a bear; i. e., near the constellation so-named.) Arctic BLuE-BIRD. Rocky Mounrain BuuE-Birp. 4, in perfect plumage: Above azure-blue, lighter than in the two foregoing, and with a faint greenish hue; below, paler and more decidedly greenish-blue, fading insensibly into white on the belly and under tail-coverts. Ends of wing-quills dusky; bill and feet black. Larger; length 7.00 or more; extent 13.00 or more; wing 4.50; tail 3.00. @: Nearly uniform rufous-gray, lighter and more decidedly rufous below, brightening into blue on rump, tail, and wings, fading into white on belly and crissum; a whitish eye-rimg. Young: Changes parallel with those of the other species. Birds in the streaky stage may be known by superior size, and greenish shade on the wings and tail. N. America from the Rocky Mts. to the Pacific, chietly in high open regions, abun- dant; resident southerly, migratory further North. Habits those of the others; nesting the same, but eggs larger, about 0.92 x 0.70. | CYANE/CULA. ( A diminutive form of Gr. kvaveos, Lat. cyaneus, blue; as we should say, ‘‘bluet.”) BnuuE-THROATS. Bill much shorter than head, slender, compressed throughout, acute at tip, with obsolete notch (quite as in Saxicola, but more compressed and slenderer). Feet, as in Savicola, long and slender; tarsus much longer than the middle toe and claw ; lateral toes of unequal lengths, the outer longer, but the tip of its claw still falling short of the base of the middle claw; claws little curved, the hinder fully as long as its digit. Wings long and pointed (less so than in Sazicola), the pot formed by the 3d, 4th, and 5th quills; 2d about equal to the 6th; Ist spurious, about one-third as long as the longest. Tail of mod- erate length, slightly rounded. Tail particolored with chestnut; throat and breast with azure- blue and chestnut. The species were formerly included in Ruticilla, an Old World genus very closely related to Sawicola ; they form the connecting link between Sazecoline proper and Sylviine, placed by some authors in one, by others in the other group. The relationships with Saxicola are certainly very close. C. sue/cica. (Lat. swecica, Swedish.) BLUE-THROATED REDSTART. RED-SsPOTTED BLUE- THROAT. Entire upper parts dark brown with a shade of olive (about the color of a tit- lark, Anthus ludovicianus), the feathers of the crown with darker centres ; rump and upper 32. LTURDIDA — REGULINA: KINGLETS. 209 tail-coverts rather lighter, and mixed with bright chestnut-red. Wings like the back, with slightly paler edgings of the feathers. Middle tail-feathers like back, or rather darker, the rest blackish, with the basal half or more of their length bright chestnut-red, or orange-brown. Lores dusky; a whitish superciliary line. Chin, throat, and forebreast rich ultramarine blue, enclosing a bright chestnut throat-patch; the blue bordered behind by black, this again by chestnut mixed with white. Rest of under parts white, washed on the sides, lining of wings and under tail-coverts with pale fulvous. Bill and feet black. @Q and young similar, the throat-markings imperfect. Length 5.75-6.00; wing 3.00; tail 2.25-2.50; bill 0.50; tarsus 1.00; middle toe and claw 0.75. Alaska; a beautiful and interesting bird, widely distributed in the Old World. 5. Subfamily REGULINAE: Kinglets and Wood-Wrens. The two genera to be here noticed are most readily distinguished by the simple colors of Phylloscopus, contrasted with the elegant colored crest of Regulus ; both genera include very diminutive birds not over five inches long. PHYLLO'SCOPUS. (Gr. @vAXov, phullon, a leaf; oKxoros, skopos, a watchman; as these birds peer about in the foliage.) Woop-W RENS. Bill shorter than head, slender, straight, depressed at base, compressed and notched at tip; nostrils exposed, though reached by the frontal feathers. Tarsus longer than middle toe and claw, booted or sometimes indistinctly seutellate; wings pointed, longer than tail; point formed by 38d and 4th quills; 5th much shorter, and 6th shorter still, 2d between 5th and 6th; spurious lst primary very short, exposed less than 0.50. Tail about even. Size diminutive and coloration simple. Includes numerous (about 25) Old World species, one of them occurring in Alaska. P. borea’lis. (Lat. borealis, northern; boreas, the north-wind.) KEnNicoTtT’s WARBLER. Above, olive-green, clear, continuous, and nearly uniform, but rather brighter on the rump; quills and tail-feathers fuscous, edged externally with yellowish-green; a long yellowish super- ciliary stripe; under parts yellowish-white, the lining of wings and the flanks yellow; wings crossed with two yellowish bars, that across ends of greater coverts conspicueus, the other indistinct; bill dark brown, pale below; feet and eyes brown. Length 4.75; extent 6.00; wing 2.25-2.50; tail 1.75-2.00; tarsus 0.70; middle toe and claw 0.55. Europe, Asia, and, in America, Alaska. . REG/ULUS. (Lat. regulus, diminutive of rex, a king; kinglet.) Kincuers. Tarsus booted, very slender, longer than the middle toe and claw. Lateral toes nearly equal to each other. First quill of the wing spurious, its exposed portion less than half as long as the second. _ Wings pointed, longer than the tail, which is emarginate, with acuminate feathers. Bill shorter than the head, straight, slender, and typically Sylviine, not hooked at the end, well bristled at rictus, with the nostrils overshadowed by tiny feathers. Coloration olivaceous, paler or whitish below, with red, black, or yellow, or all three of these colors, on the head of the adult. There are about ten species, of Europe, Asia, and America. They are elegant and dainty little creatures, among the very smallest of our birds excepting the Hummers. They inhabit woodland, are very agile and sprightly, insectivorous, migratory, and highly musical. R. calen/dula. (Lat. calendula, a glowing little thing.) RuBy-CROWNED KINGLET. ¢ Q, adult: Upper parts greenish-olive, becoming more yellowish on the rump; wings and tail dusky, strongly edged with yellowish ; whole under parts dull yellowish-white, or yellowish- or greenish-gray (very variable in tone); wings crossed with two whitish bars, and inner sec- ondaries edged with the same. Edges of eyelids, lores, and extreme forehead, hoary whitish. A rich scarlet patch, partially concealed, on the crown. This beautiful ornament is apparently not gained until the second year, and there is a question whether it is ever present in the female. Bill and feet black. Length 4.10-4.50; extent 6.66-7.33; wing 2.00-2.33 ; tail 1.75 ; bill 0.25; tarsus 0.75. Young for the first year (and ¢ ?): Quite like the adult, but a4. B50 260 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —PASSHERES — OSCINES. wanting the scarlet patch. In a newly Aeawed specimen the wings and tail are as strongly edged with yellowish as in the adult; but the general plumage of the upper parts is rather olive-gray than olive-green, and the under parts are sordid whitish. The bill is light colored at the base, and the toes appear to have been yellowish. N. America at large, breeding far north and in mountains of the West, wintering in the Southern States and beyond. An exqui- site little creature, famous for vocal power, abundant in wooded regions. Nest a large mass of matted hair, feathers, moss, straws, etc., placed on the bough of a tree; eggs unknown. R. satra’pa. (Gr. carpamns, Lat. satrapes, a ruler; alluding to the bird’s golden crown. Fig. 132.) GOLDEN-CRESTED KINGLET. @, adult: Upper parts olive-green, more or less bright, sometimes rather olive-ashy, always brightest on the rump; under parts dull ashy-white, or yel- lowish-white. Wings and tail dusky, strongly edged with yellowish, the inner wing-quills with whitish. On the secondaries, this yellowish edg- ing stops abruptly in advance of the ends of the coverts, leaving a pure blackish interval in ad- vance of the white tips of the greater coverts : this, and the similar tips of the median coverts, form two white bars across the wings; inner webs of the quills and tail-feathers edged with white. Superciliary line and extreme forehead hoary-whitish. Crown black, enclosing a large space, the middle of which is flame-colored, bor- dered with pure yellow. The black reaches across the forehead; but behind, the yellow and flame-color reach the general olive of the upper parts. Or, the top of the head may be described as a central bed of flame-color, bounded in front and on the sides with clear yellow, this similarly bounded by black, this again in the same manner by hoary-whitish. Smaller than A. calendula ; overlying nasal plumes larger. Length 4.00; extent 6.50-7.00; wing 2.00-2.12 ; tail 1.67. @, adult; and young: Similar to the adult @, but the central field of the crown entirely yellow, enclosed in black (no flame- color). N. America, at large; another exquisite, abundant in woodland aud shrubbery, breed- ing from N. New England northward, wintering in most of the fi U.S. Nesta ball of moss, hair, feathers, ete., about 4.50 inches in diameter, on AL _low bough of a tree, preferably evergreen ; eggs 6-10, white, fully speckled ; Z 4s size 0.50 X 0.40. R. s. oliva/ceus? (Lat. olivaceus, olivaceous; oliva, an Z olive.) WESTERN (JOLDEN-CRESTED Kine@ueT. A slight variety, said to be of livelier color- ation. Pacific coast region. Fig. 182. — Golden-crested Kinglet. (After Audubon.) 6. Subfam. POLIOPTILINAE: Gnat.catchers. A small group of one genus and about a dozen, chiefly Central and South American, species ; peculiar to America. Polioptila has been sometimes associated with the Paride, but differs decidedly and is apparently Sylviine. Characters those 1G. 133. — Blue-gray Gnat-catcher, nat. size. (‘Ad nat. del. E. C.) of the single genus. i. 5 5 oT. 38. ea ‘border and southward; abundant in woodland. TURDIDA —POLIOPTILINA: GNAT-CATCHERS. 261 POLIOP’TILA. (Gr. modus, polios, hoary ; mridov, ptilon, a feather; the primaries being edged with whitish.) GNarT-cATCHERS. ‘Tarsi scutellate. ‘Toes very short, the lateral only about half as long as the tarsus; outer a little longer than the inner. First quill spuri- ous, about half as long as the second. Wings rounded, not longer than the graduated tail, the feathers of which widen toward their rounded ends. Bill shorter than head, straight, broad and depressed at base, rapidly narrowing to the very slender terminal portion, distinctly notched and hooked at the end —thus Muscicapine in character. Rictus with well-developed bristles. Nostrils entirely exposed. Coloration without bright tints; bluish-ash, paler or white below; tail black and white. Delicate little woodland birds, peculiar to America, not over 5 inches long; migratory, insectivorous, very active and sprightly, with sharp squeaking n S. gles Analysis of Species. d@ Forehead and line over eye black ; outer tail-feather white . ........ caerulea 36 dg Whole crown black ; outer web of outer tail-feather only edged with white . . . . . . melanura 37 ¢@ Line over eye black ; outer web of outer tail-feather white... . . - plumbea 38 P. corul/ea. (Lat. caerulea, cerulean, blue. Figs. 133, 134, 6.) BLUE-GRAY GNAT- CATCHER. @, adult: Grayish-blue, bluer on the crown, hoary on the rump, the forehead black, continuous with a black superciliary line. Edges of eyelids white, and above these a slight whitish stripe bordering the black exteriorly. Below white, with a faint plumbeous shade on the breast. Wings dark brown, the outer webs, especially of the inner quills, edged with hoary, and the inner webs of most bor- dered with white. Tail jet-black, the outer feather entirely or mostly white, the next one about half white, the third one tipped with white. Bill and feet black. Length 4.50- 5.00; extent 6.25-7.00 ; wing 2.00-2.20; tail about the same. @: Likethe @, but duller and more grayish-blue above; the head like the back, and without any black. Bill usually in part light-colored. U.S. from Atlantic to Pacific, N. to Massachusetts; breeds through- out its range, and winters on the southern i : Fig. 134. —a, head of Polioptila melanura; 6, of P. Nest a model of bird-architecture, compact-~ carulea; c, tail of P.melanura; d, of P. plumbea; all walled and contracted at the brim, elegantly ™* nie stuccoed with lichens, fixed to slender twigs at a varying height from 10 to 50 or 60 feet; eggs 4-5, about 0.60 & 0.45, whitish, fully speckled with reddish and umber-brown and lilac. P. melanuw/ra. (Gr. pedas, melas, black; odpa, oura, tail. Fig. 134, a, ¢.) BUACK-CAPPED GNAT-CATCHER. @: Like P. caerulea, but whole top of head black. White of tail reduced to a minimum ; outer web of the outer feather only edged with white, instead of wholly white ; tip of the inner web, with tip of the next feather, white for a very slight space ; no white on the third feather. Size of the foregoing; tarsi rather longer, —about 0.70. 9 : No black on the head; distinguished from @ carulea only by less white on the tail. Texas to South and Lower California. P. plum/bea. (Lat. plumbeus, plumbeous, lead-colored. Fig. 134, d.) PLuMBEOUS GNat- CATCHER. @, adult: Upper parts like those of P. ewrulea, but duller and more grayish ; no black on forehead; a short black stripe over eye, and below this a white one. Outer tail- feather with the whole outer web and tip white (like the second feather of P. caerulea) ; next two feathers tipped with white. Size of P. caerulea. @Q: Like the @; the upper parts still duller, and frequently with a decided brownish shade; no black over eye; thus only distin- guished from 9 carulea by less white on the tail. Valley of the Gila and Colorado. 12. 39. 39a. 262 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSHRES— OSCINES. Obs. According to Brewster, Bull. Nutt. Club, vi, 1881, p. 101, the two foregoing are adult (No. 37) and young (No. 38) of the same species, which is plumbea, Bd., Pr. Phila. Acad., 1854, p. 118; B. N. A., 1858, p. 382, and authors; melanura, Lawr., Ann. Lyc. N.Y., vi, 1856, p. 168, but not of authors referring to the Californian bird : also, atri- capilla, Lawr., Ann. Lye. N. Y., v, 1851, p. 124; Cass., Ill., 1854, pl. 27, but not of Swainson. Brewster describes the Californian bird as a new species, as follows:—P. CALIFORNICA. California Black-capped Gnat-catcher. gd: Ascompared with P. plwnbea, upper parts decidedly plumbeous instead of bluish ; throat, breast, and sides dull ashy instead of ashy-white; lower belly and crissum fulvous or even pale chestnut ; light edging of the tail-feathers confined to outer pair, with sometimes slight tipping of next pair (as in my fig. 134, c.); lining of wings pearly-ash, not white; secondaries and tertials edged with light brown. No pure white anywhere; general aspect of under parts nearly as dark as those of a cat-bird. Whole crown glossy black. Length 4.50; extent 6.10; wing 1.84; tail- 1.80; tarsus 0.73; bill 0.50. 9: Similar, but no black on crown; belly and crissum pale chestnut; outer webs of second pair of rectrices edged with white. California; being the melanura of authors referring to California birds, but not of Lawr., 1856. 2. Family CHAM AIDA): Wren-tits. Recently framed for a single species, much like a titmouse in general appearance, but with the tarsus not evidently scutellate in front ; rounded wings much shorter than the gradu- ated tail; lores bristly, and plumage extraordinarily soft and lax. With the general habits of wrens, with which the species was formerly associated. ‘The position and valuation of the group are still uncertain; probably to be determined upon anatomical characters. I have little doubt that Chamea will yet be found referable to some other recognized family of birds, and suspect that it might be assigned to the Old World Timelude, with at least as much propriety as some other American groups, which have lately been relegated to that ill-assorted assemblage. CHAM AHA. (Gr. xapai, chamai, on the ground.) WREN-TITS. Form and general aspect combining features of wrens and titmice. Plumage extraordinarily lax, soft, and full. Color- ation simple. ‘Tarsal scutella obsolete, or faintly indicated, at least outside. Toes coherent at base for about half the length of the proximal jomt of the middle one. Soles widened and padded, much as in Paride. Primaries 10, the 6th longest, the 3d equal to the longest sec- ondaries, the Ist about three-fifths as long as the longest; wing thus extremely rounded, and much shorter than the tail (about two-thirds as long). Tail very long, constituting more than half the entire length of the bird, extremely graduated, with soft, narrow feathers, widen- ing somewhat toward their tips, rounded at the end, the lateral pair not two-thirds as long as the middle. Bill much shorter than head, very deep at the base, straight, stout, compressed- conical, not notched, with ridged and very convex culmen, but nearly straight commissure and gonys; naked, scaled, linear nostrils, and strongly bristled gape. Frontal feathers reaching nasal fossee, but no ruff concealing the nostrils as in Parde. . C. fascia/ta. (Lat. fasciata, striped; fascis, a bundle of faggots.) WRen-TiT. Adult: Dark brown with an olive shade, the tap of the head clearer and somewhat streaky, the wings and tail purer brown, obscurely fasciated with numerous cross-bars; below, dull cinnamon- brown, paler on belly, shaded with olive-brown on the sides and crissum, the throat and breast obscurely streaked with dusky; bill and feet brown; iris white. Length about 6.00; wing 2.25-2.50; tail 3.25-3.50, much graduated, the lateral feathers being an inch or more shorter than the middle ones; bill 0.40; tarsus 0.90-1.00; middle toe and claw 0.75. First primary nearly an inch shorter than the longest one. California coast region. A remarkable bird, resembling no other, common in shrubbery; nest in bushes; eggs plain greenish-blue, 0.70 X 0.52. C. f. hen/shawi. (To H. W. Henshaw.) HeNnsHAw’s WreEn-TIT. Much lighter and duller colored; above, grayish-ash with slight olive shade (about the color of a Lophophanes); below, scarcely rufescent upon a soiled whitish ground, shaded on the sides with the color of the back; bill and feet smaller. Interior of California, and probably adjoining regions; seems to be a well-marked form. (Not in the Check List, 1882; see Ridgway, Pr. U. 8. Nat. Mus. v., 1882, p. 13.) PARIDHAi— PARINA: TITMIOE. 263 3. Family PARIDA: Titmice, or Chickadees. Ours are all small (under 7 inches long) birds, at once distinguished by having ten primaries, the Ist much shorter than the 2d; wings barely or not longer than the tail ; tail-feathers not stiff nor acuminate ; tarsi seutellate, longer than the mid- dle toe; anterior toes much soldered at base; nostrils concealed by dense tufts, and bill compressed, stout, straight, unnotched, and much shorter than the head ; — characters that readily marked them off from ° all their allies, as wrens, creepers, etc. Really, they are hard to dis- tinguish, technically, from jays; but all our jays are much over 7 inches long. They are distributed over North America, but the crested species are rather southern, and all but one of them western. Most of them are hardy birds, enduring the rigors of Fig. 135. — European Greater Titmouse, Parws major. (From Dixon.) winter without inconvenience, and, as a consequence, none of them are properly migratory. They are musical, after a fashion of their own, chirping a quaint ditty ; are active, restless, and very heedless of man’s presence ; and eat everything. Some of the western species build astonishingly large and curiously shaped nests, pensile, like a bottle or purse with a hole in one side, as represented in fig. 140 ; others live in knot-holes, and similar snuggeries that they usually dig out for themselves. They are very prolific, laying numerous eggs, and raising more than one brood a season ; the young closely resemble the parents, and there are no obvious seasonal or sexual changes of plumage. All but one of our species are plainly clad; still they have a pleasing look, with their trim form and the tasteful colors of the head. 7. Subfamily PARINZ:: True Titmice. Exclusive of certain aberrant forms, usually allowed to constitute a separate subfamily, and sometimes altogether removed from Paride, the titmice compose a natural and pretty well defined group, to which the foregoing diagnosis and remarks are particularly applicable, and agree in the following characters: — Bill very short and stout, straight, compressed-conoid in shape, not notched nor with decurved tip, its under as well as upper outline convex. Rictus without true bristles, but base of the bill covered with tufts of bristly feathers directed forward, entirely concealing the nostrils. Feet stout; tarsi distinctly scutellate, longer than the middle toe ; toes rather short, the anterior soldered together at the base for most of the length of the basal joint of the middle one. Hind toe with an enlarged pad beneath, forming, with the con- solidated bases of the anterior toes, a broad firm sole. Wing with ten primaries, of which the first is very short or spurious, scarcely or not half as long as the second; wing as a whole rounded, scarcely or not longer than the tail, which latter is rounded or graduated, and com- posed of twelve narrow soft feathers, with rounded or somewhat truncated tips. Plumage 13. 40. 41. 264 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —PASSERES — OSCINES. long, soft, and loose, without bright colors or well-marked changes according to sex, age, or season (excepting Awriparus). There may be about seventy-five good species of the Parine, thus restricted, most of them falling in the genus Parus, or in its immediate neighborhood. With few exceptions they are birds of the northern hemisphere, abounding in Europe, Asia, and North America. The larger proportion of the genera and species inhabit the Old World. All those of the New World oeeur within our limits. Analysis of Genera. Crested. Wings and tail rounded, of about equal lengths. No red or VClLO WA MEME neo DhophanesinlS Not crested. Wings and tail rounded, of about equal lengths. No red or ADV OM A Moulic S. 'Gc aid co of ld eo JARS i Wings rounded, shorter than the graduated tail. Noredoryellow ........ Psaltriparus 15 Wings pointed, longer than the even tail. Head yellow : bend of wingred . ... . . Auriparus 16 LOPHO/PHANES. (Gr. Aodos, lophos, a crest; gaive, phaino, I appear.) CRESTED Trr- MICE. Head crested. Wings and tail rounded, of about equal lengths, and about as long as the body. Bill conoid-compressed, with upper and under outlines both convex. No yellow on head nor red on wing. Plumage lax, much the same in both sexes at all ages and seasons. Average size of the species at a maximum for Paring. Nests excavated in trees ; eggs spotted. Analysis of Species. Frontlet black; sides washed with rusty. Eastern ............ o 6 00 0 4 litkeahap 4) Crest like rest of upper parts ; no rusty on sides. Southwestern ........... . inornatus 41 Crest entirely black; rusty on sides. Texan. ......... 5 0 6 0 0 6 0 gv CROGPOSEAGNG ED Head with several black stripes ; no rusty on sides. Southwestern. .......... wollweberi 43 L. bicolor. (Lat. bis, twice; color, color. Fig. 136.) Turrep Tirmousr. ¢ 9, adult: Entire upper parts ashy, the back usually with a slight olivaceous shade, the wings and tail rather purer and darker plumbeous, the latter sometimes showing obsolete transverse bars. Sides of the head and entire under parts dull whitish, washed with chestnut-brown on the sides. A black frontlet at the base of the crest. Bill plumbeous-blackish ; feet plum- beous. Length 6.00-6.50 inches; extent 9.75-10.75; wing and tail 8.00-3.25; bill 0.40; tarsus 0.80; middle toe and claw 0.75. Q smaller than g. Young: The crest less devel- oped; little if any trace of the black frontlet; sides scarcely washed with rusty. Eastern U. 8., rather southerly; scarcely N. to New England; resident, abundant in woodland and shrubbery. Nest in holes; eggs 6 or 8, 0.75 X 0.56, white, 136. — Tufted Titmouse, ; ; ; nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) dotted with reddish-brown and lilae. L. inorna/tus. (Lat. in, as signifying negation, and ornatus, adorned; orno, I ornament.) PLAIN Tirmouse. @ Q, adult: Entire upper parts dull leaden-gray, with a slight olive shade ; the wings and tail rather purer and darker. Below, dull ashy-whitish, without any rusty wash on the sides. No black on the head. Extreme forehead and sides of the head obseurely speckled with whitish. No decided markings anywhere. Im size rather less than LL. bicolor; length usually under 6.00; wing and tail under 3.00. Young quite like the adults, which closely resemble the young of Z. bicolor; but in the latter there are traces at least of the reddish of the sides or black of the frontlet, or both ; the general coloration is purer, with more distinction between the upper and under parts, and the size is rather greater. The speckled appearance of the sides of the head and lores of L. inornatus is peculiar. Southwestern United States, abundant, resident. The typical form Californian; a rather larger, stouter-billed form, lighter leaden-gray with scarcely any olive shade, from Utah, Arizona, ete., is Z. 2. griseus, Ridgw., Pr. U. 8. Nat. Mus., v., 1882, p. 344. | 43. PARIDA — PARINA: TITMICE. 265 42. L. atrocrista’tus. (Lat. atro, with black, cristatus, crested; crista, a crest.) BLACK-CRESTED 14, 44, Titmouse. ¢ Q, adult: Plumbeous, with a shade of olive, the wings and tail rather darker and purer, edged with the color of the back, or a more hoary shade of the same. Beneath, dull ashy-whitish, especially on the breast, the abdomen whiter, the sides chestnut-brown as in L. bicolor, Extreme forehead and lores whitish; entire crest glossy black. Bill blackish-plum- beous; feet plumbeous. Small: length about 5.00; wing and tail 2.75. Valley of the Rio Grande. Nest in natural cavities of trees, usually including cast snake-skins among its materi- als; eggs 0.75 X 0.58, white, spotted with reddish-brown in fine dots over the general surface, boldly blotched at large end, but not distinguishable from those of L. bicolor. L. wollweb/eri. (To one Wollweber. Fig. 137.) Briptep Tirmouse. ¢@ Q, adult: Upper parts olivaceous-ash, wings and tail darker, edged with the color of the back, or even a brighter tint, sometimes nearly as yellowish as in Regulus. Under parts sordid ashy-white. Crest black, with a central field like the back. Whole throat black, as in species of Parws. A black line runs behind the eye and curves down over the auriculars, distin- guished from the black of the crest and throat by the white of the side of the head and white superciliary stripe; a half-collar of black on the nape, descending on the sides of the neck, there separated from the black crescent of the auriculars by a white cres- cent, which latter is continuous with the white of the superciliary line; considerable whitish speckling in the black of the forehead ites, SEH. ao IGRI. ie. and lores. Bill blackish-plumbeous; feet plumbeous. Smallest: mouse, nat. size. (Mex. B. length 5.00 or less; wing or tail 2.40-2.65; bill 0.33; tarsus 0.60— Survey.) 0.70. Young: Chin narrowly or imperfectly black, and some of the above described head- markings obscure or incomplete. The singularly variegated markings of the head of this species at once distinguish it. Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, abundant, going in troops, in woods and shrubbery. PA/RUS. (Lat. parus, a titmouse.) TypicaAL Tirmice. CHICKADEES. Head not crested. Wings and tail rounded, of approximately equal lengths, and about as long as the body. Bill typically parine (see foregoing characters). No bright colors (in any North American species). Head in most species with black. Plumage lax and dull, without decided changes with age, sex, or season. Size medium in the family. Nest excavated. Eggs spotted. Analysis of Species. Species definitely black-capped and black-throated. AX VTS SupeRON TIA? SURO’ 5 gio) «6 oo 6 6 uo 56 6 9% 6 6 6 6 616 6 6 be otenmnms? <3 No white superciliary stripe. Tail not shorter than wing ; feathers of both with much hoary-whitish edging. Larger ; tail at maximum length, coloration most hoary. Missouri Region and Rocky IMU 5 6 0 6 - 1. + « . . . Septentrionalis 45 Smaller ; tail anadlanntios ealionstion eae heat “Basie 6 6 60 6 5 6 5 Chingy. Size of No. 44 ; coloration darker. Pacific Region . . § 6 0 0. 6 4 OBCOIERUCHIS: ES Tail shorter than wings ; whitish edgings of wings and tail epeolerel Rather smaller than No. 44. South AtlanticStates. . . . . . . carolinensis 47 Rather smaller than No. 44 ; coloration very dark. Mexican borden . . . meridionalis 879 Species brown-capped, or crown quite like back, and blackish throat. Cap hair-brown; back little different. White confined to side ofhead. Easternand Arctic. .......... . hudsonicus 49 WV hiterspreadineroverisidesjolneckemATClCN EL en ns ne sn Ncinctus) 152 Cap dark wood-brown ; back chestnut. Back and sides ch chestnut alike. Pacific, northerly . . . 5 6 0 6 0. 3 PUNCSCEDS iD Back chestnut, but sides only washed with rusty. Pacific, satiety mney ICO LCCLUSIROL P. atricapil/lus. (Lat. ater, black; capillus, hair. Fig. 138.) BuAcK-cAPPED TITMOUSE. CHICKADEE. Crown and nape, with chin and throat, black, separated by white sides of the head. Upper parts brownish-ash, with slight olive tinge, and a rusty wash on rump. Under 45. 46. 47. 879. A8. 266 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSHERES — OSCINES. parts more or less purely white or whitish, shaded on the sides with a brownish or rusty wash. Wings and tail like upper parts, the feathers moderately edged with hoary-white. Average dimensions: length 5.25; extent 8.00; wing and tail, each, 2.50; tarsus 0.70. Extremes: length 4.75-5.50; extent 7.50-8.50; wing and tail 2.35-2.65; tarsus 0.65- 0.75. Eastern N. Am., from the Middle States northward, very abundant, well-known by its familiar habits and pecu- liar notes. Nest in holes of trees, stumps, or fences, natural or excavated by the bird, made of grasses, mosses, hair, fur, feathers, etc.; eggs 6-8, 0.58 X 0.47, white, fully sprinkled with reddish-brown dots and spots. P. a. septentriona/lis. (Lat. septentrionalis, northern ; septentriones, the constellation of seven stars, the dipper.) LONG-TAILED CHICKADEE. Similar to P. atricapillus; averaging larger, and especially longer-tailed, the tail rather exceeding the wing in length. Coloration clear and pure; wings and tail very strongly edged, especially on the secondaries and outer tail-feathers, with hoary-white, which usually passes entirely around their tips. Cap pure black and very extensive on the nape; black of throat reaching breast; sides of head and neck snowy-white. Bill and feet dark plumbeous. Average dimensions about Fra. 138. — Black-capped Chickadee, the maxima of P: atricapillus: length 5.25-5.50; extent veduced. (Adnat. del. E. C.) 8.50; wing 2.00-2.75 ; tail 2.60-2.80, sometimes 3.00. This style reaches its extreme devei- opment in the region of the Upper Missouri and Rocky Mts., there apparently to the exclusion of P. atricapillus proper. — P. a. occidenta/lis. (Lat. occidentalis, western; occido, I fall; i. e., where the sun sets.) WESTERN CHICKADEE. Similar to P. atricapillus; of the same average size; presenting the opposite extreme from P. septentrionals in minimum edging of wing- and tail-feathers with hoary, heavy brownish wash of sides, and general dark sordid coloration. U.S., Pacific coast region. P. carolinen/sis. (Lat. of Carolina.) CAROLINA CHICKADEE. Averaging smaller than P. atricapillus, with relatively as well as absolutely shorter tail, which is rather shorter than the wings ; wings and tail very little edged with whitish. Average dimensions about at the minima of P. atricapillus. Length about 4.50; wing 2.50; tail 2.25. South Atlantic and Gulf States ; N. to Washington and Southern Illinois. Nesting like P. atricapillus; eggs similar, rather | smaller. P. meridiona/lis. (Lat. meridionalis, southern.) MErxICAN CHICKADEE. Differs decidedly from P. atricapillus in having the under parts merely a paler shade of the ashy of the upper, instead of white, without any brownish wash on sides; wing-coverts and tail lacking any hoary edging, though the wing-quills have a slight grayish- : white edging. Thus quite like P. montanus in color, but no white superciliary stripe. Length 4.80-5.20; extent 8.00- 8.70; wing 2.67-2.90; tail 2.40-2.67. Mexico, recently ascer- tained to occur in Arizona. (Numbered among addenda im the Check’ List, 1882.) P. monta/nus. (Lat. montanus, of mountains. Fig. 139.) MounTAINn CHICKADEE. Upper parts ashy-gray, with scarcely | a shade, and only on the rump, of the ochraceous seen in most nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) other species; under parts similarly grayish-white, without a rusty tinge, the middle of the ol. 49. 49a. 52. 15. PARIDAJ— PARINA: TITMICE. ADT belly nearly white, the rest more heavily shaded. Wings and tail with comparatively little whitish edging —the tail at least with no more than that of P. carolinensis. Sides of the head and neck white; top of the head, and the throat, black. A conspicuous white super- ciliary stripe in the black cap, usually meeting its fellow across the forehead. Length about 5.00; extent 8.30; wing 2.50-2.75; tail rather less; bill 0.38; tarsus 0.66. U.S., from Eastern foot-hills of the Rocky Mts. to the Pacific, chiefly in alpine regions. P. rufes/cens. (Lat. rufescens, rufous, reddish.) CHESTNUT-BACKED TITmMousE. Crown and nape dark wood-brown, becoming sooty along the sides, separated from the sooty-black of the throat by a large white area extending back on the sides of the neck. Entire back and sides of body rich dark chestnut, contrasting strongly with the brown of the head. Breast and central line of under parts, with lining of the wings, whitish. Wing--and tail-coverts more or less washed with rusty-brown. Quills and tail-feathers scarcely or slightly edged with whitish. Bill black; feet dark; iris brown. Young with throat brown, like crown, instead of sooty. Length 4.75; extent 7.50; wing 2.30; tail about 2.00. A strongly marked species, with chestnut back and sides contrasting with dark brown cap and sooty throat. Pacific coast region of the U. §., northerly, and corresponding portions of British America. P. r. neglec/tus? (Lat. neglectus, neglected, i. e., not chosen; nec, not, and lego, I gather, choose.) Quite similar: crown, throat, and back the same, but sides not extensively chestnut, being simply washed with rusty-brown. Coast region of California. P. hudsoni/icus. (Lat. hudsonicus, of Hudson’s Bay ; after Henry Hudson, the navigator.) HupsoniAn TrITMoOUSE. Crown, nape, and upper parts generally clear hair-brown, or ashy- brown with a slight olive shade, the coloration quite the same on back and crown, and contin- uous, being not separated by any whitish nuchal interval. Throat quite «black, in restricted area, not extending backward on sides of neck; separated from the brown crown by silky white on the side of the head, this white not reaching back of the auriculars to the sides of the nape. Sides, flanks, and under tail-coverts washed with dull chestnut or rusty-brown ; other under parts whitish. Quills and tail-feathers lead-color, as in other titmice, scarcely or slightly edged with whitish. Little or no concealed white on rump. Bill black; feet dark. Size of P. atricapillus, or rather less. Wing 2.50; tail rather less. New England and British America generally ; Nevada to Alaska. Common in coniferous woods. P. h. evu’ra, nobis. Alaskan specimens are larger, the tail nearly 3.00; thus corresponding ., with P. atricapillus septentrionalis, and being quite the size of P. cinctus, from which dis- tinguished by retaining precisely the coloration of P. hudsonicus. Alaska. P. cine/tus. (Lat. cinctus, girdled; cingo, I bind about.) SIBERIAN TrrmousE. In general, siinilar to P. hudsonicus, but quite distinct. Throat sooty-blackish ; crown and nape dark hair-brown, bordered laterally with dusky, quite appreciably different in tone from the brighter brownish of the back, from which also separated to some extent by whitish of the cervix. Sides of head and neck pure white, in a large area widening behind, this white of opposite sides nearly meeting across the cervix. Back ashy overlaid with flaxen-brown, the rump light brown with much concealed white. Under parts whitish centrally from the black throat, but heavily washed on the sides, flanks, and crissum, sometimes quite across the belly, with light brownish. Wings and tail slate-color, as usual in the genus, with much whitish edging, especially on the secondaries. Bill plumbeous-blackish; feet plumbeous. Wing 2.60; tail rather more. A large stylish chickadee, lately ascertained to inhabit Arctic America, especially Alaska, as well as boreal regions of Asia and Europe. PSALTRI'PARUS. (Gr. Warrpia, Lat. psaltria, a lutist; and parus, a tit.) BUSH-TITS. Dwarfs among pygmies! 3.75-4.25 long; wing 2.00 or less, tail 2.00 or more. Ashy or olive-gray, paler or whitish below ; neither crown nor throat black; no bright colors. Head not crested; wings rounded, shorter than the long narrow graduated tail, which exceeds the length of the body. Nest large, woven, pensile, with lateral entrance (fig. 140). Eggs 6-9, 53. 54. 35. 268 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —PASSHERES— OSCINES. white, unmarked. The three species are western; they are notable for their diminutive size, scarcely equalling a Polioptila in bulk. Analysis of Species. Crown brown, unlike back; noblackonsideofhead. ..........2.2.... +. minimus 53 Crown like back ; no black on side ofhead. . . . Upon mic Wop oe poo Joo ea, oo 66" oe OMDeNS 6s Crown ash, aire back ; a black stripe on side of mew Pate he csd distin’ bee io eI EEETaTIUCLONOLISEEOD P. min/imus. (Lat. mimmus, least, smallest.) LEast Busu- AKIN 4 @ : Dull lead-color, frequently with a brown- ish or olivaceous shade, the top of the head ab- ruptly darker — clove- brown or hair-brown. Below sordid whitish, or brownish-white. Wings and tail dusky, with slight hoary edgings. Bill and feet black. Length 4.00 or less; wing scarcely or not 2.00; tail 2.00 or more; bill 0.25; tarsus 0.60. Young birds do not dif- fer materially. There is considerable variation in the precise shade of the body, but the brown cap always differs in color from the rest of the up- per parts. Pacific coast region of the U.S. P. plum/beus. (Lat. plumbeus, lead-colored.) PLUMBEOUS BUSH-TIT. 6%: Clear plumbeous, with little or no olive or brownish shade; top of head not different from the back; sides of head pale brownish. Bade piibantsiias ones Fie. 140.— Least Bush-tit and nest, about 2 nat. size. (Ad nat. del. H. W. mmimus, but clearer. Elliott.) Tail longer than wings. Eyes yellow or dark brown. Length about 4.25; wing 1.88-2.12; tail 2.25-2.50; bill 0.25; tarsus 0.60. Very closely related to P. minimus; but specimens are readily distin- guishable. Total length greater, owing to elongation of the tail, which sometimes exceeds the wings by 0.50. General coloration clearer and purer; crown not different in color from the back, but cheeks brownish in obvious contrast. Southern Rocky Mt. region, from Wyoming and Nevada southward; common in Arizona. P. melano'tis. (Gr. peas, melas, gen. pedavos, melanos, black; ots, ows, gen. ards, Otos, ear.) BLACK-EARED BusuH-Tit. @, adult: Sides of head broadly black with greenish lustre, the 26. SITTIDA: NUTHATCHES. 269 bands meeting narrowly across the chin, and nearly meeting on the nape. Crown and nape clear ash. Back hair-brown. Wings and tail fuscous, with narrow pale ashy edgings of the feathers ; outer webs and tips of outer tail-feathers, and inner webs of many wing-feathers, whitish. Below, white, pure on throat and sides of neck, thence passing through lavender- gray to rusty-brownish on flanks and ecrissum. Bill and feet black; iris brown. 9 unknown: probably not different. Young quite similar, having glossy black on the head before they are fully feathered, but the black does not at first meet on the chin. Length about 4.00; wing 1.90; tail 2.25; bill 0.25, compressed, with very convex culmen and nearly straight under out- line; tarsus 0.60; middle toe and claw 0.45. A neat little tom-thumb, native of Mexico, N. to Arizona and probably farther, rare; I have seen but three specimens. . AURI/PARUS. (Lat. aw, of gold, and parus, a tit; fromthe yellowhead.) Goup-TiTs. Head not crested. Wings pointed, the 2d quill being little shorter than the 3d; the Ist spurious. Tail little rounded, decidedly shorter than the wings. Bill not typically parme — extremely acute, with straight or slightly concave under outline, and barely convex culmen, thus resem- bling that of a Helminthophaga ; longer and slenderer than usual in Parineé ; nostrils scarcely concealed by the imperfect ruff. Tarsi relatively shorter than in the preceding genera. Bright colors on head (yellow) and wing (red). Plumage comparatively compact; sexes alike, but young very different from the adult. Size very small. General form sylvicoline. Nest globular, woven. Eggs spotted. One species. A. fla’viceps. (Lat. flaviceps, yellow-head.) Goup-Tir. ¢ 9: Upper parts ashy ; under parts whitish ; wings and tail dusky, with hoary edging. Whole head rich yellow. Lesser wing-coverts chestnut-red. Bill dark plumbeous; feet plumbeous. Length 4.00-4.25 ; wing 1.80—-2.00; tail 1.75-2.25. Young without red on wing or yellow on-head; thus obscure objects, known, however, by their generic characters. Adults vary in having the yellow heightened to orange, or dull and greenish; the red sometimes heematitic; and the shade of the ashy clear and pure, or dull and brownish. Valley of the Rio Grande and Colorado, and Lower California ; abundant in chaparral, building in bushes a great globular nest of twigs, lined with down and feathers; eggs 4-6, pale bluish speckled with brown, 0.60 X 0.45. 4, Family SITTID4: Nuthatches. Bill subeylindrical, tapering, compressed, slender, acute, nearly or about as long as the head, culmen and commissure about straight, gonys long, convex, ascending (giving a sort of | recurved look to a really straight bill). Nostrils rounded, concealed by bristly tufts. Wings long, pointed, with 10 primaries, the 1st very short or spurious; tail much shorter than wings, broad, soft, nearly even; tarsus shorter than the middle toe and claw, scutellate in front; toes all long, with large, much curved, compressed claws; Ist toe and claw about equal to the 3d ; 2d and 4th toes very unequal in length. Plumage compact; body flattened ; tongue horny, acute, barbed. Nuthatches are amongst the most nimble and adroit of creepers ; they scramble about and hang in every conceivable attitude, head downwards as often as otherwise. This is done, too, without any help from the tail, — the whole tarsus being often applied to the sup- port. They are chiefly insectivorous, but feed also on hard fruits; and get their English name from their habit of sticking nuts and seeds in cracks in bark, and hammering away with the bill till they break the shell. They are very active and restless little birds, quite sociable, often going in troops, which keep up a continual noise ; lay 4-6 white, spotted eggs, in hollows of trees. The family, as conventionally framed, is a small one, of less than thirty species, among them a single remarkable Madagascar form (Hypositta), a genus peculiar to Australia (Sittella), and another confined to New Zealand (Acanthisitta) : but some of these (especially Acanthisitta) may not be Sittide at all, and in any event the family is chiefly represented by the genus Sitta, with some fifteen species of Europe, Asia, and North America. 270 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSHERES— OSCINES. 17. SIT’TA. (Kat. sitta, Gr. cirra, name of a bird. Fig. 141.) Typrcan NUTHATCHES. Characters practically those given under head of the family. Analysis of Species and Varieties. White below, the crissum washed with rusty-brown ; cap glossy black, without stripes. Bill stouter, 0.18-0.20 deep at base. Inner secondaries boldly variegated with black. Eastern carolinensis 5T Bill slenderer, 0.12-0.16 deep.at base. Inner secondaries scarcely variegated with blackish. Western aculeata 58 Rusty-brown below ; cap glossy black with white stripes, or color ofthe back . .. . . . .canadensis 59 Rusty-brown or brownish-white below ; cap brown, unlike back, without stripes. Crown clear hair-brown ; a white spot on nape ; middle tail-feathers plain. Southeastern . pusilla 60 Crown dull brownish, with darker border ; little or no white on nape ; middle tail-feathers with black /Southwestern poh i fies PES ia 1S phi co ak eRe singe yee aS RD ene EIN 02) UCL CL Oe 6 \\ ( (i iy) NN AY ——S— le VA 43 f aT he hia i a oO LAE wa Fe og ps } ) f-: 3s 1 BN\\e 4 T. \ 0 ee a = ox fiw FA LA Sf Hl 1 \ i . f a ty Ni Sak Fic. 141. — European Nuthatch, Sitta cesia (resembling S. pusilla), nearly nat. size. (From Brehm.) 57. S. carolinen’sis. (Lat. of Carolina. ‘Fig. 142.) Caro~inA NUTHATCH. WHITE-BELLIED NurHatcu. 4, adult: Upper parts, central tail- feathers, and much edging of the wings, clear ashy- * blue; whole crown, nape, and back of the neck, glossy black. Under parts, including sides of neck and head to above eyes, dull white, more or less marked on the flanks and crissum with rusty-brown. Wings and their coverts blackish, much edged as already said, and with an oblique bar of white on the outer webs of the pri- maries towards their ends; concealed bases of primaries white; under wing-coverts mostly blackish; bold bluish Fia. 142. —Carolina Nuthatch, nat. size. 5 F . ° : (Ad nat. del. E. C.) and black variegation of the inner secondaries. Tail, 58. 59. 60. 61. SITTIDA: NUTHATCHES. Zyl excepting the two middle feathers, black, each feather marked with white in increasing amount, the outer web of the lateral feather being mostly white. Bill blackish-plumbeous, pale at the base below. Feet dark brown. Iris brown. Length 5.50-6.00; extent 10.50-11.00; wing 3.50; tail 1.75; bill about 0.66 long, 0.18-0.20 deep at base. Q : Similar; black of head imperfect, mixed or overlaid with the color of the back, or altogether restricted to the nape. Eastern U. 8. and British Provinces, resident, abundant in woodland, where its curious quank, quank, quank may often be heard as the nimble bird hops up and down the tree-trunks. Nest in holes, often excavated by the birds with infinite labor, lined with fur, feathers, grasses, ete. ; eggs numerous, 0.80 X 0.60, white, profusely speckled with reddish and lilac. S.c. aculea/ta. (Lat. aculeata, sharpened ; referring to the slender bill.) SLENDER-BILLED Nutruatcu. Like the last; bill slenderer, 0.12—0.16 deep at base. Inner secondaries scarcely or not variegated with blackish, and general tone of coloration duller. Woodland of Middle and Western provinces of the U. S., common, replacing No. 57. S. canaden’sis. (Lat. of Canada, an Iroquois word. Fig. 143.) ReD-BELLInD NUTHATCH. CanapA Nuruarcu. 4, adult: Upper parts leaden-blue (brighter than in S. carolinensis), the central tail-feathers the same ; wings fuscous, with slight ashy edgings and concealed white bases of the primaries. Entire under parts rusty-brown, very variable in shade, from rich fulvous to brownish-white, usually palest on the throat, deepest on the sides and crissum; tail-feathers, except the middle pair, black, the lateral marked with white. Whole top : and side of head and neck glossy black, that of the side appear- ane, 12 Camedia Wintihevidn, ing as a broad bar through the eye from bill to side of neck, Mat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) cut off from that of the crown by a long white superciliary stripe, which meets its fellow across the forehead. Bill dark plumbeous, paler below; feet plumbeous-brown. Length 4.50-4.75 ; extent 8.00-8.50; wing 2.60; tail 1.50; bill 0.50. @Q: Crown like the back; lateral stripe on the head merely blackish. The under parts average paler than those of the @, but there is no constancy about this. Young birds resemble the Q. ‘Temperate N. Am., common, in woodland; habits like those of No. 57; eggs similar, smaller, 0.65 X 0.54. S. pusil/la. (Lat. pusilla, puerile, petty. Fig. 144.) BROWN-HEADED NuTHATCH. @ Q: No black cap or white stripe on head. Upper parts dull ashy-blue; under parts sordid or muddy whitish. Cap clear hair-brown. A decided spot of white on the middle of the nape, in the brown cap, which on the sides of the head includes the eyes, and is bordered with dusky. Middle tail-feathers like back, without black, and with little or no white. Small: length scarcely 4.00; extent about 8.00; wing 2.50; tail 1.25; tarsus 0.60; bill about 0.50. South Atlantic and Gulf States; N. to Virginia and Ohio. Habits of the other species: eggs 0.60 X 0.50, very heavily _ , speckled with dark reddish-brown. Prey My gba pen NG aaa) ected S. pygme/a. (Gr. muvyyun, pugme, the fist; Lat. pygmeus, a hatch, nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) pygmy, fistling, or tom-thumb.) Pyeamy Nuruatcu. ¢ 92: Upper parts ashy-blue, and wings with slight if any markings (as in canadensis), though some outer primaries may be narrowly edged with white. Whole top of head, nape, and sides of head to below eyes, olive- brown, the lateral borders of this patch blackish; an obsolete whitish patch on the nape. Central tail-feathers like the back, but with a long white spot, and their outer webs black at base; other tail-feathers blackish, with white marks, and often also tipped with the color of the back. Entire under parts ranging from muddy-white to smoky-brown or rich rusty, vearly or quite as intense as in S. canadensis; flanks and crissum shaded with a dull wash of the color of the back. Bill and feet dark plumbeous, the former paler at base below. Iris black. 212 SYSTHMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSHRES — OSCINES. Size of the last. Young: Differs much as the 2 of canadensis does from the Gio TD having the top of the head like the back. U.S. from the Rocky Mts. to the Pacific, abundant, chiefly in pine woods; N. to Vancouver. Eggs 6-7, white, profusely speckled with reddish, 0.62 0.50. o. Family CERTHIID 42: Creepers. A very small, well-marked group, of about a dozen species, and four or five genera, which fall in two sections, commonly called subfamilies ; one of these, Zichodromine, is represented by the well-known European Wall Creeper, Zichodroma muraria, and several (chiefly Aus- tralian) species of the genus Chimacteris; while the genus Certhia, with five or six species or varieties, and certain allied genera (all but one Old World) constitute the RAY \\ ‘Sh . \OAN oN \ A \ . N S XC Fie. 145.— Common Brown Creeper, Certhia familiaris, nearly nat. size. (From Brehm.) 8. Subfamily CERTHIINAE: Typical Creepers. Our species may be known on sight, among North American Oscines, by its rigid, acume- mate tail-feathers, like a woodpecker’s. Besides: — bill about equal in length to head, ex- tremely slender, sharp, and decurved; nostrils exposed ; no rictal bristles; tarsus scutellate, shorter than 3d toe and claw, which is connate for the whole of the Ist joint with both 2d and 4th toe; lateral toes of unequal lengths, Ist toe shorter than its claw; claws all much curved and very sharp; wing 10-primaried, the lst primary very short, not one-half the 2d, which is less than the 3d; point of wing formed by 3d, 4th, and 5th quills; tail rounded, equal to or longer than wing, of 12 stout, elastic, curved, acuminate feathers. Restless, active, little forest birds that make a living by picking bugs out of cracks in bark. In scrambling about they use the tail as woodpeckers do, and never hang head downwards, like the nuthatches. Lay numer- ous white, speckled eggs in knotholes; are not regularly migratory; have slight seasonal or sexual changes of plumage ; are chiefly insectivorous, and not noted for musical ability. 18. 62. 62a. TROGLODYTIDA): WRENS. 213 CER/THIA. (Lat. certhiws, a creeper. Fig. 146.) Characters as above. The stock-form of this genus varies according to locality. European varieties sometimes recognized are C. coste and C. britannica. The N. Am. bird, which is in- separable from the European, has been called C. rufa, fusca, and americana, for Eastern specimens, C. montana for those from the Rocky Mt. region, and C. occidentalis for those from the Pacific coast region. The Mexican form, C. mexicana, differs more appreciably, as below given. C. familia/ris. (Lat. familiaris, from familia, family; domestic, home-like. Fig. 145.) Brown CREEPER. é Q: Upper parts dark brown, chang- Fic. 146. — Head, foot, and tail-feather of Cer- IMeMLO TUSty = bro wmlonNEthelNamump,) everywhere s (cr Bat size, (kd nat. del. H.C.) streaked with ashy-white. An obscure whitish superciliary stripe. Under parts dull whitish, sometimes tinged with rusty on the flanks and crissum. Wing-coverts and quills tipped with white, the inner secondaries also with white shaft-lines, which, with the tips, contrast with the blackish of their outer webs. Wings also twice crossed with white or tawny-white, the ante- rior bar broad aud occupying both webs of the feathers, the other only on the outer webs near their ends. Tail grayish-brown, darker along the shaft and at the ends of the feathers, some- times showing shsolete transverse bars, Bill blackish above, mostly flesh-colored or yellowish below; feet brown; iris dark brown. Length of ¢ 5.25-5.75; extent 7.50-8.00 ; wing 2.50; more or less; tail usually a little longer than the wing, sometimes not so, 2.50 to nearly 3.00; farsus about 0.60; bill 0.65-0.75 ; Q averaging smaller than @. Temperate N. Am., in wood- land, abundant, generally seen winding spirally up the trunks and larger branches of trees. C.f. mexica/na. (Lat. of Mexico.) MbexicAN CreppEr. Differs in lacking light tips of the primary coverts, and general richer coloration, the brown more rusty ; rump bright chestnut ; under parts grayish. Mexico, to S. W. border of the U.S. (Not in Check List, 1882; since ascertained to inhabit Arizona.) 6. Family TROGLODYTIDA: Wrens. Embracing a number of forms assembled in considerable variety, and difficult to detine with precision. Closely related to the last three fami- lies; known from these by non-acuminate tail- feathers and exposed nostrils. Very intimately resembling, in particular, the mocking group of thrushes— those with scutellate tarsi and not strictly spurious Ist primary; but all our wrens are smaller than any of the Mime, and other- wise distinguished by less deeply cleft toes —as stated on p. 248; ‘‘ the inner toe is united by half = its basal joint to the middle toe, sometimes by Fie. 147. —European Wren. (From Dixon.) the whole of this jomt; and the second joint of the outer toe enters wholly or partially into this union, instead of the basal only.” Nostrils narrowly or broadly oval, exposed, overhung by a scale; bill moderately or very slender, Straight or slightly decurved, from half as long to about as long as the head, unnotched in all our genera; no evident rictal bristles; wings short, more or less rounded, with 10 primaries, the lst short, but not strictly spurious; tail of variable length, much or little rounded, of broad or narrow feathers, often held over the back. ‘Tarsi scutellate, sometimes behind as well as in front. 18 274 SYSTHMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSHRES — OSCINES. Excepting some Old World forms of doubtful affinity, and the species of Anorthura proper, the Troglodytide are confined to America; and if thus restricted are susceptible of better definition. About one hundred species or varieties are recognized, usually referred to about sixteen genera, most of which belong to tropical America, where the group reaches its maxi- mum development, — over twenty species of Campylorhynchus being described, for instance. Of North American genera, Campylorhynchus, Catherpes and Salpinctes are confined to the West, and represent a section distinguished by the breadth of the tail-feathers, which widen toward the end. Species of all our other genera are common and familiar eastern birds, much alike in disposition, manners, and habits; the house wren typifies these. They are sprightly, fearless, and impudent little creatures, apt to show bad temper when they fancy themselves aggrieved by cats or people, or anything else that is big and unpleasant to them; they quarrel a good deal, and are particularly spiteful towards martins and swallows, whose homes they often invade and oceupy. Their song is bright and hearty, and they are fond of their own music; when disturbed at it they make a great ado with noisy scolding. Part of them live in reedy swamps and marshes, where they hang astonishingly big globular nests, with a little hole in one side, on tufts of rushes, and lay six or eight dark colored eggs; the others nest any- where, in shrubbery, knotholes, hollow stumps, and other odd nooks. Nearly all are migratory; one is stationary ; one comes to us in the fali from the north, the rest in spring from the south. Insectivorous, and very prolific, layimg several sets of eggs each season. Plainly colored, the browns being the usual colors; no red, blue, yellow, or green in any of our species. Analysis of Subfamilies, Genera, and Species. CAMPYLORHYNCHIN®. Feet not strictly laminiplantar, the lateral plates divided, or not perfectly fused in one. Tail broad, fan-shaped, the individual feathers widening toward the end. Very large; length about 8 inches. Tarsus decidedly scutellate behind. Lateral toes of equal lengths. Above streaked with white, below spotted with black. .. . . .. . ~. - Campylorhynchus Black and white bars of tail chiefly on outer webs of the eeninons 5 0 0 0 o 0 Cb WrKeCKoCDOUIS G3 Black and white bars of tail chiefly on both webs of the feathers . . . 5 0 0 6 Coane «CL Smaller, about 6.00 long. Tarsus scutellate behind. Lateral toes of unequal iloawatine Salpinctes (S. obsoletus) 65 Smaller, about 5.50 long. Tarsus scarcely scutellate behind. Lateral toes of unequal lengths Catherpes (C. mexicanus) 66, 67 TROGLODYTIN®. Feet strictly laminiplantar, as usual in Oscines. Tail thin, with narrow parallel-edged feathers. Wings and tail more or less completely barred cross-wise. Large. Upper parts uniform in color, without streaks or bars; rump with concealed white spots. Belly unmarked ; a conspicuous superciliary stripe. Tail shorter or not longer than the wing, all the feathers brown, distinctly barred Thryothorus (T. ludovicianus) - 68, 69, 70 Tail decidedly longer than the wing, blackish, not fully barred on all the feathers Thryothorus (T. bewicki) 71, Te WR Small. Upper parts not uniform, the back being more or less distinctly barred cross-wise; wings, tail, and flanks fully barred. Tail about equal to the wing, the outstretched feet reaching scarcely or not beyond its end Troglodytes (T. domesticus) 74, 74 Tail decidedly shorter than the wing, the outstretched feet reaching far beyond its end Anorthura (A. troglodytes) 76, 77, 78 Small. Upper parts not uniform, the back being streaked length-wise ; flanks scarcely or not barred. Bill about 2 as long as head; crown plain; streaks of back confined to interscapular region Telmatodytes (T. palustris) 79, 8A Bill scarcely or not 4 as long as head; crown streaked, like the whole back Cistothorus (C. stellaris) 84 9. Subfamily CAMPYLORHYNCHINA: Fan.-tailed Wrens. For characters of this group and analysis of its genera, see above. 19. CAMPYLORHYN’/CHUS. (Gr. kayrtdos, kampulos, bent; puyxos, rhugchos, beak.) Cac- TUS WRENS. Of largest size in this family; length about 8.00 inches. Tarsus scutellate behind. ateral toes of equal lengths. Wings and tail of about equal lengths. Tail broad, ( OT ee 64. 20. 65. TROGLODYTIDA — CAMPYLORHYNOHINZA: FAN-TAILED WRENS. 2710 with wide feathers. Tarsus a little longer than the middle toe and claw. Upper parts with sharp white streaks on a brown ground; under parts boldly spotted with black on a white ground; tail-feathers barred with black and white. C. brunneicapil/lus. (Lat. brunneus, brown; capillus, hair.) BROWN-HEADED CAOTUS Wren. 6, adult: Back grayish-brown, marked with black and white, each feather having a central white field several times indented with black. Whole crown of head and nape rich dark wood-brown, immaculate. A long white superciliary stripe from nostril to nape. Beneath, nearly pure white anteriorly, gradually shading behind into decided cinnamon-brown — the throat and fore part of the breast marked with large, crowded, rounded black spots, the rest of the under parts with small, sparse, oval or linear black spots, again enlarging on the crissum. Wings darker and more fuscous-brown than the back; all the quills with a series of numerous white or whitish indentations along the edge of both webs. Central tail-feathers like the wings, with numerous more or less incomplete blackish bars; other tail-feathers blackish, the outer with several broad white bars on both webs; the rest with usually only a single com- plete white bar near the end. Bill dark plumbeous, paler below; iris orange. Length near 8.00; wing 3.50; tail rather longer; bill 0.80; tarsus 1.00; middle toe and claw 0.90. @Q, adult: Quite like the @, but the spots on the throat and breast rather smaller, therefore less crowded, and less strongly contrasting with the sparse speckling of the rest of the under parts. Young: Similar to the adult on the upper parts, but the throat whitish with little speckling; scarcely any spots on the rest of the under parts, which are, however, as decidedly cinnamon as those of the adults. Southwestern U. S.,— Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, southern Utah and Nevada, and portions of California; common in cactus and chaparral, building a large purse-shaped nest in bushes; eggs about 6, 1.00 X 0.68, white, uniformly and minutely dotted with salmon-color. (if not C. brunmeicapillus Lafr., this will stand as C, couesi Sharpe, Cat. 183% WWlWSag Wily Wster4, [Oo IES.) C. affi/nis. (Lat. affims, affined, allied; ad, and fims.) Sr. Lucas Cactus Wren. Sim- ilar to the last. Cap reddish-brown, lighter instead of darker than the back. Markings of back very conspicuous, in strong streaks of black and white, these two colors bordering each other with little or no indentation. Under parts nearly white, the black spots, though con- spicuous, not enlarged and crowded on the breast, but more regularly distributed. All the lateral tail-feathers, instead of only the outer ones, crossed on both webs with numerous com- plete white bars. The variations with sex and age correspond with those of C. brunneicapillus. Lower California. Nest and eggs as before. (According to Sharpe, J. ¢., this is C. brun- neicapilius Lafr.) SALPINC'TES. (Gr. cadmykris, salpigktes, a trumpeter.) Rock WRENS. Bill about as long as head, slender, compressed, straight at base, then slightly decurved, acute at tip, faintly notched. Nostrils conspicuous, scaled, in a large fossa. Wing longer than tail; exposed portion of Ist primary about half as long as 2d, which is decidedly shorter than 3d. Tail rounded, of 12 broad plane feathers, with rounded or subtruncate ends. Feet small and weak ; tarsus longer than middle toe, scutellate pos- terrorly. Hind toe and claw shorter than middle one; lateral toes of unequal lengths, the outer. wie. 148. — Rock Wigs; meescta, UNA ain longest, both very short, the tips of their claws del. E.C.) falling short of base of middle claw. Only one species known. S. obsole’tus. (Lat. obsoletus, unaccustomed; ob, and soleo, Jam wont; hence obsolete, effaced, the coloration being dull and diffuse. Fig. 148.) Rock Wren. @ Q, adult: Upper parts pale brownish-gray, minutely dotted with blackish and whitish points together, and usually 21. 66. 67. 276 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES — OSCINES. showing obsolete wavy bars of dusky. Rump cinnamon-brown ; a whitish superciliary line. Beneath, soiled white, shading behind into pale cinnamon, the throat and breast obsoletely streaked, and the under tail-coverts barred, with dusky. Quills of the wings rather darker than the back, with similar markings on the outer webs. Middle tail-feathers like the back, with many dark bars of equal width with the lighter ones; lateral tail-feathers similarly marked on the outer webs, plain on the inner webs, with a broad subterminal black bar on both webs, and cinnamon-brown tips, the latter usually marbled with dusky ; outer feathers with several black- ish and cinnamon bars ou both webs. Bill and feet dark horn color, the former paler at base below. Length 5.50-6.00; wing 2.60-2.80; tail 2.20-2.40; bill 0.66-0.75 ; tarsus 0.75-0.80. Most of the markings blended and diffuse. Shade of upper parts variable, from dull grayish to a more plumbeous shade, often with a faint pinkish tinge. Specimens in worn and faded plu- mage may fail to show the peculiar dotting with black and whitish ; but in these the cross- wise dusky undulation, as well as the streaks on the breast, are commonly more distinct than in fresher-feathered examples. The rufous tinge of the under parts is very variable in shade ; that of the rump, however, being always well marked. Western U. 8., E. to lowa; common, haunting rocky places, where it is conspicuous by its restlessness and loud notes; nest of any rubbish in a rocky nook ; eggs numerous, 5-8, of crystalline whiteness, sparsely sprinkled with reddish-brown dots, 0.75 < 0.62. CATHER’PES. (Gr. kaGepmns, katherpes, a creeper; xara, kata, down, éprw, herpo, I creep.) CANON WRENS. Bill singularly attenuate, about as long as head, nearly straight in all its outlines, with such direction of its axis that the bill as a whole appears continuous with the line of the forehead. Tarsus not longer than middle toe and claw, with tendency to subdivision of the lateral tarsal plate. Lateral toes of unequal lengths, the outer longest. Wings and tail as in Salpwnctes, and general features, even to system of coloration, much the same as in that genus. One known species, with several varieties. C. mexica/nus. MEXICAN CANON WREN. Similar to the form next described; much darker colored both above and below, with sharper contrast of the white throat; the white speckling mostly restricted to the back and wings; the black tail-bars broader and more regular, and the light markings of the wings mere indentations instead of complete bars. Bill straight, more abruptly decurved at extreme tip. Feet stouter, dark brown. Size greater; length about 6.00; wing 2.80; tail 2.40; bill nearly 1.00 long, only about 0.12 deep at base. Specimens vary much in sharpness and extensiveness of the speckling of the upper parts. In best-marked cases, the spots quite white, almost lengthened into streaks, each one completely set in black ; other examples, small, sparse and restricted, these specimens also showing wavy transverse in bars of blackish. Mexico, to Texan border. C. m. consper/sus. (Lat. conspersus, speckled.) SPECKLED CANON WREN. J Q, adult: Upper parts brown, paler and grayer anteriorly, behind shading insensibly into rich rufous, everywhere dotted with small dusky and whitish spots. Tail clear cinnamon-brown, crossed with numerous very narrow and mostly zigzag black bars. Wing-quills dark brown, the outer webs of the primaries and both webs of the inner secondaries barred with the color of the back. Chin, throat, and fore breast, with lower half of the side of the head and neck, pure white, shading behind through ochraceous-brown into rich deep ferruginous, and posteriorly obsoletely waved with dusky and whitish. Bill slate-colored, paler and more livid below; feet black ; iris brown. Length about 5.50; extent 7.50; wing 2.30; tail 2.12; tarsus 0.60; bill 0.80. Throughout New Mexico and Arizona, and portions of Texas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California; N. to at least 40°. A remarkable bird, famous for its ringing notes, inhabiting cations and other rocky places. Nesting and eggs like those of the rock wren; eggs 5 or more, 0.75 X 0.55, erystal white, fairly sprinkled and blotched with reddish-brown. C. m. punctula/tus. (Lat. punctulatus, dotted.) Dorrep CANON WREN. Smaller than either of the foregoing: length about 5.00; wing 2.10; tail 1.90; bill 0.75. Coloration inter- | 22. 68. 69. 70. 71. TROGLODYTIDA — TROGLODYTINA: TRUE WRENS. AAU mediate ; upper parts most like those of C. conspersws, and wings completely barred as in that species ; but under parts posteriorly dusky ferruginous (dark mahogany color), and tail-bars broad, firm, and regular, as in mexicanus proper. Coast region of California. The type speci- men, the only one I have seen, for some years in my cabinet and now No. 82,715, Mus. 8. L., seems to be recognizably distinct ; but all the forms of the genus intergrade. (Not in Check List, 1882; since described by Ridgway, Pr. Nat. Mus., v., 1882, p. 343.) 10. Subfamily TROGLODYTIN/-: True Wrens. See characters and analysis of this group on p. 274. THRYOTHO’RUS. (Gr. Opvov, thruon, a reed, and Oovpos, thouros, leaping.) RED WRENS. Of largest size in this subfamily ; length 5.50-6.00. Back uniform in color, without streaks or bars; wings and tail more or less barred crosswise; belly unmarked; a long superciliary stripe ; rump with concealed white spots. Hggs colored. Tail not longer than wings, like back in color, and barred, in Thryothorus proper. . . . . Nos. 68, 69, 70 Tail longer than wings, blackish, not fully barred, in Thryomanes.. .......... . 1,72, 78 T. ludovicia/nus. (Lat. Ludovicianus, Louisiana; of Ludovicus, Louis XIV., of France. Fig. 149.) Great CAROLINA WREN. Upper parts uniform reddish-brown, brightest on the rump, where are concealed whitish spots; a long whitish superciliary line, usually bordered with dusky streaks ; upper surfaces of wings and tail like back, barred with dusky, the outer edges of the primaries and lateral tail-feathers showing whitish spots. Below, rusty or muddy whitish, clearest anteriorly, deepening behind, the under tail-coverts reddish-brown barred with blackish. Wing-coverts usually with dusky and whitish tips. Feet livid flesh-colored. Length 6.00; extent nearly 7.50; wing 2.40; tails 2225):)) bill) 0.65)5) tarsus) 0575. . astern U.S., southerly; N. regularly to the Middle States, rarely to Massachusetts; resident as far north at least as Washington. A common and well-known inhabitant of shrubbery, with a loud ringing song; shy and secretive. Nest in any nook about out-buildings, or in shrubbery, when in the latter usually roofed over, of the most miscellaneous materials; eggs 6—7, white, profusely speckled and blotched with shades of Fre. 149. —Great Carolina Wren, reduced. (From reddish, brown, and purplish; 0.72 x 0.60. mutta jatveh udu ben.) T.1. miamien/sis. (Of the Miami River, Florida.) FLORIDAN WREN. Similar: larger, stouter, and more deeply-colored, especially below, where nearly uniform rusty-brown. Wing 2.75; tail 2.60; bill 0.90; tarsus 0.95. Florida; a local race. T. 1. berlan/dieri. (To Dr. Louis Berlandier.) TEXAN Wren. Similar: smaller; length 5.25; wing 2.25; tail 2.12. Coloration darker than in typical ludovicianus, especially below; flanks as well as crissum barred with dusky; tail-bars broken up into irregular nebulation. Valley of the Rio Grande; a local race. T. be/wicki. (To Thomas Bewick.) Brwick’s Wren. Above, dark grayish-brown; below, ashy-white, with a brownish wash on the flanks. Rump with concealed whitish spots. A long whitish superciliary stripe from nostrils to nape. Under tail-coverts dark-barred; two middle tail-feathers like back, with numerous fine black bars; others black with whitish T2. 73. 23. 74. 75. 24. 76. 278 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES — OSCINES. markings on the outer webs and tips. Length about 5.50; extent 6.75; wing 2.00-2.12; tail 2.385; bill 0.50; tarsus 0.75. Eastern U.S., southerly, N. to the Middle States and Minnesota. Not very common in the Atlantic States, but so abundant as to replace the house wren in some parts of the interior. Nest im holes in trees, stumps, fences, ete.; eggs white, finely dotted and spotted, resembling those of Catherpes or Salpinetes. T. b. leucogas/ter. (Gr. Neveos, leukos, white; yaornp, gaster, belly.) WHITE-BELLIED WreN. Above, uniform clear ashy-brown; below, clear ashy-white; pure white on the middle parts. A long, strong, white superciliary stripe; auriculars speckled with white. Con- cealed white spots on the rump. Quills of the wings fuscous, the inner feathers very obsoletely waved with the color of the back. ‘Two middle tail-feathers closely barred with pure dark ash and black; others black, with irregular white or ashy-white tips, the outer web of the exterior feather barred with white. Length 5.50-5.75 inches; extent 6.75; wing 2.00-2.33; tail 2.25-2.50; bill 0.50; tarsus 0.75. Southwestern U. 8.; a well-marked geographical race. T. b. spilu/rus? (Gr. omidos, spilos, spotted; ovpa, oura, tail.) SPECKLED-TAILED WREN. Similar to No. 71, and scarcely distinguishable; bill said to be longer, 0.60. Pacific Coast. TROGLO/DYTES. (Gr. tpwydodutns, troglodutes, a cave-dweller.) Housk Wrens. Of small size; no decided superciliary line. Upper parts not uniform in color, the back more or less distinctly barred crosswise ; wings, tail, and flanks fully barred crosswise; tail about equal to wing in length, the outstretched feet scarcely or not reaching beyond its end. Eggs colored. T. domes'ticus. (Lat. domesticus, domestic; domus, a house.) Eastern House WReN. Brown, brighter behind; below rusty-brown, or grayish-brown, or even grayish-white ; every- where waved with darker shade, very plainly on wings, tail, flanks, and under tail-coverts; breast apt to be darker than either throat or belly; bill shorter than head, about 0.50; wings and tail nearly equal, about 2.00, but ranging from 1.90 to 2.10; total length 4.50-5.25, averaging about 4.90; extent about 6.75. Exposed portion of 1st primary about one-half as long as longest primary. Eastern U.S., N. to Canada, W. to Dakota; very abundant anywhere in shrubbery, gardens, and about dwellings, where its active, sprightly, and fearless demeanor, together with its hearty trilling song, bring it into friendly notoriety. Nest of any trash in a hole of a build- ing, fence, tree, or stump; eggs 6-9, 0.65 X 0.55, profusely and uniformly studded with minute points of brown, often rendering an almost uniform color; two or three broods each season. Resident in the South, migratory farther north. T. d. park/mani. (To Dr. Geo. Parkman, of Boston.) WESTERN House WReEN. Brown above, little brighter on rump, nearly everywhere waved with dusky, strongest on wings and tail, but usually appreciable on the whole back. Below brownish-white, nearly white on belly, obseurely variegated with darker markings, which, on the flanks and crissum, become stronger bars, alternating with brown and whitish ones. Bill blackish above, pale below ; feet brown. Length 5.00-5.25; extent 6.75; wing and tail about 2.10. Exposed portion of lst primary about one-half as long as 2d primary. Western U.S., from the Plains to the Pacific, abun- dant, there replacing 7. domesticus, to which it is so similar; but on an average paler and grayer, with rather longer wings and tail. ANORTHU/RA. (Gr. dv, an, signifying negation ; é6p66s, orthos, straight ; odpa, oura, tail. Fig. 147.) Winrer Wrens. Like Troglodytes proper, but tail decidedly shorter than wings, the outstretched feet reaching far beyond its end. Eggs colored. A, troglo/dytes hiema/lis. (Lat. hiemalis, wintry; hiems, winter. Fig. 150.) WINTER WREN. ‘Above brown, darker before, brighter behind, most of back, together with tail and inner wing- quills, banded with dusky, the markings obsolete on the back, where usually accompanied by whitish specks, strongest on the wings and tail. Outer webs of several primaries regularly barred with brownish-white, in marked contrast with the other bars of the wings. An incon- spicuous whitish superciliary line. Below brownish, paler or whitish anteriorly, the belly, flanks, and crissum heavily waved with dusky and whitish bars. Bill slender, straight, decidedly 80. TROGLODYTIDAi— TROGLODYTINA): TRUE WRENS. Zi) shorter than the head. Tail much shorter than the wings. Length 3.90-4.10; extent 6.00- 6.50; wing 1.75; tail 1.25; bill 0.40; tarsus, middle toe, and claw together, about 1.12. N. Ain. at large, common, migratory, breed- ing from New England and corresponding latitudes northward, wintering in the U.S., the strict representative of the European wren. Nest of twigs, moss, lichens, hair, feathers, ete., usually in-a stump or log close to the ground; eggs 5-8, 0.65 & 0.48, pure white, minutely dotted with reddish- brown and purplish. A sly, secretive little bird, less often seen than other wrens no less common; voice strong and highly musical. A. t. paci/ficus? (Lat. pacificus, pacific, Fie, 150.— Winter Wren, little reduced. (Baird’s peace-making; pax and facio; alluding to gue et A cuecensis;) “the stilly sea.”) WESTERN WINTER WREN. Like the last: darker, in lack of the whitish specks of the upper parts, and whitish bars on outer webs of the primaries; but very slightly distinguished. Pacific Coast region. A. t. alascen’sis. (Of Alaska.) ALASKAN WINTER WREN. Like the common species in form and coloration; larger; size of a house wren; wing 2.00—2.20; tail 1.50; tarsus 0.75 ; tarsus, middle toe, and claw together 1.40; bill 0.65. Culmen, gape, and gonys almost per- fectly straight, latter slightly ascending. Aleutian and Pribylov Islands, Alaska. Well dis- tinguished from the common form, and nearer the Japanese A. funugatus. TELMATO'DYTES. (Gr. redya, telma, a swamp; dvrns, dutes, an inhabitant.) MARSH WRENS. Small. Upper parts not uniform; back streaked lengthwise with white in a black patch ; flanks scarcely or not barred; crown plain; bill about two-thirds as long as head. Eggs dark. T. palus’/tris. (Lat. palustris, marshy ; palus, a marsh. Fig. 151.) Lone-BinLep MARSH WREN. Above clear brown, unbarred, the middle of the back with a large black patch sharply streaked with white (these white stripes sometimes de- ficient). Crown of head usually darker than the back, often quite blackish, and continuous with the black inter- scapular patch. A dull white superciliary lime. Wings fuscous, the inner secondaries blackish on the outer webs, often barred or indented with light brown. Tail evenly barred with fuscous and the color of the back. Under 22) parts white, usually quite pure on the belly and middle AA line of the breast and throat, but much shaded with FiG. 151. —Long-billed Marsh Wren, brown on the sides, flanks, and crissum. Bill blackish HEED RAG | (Hel eee Oley 191, (Oe) above, pale below; feet brown. Length about 5.00; extent 6.50; wing 1.75-2.00; tail about the same; bill 0.50 or more; tarsus 0.66-0.75. Temperate N. Am.; Greenland. Breeds throughout its range, and winters in the Southern States; an abundant bird, colonizing reedy swamps and marshes in large numbers, its great globular nests of plaited rushes, with a hole in the side, being affixed to the swaying herbage ; eggs 6-10, 0.58 & 0.45, very dark-colored, being so thickly dotted with chocolate-brown as to appear almost uniformly of this color. T. p. paludi/cola? (Lat. paludicola, a marsh-inhabiter; palus and colo, I cultivate.) TuLE MarsH WReEN. Searcely recognizable as distinct; bill said to be shorter, and tail and its coverts more distinctly barred. _ Pacific Coast. z06. 81. 280 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES — OSCINES. CISTOTHO’RUS. (Gr. kioros, kistos, a shrub; Oovpos, thouros, leaping.) MARSH WRENS. Like Telmatodytes; whole back and crown streaked with white. Bill scarcely or not one-half as long as head. Eggs white. C. stella/ris. (Lat. stellaris, starry; i.e., speckled. Fig. 152.) SHorT-BILLED MARSH WREN. Upper parts brown, the crown and most of the back blackish, streaked with white. Below, whitish, shaded with clear brown across the breast and along the sides, and especially on the flanks and crissum, the latter more or less indistinctly barred with dusky (often inappreci- able). A whitish line over the eye. Wings and tail marked as in the last species. Upper tail-coverts decidedly barred. Bill blackish above, whitish below, extremely small, scarcely half as long as the head; feet brown. Length 4.50; extent Z, 5.75-6.00 ; wing and tail each about 1.75; bill 0.35-0.40; FiG. 152.— Short-billed Marsh tarsus, middle toe, and claw together, about 1.12. The streak- Wren, nat. size. (Adnat.del.E.C-) ing of the head and that of the back are usually separated by a plain nuchal interval; but these are as often run together, the whole bird above being streaked with whitish and blackish upon a brown ground. The wings, tail, and entire under parts are much like those of 7. palustris, from which the species is distinguished by the mark- ings of the upper parts and extremely short bill. Chiefly Eastern U. 8. and adjoining British Provinces; W. to Utah. Migratory; winters in the Southern States. Frequents marshy places like 7. palustris, but is not common. Nesting different, and eggs white. 7. Family ALAUDIDZ: Larks. A rather small group, well detined by the character of the feet, in adaptation to terrestrial life. The subcylindrical tarsi are scutellate and blunt behind as in front, with a deep groove along the inner side, and a slight one, or none, on the outer face. That is to say, there is an anomalous structure of the tarsal envelope; the tarsus being covered with two series of scu- tella, one lapping around in front, the other around behind, the two meeting along a groove on the inner face of the tarsus, which is consequently blunt behind as well as in front. There is a simple suture of the two series of plates on the outer face of the tarsus; the individual plates of each series alternate. Other characters (shared by some Motacillide) are the very long, straight, hind claw, which equals or exceeds its digit in length; the long, pointed wings, with the lst primary spurious or apparently wanting, and the inner secondaries (‘ tertiaries ”) lengthened and flowing. The nostrils are usually concealed by dense tufts of antrorse feathers. The shape of the bill is not diagnostic, being sometimes short, stout and conic, much as in some Fringillide, while in other cases it is slenderer, and more like that of insectivorous Passeres. The family is composed, nominally, of a hundred species; with the exception of one genus and two or three species or varieties, it is confined to the Old World. Its systematic position is open to question; some place it at the end of the Oscine series, or remove it from Oscines altogether, on account of the peculiarities of the podotheeca; authors generally place it near the Fringiliide, from the resemblance of the bill of some species to that of some finches ; but it has many relationships with Motacillide, and, in the arrangement of this work, I find no better place for it than here, though it has no special affinity with the preceding families. Moreover, the fact that it appears to have indifferently 9 or 10 primaries may indicate a natural position between the sets of families in which number of primaries is among the diagnostic features. The musical apparatus is certainly well developed, as testified by the eminent vocal powers of the celebrated sky-lark of Europe. The unpractised reader must be careful not to confound the larks proper with certain birds loosely called “‘larks”; thus the titlarks, or pipits, though sharing the lengthened, straightened hind claw and elongated inner wing-quills of 82. ALAUDIDA — CALANDRITINA: SHORE LARKS. 281 Alaudide, belong to an entirely different family, the Motacilide ; while the American field- lark is one of the Icteride, much further removed. According to shape of bill, structure of nostrils, and apparent number of primaries, the family may be divided into two subfamilies, the Alawdine, typified by the celebrated sky-lark of Europe, and the Calandritine, of which the well-known horned lark is a typical representa- tive. Both of these occur in North America ; the Alauda, however, only as a straggler from Europe. CALANDRITINA, without evident spurious 1st primary, the primaries apparently only 9. ALAUDIN, with spurious 1st primary, the primaries therefore evidently 10. ~ 11. Subfamily CALANDRITINA : Shore Larks. Represented in America by the single genus eee ae Eremophila, of which there are nominally ten, Fig. 153. — Shore Lark, eh Nite, Fall (From Ten- really four or five species, one of which oceurs ney, after Baird.) in North America. EREMO'PHILA. (Gr. épjuos, eremos, a desert; piréw, phileo, 1 love.) HoRNED Larks. Primaries apparently only 9 (no obvious spurious Ist primary). Poimt of the wing formed by the first 3 developed primaries. Inner secondaries elongated. Tail of medium length, nearly even, the middle pair of feathers different in shape and color from the rest. Bill com- pressed-conoid, acute, shorter than head. Nostrils completely concealed by dense tufts of antrorse feathers. Head not crested, but a peculiar tuft of feathers over each ear, somewhat like the so-called ‘‘ horns” of some owls. Feet of ordinary alaudine characters, as already given. Coloration peculiar in the presence of yellowish tints and strong black bars on the head and breast.‘ The birds of this genus frequent open places, are strictly terrestrial in habits, and never hop when on the ground, like most Passeres ; they are migratory in most localities, and gregarious, except when breeding ; nest on the ground, and lay 4-5 speckled eggs; sing sweetly in the spring time. E. alpes/tris. (Lat. alpestris, alpine. Figs. 153, 154.) Hornep or SHore LARK. @ Q, adult, in breeding plumage: Upper parts in general pinkish-brown, this pinkish or vinaceous or liliaceous tint brightest onthe nape, lesser wing- coverts, and tail-coverts, the rest of the upper parts being duller and more grayish-brown, boldly variegated with dark brown streaks; middle pair of tail-feathers and several of the inner secondaries rufous-brown, with darker centres. Under parts, from the breast backward, white; the sides strongly washed with the color of the upper parts, and mottling of same across the lower part of the breast. A large, distinct, shield-shaped black area on the breast. ‘Tail-feathers, except the middle pair, black, the outermost edged with whitish. Wing- quills, except the innermost, plain fuscous, the outer web of the lst primary whitish. Lesser wing-coverts Fig. 154. — Shore Lark, nat. size, (Ad usually tipped with grayish-white. Top of head like ™* de! F.C.) nape; bar across front of vertex, thence extended along sides of crown, and produced into a tuft or ‘‘ horn, ” black ; front and line over eye, also somewhat produced to form part of the tuft, white or yellowish ; a broad bar from nostrils along the lores, thence curving below the eye and widening as it descends in front of the auriculars, black; rest of the sides of the head 282 SYSTHMATIC SYNOPSIS. —PASSHRES — OSCINES. and whole throat white or sulphury-yellow. Bill plumbeous-blackish, bluish-plumbeous at base below (sometimes there yellowish) ; feet and claws black; iris brown. Length of @, 7.00-7.50; extent 13.00-14.00; wing 4.25-4.50; tail 2.75-3.00; bill, from extreme base of culmen, 0.40-0.50 ; tarsus 0.88-0.90; middle toe and claw rather less; hind claw about 0.50, usually longer than its digit, but very variable. 9 commonly smaller than the @; length 6.75-7.25 ; extent 12.75-13.25; wing about 4.00, ete. @ 9, adult, in winter: As usually seen in most of the United States in the fall, winter, and early spring, differ from the above in more sordid coloration of the upper parts, which may be simply grayish-brown, heavily streaked with dusky, even on the crown, with little or none of the ‘‘ pinkish” tints; and in lack or re- striction of the black markings of the head and breast, or their being veiled with whitish tips of the individual feathers ; nevertheless, the sulphury tinge of the white parts about the head is usually very conspicuous. Fledglings have the upper parts dusky, mixed with some yellowish- brown, and sprinkled all over with whitish or light tawny dots, each feather having a terminal speck. Most of the wing- and tail-feathers have rusty, tawny, or whitish edging and tipping. The under parts are white, mottled with the colors of the upper parts along the sides and across the back; no traces of definite black markings about the head and breast, nor any yellow tinge. Bill and feet pale or yellowish. This peculiar speckled stage is of brief duration ; with an early autumnal change, a dress, little if at ail different from that of the adults in winter, is acquired. Nesting begins very early in April, or even in March, sometimes before the snow is gone, and frequently other broods are reared through the summer; nest of grasses, ete., sunken in the ground; eggs very variable in tone, but always profusely and heavily marked with brownish-gray or dark stone-gray upon a grayish or greenish-white ground; in some cases the whole surface nearly uniform. Northern hemisphere at large; in America, chiefly north- ern and eastern parts, breeding from the Northern States northward, common in flocks in the U.S. in winter; chiefly replaced in the West by the following varieties. 83. E. a. leucole/ma. (Gr. Neveds, lewkos, white; Aamos, lavmos, throat.) WESTERN SHORE) Lark. Size of the foregoing. General coloration extremely pale — brownish-gray, the peculiar pinkish tint of certain parts sharing the geueral pallor. Black markings on head and breast much restricted in extent, and white surroundings correspondingly increased — thus, the black post-frontal bar scarcely or not broader than the white of the forehead. No yellow about head, excepting usually a slight tinge on the chm. Changes of plumage parallel with those already given; even the nestlings show the same decided pallor. Prairies of Western U. S., breeding everywhere north of about 40°; very abundant. 84, E. a. chrysola/ma. (Gr. yptuecos, chruseos, golden; Napos, laimos, throat.) SoUTH-WEST- ERN SHORE LARK. Smaller than the foregoing: @ with the wing scarcely or not 4.00, and pan eee other dimensions to correspond; a very small = sete. JWYyoro specimen, probably 9, has the wing only 3.50; SSS in another, marked @, it is 3.75. The ‘ pink- ish” tinge intensified into cinnamon-brown, and pervading nearly all the upper parts; yellow of head intensified ; black markings very heavy, — ' the black on the crown widened to occupy more than half the cap, reducing the white frontlet to a mere trace. Southwestern U.S. and Mexico, breeding mostly south of 40°; abundant. te: 12. Subfamily ALAUDINAE: Sky-Larks. 22, 3 G2 GA eri Represented in America by one species, a Fie. 155.—- Sky-Lark, reduced. (From Dixon.) stragyler from the Old World. Fig. 155. 28, ALAU/DA. (Lat. alauda, a lark; supposed Celtic al, high, and aud, song.) Sky-LARKS. MOTACILLIDA: WAGTAILS AND PIPITS. 283 Primaries 10, the spurious Ist primary minute but evident. Head suberested, but without lateral ear-tufts. Wings long, pointed, the tip formed by the first 3 developed primaries ; inner secondaries long and flowing. Tail emarginate, little more than half as long as wing. Tarsus equal to middle toe and claw. Lateral toes of unequal lengths. Sexes alike. Nest on the ground. Eggs 4-5, thickly speckled. A. arven’sis. (Lat. arvensis, relating to arable land; arvwm, a ploughed field.) Sky Lark. Upper parts grayish-brown, the feathers with darker centres; under parts whitish, tinged with buff across breast and along sides, and there streaked with dusky; a pale superciliary line ; wings with much whitish edgmg; outer tail-feather mostly white, the next one or two with white borders. Length of @ 7.50; extent 14.75; wing about 4.00; tail 2.50; bill 0.50; tarsus or middle toe and claw 1.00; hind toe 0.45, its claw up to nearly 1.00. 9 smaller. This celebrated bird, whose music so often inspires the poet, occurs asa straggler from Europe in Greenland, and also, it is said, in Bermuda and Alaska. It has also been im- ported and turned out in this country, where it may perhaps become naturalized. 8. Family MOTACILLIDAL: Wagtails and Pipits. Bill shorter than the head, very slender, straight, acute, notched at tip. Nostrils not concealed by feathers, which however reach into the nasal fossee. Rictus not nota bly bristled. Primaries 9, of which the Ist is about as long as the 2d, and the first 3, 4, or 5, form the point; inner secondaries enlarged, the longest one nearly or quite equalling the primaries in the closed wing: Tail lengthened, averaging about equal to the wing. Feet long and slender; tarsus scutellate, usually longer than the middle toe and claw; inner toe cleft to the very base, but basal joint of outer toe soldered with the middle one ; hind toe bearing a long and little curved claw (except in Motacilla proper). A pretty well-defined . group of one hundred, chiefly Old == World, species, which may be ee SS Fig. 156. — Upper, White Wagtail ; lower, Yellow Wagtail. termed terrestrial Sylvias, all liv- (From Dixon.) ing mostly on the ground, where they run with facility, never hopping like most Oscines. ‘They are usually gregarious; are Insectivorous and migratory. They have gained their name from the characteristic habit of moving the tail with a peculiar see-saw motion, as if they were using it to balance themselves upon unsteady footing. ‘They may be distinguished from all the foregoing birds, except Alaudide, by having only 9 primaries ; from all the following Oscines, by having long flowing mner secondaries ; and from Alaudide, with which they agree in this respect, as well as in usually having a lengthened, straightish hind claw, by having the tarsal envelope as in Oscines generally, slender bill, and exposed nostrils. Two subfamilies are generally recog- nized, though the distinctions are scarcely more than generic. 29. 86. 86a. 30. 87. 284 SYSTHMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES — OSCINES. Analysis of Subfamilies and Genera. MoraciILLina®. Point of wing formed by first 3 primaries. Tail longer or not obviously shorter than wings, with narrow tapering feathers. Hind claw variable in length and curvature. Coloration black and white, or yellow and greenish. Tail decidedly longer than wings, doubly emarginate. Hind claw of ordinary length and curvature. Colors black, ashy, and white,in masses .. . 4 4 Motacrlla 29 Tail, if anything, shorter than wings, nearly even. “Etna dhe lenetoncal anil straightened. Colors yellow and green, in masses .. . 6 6 0 6 LeUKGOS BY ANTHIN@®. Point of wing formed by first 4 or By -nibinerslos. “Pail decidedly shai ikem wings, its feathers not tapering. Hind claw lengthened and straightened. Coloration brownish, the under parts streaked, upper usually also variegated. Tarsus not shorter (rather longer) than hind toe and claw. Tail Ca shorter than wing, the outstretched feet not reaching beyonditsend ... . o 0 0 0 4ipupus Bil Tarsus shorter than hind toe and claw. Tail only about ‘iro thir ds as fone as sine, the outstretched TEED TREO AMU AYES eNO TESOL 6 6 6 6 0 560 6 006 6 0 0 0 6 0 0 6 oo 9 0 0 ARBORS BP {S. Subfamily MOTACILLINA: Wagtails. Represented in America by two species; in the Old World by nearly fifty species or vari- eties, chiefly belonging to the genus Motacilla and its subdivisions or immediate allies, of which Budytes is one, forming a perfect connecting link between Motacilla proper and the Anthine. MOTACIL'LA. (Lat. mota-cilla, wag-tail; name of some small bird.) Wirt WAGTAILS. Tail much longer than wings, of 12 narrow, weak, tapering or almost linear feathers. First 3 primaries about equal and longest; longest secondary (when full grown) about reaching their ends when the wing is closed; these flowing secondaries narrow and tapering. Tarsi long and slender; lateral toes of about equal lengths; hind claw not particularly lengthened or straightened ; with its digit much shorter than the tarsus. Form remarkably lithe and slender; coloration black, ashy, and white, in large masses. M. al/ba. (Lat. alba, white. Fig. 156.) .Wuire WactTain. ¢, in summer: Head black, with a broad mask of white across forehead and along sides; the black extending on the fore- breast ; wings blackish, with much white edging and tipping of the quills and greater coverts ; tail black, the two lateral feathers on each side mostly white; back and sides ashy; lower parts mostly white; bill and feet black. In winter the black more restricted, that on the fore breast forming a crescent spot. @ similar, the black still more restricted, in part replaced by gray. Young, gray above, grayish-white below, with a gray or blackish crescent on the fore neck. Length about 7.25; wing 3.25; tail 3.75; tarsus 0.90; hind toe and claw 0.60; bill 0.50. A species of wide distribution in Europe and Asia, occasional in Greenland. M. ocula/ris. (Lat. ocwlaris, ocular.) SrpertAN WAGTAIL. Larger, and with a black eye- stripe in the white mask. Occurs at Plover Bay, East Siberia, and may be expected across Behring’s Straits. (Not in the Check List, 1882; since found in California.) BU/DYTES. (Gr. Bovdv’tns, boudutes, some Sani bird.) YEnLtow WaGctTatu. Characters of Motacilla ; tail shorter, not exceeding the wing in length ; hind claw lengthened and straightish ; hind toe and claw nearly as long as the tarsus. Coloration chiefly yellow and greenish. B. fla/vus? (Lat. flavus, yellow. Figs. 157,156.) Yeruow Waeraint. BLUE-HEADED QUAKE-TAIL. Adult: Above, yellowish-green; below, rich yellow, shaded with greenish on the sides, and bleaching on the chin. Top and sides of head bluish-gray, enclosing a long white superciliary stripe; a dusky stripe from corner of mouth through eye to ear-coverts. Quills of the wing dusky, the lesser coverts edged with the color of the back; median and greater coverts showing whitish wing-bars, and inner second- aries edged with the same. Tail dusky, the middle feathers Fie. 157. — Yellow Wagtail J nearly nat, size. (After Baird.) edged with the color of the back; the outer two on each side 31. 88. MOTACILLIDH —ANTHINA: PIPITS, OR TITLARKS. 285 mostly white. Bill and feet black. Length about 6.50; wing 3.00; tail about 2.75; bill 0.50; tarsus 0.90; hind toe and claw 0.65. 0.80, rather elliptical in shape, so profusely speckled, scratched, and marbled with reddish, brownish, and purplish shades that the greenish- gray ground color is scarcely perceptible. L. ludovicia/‘nus. (Lat. dudovicianus, of Louisiana.) LOoGGERHEAD SHRIKE. ¢ 9, adult: Above, slate-colored, slightly whitish ou upper tail-coverts and ends of scapulars; below, white, sometimes a little ashy-shaded, but no wavy black lines, or only a few slight ones ; white on wings and tail less extensive than in borealis or excubitorides; black bridle meeting its fellow across forehead, not interrupted by white on lower eyelid, scarcely or not bordered above by hoary white. Smaller: length 8.00-8.50: wing and tail each 4.00 or little more; tarsus at least 1.00, thus relatively longer than in borealis ; bill about 0.50. Young: differing from the adult much as young borealis does, aud decidedly waved below, as in that species: but the size and other characters are distinctive. Eastern and Southern U. S8., resident, abundant; in its typical manifestation it is characteristic of the S. Atlantic States; but specimens more like ludovicianus than excubitorides occur N. to New England and W. to Ohio. C.1. excubitori/des. (Lat. excubitor, a sentinel; Gr. efSos, eidos, resemblance ; i. e., like the European DL. excubitor.) WHITE-RUMPED SHRIKE. COMMON AMERICAN SHRIKE. ¢ 9, adult: Leaden-gray or light slate-color, whitening on the scapulars and upper tail-coverts. Beneath, white, slightly shaded with the French gray on the sides, but without dusky vermicu- lation. A narrow stripe across the forehead, continuous with a broad bar along the side of the head, embracing the eye, black, slightly, if at all, bordered with whitish. Lower eyelid not white. Wings and tail black, with white markings, much as in the last species. Bill and feet plumbeous-black. Length under 9.00; exteut 12.00-13.00; wing and tail, each, about 4.00 ; bill 0.66; tarsus 1.00 or more. Young: Vermiculated below with dusky, upon a brownish ground, about to the same extent as is seen in very old examples of L. borealis. General tone of the upper parts less pure than in the adult: scapulars and tail-coverts not purely white ; black bar of head less firm, but as far as it goes maintaining the characters of the species. Ata very early age, the upper parts, including the whitish of the seapulars and tail-coverts, are finely vermiculated with dusky waves. The ends of the quills, wing-coverts, and tail-feathers often have rusty or rufous markings. Extreme examples of excubitorides look very different from ludovicianus proper, but the two are observed to melt into each other when many specimens are compared, so that no specific character can be assigned. Middle and Western N. Am. and Mexico; N. to the region of the Saskatchewan, E. to Ohio, New York, Canada and even New England. | * FRINGILLIDZ: FINCHES, BUNTINGS, SPARROWS, ETC. 339 16. Family FRINGILLIDA: Finches, etc. 2 spite cel Conirostral Oscines with = —— = = 9 promaries. —'The largest Ss North American family, comprising about one- seventh (123: 888) of all our birds, and the most extensive group of its grade in ornithology. As ordinarily constituted, it represents, In round num- bers 500 current species and 100 genera, of nearly all parts of the world, ex- cept Australia, but more particularly of the northern > hemisphere and through- iy) ‘ \ "f ye, out America, where the Aa Mi | } " i Niyjp, Wyk Wf group attains its maximum development. Any one United States locality of average attractiveness to birds has a bird-fauna of over 200 species; and if it be away from the sea-coast, and conse- quently uninhabited by marine birds, about one-fourth of its species are Sylvicolide and Fringillide together — the latter somewhat in excess of the former. It is not easy, therefore, to give undue prominence to these two families. The Fringillide are more particularly what used to be called ‘‘ conirostral” birds, in dis- tinction from “ fissirostres,” as the swallows, swifts, and goatsuckers, ‘‘ tenuirostres,” as hum- ming-birds and creepers, and ‘ dentirostres,” as warblers, vireos, and most of the preceding families. The bill approaches nearest the ideal cone, combining strength to crush seeds, with . delicacy of touch to secure minute objects. The cone is sometimes nearly expressed, but is more frequently turgid or conoidal, convex in most directions or, again, so contracted that some of its outlines are concave. The nostrils are always situated high wp — nearer the culmen than the cutting edge of the bill; they are usually exposed, but in many, chiefly boreal, genera, the base of the bill is furnished with a ruff or two tufts of antrorse feathers more or less completely covering the openings. The cutting edges of the bill may be slightly notched, but are usually plain. There are usually a few inconspicuous bristles about the rictus, sometimes wanting, sometimes highly developed, as in our grosbeaks. The wings are endlessly varied in shape, but agree in possessing only nine developed primaries; the tail is equally variable in form, but always has twelve rectrices. The feet show a strictly Oscine or laminiplantar podotheca, scutellate in front, covered on each side with an undivided plate, producing a sharp ridge behind. None of these members offer extreme phases of development in any of our species. But the most tangible characteristic of the family is angulation of the commissure. The commissure runs in a Straight line, or with a slight curve, to or near to the base of the bill, and is then more or less abruptly bent down at a varying angle —the cutting edge of the upper mandible forming a reéntrance, that of the lower mandible a corresponding salience. In familiar terms, we might say that the corners of the mouth are drawn down — that the Finches, ~ though very merry little birds, are literally ‘‘down in the mouth.” In the great majority of cases this feature is unmistakable, and in the grosbeaks, for example, it is very strongly marked Frac. 205. — European Chafiinch (Fringilla celebs). (After Dixon.) 540 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES — OSCINES. indeed ; but in some of the smaller-billed forms, and especially those with slender bill, it is hardly perceptible. On the whole, however, it is a good character, and at any rate it is the most reliable external feature that can be found. It separates our fringilline birds pretty trenchantly from other 9-primaried Oscines except Icterid@, and most of these may be dis- tinguished by the characters given beyond. Taking their characters all together, /ringillide may be defined as 9-primaried conirostral laminiplantar oscine Passeres with axis of bill at an angle with that of skull, and nostrils nearer culmen than cutting edge of bill. When we come, however, to consider this great group of conirostral Oscines in its entirety, as compared with bordering families like the Old World Ploceid@, or the Icteride, and espe- cially the Tanagride, ot the New, the ditheulty if not the impossibility of framing a perfect diagnosis becomes apparent, and I am not aware that any attempts at rigid definition have proven successful. Ornithologists are nearly agreed what birds to call fringilline, without being so well prepared to say what ‘‘ fringilline” means. The subdivisions of the family, as might be expected, are still conventional, and varying with every leading writer. Our species might be thrown into several groups, but the distinctions would be more or less arbitrary and not readily perceived. It is therefore best to waive the question, and simply collocate the genera in orderly sequence. o The Fringilide are popularly known by several different names. Here belong all the sparrows, with the allied birds called finches, buntings, linnets, grosbeaks and crossbills. In the following pages I describe 123 species and subspecies, mostly well determined, and ascer- tained to occur within our limits, referrmg them to 37 genera, as the custom is, although I think this number of genera altogether too large. Two of them, Passer domesticus and P. mon- tanus, are imported and naturalized. Species occur throughout our country, in every situation, and many of them are among our most abundant and familiar birds. ‘They are all granivorous — seed-eaters, but many feed extensively on buds, fruits, and other soft vegetable substances, as well as on insects. They are not so perfectly migratory as the exclusively insectivorous - birds, the nature of whose food requires prompt removal at the approach of cold weather ; but, with some exceptions, they withdraw from their breeding places in the fall to spend the winter farther south, and to return in the sprmg. With a few signal exceptions they are not truly gregarious birds, though they often associate in large companies, assembled in community of interest. The modes of nesting are too various to be here summarized. Nearly all the finches sing, with varying ability and effect; some of them are among our most delightful vocalists. As a rule, they are plainly clad —even meanly, in comparison with some of our sylvan beauties ; but among them are birds of elegant and striking colors. Among the highly-colored ones, the sexes are more or less unlike, and other changes, with age and season, are strongly marked; the reverse is the case with the rest. The unpractised student will have more trouble in this family than elsewhere in identifying his specimens. In the first place, the genera and species are very numerous, and so variously interrelated that no satisfactory subfamilies have been established; they are therefore not parcelled out in sets. Secondly, all the genera cannot be discriminated in a line of type. To meet the difficulty, I have caused the family to be profusely illustrated with cuts of more than average excellence, and attempted a tabular analysis of the genera, which, though necessarily defective, will doubtless help to some extent. Speaking roundly, there are three lots of genera: (a) Loxiine, mostly boreal birds, sexed unlike, ¢ often red, 2 dull, no blue, colors massed or streaky, bill usually ruffed at base, wings pointed, tail forked, feet weak; (b) Spizelline, everywhere, mostly small streaked and spotted species, sexed alike, may be yellowed but are never red or blue, wings, tail, and feet various; (¢) Spizine, mostly south- erly, sexed unlike, @ often red or blue, bill unruffed, wings, tail, and feet various; — but nothing will serve to distinguish these groups unexceptionally. FRINGILLIDA): FINCHES, BUNTINGS, SPARROWS, ETC. 541 Analysis (partial) of Genera. Bill metagnathous, both mandibles falcate, their points crossed. g red, 2? dark and yellowish . Lovxia Bill enormous, nearly = tarsus, greenish-yellow. Wings black and white; tail and tibize black. (Western.) Hesperophona Bill parrot-like, whitish. Head conspicuously crested. 2 gray and carmine, face not black. Length (aD © wn, “(Kb Wo (Do tb) 6 a 0 0 Me A ee ace Mr eG Ul Awe on wa aan ae EY MILL LOE Bill reddish. Head conspicuously onestioal, ¢ vermilion, face black. @ gray and reddish. Length 7.50 ormore. (E.andS.U.S.)... . en CONAULOLES Bill with a ruff, or pair of nasal tufts, a nae aihritloa, at ace of amen memdtiile, Length 8.00 or more. ¢ red and gray, @ gray and yellowish, uncrested. Bill twrgid, hooked. (Boreal.) Pinicola —under 8.00. — Bluish-gray, below reddish-gray, crown, wings, and tail black. (Alaska.) Pyrrhula — White, with black on back, wings, and tail ; or washed with clear brown. (Boreal.) Plectrophanes — Chocolate-brown, unstreaked, with rosy edgings ; black or clear ash on head. (Western.) Leucosticte — Streaky ; no yellow; Jo oe red; @ dark and white. Bill turgid. (E. and WealUiSs)) tae ep ee ere mr OO DOCMACIS — Streaky, with dusky or florea Brown and aihlias crown crimson. Bill acute. (Boreal}) eee : EE OZOLIULS — Streaky ever aarinee, no real or are ileal. some » gellar sel. Bill acute. (N. Am.) Chrysonutris — Streaky or not ; much yellow, wings and tail black,no red. Bill moderate. (U.S.) Astragalinus (Intermediate between Nos. 68 and 70] . . Linota Bill without ruff; nostrils exposed. : Hind claw lengthened, straightened. — Bill moderate; 4% with a colored cervical collar ; oblique white Om, WEL, (NTs BAC! Who INT, AN) o 6 6 0 . . . Centrophanes — Bill ne ely no cer at Collar. transverse white on tail. (West- GMM) 6 6 t 5 0 0 0 6 LI OMMAVOMNCHRES Hind and fore claws lengthened; all much curved ; inner epeiniin ‘ae least 4 way to end of middle one — — Spotted and streaked foxy or slaty sparrows, about 7.00 long. (N. Am.) Passerella — Black, white and chestnut, in masses. (A Western species of) . . . . Pipilo Hind and fore claws not peculiar. Length 4.50 or less. — ¢ Black and white, Q olivaceous and yellowish. (Texas.). . Spermophila ¢ Greenish blackening on head, Q greenish. (Florida.). . . Phonipara Length 7.50 or more. —Tail longer than wings. Plain brown, etc., or black, white, and chestnut. (USS) Reimar eee try cta eicatyee emia tare: bikie get 3 6 0 a | ODUM — Tail shorter than wings. g Toren rose or Gree” § ; 9 sulphur or saffron wore Wah. (Ws Sb) o ao « co 0 6 o 6 6 6 a 6 0 6 §6AOAKOCIO Length over 4.50, under 7.50. Colors greenish —with yellow —on edge of wing, and — 2 rufous crown-stripes. (Texas.) Embernagra — Crown chestnut, breast ashy. (West- ern species of) . . . . . Pipilo —on all under parts—no head markings. (Q of asouthern spe- ciesof) . . LOUSSCUICOL Colors not greenish, and not extensively and decidedly omit or inesizadl Black, with great white wing-patch; longest ao about = longest primary. Q@VieStern)) Meemena are 2... - Calamospiza Blue, with chestnut on wings, sare ‘asin Renita, @. ; Over 6. 00 long. (U.S.) Guiraca Blue, with red, purple, gold, white, or not, ¢ ; brown, with white or not, 2 ; under BOD Wome, (Wot) o 0 ¢ . . Passerina Slate or ashy, red-backed or At, belly and 1- 3 tail- frontiers aie, (N. Am.) Junco Gray, throat and tail black, head with 2 white stripes, belly white. (Western.) . Amphispiza Colors not greenish, but somewhere or everywhere spotted or streaked. Inner secondaries lengthened, about equalling primaries in the closed wing. A large white wing-patch. Upper parts much streaked. (2 of) . . Calamospiza Bend of wing chestnut ; outer tail-feather white; no yellow anywhere. (N. Am.) Poacetes No white or chestnut area on wing, its edge (usually) yellowish. (N. Am.) Passerculus 66 61 94: 95 62 74. 86 96 92 93 96 89 97 96 91 87 90 91 82 81 87 76 75 61. 189. 342 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS.— PASSERES — OSCINES. Inner secondaries not enlarged ; wing decidedly longer than tail. Edge of wing and loral spot yellow ; breast buff; wing under 2.50. (Eastern.) Coturniculus 1 With yellow on breast, edge of wing, over eye; black throat-patch or stripes. (Hastern.). . . . Spiza 88 No yellow ; head erriped with lak, sittig, endl alncstnnut p tail ileal Zz mE Sr ZA wing-bars. «< = Si Faw i) MA Za oN SS (Shep- 63. 191. 192. 544 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES — OSCINES. PYR/RHULA. (Lat. pyrrhula, a bullfinch.) BuLurrncHes. Generic characters of Pinicola as above given; the lesser hook of the bill and different style of coloration being the principal distinction. Colors in masses of black, white or gray, and red. P. cas/sini. (To John Cassin. Fig. 208.) CASsIN’s BULLFINCH. Above, clear ashy- gray; below, cinnamon-gray; rump and under wing- and tail-coverts white; wings and tail, crown, chin and face black ; outer tail-feathers with a white patch, greater wing-coverts tipped and primaries edged with whitish ; bill black, feet dusky. Length 6.50; wing 3.50; tail 3.25. Nulato, Alaska, only one specimen known, marked @, but having all the charac- ters of a 9; nearest related to P. coccti:.. of Asia, and originally described as a variety of that species. ) | PAS/SER. (Lat. passer, a sparrow: this very species.) SpARRows. Form stout and stocky. Bill very stout, shaped somewhat as in Carpodacus, but without nasal ruff. Cul- men curved ; commissure little angulated; gonys convex, ascending; lateral outlines of bill bulging to near the end. Wing pomted; Ist, 2d, and 3d primaries nearly equal and longest ; 4th little shorter, rest graduated; inner secondaries not elongate. Tail shorter than wings, nearly even. Feet small; tarsus about equal to middle toe and claw; lateral toes of equal lengths, their claws not reaching to base of middle claw. Sexes unlike. @ with black and chestnut on head. Middle of back only streaked. Old World: two species naturalized in North America. P. domes’/ticus. (Lat. domesticus, domestic. Fig. 209.) Tur Sparrow. Puture SpaAr- Row. Housk SPARROW. PARASITE. TRAMP. Hoopium. Gamin. 4, adult: Upper parts ashy-gray; middle of back and scapulars boldly streaked with black and bay. K€« < AZ « Ye ZZ ty Y IR ERSSIQON y MMM \\ SSS —S- ==> Analysis of Species. Loral spot and edge of wing bright yellow. Upper parts olive-gray obscurely streaked Seen iu ae I INOTTUNUS 1208 Wipperspartslquiteiblackishmmmtoniay (ui acl touvcayaetenae lea eit an eie tay sv. fals catia Soe az nigrescens 239 ANION SADUIMSUPELCINAT ESL OC MMM ee tC Chair) uit oN Ne caudacutus 240-241 A. mari/timus. (Lat. maritimus, maritime, coast-wise; mare, the sea. Fig. 230.) SmA-SIDE Fincu. Olive-gray, obscurely streaked on back and crown with darker and paler; below, whit- ish, often washed with brownish, shaded on sides with color of back, and with ill-defined dark 239. 240. 241. 368 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSHRES — OSCINES. streaks on breast and sides; maxillary stripes of the sane; wings and tail plain dusky, with slight olivaceous edgings ; wing-coverts and inner quills somewhat margined with brown ; edge of wing bright yellow ; a bright yellow spot on lore, and often some vague brownish and dusky markings on side of head; bill plumbeous, or dark horn-blue ; feet’dark. Length 5.75- 6.25; extent 8.50; wing 2.25-2.50; tail about 2.00. Recognizable on sight by the bright yellow edge of wing and loral spot, with little varied olive-gray upper parts. Salt marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coast; abundant. North to Massachusetts; breeds throughout its range, and resident in the south, but screened from casual observation by the nature of its haunts and habits. Nest in a tussock of grass just out of water; eggs 0.75 X 0.55, grayish-white, thickly and pretty evenly marked. A. m. nigres/cens. (Lat. nigrescens, growing black.) FLORIDA SEA-sIpE Fincu. Like A. maritimus; rather smaller bodied, though members not shorter, and conspicuously different in color, being almost entirely black and white. Upper parts sooty-black, slightly variegated with slate-colored edgings of the feathers, and some pale gray edgings of the in- terscapulars. Below white, heavily streaked with blackish everywhere excepting on the throat and middle of belly. A bright yellow loral spot, and bend of the wing bright yel- low (both very conspicuous in the black plumage). Wing-quills blackish, the inner secondaries quite black ; all narrowly edged with brownish. Tail black, with gray edg- ings of the feathers, — these edgings tending to form seallops with the black central field. Bill and feet as in A. maritimus. A curi- ous local race, resident in Florida. A. caudacu’tus. (Lat. cauda, tail; acutus, N sages, sharp. Fig. 231.) SHARP-TAILED FINCH. Fic. 231.—Sea-side Finch, reduced. (Sheppard del. Olive-gray, sharply streaked on the back Nichols se.) with blackish and whitish, less so on the rump with blackish alone. Crown darker than nape, with brownish-black streaks, tending to form lateral stripes and obscure olive-gray median line; no yellow loral spot, but long line over eye and sides of head rich buff or orange-brown, enclos- ing olive-gray auriculars and a dark speck behind them, or dark post-ocular stripe over them. Olive-gray of cervix extending around on sides of neck. Below, white; the fore parts and sides tinged with yellowish-brown or buff of variable intensity, the breast and sides sharply streaked with dusky. Greater coverts and inner secondaries with blackish field toward their ends, broadly margined with rusty brown and whitish. ail-feathers brown, with dusky shaft- stripes and tendency to ‘‘water” with crosswise wavy bars. Bill blackish above, pale or not below, feet brown. Coloration in spring and summer clearer and paler, in fall and in young birds more brightly and extensively buff. Rather smaller than A. maritimus; bill still slenderer, and tail-feathers still narrower and more acute. Length 5.10-5.50; extent 7.50; wing 2.25; tail 2.00; bill 0.45-0.50; tarsus, or middle toe and claw, 0.75. Salt marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf States, N. abundantly to Maine; range similar to that of A. maritumus, but on the whole more northerly, especially in the breeding season ; nest and eggs similar and scarcely distinguishable. A. c. nel/soni. (To E. W. Nelson, of Illinois.) Similar to the last, but smaller, with bill slenderer and longer; colors brighter and markings more sharply defined. Fresh marshes of Illinois and other portions of the Mississippi Valley at large; N. probably to Canada. FRINGILLIDA): FINCHES, BUNTINGS, SPARROWS, ETC. 369° 79. MELOSPI/ZA. (Gr. péAos, melos, song, melody, and omig¢a, spiza, name of some Finch in Aris- totle). Sona SpARRows. Bill moderate, conic, without special turgidity or compression, out- lines of culmen, commissure, gonys and sides nearly or about straight. Wings short and much rounded, folding little beyond base of tail; lst primary quite short; point of wing formed by 3d, 4th, and 5th, supported closely by 2d and 6th; inner secondaries not elongated. ‘Tail long, about equalling or rather exceeding the wings, much rounded, with firm feathers broad to their rounded ends. Feet moderately stout; tarsus scarcely or not longer than middle toe and claw ; lateral toes slightly unequal, outer the longer, its claw scarcely or not reaching base of middle elaw. Embracing a large number of middle-sized and large sparrows, without a trace of yellow anywhere, and of brownish-yellow only in WM. lincolni; upper parts, including crown, thickly streaked; under parts white or ashy, thickly streaked across breast and along sides (excepting adult M. palustris). No bright color anywhere, and no colorsin masses. The type of the genus is the familiar and beloved song sparrow, —a bird of constant characters in the East, but which in the West is split into numerous geographical races, some of them looking so different from typical fasciata that they have been considered as distinct species, and even placed in other gen- era. This differentiation affects not only the color, but the size, relative proportion of parts, and particularly the shape of the bill; and it is sometimes so great, as in case of MM. cinerea, that less dissimilar-looking birds are commonly as- signed to different genera. Nevertheless, the gradation is complete, and effected by impercep- tible degrees. Some Northwestern forms of great size and dark colors are easily discrimi- nated, but there are U.S. birds from Atlantic to Pacific which are uot readily told apart. The Fie. 232, — Lincoln’s Song-Sparrow reduced. student should not be discouraged if a subject (Sheppard del. Nichols se. ) which has tried the chiefs perplexes him ; nor must he expect to find drawn on paper hard and fast limes which do not exist in nature. The curt antithetical expressions used in constructing the analysis of species and varieties necessarily exaggerate the case, and are only true as indi- cating the typical style of each; plenty of specimens lie ‘‘ between the lines” as written. In going over a large series of Western song sparrows — specimens picked to illustrate types of style rather than connecting links, it still seems to me that distinctions have been somewhat forced; and that, also, different degrees of variation are thrown out of proper perspective by reducing all the forms to the same varietal plane. Thus, the differences between cinerea and all the rest, or between rujfina and fasciata, are much greater than between rufina and guttata for instance, or between fallax and fasciata. In any outline of the genus the curves and angles indicated by Baird in 1858 are as far as they go nicer qualifications than the dead-level varieties later in vogue. The several degrees of likeness and unlikeness may be thrown into true relief better by some such expressions as the following than by formal antithetical phrases: —1. The common eastern bird slightly modified in the arid interior into the duller colored 2. fallax. This, in the Pacific water shed, more decidedly modified by deeper coloration, — broader black streaks in 3. heermanni, with its diminutive local race 4. samuelis, and more ruddy shades in 5. guttata northward increasing in intensity, with increased size, in 6. rufina. Then the remarkable 7. cinerea, insulated much further apart than any of the others. A former American school would probably have made four ‘‘ good species.” l. fasciata; 2. samuelis; 3. rufina; 4. cinerea. The present British school might perhaps 24 242. 243. 310 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES — OSCINES. handle them as |. fasciata and fallax, with a, heermanni; 2. samuelis; 3. rufina, with a, guttata. 4. cinered. Analysis of Species and Varieties. Breast streaked, and with a transverse belt of brownish-yellow; tail nearly equal to wings . . lincolni 242 Breast ashy, unbelted, with few streaks, or none; tail about equal to wings. . . - . . palustris 243 Breast white, or brownish-white, with numerous streaks; tail usually longer than ‘ie: wines, both rounded. Thickly streaked above, on sides, and across breast .... . . . fasciata and its varieties 244-250 The streaks distinct, decidedly blackish-centred (in breeding plumage). Tone of upper parts grayish-brown or reddish-gray. Streaked from head totail. Dorsal streaks black, rufous, and grayish-white. Wing 2.60; tail under 3.00. EasternN.A. . .. . - . fasciata 244 Tone of upper parts gray. Streaks obsolete on rump. Dorsal streaks narrowly blackish onal grayish- white, with little rufous. Tail about 3.00. Southern Rocky Mt. region .. . 5 0 0 jhedione, C8 Tone of upper parts ashy-gray. Streaks obsolete on rump. Dorsal streaks Drees aais, witilh little rufous and scarcely any grayish-white. Size of the first. California .... . . . heermanni 248 Tone of upper parts olive-gray. Streaks on rump and upper tail-coverts. Dorsal streaks as in the last. Very small. Wing 2.25; tail2.50. Coast of California. ....... =... samuelis 249 The streaks diffuse, not black-centred nor whitish-edged. Bill slender. Pacific, coastwise. Tone of upper parts rufous-brown. Streaks above and below dark rufous. Medium-sized; wing 2.60; tail under 3.00. Pacific coast, U.S. and British Columbia . . . . . guttata 246 Tone of upper parts olive-brown. Streaks sooty. Larger; wing onl tail Abort 3, 00. Pacific coast, BritishiColumpiagang eal as aan a nr meen an NH TZLL/UILCUMMOA 6 Tone of upper parts dark cinereous. Streaking reddish brown Thensantie ee aml tail 3.25 or more cinerea 250 M. lin/colni. (To Robert Lincoln. Fig. 232.) Lincoun’s Sone Sparrow. @, 9: Below, white, with a broad brownish-yellow belt across breast, the sides of the body and neck, and the crissuin, washed with the same; extent and intensity of this buff very variable, often leaving only chin, throat, and belly purely white, but a pectoral band is always evident. All the buffy parts sharply and thickly streaked with dusky. Above, grayish-brown, with numerous sharp black-centred, brown-edged streaks. Top of head ashy, with a pair of dark brown black- streaked stripes; o7, say, top of head brown, streaked with black, and with median and lateral ashy stripes. Below the superciliary ashy stripe is a narrow dark brown one, running from eye over ear; auriculars also bounded below by an indistinct dark brown stripe, below which and behind the auriculars the parts are suffused with buff. Wings with much rufous-brown edging of all the quills ; inner secondaries and coverts having quite black central fields, with broad bay edging, becoming whitish toward their ends. ‘Tail brown, the feathers with pale edges, and the central pair at least with dusky shaft-stripes. Bill blackish, lighter below; feet brownish. Length 5.50-6.00; extent 7.75-8.25; wing and tail, each, about 2.50, the latter rather shorter. There is little variation in color, except as above said. Fall specimens are usually most buffy. Very young: Before the fall moult, birds of the year are much browner above, with consider- able brownish-yellow streaking besides the black markings; top of head quite like back, the ashy stripes not being established; whole under parts brownish-yellow, merely paler on throat and belly, dusky-streaked throughout. North Am. at large; a peculiar species, not so well known as it might be, less numerous in the Atlantic States than in the interior and west; and keeping very close in shrubbery. Migratory; winters in the South; breeds at least from N. Y. and N. England to Arctic regions, and in the West 8. at least to Mts. of Colorado. Nesting like that of the song sparrow, and eggs not distinguishable with certainty. M. palus’tris. (Lat. palustris, swampy ; palus, aswamp. Fig. 233.) Swamp Sone SPAR- Row. 69, perfect plumage: Crown bright chestnut, blackening on forehead, the red cap and black vizor as conspicuous as in a chipping sparrow; but oftener, crown with obscure median ashy line, and streaked with black. An ashy-gray superciliary lie; a dark brown postocular stripe, bordering the auriculars; sides of head ashy, with grayish-brown auriculars, dusky speckling on cheeks and lores, and slight dusky maxillary spots or streaks. An ashy cervical collar separating the chestnut crown from the back, sometimes pure, oftener interrupted with blackish streaks. The general ash of the sides of head and neck spreads all over the brest (i FRINGILLIDA: FINCHES, BUNTINGS, SPARROWS, ETC. aye and under parts, fading to whitish on throat and belly; the sides, flanks, and crissum marked with brown, and obsoletely streaked with darker brown. Back and rump brown, rather darker than sides of body, boldly variegated with black central streaks of the feathers and their pale brown or grayish edges. Wings so strongly edged with bright bay as to appear almost uni- formly brownish-red when closed; but inner secondaries and greater coverts showing some black and whitish besides the bay. Tail likewise strongly edged with bay, and usually showing sharp black shaft lines. Thus well marked by the emphasis of black, bay, and ash. Length 5.40-5.80, usually 5.60; extent 7.50-8.00 ; wing and tail, each, 2.20-2.40. Varies little except as above noted, and in extent and intensity of the ash on fore and under parts. In birds of the first autumn, the crown may be quite blackish, with little chestnut and an ashy median stripe. Very young birds may be conspicuous- ly streaked below, and a few streaks may persist on the sides of the breast. North Amer. at large, W. to Utah, N. to Hudson’s Bay and Labrador, but chiefly Hastern U. 8S. and Canada; breeding at least from New England northward, wintering entirely in the Southern States. Abundant, but a timid recluse of shrubbery, swamp, and brake, and seldom seen by the pro- fanum vulgus; a good musician, like all the genus. Nesting and eggs like those of the song sparrow. M. fascia/ta. (Lat. fasciata, buudled together ; fascis, a bundle of rods ; fas- cia, a band; whence fasciata, banded, striped; the allusion not to the body- streaks, but to the obsolete bands on the tail-feathers. Fig. 234.) Sone SPARROW. SILVER-TONGUE. Below, Nichols sec.) white, slightly shaded with brownish on the flanks and crissum; with numerous black-centred, brown-edged streaks across breast and along sides, usually forming a pectoral blotch and coalescing into maxillary stripes bounding the white throat; crown dull bay, with fine black streaks, divided in the middle and bounded on either side by ashy-whitish lines; vague brown or dusky and whitish markings on the sides of the head; a brown post-ocular stripe over the gray auriculars, and another, not so well defined, from angle of mouth below the auriculars ; the interscapular streaks black, with bay and ashy-white edgings; rump and cervix grayish- brown, with merely a few bay marks; wings with dull bay edgings, the coverts and inner quills marked like the interscapulars; tail plain brown, with darker shaft lines, on the middle feathers at least, and often with obsolete transverse wavy markings. Very constant in plumage, the chief differences being in the sharpness and breadth of the markings, due in part to the wear of the feathers. In worn midsummer plumage, the streaking is very sharp, narrow, and black, from wearing of the rufous and whitish, especially observable below where the streaks contrast with white, and giving the impression of heavier streaking than in fall and winter, when, in fresher feather, the markings are softer and more suffuse. The aggregation of spots into a blotch on the middle of the breast is usual. Bill dark brown, paler below; feet pale brown. Length 5.90-6.50, usually 6.30; extent 8.25-9.25, usually 8.50-9.00; wing 2.40-2.75, usually about 2.60; tail nearer 3.00. 9 averaging near the lesser dimensions, but the species re- markably constant in size, form, and coloring. Eastern U. S. and Canada, breeding through- 245. 248. 249. 246. 247. 250. _drop-like spots.) OREGON SONG SPARROW. B12 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —PASSHRES— OSCINES. out its range, wintering nearly throughout ; one of the common winter sparrows of the Middle States. A very abundant bird everywhere in shrubbery and tangle, garden, orchard, and park, as well as swamp and brake. A hearty, sunny songster, whose quivering pipe is often tuned to the most dreary scenes ; the linpid notes being one of the few snatches of bird melody that enlivens winter. Nesting various, ina bush near the ground, ora grass tuft, or on the ground : eggs 4-6, 0.75-0.85 x 0.55-0.60, greenish or grayish-white, endlessly varied with browns, from reddish to chocolate as surface-markings, and lavender or purplish shell-markings, either speckled, blotched, or clouded: no general effect describable in few words. Two or three broods may be reared. M. f. fallax. (Lat. fallax, fallacious, deceitful: well named.) Gray Sona SPARROW. Extremely similar; the first and least departure from fascrata, and scarcely distinguishable ; tail rather longer; tone of upper parts paler, grayer ; the streaks not so obviously blackish in the centre and with less rufous; obsolete on rump. Southern Rocky Mt. region and Great Basin. M. f. heer‘manni. (To Dr. A. L. Heer- mann.) HEERMANN’S SONG SPARROW. Sim- ilar: tone of upper parts grayish, the streaks numerous, broad, distinet, with little rufous and mostly lacking pale edging, obsolete on the rump. Size of fasciata. California. M. f. samue’lis. (To E. Samuels.) SAMUELS’ SonG SPARROW. Similar to the last, in dis- tinetness of the black streaks, which are not sbsolete on rump; tone of upper-parts ashy- gray. Very simall, scarcely 5.00; wing 2.00; tail 2.30. California coast. M. f. gutta’ta. (Lat. guttata, marked with Decidedly different. The streaking diffuse, the streaks above and below dark rufous- brown, without black centres or pale edges. _ FIG 234.—Song Sparrow, reduced. (Sheppard del. ; Nichols se. ) Coloration blended, the general tone ruddy ; under parts extensively shaded with brownish, except on belly. About the size of fasciata, or rather larger. Pacific coast, U.S. and British Columbia. This form was recognized as dis- tinet by Audubon, who wrongly called it Hringilla cmerea Gm. ; and by Nuttall, who named it F’. guttata, and compared it with the fox sparrow, from its resemblance in color to Passerella aliaca. | M. f. rufiina. (Lat. rufina, reddish.) Rusry Sona Sparrow. Quite like guttata; larger. and darker; tone of upper parts smoky-brown, the streaking very dark. Wing and tail about 3.00. Pacifie coast, British Columbia and northward. (Combined by Baird with the last, under name of MW. rufina.) | M. cine’rea. (Lat. cinerea, ashy.) CrnpREOuS Sonc Sparrow. KADIAK SONG SPARROW. Peculiar in size, shape, and color. Above, brownish slate-color, more rufous on wings, the streaking broad and blended, very dark. Below, plumbeous-whitish, shaded with brown on sides, the streaks broad, diffuse, and dark. Spring and fall plumages differ much, but the bird may be recognized by its great size. Length about 7.00; wing 3.30; tail 3.50; bill very long, slender for its length; culmen about 0.60; depth at base 0.30. Kadiak, Alaska; Aleutian Islands. (Fringilla cinerea Gm. M. insignis Bd.) ; ¢ : k ? peers Pi 4 * FRINGILLIDA: FINCHES, BUNTINGS, SPARROWS, ETC. 373 O. PEUCAA. (Gr. mevkn, peuce, a pine; not well applied except to P. estivalis.) SUMMER FrncuHEs. Bill of moderate size, rather elongate-conic, upper mandible declivous toward end, comiissure bent. Wings short and much rounded, folding little if any beyond base of tail, the inner secondaries not elongated. ‘Tail little or much longer than wing, much rounded, the lateral feathers some 4 an inch shorter than the middle; of weak narrowly linear feathers with elliptically rounded ends. Feet small and weak, not reaching when outstretched nearly to end of tail; tarsus about equal to middle toe and claw; lateral toes equal, short, their claws not nearly reaching base of middle claw. Adults scarcely or not streaked below ; crown chestnut or (oftener) quite like back, streaked with rusty-brown, black, and gray. A superciliary and post-ocular stripe, but usually none running under auriculars; more or less distinct black maxillary stripes. Edge of wing yellow (in most species. These nest on the ground and lay white eggs). . Analysis of Species (adults). Edge of wing yellow. Crown not uniform chestnut; nochestnut on lesser wing-coverts. Maxillary stripes slight. Nest on ground; eggs white. Broadly marked above with rufous streaks or blotches on ashy ground, with black centres of the streaks on middle of back. Tail-feathers plain, or only with obscure whitish area. . w@stivalis 251-253 Marked above with pale brown black-centred streaks, these black centres enlarged transversely at their ends on the middle of back. Tail-feathers shafted and barred with blackish, the outer broadly edged and tipped with white. .........~. Bt AS asthe MSN Sa) ae) wie se LC COLSSUNU LODE Edge of wing not yellow. Crownchestnut. Maxillary stripes heavy. INO GOING CD MEISE WATEEOOWEINES 5 6 6 gd 8 0 6 0 6 6 0 6 00 6 0 oe 6 6 ORIGINS WSS AN GOGOL COUN On NESE WHNERCOWETEIS 6 5 9 0 0 0 0 6 60 606 06 0 FO 6 6 og a GONOKS A( P. estiva/lis. (Lat. @stivalis, like e@stwus, summery; @stas, summer.) BACHMAN’S SUMMER Fincu. Upper parts, including crown, continuously streaked with blackish, dull chestnut and ashy-gray; no yellow about head; wing-coverts and inner secondaries marked like the back ; edge and bend of wing yellow, as in Coturniculus passerinus. Below, dull brownish-ash, or brownish-gray, whitening on the belly, deepest on sides and across breast, nowhere obviously streaked in adult plumage. Some obscure dusky maxillary streaks, some vague dusky mark-. ings on auriculars, a slight ashy superciliary line, and very obscure median ashy line on crown. Bill dark above, pale below; legs very pale; lateral claws falling far short of base of middle claw; hind claw much shorter than its digit ; tarsus not longer than middle toe and claw ; tail much rounded, with obscure grayish-white area on the lateral feathers. Young have the breast and sides evidently streaked. Length 5.75-6.20, average 5.90; extent 7.60—-8.30, average 8.00 ; wing 2.17-2.55, average 2.40; tail 2.25-2.68, average 2.50. South Atlantic States, strictly, and especially a bird of pine barrens, common in suitable localities ; a fine songster. Nest on the ground, of grasses; eggs 4, 0.75 & 0.60, pure white. As the first described species of the genus, this has been used as a standard of comparison; but it is the most modified offshoot of a genus which focusses in the Southwest and Mexico. P. ez. illinoén/sis. (Of Illinois.) ILLINOIS SUMMER FincH. OAK-woops SPARROW. Above, sandy-ferruginous, indistinctly streaked with light ashy-gray, the streaks broadest on the back - and middle line of crown; interscapulars sometimes with narrow black streaks. Wings light ferruginous, the greater coverts less reddish and edged with paler; inner secondaries dusky, bordered at ends with pale reddish ash. Tail plain grayish-brown, with ashy edgings of the feathers. Sides of head, neck, and body and breast quite across, dingy buff-color, deepest on breast, paler on throat and chin; a post-ocular rusty-brown streak over the auriculars ; sides of neck streaked with the same ; an indistinct dusky streak on side of throat ; belly dull white ; crissum buff; edge of wing bright yellow; bill pale horn-color, darkest above; feet pale brown ; iris brown. Size of estivalis; wing a little longer, 2.35-2.60, average 2.50 ; tail 2.55— 3.80, average 2.70; bill thicker; black streaks of upper parts, instead of being generally dis- tributed, few and confined to the interscapulars; breast and sides more buffy. Illinois to Texas. (Like estivalis proper, but quite different from any of the following forms.) 253. 204. 295-6 374 SYSTHMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSHRES — OSCINES. P. x. arizo/ne. (Of Arizona.) Arizona SuMMER Frxcu. With a general likeness to P. estivalis, in pattern of coloration, streaking of all upper parts, similarity of back to crown, yellow edge of wing, and plain tail feathers; size same, wing and tail a trifle longer (as in illindensis). Colors duller and Jess variegated ; maxillary stripes obscure or obsolete. Upper parts light dull chestnut or reddish-brown, moderately streaked with plumbeous-gray, but reddish the prevailing tone; interscapular feathers, and sometimes those of the crown, with blackish centres; a poorly defined light superciliary stripe. Beneath, dull whitish, unstreaked, the breast and sides with a decided ochrey-brown tinge. Wings dusky, the inner secondaries darker and with more conspicuous rusty-brown edgings than those of the longer quills, and also some whitish edging or tipping. Biull blackish above, pale below; legs flesh color. Young: above, streaked with blackish and yellowish-gray, showing little reddish ; under parts more or less streaked with dusky. Western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and southward. (This is what I meant by P. var. cassimi of the orig. ed. of the Key; but true cassini is entirely differ- ent. Var. arizone is probably identical with Zonotrichia botterii Sel.) P. cas/sini. (To John Cassin.) CAssiIN’s SUMMER Fincu. Belonging to the estivalis group, with yellow edge of wing, and most resembling var. arizone; but perfectly distinct.

< ee in proper light, opaque Fig. 301. — Refulgent Humming-bird, head, greenish-black from FG. 302. — Tail of the same, ¢, nat. size. (From Elliot.) nie opposite ainece nat. size. (From Elliot.) tion. White marks about eyes. Tail like body, but more brassy. Wing-coverts and lining of wings like body ; quills dusky-purplish. Large: length about 5.00; extent 6.50; wing 2.75: tail 1.75 ; bill over an inch from the feathers on culmen, nearly 1.50 along gape. 9: Upper parts like those of the ¢, but crown like back. No emerald gorget, the whole under parts whitish, specked here and there with green, the throat with dusky specks. Wings as in @, but tail very different; double-rounded, both central and lateral feathers shorter than intermediate ones ; middle feathers brassy-green, others the same in decreasing extent, increasing in blackish towards ends, and squarely tipped with dull white. Smaller: length about 4.50; wing 2.50; tail 1.50; bill, however, about as long. Our largest and most magnificent species, lately discovered in Arizona. Texas? TRO'CHILUS. (Gr. rpoxiros, trochilos, Lat. trochilus, a runner: a plover so named by Herodotus: by Linnzeus transferred to Humming-birds.) GorGET HuMMERS. Bill slender and subulate, not widened at base; frontal feathers covering nasal scale. Tail in ¢ forked or emarginate, with lanceolate feathers; in ? sim- ply rounded or double-rounded, with broader feathers. Outer four primaries not peculiar; but the Ist one strongly Peruse Ga eurved or bowed at end inwards; inner bird, ?, tail, nat. size. six abruptly smaller and more linear (in Ganon: ETtOt) @ at least). Tarsi naked. Bill black. A metallic gorget in g, not prolonged into a ruff; no scales on crown. @ lacking the gorget; and tail white-tipped. T. co/lubris. (Latinized from the barbarous colibri. Figs. 299, 303, 304.) RuBy-THROATED HuMMING-BIRD. ¢: HTC OAMee nbyethrontede ean Tail forked, its feathers all narrow and pointed ; no scales ming-bird, J, nat. size. (From Elliot.) on crown; metallic gorget reflecting ruby-red. Above, golden-green; below, white, the sides green; wings and tail dusky-purplish. 9: Lacking the gorget; throat white, specked with we. 410. 137. 411. 462 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PICARIA — CYPSELIFORMES. dusky; tail double-rounded, the central feathers shorter than the next, the lateral then gradu- ated; all broaderthan in @ to near the end, then rapidly narrowing with concave inner margin ; tail with black bars, and the lateral feathers white-tipped; no rufous on tail in either sex. Length of @ 3.25; extent 5.00; wing 1.75; tail 1.25; bill 0.66. 9 smaller: length 2.80; extent 4.60. Eastern N. Am., especially U. S., abundant in summer, generally seen hovering about flowers, sometimes wm flocks. Feeds on insects, and the sweets of flowers. Nest a beau- tiful structure, of downy substances, stuecoed with lichens outside; eggs two, white, 0.50 X 0.35. T. alexan/dri. (To Alexander. Fig. 305.) ALEXANDER HUMMING-BIRD. Size and general appearance of 7. colubris. @ : Tail double-rounded, i. e., centrally emarginate, laterally rounded: central emargination about 0.10, lateral graduation more; the feathers all acuminate, and whole-colored. Upper parts, including two middle tail-feathers, as in 7. colubris. Gorget opaque velvety black, only posteriorly glittermg with violet, sapphire and emerald. Other under parts whitish, green on sides. Length 3.25; wing 1.75; tail 1.25; bill from frontal feathers 0.75. Q: Tail different from that of @, both in shape Fig. 305.— Alexander Hum- ° 3 . ; ming-bird, tail of young gand 9, and color; simply slightly rounded (without appreciable central nat, size. (From Elliot. ) emargination), the lateral feathers scarcely acuminate ; middle feathers like the back, darkening at ends; others with broad purplish-black space near end, and white-tipped; thus so closely resembling colubris 9 that the lack of decided emargina- tion of the tail is the principal character. No gorget, the throat whitish with dusky specks. California, Utah, Arizona, and probably other portions of SW. U. 58. SELAS/PHORUS. (Gr. cédas, light; dopds, bearing.) Ligurnrnc Hummers. Bill slender and subulate; frontal feathers covering nasal scale. Tail in @@Q graduated or rounded, not forked, and extensively rufous or tipped with white. The central much broader than the lateral feathers. Details of shapes of the feathers varying with the species, and with the sexes (see descriptions, and figs. 806, 307). Outer primary, or two outer ones, of @ abruptly attenuate, the end bowed; inner six primaries not abruptly narrower than those further outward. Tarsi naked. Bill black. A metallic gorget in g, little or not produced into a ruff; no scales on crown. @ lacking the gorget, and tail white-tipped. S. rufus. (Lat. rufus, reddish.) Rrp-BACKED RuFous HUMMING-BIRD. NoorKka HuM- MING-BIRD. @: No metallic scales on crown. Gorget glancing coppery-red, somewhat pro- longed into a ruff. Tail cuneate; middle pair of feathers broad, narrowing rather suddenly to a point. Next pair broad, mcked or emarginate near end (fig. 306). Next three pairs successively narrowing gradually, but not even the outer becoming acicular. ‘Two outer primaries narrow, faleate, gradually very acute, the ends bowed inward. General color above and below cinnamon- red, becoming more or less green on the crown, and sometimes flaked with green on the back, fading to white on the belly. ‘Tail-feathers cinnamon-red, deepening to dusky-purplish at ends. Quills dusky- purplish. Length about 3.50; wing 1.50-1.67, averaging 1.60; tail 1.30; bill 0.65. 9 showing the characters of the tail and wing, but less : plainly. Coloration extensively rufous, but overlaid with green; no Fig. 306. Tail of S gorget, replaced by a few dusky-greenish feathers; under parts exten- 7#/¥s, nat. size. sively white, but shaded with cinnamon on the sides and erissum. Middle tail-feathers glossed with greenish, darkening to black at end, and usually touched with cinnamon at base; other tail-feathers extensively rufous, then black, finally white-tipped. Length 3.20; wing 1.70; tail 1.20. (On comparing Q rufus with 9 platycercus, a great difference in the size of the outer feather is observable; in rufus this feather is only 0.12 broad, and under 1.00 long; -in nD. O Juv. ‘ha 412. 413. TROCHILIDA — TROCHILIN A): HUMMING-BIRDS. 465 platycercus the same feather is 0.25 wide, and over 1.00 long.) Rocky Mts. to the Pacific, N. to Alaska; the commonest and most extensively distributed species in the West. Noted as the northernmost known species of the family. (This is S. rufus, Gm., the true ‘‘ Nootka Sound Humming-bird,” the ¢ easily known by its cinnamon-red back, and the nick in the next to the middle tail-feather. S. henshawzi Elliot.) S. al/leni. (ToC. A. Allen, of California. Figs. 307, 308.) GREEN-BACKED Rurous HuMMING- BIRD. ALLEN HUMMING-BIRD. In generalities similar to the last. ¢: Two outer tail-feathers on each side very small and narrow, the outermost almost acicular; next little larger; third abruptly larger; fourth from the outer smaller than third or middle pair. Upper parts golden-green, dullest on crown. Under tail-coverts, belly and sides cinnamon, paler on the median line, white on breast next to the gorget. Fic. 307.— Tail ‘Tail-feathers cinnamon, tipped and edged of S. alleni, nat. size. with dusky-purplish. Gorget fiery-red. Length about 3.00; wing 1.50; tail 1.18; bill 0.64. 9 similar to 9 rufus; averaging smaller; tail-feathers nar- rower, especially the outer ones. Coast region of California and northward. (This is the bird of ten described as 9 SS rufus ; carefully’ distinguished by Henshaw, Bull. Nutt. HTGQOeeCrconebackedbRutore Club, ii, 1877, p. 53; considered by Elliot to be true Ea g, nat. size. (From rufus Gin.) S. platycer/cus. (Gr. mAarvs, platus, broad; Képxos, kerkos, tail.. Fig. 309.) BRoAD-TAILED HumMinG-Birp. @: Noscales on top of head; crown like back. gorget; under parts rufous. Middle tail-feathers bronzy-green, next green tipped with black; the rest rufous basally, then crossed with black and tipped with white. ‘Tail shaped as in the ¢? (My description is unsatisfactory; but the species should be known by the curved bill.) Arizona: introduced into our fauna upon Fig. 315. — Lucifer Humming-bird, 2 2 wrongly identified as “‘Doricha enicura.” (See Bull. Gf, nat. size. (From Elliot.) Nutt. Club, ii, 1877, p. 108.) AMAZILIA. (Latinized from amazili, vox barb.) AmaAzitt Hummers. Belonging te a group which includes Basilinna and Lache; very unlike any of the others. Nasal scale large and tumid; nasal slit entirely exposed; feathers extending in a point on the sides of the ecul- men, sweeping obliquely across the basal part of the nasal scale, and forming at the angle of the mouth a deep re-entrance with those of the chin, which reach much farther forward on the interramal space. Bill light-colored, dark-tipped, quite broad and flattened at base, thence gradually tapering to the acuminate tip, slightly bent downward, the curve most noticeable just back of the middle. Tarsi appearing feathered nearly to the toes, but really naked except at the top in front. No lengthened ruffs or tufts about the head; no metallic scales on top of head, different from those of the upper parts at large ; no special head-markings. ‘Tail ample, forked or emarginate, the feathers all broad and obtuse, with simply rounded ends. No peculiar primaries, though the outer ones are narrower and more falcate than the next. Of large size, usually 4-5 inches. Sexes alike in form and color. An extensive genus, covering some 25 species, two of which are known to reach our border: above characters more particularly applicable to these. A. fuscocauda’ta. (Lat. fusco, with dusky, caudata, tailed.) DusSkyY-TAILED HUMMING-BIRD. & 2: Above, metallic grass-green, or golden-green, more brassy on crown and rump, the long upper tail-coverts cimnamon-rufous. Wings purplish-dusky, their coverts like back. Tail deep chestnut, the feathers edged and ended with bronzy-purplish. Throat, breast and sides metallic green, glittering emerald in certain lights on the former, on the latter duller and more bronzy; feathers gray beneath the metallic tips, and this color prevailing on the abdomen ; crissum rufous; flank-tufts fleeey white. Bill extensively light-colored, dusky at end. Length about 4.00; wing 2.25; tail 1.60; bill 0.80. Differs from the next in not having the under parts extensively fawn-colored. Lower Rio Grande of Texas, to 5S. Am. A. cerviniven’tris. (Lat. cervinus, like a deer, cervus; in this case meaning fawn-colored 5 ventris, of the belly.) Rurous-BELLIED Hummine-Birp. ¢ 9 : Upper parts shining golden- green, nearly uniform from head to tail, but top of the head rather darker, and with a reddish 1 TROCHILIDA) — TROCHILINA): HUMMING-BIRDS. 46 gloss in some lights, and upper tail-coverts somewhat shaded with reddish. Metallic gorget of great extent, reaching fairly on the breast, glittering green when viewed with the bill of the bird pointing toward the observer, dusky-green when seen in the opposite direction. Less scintillating and more golden-green feathers extend a little farther on the breast and sides, and most of the under wing-coverts are similar. Belly and under tail- coverts dull rufous or pale cinnamon; flocculent snowy- white patches on the flanks. Wings blackish, with purple and violet lustre. ° Tail large, forked about one- third of an inch; color intense chestnut, having even a purplish tinge when viewed below, the middle feathers glossed with golden-green, especially noticeable at their ends, and all the rest tipped and edged for some distance from their ends with dusky. Length 4.00 or more ; extent 5.50; wing 2.30; tail 1.50; bill 0.90. Lower Rio Grande of Texas to Yucatan. VACHE. (Gr. “Iayn, Iache, a proper name. Fig. 316.) Crrce Hummers. Near Amazilia; with broad and not perfectly straight bill longer than head, reddish at base, and frontal feathers covering the nasal scale ; the supranasal groove very distinct: Tail ample, forked, with broad obtuse feathers; no wing- or tail-feathers peculiar in shape. ‘Tarsi feathered. Sexes unlike in color. {. latiros'tris. (Lat. latws, broad; rostrum, beak.) Circe HumMMING-Birp. ¢: Above and below glit- tering green; more golden above, more emerald below; throat sapphire - blue; tail steel-blue-black, the feathers tipped with gray; flanks and un- der tail-coverts white. Bill reddish, tipped Fig. 316. — Circe Humming-bird, with black. Len eth 3, nat size. (From Elliot.) : nearly 4.00; wing 2.00-2.25 ; tail 1.30, forked 0.35; bill 0.80. 9 above like @, but middle tail-feathers bronzy-green ; others bronzed at base, then broadly bluish, then white-tipped. Under parts dark gray. Easily recognized among our species by the special coloration, as described, and by the peculiarities of the bill; in all our genera excepting Lache, Amazilia and Basilinna, the nasal scale is fully covered by the extensive frontal feathers. Arizona and ©, SS = FIG. 317. — Paradise Trogon, or Quesal (Pharomacrus mocinno), #, @. (From Mexico. Michelet. ) 4. SuBoRDER CUCULIFORMES: Cucurirorm Birps. The nature of this large group has been indicated on the preceding page (446). 144. 422. 408 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PICARLA — CUCULIFORMES. 24. Family TROGONIDA:: Trogons. Feet zygodactyle by reversion of the second toe (see p. 127). The base of the short, broad, dentate bill is hidden by appressed antrorse feathers; the wings are short and rounded, with falcate quills; the tail is long, of twelve broad feathers; the feet are very small and weak. The general plumage is soft and lax, the skin tender, the eyelids lashed. A well-marked family of about 50 species and perhaps a dozen genera, chiefly inhabiting tropical America. They are of gorgeous colors, and among them are found the most magni- Fie. 318. — Head of Cop- per-tailed Trogon, nat. size. _ ficent birds of this continent (fig. 317). TROGON. (Gr. rpdyer, trogon, a gnawer : alluding to the dentate bill.) ‘The leading genus, to which the above characters fully apply. T. ambi/guus. (Lat. ambiguus, ambiguous, as doubtfully distinct from 7. mexicanus. Fig. 318.) CoppEeR-TAILED TROGON. Metallic golden-green; face and sides of head black; below from the breast carmine; a white collar on the throat ; middle tail-feathers coppery-green, the outer white, finely variegated with black ; quills edged with white. Length about 11.00; wing 5.25 ; tail 6.75. Valley of the Lower Rio Graude, and southward. [Family MOMOTIDA:: Sawhbills. Feet syndactyle by cohesion of third and fourth toes (p. 129); tomea serrate. birds, comprising about 15 species, none having really rightful place here; but the Momotus ceruleiceps (tig. 819) comes near our border, and is included to illus- trate the suborder. In this species, the central tail-feathers are long-exserted, and spatulate by absence of webs along a part of the shaft—a mutilation effected, it is said, by the birds themselves; the Fig, 319. — Head of Blue-headed Saw-bill, nat. size. bill is about as long as the head, gently curved; the nostrils are rounded, basal, exposed; the wings are short and rounded; the tarsi are scutellate anteriorly. It is greenish, with blue head. Mexico. | 25. Family ALCEDINID4:: Kingfishers. Feet syndactyle by cohesion of third and fourth toes (p. 129, fig. 44); toma simple. Billlong, large, straight, acute (rarely hooked) ; somewhat “ fissirostral,” the gape being deep and wide. Tongue rudimentary or very small. Nostrils basal, reached by the frontal feathers. Feet very small and weak, scarcely or not ambulatorial ; tibiae naked below ; tarsi extremely short, reticu- late in front ; hallux short, flattened underneath, its sole more or less continuous with the sole of the inner toe; soles of outer and middle toe in common for at least half their length ; inner toe always short, in one genus rudimentary, in another wanting (an abnormal modification). Developed toes always with the normal ratio of phalanges (2, 3, 4,5; p. 127); middle claw not serrate. Wings long, of 10 primaries. Tail of 12 rectrices, variable in shape. ‘The Kingfishers form a very natural family of the great Picarian order, and are alike vemarkable for their brilliant coloration and for the variety of curious and aberrant forms which A very small family of tropical American z ALCEDINIDA — ALCEDININA:: KINGFISHERS. 469 are included within their number. . . . ‘ Their characteristic habit is to sit motionless watching for their prey, to dart after it and seize it on the wing, and to return to their original position to swallowit.’... The Alcedimde nest in holes and lay white eggs. It is, however, to be remarked that, in accordance with a modification of the habits of the various genera, a cor- responding modification has taken place in the mode of nidification, the piscivorous section of the family nest- ing for the most part in holes in the banks of streams, while the insectiv- orous section of the family generally nest in the holes of trees, not nec- essarily in the vicinity of water.” (SHARPE. ) The nearest allies of the King- fishers are the Hornbills (Bucero- tide) and Hoopoes (Upupide) of the Old World, and the Toucans (Rhamphastide) and Barbets (Cap- itomde) of the New. All these families, like the Woodpeckers (Picide), agree in being anomalo- gonatous, with two carotids, a tufted oil-gland, and no coca. The formula of the leg-muscles is the Fic, 320.— A typical Kingfisher, the European Alcedo ispida. same as in Trogonide, the acces- (from Dixon.) sory femoro-caudal, accessory semitendinosus and ambiens all being absent. (GARROD.) One would gain an imperfect or erroneous idea of the family to judge of it by the American fragment, of one genus and 6 or 8 species. According to the author of the splendid monograph above cited, there are in all 125 species, belonging to 19 genera; the latter appear to be very judiciously handled, but a moderate reduction of the former will be required. They are very unequally distributed. Ceryle alone is nearly cosmopolitan, absent.only from the Australian region; the Northern portion of the Old World has only 2 peculiar species; 3 genera and 24 species are characteristic of the Ethiopian region; oue genus and 25 species are confined to the Indian ; while no less than 10 genera and 59 species are peculiar to the Australian. Mr. Sharpe recog- nizes two subfamilies ; in the insectivorous Dacelonine (with 14 genera and 84 species), the bill is more or less depressed, with smooth, rounded, or suleate culmen. In the 35. Subfamily ALCEDININA, Piscivorous Kingfishers, the bill is compressed with carinate culmen. The American species all belong here. It is the more particularly piscivorous section ; the Dacelonine feed for the most part upon insects, rep- tiles and land mollusks. Ceryle is the only American genus, with 2 North American species. They are thoroughly aquatic and piscivorous, seeking their prey by plunging into the water from on wing ; and nest in holes in banks, laying numerous white eggs. CE/RYLE. (Gr. xnpudos, kerulos, a kingfisher.) Brnurep KinGFISHERS. Head with an occipital crest. Bill longer than head, straight, stout, acute. Wings long and pointed. Tail rather long and broad (in comparison with some genera), much shorter than wing. ‘Tarsi short ; legs naked above the tibio-tarsal joint. Plumage belted below. 42S. A424. 470 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PICARIAE — CUCULIFORMES. jdargerspecies;dullyblueliabovie ) ie m-mirsmii nin rcantel Melk by ion) t-norm ECL C2, OTA Snes MOS RONEN 5 6 0 6 9 8 6 0 G@ 846 6.6 6.0 65 6 6 6 6 5 6 6 CONTDIGE ERE C. al/eyon. (lat. alcyon, a kingfisher. Fig. 321.) BELTED KINGFISHER. Upper parts, broad pectoral bar, and sides under the wings, dull blue with fine black shaft limes. Lower eyelid, spot before eye, a cervical collar and under parts except as said, pure white; the Q with a chestnut belly-band and the sides of the same color. Quills and tail-feathers black, spec- kled, blotched or barred on the inner webs with white ; outer webs of the secondaries and tail-feathers like the back; wing-coverts frequently sprinkled with white. Bill black, pale at base below. Feet dark; tibiz naked below. g- and short-eared owls. The lining of the wings is fully spotted with dusky on a tawny ground. The general brown color of the bird is on the whole warmer than that of S. nebulosa. Longth about 16.00; wing 12.00-13.00; tail 8.00-9.00. Western U.S., southerly ; a very distinct species, apparently replacing the barred owl, common in parts of California, Arizona, and New Mexico. Egg 2.00 X 1.75, yellowish-white, granular. NYC/TEA. (Gr. vuxrcvs, nukteus, Lat. nycteus, nocturnal.) SNow Owus. Much the same gen- eric characters as Bubo, which see; but plumicorns rudimentary, and generally considered wanting ; facial dise quite incomplete, and eyes not centric to it; bill nearly buried in the frontal feathers ; feet densely clothed in long shaggy feathers which even hide the claws ; four outer quills emarginate on inner webs; under tail-coverts reaching end of tail, which is rounded, and rather more than 4 as long as the wing. One circumpolar species of great size, and mostly white color; young covered with sooty down. N. scandia/ea. (Lat. scandiaca, of Scandinavia. Fig. 357.) Snowy Own. Pure white, spotted and barred with brownish-black markings, wholly indeterminate in size and number; but entirely white specimens are very rare. ‘There is often more blackish than white; and in the darkest birds, the markings tend to bar the plumage with rows of spots, such pattern specially evident on the iN) wings and tail. A common average plumage is Fi. 357.— Snowy Owl, reduced. (From Tenney,. spotted all over the upper parts, broken-barred on after Audubon.) the quills and tail-feathers, regularly barred on the under parts, and with white face and paws. The face, throat, and feet are usually whitest. Bill and claws black; iris yellow. Nearly or about two feet long; extent 4.50-5.00 feet; wing 16.00-18.00 inches; tail 9.00-10.00; culmen 1.10 without cere; tarsus 2.00; middle toe without claw 1.25. This remarkable owl, conspic- uous in size and color, abounds in the boreal regions of both hemispheres, whence it comes southward irregularly in winter, sometimes raiding in large numbers. With us, it is of every winter occurrence in the Northern and Middle States, sometimes pushing its way even to the 166. 480. STRIGIDA: OTHER OWLS. oll Carolinas and Texas; there being no part of the U. 8. where it may not appear at that season. It is far from being exclusively nocturnal, and hunts abroad in the day-time as readily as any hawk. It has never been ascertained to breed in the U.8., though it probably does so in Maine, as is certainly the case little further north. It is capable of enduring the rigors of Arctic winters. The nest is usually upon the ground or rocks; the eggs are 5 to 10, laid at intervals (as is the case with various other owls), so that the nest may contain fresh and ineu- bated eggs and young birds at once; they are equal-ended, about 2.50 & 1.90. The bird preys upon grouse, ptarmigan, hares, and smaller game, especially the field-mice and lemmings which swarm in the Arctic regions. SURNIA. (Etym. of Swrnia or Syrniwm unknown.) HAwk Owns. Skull and ear-parts much as in Bubo or Nyctea; latter non-operculate, the opening of small size; facial dise very little developed, and eyes not centric to it; no plumicorns. Wings folding far short of end of tail; third primary longest ; first 4 emarginate on inner webs. ‘Tail remarkably long, little shorter than the wing, much graduated, with lanceolate feathers. Feet thickly and completely feathered to the claws; tarsus scarcely or not longer than middle toe. Of medium size, with a peculiarly neat and dressy appearance, for an owl, the whole plumage being more strict than in other members of this family. There is but one species, common to northern portions of both hemispheres, as hawk-like in habits as in mien, though unmistakably an owl. S. fune/rea. (Lat. funerea, funereal. Fig. 358.) AmpricAN HAwk Own. Day Ow. Bill and eyes yellow; claws brownish-black. Upper parts bistre-brown, darkest and almost blackish on the head, where profusely spotted with small round white marks, to which succeeds a nuchal interval less spotted or free from spots, then an area of larger and lengthened spots ; seapulars profusely spotted with white in large pattern, forming a scapular bar as in Scops; back and wing-coverts more or less spotted with white also; primaries and secondaries with white spots in pairs on opposite edges of the feathers. Tail broken-barred with white or pale gray, usually narrowly and distinctly, on one or both webs, and tipped with the same; but there is great individual variation in this respect, as may also be said of the amount and character of the spotting of the whole upper parts. Under parts from the breast backward, including the erissum, closely and regularly cross- barred with rich reddish-brown, or even reddish-black, upon a white ground, the alternating bars of color usually of about equal widths —if anything, the way white the broadest. The lining of the Fie. 358. — Hawk Owl, reduced. (Sheppard del. Nichols sc.) wings shares the same character, but is more spotty ; the paws are mottled with brown and whitish, in different pattern. On the breast the regular barring gives way, the tendency being to form a dark pectoral band on a white or spotted ground, but this disposition is seldom per: fected. Facial dise mostly whitish, bounded by a conspicuous blackish crescent behind the ear. When the dark nuchal collar is perfected, a second bar curves down behind the first on A8l. 167. 482. o12 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —RAPTORES — STRIGES. the side of the neck, separated by a whitish interval; the edges of the eyelids, many of the loral bristles, a line just in front of the eye, and a chin-spot, are black or dusky; the lower part of the dise below the ears has also dusky streaks. The exposed part of the bill is bright yellow, as said, but most of that hidden by the bristles is of a dark livid color. However vari- able in detail, the markings of this species are unmistakable ; those about the head are better defined than in most owls, and quite peculiar. Length 15.00; extent 33.00; wing about 9.00; tail about 7.00; tarsus, or middle toe without claw, 1.00 or less; culmen without cere 0.75. A handsome and spirited owl, abundant in northern portions of N. Am., S. into northern U. S. in winter, frequently and regularly ; apparently resident in Maine. Like the snowy owl, it endures the rigors of Arctic winters. Nest usually in trees, sometimes on rocks _ or stumps, of sticks, mosses, grasses, and feathers; eggs 4-7, April, May, about 1.55 x 1.25, whitish. The food of this species seems to be chiefly field-mice and other small rodents, hawked for in broad daylight, this owl being apparently the least nocturnal of its tribe. S. f. wlula. (Lat. wlula, a screech owl.) European Hawk Owt. Lighter-colored speci- mens from Alaska have been considered to represent this variety, just as darker-colored ones, from the British Islands, have been referred to the preceding variety. NYC'TALA, (Gr. vixrados, nuktalos, sleepy.) SAw-wHET Owns. Skull and ear-parts highly unsymmetrical, the latter of great size, and fully opereulate. Head very large (as in Strix), without plumicorns ; facial dise complete, with centric eye. Nostril at edge of the cere, which is inflated or not. ‘Tail from $to $ as long as the wing, rounded. Third and 4th primaries longest ; Ist quite short; 2 or 3 emarginate on inner webs. Feet thickly and closely feathered to the claws. In this interesting genus the ear-parts are of great size, and reach the extreme of asymmetry, the whole skull seeming misshapen. Three species are known, all of small size ; one of circumpolar distribution, one peculiar to N. Am., the third of unknown habitat, probably American. They are notable for the unusual degree of difference between old and young ; and our species are readily distinguished by stronger characters than are ordinarily found between congeneric owls. The adults are umber or chocolate-brown above, spotted with white, below white, striped with brown; the young more uniform. Eyes yellow; bill black or yellow. Analysis of Species. Larger: wing about 7.00; tail 4.50. Bill yellow; cere not tumid; nostrils presenting laterally, and obliquelyovaleVArctiCies serie. Earnie Sue One thon. 5 ten enn Meme heir MIT:7CORCSOR TEE LOD Smaller: wing 5.50; tail 2.67. Bill black; cere tumid; nostrils presenting anteriorly, and about circular. OSS See ot ei ieee tiie Be 2 - . acadica 483 N. teng/malmi rich/ardsoni. (To P. G. Tengmalm, and J. Richardson.) Arctic AMERICAN SAwW-wHeET Own. Adult: Upper parts, including wings and tail, uniform chocolate-brown, spotted with white ; on the top of the head the spots small and profuse, on the nape larger and blended into a nuchal collar, on the back and wing-coverts large and sparse, but tending to form a scapular bar, on the wing-quills and tail-feathers in pairs, at the opposite edges of the webs, on the inner webs larger, more like bars, and more or less run together, especially on the inner secondaries. Under parts white, thickly and confusedly streaked lengthwise with the color of the back. Facial dise mostly white, but with blackish eyelids and loral spot, set in a frame of dark brown speckled with white. The general tone of the brown of this species, is oftenest ruddy, nearly as in NV. acadica, but sometimes dark and pure. Young not seen by me ; said to differ from the adult much as N. acadica does. Length 11.00-12.00; extent 24.00; wing 7.00; tail 4.50; tarsus 1.00; middle toe without claw 0.67; culmen without cere 0.60. Said to be distinguished from the European conspecies (fig. 359) by its darker coloration, ochrey feet spotted with brown instead of being nearly immaculate white, and more heavily streaked under tail-coverts. This fine species inhabits the Arctic regions, being seldom seen in the U. S., where only known in winter and not further south than New England, Wisconsin, Northern Ohio, and Oregon ; though it is probably resident in Northern Maine, like the snowy 483. STRIGIDA): OTHER OWLS. o13. and hawk owls. The nest is said to be built in a tree; the eggs are variously stated to be from 2 to 6in number; size 1.25 X& 1.05. N. aca/dica. (Lat. acadica, of Acadia.) ACADIAN Owl. SAW-WHET Own. Adult: Upper parts, including wings and tail, very similar to those of the last species, but the ground usually a ruddier brown, the spotting less extensive, the marks on the top of the head pencilled in delicate shaft-lines instead of round spots, those of the wings and tail exactly as in A. rich- ardsont. Under parts white, diffusely streaked or dappled with a peculiar light brown, almost pinkish-brown. Feet immaculate whitish, tinged with buff. Facial dise mostly white, but blackened immediately about the eye and on the loral bristles, and pencilled with dusky on the auriculars; set in a frame of the color of the back, touched with white points behind the } if), ae Hf) a= ur Mk = > Mf SS \ S y. (Ss ip NY S Fig. 359. — Upper, Tengmalm’s European Saw-whet Owl, very near No, 482. Lower European Sparrow Owl, fresembling No. 484. Both 4 nat. size. (From Brehm.) : ear; this frame distinct on the throat where it separates the white of the dise from a white jugular collar, before the pectoral streaks begin. Bill black; claws dark; eyes yellow. Young quite different (NV. albifrons): Above, ruddy chocolate-brown, without any spots; wings and tail more fuscous brown, marked substantially as in the adults. Below, the color of the back extending over all the fore parts, the rest being brownish-yellow ; no streaks whatever. Facial dise sooty-brown, with whitish eye-brow, and some white touches on the rim behind the ear curving forward to the chin. Bill black, as before. Length 7.50-8.00; extent 17.00- 18.00; wing 5.25-5.75 ; tail 2.60-2.90; tarsus 0.75 ; bill without cere 0.50; middle toe with- out claw 0.60. This curious little owl, the most diminutive species found in Eastern N Am., inhabits the U. S. from Atlantic to Pacific, and goes somewhat further North into British America, and also 8. into Mexico. Though apparently common and generally distributed, it is 9 ode 168. 484. ARS. _ol4 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — RAPTORES — STRIGES. not very well known, as it is shy and retiring, and quite nocturnal in habits. It is chiefly noted for its shrill harsh notes, which, being likened to filing a saw, have occasioned its name. ‘The nest is usually made in the hollow of a tree or stump, in April; the eggs are 8-6 in number, white, nearly globular, about 1.00 0.87. GLAUCIDIUM. (Gr. dimin. of yAavé, glaux, an owl.) GNoME Owls. SPARROW OwLSs. Pya@my Owls. Size very small. Head perfectly smooth ; no plumicorns ; ear-parts small, non-operculate; facial dise very incomplete, the eye not centric. Nostril circular, opening im the tumid cere; bill robust. Tarsus fully and closely feathered, but toes only bristly for the most part. Wings short and much rounded, the 4th primary longest, the Ist quite short, the 3 outer ones emarginate, and next one or two sinuate. Tail long, about ? as long as the wing, even or nearly so. Claws strong, much curved. A large genus of very small owls, mostly of tropical countries. ‘The numerous species, chiefly of warm parts of America, are in dire con- fusion, but the only two known to inhabit N. Am. are well determined. The plumage of mnany or most species is dichromatic, as in Scops, there being a red and a gray phase indepen- dently of age, season, or sex; but the red is not known to occur in our G. gnoma. The upper parts are marked with spots or lines; bars, or rows of spots, cross the wings and tail; the under parts are streaked ; there is a cervical collar. Notwithstanding their slight stature, the gnome owls are bold and predaceous, sometimes attacking birds quite as large as themselves. They are not specially nocturnal. The eggs are laid in holes in trees, and are not peculiar in character. } Analysis of Species. Markings of upper parts in dots and round spots. Tail dark brown, with rows of white spots . .gnoma 484 Markings of upper parts in sharp lines. Tail reddish, with dark brown bars ... . . ferrugineuwm 485. G. gno‘ma. (Lat. gnoma, a spirit of the mines.) CALIFORNIAN GNOME OwL. ¢Q, adult: Tail concolor with the back, and markings of the upper parts, as well as those crossing the wings and tail, im the form of dots or round spots, not lines or bars. Upper parts one shade of dark brown, everywhere dotted with small circular spots of white; a collar of mixed blackish- brown and white around the back of the neck ; breast with a band of mottled brown, separating the white throat from the white of the rest of the under parts, which have irregular lengthwise streaks of reddish-brown. Wings and tail dusky-brown, the feathers marked on both webs with rows of round white spots, largest on the inner; under wing-coverts white, crossed obliquely by a blackish bar. Bill, cere, and feet dull greenish-yellow; soles chrome yellow; claws black ; iris bright yellow ; mouth livid flesh-color. Length of ¢ 7.00 or a little less; extent 14.50; wing 3.75; tail 3.00. Length of 9 7.50; extent 15.50, ete. In the 9 the upper parts are rather lighter, with fewer larger spots, and a nearly obsolete nuchal collar; but both sexes vary in the tint of the upper parts, which ranges from pure deep brown to pale grayish, almost olivaceous, brown, probably according to age and season, the newer feathers being darker than they are when old and worn. ‘The condition of erythrism, so well known in the next species, has not been observed in the present one, which is closely related to the sparrow owl of Europe (G. passerinum, fig. 359). Rocky Mts. tothe Pacific, U. 8. and southward, common in wooded regions ; an interesting little ow], crepuscular and rather diurnal than strictly nocturnal, preying chiefly upon insects, but also upon birds and quadrupeds sometimes about as large as itself. G. ferrugi/neum. (Lat. ferrugimeum, rusty-red.) FERRUGINEOUS GNOME OwL. ¢Q, adult, normal plumage: Tail entirely ferrugineous, or light chestnut-red, crossed with 7 to 9 bars of blackish-brown, — of the same width as the rufous interspaces, and both sets of mark- ings quite regular. (These tail-marks distinguish the species in any plumage from G. gnoma.) Entire top of the head, above the superciliary ridges, and sides of the head behind the auriculars, olivaceous-brown, streaked with small, distinct lines of white or fulvous-whitish ; these mark- ings being on the forehead and most of the crown like pin-scratches in their sharpness, and though a little less so behind the ears, everywhere retaining their narrow linear character. (1» 169. STRIGIDA: OTHER OWLS. old G. gnoma, the head-markings are dots and spots, not lines.) Back like the head, olivaceous- brown, but without markings, except on the scapulars, most of which feathers have a large round white spot on the outer web near the end, and more or fewer pairs of fulvous spots on both webs. Color of back and head divided by an obvious cervical collar, consisting of a series of diffuse whitish, and another of fulvous, spots, separated by a nearly continuous line of black. Upper tail-coverts usually more or less rufescent, approximating to the color of the tail. Remiges olivaceous-fuscous, like the back, the primaries inperfectly and indistinctly, the see- ondaries completely and decidedly, cross-barred with numerous rufescent bands, narrower than the dark intervals ; besides which markings some of the primaries have an incompleted series of small whitish or very pale fulvous spots along the outer edge, and all have large and deep indentations of white or whitish along the imuer web, increasing in size from the ends toward the bases of all the feathers, and also on individual feathers from the outer primaries to the inner secondaries, on which last they reach quite across the inner webs. Lining of wings white, with an oblique dark bar, and another curved dark bar, the latter across the ends of the under coverts. Under parts white, heavily streaked along the sides with the color of the back ; this color extending quite across the breast, where, however, the feathers have dilated shaft- lines of whitish ; chin and throat white, divided into two areas by a blackish or dark gular col- lar, which curves across from one post-auricular region to the other. ‘The markings all diffuse. Auriculars dark, sharply scratched with white shaft-lines, bounded below by pure white. Eye- brows white, pretty definitely bounded above by the color of the crown. Region inmediately about the bill whitish, but mixed with the long, heavy, black bristles that project far beyond the bill, which latter is greenish at base, growing dull yellowish at the end; sparsely-haired toes soinewhat like the bill; claws brownish-black; iris lemon-yellow. Length of ¢ about 6.50; extent 14.50; wing 3.50: tail 2.50; tarsus 0.75; middle toe without claw about the saine, its claw 0.40. @ larger: length 7.00 or more; wing 4.00; tail nearly 3.00. Red phase: Entire upper parts deep rufous-red, with the lighter markings of the head, ete., obsolete or obliterated ; tail the same, with dark bars scarcely traceable. Dark cervical collar, however, conspicuous. White of under parts tinged with yellowish or fulvous; the markings of the under parts similar in color to the ground of the upper parts, but dullerand paler; tibiee rufous, without markings. Gular collar blackish. Various intermediate stages have been observed, and the species is to be found in every degree of transition, from the slightest departure from the normal state to the completely erythritic condition. These color-conditions are common to both sexes. In extreme cases, the rufous becomes intense and almost uniform, a light rufous replacing even the white of the under parts, and there being no traces left of bars on the wings or tail. ‘Texas to Arizona and Southern California, and southward. MICRATHE'NE. (Gr. puxpds, mikros, small; >A@nvn, Athene, goddess of wisdom, to whom the owl was sacred.) Eur Owns. Related to Glaucidium; of very diminutive size, including the smallest known species of owl, and one of the least of all raptorial birds. Head perfectly smooth; no plumicorns; ear-parts small, non-operculate ; facial dise incomplete, with eye not centric. Nostril circular, opening in the tumid cere. Tarsi scarcely feathered below the suf- frago, being almost entirely naked and bristly, like the toes; this is as in Speotyto, though other characters are quite different. Claws remarkably small aud weak; middle toe and claw about as long as the tarsus; outer claw reaching a little beyond base of middle claw; inner intermediate between middle and outer. Wings very long, rather more than 2 the total length of the bird, but much rounded, the Ist primary only 2 as long as the longest one; 8d and 4th longest, 5th but little shorter, 2d about equal to 6th; the outer four sinuate on inner webs. Tail of moderate length, 4 as long as the wing, the feathers not graduated, and broad to their very tips. Bill small and weak, compressed at base, where hidden in dense antrorse bristly feathers; culmen and gonys only moderately convex; lower mandible obsoletely notched. One species known. 486. 170. 487. O16 SYSTHMATIC SYNOPSIS. — RAPTORES— STRIGES. M. whit/neyi. (To Prof. J. D. Whitney.) Eur Own. @, adult: Above, light umber- brown, thickly marked with irregular angular pale brownish dots, one on every feather, and minutely undulated with lighter and darker color. A concealed white cervical collar, this color occupying the middle of the feathers, which are brown at their ends and plumbeous at base. A white scapular stripe, the outer webs of the scapulars being almost entirely of this color. Wings like the back ; lesser coverts with two pale brownish spots on each feather ; middle and greater coverts boldly spotted with white at the end of the outer web of each feather, and with pale brown spots near the end. Quills with 3 to 6 pale brown spots on each web, forming broken bars, mostly passing to white on the edge of the feathers, those on a few intermediate primaries almost white. Tail-feathers like the wing-quills, with 5 broken bars and one ter- minal, of pale brownish whitening on the inner webs. Lining of wings white, interrupted with dark brown. Face and region about eye white, below it barred with light and dark brown ; bristles at base of bill black on terminal half. Chin and throat white, forming a broad mark from side to side. General color of under parts whitish, the breast blotched and imper- feetly barred with brown, forming toward the abdomen large patches, the sides more grayish, the flanks plumbeous, tibize narrowly barred with light brown and dusky. Tarsal bristles whitish ; those of the toes yellowish ; bill pale greenish ; iris bright yellow. Length 5.75-6.25 ; extent 14.25-15.25 ; wing 4.25-4.50; tail 2.00-2.25; tarsus 0.80-0.90. Arizona and. south- ward; a very curious little owl, not yet well known, few specimens having been secured. The general habits, nesting, and food, appear to be similar to those of the gnome owls. SPEO/TYTO. (Gr. omeos, speos, a cave; tuT@, tuto, a kind of owl.) BuRRow1ING OwLs. Q¢ medinm and rather small size. Head smooth; no plumicorns ; ear-parts small, non-oper. culate ; facial disc incom- plete. Nostril opening in the tumid cere. Wings of moderate length; 2d to 4th quills longest; Ist about equal to 5th; two or three sinuate on inner webs near the end. ‘Tail very short, only about half as long as the wing, even or scarcely rounded. Tarsi extremely long, about twice as long as the middle toe without its claw, very scant-feathered in front, bare behind; toes bristly. The long slim FiG. 360. — Bills and feet of Speotyto, nat. size. Lower, S. hypogwa; upper, legs are quite peculiar (fig . S. floridana. (Ad nat. del. R. R.) 360). A genus confined to America, where there are several varieties of apparently a single species, of diurnal and terrestrial habits, noted for inhabiting underground burrows. S. cunicula/ria hypoge’a. (Lat. cunicularia, a burrower; Gr. vmdyeros, hupogeios, under- ground. Fig. 361.) Adult ¢Q : Above, dull grayish-brown, profusely spotted with whitish ; the markings mostly rounded and paired on each feather, but anteriorly lengthened. Quills with 4 to 6 whitish bars, entire or broken into cross-rows of spots; tail-feathers similarly marked. There is much individual variation in the tone of the ground-color, and size and number of the spots, which may also be rather ochrey than whitish. Superciliary line, chin, and throat, white, the two latter separated by a dark brown jugular collar; auriculars brown; facial bristles black- 488 e ACCIPITRES: DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY. OLT shafted. Under parts white or pale ochrey, the breast, belly, and sides barred with transverse spots of brown, in a pretty regular manner ; legs and under tail-coverts unmarked. Lining of wings tawny-white, dusky-spotted on the primary coverts. Sexes indistinguishable in size or color: length 9.50; extent 23.00; wing 6.50-7.00; tail 3.00-3.25; tarsus 1.50-1.75; middle toe without claw 0.80; chord of culimen without cere 0.50-0.60. Young differ in much less spotting, or even uniform- ity, of the body above, and whitish under parts, excepting the jugular col-_ lar; wing- and tail-coverts largely white. A remark- able owl, abounding in suit- able places in Western N. Am., froin the Plains to the Pacific, in the treeless : regions inhabited by the we “prairie dogs,” (Cynomys SSS ludovicianus and C. gunni- sont) and other: burrowing rodents, especially Spermo- philus richardsont in the == ———_ north, and S. beecheyt in HG. 3861. — Burrowing Owl, reduced. (Sheppard del. Nichols sc.) California. I have found colonies in Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Dakota, Montana N. to 49°, Colorado, New Mexico and California, in all cases occupying the deserted burrows of the quadrupeds, not living in common with them as usually supposed. They also oceupy the holes made by badgers and foxes. The eggs may be laid even 6 or 8 feet from the entrance of the burrow; they appear to vary in number up to 10; are white, subspherical, 1.30 « 1.10. The species has exceptionally occurred in Massachusetts. Its food is chiefly insects and small reptiles, birds and quadrupeds being apparently rarely taken. Wherever found, the species is resident, being able to endure extremely cold weather. S. c. florid/ana. (Of Florida. Fig. 360.) FLortipA BuRRow1nG Own. Like the last ; rather smaller; wing 6.00-6.50; tail scarcely 3.00; shanks more extensively denuded, only feathered about half way down in front; feet and bill relatively longer. Upper parts darker, rather bistre-brown, more profusely and confusedly spotted with smaller and whiter marks; under parts more heavily and regularly barred with darker brown. Florida, an isolated local race, colonies of which are common in some places. 7. SUBORDER ACCIPITRES: Diurnat Birps or Prey. This large group, comprising the large majority of the order Raptores, may be most readily defined by exclusion of the particular characters of the other suborders. There is nothing of the grallatorial analogy shown by the singular Gypogerandes. The nostrils are not completely pervious, nor is the hallux elevated, as in Cathartides; while other peculiarities of the American vultures are wanting. Comparing Accipitres with Striges, we miss the peculiar physiognomy of owls, the eyes looking laterally as in ordinary birds, and the facial dise being absent (rudimentary in Circine) ; aftershafts are usually present, and the outer toe is not versa- tile nor shorter than the inner one (exe. Pandionide). The external ears ‘are moderate and non-operculate. The eye is usually sunken beneath a much projecting superciliary shield, conferring a decided and threatening gaze. The bill shows the raptorial type perfectly, and is always provided with a cere i which (not at its edge as in most owls) the nostrils open ; the ols SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — RAPTORES — ACCIPITRES. cutting edges are usually lobed, or toothed (see any figs.). The lores, with occasional excep- tions, due to nakedness or dense soft featherings, are scantily clothed with radiating bristly feathers, which, however, do not form, as usual in owls, a dense appressed ruff hiding the base of the bill. Wings of 10 primaries, and tail of 12 rectrices (with rare exceptions); both extremely variable in shape and relative and absolute lengths. The feet are usually strong and efficient instruments of prehension and weapons of offence or defence, with widely separable i FG, 362. —Shoulder-joint of Accipitres; after Ridgway. a, anterior end of coracoid; b, upper end of clavicle; c, scapular process of coracoid, reaching ) in the middle fig. (Walco peregrinus), but not in the left-hand fig. (Bulee borealis), nor in the right hand fig. (Pandion haliactus); d, lower end of scapula, The figs nat. size, left side, viewed from oposite side. and strongly contractile toes, cleft to the base or there only united by small movable webs, and generally scabrous underneath with wart-like pads or tylari to prevent slipping, as shown in fig. 46. The claws are developed into large sharp curved talons. The tarsal envelope (pod- otheca) varies ; sometimes the whole tarsus is feathered, and it is usually so in part; the horny covering takes the form of scutella, or reticulations, or rugous granulations, and is occasionally fused. The capacious gullet dilates into a crop; the gizzard is moderately muscular; the ceca are extremely small. The oil-gland is tufted. The syrinx has one pair of intrinsic muscles. The ambiens and femoro-caudal muscles are present; the accessory femoro-caudal, seinitendinosus and its accessory are absent. There are good osteological characters: The phalanges of the hind toe are more than half as long as those of the outer toe; the basal joint of the middle or outer toe is longer than the next one. There are no basipterygoid processes. The sternum is manubriated, and when not entire behind is single-notched or fenestrate on each side (doubly so in most owls). Huxley has called attention to a character of the shoulder-girdle, alterward well elaborated by Mr. Ridgway (fig. 362): In certain genera, as Falco, Micrastur, Herpetotheres, and in the Polyborine, the scapular process of the coracoid, fig. 362, ¢, is pro- longed beneath the scapula, d, to meet the clavicle, b; which is not the case in other groups of genera of the Falconide, nor in Pandionide. This distinction has been made the basis of a primary division of the diurnal Accipitres into two subfamilies, Malconme and Buteonine, the former including Polyborus aud its allies, the latter including Pandion; but some modification of this scheme is advisable, I think. It seems to me that the primary division should be made as on p. 498, by excluding Pandionide as a family distinct from Falconide proper, on the ground of its many peculiarities. This being done, the character of the shoulder-joint may properly be considered in dividing the Falconide into subfamilies. I am perfectly willing to approximate Polyborus to Falco on this technical ground, notwithstanding the great outward dissimilarity of these two forms; but it is unlikely that ornithologists will allow the construc- tion of the shoulder-joint to outweigh all other characters combined. Diurnal Birds of Prey abound in all parts of the world, holding the relation to the rest of their class that the carnivorous beasts do to other mammals. With many exceptions, the sexes are alike in color, but the female is almost invariably larger than the male. The changes of \ FALCONIDA : VULTURES, FALCONS, HAWKS, ETC. O19 plumage with age are great, and render the determination of the species perplexing — the more so since purely individual, and somewhat climatic, color-variations, and such special conditions as melanism, are very frequent. The modes of nesting are various; the eggs as a rule are blotched, and not so nearly spherical as those of owls. The food is exclusively of an animal nature, though endlessly varied; the refuse of the stomach is ejected in a ball by the mouth. The voice is loud and harsh. Asa rule, the birds of prey are not strictly migratory, though inany of them change their abode with much regularity. Their mode of life renders them usually non-gregarious, excepting, however, the vultures and vulture-like hawks, which con- gregate where carrion is plenty, quite like the American Cathartides. There are upwards of 300 species or good geographical races, justly referable to about 50 full genera, and divisible into two families — Halconide and Pandionde. 31. Family FALCONIDA: Vultures, Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, etc. SSS Characters as above, ex- clusive of those marking the fish-hawks, Pandionide, be- yond. No unexceptionable division of the family having been proposed, and the sub- families being still at issue, it may be best not to materially motlify the arrangement pre- sented in the earlier edition of this work, further than to separate Pandionde from Falcomde proper. The Old World Vultures form a group standing some- what apart from the rest in many points of superficial structure and habits, though so closely correspondent with ordinary Lalconde@, aud es- = pecially with Buteonine, in === \\_ essential respects, that Fig. 363. — The Vulture’s banquet; illustrating subfamily Vulturine of they can form at most a sub- family Falconide, not represented in America. (From Michelet.) family Vulturine (fig. 263 ) They have nothing to do with the American Vultures (suborder Cathartides), with which they have been wrongly united in a family Valturide. They are a small group’ of some six genera and about twelve species, of which the most decidedly raptorial is the bearded griffin, Gypaétus barbatus; other characteristically ‘‘ vulturine” forms being Vultur monachus, Otogyps auricu- laris, Gyps fuluus, Neophron percnopterus, and Gypohierax angolensis. The South American genera, Micrastur and Herpetotheres, are each described as being so peculiar as to form a group of supergeneric value, comparable with those termed subfamilies in the present work. Their relationships are with Falconine. (Ridgway.) The North American Falconide with which we have here to do fall in several groups, which TI shall call subfamilies, without insisting upon their taxonomic rank, of raising the question whether the family at large is divisible in this manner. These groups are six in number: 1. Circine, harriers; 2. Milvine, kites; 3. Accipitrine, hawks; 4. Falconine, ’ 520 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —RAPTORES— ACCIPITRES. falcons; 5. Polyborine, caracaras; 6. Buteonine, buzzards and eagles. If it be urged that these groups grade into one another, it may be replied that most large groups of like grade in ornithology do the same; and that‘ typical’ or central genera of each of them offer practical distinctions which have been recognized from time out of mind, in popular opinion and ver- nacular language. In my recent revision of the North American Falconide, made to check and amplify the descriptions in this work, an interesting relation between the shape of the wings and their pattern of coloration presented itself. (a) If we take a ‘noble’ faleon, such as a peregrine or a lanner, we find a strong, yet sharp wing, with the second primary longest, sup- ported nearly to the end by the first and third; the nicking of the quills confined to a few, if occurring on more than one, and situated near the tip. Such a wing is as potent in its feathers. as in the construction of its shoulder-joint, and indicates the acme of raptorial power in its pos- sessor, a falcon being able to dash down upon its quarry with almost incredible velocity and violence. The markings of a falcon’s wing are no less characteristic, consisting of clean-cut, dis- tinct spots of light color on both webs of the primaries and secondaries, throughout their whole extent, or almost so. (b) Any true ‘hawk,’ as an Astur or Accipiter, has a rounded concavo- convex wing, conferring a rapid, almost whirring, flight, like that of a partridge at full speed; and such a bird captures its prey by chasing after it with wonderful impetuosity, but not ata single plunge like a falcon. Such a wing has more primaries cut, farther from their ends, and the markings are pretty regular and distinct bars. (c) Any ‘buzzard,’ as a Buteo, a heavy and comparatively slow or even lumbering bird in flight, taking its prey by surprise and merely dropping on it without special address, has many or most of the primaries cut, far from their ends, and the tendency of the markings is to fuse and blend in large irregular masses of color, the sharp markings of Falco or Accipiter being thus dissipated. Of course there are exceptions, as well as every possible gradation, m the case ; but if one will compare the wing of Circus or Archibuteo with that of Accipriter and Falco, he cannot fail to perceive the point I raise. The tail is in somewhat like case. In the most noble birds of prey it is very stiff and strong, with almost lanceolate feathers, sharply spotted as a rule; in a hawk, longer and weaker, still regularly barred; in a buzzard generally (there are marked exceptions) of nedium length and strength, with the markings tending to merge in large areas of color, just as those of the wings do. It may be remarked further, without special reference to what has preceded, that in large and difficult genera, as Buteo for example, the best specific characters may be afforded by the markings of the tail. ‘These are usually quite different in young and old birds; but are among a hawk’s most specific credentials, after the mature plumage is assumed, even when the rest of the plumage varies greatly, or is subject to melanism, erythrism, ete. In fine, many hawks are best known by their tails. Melanism in fitequent in Haleonde@ ; erythrism is not Gust the reverse of the case of Strigide). The further generalization may be made, that the coloration of the under parts of Halconide is more distinctive of species than that of the upper parts; and that when these parts are barred crosswise in the adult they are streaked lengthwise in the young. Sexual differences are rather in size than in color, such a case as that of Circus being exceptional. Analysis of Subfamilies. Scapular process of coracoid reaching clavicle. Upper mandible toothed, lower mandible notched ........... . . . FALCONINA WM EVACHINES atdaKKI MOON CORMAN S 5 56 6 6 4 Go 6 ob 6 6 0 oo 6 9 0 0 og dOMNAEOROSZD) Scapular process of coracoid not reaching clavicle. LORE) Teal &} Ubi KOMEN MOEN ASIN OWE 6 6 6 6-0 46 6 6 6 0 6 0 6 0 50 6 oO 6 0 o Cilia Face without ruff. Tarsus approximately equal to tibiain length; rounded wings little longer than tail ACcCIPITRINZ® Tarsus decidedly shorter than tibia. Tail forked, or much shorter than the long pointed wings. . .- . . .. . - . MILVINZ Tail not forked, moderately shorter than the obtuse wings . . . - « - . . BUTEONINA® 171. 489. FALCONIDA — CIRCINA): HARRIERS. o21 42. Subfamily CIRCINA: Harriers. Face surrounded with an incomplete ruff (as in most owls) ; orifice of ear about as large as the eye, and in some cases at least with a decided conch (fig. 364). Bill rather weak, not toothed or notched. Legs lengthened, the tarsus approximately equalling the tibia in length (as in Accipitrime). Wings and tail lengthened. Form light oO, , ) : ° ib, ; and lithe; plumage loose; general organization of the La isis Hy} s . . . abronls ; MSG Wy; buteonine rather than of the faleonine division of the Mid, ‘ Fie, 364, —Ear-parts of Circus. (After family. Thus, the scapular process of the coracoid is not Macgillivray.) roduced to the clavicle; there is no median ridge on ) >) the palate anteriorly; the septum nasi is less complete than in alco, and the nostrils are net circular with a central tubercle. The harriers constitute a small group, of the single genus Circus and its subdivisions (to which some add the African Polyboroides), contaming some 165 or 20 species of various parts of the world. CIR'CUS. (Gr. kipkos, kirkos, Lat. cireus, a kind of hawk ; from its circling in the air. Fig. 364.) Harriers. Bill thickly beset with many curved radiating bristles surpassing in length the cere, which is large and tumid; tomia lobed or festooned, but neither toothed nor notched. Nostrils ovate-oblong, nearly horizontal. Superciliary shield prominent. Tarsus long and slender, scutellate before and mostly so behind, reticulate laterally ; toes slender, the middle with its claw much shorter than the tarsus; a basal web between the outer and middle ; all tuberculate underneath; claws very large and sharp, much curved. Wings very long and ample; 3d and 4th quills longest; Ist’shorter than 6th ; outer 8-5 (in our species 4) emargi- nate on inner webs ; 2d—5th emarginate on outer webs. ‘Tail very long, about 3 as long as the wing, nearly even or rounded, the folded wings fallmg short of its end. In our species, which scarcely differs from the European C. cyaneus, the sexes are extremely unlike in color and size ; the old @ is chiefly bluish-gray and white; the 2 and young of both sexes are dark brown and reddish-brown or tawny, with while rump; the @ is much larger than the @. The nest : is placed upon the ground; the egos are colorless or nearly so. The harriers are among the most “‘ignoble” of hawks, prey- ing upon humble quarry, chiefly small quadrupeds, reptiles, and insects, for which they hunt by quartering low over the ground with an easy gliding flight. N\ AAs They are ‘ light-weights ” in . Fic. 365. — Marsh Hawk, nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) proportion to their linear dimensions, all the members being lengthened, and the wings espe- cially ample. The plumage is also loose and fluffy, somewhat like that of owls, to which the harriers are related in several respects. C. eya‘neus hudson/ius. (Lat. cyaneus, blue, the color of the old ¢ : hadsonius, of Hudson’s Bay. Fig. 365.) AmEricaAn MAarsH Hawk, or Harrier. Buun Hawk. Adult ¢: In perfect plumage pale pearly-bluish, or bluish-ash, above, with the upper tail-coverts entirely pure white ; but most specimens have a dusky wash obscuring the bluish, and retain traces of H22 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —RAPTORES — ACCIPITRES. brown or rufous. . Five outer primaries mostly blackish, all of them and the secondaries with large white basal areas on inner webs ; tail-feathers banded with 5 or 6 obscure dusky bars, the terminal one strongest and most distinet, and marbled with white toward their bases. The bluish cast invades the fore under parts, the rest of which are white, with sparse drop-shaped rufous spots ; lining of wings white. From this blue-and-white state the bird is found grading by degrees into the very different plumage of the Q and young: Above, dark umber-brown, everywhere more or less varied with reddish-brown or yellowish-brown, the upper tail-coverts, however, white, forming a very conspicuous mark; under parts a variable shade of brownish- yellow, or ochraceous, streaked with umber-brown, at least on breast and sides ; tail crossed with 6-7 blackish bars. The younger the bird the heavier the coloration, which is sometimes quite blackish and reddish, excepting the white upper tail-coverts. @ Q: Iris, tarsi, and toes bright yellow; cere yellow or yellowish; bill blackish; claws black. @: length 17.50-19.00;3 extent 40.00-44.00 ; wing 13.00-14.00; tail 9.00-10.00 ; tarsus 3.00 or less ; middle toe with- out claw 1.20. @: length 19.00-21.50; extent 45.00-50.00; wing 14.00-16.00; tail 9.50—- 10.50; tarsus 3.00 or more; middle toe without claw 1.40. North Aim. at large, one of the most abundant and widely-diffused of its family, especially in meadowy and marshy places, and easily recognized by its generic characters, in all its variation of size and color. The nest is placed upon the ground, and rather neatly built of hay, a foot in diameter, 3 inches high ; eggs 3-6? commonly 4-5, broad and nearly equal-ended, 1.80 to 1.90 & 1.40-1.45, dull white, with more or less greenish or bluish shade; no decrded markings, but frequently small spots and large blotches of very pale brownish on the surface, and some neutral-tint shell-spots. No specific difference from C. cyaneus of Europe ; averaging a little larger; old @ retaining a few rufous spots in white of under parts, and more evident barring of wings and tail. 43. Subfamily MILVIN/Z: Kites. No ruff or ear-conch. Loral bristles moderate, scanty or quite wanting, the head being then closely and softly feathered to the bill. Superciliary shield evi- dent or not. Bill usually weak, sometimes extremely slender, the cutting edge of the upper mandible straight to the curve, or lobed or festooned, but not toothed, nor the under mandible truncate and notched. Nostrils not circular, nor with central bony tubercle. Wings very long, more or less narrowed and pointed, with several (in our genera 2 to 5) primaries emarginate on inner webs. Tail very variable in length and shape, in our genera nearly even or deeply forked. Feet very small; tarsus much shorter than tibia, approximately equal = to middle toe without claw, — Fic. 366. — A typicat Ixite (Hlanovies foriewius). (rom Michelet.) usually feathered above, the rest r= ANH ITTTTY HITT I 172. 490. 3. FALCONIDA)— MILVINA: KITES. 023 mostly or entirely reticulate in small pattern (with few or no large transverse scutella). The general organization is buteonine; the scapular process of the coracoid does not meet the clavicle, the septum nasi is incompletely ossified, and the anterior ridge of the palate is little developed if at all; the superciliary shield is in one or two pieces. The kites form a rather extensive group of hawks of no great strength and less than average size, though very active, generally of lithe and graceful shape, with long thin wings and often forked tail. They are ‘‘ionoble” birds, subsisting upon small game, especially insects and reptiles. In Pernis apivorus, the bee-eating hawk of Europe, the whole head is densely and softly feathered to the bill. The group is less homogeneous than the others here presented, and might be, perhaps, dismembered, or merged in Buteonine. The genera assigned differ with nearly every writer who recognizes the group at all. The type of the group is the genus Milwus, near which stands our Hlanoides (fig. 366), and with which it may not be improper to associate Hlanus, Ictima, and Rostrhamus. Analysis of Genera. Tail nearly as long as the wings, deeply forked; head closely feathered . . . . .. . . . Hlanoides 175 Tail nearly or about even. Five outer primaries emarginate on inner webs; bill and claws extremely slender . . Rostrhamus 172 Two outer primaries emarginate; tarsus scutellateinfront ............ . Jetinia 173 SO naheahy RAROMENES 5 5 6 56 0 6 5 0 06 0 6 0 JOS Ie ROSTRHA’MUS. (Lat. rostrum, a beak ; hamus, a hook.) StcKLE-BILLED Kirss. Bill extremely long and slender, the upper mandible hooked almost into a sickle-shape, the curva- ture also impressed to some extent upon the under mandible; cutting edges entirely without tooth or lobe, but simply curved like the culmen; gonys straight. Cere contracted ; nostrils narrowly oval, horizontal. Loral bristles sight. Space between bill and eye nearly naked and colored, as if a continuation of the cere. Wings long; 3d and 4th quills longest; 5th next; Ist shorter than 6th; outer 5 emarginate on inner webs. ‘Tail about half as long as the wing, slightly emarginate or nearly even. Feet small; tarsus feathered about 4 way down in front, then scutellate, for the rest reticulate; middle toe and claw about as long as tarsus. Inner toe without claw shorter than outer ditto; inner toe and claw longer than ditto ; no evi- dent webbing between either of them; soles granular, but little tuberculate. Claws very long and acute, but slender and comparatively little curved; inner edge of the middle one dilated and jagged. A genus marked by the extreme hooking of the slender bill, otherwise near Hlanus; containing two or three species of the warmer parts of America. R. socia/bilis plum/beus. (Lat. sociabilis, gregarious; plwmbeus, lead-colored.) EKvEr- GLADE Kirr. Adult ¢ 2: General color blackish-plumbeous, blackening on wings and tail. Base of tail, with longer upper coverts and all under coverts white, increasing in extent on the tail from middle to lateral feathers ; tail also with a pale gray or whitish terminal zone. Bill and claws black; base of bill, cere and feet bright orange, drying dingy yellow; iris red. Length 16.00-18.00; extent about 44.00; wing 13.50-15.50; tail 6.50-7.50; bill 0.90-1.00 ; tarsus 1.75-2.25; middle toe without claw, rather less. Young birds are much varied with brown, yellowish, and white, but the species is unmistakable in any plumage. Florida and the West Indies ; said to be common in the *‘ everglades,” and to resemble the marsh hawk in habits; nest in a bush, eggs commonly two, whitish, irregularly spotted, blotched, or smirched with brown, about 1.72 & 1.45. Compared with the 8S. Am. R. sociabilis, the Florida bird averages larger, lighter-colored, and weaker-billed. ICTIVNIA. (Gr. ixrwos, iktinos, a kite. Fig. 367.) Leap Kirers. Bill rather small, but robust, very deep and wide for its length ; tip of upper mandible much overhanging, its cutting edge very prominently lobed, sometimes almost toothed like a falcon’s, sometimes irregularly sinuate-serrate ; the nick just in front of the lobe usually permitting the median ridge of the palate to be visible from the side ; culmen very strongly arched in nearly a quadrant of a circle ; 491. O24 SYSTHMATIC SYNOPSIS. —RAPTORES — ACCIPITRES. gonys convex, ascending ; cere short ; nostrils small, subcireular ; loral bristling slight; super- tiliary shield sinall, in one piece. Wings of moderate length, ample ; 3d quill longest ; 2d but little shorter; Ist quite short, about equal to 6th; outer 2 emarginate on inner web, and next 2 somewhat sinuate. ‘Tail moderate, even or emarginate, the feathers broad to their obtusely rounded ends. Feet short and stout ; tarsus scantily feathered about way down in front, then scutellate, for the rest reticulate; middle toe without claw about as long as the tarsus; outer and middle toes connected by a basal web for the whole length of the basal joint of the latter ; inner toe without claw shorter than the outer, with claw longer, its claw being much larger than that of the outer toe, reaching beyond base of middle claw. Soles broad, especially under Wy Yes Y SAP fi i} dN FIG. 367. — Left, Mississippi Kite, } nat. size; right, Swallow-tailed Kite, 3 nat. size. (From Brehm.) the hind toe, which is widely margined; claws short, stout, much curved. A genus of twe species, confined to temperate and tropical America ; of great volitorial power, spending much of their tine on the wing in aérial gyrations; somewhat gregarious like other Milvine, and preying upon the bumblest quarry, especially insects and small reptiles, often feeding from their talons, as they sail through the air, after sweeping down upon their prey and seizing it as they pass without staying their flight. Load I. subceeru/lea. (Lat. subewrulea, bluish.) Mrississtpp1 Kire. Adult ¢ 9: General plumage plumbeous or dark ashy-gray, bleaching on the head and secondaries, blackening on the tail aud wings, several primaries more ( @) or less (9) suffused with chestnut-red on the inner FALCONIDA(— MILVINAE: KITES. O20 web or on both webs. Forehead and tips of secondaries usually silvery-whitish ; concealed white spots on the scapulars ; bases of feathers of head and under parts fleecy-white. Lores, eyelids, and bill, including cere, black ; gape of mouth and feet, orange, the latter obscured on the front of the tarsus, and along the tops of the toes; iris lake-red. Feet and cere drying to a nameless dingy color. Length of ¢ about 14.00; extent 36.00; wing 10.50-11.50; tail 6.00- 6.50; tarsus 1.45; Q about 15.00; wing 11.00-12.50; tail 6.50-7.00. Young: Head, neck and under parts whitish, spotted with dark brown or reddish-brown, excepting on the throat and along a superciliary line; lining of wings tawny, spotted with rusty-brown ; upper parts blackish, most of the feathers edged with tawny-white; quills tipped with white; tail black, with about 3 pale ashy bands, and as many rows of white spots on the inner webs. Southern U.8., regularly N. to South Carolina, Illinois and Indian Territory, casually to Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Wisconsin; 8. into Mexico; replaced in Central and 8. Am. by the related but quite distinct I. plumbea. Nest of sticks, ete., in trees ; eggs 2 174. K/LANUS. (Lat. elanus, a kite.) Peart Krres. Related to the last; general form and aspect similar. Pattern of coloration entirely different. Bill rather weak and compressed, the tomia of the upper mandible devoid of lobe or festoon, but slightly sinuate to the overhanging tip; gonys about straight; culmen less strongly convex than in Jetinia; nostrils subcireular, near middle of the moderate cere. Feet very small; tarsus feathered half-way down in front, for the rest finely reticulate, like the tops of the toes to near their ends; hind toe very short; claws all small and little curved; basal web between middle and outer toes slight (compare feet of Ictinia). Wings nearly or about twice as long as tail; pointed, 2d and 3d quills longest, Ist about equal to 4th, Ist and 2d emarginate on inner webs. ‘Tail emarginate, but oute feather shorter than the next, all the feathers broad to their obtusely-rounded ends. A small genus of 4 or 5 species inhabiting the warmer parts of the world. 492. KE. glau/eus. (Lat. glaucus, bluish.) BLACK-SHOULDERED Kirk. WHITE-TAILED KITE. Adult @ Q: Upper parts pale bluish-ash; most of the head, the whole tail, and entire under parts, including lining of the wings, pure white ; lesser and middle wing-coverts black, forming a great black area; a patch on under wing-coverts, the shafts of most tail-feathers, and a loral spot, also black. ‘The white of the under parts and middle tail-feathers often with a pearly bluish cast. Bill and claws black; cere and feet yellow or orange; iris red or reddish. Length 16.00-17.00; extent 39.00-41.50; wing 12.50-13.50; tail 7.00-8.00; tarsus 1.30; middle toe without claw about the same; @ little larger than @. Young marked with dusky and reddish-brown, the wing-feathers white-tipped, the tail-feathers with a subterminal ashy bar. In this species the tail is emarginate to a depth of about 0.50, the outer tail-feather also about as much shorter than the next, which is the longest one. Southern U.S. from Atlantie to Pacific; N. to South Carolina, Illinois, Indian Territory, and Middle California; S. through Central and most of S. Am.; common. With habits in general like those of the last species, this elegant kite is stronger and more predaceous, preying upon small birds and quadrupeds as well as insects and reptiles. It nests in trees and bushes; eggs 4-6, subspherical, 1.60 X 1.45, whitish, blotched and smirched with mahogany color. (175. ELANOIDES. (Lat. elanus, and Gr. ei8os, eidos, resemblance.) SwALLOW-TAILED KITEs. _ Prominently characterized by the extremely elongated and deeply forficate tail, the length of which nearly equals that of the wing, the narrow, acuminate lateral feathers being more than twice as long as the middle pair when full grown. - Wings also very long, thin and acute ; 2d and 3d quills forming the point; Ist about equal to 4th; Ist and 2d emarginate on inner webs. Feet very short, but stout; tarsus feathered about 3 way down in front, elsewhere irregularly reticulate; toes mostly scutellate on top, put reticulate toward their bases, granular and padded underneath ; claws short, stout, strongly arcuate, scooped out underneath, with sharp edges, that of the middle dilated. Bill rather weak, with moderately convex culmen and small cere; the cutting edge festooned. Nostrils oval, oblique. Head closely feathered on the sides: A9S. 2206 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS.— RAPTORES— ACCIPITRES. a small superorbital shield of a single bone. A beautiful genus of a single species, related to the Old World Milvus (typical kites) and especially to Nauclerws, with which latter it has usually been associated. E. forfica/tus. (Lat. forficatus, deeply forked. Figs. 366, 367.) SWALLOW-TAILED KITE. Adult ¢ 9: Head, neck, band on rump, and entire under parts, including liming of wings, snow- white; back, wings, and tail, glossy black, with various lustre, chiefly green and violet. Bill bluish-black ; cere, edges of mandibles, and feet pale bluish, the latter tinged with greenish ; claws light-colored. Length about 24.00, but very variable ; extent 50.00: wing 15.50-17.50 ; tail up to 14.50, cleft more than 4 its length; tarsus about 1.25; imiddle toe without claw rather less. Young: Similar; less lustrous; wing- and tail-feathers white-tipped; feathers of head and neck pencilled with delicate shaft lines of blackish. This most elegant kite, super- lative in ease and grace of the wing, floats, soars, and dashes over the greater part of America, and even crosses the Atlantic on its buoyant pinions. It is abundant in the Southern U.S%., sometimes winging its way to the Middle States, and regularly up the whole Mississippi valley, to Minnesota and Dakota, latitude 49°. Known to nest from Wisconsin and Iowa southward. The nest is placed on a tree, constructed of sticks, hay, moss, ete.; eggs 4-6, whitish, 1.90 x 1.50, irregularly blotched and specked with rusty and chestnut-brown. 44. Subfamily ACCIPITRINA:: Hawks. General form strict, with small head, shortened wings, and lengthened tail and legs. ‘Tarsi approximately equal to the tibia in length. Bill short, robust, high at base ; toothless, but usually with a prominent festoon ; no cen- tral tubercle in the broadly oval nostril, nor keel of palate anteriorly. Superciliary shield prominent. Coracoid ar- rangement as in buteonime, into which group the present one grades. Wings coneavo-convex, the 3d to 6th quills longest, the lst very short and more or less bowed inward, the outer 3 to 5 emarginate or sinuate on inner webs. Tail quite long, square or rounded, sometimes emargi- nate, nearly equalling the wing in length. ‘Tarsi slender, Ss aie longer than middle toe without claw, usually extensively . in if not completely denuded of feathers, and scutellate Uva iC before and behind. This is an extensive group of medium-sized and small hawks, little if at all inferior in TCH 36a MEALS picallAcelpiteimenn (irom! spirit of audacity to the true falcons, though less [power Dixon.) fully organized and in fact conforming in anatomical characters with the Buteonine rather than with the Falconing. In the technic of falconry, the Accipitrine are styled ‘“‘ignoble,” because these short-winged hawks rake after the quarry, instead of plunging upon it like the ‘‘ noble” long-winged falcons. Their flight is swift and dashing; they capture their prey in open chase with amazing celerity and address, always killing for themselves and disdaining refuse. Their quarry is chiefly birds and quadrupeds. Astur and Accipiter are the typical and principal genera, of which some 50 species (chiefly of the former genus) are known, inhabiting most parts of the world. Our representatives of these genera are easily discriminated, but some exotic species connect them quite closely. An@lysis of Genera. Small and medium-sized; length 20.00 or less. Tarsus more extensively denuded, and scutellate, some- (HUTS [XN 6 6 6 0 6 6 © 6 0 ¢ RU aM CS rat sala ey eto Ion, Onn Accipiter 176 Large; length over 20 00. Tarsus less extensively denuded, and scutellate, never booted . . . Astur 117 \r i | ALCONIDA —ACCIPITRINA: HAWKS. O27 ACCIUPITER. (Lat. accipiter, ahawk. Fig. 368.) SHARP-SHINNED HAwKS. Tarsi feathered about 4 way down in frout, or less Gn Astwr about 4 way), and quite slender (whence the term ‘‘ sharp-shinned ”) ; in one species prominently and continuously scutellate before and behind, the scutellation continued on to the toes ; in the other the same, or finally fused in a continuous ‘‘boot.” Toes long, slender, the outer one much webbed at base and padded underneath ; inner claw much larger than the middle one, approximately equalling the hind claw; height Fig. 369. — Accipiter nisus of Europe, adult 4, } nat. size; not distinguishable in a cut from our Sharp- shinned Hawk; taken as of 4 nat. size it would represent Cooper’s Hawk just as well; at 1 it would do duty for a Goshawk. (From Brehm.) : of bill at base greater than chord of culmen; 4th and 5th quills longest, 3d and 6th next, 2d shorter than 6th, Ist very short. The two following species are exactly alike in color; one is a miniature of the other. The ordinary plumage is dark brown above (deepest on the head, the occipital feathers showing white when disturbed), with an ashy or plumbeous shade which increases with age, till the general cast is quite bluish-ash ; below, white or whitish, variously streaked with dark brown and rusty, finally changing to brownish-red (palest behind aud 494, 028 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — RAPTORES— ACCIPITRES. slightly ashy across the breast), the white then only showing in narrow cross-bars; chin, throat and crissum white, with blackish pencilling, the crissam, however, usually immaculate ; wings and tail barred with ashy and brown or blackish, the quills white-barred basally, the tail whitish-tipped ; bill dark; claws black; iris, cere and feet yellow. Sexes alike in color; 9 much larger than @. Analysis of Species. Feet extremely slender; bare portion of tarsus longer than middle toe; scutella frequently fused ; tail square. of 10.00-12.00; extent about 21.00; wing.6.00-7.00 ; tail 5.00-6.00. @ 12.00-14.00; extent about . . 25.50; wing 7.00-8.00; tail 6.00-7.00; whole foot 3.50 or less . Bit Oe MCU ting cme Oso . Juscus 494 Feet moderately stout; bare portion of tarsus shorter than middle toe; scutella always distinct ; tail rounded. f 16.00-18.00; extent about 30.00; wing 9.00-10.00; tail 7.00-8.00. @ 18.00-20.00; extent about 35.00; wing 10.00-11.00; tail 8.00-9.00; whole foot 4.00 or more . ........... . cooperi 495 A. fuseus. (Lat. fuscus, dark. Fig. 369.) SHARP-SHINNED Hawk. ‘ Pigeon” Hawk, so- called, but not to be confounded with Falco columbarius, No. 505. Adult g 9: Above, dark plumbeous, slate-color, or bluish-gray, somewhat more fuscous on the wings and tail than on the body, the feathers of the hind-head with fleeey white bases, the scapulars with concealed white spots. Tail crossed by about 4 blackish bars, the first under the coverts, the ae last subterminal and broadest ; Ao = extreme tips of the feathers See, © white. Primaries alsomarked with blackish bars or spots, and whitening at their bases, in bars or indents of the inner webs. Under parts barred crosswise with rufous on a white ground, the bars on some parts cordate and con- nected along the shafts of the feathers, which are blackish ; = ear-coverts rufous; rufous Fig. 370. — Beak and talons of Accipiter (A. cooperi, nat. size). (Ad nat. mostly or entirely wanting del. E. C.) on the cheeks, throat, and erissum, which are more or less finely pencilled with the black shafts of the feathers; crissum, however, often pure white. Avxillars barred like other under parts; lining of wings white, with dusky spots. Dimensions as above. Young: Above, umber-brown, varied with rusty-brown edgings of most of the feathers; white spots of scapulars exposed. Below, white more or less tawny-tinged, striped lengthwise with dark brown or reddish-brown on most parts, the feathers mostly black-shafted. This state is oftener seen than the perfected plumage; every inter- mediate stage is seen; but there can be no misunderstanding the species, as our only other hawks (Falco columbarius and F’. sparverius) of similar slight dimensions beiong to a different genus and subfamily. N. Am. at large, one of our most abundant hawks, and one which, notwithstanding its smallness, sustains the reputation of Accipitrine for nerve and prowess. The nest is usually built in the branches of a tree, sometimes in a hollow or on a ledge of rocks, being a platform of small sticks upon which rests a bed of hay, moss, leaves, or bark ; the eggs are generally laid in May, to the number of 4 or 5. The white ground-color has often a livid or even purplish tint, and is marked, often so thickly as to be obscured, with large, irregular splashes of various shades of brown, interminably changeable in nuniber, size, and pattern, sometimes inclining to form masses or a wreath, sometimes more evenly dis- tributed. The egg is of nearly equal size at both ends, and measures about 1.45 & 1.15. It is not distinguishable with certainty from that of Falco columbarius. 495. A. coo'peri. (To Wm. Cooper. Fig. 370.) Coopnr’s HAWK. CHICKEN HAwxk (a name shared — ae FALCONIDA— ACCIPITRINA: HAWKS. o29 by species of Buteo). The colors and changes of plumage of this species being practically, the same as those of A. fuscus, need not be repeated. The chief difference is, that the crown of the adult is usually appreciably darker slate than the back; the white scapular spots are smaller, fewer, or wanting; in high plumage the upper parts are clearer bluish, while the breast has a fine glaucous bloom overlying the rufous and white ground-color; the tail is more decidedly white-tipped. A small ¢ cooperi grades in size nearly down to a large @ fuscus, but there ap- pears to be constantly a difference of a couple of inches of total length at least; and in any event, the other char- acters above given will suffice for their diserim- ination. In either spe- cies, the yellow of the cere and feet is often or it ‘ HAN VA M's, A usually obscured with 1 Li fi hi 7 greenish. In cooper, the tarsal seutella are sometimes less distinct than is normal, but are not known to fuse into a boot. A large 9 not distantly resembles a young male Goshawk ; but the difference in feathering of the tarsus = f | ) = HIN Lis WP WWN| PN if) 4 ay is distinctive. ‘Tem- perate N. Am. at large, oe i and southward; one of J a) = the common ‘‘ chicken” sts) Z C ie E55 hawks, and a fellow AS L_——— 5 : ( (7 ee of great audacity and ST SHE < Mi ; = 2 ZO prowess, preying on S| oS Bae as . ° Nu Fey We K = S&S ; birds up to the size Feng : US S of grouse and domestic ; poultry. Nesting as described for A. fuscus. The eggs I have ex- amined measure from 1.80 < 1.45 to 2.10 & 1.60 (figures showing the variation both in size and shape), averaging about 1.90 X 1.50. They resemble those of the marsh hawk so closely as not to be certainly distinguishable, but are usually more globular, and with a more granulated shell. The greatest diameter is at or very near the middle; difference in shape of the two ends is rarely appreciable. All are more uniform in color than those of most hawks, resembling the pale, searcely-marked examples occasionally laid by most kinds; none are conspicuously dark- marked. The ground is white, faintly tinted with livid or greenish-gray; if marked, it is with faint, sometimes almost obsolete, blotches of drab, liable to be overlooked without close inspec- tion; only an occasional specimen is found with decided, though still dull and sparse, markings 54 Fig. 371. — European Goshawk, young @. } nat. size, not distinguishable in the cut from the American Goshawk; change of scale to 4 or 4 would make it repre- sent the young 4 Cooper’s or Sharp-shinned Hawk. (From Brehm.) 177. 496. O30) SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — RAPTORES — ACCIPITRES. of pale brown. ‘Three or four eggs are the usual nest-complement; in the Northern and Middle States they are laid in May. AS/TUR. (Kat. astur, a hawk.) Gosnawxs. Characters in general as above given for Accipiter; size superior, and organization more robust; feet stronger, the tarsus feathered about 4 way down in front and on the sides, leaving only a narrow bare strip behind; the scutellation discontinuous at the bases of the toes, which are finely reticulate ; resumed beyond ; never fused. ‘These ‘‘ goose-hawks ” or ‘‘ star-hawks” are a small genus of five or six ‘ignoble ” species, held in high estimation by falconers for their prowess in the chase. Ours appears to be quite distinct from A. palumbarius, though closely related. A. atricapil/lus. (Lat. atricapilius, black-haired. Fig. 371.) AMEpRICAN GOSHAWK. BLUE Hen Hawk (adult). Cnicken Hawk (young). Adult ¢ 9: Above, dark bluish-slate color, each feather black-shatted; top of head blackish, conspicuously different from other upper parts, the feathers there with fleecy white bases; a long white superciliary or rather post- ocular stripe ; auriculars blackish. Ground color of under parts, including lining of wings, white, closely barred or vermiculated in narrow zigzag lines with slaty-brown, except on throat and erissum, and everywhere sharply pencilled with blackish shaft-limes, one on each feather. The barring is largest and most regular on the belly, flanks, and tibiee, but is for the most part much dissipated in a fine mottling. It varies greatly in coarseness in different specimens, some of which approach A. palum- barius in this respect. Tail like back, banded with four or five blackish bars, the ter- minal one much the broadest. Bill dark bluish; iris yellow- ish; feet yellow, claws black. Wing-quills in similar pat- tern, and both these and the tail showing tendency to some SLL whitish mottling of inner webs of the feathers. Young: The difference is substantially as in species of Accipiter: above, dark brown, varied with rusty- brown and whitish; below, white, more or less tawny- tinged, with oblong, lance- linear, clubbed or drop-shaped Fig, 372. — Prairie Falcon, 3 nat. size. (From life, by H. W. Elliott.) | dark brown markings. ‘Tail more distinctly barred than in the adult, and with white tip. But in any equivocal plumage, the goshawk may be recognized by its size, which is that of an average Buteo, together with. the short rounded wings, very long fan-shaped tail, and other generic characters. Length of § 20.00-22.00; extent about 42.00; wing 12.00-18.00; tail 9.00-10.00; tarsus 2.75 ; middie toe without claw 1.75; chord of culmen without cere 0.90; 9, length 22.00-24.00; extent 45.00 or more; wing 138.00-14.00; tail 11.50-12.50. A large, powerful, and when in perfect plumage, a very handsome hawk, of splendid spirit, the terror of the poultry-yard. A larger, brighter, and altogether better bird than the European. It inhabits northern N. Am.; the northern half of the U. 8. chiefly in winter, but is also resident in some parts, and breeds in mountainous regions as far south at least as Colorado, where I have seen it in summer. Its ordinary quarry is grouse, ptarmigan, and hares. The nesting and the eggs, as described, are most like those of Accipiter coopert ; the eggs, probably only distinguishable by their supe- FALCONIDA — FALCONINAE: FALCONS. Dont rior size, measuring about 2.30 < 1.90, soiled whitish, ‘‘ marked irregularly with large but quite faint blotches of drab and yellowish-brown.” A. a. stria/tulus? (Lat. striatulus, finely striped.) WrSTERN GOSHAWK. Described as having the markings of the under parts so fine and dense as to present a nearly uniform bluish- ashy nebulation, pencilled with fine black-shafted lines. Rocky Mts. to the Pacific. (Probably untenable. ) 45. Subfamily FALCONINA: Falcons. Bill furnished with a sharp tooth and notch near the end of the cutting edge of the upper mandible (sometimes two such teeth), and end of under mandible truncated, with notch near the tip (figs. 872, 374). Nostrils circular, high in the cere, with a prominent central tubercle (fig. 372). Inter-nasal septum extensively ossified. Palate with a median keel ante- riorly. Superciliary shield prominent, in one large piece. Shoulder-joimt strengthened by union of seapular process of the coracoid with the clavicle (fig. 362) as in Micrastur, Her- petotheres, and the Polyborine alone of Falconide. Wings strong, long, and pointed, with rigid and usually straight and tapering flight-feathers; the tip formed by the 2d and 3d quills, supported nearly to their ends by the Ist and 4th, both of which are longer than the 5th; only one or two outer primaries emarginate on inner webs near the end. ‘Tail short and stiff, with more or less tapering rectrices. Feet strong, rather short, the tarsus of less length than the tibia, feathered more or less extensively, elsewhere irregularly reticulate in small pattern varying with the genera or subgenera; never scutellate in single series before or behind. Middle toe very long; talons very strong. The true falcons are thus emi- Fic. 373. —A “noble” Falcon, nently distinguished from other members of the family; a (From Michelet.) glance at the toothed beak suffices for their recognition. They are birds of medium and small size, some kinds being not larger than a sparrow, but extremely sturdy organization, vigorous physique, and temerarious disposition. They capture their quarry with sudden and violent onslaught, and exhibit the raptorial nature in its highest degree. The typical and principal genus is Falco, of which there are several subdivisions corresponding to minor modifications. Upwards of fifty species are recognized. Our rather numerous species represent the several grades of gyrfalcons, lanners, peregrines, merlins, and kestrels. These I shall consider under one genus, Falco, with indication of the subgenera. Tenney, after Wilson.) Fic. 374. — Peregrine Falcon, greatly reduced. (From F1G. 375. — Kestrel Falcon, like our Sparrow-hawk (Tinnunculus), reduced. (From Dixon.) oo2 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — RAPTORES — AOCCIPITRES. 178. FAL/CO. (Lat. falco, a falcon or faucon.) Characters as above, with minor modifications as follows : — Analysis of Subgenera and Species. Tarsus more or less feathered above, elsewhere irregularly reticulate in small pattern (no large plates like scutella); 2d primary longest; 1st longer than 4th, and decidedly emarginate on inner web. (Gyr- falcons, lanners, and peregrines.) Gyrfalcons: Tarsus feathered fully 3 down in front and on sides, leaving but a narrow strip bare behind; longer than middle toe without claw; 1st quill shorter than 3d. Sexes alike. Very large; about 2 feet long. (HIEROFALCO.) Prevailing color dark; head and neck darker than back ..... =... =. Sacer 498, 499 Prevailing color dark; head and neck Tee thansbackw yy eee nneSLONOZCUS 00 Prevailing color white ... . - . - candicans 501 Lanners: Tarsus feathered 4 way alorane in Gront. roadie hears Deninal Sieneer than middle toe without claw; 1st quill shower than 3d. Medium; a a -brown above; sexes alike. (GEN- INAUIZAVs)) ars Fave . . . mexicanus 502 .Peregrines: Tareas featnenedt rot a little Sey an in front, Broad aes behind ; not longer than middle toe without claw; 1st quill not shorter than 8d. Medium: slaty-biuish above; sexes alike. (FALCO.). . . . . peregrinus 508, 504 Tarsus scarcely feathered above, with ine nlatest in ‘Brornts ouleneadl, like a ‘aouble row of alternating scutella (and often with a few true scutella at base); 2d or 3d primary longest; 1st not longer thar. 4th; ist and 2d emarginate on inner webs. (Merlins and Kestrels.) Merlins: Tarsus longer than middle toe without claw. Sexes aes young of both like adult female. Small; wing 7.50-8.50. (AXSALON.) ee esha) fF: » . . columbarius 505, 506, 507 Kestrels: Tarsus longer than middle toe without claw. Benes very unlike at allages. Smallest: wing 7.00-7.50. (TINNUNCULUS.) Under parts white or tawny ; back of male and female rufous, barred or plain sparverius 508, 509 Under parts rufous; back of male plumbeous, of female rufous . . . . . sparverioides 510 Hobbies: Tarsus little longer than middle toe without claw. Sexes alike; young little different. Medium; wing 10.00 or more (RHYNCHOFALCO.) ........ . . juscicwrulescens 511 498. F.sa/cer. (Lat. sacer, sacred.) AMBRICAN CONTINENTAL GYRFALCON. One of the largest and most powerful of the Falcomme. Feet very stout; tarsus rather longer than middle toe without claw, feathered fully half-way down in front and on sides, with narrow bare strip behind; elsewhere reticulate. Wing pointed by 2d quill, supported nearly to the end by the 3d; 1st rather shorter than 3d, only the Ist decidedly emarginate on inner web. ‘Tail rounded. Sexes alike. Young little different. Wing of ¢ 18.50-14.50; tail 8.50-9.50; wing of 9 15.00-16.00; tail 9.00-10.00. Adults: General plumage of the upper parts barred with dark brown and pale ash, the former predominating, especially on the head and neck ; tail closely barred with light and dark in about equal amounts. Lower parts white, immaculate on throat, elsewhere streaked and variously spotted with dusky. Young darker than the adults ; at an early stage, some of the lighter markings tinged with ochraceous. This is the stock- form of Continental N. Am., probably inseparable from F’. gyrfalco of Europe; the distinctions from F’. islandicus being moreover not very apparent. I suspect the truth to be, in respect to all the gyrfalcons, that there is but a single circumpolar species; that with specimens enough an uninterrupted series could be established connecting the blackest ‘‘ obsoletus ” with the whitest ‘‘ candicans” ; and that the races even, which most ornithologists recognize, are not coincident with geographical areas. But I defer in this case to those authorities who have formed the contrary opinion, upon much further investigation of the subject than I have evermade. Gyrfalcons of the present kind, or of Nos. 499, 500, not infrequently visit the North- ern States in winter, sometimes even reaching the Middle States and Kansas. They reside in summer beyond the U. S.,and abound in the Arctic regions, nesting in trees or cliffs, preying upon hares, grouse, ptarmigan, ducks, auks, ete. The eggs range from 2.25 to 2.50 in length, x 1.60 to 1.90 in breadth, and are usually heavily colored with reddish and brownish pig- ments in interminable variety. 499. F.s. obsole’tus. (Lat. obsoletus, unwonted.) LABRADOR GyRFALCON. A dark phase of the last, almost entirely dusky, the usual markings nearly obliterated; from the foggy coast of 500. —~801. FALCONIDA — FALCONINA:: FALCONS. 033 Labrador into U.S. in winter. (F. labradora, Aud., folio pl. 196.) I have seen it perfectly dark, —no markings whatever. F. islan/dicus. (Lat. form of Icelandic.) ICELAND GYRFALCON. Resewbling Ff’. sacer as above described, and probably not fairly separable ; on an average lighter colored, more ex- tensively white below, the head and neck lighter than the rest of the upper parts. This form occurs in Iceland and southern Greenland, straggling in winter into the N. E U.S. al nan AMIN \ = ye Ly Vt, , Ns Xi \\\ i i ~ \\ \\ \ \ tan Fic. 376. —Lanner Falcon, 3 nat. size; not distinguishable in the cut from the Prairie Falcon. (From Brehm.) F. can/dicans. (Lat. candicans, whitening.) GREENLAND GyRFALCON. ‘The extreme form, averaging when adult as white as a snowy owl. Head, neck, and under parts pure white, with few dark touchesif any. Back, wings and tail with white and dusky in about equal amounts, or former rather prevailing, giving the ground color, on which the dark appears in . bars, crescents, and cordate spots. Bill and feet light. This form is characteristic of Greenland, straying south in winter; but I know of no case of its occurrence in the U. 5. 5302. 903. o34 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —KAPTORES— ACCIPITRES. F. mexica/nus. (Lat mexicanus, Mexican. Fig. 376.) AMERICAN LANNER FALCON. PRAIRIE Faucon. A medium-sized species, distinguished from any gyrfaleon by the smaller size, different feathering of the tarsus, ete.; from the duck hawk by the general much lighter color, which is dull brownish above instead of dark slate, ete. Adult ¢@ Q: Upper parts brownish- drab, each feather with a paler border of brown, grayish, or whitish; the top of the head more uniform, the occiput and nape showing more whitish. Under parts white, everywhere ex- cepting on the throat marked with firm spots of dark brown, most linear on the breast, then more broadly oval on the belly, enlarging and tending to merge into bars on the flanks, very sparse or obsolete on the crissum, in the maxillary region forming a broad firm moustache ; these markings corresponding with the ground color of the upper parts. Primaries ashy- brown, with narrow but firm pale edging of outer webs and ends, the inner webs regularly marked with white in form of barred indents or circumscribed spots, most numerous and regular on the outer few primaries ; the white tinged with fulvous, next to the shafts; the outer web of the first primary either plain, or with whitish indents as in F’. lanarius ; outer webs of sec- ondaries more or less marked with fulvous; axillars plain dark brown; lining of wings other- wise white, spotted with dark brown. Tail pale brownish-gray, nearly uniform, but with white tip, and more or less distinct barring or indenting with whitish, especially on the lateral feathers, producing a pattern not unlike that of the primaries. Bill mostly dark bluish horn- color, but its base, and much of under mandible, yellow ; feet yellow. Young birds have more fulvous in the dark ground of the upper parts; are more heavily spotted below, and the white is there tinged with buff or ochrey, feet plumbeous. Size very variable: length of ¢ about 18.00, extent 40.00; wing 12.00-18.00; tail 7.00-8.00; tarsus about 2.00 ; middle toe without claw about the same; chord of culmen, including cere, 1.00. Q larger: wing 13.00-14.00 ; tail 8.00-9.00, ete. A noble species, representing the Old World lanner and jugger, and scarcely separable therefrom ; abundant in Western N. Am., especially on the plains; H. occasionally to Tilinois. I have traced it from Montana at lat. 49° to Arizona and 8. California, and found it very numerous in Wyoming, where it is the characteristic species of its genus; it extends into Mexico. In the region first named it was nesting on cliffs. Eggs 2-3, from 2.05 to 2.25 X 1.55 to 1.65, white or creamy-whitish, irregularly but usually thickly clouded, mottled, and blotched with reddish-brown; often with a purplish shade; thus indistinguishable from those of related species. (i?. polyagrus Cass.) F. peregri/nus. (Lat. peregrinus, wandering. Fig. 377.) PEREGRINE FaLtcon. Duck Hawk. GREAT-FOOTED Hawk. : . . - . - . borealis 516-519 Tail of cadlnth black, crossed by Avon 6 winite nei ; primaries aqeatied cath swiitte ¢ ; lesser wing-coverts reddish, like under parts. Tail of young dusky, numerously barred with whitish; under parts whitish, streaked with dusky. Less robust; wing usually under 14.00; tarsus slender. N. Am., AOU o » o shee Ce ECECURCOLUS NOLO DoT Tail of adult black, w ith 3 real Sine ZONES ON inner ral one of the fevers, ashy on outer webs ; plumage black, spotted or not with white. Tail of young dusky, inner webs mostly white, black-barred. Southwestern U.S. ... . 2 0 0 6 00 0 6 0 6 0 0 0 ChblIRZDORKINS EE Three outer primaries emarginate or sinuate on inner elit Tail numerously and narrowly cross-barred with lighter and darker. Plumage extremely variable, but not extensively reddish underneath, nor cheeks with a dark mustache. Large; wing usually over 18.00. Chiefly western U.S., abundant . .. . . . swainsoni 523 Tail of adult blackish with about 3 light gray bands Sr aaodh: ; and parts extensivele rufous ; a dark moustache. Small; wing under 12.00. Eastern U.S.,common .. . . pennsylvanicus 524 Tail (of adult ?) crossed with numerous light and dark bars (6-8 of each); general color fuliginous, EVN, Oe INE Wenn Sou nesMan Wo Sho 6 6 00 50 5 6 6 6 6 0 5 0 0 UIROKIOTFUIS (hPa, ie * Heavy-weights ; 5 outer primaries cut. B. unicin’ctus har’risi. (Lat. wni-, once; cinctus, girdled. To Edw. Harris.) Harris’s Buzzarp. Adult ¢ 9: General plumage blackish, more or less intense, sometimes rather dark chocolate-brown, blackening on wings and tail, but in any case pretty uniform over the whole body. Lesser and part of middle wing-coverts, lining of wings, and the tibize, brownish- red, or rich chestnut. Tail-coverts and base of tail broadly white, thus girdling the whole figure ; end of tail also white for an inch or more. Length of ¢ about 20.00; extent 41.00— 46.00; wing 12.50-13.50; tail 8.50-9.50; tarsus 3.00-3.25 ; middle toe without claw 2.00. Q larger; about 23.00; extent 43.00-47.00; wing 13.50-14.50; tail 9.50-10.50. Young: Less decidedly blackish, the upper parts varied with rusty-brown, lower quite tawny with dusky spots or streaks, chestnut of wings not unbroken, and white of tail less distinetly defined. Tibize tawny-white, distinctly barred with chestnut. But in any plumage the species is un- mistakable, forming a separate subgenus from Buteo proper, by some ranked as a genus; the loral region is extensively denuded to the eye, and furnished with short radiating bristles. In some respects it resembles Polyborus, being a sluggish, carrion-feeding bird, usually found associated with the caracara, turkey-buzzard, and black vulture. It is a common inhabitant of the warmer parts of America and over our Mexican border; abundant in some parts of Texas. Nest in a tree or bush; eggs commonly 2, measuring 2.00-2.10 X 1.70, white or whitish, unmarked or with faint brownish-yellow. (Parabuteo Ridg. Hrythrocnema Sharpe.) ** Heavy-weights ; 4 outer primaries cut. B. albocauda’tus. (Lat. albus, white; cawdatus, tailed.) WHITE-TAILED BuzzArp. Adult & 9: Tail and its coverts white, with a broad black subterminal zone, with numerous al4. FALCONIDA — BUTEONINA: BUZZARDS. 043 very fine zig-zag or broken blackish cross-lines. Upper parts (excepting the rump, which is white like the tail), definitely including the sides of the head and neck, ash-color or plumbeous, lighter or darker in different cases, the feathers fleecy-white at bases so extensively as to show with the least disturbance of the plumage, and on the scapulars tinged with reddish. Most of the lesser wing-coverts (but not quite to the bend of the wing), chestnut, somewhat as in B. unicinctus. Entire under parts pure white, lightly touched with fine dusky cross-bars on the sides, lining of wings, and usually the tibia. On the surface of the wings the plumbeous of the upper parts deepens to the blackish of the primaries, whose inner webs are lighter and more brownish, crossed with numerous darker bars, and toward the base are cut, barred, or speckled with white, which increases in regularity, firmness, and extent on the secondaries. Shafts of wing-feathers brown or black, those of tail white along the white portion of the tail- feathers. Bill mostly dark, in part light; feet yellow; claws black. Length of @ 23.00; extent 48.00: wing 16.00; tail 7.00; chord of culmen, including cere, 1.40; tarsus about 3.25; feathered about 1.00 down in front. 9? larger; length 24.00; extent 54.00; wing 17.50; tail 8.00, ete. (Described from Sennett’s and Merrill’s Texas specimens. Young unknown to me.) A fine large hawk of the warmer parts of America, lately ascertained to reach the Rio Grande of Texas; it is very unlike any other of this country. B. coo’/peri? (To Dr. J. G. Cooper.) Cooprr’s BuzzZARD = Archibuteo ferrugineus ? “ Head, neck, and whole lower parts white; feathers of the head and neck with medial longitudinal streaks of black, the white prevailing on the occiput and superciliary region, the black pre- dominating over the cheeks, forming a ‘‘mustache;” throat with fine lanceolate blackish streaks ; sides of the breast with broader, more cuneate markings of the same; flanks with narrow, lanceolate stripes, these extending sparsely across the abdomen; tibize and lower tail- coverts immaculate, the inner face of the former with faint specks. Upper plumage in general dark plumbeous-brown, inclining to black on the back; plumbeous clearest on primaries, which are uniformly of this color, the inner ones inclining to fine cinereous. Scapulars and wing-coverts spattered with white beneath the surface. Rump black; upper tail-coverts white, tinged with rufous, and with irregular, distant, transverse bars of blackish. Tail with light rufous prevailing, but this broken up by longitudinal daubs and washes of cinereous, and darker mottlings running longitudinally on both webs; basally, the ground-color approaches white; tips white, with a distinct but very irregular subterminal bar of black, into which the longitudinal mottlings melt; outer webs of lateral feathers entirely cinereous, and without the black band. Under side of the wing white, with a large black space on the lning near the edge; under surfaces of primaries white anterior to their emargination, finely mottled with ashy and with indistinct transverse bands terminally. 4th quill longest; 3d shorter than 5th; 2d equal to6th; Ist equal to]0th. Wing 15.75; tail 9.10; tarsus 3.25; middle toe 1.70.” Santa Clara Co., Cala., one specimen known, probably the last as well as the first; for I suppose this to be Archibuteo ferrugineus (with or without a mésalliance of Buteo borealis), with abnormally denuded tarsi. I have carefully examined the type specimen, but copy Mr. Ridgway’s description in preference to constructing a new one. B. har/lani. (To Dr. R. Harlan.) HaArian’s Buzzarp. “ BuAckK WARRIOR.” ‘ Form strong and heavy, like B. borealis, but still more robust; tibial plumes unusually developed, long and loose, their ends reaching to or beyond the base of the toes; lateral toes nearly equal. Four outer primaries with inner webs cut. Wing 14.25-15.75 ; tail 8.80-10.00; culmen 1.00; tarsus 2.75-3.25; middle toe 1.50-1.70. Nearly uniform black, varying from a sooty to a carbonaceous tint, with more or less of concealed pure white. Adult: Tail confusedly mottled longitudinally with grayish, dusky, and white, often tinged or mixed with rufous, the different shades varying in relative amount in different individuals; a subterminal band of black. Young: Tail grayish-brown, crossed by about 9 very regular and sharply defined broad bands of black about equal in width to the gray ones.” (Ridgway.) la. and Tex. to Kas.; an obscure 544 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — RAPTORES — ACCIPITRES. species, variously interpreted by writers. Different “black hawks” have been called ‘ har- lani,” such as the melanistic phases of both borealis and swainsoni, and harlani has been supposed to be uot different from borealis. A few specimens in the Smithsonian Institution, identified with Audubon’s bird by Mr. Ridgway, agree sufficiently with the plate and description, and the alleged species may, for the present, stand upon its own demerits. B. borea/lis. (Lat. borealis, northern. Fig. 380.) Rrp-ramep Buzzarp. ‘ Hen Hawk.” Adult @ 2 : Upper surface of tail rich chestnut, with white tip and usually a black subterminal zone, with or without other narrower and more or less imperfect black bars; sometimes barred throughout. From below, the tail appears pearly whitish with a reddish tinge, either quite uniform, or barred throughout with the whitish and blackish. In general, it is the Q with the most barred or completely barred tail, the ¢ with the uniform tail, only subter- minally once-zoned. Upper parts blackish-brown, with a thoroughly indeterminate amount of light variegation, gray, fulvous, and whitish; feathers of hind head and nape with cottony white bases, showing when disturbed; those of hind neck usually with fulvous edging; of Fia. 880. — Red-tailed Buzzard, nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) scapular region showing most variegation with tawny or whitish, or both, the scapulars and adjoining feathers being largely barred, and only blackish on their exposed portions; upper tail-coverts showing much tawny and white. Ground color of under parts white, more or less buff-toned, the dark color of the upper parts reaching nearly or quite around the throat, the flanks and lower belly heavily marked with dark brown or blackish, but a large pectoral area, with the tibize and crissum, mostly free from markings, as a rule; but no description will cover the latitude of coloration. Primaries blackening on their exposed portions, for the rest lighter grayish-brown, dark-barred across both webs, and extensively white-areated on inner webs basally. Length of ¢ 19.00-22.00; extent about 48.00; wing 138.50-16.50; tail 8.50 —10.00; tarsus 2.50-3.00, feathered half-way down in front. 9 larger; length 21.00-24.00 ; extent about 56.00; wing 14.50-17.50; tail 9.50-10.00. @ 9, young: General character of the upper parts the same as in the adult, but less variegated, and that chiefly with whitish and buff, instead of grayish and fulvous ; upper tail-coverts more regularly barred with dark and white. ail entirely different, without any shade of red; light gray, with numerous (6-10) regular dark bars, and narrow white tips; the gray gradually yields to the chestnut shade 517. 520. FALCONIDA — BUTEONINA: BUZZARDS. 046 with reduction, interruption, or extinction of all these bars except the last one. Under parts somewhat as in the adult, but, like the upper, without the fulvous or rufous shades; usually white, unmarked in a large pectoral area, with circlet of throat stripes, and pronounced abdom- inal zone of dark or blackish markings; tibize spotted or not; crissum immaculate. There should be no difficulty in recognizing this hawk among those of the Eastern U. S. in any plumage; the red tail of the adult is of course distinctive; a weakly young male might raise a doubt with reference to B. lineatus; in that case, notice the stout tarsi, feathered about half- ray down; the decided white pectoral area, free from spots, cireumscribed by dark markings, especially those of the abdominal zone; and absence of any reddishness on the upper parts or wing-coverts. Such is the ordinary “hen hawk” so abundant in Eastern North America, where it is subject to comparatively little variation. In the West, however, where it is equally numerous, it sports almost interminably in color, and not always conformably with geograph- ical distribution. Several of these phases have received special names, as given beyond. I am willing to spread them upon my page, but too much of my life is behind me for me to spend much time in such trivial mutabilities. The tendency is to melanism and erythrism, the extreme case of which is B. caluwrus of Cassin. A pure borealis, exactly matehing the normal Eastern type, is seldom seen in the West. But in all its color-variation, the bird preserves its specific characters of size and robust proportions, being thus readily distinguishable from the smaller and weaker species, B. swainson, im any of the endless and somewhat parallel varia- tions of the latter. The nest is usually built high in a tree, a bulky mass of sticks and smaller twigs, nixed toward the centre with grass, moss, or other soft material, and often some feathers. Eggs generally 3, about 2.40 2.00, dull whitish, sometimes with only a few pale markings, oftener boldly and richly blotched with warm shades of brown. ‘The young are slow to acquire their perfect pluinage, being long full-grown before the red appears upon the tail, and this usually precedes the fulvous of the under parts. B.b.calu/rus. (Gr. kadds, kalos, beautiful; otpd. oura, tail.) WrSTBRN RED-TAIL. BLACK Rep-tTain. The extreme case is chocolate-brown or even darker, quite unicolor, with rich red tail crossed by several black bars; from which erythro-melanism grading insensibly into ordinary borealis. ‘The usual case is increase over borealis of dark rufous and dusky shades in bars and spots underneath, particularly on the flanks, flags, and crissum, and presence of other than the subterminal black bar on the tail. One case is chocolate-brown, with a great reddish blotch on the breast. Western N. Am. at large, particularly U.S. from R. Mts. to the Pacific. B. b. lucasa/nus. (Of Cape St. Lucas.) Sr. Lucas Rep-rain. A light-colored form, like kridert, white below, tinged with rufous on the tibize, and no black subterminal bar on the tail. Lower Cala. B. b. kri‘deri. (To John Krider.) Kriprer’s Rep-ratn. A light-colored form, pure white below, with few markings or none, and the subterminal tail-bar reduced or obliterated... High central plains, U. 8. This and the last hardly tenable. ***Light-weights; 4 outer primaries cut. B. linea’tus. (Lat. lineatus, striped.) Reb-SHOULDERED Buzzarp. WINTER HAwkK. ‘CHICKEN Hawk.” Adult @ 9: Feet and cere chrome yellow, the anterior tarsal scales tinged with greenish. General plumage of a rich fulvows cast. Above, reddish-brown, the feathers with dark brown centres, giving the prevailing tone, and black shafts; head, neck, and entire under parts orange-brown, mostly with dark shaft-lines and white bars, especially on the lower parts posteriorly ; lesser wing-coverts rich orange-brown or chestnut, forming a conspicuous area on the bend of the wing. Quills and tail-feathers black, beautifully marked with white ; the primaries and secondaries with white spots or bars on both webs terminating on each edge oi the feather, the light bars which cross the feather, and the darker intervening 38 S21. 522. 523 046 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — RAPTORES — ACCIPITRES. spaces, being more or less touched with reddish. The same style of marking on the wing- coverts ; the taiz crossed with several narrow white bars, and the tip white. Young very different ; little or no fulvous or orange-brown; above, plain dark brown, the wing-patch indicated or not; head, neck, and under parts white or buffy-white, fully streaked or arrow- headed. with dark brown. ‘Tail brown, crossed with many lighter and darker bars, the former mostly tawny on the outer webs, whitish on the inner webs; wing-quills extensively variegated in similar pattern, Length of g 18.00-20.00; extent about 40.00; wing 11.50- 13.50; tail 7.50-8.50; tarsus 2.75-8.25; 9 20.00-22.00; extent about 45.00; wing 12.00- 14.003 tail 8.50-9.50. ‘There is much variation in size; Florida and Gulf specimens are very small. Nearly as long as B. borealis, but not nearly so heavy; tarsi more extensively denuded. The adult of this handsome hawk is unmistakable; but the student may require to look closely after the young. Eastern N. Am., one of the commonest hawks of the U. S., especially in winter; not far N.in Brit. Am. Habits and nidification similar to those of B. borealis ; eggs 2-4, 2.00-2.25 & about 1.75, with the usual range of color-variation. B. 1. elegans. (Lat. elegans, choice.) WrSTERN RED-SHOULDERED Buzzarp. The erythrism of the last. In extreme case, the whole under plumage rich dark reddish, almost obliterating the usual markings; wings and tail, however, still. elegantly barred with pure white. R. Mts. to the Pacific, U.S. B. abbrevia/tus. (Lat. abbreviatus, shortened.) BAND-TAILED BuzzArp. Adult ¢ 9: Coal-black, glossy and uniform over the whole body. Tail black; viewed above, it seems to be crossed with 3 zones of ashy-gray or slate-color, increasing in width and firmness from the proximal to the distal one, and is narrowly tipped with white; from below, there appear 3 pure white zones, since the ashy is on the outer webs only of the feathers (both webs of the middle pair, however), and the white is on the inner webs. The plumage of the head is snowy-white at the roots, and in some specimens, probably less mature, it is so extensive on the head. neck, and breast as to appear in spots on the least disturbance of the feathers. The wing- feathers appear quite black in the folded wing, but their inner webs basally acquire the usual light and dark spacing, with more or less whitish nebulation, or white areation. The feet appear to be yellow, the bill mostly dark. Young recognizably similar? Length of my Arizona specimen 19.50; extent 47.50; wing 15.50-16.50; tail §.50-9.00; tarsus 2.50; middle toe without claw 1.60. A peculiar hawk, very unlike any other of the U.S., slightly built with long wings and tail; not yet well known nor worked out in all its plumages. Cent. Am. and Mex. into Southwestern U. S.; Ariz., Cala. (B. zonocercus, Sel., Tr. Z. 8., 1858, pl. 59; Ridgw., Hist. N. A. B., iii, 1874, p. 272. B. albonotatus, Gray.) **** Light-weights; 3 outer primaries cut. B. swain/soni. (To Wim. Swainson.) Common AMERICAN BuzzaRp. SwaAtnson’s Buz- zARD. Adult @ 9: Upper parts dark brown, very variable in shade according to season or wear of the feathers, varied with paler brown, or even reddish-brown edgings of the feathers, but without the clear fawn-color of the young; the feathers of the crown showing whitish when disturbed, and usually sharp, dark shaft-lines; the upper tail-coverts chestnut and white, with blackish bars. Quills and tail-feathers as below, but the inner webs of the former showing more decided dark cross-bars upon a lighter marbled-whitish ground, and the latter having broader and sharper, dark wavy bars. These large quills, and particularly those of the tail, vary much in shade according to wear, the new feathers being strongly slate-colored, the old ones plain dark brown. The tail, however, never shows any trace of the rich chestnut that obtains in the adult B. borealis. Iris brown, never yellow ; feet, cere, gape, and base of under mandible rich chrome-yellow ; rest of bill and claws bluish-black. Adult ¢: Under parts showing a broad pectoral area of bright chestnut, usually with a glaucous cast, and sharp black shaft-lines; this area contrasting sharply with the pure white throat. Other under parts white, FALCONIDA: -—- BUTEONINA: BUZZARDS. O47 more or less tinged and varied, in different specimens, with light chestnut. In some males, this chestnut is diminished to traces, chiefly in flank-bars and arrow-heads, and the white throat is immaculate ; in others, the throat shows blackish pencilling, and the rest of the under parts are so much marked with chestnut, chiefly in cross-bars, that this color predominates over the white, and appears in direct continuation of the pectoral area itself. Some feathers of this area are commonly dark brown. Length 19.00-20.00; extent about 49.00; wing 15.00 or a little more; tail 8.50; tarsus 2.50; middle toe without claw 1.50. Adult 2 : Much darker under- neath than the male; throat pure white, but other under parts probably never whitening decidedly. Pectoral area from rich dark chestnut or mahogany-color, mixed with still darker eo RN 2 \ AN Ny y \ NY (i Fig. 381. — Buteo vulgaris of Europe, } nat. size; not distinguishable in the cut from one of the plumages of B. swainsoni. (From Brehm.) feathers, to brownish-black ; and other under parts heavily marked with chestnut, chiefly in cross-bars alternating with whitish, but on the flanks, and sometimes across the belly, these markings quite blackish. The general tone of the under parts may be quite as dark as the pectoral area of the male, but it lacks uniformity, and the increased depth of color of the pectoral area in this sex suffices to preserve the strong contrast already mentioned. Length 20.00-22.00 ; extent 50.00-54.00; wing 15.00-16.50; tail9.00. Changes of plumage with age affect chiefly the under parts; the back, wings, and tail are more nearly alike at all times. Young ¢ 2: Entire upper parts dark brown, everywhere varied with tawny edgings of the individual feathers. The younger the bird, the more marked is the variegation ; it corresponds in tints closely with the color of the under parts, being palest in very young examples. Under parts, including lining of wings, nearly uniform fawn-color (pale dull yellowish-brown), 524. 548 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — RAPTORES — ACCIPITRES. thickly and sharply marked with blackish-brown. ‘These large dark spots, for the most part circular or guttiform, crowd across the forebreast, scatter on the middle belly, enlarge to cross- bars on the flanks, become broad arrow-heads on the lower belly and tibia, and are wanting on the throat, which is only marked with a sharp, narrow, blackish pencilling along the median line. Quills brownish-black, the outer webs with an ashy shade, the inner webs toward the base grayish, paler, and marbled with white, and also showing obscure dark cross-bars; their shafts black on top, nearly white underneath. ‘Tail-feathers like the quills, but more decidedly shaded with ashy or slate-gray, and tipped with whitish ; their numerous dark cross-bars show more plainly than those of the quills, but are not so evident as they are in’ the old birds. Nestlings are covered with white fluffy down. Western N. Am., Mississippi Valley to the Pacific, abundant ; in many regions the commonest and most characteristic of the large hawks ; occasionally eastward through the N. States to Canada and New England. Nests indifferently on the ground, cliffs, bushes, trees; nest distinguishable from that of other large hawks; eggs usually 2, — I have never found more, sometimes only one; they are about 2.25 & 1.75, resem- bling hen’s eggs, being nearly colorless and unmarked, like those of the marsh hawk; some- times stained with rusty-brownish, probably never marked all over nor boldly blotched anywhere. This buzzard represents the European B. vulgaris (fig. 381) in N. Am., being, in fact, little different. (It is Malco buteo Aud., folio pl. 372; B. vulgaris Sw., F. B. A., pl. 27; Aud., 8vo, pl. 6; B. montanus Nutt., 1840, not of authors; B. bairdi Hoy (young); ? B. oxypterus Cass. (young); B. insignatus Cass., Ill. pl. 31 (melanistic); B. gutturalis Maxim.; B. obsoletus Sharpe, 1874 (not Falco obsoletus Gm.). It is probably also B. “ vulgaris” of Maynard, Bull. Nutt. Club, i, 1876, p. 2; and of Ridg., ibid. p. 32.) B. pennsylva/nicus. (Lat. pennsylvamcus, of Wim. Penn’s woods.) BROAD-WINGED Buzzarp. Adult @Q : Above, dark brown, the feathers with blackish shaft-lines, and pale grayish-brown or even lighter edgings, those of hind head and nape cottony-white basally ; usually also some feathers with fulvous edgings, especially on the hind neck ; upper tail-coverts barred or spotted with white. Primaries and secondaries blackish on outer webs and at ends, most of the inner webs white in large area, more or less perfectly barred with dusky; concealed parts of scapulars thus barred on both webs. Exposed portion of tail with three blackish zones, the terminal one broadest, alternating narrower pale gray or grayish-white zones, one of these terminal ; from below these zones appear whitish, but from above grayish. Under parts mixed white aud fulvous-brown, or dull chestnut, the latter nearly as pronounced as in B. linea- tus, the pattern being rather that of Accipiter fuscus or A. cooperi; the fulvous in excess ante: riorly, the white prevailing posteriorly and nearly or quite immaculate on crissum; the middle regions with the white in oval paired spots or incomplete bars on each feather, the flanks and tibiz pretty regularly barred with the two colors; most of the feathers black-shafted, producing a fine pencilling, this black increasing to decided streaking on the white throat, and forming noticeable maxillary patches. Lining of wings inostly white, but with some reddish and black- ish spotting. Bill mostly dark ; feet yellow; claws black. Length of ¢ 14.00; extent 33.00; wing 10.50-11.00; tail 6.50-7.00; tarsus 2.380; middle toe without claw 1.20. @ larger; wing 1].00-11.50; tail 7.00-7.50. Young: Differs as usual in the genus, in lacking the special coloration and pattern of the under parts, tail-pattern different, wing-pattern much the same. Upper parts blackish-brown, highly variegated with fulvous, tawny, or whitish edgings of all the feathers, on the head and neck the light and dark colors in streaks about balancing each other. Under parts white, more or less buff-toned, with more or fewer linear or clubbed fuscous markings on the breast and sides, changing to arrow-heads on the flanks and sides, the amount of this marking wholly indeterminate. Tail crossed with numerous light and dark bars (six or eight of each exposed), on both webs of middle feathers and outer webs of the others ; these on their inner webs largely white, with consequently better pronounced dark bars; all the feathers tipped with white. Eastern N. Am. and throughous Middle America, common ; FALOONIDA — BUTHONINA: BUZZARDS. O49) a small but stout Buteo, with ample wings and tail, very different from any of the foregoing, aud easily recognized by its size and proportions, aside from color. A large Q resembles a small ¢ B. lineatus in some respects, but the difference is too great to require detailed com- parison. Nesting nowise peculiar ; eggs 3-5, 2.00 X 1.60, heavily marked. 883. B.brachyuwrus. (Gr. Bpayis, brachus, short ; ovpa, oura, tail.). FULIGINOUS BUZZARD. Resembling B. abbreviatus in being blackish or fuliginous all over, but entirely another bird, belonging to a different section of the genus. Only three primaries are abruptly emarginate on the inner web, though the next one is sinuate. Adult 9? Color fuliginous, or dark umber- brown, nearly uniform, but barred on the under wing- and tail-coverts with white, and the feathers of the hind head and nape fleecy-white at base ; the color blackening on the exposed surfaces of the primaries, the inner webs of which are extensively whitened, with the usual dark bars; little white, however, on the secondaries, excepting the inner ones, most of them being simply spaced gray or light brown between their dark bars. Tail-pattern as usual in young hawks of this genus, there being numerous (6 or 8 exposed) blackish and lighter grayish bars alternating, the subterminal one of each broadest, the whole tail tipped with grayish- white; the inner webs of all the feathers excepting the central pair whitening in the spaces between the dark bars. Length 16.00; wing 13.00; tail 7.00; tarsus 2.00. (Described from No. 12,117, Mus. Smiths. Inst., from Mazatlan, Mex., agreeing with B. fuliginosus Scl., P. Z.58., 1858, p. 356; Tr. Z. S., 1858, p. 267, pl. Ixii; a bird supposed to be the young of the same is B. oxypterus, Cass., Pr. Phila. Acad., 1855, p. 283; both are treated as a variety of B. swainsont by Ridgway, Hist. N. A. B., iii, 1874, p. 266; but are now supposed to be melanistic adult, and young, of a good species, probably B. brachyurus Vieill., which normally has the face and most under parts white.) Mexican border, Florida, and southward. ARCHIBU'TEO. (Lat. archi-, from Gr. apxés, archos, a leader, chief; buteo, a buzzard.) HARE-FOOTED Buzzarps. Chars. of Buteo proper, but tarsi feathered in front to the toes, naked and reticulate along a strip behind. Wings very long; 3d and 4th quills longest; Ist shorter than 7th; 4 or 5 emarginate on inuer webs. A small group, well marked by the char- acter of the feet. The species are among the largest of the buzzard-hawks, but are rather dull heavy birds, preying upon humble quarry, especially small quadrupeds, reptiles, and insects. Analysis of Species Below, white, variously dark-marked, and « ften with a broad black abdominal zone, but generally no ferruginous ; in melanotic state, whole plumage nearly uniform blackish. . lagopus sancti-johannis 525 Below, pure white, scarcely or not marked, excepting that the legs are rich rufous with black bars, in marked contrast; above, varied with dark brown, chestnut and white ; quills brown, with much white; tail silvery-ash and white, clouded with brown or rufous ....... . . ferrugineus 526 A, lago’pus sancti-johan/nis. (Gr. Aaymous, lagopous, hare-footed ; Lat. sancti-johanms, of St. John, Newfoundland. Fig. 382.) AMERICAN ROUGH-LEGGED BuzzARb. ‘‘ BLACK Hawk.” Adult @ 9: Too variable in plumage to be concisely described. In general, the whole plumage with dark brown or blackish and light brown, gray, or whitish, the lighter colors edging or barring the individual feathers ; tendency to excess of the whitish on the head, and to the formation of a dark abdominal zone or area which may or may not include the tibie ; usually a blackish anteorbital and maxillary area. Lining of wings extensively blackish. Tail usually white from the base for some distance, then with dark and light barring. The inner webs of the flight-feathers extensively white from the base, usually with little if any of the dark barring so prevalent among buteonine hawks. From such a light and variegated plum- age as this, the bird varies to more or less nearly uniform blackish, in which case the tail is usually barred several times with white. Our lighter-colored birds are not fairly separable from the normal European A. lagopus; but our birds average darker, and their frequent mel- anism does not appear to befall the European stock. But in any plumage the rough-leg is known at a glance from any Buteo by the feathered shanks; while the peculiar coloration of 200 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS.— RAPTORES — ACCIPITRES. A. ferrugineus is highly distinctive of the latter. Length of a Q, 22.00; extent 54.00; wing 17.50; tail 9.00; iris light brown; bill mostly blackish-blue, cere pale greenish-yellow, feet dull yellow, claws blue-black. This is about an average size; the @ averages smaller; wing about 16.00, ete. The name adopted, it must be observed, is not intended to discriminate the black from the ordinary plumage, but to separate the American bird subspecifically from the European. N. Am., at large, common, especially in fertile, well-watered regions, as those of \ ule Lin i vs Yj NN \\ ~~ — We || } SS ) ) i} os zd Wp Z ———_ Zp )\('\\ ee : DY ks a SSS ea a SEZs SS SSS FIG. 382, — Rough-legged Buzzard, } nat. size. (From Brehm.) the Atlantic seaboard ; a large, heavy, and somewhat sluggish hawk, haunting meadows and marshes, to some extent crepuscular in habits, of low, easy, and almost noiseless flight ; prey- ing upon insignificant quarry, particularly small rodent and insectivorous mammals, reptiles, batrachians and insects. Nest usually in large trees, but frequently on a ledge of rocks or the edge of a cut-bank ; a bulky mass of interlaced sticks, with softer matted material of miscel- laneous kinds; eggs 8-5, laid late in May and in June, measuring 2.10-2 25 in length, by 1.75-1.80 in breadth; varying in color from dingy whitish with scarcely any marking, or but —-«§26. (527. FALCONIDA—BUTEONINA): BUZZARDS. dol faint clouding, to creamy-white boldly variegated with blotches and washes of dark brown on the surface, with neutral-tint markings in the substance of the shell. A. ferrugi/neus. (Lat. ferrugo, iron-rust.) FERRUGINOUS ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD. ““ CALIFORNIA SQUIRREL Hawk.” Adult ¢ 9: Below, pure white from bill to end of tail, the legs rich rufous or bright chestnut barred with black, in marked contrast; usually a few chestnut bars or arrow-heads on the belly and flanks, and the breast with sharp shaft lines of black. The older the bird the purer white below, with more perfect contrast of the chestnut legs; the ? retaining marks of immaturity longer than the @ ; these consisting in extension of the black-barred chestnut markings on to the belly, flanks, and even more of the under parts, and spreading of the fine shaft lines on the breast into ordinary streaks. ‘Tail silvery-white below, above white at base and extreme tip, in most of its extent clouded with silvery-ash and - more or less tinged with ferrugimous. Back, rump, and wing-coverts mixed blackish and bright chestnut in varying but about equal amounts, the former color making central markings on the exposed portion of each feather, the chestnut yielding to white at the bases of the feathers. Top, back, and sides of head streaked with blackish and white in about equal amounts, the feathers being cottony-white, with dark streaks or spaces on their exposed por- tions. Primaries blackish, with a glaucous bloom on their outer webs, their shafts almost entirely white, several outer ones with extensive pure white areation on their inner webs; inner primaries and secondaries continuing this pattern, but with more or less evident ashy spacing between blackish bars, as usual in buteonine hawks. Length of @, 22.50; extent 54.- 50; wing 16.75; tail 9.25; tarsus 2.75; length of 9, 23.50; extent 56.50; wing 17.25; tail 9.75. Iris pale brownish to light yellow; cere and feet bright yellow; bill dark bluish horn- color; mouth purplish flesh-color. Third and 4th quills subequal and longest ; 2d between 5th and 6th; Ist about equal to 8th; Ist-4th abruptly emarginate on inner webs; 2d-5th sinuate on outer webs. The foregoing is from a fine pair I procured in Arizona in 1864. A younger bird is described as less rufous above, and almost entirely white below, the flags scarcely varie- gated or contrasted. The first plumage does not seem to be described; I have seen it in Dakota, but have no specimen at hand, and cannot trust my memory. One of the largest, handsomest and most distinctively marked hawks of N. Am., somewhat recalling Buteo albo- caudatus; common in the west, from the region of the Red River of the North and of the Sas- katchewan to Texas and into Mexico, and from the Plains to the Pacific; sometimes even E. of the Mississippi, as in Iowa. Nesting and habits in no wise peculiar, as compared with those of other large hawks; nest in trees, on ledges and banks, composed of sticks, with mat- ted lining of various softer materials; eggs not characteristic, but large, averaging 2.50 & 1.95. ASTURI'NA. (Modified from Lat. astur, a hawk.) Star Buzzarps. General chars. of Buteo, in proportions, but system of coloration as in Astwr: sexes alike; adults ashy, with black, white-barred tail, the under parts closely barred crosswise with ashy and white; young different, the under parts marked lengthwise with blackish on a whitish ground. Wings short for this subfamily ; 3d, 4th, and 5th quills longest, Ist very short; outer 4 emarginate on inner webs; 2d—5th cut on outer webs. ‘Tail even, long, about # the wing. Legs longer than usual in Buteonne, more nearly as in Accipitrine ; feet stout; tarsus scutellate before and half-way up behind, shortly feathered above in front, elsewhere strongly reticulate. A small group of handsome under-sized hawks, peculiar to America. A. plaga'/ta. (Lat. plagata, striped.) GRAY Srar Buzzarp. Adult ¢ 9: Upper parts nearly uniform cinereous, or light plumbeous, the feathers dark-shafted, and with nearly obso- lete undulations of lighter ash; upper tail-coverts in part white. Tail black, with several white zones, sometimes broken, and white or whitish tip. Under parts, including tibize, white, beautifully and closely cross-barred with dark ash, except upon the throat and crissum ; some of the feathers also dark-shafted. Lining of wings white, less closely barred with ashy. Primaries darkening from the color of the back, their inner webs spaced lighter and darker, and 183. 528. 184. Do2 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — RAPTORES— ACCIPITRES. with extensive white areation, which characters increase on the secondaries. Iris brown; cere and feet bright yellow; bill and claws blue-black. Wing of ¢ 10.00; tail 7.00; tarsus 2.75 ; middle toe without claw 1.50. Wing of 2 11.00; tail 8.00. Young: Blackish-brown above, much variegated with reddish-buff, the white upper tail-coverts spotted with blackish; below, whitish, dashed with large blackish marks, the flags barred; tail dark brown, with numerous narrow blackish bars. Cent. Am. and Mex., regularly into southwestern U. 8., occasionally up the Mississippi Valley to Illinois. Nest in trees or bushes, not peculiar; eggs 2, round- oval, colorless, 2.00 & 1.60. URUBITIN GA. (S. Am. wrubu, a vulture; tinga, bright.) ANTHRACITE BuzzARDS. Gen- eral chars. of Buteo, but system of coloration peculiar, the adults being chiefly black and white, the tail typically broadly zoned. The limits of the genus vary with different writers; it contains several species, confined to America, one of them reaching our border. In this the tail is about $ as long as the wing, emarginate or nearly even; the wing with 3d—5th quills longest, 2d about equal to 6th, lst very short ; outer 4 sinuate on inner webs; the point of the folded wing reaching but little beyond the longest secondaries; the bill lengthened and rather weak ; the tomia of the upper mandible strongly festooned or almost lobated back of the hook ; gonys convex ; nostrils large, subcircular ; lores extensively denuded ; tarsus much longer than middle toe and claw, feathered but a little way down in front, scutellate before and behind, reticulated laterally like the basis of the toes, which in the rest of their length are broadly scutellate. U. anthraci/na, (Lat. anthracinus, carbuncular; in this case coal-black.) ANTHRACITE Buzzarp. Adult @. 9: Coal-black ; feathers of head and neck with concealed white bases ; tail white at extreme base and tip, and crossed about the middle with a broad white zone; ends of coverts white ; quills of wing more or less mottled with rusty-brown ; cere, rictus, and base of bill, and feet, yellow; bill and claws blackish. Length about 28.00; wing 13.00-15.00 ; tail 8.00-10.00 ; tarsus 3.25; ? larger than g. Young: Extensively varied with rusty or buff, which is gradually obliterated as the bird matures; tail numerously barred with black and white. There are 6-9 such bars, mostly broken or otherwise irregular. The whole under parts are white, more or less tinged with buff, pencilled on the throat, heavily striped on the breast and sides, closely barred across on the tibize and crissum, with blackish. The feathers of the head, nape, and foreback are largely white or whitish, appearing in streaks among the over- lying blackish of the ends of the feathers. The exposed portions of the primaries are blackish, obsoletely crossed with lighter; these feathers lightening basally and internally, where narrow blackish bars alternate with wider spaces of white tinged with brown and fulvous. The secondaries and larger coverts are brown with narrow dark bars, their inner webs also indented with whitish and tawny. The younger the bird the more the whitish or buff prevails over the dark colors. The contrast between the cross-barred tibiee and the lengthwise-striped breast and sides is always notable. The tail varies from rounded through square to emarginate. A remarkable hawk of Cent. Am., W. I., and Mex., lately ascertained to occur in Arizona. ONY'CHOTES. (Gr. dvvé, dvuxos, onux, onuchos, a claw, and a suffix -rys, -tes.) CLAWED Buzzarp. ‘Bill short, the tip remarkably short and obtuse, and only gradually bent; cere on top about equal to culmen; very broad basally in its transverse diameter, and ascending in its lateral outline, on a line with the culmen; commissure only faintly lobed. Nostril nearly circular, with a conspicuous (but not central or bony) tubercle ; cere densely bristled below the nostril, almost to its anterior edge; orbital region finely bristled. ‘Tarsus very long and slen- der, nearly twice the length of the middle toe; toes moderate, the outer one decidedly shorter than the inner; claws very long, strong, and sharp, curved in about one-quarter the cireumfer- - ence of a circle. Tibial feathers very short and close, the plumes scarcely reaching below the joint. Feathers of the forehead, gular region, sides and tibie with white filamentous attach- ments to the ends of the shafts. Wing very short, much rounded, and very concave beneath ; 529.- 185. 531. 186. FALCONIDA — BUTEONINA): EAGLES. 508 4th quill longest ; lst shorter than 9th; 4 primaries emarginated, and one sinuated, ou inner webs ; 5 sinuated on outer webs. Tail about % as long as wing, rounded. Outstretched feet reaching beyond end of tail.” (Ridgway.) One species. O. gruw/beri. (To F. Gruber.) GruBER’s Buzzarp. ‘Immature? General plumage dull dark bistre, with a grayish-umber cast in some lights, darkest on the head above and back; the posterior lower parts paler and more reddish; throat and neck much tinged with pale rusty ; primaries uniform black. “Tail like the rump, but with a more hoary tinge, not paler at the tip, and crossed with 7 or 8 very narrow obscure bars of darker, the last of which is distant an inch or more from the end. Lining of wings dark bistre, much tinged with rusty, this prevalent toward the edge ; under surfaces of primaries white anterior to their emargina- tion, beyond which they are ashy, approaching black at the ends; ashy portion with distant, very obsolete, dusky bars, but the cheeks and throat streaked obsoletely with this color. No distinct white anywhere about head or neck. Wing 10.00; tail 5.80; tarsus 2.70; middle toe 1.40.” (Ridgway.) California? A second specimen has been discovered since the description here copied was made. ‘‘ Closely allied to, if not identical with, Urubitinga.” (Sharpe.) THRASYAE/TUS. (Gr. Opacts, thrasus, bold; derds, aétos, an eagle.) Harpy EAGLES. A genus containing one species of enormous size, the most powerful raptorial bird of America, if not of the entire sub-order. Head with a broad flowing occipital crest. Bill of great length and depth, much compressed, so hooked that the curve of the culmen is about a quadrant of a circle, the commissure about straight, the tomia festooned but not toothed; cere extensive, with nearly vertical fore-edge, close to which are the narrowly oval nostrils about midway between tomia and culmen; lores extensively naked and bristly; superciliary shield prominent; feet and talons of immense strength ; tarsus feathered a little way down in front ; the covering of the feet reticulate, excepting a few scales on top of the toes ; lateral toes much shorter than middle one; inner claw much larger than middle one; hinder one much the largest of all. Wings rather short, but. very ample, the secondaries entirely covering the primaries when folded ; wing as a whole much vaulted, the outer quills strongly bowed. Tail long, # the wing, fan- shaped, vaulted. T. harpyi/a. (Gr. dprua, harpwia, a harpy.) Harpy Eacur. The largest and finest speci- men before me I judge to have been nearly or about 4 feet long ; the wing is about 2 feet; the tail 18 inches ; chord of culmen, including cere, 2.75 inches ; depth of bill 1.50; tarsus over 4.00; chord of hind claw nearly 3.00. Head and entire under parts dull white, more or less obscured with ashy or dusky, particularly on the crest, across the throat, and on the tibia, which latter are in some cases regularly barred with blackish. Upper parts at large ashy-gray, intimately but irregularly barred with glossy black, especially on the wing-coverts. Flight- feathers mostly blackish, but with more or less ashy nebulation, to which whitish variegation 1s added on the inner webs. Tail pretty regularly barred with black and ash, in other cases irregularly nebulated with light and dark ash. The bill appears to have been blackish, the feet of some yellowish color. Young birds are much darker. (. and S. Am. and Mexico, a well known and most formidable bird of prey, reaching the Texas border. A/QUILA. (Lat. aquila, an eagle.) GoLpEN EAGLES. Birds of great size, robust form and powerful physique, but in technical characters near Buteo and especially Archibuteo. ‘Tibia extensively flagged. Tarsus closely feathered all around to the toes; toes mostly reticulate on top, margined, outer and middle webbed at base. Bill large, long, very robust; tomia lobed ; nostrils oval, oblique; superciliary shield prominent. Wings long, pointed by the 3d—5th quills, 2d subequal to 6th, Ist very short, 5 or 6 emarginate on inner webs; 2d to 6th or 7th sinuate on outer webs. Tail moderate, rounded or graduated. Feathers of occiput and nape lanceolate, acute, discrete, like a raven’s throat-plumes. Sexes alike; changes of plumage not great. This extensive genus includes the eagles properly so called, of which there are numerous Old World species, but only one American. 532 USE oot SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — RAPTORES— ACCIPITRES. A, chrysaé/tus. (Gr. xpucderos, chrusaétos, golden eagle. Fig. 383.) GoupEN EAGLE. RING- TAILED BAGLE. Adult ¢ 9 : Dark brown, with a purplish gloss, lighter on the coverts of the wings and tail and on the flags or tarsi; the cowl of lanceolate feathers golden-brown. Quills’ and tail-feathers blackish, but basally more or less variegated or areated with light brown, gray, or whitish; at maturity these markings becoming extensive and definite. Young birds are blacker than the adults, which ‘‘ grow gray” with age, and are ‘‘ ring-tailed,” that is, the basal portion and finally most of the tail is white, offset by a broad black termi- nal zone. Length about 3 feet; extent 6 feet or more: wing 2 feet (¢) or more (2) 3. -tail 14,00= 15.00 inches (4) or more (@);_ bill, without cere, 1.50— 1.75; tarsus 3.50- 4.00. This great bird inhabits N. Am. at large, as well as Europe, Asia, ete.; in this country rather northerly, S. ordina- rily to about 35°. The American is not fairly to be distin- guished from the European, but on the whole is a larger and ‘‘ better” bird, like several others of the present fai- ily, as well as of the goose and duck Fig. 383. — The Eyrie of the Golden Eagle. (Designed by H. W. Elliott.) tribes. This I sup- pose to be owing to the fact that there is more room for them, more food, less persecution, and altogether less competition in the struggle for existence. It breeds chiefly in mountainous or boreal regions, the eyrie being usually upon a erag, the nest an enormous platform of sticks, etc. The eggs are subspherical and equal-ended; four selected specimens measure: 2.65 X 2.15; 2.90x2.40; 3.002.385; 3.102.25; in 12 cases, only one is white like a bald eagle’s ; the rest are whitish, wholly indeterminately spotted, splashed and smirched with rich sienna, umber and bistre browns, with neutral-tint shell-markings; 2, 3, or 4 are laid. HALIAE’TUS. (Gr. dduderos, haliaétos, a sea-eagle ; 4. e., the osprey.) SEA EAGLES. FIsH- inG EAGLES. General chars. of Aquila, as above, but the tarsi only feathered about half-way down, and no webbing between outer and middle toes. ‘This nakedness of the shank is an in- fallible character: among the several different kinds of eagles popularly attributed to North America, only two have been found on the continent ; the one with the feathered shank is No. 5325 the one with scaly shank is No. 534, whatever its size or color. The scutellation of the 534. FALCONIDA — BUTEONINZA: EAGLES. 5dd tarsus varies in this species; there is normally a short row of scales in front, discontinued about the bases of the toes, where are granular reticulations, the scutellation being resumed further on the toes. Wings pointed by 3d-5th quills; 2d nearly equal to 6th: Ist longer than 9th; 5 to 6 emarginate on inner webs. Tail rounded, graduated or cuneate, of 12 rec- trices (14 in the Asiatic H. pelagicus). Feathers of neck all around lance-acute, discrete. About 8 species of this genus are recognized; one of them is appropriate to this continent ; another occurs in Greenland; a third (1. pelagicus) may be expected in Alaska. Analysis of Species. AG with walla lvenyel Gravel tay Wits “5 6 6 56 » o &§ 5 6 © 6 6 &§ 0 60 6 o 6 Ge VaneoagNiaOn bY ANGhalke, Wwatiin, Gen @alhy wittti® 9 5 56 5 6 6 6 6 & 6 65 6 oO 0 Ob Oo GG bo Go 6 Coals, “OSs H. albicil/la. (Lat. albicilla, white-tailed.) WHITE-TAILED SEA EaGue. Adult ¢ Q: Dark brown, blackening on primaries, the head and neck gray, the tail white. Bill and feet Fiag. 384. — Bald Eagle. (From Tenney, after Wilson.) yellow. Young with tail not white, and otherwise different. Rather larger than the next species. Europe, ete., only North American as occurring in Greenland. ! H. leucoceph/alus. (Gr. Aevkds, lewcos, white; kepadn, kephale, head. Fig. 384.) Wautvrr- HEADED SEA EaGur. ‘ Batp Eaaun.” ‘ Bird or WASHINGTON” (the young). Adult: g 9: Dark brown; quills black; head and tail white; bill, eyes, and feet yellow. Length about 3 feet; extent 6 or 7 feet ; wing 2 feet (2 ) or less (@); tail afoot, more (? ) orless ( #). Three years are required for the perfection of the white head and tail of the “ bald” eagle. The first year, the young are ‘‘ black” eagles; very dark colored, with fleecy white bases of the feathers showing here and there; bill black; iris brown; feet yellow. The next year, they are “gray” eagles, and usually larger than the old birds, the largest known specimens being of this kind. Young in the down are sooty-gray. N. Am. anywhere, common — for an eagle; piscivorous; a piratical parasite of the osprey: otherwise notorious as the emblem of the republic. Nest on trees or cliffs; eggs ordinarily 2, white, unmarked, about 3.00X 2.50. 88 930. 006 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS.— RAPTORES — ACCIPITRES. 32. Family PANDIONID: Fish Hawks; Ospreys. See page 498. Plu mage peculiar, close and firm, imbricated, oily, lacking after- shafts; head densely feathered up to the eyes; occipital feath- ers lengthened; legs closely feathered, with- out any sign of a flag; quills of the wings and tail acuminate, stiff and hard, and the primary coverts of similar char- acter. Feet immensc- ly large and strong, roughly granular-retic- ulate; tarsi little feath- ered above in front; toes all free to the base, the outer versa- tile. Claws very large, all of equal lengths, subeylindrie or taper- ing terete, not being scooped out under- neath, but all compressed, and the middle one sharply grooved on the inner face. Bill tooth- less, contracted at the cere, elsewhere inflated, with very large hook; gonys convex, ascending ; nostrils oval, oblique, without tubercle, and in the edge of the cere. The peculiarities of the plumage and of the feet are in evident adaptation to the semi-aquatie piscivorous habits of these ‘‘ fishing hawks,” which require a water-proof covering, and: great talons to grasp their slippery quarry. The structural characters are rather those of the buteonine than the faleonine birds of prey, in the coracoid arrangement, etc. ‘The supraorbital shield is rudimentary, leaving the eye flush with the side of the head. The family consists of a single genus, and probably but one cosmopolitan species, the well-known Osprey, Pandion haliaétus. PANDION. (Gr. Iavdiev, Lat. Pandion, nom. propr. Fig. 385.) Ospreys. To the foregoing add: Wings very long, pointed; 2d and 3d primaries longest; lst between 3d and 5th; 3 outer ones abruptly emarginate on inner webs, and 2d to 4th sinuate on outer webs. Tail short, scarcely or not half as long as the wing. Sexes alike; Q larger. Young similar. P. haliaé/tus. (See Haliaétus.) Fish Hawk. Osprey. Adult ¢ 9: Above, dark van- dyke-brown, blackening on the quills, the feathers of the upper parts more or less completely edged with white —the older the bird, the more conspicuous the white markings. Tail dark brown with dusky bars, white tip and shafts, and inner webs of all but the middle pair of feathers regularly barred with white and dark. Head, neck, and under parts white, ‘the crown more or less extensively streaked with blackish, and a heavy blackish postocular stripe to the nape ; the breast more or less spotted with dusky brown; the white more or less tinged with tawny in some places, especially under the wings and on the head. Coloration very variable in the relative Fic. 385. — The Fish Hawk, or Osprey. (After J. Wolf.) CATHARTIDES: AMERICAN VULTURES. yey(l amounts of the dark and white colors; young darker, the upper parts without the white crescents. Bill blackish, bluing at base and on cere; feet grayish-blue; claws black ; iris yellow or red. Length 2 feet or rather less; extent about 43 feet; wing 17.50-21.505; tail 8.50-10.50; tarsus 2.25; middle toe without claw 1.75; chord of culmen without cere 1.30; chord of claws nearly the same. Nearly cosmopolitan; entire temperate N. Am., over inland waters and especially along the sea-coasts, migratory, abundant. Few birds are better known than this industrious fisherman, so often the purveyor perforce of the bald eagle. Breeds anywhere in its range; nest bulky, finally acquiring enormous dimensions by yearly repairs and additions, placed usually in a tree or stout bush, sometimes on rocks or the ground ; sometimes hundreds together. Eggs usually laid in May, 2 or 3 in number, very variable in size, say 9.50 1.75, running through all the variations in color common to hawks’ eggs, from a white to creamy, tawny or reddish ground, from few brownish markings to heaviest blotching with sienna, umber, bistre and sepia; coloration usually richly reddish or mahogany. Some nests grow to be 6 or 8 feet in diameter, and as much in depth, and smaller birds, such as purple grackles, frequently build theirs in the interstices of the mass. 8. SuBporDER CATHARTIDES: AmpRICAN VULTURES. As already stated (page 497), the characters of this group are of more than family value, for which I lately proposed the above name (New England Bird Life, vol. ii, p. 185). In no event have these birds anything to do with the Old World vultures, which scarcely form a sub- family apart from Falcond@e. In a certain sense, they represent the gallinaceous type of structure ; our species of Cathartes, for instance, bears a curious superficial resemblance to a turkey. They lack the strength and spirit of typical Raptores, and rarely attack animals capable of offering resistance ; they are voracious and indiscriminate gormandizers of carrion and animal refuse of all sorts — efficient and almost indispensable scavengers in the warm countries where they abound. ‘They are uncleanly in their mode of feeding; the nature of their food renders them ill-scented, and when disturbed they eject the foetid contents of the crop. Although not truly gregarious, they assemble in multitudes where food is plenty, and some species breed in cominunities. When gorged, they appear heavy and indisposed to exertion, usually passing the period of digestion motionless, in a listless attitude, with the wings half- spread. But they spend much of the time on wing, circling high in the air; their flight is easy and graceful in the extreme, and capable of being indefinitely protracted. On the ground, they habitually walk instead of progressing by leaps. Possessing no vocal apparatus, these vultures are almost mute, emitting only a weak hissing sound. 33. Family CATHARTIDA: American Vultures. See page 497. Head, and part of the neck, more or less completely bare of feathers, sometimes caruncular; eyes flush with the side of the head, not overshadowed by a super- ciliary shield ; ears small and simple. Bill lengthened, contracted toward the base, moderately hooked and comparatively weak. Nostrils very large, completely perforated, through lack of a bony septum. Wings very long, ample, and strong; tail moderate. Anterior toes long for this order, webbed at base; hind toe elevated, very short; claws comparatively lengthened, obtuse, little curved and weak. To these external characters, which distinguish our vultures, I may add, that there are numerous osteological peculiarities. A lower larynx is not de- veloped. The capacious gullet dilates into an immeuse crop. Cceca are wanting. The caro- tids are double. ‘The feathers lack an aftershaft; the plumage is sombre and unvaried; its changes are slight ; the sexes are alike, and the 9 is not larger than the ¢. The famous Condor of the Andes, Sarcorhamphus gryphus ; the King Vulture, Gyparchus papa, which probably occurs in Arizona, and species of the three following genera, compose the family. 189. 536. 190. 508 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —RAPTORES — CATHARTIDES. Analysis of Genera. Head and neck entirely naked; tail square’. . ........++-+e«+. « Lseudogryphus 189 Head and upper part of neck naked; tailrounded. . Saat OM OM ON Meeno ob bi Ds co eo | ow CORMOCHTAD: 1D Head naked, but feathers running up to it behind; tail square sVUPe RRs EEN aCe saci MR RC OCLAIMStOmeL On Pseudogry’phus. (Gr. Wevdos, pseudos, false; Lat. gryphus, a griffin.) CALIFORNIAN ConboR. Size immense, about equalling that of the Condor. Head and neck entirely bare, smooth, without caruncular appendages. No cervical ruff of snowy, downy feathers; plumage beginning over the shoulders with loose lance-linear feathers, and that of the under parts generally of similar character. Frontal region depressed below the level of the inflated cere, but the general profile straight- ish from the hook of the bill to the hind head. Bill wide and deep, comparatively little hooked. Nasal passage much more contracted than the nasal fossa. Wings of great ampli- tude, folding to or beyond the end of the square tail, the ends of the primaries uncovered by the secondaries; 4th or Sth quills longest. Tarsus about as long as middle toe. One species. P, california/nus. (Of Cali- fornia. Fig. 386.) CALIFOR- NIAN Conpor. Adult ¢ Q: Blackish, the feathers with browner tips or edges, quite gray or even whitish on the wing-coverts and inner quills; primaries and __ tail - feathers black; axillars and lining of wings white; bill yellowish, Fic. 386, — Californian Condor. (From Tenney, after Audubon.) reddening on cere, and skin of the head orange or reddish; iris said by some to be brown, by others carmine. Length 4-44 feet; extent about 94 feet; wing 23-3 feet; tail 14-14 feet; tarsus 4.50-5.00 inches; middle toe without claw 4.00-4.50; middle claw 1.90; hind claw 1.50; chord of culmen without cere about 1.50, but whole bill about 4.00, whole head about 7.00; cere on top nearly 3.00. Young with the bill and naked parts dusky, and more or less downy; plumage without white. Nestlings covered with whitish down. Pacific coast region, U.S. and southward, common. This great creature rivals the condor in size, and like it is powerful enough to destroy young or otherwise helpless animals, though its usual food is carrion. The nidification, as described, is like that of the turkey buzzard; but the eggs are whitish, unmarked. They measure about 4502.50. The general habits appear to be the same as those of the turkey buzzard; the flight is similar. CATHAR'TES. (Gr. kaOapris, kathartes, a purifier.) Turkey Buzzarps. Of medium size; body slender. Whole head and upper part of neck naked, the plumage beginning as a CATHARTIDA: AMERICAN VULTURES. 559 circlet of ordinary feathers all around the neck; the naked skin corrugated and sparsely beset with bristles, especially a patch before the eye. Bill long, moderately stout and hooked, the nostrils large, elliptical, completely pervious, the cere contracted opposite them. Wings extremely long, not particularly broad, pointed, folding beyond the tail, which is short and rounded. Point of the wing formed by 3d or 4th quill; 2d and 5th nearly as long; lst much shorter ; outer 4 or 5 emarginate on inner webs. ‘Tarsus about as long as middle toe without claw. Of Cathartes as restricted there are several species described, but only one is estab- lished as N. Am. They are noted for their extraordinary powers of sailing flight. C. awra. (Vox barb., name of the bird. Fig. 387.) Turkey Buzzarp. Adult ¢ Q: WV / NBS ~ ny, / S Wei x \ S . " re) \\ x SS ay, \\ SY ‘A WY" Uy WSS GY AN NY AY INS AY W AS N\\ ° is SSS —S SS SS Vy Uf yy My Wy a My yy 17 pee 7 ee SE Pia. 387.— Turkey Buzzard, § nat. size. (From Brehm.) Blackish-brown, grayer on the wing-coverts; quills black, ashy-gray on their under surface ; tail black, with pale brown shafts. Head red, from livid crimson to pale carmine, with whitish specks usually; bill dead white; feet flesh-colored; iris brown. Length 24-24 feet; extent about 6 feet; wing 2 feet or less; tail a foot or less; tarsus 2.25 inches; middle toe without claw rather more ; outer toe 1.50; inner 1.25; hind 0.75; chord of culmen without cere 1.00. Weight 4-5 pounds. Young darker than the adults; bill and skin of head dark, the latter downy. Nestlings covered with whitish down. U. S. and adjoining provinces, Atlantic to Pacific, and south clear through C. and S. Am.; N. to about 538°; resident N. to about 40°, beyond which migratory, being starved out in winter. Nests on the ground, or near it in hollow stumps or logs, generally in communities. Eggs commonly 2, sometimes 1, abcut 191. 338. 060 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS.— KRAPTORES — CATHARTIDES. 2.75 X 1.90, white or creamy, variously spotted and blotched with different browns, and with lavender or purplish-drab shell-markings. This species has a curious habit of ‘“ playing possum,” by simulating death when wounded and captured; the feint is admirably executed and often long protracted. . CATHARIS'TA. (Gr. xa@apifw, katharizo, I purify.) CARRION Crows. Of medium size; body stout. Head naked, and generally as in Cathartes, but feathers of the neck running up behind to a point on the occiput, the outline of the plumage thus very different. Cere con- tracted; nostrils narrow, less openly pervious than in Cathartes. Wings shorter and relatively broader than in Cathartes, not folding to the end of the tail, which is short, only about half the wing, and even or emarginate; 4th and 5th quills longest. The difference in size and shape Fig. 388. — Black Vulture, } nat. size. (From Brehm.) between Cathartes and Catharista is strikingly displayed when the birds are seen flying together , there is also a decided difference in the mode of flight, as Catharista never sails for any distance without interrupting that easy motion by flapping the wings. C. atra/ta, (Lat. atrata, blackened. Fig. 388.) Carrion Crow. Buack Vuitture. Adult & 9: Entire plumage, including skin of head, and bill, blackish; shafts of the primaries white; bases of the primaries paling to gray or whitish. Tip of bill and feet grayish-yellow ; iris brown; claws black. ‘Smaller than C. awra, in linear dimensions, but a heavier bird ; length about 2 feet; extent only about 43 feet; wing 17.00 inches; tail 3.00; tarsus 3.00; middle toe rather less; chord of culmen without cere 1.00 or less. Nesting like that of C. aura; eggs similar, but larger, or at any rate longer; about 3.25 2.00. Chiefly 8. Atlantic and Gulf States, especially maritime, there very numerous, out-numbering the turkey buzzards, and semidomesticated in the towns, where their good offices are appreciated ; N. regularly to N. C., COLUMBA;: COLUMBINE BIRDS. 561 thence straggling to Mass. and even Maine; not authenticated as occurring on the Pacific side, but of general distribution in C. and 8. Am. No one can fail to observe with interest the great difference in the form and general appearance of the Turkey Buzzard and Carrion Crow when he compares them sitting side by side sunning themselves upon chimney or house-top ; and especially the discrepancy in their mode of flight as they wheel together overhead in endless inosculating circles. The Turkey Buzzards look larger as they fly, though really they are lighter weights ; they are dingy-brown, with a gray space underneath the wing ; the tail is long ; the fore-border of the wing is bent at a salient angle, and there is a corresponding reéntrance in its hind outline ; the tips of the longest quills spread apart and bend upward; and one may watch these splendid flyers for hours without perceiving a movement of the pinions. Comparing now the Carrion Crows, they are seen to be more thick-set, with less sweep of wing and shorter and more rounded tail, beyond which the feet may project; the front edge of the wing is almost straight, and the back border sweeps around in a regular curve to meet it at an obtuse point, where the ends of the quills are neither spread apart nor bent upward. The birds show almost black instead of brown ; in place of a large gray area under the wing, there is a smaller paler gray spot at the point of the wing. And, finally, the Carrion Crows flap their wings five or six times in rapid succession, then sail a few moments ; their flight appears heavy, and even laborious, beside the stately motion of their relatives. Oss.—Cathartes burrovianus Cass., B. N. A., 1858, p. 6; Eliot, B. N. A. pl. 36, a doubtful species, is said to inhabit Lower California. — From various accounts, it seems probable that the king vulture (Gyparchus papa) really occurs on our southern border, but this remains to be determined. (See Bartram, Tray. in Fla., p. 150 ; Cass., B. N. A., p. 6; Coues, Proc. Phila. Acad., 1866, p.49; Allen, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., ii, 1871, p. 313 ; Coues, Bull. Nutt. Club, vi, 1881, p. 248.) V. Order COLUMBZ:: Columbine Birds. An essential character of birds typical of this group is found in the structure of the bill, which is horny and convex at the tip, somewhat contracted in the continuity, furnished at the base with a tumid membrane in which the nostrils open. There are four toes; three anterior, generally cleft to the base, but occasionally with slight webbing; one behind, with few excep- tions perfectly insistent or not obviously elevated. ‘The feet are never much lengthened; the tarsus is commonly shorter than the toes, either scutellate or extensively feathered, reticulate on the sides and behind, the envelope rather membranous than corneous. (One N. Am. genus, Starnenas, has entirely reticulate tarsus and elevated hallux.) On the whole, the feet are inses- sorial, not rasorial; the habit is arboreal, not terrestrial; but there are many ground pigeons, some quite fowl-like ; and progression is always gradient, never saltatory. The wings and tail do not afford ordinal characters; but it may be remarked that the rectrices are usually (not always) 12 or 14 instead of the higher numbers usual in gallinaceous birds; and that the wings are usually long and flat, not short and vaulted. The plumage is destitute of aftershafts (qu. Didus? small aftershafts in Pterocletes?). The syrinx has one pair of intrinsic muscles, if any (none in Pterocletes). The oil-gland is nude, when present (small in Treron, ete.; wanting in Goura, Starnenas). 'he gall-bladder is generally absent (present exceptionally in some true Pigeons). The coeca are absent; or present, but small. There are two earotids. The gizzard is muscular. There are many good osteological characters. The palate is schizognathous. The nasal bones are schizorhinal. The sternum is doubly notched, or notched and fenestrate, on each side; the pectoral ridge of the humerus is salient and acute, and does not receive the insertion of the second pectoral muscle. The ambiens muscle is normally present, the birds being unquestionably homalogonatous; but is sometimes lost; the femoro-caudal, accessory femoro-caudal, semitendinosus, and accessory semitendinosus are present; the fourth gluteal muscle, which in other schizorhinal birds covers the femur-head, is undeveloped (Garrody’ Some ornithologists, like Liljeborg, enlarge the Columbine order, under name of Pullas- tré, to receive the American Curassows, (Cracide — see beyond) and the Old World Big-feet or Mound-birds (Megapodide) ; mainly on account, it would appear, of the low position of the hallux in these families. But the balance of characters favors their reference to the galli- naceous series, where they are relegated by Huxley. . While there is no question that the Columbine birds are very closely related to the Galline, in fact inosculating therewith, it 36 062 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — COLUMBAi — PERISTERA. seems best to draw the line, if one must be drawn, so as to include the Pterocletes in Columba, and leave the Cracide and Megapodide with Galline. The Sand-grouse (better Sand-pigeons), or Pterocletes, represent the inosculation of the two series. They are terrestrial Columbines, modified for a grouse-like life; the digestive system is fowl-like (cceca several inches long, etc.); but the pterylosis, the sternum and humerus, the cranial and many other characters, are pigeon- like. The only alternative to reference of Pterocletes to the Columbine series is their elevation to independent ordinal rank, as proposed by Huxley. The Columba, as above indicated, are intended to be made conformable to Huxley’s Periste- romophe plus Pterocletes. Assuming the imperfectly-known extinct Dodo, Didus ineptus, to have been a modified Columbine, and considering the Pterocletes to represent a rasorial modi- fication of the Columbine series, the Order Columbe may be separated into THREE groups, or suborders, Drp1, PTHROCLETES, and PERISTERA, the first two certainly, the last probably, of a single family. The Peristere alone are American. 9. SuBporpDER PERISTERA: TrRvuE COLUMBINE BIRDS. (Equivalent to the Peristeromorphe of Huxley; the Gemitores of Macgillivray, or Columbe proper of most authors; the Gyrantes of Bonaparte, plus Didunculus; Columbe of Garrod minus Pterocletes; Pullastre of Liljeborg minus Cracide and Megapodide.) Skull schizognathous, schizorhinal; basipterygoids prominent; angle of mandible not produced ; rostrum externally as above said. Sternum doubled-notched or notched and fenestrate, on each side; pectoral crest of humerus salient, acute. Carotids two. Syringeal muscles one pair. Coeea coli small or wanting; gizzard muscular; crop developed; gall-bladder generally absent. Fourth gluteal muscle undeveloped; second. pectoral specially inserted; ambiens normally present, or wanting. Oil-gland nude, small, or wanting. Plumage without after- shafts. Feet imsessorial; hallux normally imsistent; tarsus normally scutellate. Rectrices normally 12 or 14. (Rasorial tendency in more rectrices, hallux up, and tarsus reticulate.) Altricial; psilopeedic ; monogamous; eggs few. One family ? , 34. Family COLUMBID4: Pigeons. The family is here taken to be co-extensive with the suborder as defined. With one exception (Starnenas cyanocephala), all our species will be immediately recog- nized by their likeness to the familiar inmates of the dove-cot. One seemingly trivial circumstance is so con- stant as to become a good clue to these birds: the frontal feathers do not form antiz by extension on either side of the culmen, but sweep across the base of the bill with a strongly convex outline projected on the culmen, thence rapidly retreating to the commissural point. The plumule- less plumage is generally compact, with thickened, spongy rhachis, the insertion of which will seem loose to one who skins a bird of this family. The head is remarkably small; the neck moderate; the body full, especially in the pectoral region. ‘The wings are strong, generally length- ened and pointed, conferring a rapid, powerful, whistling ; flight; the peculiar aérial evolutions that these birds are Fra. 389. — European Ring Dove (Co- wont to perform have furnished a synonym for the family, LCE CAMTEDEDE), (xo EO) Gyrantes. The tail varies in shape, from square to grad- uate, but is never forked; as a rule there are 12 rectrices, frequently increased to 14, rarely to COLUMBIDZ: PIGEONS. 563 16, exceptionally to 20; all the North American have 12, excepting Zenardura, with 14. The feet show considerable modification when the strictly arboricole are compared with the more terrestrial species; their general character has just been indicated. The gizzard is large and muscular, particularly in the species that feed on seeds and other hard fruits ; the gullet dilates to form a capacious circumscribed crop, divided into lateral halves, or tending to that state. This organ at times secretes a peculiar milky fluid, which, mixed with macerated food, is poured by regurgitation directly into the mouth of the young; thus the fabled ‘‘ pigeon’s milk ” has a strong spice of fact, and in this remarkable circumstance we see probably the nearest approach, among birds, to the characteristic function of mammalia. ‘‘ The voice of the turtle © is heard in the land” as a plaintive cooing, so characteristic as to have afforded another name for the family, Gemitores. Pigeons are altricial, psilopedic, and monogamous — doubly monogamous, as is said when both sexes incubate and care for the young; this is a strong trait, compared with the preecocial, ptilopeedic, and often polygamous nature of rasorial birds. They are amorous birds, whose passion generally results in a tender and constant devotion, edifying to contemplate, but is often marked by high irascibility and pugnacity — traits at variance with the amiable meekness which doves are supposed to symbolize. Their blandness is supposed to be due to absence of the gall-bladder. The nest, as a rule, is a rude, frail, flat structure of twigs; the eggs are usually two in number, sometimes one, white; when two, supposed to contain the germs of opposite sexes. (For anatomy of a pigeon, see frontispiece.) ‘“The entire number of Pigeons known to exist is about 300; of these the Malay Archi- pelago already counts 118, while only 28 are found in India, 23 in Australia, less than 40 in Africa, and not more than 80 in the whole of America.” ‘They focus in the small district of which New Guinea is the centre, where more than a fourth of the species occur. Mr. Waliace accounts for this by the absence of fruit-eating forest mammals, such as monkeys and squirrels; and finds in the converse the reason why pigeons are so scarce in the Amazon valley, and there chiefly represented by species feeding much on the ground and breeding in the bushes lower than monkeys habitually descend. ‘‘ In the Malay countries, also, there are no great families of fruit-eating Passeres, and their place seems to be taken by the true fruit-pigeons, which, unchecked by rivals or enemies, often form with the Psittact the prominent and characteristic features of the Avifauna.” (Newton.) There are several prominent groups of Pigeons; but authors are far from agreed upon the subdivisions of the family. It is not probable that Garrod’s three subfamilies of Columbide, based upon characters of the ambiens, cceca, gall-bladder, and oil-gland, will not stand without modification, and I cannot adopt his arrangement. Sclater divided the suborder Coluwmbe as above defined into two families, Columbide and Carpophagide, to which he afterward added Gouride, and probably Didunculide. Bonaparte made five families, Didunculide , Treronide, Columbide, Calenadide, and Gouride three of themupon single genera), with twelve sub- families. Some of the leading groups may be thus indicated : — 1. The extraordinary Tooth-billed Pigeon of the Samoan Islands, Didunculus strigiros- tris, alone represents a subfamily or family, with its stout, compressed, hooked and toothed beak, and many other peculiarities. ‘The length of intestine is excessive, being seven feet instead of about two, as usual in Columbide. ‘The ambiens is present; the oil-gland and gall-bladder are absent. There are 14 tail-feathers. } 2. The singular genus Goura, with two New-Guinean species, is outwardly distinguished by its immense umbrella-like crest, and possesses anatomical peculiarities which entitle it to stand alone as type of a subfamily or family. The tarsi are reticulate; there are 16 rectrices; cceca, gall-bladder, oil-gland, and ambiens muscle are all wanting ; the intestines are four or five feet long. 3. The single genus and species, Calenas micobarica, has a very tumid bill, and acu- minate, lengthened, pendulous feathers of the neck; but there are only 12 rectrices, as in 192. 064 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — COLUMBAE — PERISTERA. ordinary Pigeons, and the anatomy is conformable to a usual type, except that the lining of the gizzard is ossitied. 4. The large Old World genera Treron and Ptilopus, with which latter another large genus, Carpophaga, is closely related, are a group of fruit-eating, arboricole species, with a short, stout beak, short, soft, broad-soled and extensively feathered feet, normally 14 rectrices, and soft lustreless plumage, of which green is the characteristic color. Of such Treronine or Treromde, ‘54 species are confined to the Austro-Malayan, while 28 inhabit the Indo- Malayan, subregion: In India 14, and in Africa a species are found; 30 inhabit the Pacific Islands, and 8 occur in Australia or New Zealand, while New Guinea has 14 species ” (Wallace). 5. There area large number of Pigeons of both the Old and New World, possessing neither the peculiarities already stated nor those of the Columbine proper, to be presently given. They are the Zenacdine and Phapine of Bonaparte, with more or less lengthened naked tarsi, and of more or less terrestrial habits. ‘They are exemplified by such genera as Chamepelia and Melopelia with 12 rectrices, and Zenaidura with 14, of America; by Lopholemus with 12, Geopelia, Phlogenas and Ocyphaps with 14, and Phaps with 16, of the Old World. Nearly all possess the ambiens and oil-gland, without cceca or gall-bladder. Having many points in ~ common, these ground-doves might form a subfamily Zenardine or Phapine, notwithstanding the peculiarities of certain genera. Such a group would correspond to the two Bonapartian subfamilies just named, and closely with the Phapine of Garrod. 6. From the Zenardine thus composed our genus Starnenas differs more notably than authors, excepting Garrod, seem to have appreciated. It is a pullet-like ground-pigeon, with long reticulate tarsus, short and somewhat elevated hind toe; with ececa and without oil-gland or ambiens muscle, the reverse of the rule in Zenaidiné as above noted. It can hardly be referred to the totally different Zreronine on the single circumstance of lacking the ambiens, and must stand alone, in such division of the family as is here sketched, as type of a new sub- family Starnenadine. 7. With the remaining Columbide there is no difficulty, as they form a well character- ized restricted subfamily Columbine. The leading genera are the square-tailed Columba, of both Worlds; the round-tailed Turtur of the Old; the wedge-tailed Macropygia of the Old, matched by the wedge-tailed Hctopistes of the New. The species are arboreal, with short feet, scutellate or partly-feathered tarsi, and 12 tail-feathers; cceca, oil-gland, and ambiens present ; gall-bladder absent. Of the seven groups thus indicated, three are North American. They may readily be distinguished as follows. Analysis of North American Subfamilies of Columbide. AEN om NR, eNO, Go 6b 6a 6 0 0 3 6 016 0 6 8 6 80 8 6 60 8 | Colmmnioina ANE OURUAUI, WENANOL 9g. 46 Go a1 o)0 0 016 95060665600 0.0 60.0 Heparin FIR NOUIEN, WAIR G 56 6 6 56 6 0 0 6060600605950 5 0 0 0 SitRETOCMWOG 48. Subfamiiy COLUMBIN/AE: Typical Pigeons. Feet small; tarsus short, not longer than the lateral toes, scutellate in front, feathered above. Wing pointed, of 10 primaries. Tail variable in shape, of 12 rectrices. Bill typicaily as described above. Arboreal. (See above for anatomical characters.) | Analysis of Genera. Tail nearly even, much shorter than the wing, with broad obtuse feathers . . . . - - . Columba 192 Tail long, cuneate, equal to wings, with narrow tapering feathers ...... .. . ~ Hetopistes 193 COLUM’/BA. (Lat. columba, a pigeon.) Bill short and comparatively stout, about half as long as head. Wings pointed, 2d and 3d quills longest. No black spots on seapulars. Lateral toes of about equal lengths, with claws about as long as middle toe without ; hind toe and claw 939. 540. 941. 198. COLUMBIDZE — COLUMBINZ: TYPICAL PIGEONS. 265 about as long as lateral without. Contains the domestic Pigeon, C. livia, the Stock Dove, C. enas, Ring Dove, C. palumbus (fig. 389), and several other species of both Hemispheres. Analysis of Species. A white band on nape; metallic scales of nape without borders. Tail with light terminal and dark sub- terminal bars; bill and feet yellow, former black-tipped. . . ........2.2.. Jasciata 539 No white on head ; no metallic scales on nape; tail not banded ; bill crn feet not yellow . . erythrina 540 Top of head white; tail not banded ; metallic feathers of nape black- bordered .... . leucocephala 541 C. fascia/ta. (Lat. fasciata, banded; alluding to the bars on the tail.) BAND-TAILED Pigeon. WHITE-COLLARED PicrEon. Adult ¢: Head, neck, and under parts purplish wine-red, fading to white on belly and crissum, the nape with a distinct white half-collar, the cervix with a patch of metallic, scaly bronze-green feathers. Rump, upper tail-coverts, lining of wings and sides of body slaty-blue. Back and scapulars dark greenish-brown, with con- siderable lustre, changing on the wing-coverts to slaty-blue, these feathers with light edging. Quills blackish-brown, with pale edging along the sinuous portion of the outer webs. Tail bluish-ash, paler beyond the middle on top and much paler below, crossed at the middle by a black bar. Bill yellow, tipped with black; feet yellow, claws black ; a red ring round eye — these colors very conspicuous in life. A large stout species: length 16.00; extent about 27.00 ; wing 8.00-8.50, pointed; tail 5.50-6.00, square; bill 0.75, stout for a pigeon; tarsus 1.00, _ feathered half-way down in front; middle toe and claw 1.67. Adult 9: Back, wings, and tail, asin @; metallic scales and white collar obscure or wanting. Head and under parts much less purplish, the rich hue replaced by a rusty-brown wash on an ashy ground; yellow of feet and bill obscured; smaller; wing 7.50; tail 4.75. Young @: Resembling the Q. Rocky Mts. to the Pacific, U. ©., common and of general but irregular distribution, chiefly in woodland, and especially where acorns, upon which it largely subsists, can be procured; some- times in flocks of great extent. Nest in trees and bushes; eggs 2, equal-ended, white, glistening, 1.50 1.20. C. erythri/na. (Gr. é€pv@pivos, eruthrinos, reddish.) REpD-BILLED PiaEon. Adult @: Head, neck, and breast dark purplish wine-red, with a slight glaucous overcast, like the bloom on a grape; no metallic scales on neck. Middle wing-coverts like the head. Middle of back, and some inner wing-quills, dark olive-brown with a bronze-green gloss. Greater wing- coverts, lining of wings, sides of body, belly, crissum, and rump, slate-colored, sometimes quite sooty, sometimes more bluish ; tail like rump, but more blackish. Quills of wing dark slate with narrow pale edging. Bill pink for basal half, rest pale horn-color; feet purplish-red, with pale claws; eye-ring red ; iris orange. Bill and feet drying an undefinable color. Bill remarkable for forward extension of feathers on culmen, to with half an inch of tip, covering the nasal scale. Length 18.50-14.50; extent 23.00-25.00 ; wing 7.50-8.00; tail about 5.00; tarsus 0.87 ; middle toe and claw 1.50. @ and young similar, duller and more dilute in color, the wine-red and slate-color more ashy. ‘Texas, Mexico, Lower California. A dark, richly- colored pigeon, common in the Valley of Lower Rio Grande and southward. Nest in trees and bushes, of twigs, grasses, and roots, well-formed for a pigeon’s; egg single, equal-ended, glistening white; averaging 1.54X1.09; laid in Apr., May. C. leucoce/phala. (Gr. devkds, leucos, white; xepadn, kephale, head.) WHITE-CROWNED Picton. Adult ¢ 9: Dark slaty, paler below, the quills and tail feathers darkest. Whole top of head pure white; hind neck above rich maroon-brown, lower down and laterally metallic golden-green, each feather black-edged, giving the appearance of scales. Bill and feet dark carmine or lake red, the tip of the former bluish-white; bill drying dusky with yellowish tip, feet dingy yellowish. Iris yellow or white. Length 13.00-14.00; extent 23.00; wing 7.50; tail 5.75. Q only duller than ¢. West Indies and Florida Keys. Nest in trees and bushes, of twigs, roots, and grasses; eggs 2, white, 1.40 X 1.05. ECTOPIS'TES. (Gr. éxromortns, ektopistes, a wanderer: very appropriate.) PASSENGER 3435. 566 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — COLUMBA — PERISTERZAL. Picnons. ‘Tail long, equal to the wings, cuneate, of 12 tapering acuminate feathers, parti- colored. Wing acutely pointed by first 3 primaries, with black spots on the coverts. Bill small, with culmen less than half the head, short gonys, feathered far forward between the rami. Tarsi short, feathered part way down in front, where scutellate, but not in one regular row of seales. Lateral toes unequal. Sexes unlike. K. migrato'rius. (Lat. migratorius, migratory. Fig. 390.) PAssENGER Pigeon. Wuip Pigeon. Adult g: Upper parts, including head all around, slaty- -blue, bright and pure on head and rump, shaded with olivaceous-gray on the back and wings; the ‘back and sides of the neck glittering with golden and violet iridescence, the wing-coverts with velvety - black — spots. Below, from the throat, light purplish-chestnut, paler behind and fad- ing into white on the lower belly and cris- sum. Tibiee, sides of body, and lining of wings like upper parts. Quills blackish, with rufous - white edging. Two middle tail-feath- SS ers blackish; others uf is fading from pearly - bluish into white, their extreme bases with black and chestnut spots. Bill black; feet lake red, drying an undefinable color; iris orange; skin about eye red. Length about 17.00, but very variable, according to development of the tail; extent 23.00-25.00; wing 8.00-8.50; tail about the same, the lateral feathers graduated rather more than half its length; bill 0.75 ; tarsus 1.00; middle toe and claw 1.25. Adult 9: Upper parts, wings and tail, as in @: below, brownish-gray, fading poste- riorly. Young: Like the 9, but still duller; little or no clear slaty except on rump; plumage varied with white crescentic edges of the feathers, especially on the back and wings; quills edged about with rufous; most of the lateral tail-feathers gray. ‘‘ Wanders continually in search of food throughout all parts of N. Am. ; wonderfully abundant at times in particular districts ;” chiefly, however, temperate N. Am., East of the R. Mts. We do not have the “‘millions” that the earlier writers speak of in the Eastern U. 8. now: but [ remember one great tlight over Washington when I was a boy: the greatest roosts and flights we now hear of are in the upper Mississippi Valley. Nest in trees and bushes, a slight frail platform of twigs, so open as to leave the egg visible from below. Eggs | or 2, equal-ended, 1.45 X 1.05. Fig. 390. — Passenger Pigeon. (From Tenney, after Wilson. ) 49. Subfamily ZENAIDINAE: Ground Doves. Feet larger than in Columbine. ‘Tarsus lengthened to exceed the lateral toes, entirely naked and scutellate in front (scarcely feathered in Scardafella). 'Tail-feathers normally 12, rarely 14 or more (Zenaidura the only North American Pigeon with more than 12). Seven North American genera, each of a single species in this country. Analysis of Genera. Nailtofa4 feathers) 2) eee KS a elt ey de AA debe, ode) oe On Pach are. Suan PCR LOUT OL LOD Tail of 12 feathers. Outerprumanyrattenuate,pistoury=likey are) een n conan tent an rc eT) 70/0//0 COLO 194, 542. COLUMBIDA — ZENAIDINAE: GROUND DOVES. O67 Outer primary normal. Tail longer than wing, double-rounded. ......+. « « - 6 « « e « « »« Scardafella 199, Tail about equal to wing. Tarsus not shorter than middle toe andclaw ... . . Geotrygon 200 Tail shorter than wing. Tarsus shorter than middle toe and claw. No blue-black spot nor metallic lustre on head orneck ..... . +. ©. © Chamepelia 198 A blue-black spot and metallic lustre on head or neck Black spots and no white patch on wing .... . +... . +e ..«-.. . 2enaida 196 White patch and no black spotson wing .......... .-... . +. Melopelia 197 ENGY/PTILA. (Gr. eyyvs, eggus, narrow, straitened ; mridov, ptilon, feather ; alluding to the outer primary.) PIN-wincG Doves. First primary abruptly emarginate, attenuate and linear near the end. Wings of moderate length; 3d and 4th primaries longest; first shorter than 7th. Tail much shorter than the wings, rounded, of 12 broad feathers. Tarsus entirely naked, equalling or rather exceeding the middle toe and claw. Lateral toes nearly equal, the ends of their claws reaching about opposite the base of the middle claw. Hind toe shortest of all, but perfectly incumbent. Bill small and slender, much shorter than the head. A considerable Fie. 391. — Details of Engyptila albifrons; head and foot nat. size; wing and tail reduced. (Ad nat. del. R. Ridgway.) naked space about the eye, thence extending in a narrow line to the bill. Size medium or rather small. Body full and stout. Coloration subdued, but hind-head and neck iridescent. No metallic spots on wings or head. Lining of wings chestnut. (Only N. Am. genus with attenuate outer primary.) | E., al/bifrons, (Lat. albus, white; frons, forehead. Fig. 391.) WHITE-FRONTED Dove. @, adult: Upper parts brownish-olive, with silky lustre (much as in Coccygus americanus for example). Hind-head, nape, and back and sides of neck with coppery-purplish iridescence. Top of the head of a bluish or glaucous “‘ bloom,” fading to creamy-white on the forehead. Under parts dull white or whitish, more or less shaded with olive-brown on the sides, deepening on the fore-breast and jugulum to pale vinaceous; belly, crissum, and chin quite purely white. Wing- eoverts and inner quills like the back, and without metallic spots; other larger remiges slaty-blackish, with very narrow pale edging toward the end. Under wing-coverts and axilla- ries bright chestnut. Two middle tail-feathers like the back; others slaty-black, tipped with white in decreasing amount from the outer ones inward, the largest white tips about half an mech in extent. Bill black. Feet carmine-red. Iris yellow. Bare skin around eye red and 195. 544. 568 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — COLUMBA) — PERISTER.Z. livid blue. Length 12.00-12.50; extent 19.00-19.50 ; wing 6.00-6.30; tail 4.25-4.50; bill 0.60-0.70 ; tarsus 1.25-1.385; middle toe and claw rather less. 9 similar. (In printing the Check List, the No. of this species accidentally transposed with No. 543, Ectopistes.) ZENAIDU'/RA. (Zenaida, nom. propr., and ovpa, owra, tail.) Pin-ram Doves. Tail long, about equalling wings, cuneate, of 14 narrow, tapering, obtuse-ended feathers (unique among N. Am. Columbide). Wings pointed; 2d primary rather longest, Ist and the 3d about equal and scarcely shorter. Tarsus naked, scutellate in front, in length intermediate between middle and lateral toes; the latter of unequal lengths, the outer shortest. Bill much shorter than head, slender and weak, the feathers running out far between the rami. A bare circum-orbital space. Velvety black spots on head and wings. Lining of wings not rufous. Sexes unlike. There is a curious mimicry of Hctopistes in form and even in color; but the technical characters are widely different. . ‘ Z, carolinen'sis. (Of Carolina. Fig. 392.) CARoLINA Dove. MourninG Dove. Wiip Dove. Adult ¢: Upper parts, including middle tail-feathers, grayish-blue shaded with brownish-olive, the head and neck ochrey-brown overlaid with glaucous-blue, the sides of the neck glittering with golden and ruby iridescence; a violet- black spot under the ear-coverts. Under parts glaucous- purplish, changing gradually to ochra- ceous on the belly and crissum, to bluish on the sides and under the wings, to whitish on the chin; the purplish tint spreading up on the sides and front of the head to blend with the glaucous-blue. Black spots on some of the scapulars and wing-coverts, most of which are colored to correspond with the back, the larger Fie. 392. — Carolina Dove, nat. size. (Ad nat. del. Ones being rather bluish-plumbeous. Lateral E. C.) tail-feathers plumbeous-bluish, crossed with a _ black bar, the outer four on each side broadly ended with white. Bill black; angle of mouth 196. carmine ; iris brown; bare skin around eye livid bluish ; feet lake-red, drying dull yellowish. Length about 12.50: extent about 18.00; wing 5.75; tail the same, the feathers graduated for half its length; culmen 0.60; tarsus 0.80; middle toe and claw 1.00. 9, adult: A little smaller, not purplish below, the rich color replaced by grayish-brown, like the back but paler; head and neck with little of the glaucous blue shade, and less iridescent. Young: Like the 9; but at an early age the velvety-black spots and iridescence are wanting, and the general tone is quite gray; many feathers with whitish edging, as in the wild pigeon, with which not only the colors but the sexual and juvenile differences are thus closely correspondent. Temperate N. A., anywhere, the most widely and equably diffused of its tribe, abundant in most localities, in some swarming; ‘‘millions” in Arizona, for example. Irregularly migratory, imperfectly gregarious; great numbers may be together, but scarcely in compact flocks. Terrestrial rather than arboreal, almost always feeding on the ground; where very numerous, they become famil- iar, like blackbirds in the West. Nest indifferently on the ground or in bushes; eggs 2, white, equal-ended, averaging 1.12 x 0.82; 2 or even 3 broods in the South. During the mating season, where these birds are numerous, their cooing resounds on every hand, but at other times they are silent. ZENAI/DA. (A proper name, that of Zénaide, cousin and wife of Prince C. L. Bonaparte.) Love Doves. Tail rounded, shorter than wings, of 12 feathers. Wings long, pointed by 2d and 3d quills; 1st little shorter. Bill short, slender, black. Feet as in other Zenadine ; tarsus intermediate in length between the middle and lateral toes; these of unequal length, inner a little the longer. Circumorbital space little bare. Metallic iridescence on neck; blue- black ear-spot, and others on wings. Sexes similar. (West Indian.) 545. org «646. 198. 547. |—6«6848, COLUMBIDA —ZENAIDINZE: GROUND DOVES. 569 Z. ama/bilis. (Lat. amabilis, lovely.) ZeNAIDA Dover. Olive-gray with a reddish tinge ; crown and under parts vinaceous-red ; sides and axillars bluish; a velvety-black auricular spot, and others on the wing-coverts and tertiaries; secondaries tipped with white ; neck with metallic lustre; middle tail-feathers like the back, others bluish with whiter tips, a black band intervening; bill black with crimson corners of the mouth ; iris brown; feet red; claws black. Length about 10.00; wing 6.00; tail 4.00. West Indies and Florida Keys. MELOPELI/A. (Gr. pédos, melos, melody; medeca, peleia, a deve.) WHITE-WING DOVES. Tail rounded, shorter than wing, of 12 broad, rounded feathers. Wings pointed; Ist, 2d, and 3d primaries nearly equal and longest. Bill slender and lengthened, equalling tarsus, black. A large bare cireumorbital space. A blue-black spot below auriculars, but none on wings ; neck with metallic lustre. A great white space on wing. Feet as in other Zenaidine. Sexes alike. M. leuco/ptera. (Gr. Aevkos, lewcos, white; mrepdv, pteron, wing.) WHITE-WING Dove. Wing with a broad white bar oblique from the carpal joint to the ends of the longest coverts, continued by white edging at and near ends of outer webs of the secondaries ; very couspicuous, recognizable at gun-shot range. Lower back and rump, some of the middle coverts, lining of wings, and entire under parts from the breast, fine light bluish-ash. Primaries blackish with narrow white edging. ‘Tail, excepting two middle feathers, slaty-blue, becoming gradually slaty-black, then broadly and squarely tipped with ashy-white. General color of back, lesser wing-coverts, inner quills, and middle tail-feathers, olive-brown with some lustre; the tail- feathers browner; the top of head and back of neck purplish-vinous with a slight glaucous shade; sides of neck iridescent. with golden-green ; a violet or steel-blue spot below auriculars. Bill black, very slender. Length 11.25-12.25; extent 19.00-20.00; wing 6.00-6.50; tail 4.00-4.50; bill 0.87; tarsus 0.87; middle toe and claw 1.25. @Q scarcely distinguishable. In the youngest, the white wing-bar appears, though there is little or no purplish, or iri- _ descence, or blue-black below ears. ‘Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and §8. Cala. and southward, abundant in suitable localities. Im the breeding season, Apr.—May, the sonorous cooing is incessant. Nest in bushes and low trees, slight and frail, of sticks: and weeds; eggs 2, white or creamy, averaging 1.18X0.88. | CHAMZEPELIA. (Gr. yapai, chamai, on the ground; zeédeva, peleia, adove.) DWARF DOVES. Very small. Wings short and broad, with elongated inner secondaries, nearly overreaching primaries in the folded wing. ‘Tail still shorter than wing, nearly even, of 12 broad feathers. Bill slender, about half as long as head, mostly yellow. Feet largely zenaidine; tarsus as long as middle toe without claw. No iridescence nor blue-black spot on head; such spots on wings. Sexes unlike, but Arcades ambo. C. passeri/na, (Lat. passerina, sparrow-like ; from the pygmy stature.) GROUND Dove. Grayish-olive, glossed with blue on the hind head and neck, most feathers of the fore-parts with darker edges, those of the breast with dusky centres. Forehead, sides of head and neck, lesser wing-coverts and under parts purplish-red of variable intensity, paler or grayish on the belly and crissum ; under surface of wings orange-brown or chestnut, this color suffusing the quills to a great extent ; upper surface of wings sprinkled with lustrous steel-blue spots. Middle tail-feathers like the back, others plumbeous, blackening toward ends, with paler tips. Feet yellow; bill yellow with dark tip. Diminutive: length 6.50-7.00; extent 10.00-11.00; wing 3.50, with inner secondaries nearly as long as the primaries; tail 2.75, rounded; bill 0.45 ; tarsus 0.67; middle toe and claw 0.75. @Q and young differ as those of the wild pigeon and carolina dove do, the purplish tints being replaced by gray or ‘‘ ashes of roses,” the very young bird having whitish skirting of the feathers. Southern U. S., Atlantic to Pacific, but chiefly coastwise; N. to the Carolinas, and accidentally to Washington, D. C.; common. Nest on the ground or in bushes indifferently ; eggs 2, white, 0.87 0.63. C. p. palles/cens? (Lat. pallescens, bleaching.) Scarcely different ; described as paler. Cape St. Lucas. 199. B49. 200. 570 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — COLUMBA( — PERISTERA. SCARDAFEL'LA. (Italian, signalizing the scaly appearance of the feathers, due to their color.) SHELL Doves. ‘Tail of peculiar shape, double-rounded, median and lateral feathers both shorter than intermediate ones; al! narrow and tapering; 12 in number. Wings as in Chamepelia. Bill very slender, rather long, black. Feet not typically zenaidine ; tarsus very short, slightly feathered above. No blue-black spots on head or wings ; no iridescence on neck. Size very small. Sexes similar. Remarkable genus, of 2 tropical Am. species, one reaching our border. S. in/ea. (Inca or yneas, a Peruvian title.) IncA Dove. Scatep Dove. ¢ 9, adult: Above, grayish-brown with the usual olive shade, anteriorly also with a slight ‘ashes of roses” hue; below, pale ashy-lilac, changing to ochraceous on the belly and crissum —nearly all the plumage marked with black crescentic edges of the feathers, producing the shelly or scaly appearance. Primaries and bastard quills intense chestnut, with blackish ends; lining of &, ZA FIG. 393. — Blue-headed Quail Dove, 3 nat. size. (From Brehm.) wings black and chestnut ; outer secondaries blackish with chestnut central areas, gradually diminishing till the inner secondaries assimilate with the color of the back. Middle tail- feathers like back ; three lateral ones basally plumbeous, then black, then broadly tipped with white — the black running out into the white as a shaft line. Q similar tog; young similar, but with little or no ashy-rosy, and sprinkled with white on upper parts. Length about 8.00 ; wing 3.75; tail more; bill 0.45 ; tarsus 0.50; middle toe and claw 0.87. A very pretty little dove, with mahogany wings upholstered in shell-figured ashes-of-roses velvet; a curious mini- ature of the common dove in form. Mexico to Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, along the borders. Nest in bushes; eggs 2, white, 0.900.70. GEOTRY'GON. (Gr. yea, gea, the earth; tpvyav, trugon, a cooer.) LUSTRE Doves. Tail about as long as wings, a little rounded, of 12 broad rounded feathers, with curved shafts. 5006 COLUMBIDA— STARNG@NADINZA: QUAIL DOVES. oT Wings short, rounded; 3d and 4th quills longest, 2d and 4th little shorter, lst much shorter. Feet strongly zenaidine; tarsus not shorter than middle toe and claw; still, seutellate in front, and hind toe more than half as long as the middle, perfectly insistent. Bill rather long and stout ; frontal feathers obtuse on culmen. Head and wings without blue-black spots ; whole upper parts highly lustrous. Medium size; form stocky, somewhat quail-like, but tail long. Ap- proaching the next, but at a distance. West Indian and Tropical American. | G. marti/nica, (Of Martinique.) Key West Dove. Above, vinaceous-red with highly iridescent lustre of various tints; below, pale purplish fading to creamy; an infra-ocular stripe and the throat white. Length 11.00; wing and tail about 6.00. West Indies and Key West. Florida, where not observed of late. 50. Subfamily STARNGENADINA:: Quail Doves. See p. 564. Hallux not perfectly insistent; short, only about half as long as the middle toe and claw. Feet large and stout; tarsus longer than the middle toe, entirely bare of feathers even on the joint, completely covered with small hexagonal scales. With cceca, but without oil-gland or ambiens muscle, the reverse of the Zenaidine, of which it is a remarkable outlying form, grading toward gallinaceous birds in structure and habits; like some partridges even to the special head-markings. Including one isolated American genus and species, not referable to any established Old World group. . STARNG'NAS. (Starna, name of a genus of partridges; Gr. oivas, enas, a dove.) QUAIL Doves. In addition to the foregomg: Bill short, stout; frontal feathers projected in a point on eculmen. Wings short, broad, vaulted and much rounded ; first primary reduced. ‘Tail short, broad, nearly even. Size medium; whole form and appearance quail-like. West Indian. S. cyanoce'phala. (Gr. kvavos, kuanos, blue; xepadryn, kephale, head. Fig. 393.) BuiuE- HEADED QUAIL Dove. Crown rich blue bounded by black; a white stripe under the eye, meeting its fellow on the chin; throat black, bordered with white. General color olivaceous- chocolate above, purplish-red below, lighter centrally. Length 11.00; wing 5.50: tail 4.50. West Indies and Florida Keys. VI. Order GALLINA:: Gallinaceous Birds; Fowls. Equivalent to the old order Rasores, exclusive of the Pigeons — this name being derived from the characteristic habit of scratching the ground in search of food; connecting the lower terrestrial pigeons with the higher members of the great plover-snipe group. On the one hand, it shades into the Columbe so perfectly that Huxley has proposed to call the two together the ‘ Gallo-columbine series ;” on the other hand, some of its genera show a strong plover-ward tendency, and have even been placed in Lamicole. I have already (p. 562) noted the imoscula- tion of Galline with Columbe by means of the grouse-like Pigeons, Pterocletes ; it remains to indicate the limits of the Galle in other directions, by referring to two remarkable groups, one represented by Opisthocomus alone, the other consisting of the Hemipods or Twrnices. Both of these have usually been referred to Galline. 1. The wonderful Hoatzin of Guiana, Opisthocomus cristatus, is one of the most isolated and puzzling forms in ornithology, sometimes placed near the Musophagide, but assigned by maturer judgment to the neighborhood of the fowls, which it resembles in many respects, as an in- dependent order OPISTHOCOMI, sole relict of an ancestral type. The sternum and shoulder-girdle are anomalous ; the keel is cut away in front; the furcula anchylose with the coracoids (very rare) and with the manubrium of the sternum (unique) ; the digestive system is scarcely less singular ; and other characters are remarkable. 2. The bush-quails of the Old World, Turnicide, differ widely from the Galline, re- sembling the Grouse-pigeons and Tinamous in some respects, and related to the Plovers in O12 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —GALLINA — PFERISTEROPODES. others. A singular circumstance is a lack of the extensive vertebral anchyloses usual in birds, all the vertebree remaining distinct. The palatal structure is curiously like that of Passeres (zgithognathous). The crop is said to be wanting in some ; as is also the hind toe, and one of the carotids. There are some 20 current species of the principal genus, Turnix, to which Gray adds the African Ortyxelos meiffrent, and the Australian Pedionomus torquatus. Late studies of the group have resulted in the view that it should represent a distinct order, HEMIPODII. Elimination of these non-conformable elements renders the Galline susceptible of much © better definition, as follows: — Bill generally short, stout, convex, with obtuse vaulted tip, not constricted in the con- tinuity, wholly hard and corneous except in the nasal fossa. Tomia of upper mandible over- lapping the lower; culmen high on forehead, the frontal feathers there forming a re-entrance, with more or less salience on either side. Nostrils scaled or feathered, in a short abrupt fossa. Legs usually feathered to the suffrago, often to the toes, sometimes to the claws. Hallux elevated, excepting in Cracide and Megapodide, normally shorter than the anterior toes. Tarsus generally broadly scutellate, when not feathered. Front toes commonly webbed at base. Claws blunt, little curved. Wings short, strong, vaulted. Rectrices commonly more than 12 (not more in Cracide, beyond). Head and brain small in proportion to the body, as in Pigeons. Plumage with after-shafts. Oil-gland tufted. Carotids two (except in Megapodide). No intrinsic syringeal muscles. Sternum generally deeply doubly-notched, and fureulum with a hypocleidium. Palate schizognathous. Nasal bones schizorhinal. Sessile basipterygoid processes present. Angle of mandible produced into a recurved process. Pectoral muscles, three ; the second extensive ; femoro-caudal variable ; accessory femoro-caudal, semi-tendinosus, accessory semi-tendinosus and ambiens present. Intestinal coeca extensive; gizzard muscular. Nature precocial and ptilopzedic, typically polygamous. Chiefly terrestrial. The order thus defined is equivalent to the Alectoromorphe of Huxley (1867), minus Pterocletes and Hemipodii. ‘The birds composing it fall into two series or suborders, according to the structure of the feet and more essential characters. 10. SuBsorDER PERISTEROPODES: PIGEON-TOED FOWLS. Framed to accommodate the Old World Megapodide, or Mound-birds, and the American Cracide, or Curassows. . The Mound-birds, Megapodide, as the name implies, have large feet, with little-curved claws, and lengthened insistent hallux. They share this last feature with the Cracide (beyond) ; and the osseous structure of these two families, except as regards pneumaticity, is strikingly similar. Both show a modification of the sternum, the inner one of the two notches being less instead of more than half as deep as the sternum is long, as in typical Galline. The Megapods do not incubate, and the young pass through the downy stage in the egg, hatching with true feathers (p. 226). They are confined to Australia and the East Indies ; Megapodius is the principal genus, of a dozen or more species; there are three others, each of a species or two. 35. Family CRACID: Curassows. This type is peculiar to America, where it may be considered to represent the Megapodide, though differing so much in habit and general appearance. The affinities of the two are indi- cated above, and some essential characters noted. According to the latest authority on the family, Messrs. Sclater and Salvin, it is divisible into three subfamilies: Cracin@, curassows and hoccos, with four genera and twelve species: Oreophasing, with a single genus and species, Oreophasis derbianus, and the Beye CRACIDA)— PENELOPINZA: GUANS. O13 51. Subfamily PENELOPINA: Cuans, with seven genera and thirty-nine species, one of which reaches our border. OR/TALIS. (Gr. dpradis, ortalis, a pullet.) GUANS. Head crested ; its sides, and strips on the chin, naked, but no wattles. ‘Tarsi naked, scutellate before and behind, with small scales between the scutellar rows. Hind toe insistent, about 4 the middle toe. Tail graduated, ample, fan-shaped, longer than the much rounded wings, of 12 broad, obtuse feathers. Wings short, concavo-convex, with abbreviated outer primaries, the secondaries reaching about to the ends of the longest primaries when the wing is folded. Bill slender for a gallinaceous bird, without decided frontal antiz. Coloration greenish. Sexes alike. In some. points of size, shape, and general aspect, there is a curious superficial resemblance between this genus and Geococcyx, though the two genera belong to different orders of birds. O. ve/tula maccal/li. (Lat. vetula, a little old woman. To Geo. A. McCall.) Trxan GuAN. CHACHALACA. Dark glossy olivaceous, paler and tinged with brownish- yellow below, plumbeous on the head; tail lustrous green, tipped with grayish-white except on the middle pair of feathers ; bill and feet plumbeous; iris brown. Length 22.00-24.00; extent 24.00 28.00; wing 7.50-9.00 ; tail 9.00-11.00; tarsus 2.00 or more ; middle toe and claw about the same. 9 similar. Downy young: Above, mixed brown, ashy and tawny, with a black central stripe from bill to tail; below white, ashy on the jugulum. Mexico to Texas in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, abounding in some localities. A notable bird, unlike anything else in this country. Easily domesticated, said to be used as a game fowl. Very noisy in the breeding season (April), reiterating the syllables cha-cha-lac in a loud hoarse tone. Nest in bushes, a slight structure; eggs generally 3, with a thick, granular, and very hard shell, like a Guinea-fowl’s, oblong-oval, buff-colored or creamy-white, large for the bird, 2.35 1.60. ll. SusBorpER ALECTOROPODES: True Fowt.s. The birds of this suborder are more or less perfectly terrestrial; the legs are of mean length, and stout; the toes four, three in front, generally connected by basal webbing, but sometimes free, and one behind, always short and elevated. The tibie are rarely naked below; the tarsi often feathered, as the toes also sometimes are; but ordinarily both these are naked, scutellate and reticulate, and often developing processes (spurs) of horny substance with a bony core, like the horns of cattle. The bill asa rule is short, stout, convex, and obtuse; never cered, nor extensively membranous; the base of the culmen parts prominent antic, which frequently fill the nasal fossee; when naked the nostrils show a superincumbent scale. The head is frequently naked, wholly or partly, and often develops remarkable fleshy processes. The wings are short, stout, and concavo-convex, conferring power of rapid, whirring, but unpro- tracted, flight. The tail varies extremely; it is very small in some genera, enormously devel- oped in others; the rectrices vary in number, but are commonly more than twelve. ‘The sternum without certain exception shows a peculiar conformation; the posterior notches seen in most birds are inordinately enlarged, so that the bone, viewed vertically, seems in most of its extent to be simply a narrow central projection, with two long backward processes on each side, the outer commonly hammer-shaped. There are other distinctive osteological characters, as noted above. The digestive system presents an ample special crop, a highly muscular gizzard, and large coca. The inferior larynx is always devoid of intrinsic muscles; the structure of the trachea varies with genera, presenting some curious modifications. ‘There are after-shafts, and a circlet around the oil-gland. Alectoropodes are precocial and ptilopeediec. A part of them are polygamous—a circumstance shown in its perfection by the sultan of the dung-hill with his disciplined harem; and in all such, the sexes are conspicuously dissimilar. The rest are monogamous, and the sexes of these are as a rule nearly or quite alike. The oT4 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — GALLINA— ALECTOROPODES. eggs are very numerous, usually laid on the ground, in a rude nest, or none. The suborder is cosmopolitan ; but most of its groups have a special geographical distribution. Its great eco- nomic importance is perceived in all forms of domestic poultry, and principal game-birds of various countries; and it is unsurpassed in beauty—some of these birds offer the most gorgeous coloring of the class. Genetically, the Fowls are nearer than most birds to a generalized, old-fashioned type. They have relations in the cu- riously ostrich-like Tina- mous of South America (Tinamide or Crypturi), the Hoatzin (Opisthoco- mus), and other antique relicts. Notice a quarter- grown ‘Turkey with this idea in mind, and you will hardly fail to see that it looks like an ostrich in miniature. Leading types of existing Alec- toropod Galline are the Quail, the Grouse, the Guinea-fowl, the Tur- key, and the domestic Cock. The two former are very close to each other, and hardly sepa- rable as families; the three latter are nearer one another, and often placed together in a fam- ily. The families Tet- raonde, Grouse, Quail, and Partridges; and Me- leagridide, Turkeys, are indigenous to N. Am., and fully treated beyond. A word on the others will not be misplaced here. The Guinea-fowl, Nu- nudide, of which a spe- cies, Numida meleagris, is commonly seen in do- mestication, are an African and Madagascan type. While the foregoing families are strongly specialized, this one, like the turkey family, more closely approaches the true fowl, and both may be only subfamilies of Phasianide. The bones of the pmion have a certain peculiarity ; the frontal generally develops a protuberance ; there are wattles, but no spurs ; the tail is very short; the head naked. There are six or eight species of Nwmida, in some of Fia. 394. — English Pheasant, Phasianus colchicus. (From Dixon.) PHASIANIDZA: PHEASANTS. STs which the trachea is convoluted in an appendage to the furculum ; Acrylliwm vulturina, Agelas- tes meleagrides, and Phasidus niger, are the remaining ones. The Phasianide, or Pheasants, are a magnificent family of typical Galline, of which the domestic fowl is a characteristic example. The feet, nasal fossee, and usually a part, if not the whole, of the head, are naked, and often combed, horned, or wattled. ‘The tarsi commonly develop spurs. The tail, with or without its coverts, sometimes has an extraordinary develop- ment or a remarkable shape (p. 118). There are fifty cr sixty species, distributed in numerous modern genera, about twelve of which are well marked; they are all indigenous to \\\s KC a Asia and neighbor- \\ SI \ i, it ne ing islands, focusing wi in India.. (‘In the Peacock, Pavo cris- tatus, the tail-coverts ‘ form a superb train, x : ANN capable of erection ) 4 \ WS \ W\\ LSS \ NN fe ty < x S _ &@ AQ WW \WCCS into a disk, the most gorgeous object in ornithology; in an allied genus, Poly- plectron, there are a pair of spurs on each lege. The Argus Pheasant, Argusa- nus giganteus, is dis- tinguished by the : = == enormous develop- a Sp Ne ment of the rani a} isd) ii 7) dary quills, as well WTA ny as by the length of yy the tail-feathers and peculiarity of the middle pair. The combed, wattled, and spurred barn - yard towl, with folded tail and flowing middle feathers, are descend- ants of Gallus bank- wa, type of a sinall genus. The Tragopans, Ceriornis, are an allied form with few species; the Macartneys, Huplocomus, with a dozen species, are another near form, as are the Impeyans, Lophophorus, with a slender aigrette on the head, like a peacock’s. The naturalized English pheasant, P. colchicus (fig. 394), introduced into Britain prior to A. D. 1056, is the type of Phasianus, in which the tail-feathers are very long and narrow ; in one species, P. reevesi, the tail is said to attain a length of six feet. The Golden and Amherstian Pheasants,Chrysolophus pictus and C. amherstia, are singularly beautiful, even for this group. The other genera are Crossoptilon and Pucrasia. i a 1 AWA wit H ay Fig. 395.— Turkey. (From Lewis.) 203. a04. O16 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — GALLINAJ — ALECTOROPODES. 36. Family MELEAGRIDIDA: Turkeys. Head and upper neck naked, carunculate; in our species with a dewlap and erectile pro- cess. T'arsi naked, scutellate before and behind, spurred in the g. Tail broad, rounded, of 14-18 feathers. Plumage compact, lustrous; in our species with a tuft of hair-like feathers on the breast. One genus, two species. MM. ocellatus is the very beautiful Turkey of Central America. MELEA/GRIS. (Gr. pedeaypis, Lat. meleagris, a guinea-fowl ; transferred in ornithology to this genus.) ‘TURKEYS. Characters of the family. M. gallipa’vo. (Lat. gallus, a cock, pavo, a pea-fowl. Fig. 395.) Turkny. Upper tail- coverts chestnut, with paler or whitish tips; tail-feathers tipped with brownish-yellow or whitish ; 3-4 feet long, ete. Wild in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and southward; domesti- cated elsewhere. ‘The Mexican bird is the original of the domestic race ; it was upon this form, imported into Europe, that Linneeus imposed the name gallopavo (Fn. Suec. No. 198; Syst. Nat. i, 1766, 268), which has generally been applied to the following feral variety : M. g. america/na. KASTERN WILD TuRKEy. Upper tail-coverts without light tips, and ends of tail-feathers scarcely paler. ‘This is the ordinary wild turkey of Eastern North America; N. to Canada, where it is said still *o occur ; extirpated in New England. NW. to the Missouri, and SW. to Texas. The slight differences just noted seem to be remarkably con-— stant, and to be rarely if ever shown by the other form; although, as usual in domestic birds, this last varies interminably in color. 37. Family TETRAONID4A‘: Grouse; Partridge; Quail. All the remaining gallinaceous birds are very closely related, probably constituting a single family ; although the term Tetraonide@ is usually restricted to the true Grouse as below defined (Tetraonine), the Partridges and Quails being erected into another family, Perdicide, with several subfamilies. But the Grouse do not appear to differ more from the Partridges and Quails than these do from each other, and they are all variously interrelated; so that no violence will be offered in uniting them. One group of the Partridges (Odontophorine) is confined to America; all the rest to the Old World. The leading forms among the latter are Perdix, the true partridge; Coturnix, the true Quail; Hrancolinus, the Francolins; with Rollulus and Caccabis. In all, perhaps a hundred species and a dozen genera. Without attempting to frame a family diagnosis to cover all their modifications, I will precisely define the American forms, as two subfamilies. Analysis of Subfamilies. TETRAONINA. Grouse. The shank (tarsus) more or less feathered. (Plenty more characters, but this is perfectly distinctive. ) ODONTOPHORINE. American Partridges and Quails. The shank entirely bare and scaly. (Plenty more characters, etc. ) Oss. — The vernacular names ‘‘ pheasant,” ‘‘ partridge,” and ‘‘ quail,” as applied to our game birds in different sections of the country, are the cause of endless confusion and misun- derstanding, which it seems hopeless to attempt to do away with. (1.) The word ‘‘ pheasant” (derived from the name of the river Phasis in Colechis) belongs to certain Old World Phasianide (see above; and fig. 394) having no representatives in America. But early settlers of this country applied it to the Ruffed Grouse, Bonasa umbella — and ‘‘ pheasant” is the Rufted Grouse called to this day by the common people of the Middle and Southern States. (2.) ‘‘ Partridge” is an old English word, specifically designating the English Perdix cinerea, then enlarged in meaning to cover all the family Perdicide (see beyond). In the Northern States, both the Spruce Grouse, Canace canadensis, and the Ruffed Grouse, are commonly called ‘‘ partridge.” In the Middle TETRAONIDAE — TETRAONINZAE: GROUSE. ICT and Southern States — wherever the Ruffed Grouse is called “‘ pheasant,” the Bob-white, Ortyx virginiana, is called ‘‘ partridge.” (8.) The term ‘‘ quail” is specially applicable to the Euro- pean Migratory or Messina Quail, Cotwrnix dactylisonans. But this resembles our Bob-white not distantly, causing the latter to be called *‘ quail” in the sections where the Ruffed and Spruce Grouse are called ‘‘ partridge ;” and in the Southwest, the species of Lophortyx, Oreortyx, and Cyrtonyx are universally called ‘‘ quail.” The following tabular statement should bring the matter clearly into view. Summary of North American TETRAONIDA — Grouse, Partridge. Quail. A. GROUSE, with feathers on shank (7etraonme). 1. Sage Fowl: Sage Cock; Sage-Hen ; Cock-of-the-Plains. Western. One species : Centrocercus wrophasianus. 2. Sharp-tailed Grouse: Pin-tail Grouse; Prairie Hen or Prairie Chicken of the North- west: 1 species, 2 varieties: Pediacetes phasianellus. 3. Pinnated Grouse: common Prairie Hen or Prairie Chicken of, the Mississippi, Ohio, and Lower Missouri valleys. One species ; two varieties: Cupidonia cupido. | 4. Tree Grouse: Spruce Grouse ; Black Grouse ; the Northern States species improperly ealled ‘‘ partridge.” One species, two varieties: Canace canadensis. Another species of 3 varieties, confined to the West: Canace obscura. 5. Ruffed Grouse : improperly called ‘* partridge ” in the Northern and ‘“‘ pheasant” in the Middle and Southern States. One species, Bonasa unbella, of 3 varieties. 6. Snow Grouse, or Ptarmigan. ‘Three species of Lagopus, boreal and alpme, turning white in winter: J. albus, L. rupestris, L. leucurus. B. PARTRIDGE and QUAIL, without feathers on shank (Odontophorime). 7. The imported Messina Quail, or Migratory Quail of Europe: one species: Coturmx dactylisonans. 8. Bob-wiite: called ‘‘ quail” in Northern States; called ‘ partridge” in the Middle and Southern States. One species: Ortyx virginiana, with 2 varieties, one in Florida, the other in Texas. 9. Helmet Partridges: of the Southwest, commonly called ‘“ quail,” with a beautiful recurved top-knot. Two species of Lophortyx: L. gambeli, L. californica, commonly ealled ‘‘ valley quail.” 10. Arrow Partridge: with two long arrowy plumes on the head. One species, of Cali- fornia: Orortyx picta, cominonly called ‘* mountain quail.” ll. Shell Partridge: bluish-white markings, as if sealy. One species, Southwest. Calli- pepla squamata. 12. Massena Partridge (not to be confused with the imported Messina Quail): with a soft crest and numberless white ‘‘eyes” on the belly. South- west. One species: Cyrtonyx massena. In all, 26 varieties, of 16 species, of 12 genera, of 2 subfamilies, of 1 family. 52. Subfamily TETRAONINA: Crouse. Head completely feathered, excepting, usually, a naked strip of skin over the eye. Nasal fossee densely feathered. Tarsi more or less perfectly feathered, the feathering sometimes extending on the toes to the claws; the toes, when naked, with horny fringe-lik« Fre. 396. — ‘ Red Game’ of Britain, Lagopus k i ; seoticus. (From Dixon.) processes. Tail variable in shape, but never folded, 37 204. D550 578 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — GALLINAG — ALECTOROPODES. of 16-20 feathers. Sides of the neck frequently with lengthened or otherwise modified feathers, or a bare disteusible skin, or both. The true Grouse are confined to the northern hemisphere, and reach their highest develop- ment, as a group, in North America, where singularly varied forms occur. The only Old World species are — the great Tetrao urogallus, or Capercaillie of Europe, and its allied Asiatic species : Lyrurus tetrix, the “black game” of Europe, with curiously curled tail-feathers; Canace faleipennis of Siberia, the representative of our Spruce Partridge ; Bonasa betulina of Northern Kurope and Asia, like our Ruffed Grouse ; and two or three species of Ptarmigan (Lagopus). All the species of this subfamily used to be referred to a single genus Tetrao —the only generic name familiar to sportsmen and others who make no technical study of birds. But such must not be surprised to find me discarding this well-known name, and adopting several different ones as generic designations of our Grouse, which differ much among themselves, in points of form and structure, and are all widely diverse from Tetrao urogallus of Europe, type of the genus. Analysis of N. Am. Genera of Tetraonine. Tail stiff, pointed, wedge-shaped, equalling or exceeding the wings, of 20 feathers; scaly and hair-like feathers on breast. Tarsifull-feathered. Werylarge ... . 5 6 0 oo 6) 6 0 Capurcagrous 24ND Tail stiff, pointed, wedge-shaped, much shorter than wings, of 18 rontheret no obviously peculiar feathers on neck. Tarsifull-feathered . .. . . . ... Pediecetes 206 Tail stiffish, rounded, much shorter than wing, of 18 Reaxthena ¢ one tufts aml great bare space on neck. Tarsiscant-feathered ... . 2. - Cupidonia “207 Tail soft, rounded, about as long as wing, of 18 Rontiheanas pmoreline like tufts on neck, but no obvious bare space. Tarsibare below .. . Tee eBonasan.208 Tail stiffish, flat, square, shorter than ain, of 160 or 30 feathers ; no ev atetiy aeoullion orien or alaionslly bare space on neck. Tarsifull-feathered. ... . he SR UERE LER a Rem et CLILOLC CeO Tail, etc., as in Canace. Tarsi and toes fully feathered. White in inition il, fen A phee bo Fier ODU Sse 209 CA'NACE. (Lat. Canace, a proper name.) TREE GROUSE. BLACK GRousE. No obvi- ously lengthened or otherwise peculiar feathers on neck or head. No obviously naked space on neck: but there is a piece of skin capable of distension. especially in the Western species of Dendragapus. A strip of bare colored skin over eye. No crest. Tarsi feathered to the toes. Tail little shorter than wing, stiffish, nearly square, of broad, obtuse feathers, normally 16 Gn Canace proper) or 20 (in Dendragapus) in number. Of medium and large size, and dark blended colors, inhabiting woodland, like the species of Bonasa, and quite ERITOReA northerly and alpine. Sexes distinguishable. Eggs heavily-colored. Analysis of Subgenera, Species, and Varieties. Tail normally of 16 feathers (exceptionally of 14 or 18, as an individual peculiarity). (Canace proper.) Tail with broad orange-brown end, its upper coverts without white spots. Eastern. . canadensis 555 Tail without orange-brown end, its upper coverts with white spots. Western. . .. . Sranklini 556 Tail normally of 20 feathers (exceptionally 18 or 22 ?). (Dendragapus.) Western. Tail black, with broad slate-colored end. Under parts clear bluish slate color. Rocky Mts., etc., SOMANSDN i 56 9 oto 05 0 9 obscura 557 Underiparts sootysplumbeouss e Alaska spe amity) ani me JUDG ROCE 559 Tail black, with narrow or no slate-colored end. Rocky Mts., etc., northerly. . . . . richardsoni 558 C. canaden'sis. (Of Canada. Fig. 397.) CANADA GRoUSE. SPOTTED GROUSE. SPRUCE Grouse. Spruce “Parrripas.” Adult cock: Head smooth, but feathers susceptible of erec- tion into a slight crest. A colored comb of naked skin over the eye, bright yellow or reddish when fully injected. Tail slightly rounded, of 16 feathers, a scant inch broad to their very ends. Tarsi full-feathered to the toes, which are naked, scaly, and frmged. Tail black, broadly tipped with orange-brown ; its upper coverts without decidedly white tips. Under parts glossy black, extensively varied with white; under tail-coverts tipped with white; sides and breast with white bars or semicireles ; white spots bounding the throat ; white spots on lore. Upper parts wavy — barred with black and gray, usually also with some tawny markings on the back and wings. In full feather, the appearance is of a black bird, grayer above, spotty with white 4 ae ‘ 558. i TETRA ONIDA— TETRAONINA: GROUSE. O19 below, and orange tail-end. Length usually 16.00-17.00; wing 7.00; tail 5.50. Hen rather smaller. No continuous black below, where white and tawny, latter particularly on breast, nearly everywhere pretty regularly wavy-barred with blackish. Above, more like the male, but browner. End of tail more narrowly orange. Pullets resemble the hen. N. Am., E. of the Rh. Mts., northerly, in woodland. N. nearly or quite to the limit of trees; N. W. to Alaska. S. into the northern tier of States, especially Maine, Michigan, and Minnesota; casually to Massachusetts. It is a very hardy bird, enduring the rigors of sub-arctic winters, and not properly migratory. Eggs numerous, 1.68 & 1.20, rather pointed, buff-colored, dotted, spotted, and boldly splashed with rich chestnut. Shape and pattern, of eggs more like those of ptarmigan than of the Fig. 397.— Canada Grouse, nat. size. (Ad nat. prairie grouse. donee!) C. c. frank/lini. (To Sir John Franklin.) FRANKLIN’S SPRUCE GROUSE. Size, shape, and whole appearance of the foregoing. Tail rather longer, more nearly even, with broader feathers ; lacking the terminal orange bar; tipped narrowly with white, its upper coverts tipped with white, making the upper side of the tail conspicuously spotty. Rocky and Cascade Mts., northerly, in U. S., and northward about sources of the Saskatchewan, Athabasca, and McKenzie Rivers. A mere variety of O. canadensis: the variation parallel with that of C. richardsoni as compared with C. obscura. C. obseu/ra. (Lat. obscura, dark.) Dusky Grousp. Biur GROUSE. GRAY GROUSE. Prine Grouse. Old cock: Back and wings blackish-brown, finely waved and vermiculated in zigzag with slate-gray, mixed with more or less ochrey-brown and some white on the seapu- lars. Long feathers of the sides with white ends and shaft stripes; other under parts fine bluish-gray or light slate color, varied with white, especially on the lower belly, flanks, and vent-feathers. Cheeks black; chin and throat finely speckled with black and white. Though the lateral feathers of the neck are smooth and simple, forming no decided tufts as in Cupidoma or Bonasa, they are somewhat enlarged, covering a rudimentary tympanum: these feathers with snowy white bases and black tips. Tail brownish-black, veined and marbled with gray, and with a broad slate-gray terminal bar; of 20 feathers, broad to their very ends, the tail as a whole slightly rounded. Bill black; iris brown-orange; comb over eye. Size very variable ; well-grown cocks usually 20, or 22 inches, sometimes up to 2 feet long; extent of wings about 30 inches; wing 9 or 10; tail 7 or $8. Hen smaller, and more motley, lighter colored and more extensively varied with white and tawny; but showing the distinctive slate-gray of the under parts, and the slate bar at end of the tail. Pullets like the hen, but the upper parts with ham- mer-headed white shaft-lines. Tail with white shaft-lines enlarged at the end, also marked on some of the feathers with wavy blackish crossbars. Rocky and other Mts., U. 8., to the Pacific. A species of general dispersion in elevated and wooded, especially coniferous, regions of the West. S. to New Mexico, and in the White Mts. in Arizona; in the R. Mts. northerly shading into var. richardson. mi ! back, so that the innermost of them are almost precisely like the greater coverts. Four middle tail-feathers variegated, much like the back ; others white, or grayish-white, on the inner webs, the outer webs being mottled ; a few under tail-coverts spotted, the rest white; upper tail-coverts nearly like the rump. Iris light brown; bill dark horn-color; part of under mandible flesh-colored; claws like bill; toes on top light horn-color, the soles darker. Length, 18 or 20 inches; extent 24 to 80; wing 8 to 9; middle tail-feathers 4 to 6; shortest tail-feathers (outermost), about 13; tarsi, 2 inches; middle toe and claw about the same; culmen of bill about $; gape of bill 1 to 14; depth of bill at base 4 or rather less. Pullets, before first moult: Crown bright brown, varied with black. Sharp white shaft-lines above, which, with a black area on each feather, contrast with the fine gray and brown mottling of the upper parts. Wing-coverts and inner quills with whitish spots. Several inner tail-feathers with whitish shaft lines, and mottled with blackish and brown. Lower throat and breast with numerous dark brown spots; sides similar, the markings lengthening into streaks. Bill brown above, pale below. ‘This lasts till the September moult is completed. Chicks hatch dingy yellow, mottled on the crown, back, and wings with brown and black. The Pin-tail Chicken inhabits the western portions ot Minnesota, a small part of Iowa, all of Dakota, thence diagonally across Nebraska and Kansas to Colorado in the Laramie and upper Platte regions; thence westward in suitable. country to the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges; northern limit to be conventionally established along “the N. border of the U. S., beyond which it shades into the true phasianellus. In fine, this is the prairie chicken of the whole Northwest; usually occurring where C. cupido does not, the two 207. TETRA ONIDA — TETRAONINZ: GROUSE. 583 overlap to some extent. Formerly ranged in all the prairie of Minnesota, Michigan, and Iowa, but is pushed westward by the grain-fields — the same carrying cwpido along. Eggs 5-10-12- 13, in. June; grayish-olive or drab-colored, uniformly dotted with brown points, rarely larger than a pin-head; always quite different from those of cupido ; 1.60 to 1.80 long by 1.20 to 1.30 broad; average 1.75 1.25. A fine game and table bird, in all respects like cupido. CUPIDO'NIA. (Name derived from cupido, which see below.) PIN-NECK GrousE. Neck with a peculiar tuft on each side of loose, lengthened, acuminate feathers, like little wings. beneath which is a circular patch of bare, yellow skin, capable of great distension, like the half of a small or- ange. Head with a slight soft crest. ‘Tarsi scant-feath- ered to the toes in front and on sides, bare on a strip behind; toes extensively webbed at base. ‘Tail short, rounded, of 18 broad stiffish feathers, with obtusely rounded ends. Sexes nearly alike in size, form, and color; plumage below barred transversely. One species, 2 varieties, of prairie, perfectly terrestrial. Fic. 399. — Foot of Prairie Hen, nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) Analysis of Varieties. THE COMMON BIRD. Tarsal feathers hiding the bare strip. Dark bars above black, and broad; top ov MNeadsmosclysDlackishpe ys seres kehise -SOAAGA «WPT Sits bet oss li Paiy tiple hey wee cupido 5e-. TEXAS BIRD. Tarsi very scant-feathered, the bare strip exposed. Dark bars above brown and narrow; HOO OL! Laven! Int IAW, 6 2 0 0 60 0 6 60 6 66 6 6 8 OOo 66 Oo 6 4 HnlienenaKnS et 363. C. cupi/do. (The tufts on the neck likened to conventional “ cupid’s wings.” Figs. 399, 400.) it PINNATED GROUSE. PRAIRIE Hen. ¢ Q: Above,variegated with black, brown, tawny, or ochrey, and white, the latter especially on the wings; below, pretty regularly barred with dark brown, white, and tawny ; throat tawny, a little speckled, or not; vent and crissum mostly white; quills fuscous. with white spots on the outer webs; tail fuscous, with narrow or imperfect white or tawny bars and tips; Fic. 400. — Prairie Hen. (From Lewis.) sexes alike in color, but 9 smaller, with shorter neck tufts. Length 16.00-18.00; extent about 28.00; wing 8.00-9.00; tail about 4.50; tarsus rather over, middle toe and claw rather under, 2.00; neck- tufts 2.00-3.50 inches long. This well-known bird formerly ranged across the United States, 564. 584 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — GALLINA — ALECTOROPODES. in open country, from the Atlantic to the Eastern foot-hills of the R. Mts., in some latitudes, and now abounds on the prairies, from Illinois and Wisconsin, to Middle Kansas at least, if not - found on the dryer plains westward. Its usual range includes Illinois, lowa, Missouri, Eastern half of Minnesota, Southeastern Dakota, Middle and Eastern Kansas and Nebraska, Arkansas, Fic. 401.— Head of Ruffed Grouse, nat. size. nat. del. E. C.) tion against its wanton or ill-timed destruction is a measure of obvious propriety. and Eastern Texas. It is creeping westward with the grain fields. Ten years ago it mixed | with the sharp-tails about St. Paul’s, Minne- sota, and up the Missouri to beyond Sioux City. The line of railroad is a favorite high- way for the birds. It has been almost ex- tirpated in the Middle and Eastern States, though it still occurs sparingly in isolated localities in New York, New Jersey, Penn- sylvania, Long Island, Nantucket, and Mar- tha’s Vineyard, etc. Its abundance, and the excellence of its flesh, render it an object of commercial importance. Though there may be little probability of its extinction, legisla- Eggs (Ad averaging shorter, rounder, and smaller than those of the sharp-tail; pale greenish—-gray, with sometimes a glaucous bloom, usually unmarked, sometimes very minutely dotted with brown C. ec. pallidicine’ta. (Lat. pallidus, pale; cinctus, begirt.) PALE PINNATED GROUSE. Above, the dark markings not in excess of the lighter markings, and rather brown than black ; below, the dark bars very pale and narrow. Tarsi scant feathered, exposing the bare strip behind. Southwestern prairies; a local race, from warmer and dryer regions. BONA’SA. (Gr. Bdvacos, Lat. bonasus, a bison: the ‘“‘drumming” of the bird being likened to the bel- lowing of a bull.) RUFFED Grouse. Head with a full soft crest. Neck on each side with a tuft of numerous (15-30) broad soft glossy-black feathers, covering the rudimentary tympanum. ‘Tail about as long as the wings, amply rounded or fan-shaped, nor- mally of 18 soft broad feathers, with truncate ends. Tarsi scantfeath- ered, naked below, with two or three rows of scu- tella in front. Plumage of blended and varied colors ; Nee SES) = : SY Wy ARTES UTON, NY Ata NV Yh a 4h WT, ANS 7 Og uu iG ips is uel os pice 1, ype Nae WA Wed ig tl Sy be 7 |IVj MOF NW ose i Fic. 402. — Rufted Grouse. (From Lewis.) sexes alike. Woodland species, more or less arboreal, of common occurrence in suitable places. Pale; slaty-gray the prevailing shade. Analysis of Varieties. Brown, of mixed and varied shades of reddish and gray. Eastern and Northern. .... . umbella 565 Rocky Mountain region ....... . . umbelloides 566 IPacificiCoastTesion as stn mate mete pe sabinit 567 Dark; chestnut-brown the prevailing shade. TETRAONIDAE — TETRAONINA: GROUSH. 585 565. B.umbel’la. (Lat. wnbella, an umbel, umbrella; winbra, shade, shadow ; alluding to the neck- 566. 567. 209. tufts. Figs. 401, 402.) Rurrep Grousn. ‘‘ PARTRIDGE ; ” New England. ‘ PHEASANT ;” Middle and Southern States. ¢ 9: Above, variegated reddish- or grayish-brown, the back with numerous, oblong, pale, black-edged spots. Below, whitish, barred with brown. Tail brown or gray, numerously and narrowly black-barred, with a broad subterminal black zone, and tipped with gray. The neck-ruftle of the ¢ mostly glossy black, and very full; of the Q smaller and more brown. The colors are endlessly varied as well as blended, and the prevailing tone of the brown birds of the East shades insensibly into that of the Western varieties. Length 16.00-18.00; extent 23.00; wing 7 .00-8.00; tail about the same. A woodland bird, like the species of Canace, abundantly distributed over Eastern North America; in the U. S. to the central plains; in Brit. Am. to Alaska. It is well known under the above names in different sections; but it is neither a ‘‘ partridge” nor a ‘‘nheasant,” being, in fine, a Rutfed Grouse. The “drumming” sound for which this bird is noted, 1s not vocal, as some suppose, but is produced by rapidly beating the wings. Eggs very characteristic, from creamy white to creamy buff, usually immaculate, sometimes minutely dotted or even speckled with brown; they resemble partridge eggs also in shape, which approaches the pyriform, broad and blunt at one end, pointed at the other; size about 1.66 X 1.20. B. u. umbelloi/des. (Lat. wmbella, as above defined, and Gr. eidos, eidos, resemblance.) Gray Rurrep Grouss. A variety of the last, of very different tone of color in its extreme development, but shading into the common Ruffed by insensible degrees in Brit. Ain. When fully manifested, as follows: Lower back, rump, upper tail-coverts and tail slate-gray, with little if any brown tinge; the feathers of the back and rump with light gray cordate or arrow- headed spots narrowly bordered with black, the tail-feathers finely vermiculated with black, and with a broad subterminal black zone. Ruffle glossy greenish-black. Under parts whitish, more or less tinged with tawny-brown, with several broad brown cross-bars on each feather, largest and most distinct on the long feathers of the sides, some of which have also white shaft lines ; heavy feathers of flanks and vent mostly whitish, unmarked. Feathers of fore-neck and scap- ulars blended with gray, rich reddish-brown, ochrey-brown, and white, in indescribable con- fusion. Most of the wing-coverts with white shaft-lines. Hen with the ruffle less developed, varied with brown and white. General tone more rufous than in the cock. Rocky Mt. region, U. S., running into both the other varieties. B. sabi/nii. (To J. Sabine.) Rep Rurrep Grouse. OreGcon Rurrep Grouse. More nearly resembling the common ruffed grouse, but the coloration more heavily brown, — darker and richer. More blackish to the brown, and the latter almost chestnut in well-marked cases. Pacific coast region, Oregon +o Alaska. LAGO’PUS. (Gr. Aayemous, lagopous, Lat. lagopus, hare-foot: the densely-feathered feet resemble those of rabbits.) Prarmigan. Snow Grouse. No peculiar feathers on head or neck. Tarsi and toes densely feathered. Trail short, little rounded, normally of 14 broad feathers, with long upper coverts, some of which resemble rectrices, the central pair of these usually reckoned as rectrices, making 16. A naked red comb over eye. Boreal and alpine grouse, shaped nearly as in Canace, remarkable for the seasonal changes of plumage, becoming in winter snow-white (excepting the British insular race). There are only five or six species, at most, and probably fewer; we certainly have the three here given. Analysis of Species. Tail black at all seasons. The summer plumage mostly rich chestnut or orange-brown, and black. In winter, no black stripe ONWHEAGCHNSLUSEOU CHR as han eae ewe pur.) cen e. RPA: BL sets. 7 BATTEN LOSE 56S The summer plumage wholly brownish-yellow and black, except on wings and tail. In winter a black ssimioo om Ingael, Tillie 6 s 5 0 6 9 0 6 0 oe 0 0 60 5 6 8 OO 60 o UO RUHS BES) Tail white at all seasons. The summer plumage ochrey-brown and black. In winter entirely white. . . . . © Zeucwrus 570 568. 086 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — GALLIN 4 — ALECTOROPODES. L. al/bus. (Lat. albus, white. Figs. 403, 404.) Wit~tow Grouse. WiLLow PraRMIGAN. Bill very stout and convex, its depth at base as much as the distance from nasal fossa to tip ; whole culmen 0.75; bill black at all seasons. @ 9, in winter: Snow white; 14 tail-feathers’ black, white-tipped ; the middle pair (which most resemble and perhaps are true rectrices, hay- ing no after-shafts) together with all the coverts, one pair of which reach to end of tail, white ; shafts of several outer wing-quills black; no black stripe on head. @, in summer: The head Ny ‘ie, WN Mt ANS un \ Nh L Qe SL, Fic. 403. — Willow Ptarmigan, summer plumage, } nat. size. (From Brehm.) and fore parts rich chestnut or orange-brown, more tawny-brown on back and rump; the richer brown parts sparsely, the tawny-brown more closely, barred with black ; most of the wings and under parts remaining white. @ similar, wholly colored excepting the wings, the color more tawny than in the @, and more heavily, closely, and uniformly barred with black. Length 15.00-17.00; wing about 8.00; tail 5.50. Arctic and Northern N. Am. from ocean to ocean, into the northernmost U. 8. Eggs very heavily colored, with bold confluent blotches of intense burnt sienna color, upon a more or less reddish-tinted buff ground. All the eggs of birds of this family are colorless when the shell first forms high in the oviduct, acquiring pigment as they pass down; in the ptarmigan, where the coloring is so heavy, an egg cut from the pigment- Se * TETRAONIDA —TETRAONINAD: GROUSE. 587 secreting part of the passage is as if covered with fresh paint, soft and sticky, which may be rubbed off before it ‘‘ sets” on the shell. Size 1.80 x 1.20. L. rupes/tris. (Lat. rupestris, relating to rupis, a rock; rupestrine.) Rock PTARMIGAN. Bill slenderer for its length than that of L. albus, its depth at base less than the distance from nasal fossa to tip; whole culmen 0.67; bill always black. @ 9, in winter: As in L. albus, but a black transocular stripe on side of head. @ 9, in summer: The whole plumage, excepting the wings and tail, barred with blackish-brown and brownish-yellow. Rather smaller than the Ss ZZ La = Z ah Ny J Z= AW AF] SE y KI < WAG Y yl hy % A WZ fj fZ2 LY =Z SS = SS! Uy y gs = ——_ —~ — oe i ——— SS Say == = ae Se Fig. 404. — Willow Ptarmigan, winter plumage, } nat. size. (From Brehm.) foregoing. Length 14.00-15.00; wing 7.00-7.50; tail 4.50. Aretic America, not S. to the U. S$. Eggs 18-15 or more, like those of L. albus, but darker and rather smaller; size 1.70 X 1.18. ‘The summer plumage is assumed at variable periods of the months of April, May, and even in early June, according to the locality. The moult for the summer is usually shown first on the head and neck, followed by the lower back, sides, breast, middle back, flanks, and abdomen, in the order named. ‘The abdomen and chin are the last areas to show the com- plete moult. The parts named also assume, in the order given, the white winter plumage. During the time of the summer plumage scarcely a single day passes that the general color of the feathers is not modified by the appearance or loss of some feather.” (Turner.) Hence the difficulty if not impossibility of establishing races of this species upon color, as the amount of barring, vermiculation, or nebulation with dusky, tawny, and gray is incessantly changing in S70. 088 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — GALLIN A — ALECTOROPODES. the same individuals; and birds taken at different dates in the summer, in the same locality, may differ from one another more than specimens from different regions, representing several alleged varieties, are always found to do. The American bird, in fact, is scarcely distinguishable from the European L. mutus or alpinus. The Greenland bird has been called L. reinhardti by Brehm. That of the Aleutian Islands, L. mutus atkensis, Turner. The latter is said to have the bill and claws about 0.10 longer than usual. L. leucu’rus. (Gr. Aevkos, lewcos, white ; ovpd, oura, tail. Fig. 405.) WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN. Rocky MOUNTAIN SNOW GROUSE. & 2, in winter: Entirely snow-white ; bill black, rather slender, and general size and proportions nearly as in L. rupestris. @ 9, in sum- mer: Tail, most of the wing, and lower parts from the breast, remaining white; rest of the plumage minutely marked with black, white, and tawny or grayish-brown, varying in pre- cise character almost with every specimen; but there is no difficulty in recognizing this white- tailed species, of alpine distribution in West- ern N. A. from the Arctic regions to New Mexico (lat. 37°). In summer, inhabits the mountain ranges from timber-line to the high- est peaks, in winter ranging lower down. Eggs very different from the heavily-painted ones of L. albus, of dull creamy complexion, minutely dotted over the whole surface with burnt-sienna, few of the markings exceeding a pin’s head in size, and not thick enough Fie. 405. — White-tailed Ptarmigan; upper, in sum- ; mer; lower, in winter. (From Hayden.) to obscure the ground-color; shape purely ovoidal, greatest diameter near the middle; size 1.70 X 1.14; number variable, about a dozen. 53. Subfamily ODONTOPHORINA:: American Partridges and Quails. Head completely feathered, and usually crested, the crest frequently assuming a reimarkable shape. Nasal fossee not filled with feathers, the nostrils covered with a naked scale. ‘Tarsi and toes naked, the latter scarcely or not fringed, the former scu- ~ tellate. Size smaller than in Tetraonme. wh [Dp g = Our Partridges may be distinguished, among Zs American Galline, by the foregoing characters, but at app not from those of the Old World; and it is highly yw 57;¢<<2. improbable that, as a group, they are separable from Y WY} o i WY : bay i. \\ as Wg Se ef He Ve all the forms of the latter by any decided peculiari- wee K 7) MW HN ties. The principal supposed character, namely, a aa uh Q an i\ Nal | MM. \\V Wi, 5 3 5 5 O Vigaiael KY (by WZ pie Ni Wen toothing of the under mandible, is very faintly indicated in some forms, and entirely wanting in Fre. 406. Buropean Hartridge. (HromDixon:) thers. | Pending inal assue, however, sit dsirexpe= dient to recognize the group, so strictly limited geographically, if not otherwise. Several beautiful and important genera occur within our limits, but these Partridges are most numerous in species in Central and South America. Odontophorus is the leading genus, with perhaps 15 species; Eupsychortyx and Dendrortyx are other extra-limital forms; and in all, some forty-odd species are known. In habits, they agree more or less completely with the well known Bob-white. Our species are apparently monogamous, and go in small flocks, called “coveys,” usually consisting of the members of one family; they are terrestrial, but take to the trees on occasion; nest on the ground, laying numerous white or speckled eggs; are chiefly | granivorous, but also feed on buds, soft fruits, and insects ; and are non-migratory. TETRAONIDA —ODONTOPHORINZE: PARTRIDGES OR QUAIL. 589 Analysis of Genera. An inconspicuous crest, scarcely visible except in life. Tail about 3 as long as the wing. Coloration everywhere variegated. (One species) F 0. FO) NOI ONO ae CY SMR” SMT Ae ae Ortyx 210 A short, soft, full crest. Tail the wing. Coloration much the same all over, showing curious semi- circular markings. (One species) MENT EEG R ee Cy oh CSP OSSER WNIT 2 fo SFR IY I Callipepla 218 A long, slender, arrowy crest, two or three inches long, of two narrowly linear feathers. Tail 3 as long as the wing. Parti-colored, but the coloration chiefly in masses. (One species). . , . . . . Orortyx 211 A long, recurved, helmet-like crest, of several imbricated plumes, enlarged at the extremity. Tail 4 as long as the wing. Coloration chiefly in masses. (Two species) 5 Resets ls . Lophortyx 212 A short, soft, full crest. Tail scarcely 4 as long as the wing. Coloration peculiar, in round, white spots OM, WOE WHC HAS OP WHS Gf, (OWOSOEGES); oc o 6 6 556 0 6 6 6 6 66 6 6 . Cyrtonyx 214 As all these genera have each but a single species in this country, excepting Lophortyx, the foregoing is nearly equivalent to a determination of the species. Loo ee > “tees \ \ 10, OR'TYX. (Gr. dprv€, ortux, a quail.) Es Zz >» Feathers of crown lengthened and eree- = SSS 7" tile, but hardly forming a true crest. Root 66 eee al Outstretched feet reaching beyond end of tail. Coloration much variegated ; a reddish-brown varied with black and white the leading color. Eggs white, pyriform, numerous. Fig. 407. — Bill and foot of Ortyx, nat. size. (Ad nat. del. B. C.) Analysis of Varieties. Length of $, 10 inches or rather more; extent 15 or more; wing 4.50 or more. Bill blackish-brown. Ground color dull pinkish-red with narrow black bars below silaalt aia 5B virginiana 571 Length of 4, scarcely 10 inches; extent under 15 ; wing scarcely or not 4.50. Bill jet black. Ground color dark reddish, with much broader black bars below . jloridana 572 Length etc. as in floridana. Ground color paler than in virginiana, with numerous black bars, and increase of ashy and tawny . oO 0 6 6 8 6 6 6 oo 6 RAR, RE Tail about 3 as long as the wing. aS. " \ Wy NN) Dy Nh B Ay 1) MK Fic. 408. — Mr. and Mrs. Bob White, nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) O. virginiana. (Of Virginia. Figs. 407, 408, 409.) VirGiniA PARTRIDGE, or ‘‘ QUAIL.” 4 Bos-wurre. ‘“QuAIL:” New England, wherever the Ruffed Grouse is called ‘“ partridge.” ~ x N \ . ‘ \ 7 WIR S i nN Ww \\ x \ \ HANRAINARS \ {oer i Wy) Nea I \i 090 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — GALLIN 4 — ALECTOROPODES. ‘‘ PARTRIDGE:” Southern and Middle States, wherever the Ruffed Grouse is called ‘‘ pheasant.” & : Forehead, superciliary line, and throat, white, bordered with black ; crown, neck all round, and upper part of breast, brownish-red ; other under parts tawny-whitish, all with more or fewer doubly-crescentic black bars; crissum rufous; sides broadly striped with brownish-red ; upper parts variegated with chestnut, black, gray and tawny, the latter edging the inner quills, form- ing a continuous line when the wing is closed. 9 : Known by having the throat buff instead of white, less black about the fore-parts, and general coloration subdued. The reddish of this bird is of a peculiar dull pinkish shade. ‘The black crescents of the under parts are scarcely or not half the width of the intervening white spaces; the bill is not jet black. Length of ¢ 10.00-10.50 ; i\ \\ \ Oh re es NK \) Y, hy Fia. 409. — The Bob White family. (From ‘Sport with Gun and Rod;”? The Century Co., N. Y.) extent 15.00-15.50; wing 4.50 tu nearly 5.00; tail 2.75-3.00. 9 9.50-10.00; extent 14.50- 15.00; wing 4.25-4.50; tail 2.50-2.75. Among the thousands of Bob-whites yearly destroyed, albinotic or melanotic, and other abnormally colored specimens, are frequently found; but the percentage of these cases is nothing unusual, and the sportsman must be cautioned against sup- posing that such birds have any status, in a scientific point of view, beyond their illustration of certain perfectly well known variations. Such specimens, however, are interesting and valuable, and should always be preserved. Eastern United States. North to Massachusetts and slightly beyond ; Canada West; Minnesota. West to high central plains. Up the Missouri to White River. Salt Lake Valley Gntroduced). The characteristic game bird of this country. Eges indefinitely numerous, pure white, pointed at one end and very blunt at the other, about 1.30 X 1.00. 72. TETRAONIDZ2 — ODONTOPHORIN Z: : PARTRIDGES OR QUAIL. 591 O. v. florida/na, (Of Florida.) FLorma Quaru. Rather smaller, the ¢ about the size of the 2 virgimana, but bill relatively larger, and jet-black ; colors darker, all the black mark- ings heavier, those of the under parts nearly as broad as the intervening white spaces. Florida, and similar specimens in the lower Mississippi Valley; an approach to the Cuban form (O. cubanensis). O. v. texa/na. (Of Texas.) Texas Quaiu. Size of floridana; colors paler, the prevailing shade rather gray than brown; upper parts much variegated with tawny. Eggs 1.20 X 0.98. These two are mere climatic varieties of one species. OROR/TYX. (Gr. dpos, oros, a mountain ; optv&, ortux, a quail.) PLuMEpD Quai. Head adorned with an arrowy crest of two slender keeled plumes, 3-4 inches long in the @ when full-developed; present in 9, shorter. Bill and feet stout; tarsus equal to the iniddle toe and claw. Tail about 2 the wing, broad, rounded, with long coverts. Size large; colors massed in large areas; sexes alike. Eggs colored. One species. O. pic'ta. (Lat. picta, pictured, painted. Fig. 411.) Phumep Parrripce. Mounrain QUAIL of the Californians. @9, adult: Back, wings and tail olive-brown, the inner secondaries and tertiaries bordered with whitish or tawny, forming a lengthwise border in WY single line when the wings are folded; the primaries fus- cous, the tail-feathers fuscous, minutely marbled with the color of the back. Fore- parts, above and below, slaty- blue (above more or less glossed with the olive shade of the back, below mi- nutely marbled with black) ; the throat | chestnut, immedi- | ately bordered lat- erally with black, then framed in a firm white line, broken through the eye, reappearing Re, i & an aan aan (Z. gambelt). around base of un- Fira. 411, — Plumed Quail. (From Ten- : b : pbs Wt der mandible. Ex- 2&Y, after Audubon. ) treme forehead whitish. The arrow-plumes black. Belly chestnut, the sides banded with broad bars of black and white, or rufous-white ; middle of the lower belly, tibia, and flanks, whitish or rufous; crissum velvety-black, streaked with chestnut. Bill dusky, paler below; feet brown. Length 11.00-12.00; extent 16.00-17.00; wing 5.00-5.50; tail-3.00-3.50; tarsus 1.67; middle toe and claw about the same. An elegant species, much larger and more beauti- ful than the Bob-white, inhabiting the mountainous parts of Oregon, California and Nevada. The relative extent of the olive and slaty parts is very variable. There is something of a grouse in the composition of this partridge. Egg a miniature of the ruffed grouse’s, only dis- tinguished by smaller size — 1.40 x 1.10. LOPHOR’TYX. (Gr. Ados, lophos, a crest; optvé, ortux, a quail.) Heumer Quatn. With an elegant crest, recurved helinet-wise, of several (6-10) keeled, clubbed, glossy-black, imbricated feathers, more than an inch long when fully developed; in the 2, smaller, of fewer feathers. Tarsus slightly shorter than middle toe and claw. Tail about % as long asthe wing; . \ \S \ Wy ll | Hl WMG SA == i} H = o92 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —GALLINA — ALECTOROPODES. outstretched feet not reaching to its end. Bulk of the Bob-white, but longer; 10.00-11.50 ; wing 4.00 or more; tail 3.00 or more. Coloration chiefly in masses; sexes unlike. ¢ with the chin and throat jet-black, sharply bordered with white; a white lie across the vertex and along the sides of the crown, bordered behind by black; Q without these head-markings. Eggs colored. ‘Two elegant species in the U. 5S. Analysis of Species. ¢ middle of belly orange-chestnut ; sides like back, with white stripes ; hind-head smoky-brown ; fore- head chiefly whitish, with white loralline ......... 2.2.2... . =. . ~. . californica 575 gd middle of belly jet-black ; sides chestnut with white stripes; hind-head chestnut ; fore-head chiefly black:;;nomwhitelorallines yt) ao -eAeE-bies) Step alah ics Pekan MMM nd CIE eL WE Tn CCL? DCLEmmEO CG ai eo 222 oe y ULE My Wye MY, 7 Fig. 412. California Helmet Quail, } nat. size. (From Brehm.) 575. L. californica. (Lat. Californian. Fig. 412.) CALIFORNIAN PARTRIDGE. VALLEY QUAIL of the Californians. @: With a small white line from bill to eye ; forehead whitish with black lines; occiput smoky-brown ; nuchal and cervical feathers with very dark edging and shaft-lines, and fine whitish speckling. General color of upper parts ashy, with strong olive-brown gloss, the edging of the inner quills brownish-orange. Fore breast slaty-blue ; other under parts tawny, deepening centrally into rich golden-brown or orange-chestnut, all the feathers sharply edged with jet-black ; sides olive-ashy like the back, with sharp white stripes; vent, flanks, and crissum tawny, with dark stripes. Length 10.00-11.00; wing 4.25; tail 3.75; tarsus 1.25; middle toe and claw rather more. Besides lacking the definite head-markings, the Q wants the rich sienna color: of the under parts, which are whitish or tawny with black semicircles 576. 213. " B77. TETRAONIDA — ODONTOPHORINZE: PARTRIDGES OR QUAIL. 598 asin the @; the breast is olive-gray. The changes of plumage are parallel with those of L. gambeli. Lower portions of California and Oregon; E. nearly to the Colorado River; abun- dant. A fine species, entirely distinct from the next, but habits and manners in all respects the same; replaces L. gambeli westward. Eggs speckled, as in the next. L. gam/beli. (To Wm. Gambel. Fig. 410.) GAmBeEL’s PARTRIDGE. ARIZONA QUAIL. &: Without white loral line; forehead black with whitish lines; occiput chestnut ; nuchal and cervical feathers with dark shaft lines, but few dark edgings or none, and no white speckling. General color of upper parts clear ash, the edgiug of the inner quills white. Fore-breast like the back ; other under parts whitish, the middle of the belly with a large jet-black patch; sides rich purplish-chestnut, with sharp white stripes; vent, flanks and crissum white with dusky streaks. Billblack; iris brown. Besides lacking the definite head-markings, the Q wants the black abdominal area, where the feathers are whitish with dark lengthwise touches; crest dark brown, not recurved, and fewer-feathered than that of the cock. Top of head grayish-brown, nearly uniform from bill to nape; throat grayish-white with slight dark pencilling. Chicks, in the down: Bill above reddish, nearly white below; feet dull flesh-color. Head dingy yellowish, with a large brown spot on the occiput, a few black, white-streaked feathers on crown, and the crest sprouting in a week or two. Upper parts grayish-brown mottled with black spots, and conspicuously striped with white lines. Outer webs of the sprouting quills marked with blackish and whitish. Throat white; other under parts narrowly barred with black and tawny-white, striped lengthwise with pure white. Sprouting tail-feathers like the primaries. Pullets, quarter-grown, 6-7 inches long: Leaden-gray, becoming tawny on the wings, which are still a little mottled as above described ; below, light gray, nearly white on throat and belly. Breast waved with light and dark gray, with traces of the white stripes. Sides under the wings slightly fulvous or rufescent, but without definite stripes. Quills plain dusky; tail-feathers more plumbeous, marked with blackish and whitish. A broad white superciliary line. With the progress of the fall moult this dress changes for one like that of the adults, and the sexes are soon distinguishable. Eggs 1.25X1.00, pyramidal, narrow and pointed at one end, very obtuse the other; color buff or rich creamy, dotted and spotted all over with bright brown, splashed here and there with large blotches of the same ; number in definite — 8-12 or more. Nest like that of any other partridge. New Mexico and Arizona, both in mountains and valleys, very abundant; E. to Pecos and San Elizario, Texas, beyond which replaced by the Massena partridge; W. to Colorado R. and slightly beyond; N. to Utah; 8. into Mexico. The characteristic game bird of Arizona. CALLIPEP’LA. (Gr. caddurémhos, kallipeplos, beautifully arrayed.) Supii Quam. General character of Lophortyx, but head with a short, full, soft crest as in the Massena quail (fig. 418). Coloration of under parts producing a shelly or scaly appearance. Sexes nearly alike. Eggs not heavily colored. One U.S. species. C. squama'ta. (Lat. squwamata, squamous, seale-like.) ScaLED ParrripGe. BLUE Quam. 4, adult: General color bluish-plumbeous, shading into olive-brown on the back and wings and to rufous on the under parts behind the wings, with a large abdominal area of orange-brown ; the feathers of the neck all around, and most of those of the under parts, sharply edged with black, producing a peculiar shell-like appearance; on the breast the feathers also with concealed reddish shaft-lines. Long feathers of the sides like the back in color, with white brown-edged stripes or long-oval spots. On the flanks and crissum the feathers lose the scaly appearance, becoming blended rusty-brown, with linear, sagittate, or cordate dark spots. Inner secondaries edged with buff or whitish, affording to the folded wing the lengthwise stripe so characteristic of N. ‘A. partridges. Quills plain fuscous ; tail-feathers plumbeous. No definite stripes about the head; crest dark brown ending in pure white. Length 10.00-11.00 ; extent 14.50-15.50; wing 4.50; tail 3.50; tarsus 1.25; middle toe and claw 1.04. 9 little different; head markings the same; the orange-brown of the belly 38 214. 578. 215. 094 . SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — GALLIN 4 — ALECTOROPODES. reduced or wanting; size rather less. ‘Texas, N. M., Ariz. and southward; generally dispersed, but far less numerous than the top-knot quails, and apparently more southern; extends along the Rio Grande to about 100 miles from the coast. Eggs 10-12-16, rather elliptical than con- ical, 1.25 0.98, white, minutely freckled with buff. CYRTO/NYX. (Gr. kvuprés, kurtos, bent, crooked; dvv&, onux, nail, claw.) HARLEQUIN Quain. Bill very stout. Head with a full, soft, depressed occipital crest. Tail very short, soft, almost hidden by the coverts, scarcely or not half as long as the wings. Wing-coverts and inner quills highly developed, folding entirely over the primaries. Feet small; tarsus rather shorter than middle toe and claw; toes short, but with remarkably developed claws. A very distinct genus. Plumage of head of ¢ curiously striped; of under parts ocellated. Sexes very unlike. C. masse’na. (‘T’o André Massena, Prince D’Essling and Marshal of France. Fig. 413.) Mas- SENA PARTRIDGE. (4, adult: Upper parts intimately waved with black and reddish-brown and tawny-brown, and marked with sharp buff or whitish shaft-lines ; on the wings the irregular black variegation changing to black bars and round spots, in regular paired series on each feather. Outer quills fuscous, their outer webs spotted with white or buff. Under parts crowded with innumerable round white spots on a dark ground, several pairs on each feather; the middle line of the breast and belly mahogany-colored, the flanks, vent, and crissum velvety-black. Top of head black in front, with slight white touches, changing on the crest to brown. Sides of head and throat fantastically striped with black and white; a broad black throat-patch ; another on the cheeks, across lores and alongside of crown ; a third on the ear-coverts ; a fourth bordering the white all around behind. Length about 9.00; extent 17.00; wing 4.75; tail 2.00; tarsus 1.203 middle toe and claw 1.60; its claw alone 0.50 9, adult: Upper parts as in the , but the markings of the wings less regular, more assimi lated with the general variegation, and the tone more fulvous. No peculiar marks on head, throat whitish or buff; general tone of the under parts pale purplish-cinnamon, with fine mottling of black and white on each feather. Young @: Resembling the hen, but the under parts ochrey or whitish with black variegation. Chicks, scarcely fledged, 3-4 inches long. Bill reddish above, whitish below; feet dull brownish. Above, light warm brown, varied with black, boldly striped with white — each feather having a hammer-headed white shaft- line. Some inner wing-quills like the back; others dusky with whitish shafts, broken-barred with buff, chiefly on outer webs. Below, buffy-white, with numberless spots of blackish paired on each feather, sharp and cireular on breast, further back widening to bars. A singular species, very showy in full plumage, inhabiting portions ot Texas, N. M., and ANA, 8 Tei WOE Fic. 413. — Massena Quail, 4, nat. size. latter, W. to Fort Whipple at least. [Subfamily PERDICINA: Old World Partridges and Quail. It becomes necessary to introduce this group, in consequence of the naturalization of the imported Migratory or Messina Quail of Europe. I know of no characters to distinguish it from Odontophorine, and doubt that there are any.] | COTURINIX. (Lat. cotwrnix, a quail; from its note.) Bill smaller and much slenderer than that of any of the foregoing genera of Odontophorine; nasal fosse feathered, except on the tumid nasal seale. Wings of moderate length, little vaulted and not rounded, pointed by the TETRAONIDA — PERDICINA: OLD WORLD QUAIL. 095 1st-3d quills, the lst not shorter than the next. First primary emarginate on inner web; 2d and 3d sinuate on outer web. Tail extremely short and slight, not half as long as the wing, pointed, its feathers very soft, the central pair lanceolate. Feet small; tarsus shorter than middle toe and claw, slightly feathered above in front, with two rows of alternating large scutella in front, two rows of smaller rounded scales meeting in a ridge behind, the sides filled in with small plates. Size smaller than that of any of the foregoing species; pattern of coloration somewhat as in Ortyx ; sexes nearly alike. C, dactyli/sonans. (Gr. daxruvdos, daktulos, the finger; a metrical measure consisting of a. long and two short syllables; Lat. sonans, sounding. Fig. 414.) Mersstna Quan. MiGgra- Fia. 414. —Common Quail of Europe, } nat. size. (From Brehm.) TORY QuAIL. Common Quain of Europe. Adult g 9: Upper parts variegated with buff or whitish and black upon a mixed reddish-brown and gray ground, the most conspicuous mark - ings being sharp lance-linear lengthwise stripes of buff or whitish over most of the upper parts, these dashes mostly edged with black ; other less prominent buff or whitish cross-bars, several to a feather, likewise framed in black. Crown mixed brown and black, with sharp median and lateral buff stripes. Throat white, bounded before by a-dark bar curving down behind the auriculars ; behind, by a necklace of ruddy-brown, blackish, or whitish spots; chin varied with dark marks in advance of the auricular bar. Under parts fading to whitish from the buff or pale yellowish-brown breast, without any dark crossbars, but the long feathers of the sides and flanks with large and conspicuous white shaft-stripes and otherwise variegated with black, 096 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — LIMICOLAL. brown, and buff. Primaries fuscous, spotted with light brown on outer webs; secondaries sinilar, but the markings becoming bars on both webs. Tail-feathers brownish-black, much varied with shaft-lines, cross-bars, and edgings of buff; erissum immaculate, like the abdomen. Bill dark ; feet pale: iris dark brown. Length about 7.00; wing 3.75; tail 1.75; tarsus 1.00; middle toe and claw rather more. Europe, Asia, ete., recently imported and turned loose in considerable numbers in the U.8., as in New England; but its permanent naturalization is stili open to question. If one will compare this bird with the bob-white he will see how very different is the Old World quail from our Ortyx, or any other birds of this country called “quail; ” but that it resembles Ortyx more nearly than the European partridge, Perdix cinerea, does; so that, if we must borrow a name from any Old World birds for our species of Ortyz, Lophortyx, Callipepla, ete., the term ‘ quail’ is rather more appropriate than ‘ partridge.’ VII. Order LIMICOLZ: Shore-birds. Commonly known as the great ‘* plover-snipe group,” from the circumstance that the pluvialine and scolopacine birds form the bulk of the order, whieh is practically equivalent to the Charadriomorphe of Huxley. The species average of small size, with rounded or de- pressed (never extremely compressed) body, and live in open places on the ground, usually by the water’s edge. With rare exceptions, the head is completely feathered; the general ptery- losis is of a nearly uniform pattern. The osteological characters are shared to some extent by certain swimining birds, as Gulls and Auks; the palate is schizognathous; the nasal bones are normally schizorhinal; the angle of the mandible is produced into a slender hooked process ; the maxillo-palatines are thin and scroll-like; there are prominent basipterygoid processes ; the rostral bones are slender, often much elongated ; the sternum is usually doubly, sometimes singly, notched behind ; the carotids are double ; the syringeal muscles not more than one pair. The physiological nature is preecocial and ptilopedic; the eggs, averaging four, as a rule are laid on the ground in a rude nest or bare depression; the young hatch clothed and able to run about. The food is insects, worms, and other small or soft animals, either picked up from the surface, or probed for in soft sand or mud, or forced to rise by stamping with the feet on the ground ; from this latter circumstance, the birds have been named Calcatores (stampers). With a few exceptions, the wing is long, thin, flat and pointed, with narrow stiff primaries, rapidly graduated from Ist te 10th; secondaries in turn rapidly lengthening from without inward, the posterior border of the wing thus showing two salient points separated by a deep emargination. The tail, never long, is commonly quite short, and has from 12 (the usual number) up to 20 or even 26 feathers (in one remarkable group of Snipe). The legs are commonly lengthened, sometimes extremely so; rarely quite short, and are usually slender ; they are indifferently seutellate or reticulate, or both. The feathers rarely reach the suffrago. The toes are short (as compared with the case of Herons and Rails), the anterior usually semi- palmate, frequently cleft to the base, only palmate in Recwrvirostra and only lobate in Phalaro- podide. The hinder is always short and elevated, or absent. The length of the phalanges of the anterior toes decreases from the basal to the penultimate. The lower part of the crus never has feathers inserted upon it, though the leg may appear feathered to the suffrago, owing to the length of the feathers. The bill varies much in length and contour, but is almost always slender, contracted from the frontal region of the skull, and is as long as, or much longer than, the head, representing the ‘pressirostral” (pluvialine) and ‘“ longirostral” (scolopacine) types. Furthermore, it is generally in large part, if not entirely, covered with softish skin, often membranous and sensitive to the very tip, and only rarely hard throughout. The nostril is generally a slit in the inembranous part, and probably never feathered. Most of the families of this order are well represented in this country, and will be found fully characterized beyond. The position of Parride is in question, and it probably belongs here rather than among the families where it is ranged (beyond). There are several outlying or CHARADRUDA — CHARADRIIN A: PLOVER. O97 inosculating families in the vicinity of Limicole and Alectorides, of uncertain position. The largest of these is the Bustard family, Otedide, which connects Limicole and Alectorides so perfectly, that its position has long wavered between these two orders ; the balance of evidence favors its reference to the latter. The typical families are Charadrude and Scolopacide. 38. Family CHARADRIIDA:: Plover. pote This is a large and impor- : Sled) tant family of nearly a hun- dred species, of all parts of the world. Its limits are not settled, there being a few forms sometimes referred here, sometimes made the types of distinct families. The Glare- oles (Glareolide@) are a re- markable Old World form, like long-legged swallows, with a cuckoo’s bill; the tail is forked; there are four toes; the wings are extremely long and pointed; the tarsi are scutellate ; the middle claw denticulate. The Coursers (Cursorwne) are another Old é = Ge ; World type, near the Bus- Fic. 415. — A Plover, the European Lapwing, reduced. (From Dixon.) = Oter tards, of one or two genera and less than ten species. In both of these the gape of the mouth is longer than in the true plovers; the hind toe, as usual for this family, is absent in the Coursers. The thick-knees, (CEdicnemine) are more plover-like birds, with one exception belonging to the Old World, comprising about eight species of the genera Gidicnemus and Hsacus ; they are related to the Bustards, and most pluvialine birds appear to fall in the 54. Subfamily CHARADRIINA: True Piover. Toes generally three, the hinder absent (excepting, among our forms, Squatarola, Vanellus, and Aphriza); tarsus reticulate, longer than the middle toe; toes with a basal web (cleft in Aphriza) ; tibie naked below. Bill of moderate length, much shorter or not longer than the head, shaped somewhat like that of a Pigeon, with a convex horny terminal portion, con- tracted behind this; the nasal fossee rather short and wide, filled with soft skin in which the nostrils open as a slit, not basal, and perforate. Gape very short, reaching a little beyond base of culmen. Wings long and pointed, reaching, when folded, to or beyond the end of the tail, and sometimes spurred; crissal feathers long and full; tail short, generally nearly even and of 12 feathers; body plump; neck short and thick ; head large, globose, sloping rapidly to the small base of the bill, usually fully feathered. Size moderate or small. Our species (excepting Aphriza, if really belonging here) are very closely related, and will be readily recognized by the foregoing characters. There are in all perhaps sixty species. The most singular of them is the Anarhynchus frontalis, in which the bill is bent sideways. Thinorms zelandieé of New Zealand, Phegornis mitchelli and Oreophilus totanirostris of Chili, are peculiar forms. Species of Chettusia, Lobwvanellus and Hoplopterus have fleshy wattles, or a tubercle, often developed into a spine, on the wing, or both; some of these, and others, 098 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — LIMICOLAL. are crested. These are all near Vamellus proper, and a part of them are 4-toed. Our species are found along the seashore, by the water’s edge in other open places, and in dry plains and fields. They all perform extensive migrations, appearing with great regularity in the spring and fall, and most of them breed far northward. They are all more or less gregarious, except -when breeding. ‘They run and fly with great rapidity ; the voice is a mellow whistle; the food is chietly of an animal nature. The eggs are commonly four in number, speckled, very large at one end and pointed at the other, placed with the small ends together in a slight nest or mere depression in the ground. ‘The sexes are generally similar, but the changes with age and season are great. Analysis cf Genera. Toes 4. Head not crested. Parsijscutellatennerronts;s toes) cleftitoO Asem mi en -iiiiniirs nmr rier tim a ME IEE) 0 7502 COE 2 ParsigreticulavessbOeshwAth) asa: hwie Demarini wir ont-imncnmnT Intute pna oni a PS (7/0 0 7, OL) 2G Jae! Val @) Moraes itlon whe CLES 5 6 6 6 0 6 6 0 od Oo ole oto 0 opens VY Toes 3. Plumage of upper parts speckled; no rings or bands of color about head or neck . . . Charadrius 237 Plumage of upper parts not speckled ; rings or bands of color about head and neck. Tarsus not nearly twice as long as middle toe without claw . . .. ... . =. . Agialites 218 Tarsus about twice as long as middle toe without claw. ......... . . Podasocys 219, 216. SQUATARO'LA. (Ital. squatarola, name of the species. Fig. 416.) FouR-ToED PLOVER. $80. A small but distinct hind toe, contrary to the rule in this family. Tail less than half as long as wing. ‘Tarsus much longer than middle toe and elaw. Tibia bare below, reticulate like the tarsus. Basal web between outer and middle toes. Upper plu:aage speckled, lower black or white; no rings r bars of color about head or neck. Legs dark-colored. Tail fully barred. Seasonal changes of plumage very great; sexes alike. S. helve'tica. (Lat. Helvetica, Helvetian, Swiss. Fig. 417.) Swiss Piover. BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. BULL-HEAD PLOVER. WHISTLING Firtp PLoverR. Ox-EYE. ¢ Q@, in summer: hey Upper parts fretted with blackish and ashy-white, Fic. 416. — Bill and hind toe of Squat the feathers being white basally, then black, ‘ize. (Ad nat. del. F.C.) tipped and usually scalloped with white. Upper tail-coverts mostly white, with few dark touches. Fore-head, line over eye and thence more broadly over side of neck, the lining of wings, tibiee, vent and under tail-coverts, white. Sides of head to an extent embracing the eyes, axillary plumes, and entire under parts (except as said), black. Tail closely barred with black and white. Primaries dark brown, blackening at tips, with large basal areas and a portion of their shafts, white. Bill and feet black. Length 1].00-12.00 ; wing 7.00-7.50 ; tail 3.00; bill 1.00-1.25; tarsus 2.00; middle toe and claw 1.33; tibiee bare 1.00. But such a bird as this rarely seen in the U.S. @ Q, old, in fall and winter, as usually seen in U. 5. Under parts white or whitish, anteriorly speckled or mottled with grayish-brown ; axillary plumes, however, black, as before; a good color-mark of the species, in any pluinage, im com- parison with the golden plover. Birds changing show every mixture of black and white below. & 2, young: Similar to winter adults, but upper parts speckled with golden-yellow, as in C. dominicus, most of the feathers having edgings of this color. Feet grayish-blue. Fic. 423. — Turnstone, } nat. size. (From Brehm ) grooving of under mandible short and shallow. Gonys longer than wandibular raini. Wings long and pointed. Tail short, a little rounded, scarcely or not half as long as wing. Legs short and stout; tibiz little denuded ; tarsus scutellate in front, reticulate on sides and behind, about as long as middle toe and claw. Toes 4, the hinder short, but as well developed as in sandpipers generally, the front toes cleft to the base. Claws curved, compressed, acute. There is probably but one cosmopolitan species, the scientific and vernacuiar names of which are both derived from its habit of turning over pebbles along the shore in search of food. HAMA TOPODIDA — STREVSILAINZ: TURNSTONES. 609 Analysis of Species. Pied with black, white, and’ chestnut ; feetorange .......=.., . +... . . imterpres 598 IDBOTA HiMnel WiaIS.9: WAH CHAR 6 ob 6 0 0 6 00 6 6 6 a 610 0 06 616 0, 5 oduopoa IHS 598. S. inter’pres. (Lat. interpres, a factor, agent, go-between. Fig. 423.) 'TURNSTONE. BRANT | Birp. Caico-Back. Adult @, in breeding dress: Pied above with black, white, brown, and chestnut-red; below, snowy, with jet breast. Top of head streaked with black and white. Forehead, cheeks, sides of. head and back. of neck, white, with a bar of black coming up from the side of neck to below eye, then coming forward and meeting or tending to meet its fellow over base of bill, enclosing or nearly enclosing a white loral, and another black prolongation on side of neck; lower eye-lid white or not. Lower hind neck, interscapulars and seapulars, pied with black and chestnut ; back, rump, and upper tail-coverts, snowy-white, with a large central blackish field on the latter. Tail white, with broad subterminal blackish field, narrowing on outer feathers and incomplete, widening to usually eut off white tips of central feathers. Wing-coverts and long inner secondaries pied like the scapulars with black and chestnut, the greater coverts broadly white-tipped or mostly white, the short inner secondaries entirely white, the rest acquiring dusky on their ends to increasing extent, with result of a broad oblique white wing-bar. Primaries blackish, the longer ones with large white fields on inner webs, the shorter ones also definitely white on outer webs for a space, the shafts white unless at end; primary coverts white-tipped. Under parts, including under wing-coverts, snowy-white, the breast and juguluim jet-black, enclosing a white throat-patch, and sending limbs on sides of head and neck as above said. Bill black ; iris black; feet orange. 9 similar, lacking much of the chestnut, replaced by plain brown, especially on the wing-coverts; the dark parts in same pattern, but restricted somewhat, the black not jet and glossy. Adults in winter, and young, lacking the chestnut entirely, the black mostly replaced by browns and grays, that of the breast especially restricted or very imperfect. Length 8.00-9.00 ; extent 16.00-19.00 ; wing 5.50-6.00 ; tail 2.50; bill 0.80-0.90; tarsus, or middle toe and claw, about 1.00. Nearly cosmopolitan ; in N. Am., both coasts abundantly, and infrequently on the larger inland waters ; migrating through and wintering in the U. 8., breeding in high latitudes. 599. S. melanoce’phalus. (Gr. peédas, melas, black; xcedadn, kephale, head.) BLACK-HEADED TURNSTONE. Without any of the chestnut coloration of the last, the parts that are pied in . imterpres being blackish; the white parts, however, and the distribution of the colored areas, nearly the same. In the most perfect cases I have seen, the entire head, neck, and breast are dark smoky-brown, the color extending further along the breast than the jet plastron of interpres, and not uniform, but the dark brown nebulated with sooty centres of the feathers, -___ and shaded by mixture of white-tipped feathers into the white of the under parts. White lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts, with black central field of the latter, as in interpres; black and white of wings substantially the same, but most of the primaries narrowly white-tipped. Feet apparently of some obscure dark color. Other specimens have a distinct white loral spot, and indication of the white of head and neck of in- terpres in white speckling. No trace of chestnut seen inany. Size and form precisely as in interpres. Apparently a permanent melanisin; if so, a very curious case, and a good species. Pacitic coast. 40. Family RECURVIROSTRID&~ : | Avocets. Stilts. ; Another small family, characterized by the ex- { treme length of the slender legs, and the extreme ; pee slenderness of the long acute bill, which is either be Fie. 424. — Head and foot of Avocet, about 4 ¢ . mae ue ; nat. size. straight or curved upward. Recurvirostra is 4-toed, | 39 610 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — LIMICOLZ. and full-webbed; the bill is decidedly recurved, flattened, and tapers to a needle-like point; the body is depressed; the plumage underneath is thickened as in water-birds. The species swim well. Hamantopus is 3-toed, semipalmate, the bill nearly straight, and not flattened ; in relative length of leg it is probably not surpassed by any bird whatsoever. These two genera, each of three or four species of various parts of the world, with the Cladorhynchus pectoralis of Australia, compose the family. ! 224, RECURVIROS'TRA. (Lat. recurvus, bent upward; rostrum, bill. Fig. 425.) Avocers. Fae Fig. 425. — European Avocet, Recurvirostra avocetta, } nat. size. (From Brehm.) Bill excessively slender, more or less recurved, then the upper mandible hooked at the extreme » tip; much longer than head, more or less nearly equalling tail and tarsus ; flattened on top, without eulminal ridge. Wings short (for a wader). Tail very short, square, less than half the wing. Legs exceedingly long and slender; tibiae long-denuded ; tarsus nearly twice as long as middle toe and claw: covering of legs skinny. Feet 4-toed; the front toes full-webbed, hind toe short, free. Body remarkably depressed and feathered underneath with thick duck- like plumage ; altogether, as in swimming rather than as in wading birds. It is a modification 601. RECURVIROSTRIDA): AVOCETS AND STILTS. 611 like that seen in the lobe-footed phalaropes. Sexes and young alike; winter and summer plu- mage different (in the North American species at any rate). R. america/na. (Lat. americana, American. Fig. 424.) AMERICAN AVOCET. BLUE- stocking. Adult ¢ 9, im swmmer: White, changing gradually to cinnamon or chestnut- brown on neck and head, excepting, usually, the parts about base of bill. Interscapulars and part of the scapulars black ; wings black, with the lining, and most of the secondaries, white. Tail pearl-gray. Iris red (sometimes brown). Legs dull blue (drying blackish), much of the webs flesh color; bill black, often pale at base below. Size extremely variable: length 16.00-20.00; extent 28.00-38.00! wing 7.00-9.50 ; tail 3.00-4.00; bill 3.50, more or less, trom nearly straight to strongly recurved and hooked; tibize bare 2.50; tarsus 3.50 or more ; middle toe and claw 2.00 or less. Adult @ 2, im winter: Head and neck ashy or pearl-gray, like the tail; this has been called R. occidentalis; afterward considered the young. Young: The head and neck strongly washed with cinnamon-brown; rusty or tawny edgings of the black feathers. I have shot searcely fledged birds in this state ; the shank is also peculiarly swollen. U. 8. and British Provinces ; rare now in E. U. S., only casual in New Eng- land; abounding in the west, especially in the alkaline regions, as those of the Yellowstone and Milk River regions, Utah, ete. Its appearance is striking, as might be sup- posed ; its clamor is incessant when the breeding places are invaded. It is not a wary bird, and may easily be ap- proached when wading about in small flocks in the shal- low alkaline pools it loves so well. Feeds by immersing the head and neck for some moments whilst probing about with the curious bill in the soft slimy ooze. On getting beyond its depth, it swims with perfect ease, and often alights from on wing in deep water. Eggs 3-4, as variable in size, shape, and markings as the parents; from 1.80 to 2.10 long by 1.25 to 1.45 broad; ground color from dark olive to brownish-drab, thence to creamy-brown or buff, Fig. 426.—Stilt. (From Tenney, like those of Shanghai fowls; pretty uniformly and pro- atter Wilsons) fusely marked with small sharp spots of different shades of chocolate-brown, with neutral- tint shell-markings; on the buff eggs usually smallest and most numerous, bolder on the olive ones. HIMAN/TOPUS. (Gr. iwavromouvs, himantopous, strap-leg. Fig. 426.) Srits. Bill ex- tremely slender, but not flattened, nor turned up, nor hooked ; longer than head, rather shorter than tarsus. Wing long and pointed, folding beyond the short and square tail, which is less than half the wing. Legs of unique length and slenderness, the bare part about as long as the wing ; tibize denuded for a great distance; tarsus about twice as long astoes. Feet 3-toed, semipalmate; but the species scarcely swim. Sexes similar; young different. H. mexica/nus. (Lat. mexicanus, Mexican. Fig. 427.) Stinr. Lone-suanxs. LAWwyYEr. Adult $2 : Mantle, constituted by the interscapulars, scapulars, and wings (above and below) glossy-black, prolonged up the back of the neck and on top and sides of head, embracing the eyes. A spot over and behind eye, one on under eyelid, forehead to opposite eyes, sides of head below eyes, sides of neck and entire under parts, together with the lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts, white ; tail pearl-gray. In life the long black wings fold entirely over the white upper parts and tail, so that the bird looks entirely black above. Bill black; eyes and legs carmine, latter drying yellowish. Length about 15.00; extent about 30.00; wing 8.50- 9.50; tail 2.75-3.25 5 bill 2.50-2.75; tibie bare 3.00-3.50; tarsus 4.00-4.50; middle toe and claw 1.75-2.00. Adults, not in perfect dress: Some of the dark parts brown, not glossy-black. 612 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — LIMICOLA. Young: Mantle ashy-brown, each feather edged with whitish; wings black, but some of the quills white-tipped, the edge of the wing white, the coverts edged with pale ochre. Tail not so pearly gray as in the adults, with some irreg- ular dusky markings. Legs probably different (skins afford no crite- rion). Chick, in down: Bill apparently blackish ; legs pale. Under parts white ; above, prettily mottled with black, brown, and tawny or orange. U. 8. generally, like the avocet rare eastward, \X \\ 2 abundant in the west, rather more southerly than the avocet. vu 4 . e a ‘nl \ Nest at the water’s-edge or on heaped vegetation just above "i the surface in shallow water; eggs 4, pyriform, 1.60 to 1.85 X ia\\ iN Ml 1.15 to 1.25; greenish-drab or pale brownish-olive to dark ochraceous, boldly marked all over with spots and splashes of Fic. 427.— Black-necked Stilt, eae ? a! ical haan Re BES SS # nat. size. (From Sclater. ) blackish-brown. Al. Family PHALAROPODIDA: Phalaropes. This is likewise a small family; the three species comprising it resemble sandpipers, but are immediately distinguished by the lobate feet ; the toes are furnished with plain or scalloped membranes, like those of coots and grebes, but not so broad. The body is depressed, and the under plumage thick and duck-like to resist water, on which the birds swim with perfect ease and grace. The wings and tail are like those of ordinary sandpipers ; the tarsi are much com- pressed ; there is basal webbing of the toes besides the marginal membrane ; the bill, and some other details of form, differ in each of the three genera. These birds inhabit the northern por- tions of both hemispheres, two of them at least breeding only in boreal regions, but they all wander far southward in winter. There are but three species, one peculiar to America, the others of general distribution. Analysis of Genera, Membranes plain; bill very slender, subulate ~~~) = = Sieganopus 226 Membranes scalloped; bill very slender, subulate . . . SMa Dees doo. a) LEON Nae Car Membranes scalloped; bill stouter, flattened, with lancet- Ehaped tip 5 6 oe ote 0 og 6 ol PialenrRoNnSs BBS 226. STEGAN/OPUS. (Gr. oreyavémous, steganopous, web-foot.) FRINGE-FOOT PHALAROPES. Bill long, equalling the tarsus, exceeding the head, extremely slender, terete and acute. Culmen and gonys broad and depressed. Lateral grooves long and narrow, reaching nearly to tip of bill. Interramal space narrow and very short, extending only half way to end — eemzmoememze: of bill. Nostrils at extreme base of bill. Wings of moderate length. Tail short, deeply doubly-emarginate ; legs greatly elongated; tibiae bare for a considerable distance; tarsus exceeding middle toe. Fic. 428. — Head of Wilson’s Phalarope, nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) Toes long and slender, broadly margined with an even, unsealloped membrane, united but for a brief space basally. Claws moderately long, arched, and acute. 602. S. wil/soni. (To A. Wilson. Fig. 428.) Wuison’s PHauaropr. Adult 9, in breeding dress: Bill and feet black. Crown of head pale ash, passing into white along a narrow stripe ss 227. » broader. Wings long. ‘Tail short, greatly rounded. Legs 603. PHALAROPODIDA: PHALAROPES. 613 in the nape. A narrow, distinct, pure white line over the eye. Sides of neck intense purplish- chestnut, or dark wine-red; anteriorly deepening upon the auriculars into velvety-black ; pos- teriorly continued, somewhat duller in tint, as a stripe along each side of the back to the tips of the scapulars. Other upper parts pearly-ash, blanching on the rump and upper tail-coverts. Wings pale grayish- brown ; coverts slightly white-tipped ; primaries dusky-brown, their. shafts brownish-white, except at tip. Tail marbled with pearly-gray and white. All the under parts pure white, but the fore part and sides of the breast washed with pale chestnut-brown, as if with a weak solution of the rich color on the neck, and a faint tinge of the same along the sides of the body to the flanks. Bill and feet black. Iris brown. Length 8.50-9.00 ; extent 15.50-16.00 ; wing 5.00-5.25 ; tail 2.25; bill 1.33; tarsus 1.25 ; middle toe and claw 1.12. Adult ¢: Less richly colored, and smaller; length 8.00-8.50; extent 15.00; wing 4.75-5.00. Adult @ Q, in’ winter: No rusty red or pure black. Above, pure ashy-gray, each feather usually skirted with whitish ; frequently some blackish, pale-edged feathers. Wing-quills fuscous, usually with light edgings; tail as in summer; upper tail-coverts, line over eye, parts about bill, and whole under parts, white, the jugulum and sides usually shaded with ashy. Young, before first moult : Bill blackish, about 1.10 long; legs dull yellow (tarsus 1.20; middle toe and claw 1.05). Upper parts, including crown and upper surface of wings, brownish-black, each feather edged with rusty-brown, very conspicuous on the long inner secondaries, and giving a general aspect like that of a sandpiper of the genus Actodromas. Upper tail-coverts pure white. ‘Tail clear ash, edged and much marbled with white, the ash darker at its line of demarcation from the white. Line over eye, and whole under parts white, the breast with a faint rusty tinge, and the sides slightly marbled with gray. Quills dusky, the secondaries white-edged, and the shafts of the primaries whitish. This stage is of extremely brief duration, begimning toe give way, almost as soon the bird is full grown, to the clear uniform ashy of the upper parts of the fal and winter condition. The change, in some specimens shot early in August, is already very evident, clear ashy feathers being mixed, on the crown and all the upper parts, with such as just described. Size of the smallest specimen only 8.25 in length by 14.50 in extent ; the wing 4.60. Chicks are covered with buff-colored down, spotted with black above. In full plumage this is the handsomest and largest of the phalaropes, and one of the most elegant of the waders. U. 8S. and British Provinces, N. to the Saskatchewan; rare in U.S. E. of Illinois and Lake Michigan; abundant in the Mississippi Valley at large and westward. Migratory, leaving U. S. in winter; breeds in suitable places throughout its range. Nest in low grassy meadows and marshes. Eggs 8-4, 1.20 to 1.85 long by 1.90 broad, thus elongate pyriform, clay-color to brownish-drab, heavily marked with large splashes and sizeable spots, with numberless specks and scratches, of dark bistre or chocolate-brown ; some eggs much less painted than others, in finer pattern ; incubated by the @. LO/BIPES. (Lat. lobus, a flap, pes, foot.) LLopE-roor PHALAROPES. Bill generally as in Steganopus, but shorter, basally stouter, and tapering to a very acute, compressed tip ; ridge of culmen and gonys less depressed; interramal space longer and and feet short; tibize denuded for but a brief space ; tarsus not longer than middle toe. Toes very broadly margined with a membrane which is scalloped or indented at each joint, and united basally to second joint between outer and middle toe, to first joint between the inner and middle toe; feet thus _ Fie. 429. — Foot of Red-necked . x Phalarope, nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) semipalmate. Claws small and short. L. hyperbo/reus. (Lat. hyperboreus, beyond the north wind. Fig. 429.) NORTHERN PHALAROPE. RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. Adult ¢ 9, in summer: Above, sooty-gray, with lateral stripes of ochraceous or tawny: neck rich rust-red, nearly or quite all around ; under parts otherwise white, the sides marked with the color of back. Upper tail-coverts like back, 228. 604. 614 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — LIMICOLA. some lateral ones white. Wings blackish, the ends of the greater coverts broadly white, form- ing a conspicuous cross-bar, continued on some of the inner secondaries. Bill and feei black. Length 7.00; extent 18.50; wing 4.25-4.50; tail 2.00; bill, tarsus, middle toe and claw, each, under 1.00. Varies much in plumage with age and season, but easily recognized by the small size and generic characters. Chicks in down rich buff above, silvery-gray below; crown mixed black and yellow; a long black stripe down back, another over each hip, one across the rump, and a shoulder-spot. N. hemisphere at large, breeding in Arctic regions, migrating into the tropics sometimes ; generally distributed, but especially maritime. Eggs 3-4, June, average 1.20 X 0.80 (from 1.30 X 0.75 to 1.10 X 0.82), very variable in size, shape, and color; greenish- olive, brownish-olive to various drab and buffy shades of ground color, usually very boldly spotted and splashed sometimes in finer pattern, with bistrous, chocolate, and lighter brown. PHALA’ROPUS. (Gr. gadaporous, phalaropous, coot-foot.) CooT-FooT PHALAROPES. Bill scarcely longer than head or tarsus; very stout for this family; much depressed, so broad as to be almost spatulate, the tip only moderately acute, lancet-shaped. Upper mandible with the ridge broad and flattened, its apex arched and decurved, its lateral grooves wide and shallow. Interramal space broad and very long, extending nearly to the end of the bill. Nostrils sub- basal, at some distance from the root of the bill. Wings long and pointed. Tail long, rounded, the central rectrices projecting, rather acuminate. Legs and feet much as in Lobipes, but the semipalmation of less extent. P. fulica/rius. (Lat. fulicarius, coot-like; fulica, a coot; fuligo, soot.) CooT-FOOTED TrincaA. Rep PHALAROPE. GRAY PHALAROPE. Adult ¢ 9, in summer: Under parts, with sides of neck, and upper tail-coverts, dark purplish or wine-red, with a glaucous bloom. Top of head and around bill, sooty. Sides of head white, this color meeting on nape. Rump white. Back black, all the feathers edged with tawny or rusty-brown. Quills brownish-black, with white shafts and much white at bases of webs; the coverts dark ash, the ends and inner webs of the greater row white; some of the secondaries entirely white. Biull yellowish, with dusky tip; feet yellowish. Length 7.50; extent 14.50; wing 5.00; tail 2.50; bill 0.90; tarsus 0.75; middle toe and claw rather more. Adult ¢ 9, in winter: Head all around, and entire under parts, white, — with a dusky cireumocular area and nuchal crescent, and a wash of ashy along sides of body. Above, nearly uniform ash. Wings ashy-blackish, the white cross-bar very conspicuous ; bill mostly dark ; feet obscured. A species of cireumpolar distribution in summer, wandering far south in winter, chiefly coastwise. Nesting and eggs not distinguishable from those of the last ; eggs averaging larger, — 1.15 —-1.30 X 0.90-0.95. 42. Family SCOLOPACIDA«: Snipe, etc. Snipe and their allies form a well-defined and perfectly natural assem- blage, one of the two largest limicoline families, agreeing with Plover in most essential respects, yet well distinguished from the pluvialine birds. In general, the bill is much elongated, frequently sev- eral times longer than the head, and in those cases in which it is as short as