( / (X FOR THE PEOPLE FOR EDVCATION FOR SCIENCE LIBRARY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY . "^N Blue Jay, ()/'iinira cristn'"- Swaiiisoii. ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY NEW ENGLAND: CONTAINING FULL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND, AND ADJOINING STATES AND PROVINCES, ARRANGED BY A LONG-APPROVED CLASSIFICATION AND NOMENCLATURE; TOGETHEU 'WITH A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THEIR HABITS, TIMES OF ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE, THEIR DISTRIBUTION, FOOD, SONG, TIME OF BRKEDING, AND A CAREFUL AND ACCURATE DESCRIPTION OF THEIR NESTS AND EGGS; illustrations of mang Species of tfjc 33trti3, anti accurate JFtgureg of tt)cir liggs. By EDWARD A. SAMUELS, CURATOR OF ZOOLOGY IN THE MASSACUUSETT8 STATE CABINET. BOSTON: NICHOLS AND NOTES, 117, Washington Street. 18G7. ^'V^^(^ A'"^ Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 18(57, by f^lDWAUD A. Samuels, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of tlie District of Massachusetts. CAMBRTDG15: STEREOTYrED AND PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON AND SON. PHEFACE. In presenting this volume to the public, I would say that my chief aim in its preparation has been to supply the great demand for some work that might be accessible to all, both in consequence of its moderate price and its plain, untecli- nical language. The want of such a volume is keenly appreciated by our students in this interesting branch of natural history ; and, as all the editions of the valuable and popular works of Wilson and Nuttall are out of print, it has long been almost entirely unsupplied. I have been able, from my own observations, to correct some important errors that have been published as to the breeding habits of different species, and have added, probably, a few new facts to our knowledge respecting those of others ; but I must apologize for being obliged, in a great many cases, to use the observations of others for facts which I have had no opportunity of ascertaining myself. I am greatly indebted to Professor Spencer F. Baird, of Washington, for his generous permission to use the descrip- tions of the birds given by him in the ninth volume of [iii] IV PREFACE. the Pacific Railroad Reports, and for some valuable sjDeci- mens with which he furnished me for descriptions and figures. I also take this occasion to return my thanks to Hon. James S. Grennell, of Washington, and J. P. Norris, of Philadelphia, for the use of many valuable cuts of birds ; and to George A. Boardman, Esq., of Milltown, Me., John Krider, of Philadelphia, Thure Kumlien, of Albion, Wis., J. A. Allen, of Springfield, Mass., William Couper, of Quebec, Lower Canada, Henry A. Purdie, of Boston, and J. G. Rich, of Upton, Me., for many interesting specimens, and much valuable information. Great credit is due Messrs. M. M. Tidd and Nathan Brown, of Boston, for the careful and accurate manner in which they have illustrated the eggs ; subjects, as is well known, exceedingly difficult to figure, particularly on wood. To Messrs. John Wilson & Son, of Cambridge, Mass., my grateful acknowledgments are made for their indefatigable efforts to secure an elegant and perfect typographical exe- cution. The imperfections and shortcomings in the present work are too apparent ; but they are, in most cases, unavoidable, because of the very meagre knowledge that we have of the habits of many of our birds, and the confusion that exists in the nomenclature, in descriptions, and observations concerning them in the works of many authors. E. A. s. Boston, March 25, 1867. CONTENTS. Page Characteristics of Orders 4 ORDER I.— RAPTORES, ROBBERS. Family Falconidae, Falcons 7 Sub-Family Falconinse, Falcons proper 7 Accipitrinte, Hawks 22 Buteoninas, Buzzard-Hawks 34 Aquilinae, Eagles 49 Family StrigidtE, Owls 60 Sub-Family Buboninje, Horned Owls 60 Syrnlnae, Gray Owls 71 Nycteininae, Day Owls 77 ORDER n. — SCANSORES, CLBIBERS. Family Cuculidse, Cuckoos 83 Picidae, Woodpeckers 87 ORDER ni. — INSESSORES, PERCHERS. Sub-Order Strisores 110 Family Trochilidse, Humming-Birds 110 CypselidtE, Swifts 116 Capriraulgidte, Goat-Suckers 119 Sub-Order Clamatores, Screamers 125 Family Alcedinidfe, Kingfishers 1 25 Colopteridae, Flycatchers 128 Sub-Family Tyranninse, Tyrant Flycatchers 128 Sub-Order Oscines, Singers Family Turdidse, Thrushes 145 Sub-Family Miminae, Mocking-Birds 163 Family Saxicolidae, Rock-Inhabiters 175 [v] VI CONTENTS. Pack Family Sylviidaei, Wood-Inliabiters 178 Paridaj, Titmice 182 Sub-Family Sittina;, Nuthatches 186 Family Certhiadaj, Creepers 190 Troglodytida?, Wrens 192 Sylvicolida;, Warblers 199 Sub-Family Motacilliiiffi, Wagtails 199 Sylvicolinse, Wood- Warblers 201 Tanagrinse, Tanagers 250 Family Hirundinidje, Swallows 254 Bombycillida;, Chatterers 264 Laniidas, Shrikes 268 Sub-Family Laniinse, Shrikes proper 268 Vireoninae, Vireos 270 Family Alaudidse, Skylarks 280 Fringillidaj, Seed-Eaters 283 Sub-Family Coccothraustinas, Finches 283 Spizellina;, Sparrows 301 Passerellina3, Buntings 325 Family Icteridae 335 Sub-Family Agelaeinae, Starlings 335 IcterinaB, Oi'ioles 346 Quiscalinai, 'Blackbirds 350 Family Corvidse, Crows 355 Sub-Family Corvinas, Crows proper 355 Garrulinae, Jays 364 ORDER rV^. — RASORES, SCRATCHERS. Sub-Order Columb* 373 Family Columbidae, Doves 373 Sub-Order Galllnae, Game-Birds 378 Family Tetraonidae, Grouse 378 Perdicidae, Partridges 393 ORDER V. — GRALLATORES, WADERS. Sub-Order Herodiones 398 Family Ardeidae, Herons 398 Sub-Order Grallae, Shore-Birds . 412 Family Charadridae, Plovers 413 Phalaropodida;, Phalaropes 424 Scolopacidte, Snipes 426 CONTENTS. Vll Page Family HscmatopodldfB, Oyster-Catchers 432 Recurvirostridse, Avosets 486 Tribe Tringete, Sandpipers 440 Sub-Family TotaniiiEe, Stilts 451 Family Paludicolae. Swamp Inhabiters 470 Sub-Family Rallina3, Rails 470 ORDER VI.— NATATORES, SWIMMERS. Sub-Order Anseres 480 Family Anatidae 480 Sub-Family Cygnime, Swans 480 Anserinaa, Geese ■ . . . 481 Anatinse, River-Ducks 487 Fuligulinae, Sea-Ducks 503 MergiuEe, Sheldrakes 525 Family Sulidse, Gannets 532 Graculidae, Cormorants 534 Laridae, Gulls 537 Sub-Family Lestridina;, Skua-Gulls 537 Larinas, Gulls proper 539 Sterninae, Terns 545 Sub-Order Gaviae 552 Family Procellarida?, Peti-els 552 Colymbidae, Divers 555 Sub-Family ColymbiuEe, Loons 555 Podicipinae, Grebes 558 Family Alcidse 564 Sub-Family Alcinae, Auks 564 Urinae, Guillemots 567 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. INTRODUCTION. AS I have generally adopted, in the present volume, the system of classification, and the nomenclature, &c,, presented by Professor Baird in his report on the Birds of North America, I will state here, that 1 have given, so far as possible, his own remarks in the explanations of the characteristics of the different orders, families, genera, &c., because they are expressed in the most concise and com- prehensive language possible. I have also given the same descriptions of the species as those contained in the above- mentioned report, because, being made from a much greater number of specimens than I could possibly have access to, they are certainly better than I could present from my own observations. The descriptions of the character- istics of the Raptores, the Cfrallce, and the Alcidce, are by John Cassin, of Philadelphia ; those of the Longiperuies Totipalmes and Colymhidce were written by Mr. George N. Lawrence, of New York ; those of the other birds were prepared by Professor Spencer F. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institute. In order that the descriptions of the birds in the follow- [1] INTRODUCTION. ing pages may be perfectly understood, I give the subjoined cuts, illustrating and explaining them : — A represents the primary quills, usually called primaries. B represents the secondary quills, usually called secondaries. C spurious wing. D wing coverts. E tertiary quills, usually called tertiaries. F represents the throat. G is the upper part of the throat, called the jugulum. H is the bill or beak : this is divided into two parts, called the upper and lower mandibles. I is the frons, or forehead : feathers at this point are called frontal feathers. J is the crown : feathers here are called coronal feathers, and occipital. K represents the scapular feathers. L is the back : featliers here are sometimes called interscapular. M represents the tarsus : called shank or leg sometimes. N is the abdomen. O is the rump. P siiows the upper tail coverts. Q indicates the position of the lower tail coverts. INTRODUCTION. R shows on the bill the culmen, or crown, of the upper mandible. S is the naked skin at the base of the bill, called the cere. T shows the position of the lores between the eye and bill. U indicates the gape, the angle at the junction of the upper and lower mandibles : the feathers in this locality are called rictal. V is the commissure, or the folding edges of the mandibles. In addition to these parts, there are the flanks or sides of the bird ; the pectus, or breast ; the flexure, or bend of the wing ; the iris, or irides, the colored circle which sur- rounds the pupil of the eye ; and the toes and tibia : the former are sometimes palmated, as with the swimmers, or natatores ; and the latter is that portion next above the tarsus on the leg;. SYNOPSIS CHARACTERISTICS OP NORTH-AMERICAN BIRDS. THE following synopsis of the orders of birds, taken partly from Keyserling and Blasius, will serve to illus- trate the characteristics of the higher groups in American Ornithology : — A. — Hind Toe on the same Level with the Anterior ONES. a. Posterior face or the sides of the tarsus more or less reticu- lated, granulated, or with scales more numerous or smaller than in front ; sometimes naked. Anterior fixce of the tarsus never in one unbroken plate. Larynx without complex vocal muscles. Order I. Raptores. — Base of the upper mandible with a soft skin or cere. Upper mandible compressed ; its point curving down over that of the lower, forming a strong, sharp hook. Claws generally retractile. Toes, never two behind. Birds usually of large size and of powerful frame, embracing the so-called birds of prey. Order II. Scansores. — Toes in pairs ; two in front and two behind : the outer anterior being usually directed backwards ; the inner, in TrogonidcB. Tail-feathers eight to twelve. Order III. Strisores. — Toes either three anterior and one behind (or lateral), or four anterior: the hinder one is, however, usually versatile, or capable of direction more or less laterally for- ward. Tail-feathers never more than ten. Primaries always ten j the first, long. M SYNOPSIS OF THE 6 Order IV. Clamatores. — Toes, three anterior and one pos- terior (not versatile). Primaries always ten; the first nearly as long as the second. Tail-feathers usually twelve. b. Anterior face of the tarsus in one continuous plate, or divided transversely into large quadrate scales. Plates on either the pos- terior surface of the tarsus or the sides, without subdivisions, never both divided together : when divided, the divisions correspond with the anterior ones. Larynx with peculiar complex singing muscles. Order V. Oscines. — Toes, three anterior, one posterior. Primaries, either nine only ; or, if ten, the first usually short or spurious. B. — Hind Toe raised above the Level of the Rest. Order VL Rasores. — Nostrils arched over by an incumbent thick, fleshy valve. Bill not longer than the head, obtuse anteri- orly. Nails broad, obtusely rounded. Order VIL Grallatores. — Legs lengthened, adapted for walking, naked above the knee. Nostrils naked. Thighs usually quite free from the body. Toes not connected by a membrane, or for a short distance only ; sometimes with a lobed margin. Order VIII. Natatores. — Adapted for swimming. Legs generally short. Toes united by a continuous membrane. Thighs mostly buried in the muscles of the body. CHAEACTERISTICS OF NORTH-AMERICAN BIRDS. ORDER I. — RAPTORES. Robbers. The peculiarities already given of the order Raptores are sufficient to define it among the others mentioned, although many additional features might be named. The order em- braces three families, which are characterized by Keyserling and Blasius as follows : — A. — Diurnal Birds of Prey. Eyes lateral, with lashes, surrounded by a naked or woolly orbi- tal circle ; the feathers above, .below, and behind the eyes directed backwards, as on the rest of the head ; anterior to the eye, the lore imperfectly clothed with a radiating star of bristles, or with scale- like feathers. The inner toe without the nail, shorter, or as long as the outer. Nostrils opening in the cere. Vulturid^. — Bill contracted or indented on the anterior border of the cere, so that the culmen is bow-shaped, or ascending anterior to it. Eyes lying on a level with the sides of the head. Head sparsely covered with downy feathers only, or partially naked. Claws weak, rather slender, and only moderately curved ; the tarsi and bases of the toes reticulated. Falconid^. — The bill not contracted, nor the culmen ascend- ing anterior to the cere. Eyes sunken. The head completely covered with compact, perfect feathers. Claws strong. B. — Nocturnal Birds of Prey. Strigid^. — Eyes directed forwards ; more or less completely surrounded by a crown of radiating bristly feathers. Lores and base of bill densely covered with bristly feathers directed forwards. The nostrils opening on the anterior edge of the cere. The inner toe without its claw longer than the outer, which is versatile. A crown of peculiarly formed feathers on the side of the head and above the throat. Head fully feathered. Plumage very soft and downy. GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. Family FALCONID^. Sub-Family Falconinje. — The Falcons. FALCO, LiNN^us. Falco, LiNN^us, Sj'st. Nat. I. 124 (1766). General form robust and compact. Bill short, cun^ed strongly from the base to the point, which is very sharp, and near which is a distinct and generally prominent tooth; nostrils circular, with a central tubercle; wings long, pointed, formed for vigorous, rapid, and long-continued flight; tail rather long and wide; tarsi short, robust, covered with circular or hexagonal scales; middle toe long; claws large, strong, curved, and very sharp. FALCO ANATUM. — 5o??fl/)a?-te. The Duck Hawk ; Great-Footed Hawk. Falco anatum, Bonap. Comp. List, p. 4 (1838). " Falco pei'egrinus," Wilson, Audubon, and other authors. Description. Adult. — Frontal band white; entire upper parts bluish-cinereous, with trans- verse bands of brownish-black, lighter on the rump; under parts yellowish-white, with cordate and circular spots of black on the breast and abdomen, and transverse bands of black on the sides, under tail coverts, and tibise ; quills and tail brownish- black, the latter with transverse bars of pale cinereous; cheeks with a patch of black; bill light-blue; tarsi and toes yellow Sexes alike. Ymmger. — Entire upper parts brownish-black; frontal spot obscure; large space on the cheeks black; under parts dull yellowish-white, darker than in adult, and with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black; tarsi and toes bluish-lead color, iris hazel. Total length, eighteen to twenty inches ; wing, fourteen to fifteen ; tail, seven to eight inches. 1 I REGRET that I am unable to add, from my own knowl- edge, any facts in relation to the habits of this bird, to what we already possess. It is nowhere a common species, and I have had no opportunities of observing and studying its characteristics. It seems to be a resident of New Eng- land throughout the year, and is oftener found in the neigh- borhood of the sea-coast than in the interior. It is a powerful bird, of rapid flight and great boldness and cour- 1 See Introduction. O ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. age, and is the terror of the water-fowl, which constitute the greater portion of its prey. The breeding season of this species is very early. It commences building the nest usually on an inaccessible cliff, by the first of April. This is constructed of twigs, grasses, and sometimes seaweeds. The eggs are from two to four in number : their form is almost spherical, and their color is of a reddish-brown, covered with numerous minute spots and blotches of a darker shade. The dimensions of the only two specimens accessible to me at present are 1.90 inch in length by 1.75 in breadth, and 1.85 inch in length by 1.72 inch in breadth. The following extracts from the writings of different authors comprise the most interesting observations made of this species : — " The flight of this bird is of astonishing rapidity. It is scarcely ever seen sailing, unless after being disappointed in its attempt to secure the prey which it had been pursuing; and even at such times it merely rises, with a broad spiral circuit, to attain a suffi- cient elevation to enable it to reconnoitre a certain sjjace below. It then emits a cry much resembling that of the sparrow-hawk, but greatly louder, like that of the European kestrel, and flies off swiftly in quest of plunder. The search is often performed with a flight resembling that of the tame pigeon, until, perceiving an object, it redoubles its flappings, and pursues the fugitive with a rapidity scarcely to be conceived. Its turnings, windings, and cuttings through the air, are now surprising. It follows and nears the timorous quarry at every turn and back-cutting which the latter attempts. Arrived within a few feet of the prey, the Falcon is seen protruding his powerful legs and talons to their full stretch. His wings are, for a moment, almost closed ; the next instant, he grapples the prize, which, if too weighty to be carried off directly, he forces obliquely toward the ground, sometimes a hundred yards from where it was seized, to kill it, and devour it on the spot. Should this happen over a large extent of water, the Falcon drops his prey, and sets off in quest of another. On the contrary, should it not prove too heavy, the exulting bird carries it off to a seques- tered and secure place. He pursues the smaller ducks, water-hens, GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 9 and other swimming birds ; and, if they are not quick in diving, seizes them, and rises with them from the water. I have seen this hawk come at the report of a gun, and carry off a teal, not thirty steps distant from the sportsman who had killed it, with a daring assurance as surprising as unexpected. This conduct has been observed by many individuals, and is a characteristic trait of the species. The largest bird that I have seen this hawk attack and grapple with on the wing is the Mallard. " The Great-footed Hawk does not, however, content himself with waterfowl. He is generally seen following the flocks of pigeons, and even blackbirds, causing great terror in their ranks, and forcing them to perform aerial evolutions to escape the grasp of his dreaded talons. For several days, I watched one of them that had taken a particular fancy to some tame pigeons, to secure which it went so far as to enter their house at one of the holes, seize a bird, and issue by another hole in an instant, causing such terror among the rest as to render me fearful that they would abandon the place. However, I fortunately shot the depredator. " They occasionally feed on dead fish, that have floated to the shores or sand-bars. I saw several of them thus occupied, while descending the Mississippi on a journey undertaken expressly for the purpose of observing and procuring different specimens of birds, and which lasted four months, as I followed the windings of that great river, floating down it only a few miles daily. During that period, I and my companion counted upwards of fifty of these hawks, and killed several ; one of which was found to contain in its stomach bones of birds, a few downy feathers, the gizzard of a teal, and the eyes and many scales of a fish. " Whilst in quest of food, the Great-footed Hawk will frequently alight on the highest dead branch of a tree, in the immediate neigh- borhood of such wet or marshy ground as the common snipe resorts to by preference. His head is seen moving in short starts, as if he were counting every little space below ; and, while so engaged, the moment he espies a snipe, down he darts like an arrow, making a rustling noise with his wings, that may be heard several hundred yards off, seizes the snipe, and flies away to some near wood to devour it. " It is a cleanly bird, in respect to feeding. No sooner is the prey dead, than the Falcon turns it belly upwards, and begins to 10 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. pluck it with his bill, which he does very expertly, holding it mean- time quite fast in his talons ; and, as soon as a portion is cleared of feathers, tears the flesh in large pieces, and swallows it with great avidity. " If it is a large bird, he leaves the refuse parts ; but, if small, swallows the whole in pieces. Should he be approached by an enemy, he rises with it, and flies off into the interior of the woods ; or, if he happens to be in a meadow, to some considerable distance, he being more wary at such times than when he has alighted on a tree." — Audubon. The following very complete description of the breeding habits of the Great-footed Hawk is from the pen of J. A. Allen, of Springfield, Mass., one of onr most enthusiastic students, published in the " Proceedings of the Essex Insti- tute," vol. lY. : — " All accounts agree that the nest is placed on almost inaccessible cliff's ; and often it can only be approached by a person being let down by a rope from above. The old birds are repi'esented as bold in the defence of their nest, approaching so near as generally to be easily shot. They arrive early at their nesting-place ; and, though they often bestow no labor in the construction of a nest, beyond the scraping of a slight hollow in the ground, they defend their chosen eyrie for weeks before the eggs are laid, and are known to return for several years to the same site. Incubation commences very early, the young having been found in the nest at Mount Tom, May 30, nearly fledged,^ and on Talcott Mountain, in the same condi- tion, June 1 ; so that the laying of the eggs must occur by the last of March, or very early in April. The number of eggs has been known in several instances to be four. " Mountains Tom and Holyoke, in Massachusetts, aff'ord several localities favorable for the nidification of the Duck Hawk ; and sometimes several pairs, and probably usually more than one, breed about these mountains.^ About the last of May, 1863, Mr. Bennett 1 According to E. B. Hildreth, Esq., of Springfield, who visited this nest May 30, 1861, and noted the fact. The nest on Talcott Mountain, Conn., was found the same season, and first visited only a few days later, — about June 1, 1861. 2 Since the above was written, I have been informed by Mr. Bennett, that a pair of these hawks actually raised their young on Mount Tom in the summer of 1864, notwithstanding one pair was broken up the same season. GKEAT-FOOTED HAWK. 11 saw five adult birds of tliis species about Mount Tom. Dr. TV. Wood, of East-Windsor Hill, Conn., informs me, that two pairs of ^ Duck Hawks were evidently breeding on Talcott Mountain in the summer of 1863. " Discovery of the Eggs on Mount Tom. — Although the Duck Hawk has been long known to breed at the localities in Massachu- setts mentioned above, those conversant with the fact were not aware that any special interest was attached to it, or that its eggs and breeding habits were but very little known to ornithologists ; and so, until very recently, no particular efforts have been made to obtain the eggs. Mr. Bennett, becoming aware of this, resolved to procure the eggs. He accordingly visited Mount Tom for this purpose, April 7, of the present year, when he searched the whole ridge of the mountain, discovered the old birds, and the particular part they most frequented, and also the site of a nest where young had been raised. The old birds were continually near this spot, and manifested much solicitude when it was approached, often flying within six or eight rods ; and once the female came within three, screaming and thrusting out her talons with an expression of great rage and fierceness. The birds did not appear at all shy, being easily approached quite near to ; though, in walking, the crack- ing of sticks and the clinking of the splinters of trap-rock made no little noise. One of the birds appeared to keep close to the eyrie ; and both would approach whenever it was visited, screaming at and menacing the intruder, notwitlistanding that at that time there were no eggs, as was afterwards proved. Mr. Bennett, suspecting that incubation had already commenced, visited the locality again on the 9th, but only saw the old nest ; the birds behaving as before. On April 19, ten days later, he made another visit; and creeping carefully to the summit of the cliff, at a point near the eyrie already spoken of, he saw the female, on looking over the cliff, sitting on the nest, and but five or six yards distant. She eyed him fiercely for an instant, and then, scrambling from the nest to the edge of the narrow shelf supporting it, launched into the air : in a twinkling, Mr. Bennett's unerring aim sent her tumbling dead at the foot of the precipice, several hundred feet below. The nest contained four eggs, which were soon safely secured, and the body of the female was obtained from the foot of the cliff. The male, soon coming about, was shot at ; but he was too shy to come within 12 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. range, except once, while the gun was being reloaded. The eggs were all laid after Mr. Bennett's visit, April 9 ; and their contents showed, April 19, that they had been incubated but a day or two. Incubation seems, in this case, to have commenced sevei'al weeks later than usual, which may be owing to the late snows and unusual coldness of the weather this year, during the first half of April. " Location and Description of the Eyrie. — The situation of the eyrie was near the highest part of the mountain, about one-third of the length of the mountain from the south end, on a narrow shelf in the rock, eight or ten feet from the top of a nearly perpendicular cliif, one hundred and fifty or two hundred feet in height, and was inaccessible except to a bold climber, and at one particular point. The nest was merely a slight excavation, sufficient to contain the eggs : no accessory material had been added. The site had been previously occupied, and probably for several years ; and, for weeks before the eggs were laid, was carefully guarded by the bold and watchful birds. " Description of the Eggs. — The eggs, four in number, as already stated, differ greatly both in shape and coloring ; the extremes in either being widely diverse. They are described in detail, and probably in the same order as laid. "No. 1. Longer diameter, 2.18 inches; shorter diameter, 1.71 inches : the shorter diameter is .885 the longer. The form is somewhat ovoid, one end being slightly larger than the other ; but neither end is very pointed: the point of greatest transverse diameter is .645 the length of the egg fi'om the smallest end. In form, this egg is very nearly like the egg from Greenland, figured by Dr. Brewer in the ' North- American Oology ' (pt. I. plate II. fig. 11). The general color is chocolate-brown, darker and more dense and uniform about the ends, the part about the middle being lighter, varied with small irregular blotches and specks of a darker tint than the ground-color. The color of the smaller end is nearly a uniform dull-red ochre. There is also an irregular belt of scat- tered and apparently very superficial blotches of very dark brown, or nearly black. Something similar is often noticed on the eggs of many birds that lay brown or speckled eggs. " No. 2. Longer diameter, 2.21 inches ; shorter diameter, 1.67 inches : shorter diameter, .755 the longer. Form, nearly an ellip- soid, the point of greatest transverse diameter being scarcely to GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 13 one side of the middle (.54 the length of the egg from the smaller end) ; ends very nearly equal, and not very pointed. The distri- bution of the color in this is nearest of any of the four eggs before me to that figured by Dr. Brewer, and only differs from it in tint. One end (the smaller ?) is very light reddish, or reddish- white, becoming lighter from the middle towards this end, about which it is the lightest, and thinly marked with irregular mottlings of dark reddish chocolate, which present a very superficial grayish tinge that is very characteristic ; the other end (the larger ?) is of a uniform dark ferruginous-brown or dull-red ochre, varied towards the middle by the appearance of the light ground-color between the there scarcely confluent blotches of dark-brown that give the uniform deep tint towards and about this end. " No. 3. Longer diameter, 2.32 inches ; shorter diameter, 1.70 inches : shorter diameter, .733 the longer. Form ovoid, the smaller end elongated and much pointed. This egg is the longest, and much larger in proportion to its diameter than either of the others. The point of greatest diameter is .656 the length of the egg from the smaller end. In this specimen, the contrast between the ground-color and the markings becomes very strong : the ground-color, which is seen chiefly in a broad band about the middle of the egg, being white or reddisli-white ; and the markings very dark reddish-brown, nearly approaching purple, and are quite uniformly distributed in blotches of various sizes, the largest being near the larger end of the egg : the sub-markings are of a lighter reddish-brown, and are more blended. "No. 4. Longer diameter, 2.16 inches; shorter diameter, 1.65 inches: shorter diameter, .765 the longer. Form regular ovoid, the smaller end rather more pointed than the same in No. 1 ; point of greatest transverse diameter .60 the length of the egg from the smaller end. In this specimen, the contrast of the ground-color with the markings is very striking, especially when compared with specimens No. 1 and No. 2 ; and the most peculiar part is, that the greater end of the egg, which in the eggs of most birds is the end usually most subject to markings and to the gi'eatest depth of color, is white, sprinkled sparingly with reddish specks, while the amaller end is deep, bright brick-red, here and there relieved by small specks and patches of white ground-color. About the middle of the egg, the colors are in more equal proportions ; the white patches 14 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. becoming larger on the smaller end towards the middle, and the red patches on the larger end increase towards the same point, where the colors meet and become mixed in irregular patches of various sizes, from mere dots to blotches. The smaller end has a few streaks and blotches of dark-purple overlying apparently the other colors, as in specimen No. 1. " These specimens are very interesting, as indicating the great amount of variation to which the American Peregrine's egus are subject ; and especially so since they are all the product of one pair of birds, laid in one set, and identified as such beyond question. In coloration, a transition can be traced between the extreme in the order they are numbered, which is undoubtedly the order in which they were laid, as indicated by the thickness of the shell as well as by the depth of color. TABLE OF COMPARATIVE MEASUREMENTS. Length. No. 1 2.18 in. No. 2 2.21 „ No. 3 2.32 „ No. 4 2.16 „ Average 2.22 „ Greater extreme . . . 2.32 „ Lef-ser extreme . . . 2.16 „ Amount of variation . 0.16 „ Dr. Brewer's specimen . 2.00 „ " From the above table, it will be seen that the range of varia- tion in the four specimens in length is .16 of an inch, or nearly seven and a half per cent of the average length; in breadth, .06 of an inch, or about three and a half per cent of the average breadth : in the proportion of breadth to length, about fifteen per cent of the length, or nearly twenty per cent of the average pro- portion. The variation in the position of the point of greatest transverse diameter is about eleven and a half per cent of the whole length of the egg ; the form of the eggs varying from an ellipsoid in No. 2 to an ovoid, which, in No. 3, has the smaller end considerably elongated. It will be observed that the egg meas- ured by Dr. Brewer is considerably smaller than my smallest specimen, and that the proportion of breadth to length scarcely differs from the same proportion in No. 1. Breadth. Prop, of breadth to length. Point of greatest transverse diameter from small end. 1.71 in. 0.785 in. 0.640 leng th of the egg. 1.67 „ 0.756 „ 0.540 1.70 „ 0.732 „ 0.656 1.65 „ 0.765 „ 0.600 1.68 „ 0.759 „ 0.609 1.71 „ 0.785 „ 0.656 1.65 „ 0.732 „ 0.540 0.06 „ 0.053 „ 0.116 1.56 „ 0.780 „ GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 15 " In comparing the eggs of the American and the European Peregrine Falcons, Dr. Brewer observes : ' It [the American] closely resembles a variety of the eggs of the European species, but seems to present differences sufficiently well marked to be regarded as specific. . • . The ground-colors of both American and European are a reddish-yellow ; and both are thickly covered with fine dottings of chocolate and ferruginous brown, diffused over the whole egg in nearly equal degree, and to such an extent as nearly to conceal the ground. Tlie length of the American egg is slightly less ; but it is of equal or greater capacity, and varies in its mark- ings from all the European specimens that I have ever met with. These variations, though readily traceable by the eye, are not so easily described. The shades of coloring in both are closely alike : the variation consists more in the distribution of these markings. In the European specimens, the fine markings of chocolate are distri- buted with nearly exact uniformity. In the American, the secondary colorings are now more thickly and now more thinly diffused, — here leaving the ground-color nearly unchanged ; there becoming con- fluent, and blending into waving lines, blotches, and bold dashes. The egg, in consequence, presents a more varied appearance. These markings are also in gi'eater proportion around the larger end of the egg, and the blotches are of a deeper shade ; so there is a variation in the shading between the smaller and larger extremities not no- ticeable in any European egg that I have met with.' "The amount of variation presented by the eggs of the Duck Hawk, described above, shows that but little dependence can be placed on the eggs in deciding specific differences. The eggs men- tioned by Dr. Brewer are not much different from those of the true European Peregrine. One or two of the specimens before me considerably resemble Dr. Brewer's, and likewise eggs of the European species, as figured and .described by authors, while the others are veiy different, one being remarkably so. " The eggs of the different species of this group of Falcons seem to resemble each other greatly, and to be subject to consider- able variation in the same species. In the manner of laying the eggs, there is also a similarity, as might be expected among closely allied species ; the same species sometimes laying them on the bare rocks, and again in a bulky nest of sticks and other coarse materi- als. The nest of this species visited on Talcott Mountain, Conn., 16 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. was of the latter kind ; while on Mount Holyoke the eggs were laid on the bare earth. " Audubon thus describes the nest and eggs of the Duck Hawk, as observed by him at Labrador : — '" I have nowhere seen it so-abundant as along the high, rocky shores of Labrador and Newfoundland, where I procured several adult individuals of both sexes, as well as some eggs and young. The nests were placed on the slielves of rocks, a few feet from the top, and were flat, and rudely con- structed of sticks and moss. In some were found four eggs, in others only two, and in one five. In one nest only a single young bird was found. The eggs vary considerably in color and size, which, I think, is owing to a differ- ence of age in the females ; the eggs of young birds being smaller. The average length of four was two inches, their breadth one and five-eighths. They are somewhat rounded, though larger at one end than the other ; their general and most common color is a reddish or rusty yellowish-brown, spotted and confusedly marked with darker tints of the same, here and there intermixed with lighter. The young are at first thickly covered with soft white down. ... In several instances, we found these falcons breeding on the same ledge with cormorants, Phalacrocorax carho.' " l " Audubon adds that he is perfectly convinced that the Great- footed Falcon, or Duck Hawk of the later ornithologists, is not different from the Peregrine Falcon of Europe. ' Since my first acquaintance with this species,' he says, ' I have observed nothing in its habits, form, or marking on one continent that is different from what is found on the other.' Since the difference in breeding habits supposed to exist when Bonaparte separated them in 1838, and which influenced his judgment in the matter, has been found to be not real, there seems to be nothing whatever in the breeding habits or in the appearance of the eggs to indicate specific differ- ence between the American and Euro23ean birds." HYPOTEIOECHIS COLUMBAEIUS. — Gray. The Pigeon Hawk. Falco columharius, Linnaeus. Sj'st. Nat , I. 128 (1766). Falco intennixtus, Daudin. Traite d'Orn., 11. 141 (1800). Falco temeraiius, Audubon. Orn. Biog., L 381 (1831). Falco Auduboni. Blackwall, Researches, Zool., 1834. Description. Adult Male. — Entire upper parts bluish-slate color, every feather with a black longitudinal line; forehead and throat white; other under parts pale yellowish or 1 Orn. Biog., vol. Y. p. 3G6. THE PIGEON HAWK. 17 reddish white; every feather with a longitudinal line of brownish-black; tibi£e light ferruginous, with lines of black ; quills black, tipped with ashy white ; tail light-bluish ashy, tipped with white and with a wide subterminal band of black, and with several other transverse narrower bands of black; inner webs nearly white; cere and legs yellow; bill blue. Youiujer. — Entire upper plumage duskj^-brown, quite light in some specimens, and with a tinge of ashy ; head above, with narrow stripes of dark brown and ferru- ginous, and in some specimens many irregular spots and edgings of the latter color on the other upper parts; forehead and entire under parts dull-white, the latter ■with longitudinal stripes of light-brown ; sides and flanks light-brown, with pairs of circular spots of white; tibiaj dull white, with dashes of brown; tail pale-brown, with about six transverse bands of white ; cere and legs greenish-yellow. Youiifj. — Upper plumage brownish-black, white of the forehead and under parts more deeply tinged with reddish-yellow; dark stripes wider than the preceding; sides and flanks with wide transverse bands of brownish-black, and with circular spots of j-ellowish-white ; quills black ; tail brownish-black, tipped with white, and ■with about four bands of white; cere and feet greenish-j-ellow; iris dark-hazel. Total length, female twelve to fourteen inches; wing, eight to nine inches; tail, five to five and a half inches. Male, total length, ten to eleven inches; wing, seven and a half to eight inches ; tail, five inches. This species is a pretty common spring and fall visitor in all the New-England States, and is sometimes a resident in the southern sections of these States through the winter ; specimens being occasionally taken as late as January, in mild seasons. This bird is one of the most destructive of our rapacia : he kills all the smaller birds, robins, black- birds, sparrows in great numbers, and even attacks the wild pigeon and dove, which he is almost always able to overtake and capture, as he is possessed of very great rapidity of flight. I have seen one of these hawks make a pounce at a sparrow that was singing on a low bush ; and the bird happily eluding his clutch, as quick as a flash of light, he turned, and pursued and captured a robin that had taken flight at his first appearance, and was already quite a considerable distance off: as the robin is well known to have great speed of flight, this circumstance well illustrates the velocity of this hawk. The flight of the bird consists of a series of flaps of the wings, with but a very few intervals of soaring : in pursuing the wild pigeon, the strokes of the wings of the two birds are nearly simultaneous. As he strikes his prey, he almost 2 18 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. always, instead of clutching it as it falls, alights after it has fallen, in the same manner as the Great-footed Hawk. I have noticed the same fact with tlie Red-tailed Hawk ; the victim seems to fall dead, or, at any rate, perfectly incapable of motion : whether this is the result of a kind of mesmer- ism, as it were, similar to the influence of the cats on their prey, or the hawk transfixes his quany through the vitals,' I am unable to say. The Pigeon Hawk, in alighting on a branch or otlier object, always descends below the level of it, and rises up ; and usually turns abruptly about, and faces the direction from which it came, as soon as it has struck its perch. This habit is observable in many of the other hawks. While perching, the tail is often flirted up and down, and the wings are partially opened and shut in a nervous manner, as if the bird were anxious to be off again in the pursuit of game. It is not improbable that it breeds in New England, although I do not remember of an authenticated instance. I have no egg of this bird in my collection, and have never met with its nest. There seems considerable confusion regarding this species, both as to its nesting-place and its eggs. Mr. Hutchins says (" Fauna Boreali Americana," n. 36) it " makes its nest on rocks and in hollow trees, of sticks and grass, lined with feathers ; laying from two to four white eggs, marked with red spots." Audubon, in describing the eggs, says (" Birds of America ") : " Mr. Hutchins's description of the eggs of this bird is greatly at variance with my own observations. The eggs, in three instances which occurred at Labrador, were five ; they measured an inch and three-quarters in length, an inch and a quarter in breadth, and were rather elongated ; their ground-color a dull yellowish-brown, thickly clouded with irregular blotches of dull, dark reddish-brown." Dr. Brewer says (" Synopsis of Birds of North America," as an appendix to Wilson's " Ornithology ") it " nests in low Tlati: J. Fig. 1. l'is«on llnvrk, Hi/potrinrr/iis (■otumOarius. Gray. ,. 2. Sparrow Il.-iwk. Thinunaiiiis: sparvcrius. Vicillot. „ 3. Sharp-shinned Hawk, AcHpnerfustus. Bonapart,. ., 1. Ilea-shouldrred Hawk, Buteo [meatus. Jardine. ad-winged Hawk, BuUo Pennsijlvanicui. Bonaparto. THE SPARROW HAWK. 19 fir-trees, twelve feet from the ground ; eggs three, dull yellowish-brown, with dark reddish-brown blotches." A single egg before me, kindly loaned for descriptions and figure by George A. Boardman of Milltown, Me., is of the above color. It is admirably figured, fig. 1, plate I., in this volume. It is a trifle more pointed than the eggs of rapacious birds usually are, and measures 1.50 inch in length, and 1.14 inch at its greatest breadth. TINNUNCULUS SPARVERIUS.— rteilht. The Sparrow Hawk. Ffilco sparvei-ius, Linn!Bus. Syst. Nat., I. 128 (1766). Falco dominicenses, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 285 (1788). Falco gracilis, cinnamoninus, and isabeUinus. Sw. Cab. Cy., p. 281 (1838). Description. Adult. — Frontal band and space, including the ej^es and throat, white ; spot on the neck behind, two others on each side of the neck, and line running downwards from before the eye, black; spot on the top of the head, the neck behind, back, rump and tail, light rufous or cinnamon color; under parts generally a paler shade of the same rufous as the back, frequently nearly white, but sometimes as dark as the upper parts, and always with more or less numerous circular or oblong spots of black; quills brownish-black, with white bars on their inner webs; tail tipped with white, frequently tinged with rufous, and with a broad subterminal band of black, outer frequently white, tinged with ashy, and barred with black; bill light-blue; legs yellow ; back generally with transverse stripes of black, but frequently with very few, or entirely without ; rufous spot on the head, variable in size, and some- times wanting. Younger Male. — Upper parts as above ; wing coverts and tail feiTuginous red, with numerous transverse bands of brownish-black; under parts with numerous longitudinal stripes, and on the sides with transverse bands of brownish-black; external feathers of the tail palest; broad subterminal band on the tail, obscure or wanting. Young. — All the rufous parts of the plumage with wider transverse bands of brownish-black; wing coverts, dark bluish-cinereous, with large circular spots of black; under parts with longitudinal stripes, and large circular spots of black; iris very dark hazel. Total length, eleven to twelve inches; wing, seven to seven and a half; tail, five to five and a half inches. This beautiful little hawk is a summer inhabitant of all the New-England States, and, in the more southern districts, a resident throughout uie year. It is a not very common species, hardly a half-dozen birds being seen in these States 20 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. by a student through the year, no matter how enthusiastic he may be. I can add nothing to Wilson's description that will be of interest : it is as follows : — " The habits and manners of this bird are well known. It flies rather irregularly, occasionally suspending itself in the air, hover- ing over a particular spot for a minute or two, and then shooting off in another direction. It perches on the top of a dead tree or pole, in the middle of a field or meadow, and, as it alights, shuts its long wings so suddenly that they seem instantly to disappear : it sits here in an almost perpendicular position, sometimes for an hour at a time, frequently jerking its tail, and reconnoitring the ground below, in every direction, for mice, lizards, &c. It approaches the farmhouse, particularly in the morning, skulking about the barn- yard for mice or young chickens. It frequently plunges into a thicket after small birds, as if by random, but always with a particular, and generally a fatal aim. One day I observed a bird of this species perched on the highest top of a large poplar, on the skirts of the wood, and was in the act of raising the gun to my eye, when he swept down, with the rapidity of an arrow, into a thicket of briers, about thirty yards off, where I shot him dead, and, on coming up, found a small field-sparrow quivering in his grasp. Both our aims had been taken in the same instant ; and, unfortunately for him, both were fatal. It is particularly fond of watching along hedge-rows and in orchards, whei'e small birds usually resort. When grasshoppers are plenty, they form a con- siderable part of its food. THE SPARROW HAWK. 21 "Though small snakes, mice, lizards, &c., are favorite morsels with this active bird, yet we are not to sujjpose it altogether desti- tute of delicacy in feeding. It will seldom or never eat of any thing that it has not itself killed ; and even that, if not (as epicures would term it) in good eating order, is sometimes rejected. A very respectable friend, through the medium of Mr. Bartram, informs me, that one morning he observed one of these hawks dart down on the ground, and seize a mouse, which he carried to a fence-post, where, after examining it for some time, he left it, and, a little while after, pounced upon another mouse, which he instantly car- ried off to his nest in the hollow of a tree hard by. The gentle- man, anxious to know why the hawk had rejected the first mouse, went up to it, and found it to be almost covered with lice, and greatly emaciated. Here was not only delicacy of taste, but sound and prudent reasoning : " If I carry this to my nest," thought he, " it will fill it with vermin, and hardly be worth eating." " The Blue Jays have a particular antipathy to this bird, and frequently insult it by following and imitating its notes so exactly as to deceive even those well acquainted with both. In return for all this abuse, the Hawk contents himself with now and then feasting on the plumpest of his persecutors, who are, therefore, in perpetual dread of him ; and yet, through some strange infatuation, or from fear that, if they lose sight of him, he may attack them unawares, the Sparrow Hawk no sooner appears than the alarm is given, and the whole posse of jays follow." Although I have had quite a number of the eggs of this bird, I have been able to meet with but one nest, notwith- standing I have repeatedly searched for it in many localities. This was built in a crow's nest of the previous year, in a hemlock-tree, about thirty feet from the ground. There had been apparently but few alterations of the old nest ; these consisting principally of the addition of a few loose sticks and twigs to the interior of the nest, making it nearly a flat platform. The locality was the valley of the Magalloway River, about twenty-five miles north of Lake Umbagog, Me. The aggs were four in number; and these, with several other specimens collected in Upton, Me., 22 OENITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. Calais, Me., and Williamstown, Mass., are before me. I am inclined to think, from what I can learn from collectors and others, that four is the usual number laid by this bird, — probably seldom more. Their ground-color varies from a deep cream or yellowish-buff to a pale reddish-white : this is covered, more or less thickly in diffei^ent specimens, with spots and confluent blotches of reddish-brown and Vandyke- brown, or chocolate. Their form is nearly spherical, being but very little pointed at either end. Their dimensions vary from 1.40 inch by 1.15 inch to 1.30 inch by 1.13 inch. This species breeds later than most of the other birds of prey, as the eggs which I found in Maine on the 11th of June, 1864, were newly laid. Sub-Family AcciPiTRiNiE. — The Hawks. Form rather long and slender ; tail and legs long ; wings rather short ; bill short, hooked ; upper mandible lobed, but not toothed. Very active and vigilant, and swift of flight; pursuing their prey, which consists of birds and small quadrupeds, into the woods and forests. ASTUR, Lac. Astur, Lacepede, Mem. Inst., IIL p. 506. The largest birds of this sub-family. General fonn strong, but rather long and slender; wing rather short; tail long and broad; tarsi long, covered in front with rather wide transverse scales; toes and claws moderate, the latter fully curved, sharp; bill short, curved; nostrils large, ovate, inserted in the cere. This genus contains about twelve species of all countries. ASTUE ATRICAPILLUS. — £owoj9ar)!e. The Goshawk. Falco atricapillvs, Wilson. Am. Orn., VL 80 (1812). Falco regalis, Temm. PI. col. I. (liv. 84, about 1827). DiEclalion 2ncticm, Lesson. Traite d'Orn., I. 67 (1831). Desceiption. Adult. — Head above, neck behind, and stripe from behind the eye, black, generally more or less tinged with ashy; other upper parts dark ashy bluish or slate color, with the shafts of the feathers black, and frequently with the feathers narrowly edged with black, presenting a squamate or scale-like appearance ; a con- spicuous stripe over the eye, and an obscure and partially concealed occipital and THE GOSHAWK. 23 nuchal band, white; entire under parts mottled with white and light ashy-brown; every feather with a longitudinal line of dark -brown on its shaft, and with numerous irregular and imperfect transverse lines or narrow stripes of light ashy-brown, more distinct and regular on the abdomen and tibice; quills brown, with bands of a deeper shade of the same color, and of ashy-white on their inner webs; tail same color as other upper parts; under surface very pale, nearly white, and having about four obscure bands of a deeper shade of ashy-brown, and narrowly tipped with white; under tail coverts white. Yoiaifj. — Entire upper parts, including head, dark-brown, with the feathers, especially on the head and neck behind, edged and spotted with light-reddish, or nearly white; tail light-ashy, with about live wide and conspicuous bands of ashy- brown, and narrowly tipped with ashy-white; quills brown, with wide bars of a darker shade of the same color, and wide bands of reddish-white on their inner webs; under parts white, generally tinged witli yellowish, and tVequently with red- dish; every feather Avith a longitudinal stripe terminating in an ovate spot of brown; sides and tibiae trequently with circular and lanceolate spots and irregular bands of the same color, the tibise generally verj^ conspicuously marked in this manner; under tail* coverts white, with a few large lanceolate spots of brown. ^^ Adult. — Bill black, light-blue at the base; cere greenish-yellow; ej^ebrow greenish-blue; iris reddish-orange; feet yellow. '■'■Young. — Bill as in the adult; iris light-yellow; feet greenish-j^ellow." — AUDUBOX. Total length, female, twenty-two to twent3'-four inches; wing about fourteen; tail, ten and a half to eleven inches. Male, about twenty inches ; wing, twelve and a half; tail, nine and a half inches. This liandsome hawk is a not very common winter visitor in the New-England States ; at least, such is my observa- tion, which is corroborated by many others, altlioiigh Mr. Verrill, in his catalogue of the birds of Maine,^ says it is common, and that it breeds there. I have never met with a nest of this species, and have no authentic specimen of its egg in my collection. In 1864, a gentleman brought me two eggs that he found in a large hawk's nest in Woburn, Mass. He described the hawk, which he killed, and which corresponded pretty closely with that of this bird. I showed him mounted specimens of the Goshawk, and he thought them identical with his bird. As there was still a doubt concerning the identity of the eggs, I did not label them as of this species, and for the same reason will not figure them in this work. So far as description goes, they are almost exactly like the eggs of the Red-tailed Hawk 1 Proceedings Essex Institute, vol. IH p. 140. 24 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. {Buteo horealis'), but are a little more of a bluish-white in tlie ground-color. For some reason, this species was quite abundant in the neighborhood of Boston in the winter of 1859-60 : probably a dozen or fifteen specimens were sent to me in the different plumages, and I have heard of many others being shot in the same season. I have had but few opportunities for studying the habits of this hawk, and, as my observations have been very meagre, I will give Audubon's description, which, so far as my experience goes, is very accurate ; it is as follows : — " Tlie flight of the Goshawk is extremely rapid and protracted. He sweeps along the margins of the fields, through the woods, and by the edges of ponds and rivers, with such speed as to enable him to seize his prey by merely deviating a few yards from his course ; assisting himself on such occasions by his long tail, which, like a rudder, he throws to the right or left, upw^ards or downwards, to check his progress, or enable him suddenly to alter his course. At times he passes like a meteor through the underwood, where he secures squirrels and hares with ease. Should a flock of wild pigeons pass him when on these predatory excursions, he imme- diately gives chase, soon overtakes them, and, forcing his way into the very centre of the flock, scatters them in confusion, when you may see him emerging with a bird in his talons, and diving towards the depth of the forest to feed upon his victim. When travelling, he flies high, with a constant beat of the wings, seldom moving in large circles like other hawks ; and, wlien he does this, it is only a few times in a hurried manner, after which he continues his journey. "Along the Atlantic Coast, this species follows the numerous flocks of ducks that are found there during the autumn and winter ; and greatly aids in the destruction of mallards, teals, black ducks, and other species, in company with the Peregrine Falcon {Falco anatum). It is a restless bird, ajii^arently more vigilant and indus- trious than many other hawks, and it seldom alights unless to devour its prey ; nor can I recollect ever having seen one alighted for many minutes at a time, without having a bird in its talons. THE GOSHAWK. 25 Wlien thus engaged with its prey, it stands nearly upright ; and in general, when perched, it keeps itself more erect than most species of hawks. It is extremely expert at catching snipes on the wing ; and so well do these birds know their insecurity, that, on its approach, they prefer squatting to endeavoring to escape by flight. " "When the passenger pigeons are abundant in the western country, the Goshawk follows their close masses, and subsists upon them. A single hawk suffices to spread the greatest terror among their ranks ; and the moment he sweeps towards a flock, the whole immediately dive into the deepest woods, where, not- withstanding their great speed, the marauder succeeds in "clutching the fattest. "While travelling along the Ohio, I observed several hawks of this species in the train of millions of these pigeons. Towards the evening of the same day, I saw one abandoning its course to give chase to a large flock of Crow Blackbirds (Quts- calus versicolor), then crossing the river. The hawk approached them with the swiftness of an arrow, when the blackbirds rushed together so closely that the flock looked like a dusky ball passing through the air. On reaching the mass, he, with the greatest ease, seized first one, then another and another, giving each a squeeze with his talons, and suffering it to drop upon the water. In this manner he had procured four or five, before the poor birds reached the woods, into which they instantly plunged, when he gave up the chase, swept over the water in graceful curves, and picked the fruits of his industry, carrying each bird singly to the shore. Reader, is this instinct or reason ? " The nest of the Goshawk is placed on the branches of a tree, near the trunk or main stem. It is of great size, and resembles that of our crow, or some species of owl ; being constructed of with- ered twigs and coarse grass, with a lining of fibrous strips of plants resembling hemp. It is, however, much flatter than that of the crow. In one I found, in the month of April, three eggs ready to be hatched : they were of a dull bluish-white, sparingly spotted with light reddish-brown. In another, which I found placed on a pine-tree, growing on the eastern rocky bank of the Niagara River, a few miles below the great cataract, the lining was formed of withered herbaceous plants, with a few feathers : the eggs were four in number, of a white color tinged with greenish-blue, large, much rounded, and somewhat granulated. 26 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. " In another nest were four young birds covered with buff-col- ored down, their legs and feet of a pale yellowish flesh-color, the bill light-blue, and the eyes pale-gray. They differed greatly in size, one being quite small compared with the rest. I am of opinion that few breed to the south of the State of Maine." I once witnessed an attempt of this bird to captnre a connnon gray squirrel, that was quite interesting to the beholder, but certainly not to the animal. While on a col- lecthig excursion, a few miles from Boston, as I was seated beneath a huge oak, observing the movements of some small birds, I heard the barking of a squirrel; and, while looking for his whereabouts, I suddenly heard a whistling sound as of a body falling through the air, and, as quick as thought, a Goshawk struck on the limb, on the spot where, a second before, the squirrel had been seated : luckily for the squirrel, the hawk missed his aim, the animal giving a sudden dodge beneath the limb the moment the hawk appeared. All who are acquainted with the habits of this quadruped know that it is very successful in dodging behind the limb of a tree, and hugging it closely. The hawk sat a few moments, apparently surprised at his disappointment, when, suddenly launching into the air, he espied it beneath the limb, hugging for dear life. As soon as he had moved, the squirrel turned adroitly on the limb, still keeping it between itself and its enemy. After several trials, the hawk always alighting and remaining perched on the limb a few seconds, he succeeded, by a dexterous feint, in securing his prey, when, on the instant, I fired, bringing the hawk and his victim to the ground. The hawk dropped dead; but the squirrel, after lying on the ground a moment, got up, and staggered off beneath a pile of rocks, and I neither saw nor heard any thing more of it. ACCIPITER, Brisson. Accipiter, Brisson, Om., I. 310 (1760). General form more slender and smaller than Astur, but otherwise similar; wings short, tail nng, tarsi long and slender, frequently with the scales in front nearly THE cooper's hawk. 27 obsolete. Contains about twenty species of all countries, several of which intimately resemble each other. Colors in North-American species very similar to each other, especially in adult specimens, though they differ materially in size. ACCIPITEE COOPERII. — Bonaparte. The Cooper's Hawk. Falco Cooperii, Bonaparte. Am. Orn., II. 1 (1828). Falco Slanleii, Audubon. Orn. Biog., I. 186 (1831). Description. Adult. — Head above brownish-black, mixed with white on the occiput, other upper parts darlv ashy-brown, witli the shafts of the feathers brownish-black; an obscure rufous collar on the neck behind ; throat and under tail coverts white, the former with lines of dark-brown ; other under parts transversely barred with light rufous and white; quills ashy-brown, with darker bands, and white irregular markings on their inner webs; tail dark cinereous, tipped with white, and with four wide bands of brownish-black. Young. — Head and neck behind yellowish-white, tinged with rufous, and with longitudinal stripes and oblong spots of brown; other upper parts light amber- brown, with large partially concealed spots and bars of white ; upper tail coverts tipped with white; under parts white, with narrow longitudinal stripes of light- brown ; tail as in adult ; bill bluish horn-color ; tarsi yellow ; iris in adult, reddish- orange ; in young, bright yellow. Total length, male fifteen to sixteen inches; wing, nine; tail, eight inches. Female, total length, seventeen to eighteen inches; wing, nine and a half to ten; tail, nine inches. It is a noticeable fact in the history of many of our birds, that in different periods, from some cause or other, many species have increased in number to a remarkable extent, while others have diminished in like proportion. Some have moved from sections in which they were for years common residents, to others in which they were, compara- tively, strangers. The Cooper's or Stanley Hawk of Audubon has had one of these changes ; and throughout New England, where it was formerly a comparatively rare species, it is now one of the most abundant of our birds of prey. The habits of the Cooper's Hawk are generally well known. It is the smallest of those known by the name of " Hen Hawk ; " and the mischief it does among domestic poultry well earns for it this title. 28 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. Powerful, active, and gifted with great rapidity of flight, he is able to attack and conquer birds and animals greatly his superior in size and weight. The Common Hare (^Lepus Americanus) often falls a victim to his voracity. Ducks, grouse, squirrels, and small birds, are destroyed by him ; and I have known of his capturing and eating -snakes and other reptiles, and even grasshoppers and crickets. In hunting for prey, he usually flies just above the trees in the forest, and quite near the earth in the open country. His flight consists of a rapid succession of beatings of the wings, with intervals of equal periods of soarings. On discovering a bird or other object that he may wish to capture, he immediately gives chase. If the bird takes to the foliage of the trees, he immediately follows, turning at every turn, doubling and twisting through the trees with wonderful speed and success ; and the chase is usually but a very short one indeed before he alights to feed on the quarry that he has secured. He is very destructive to the flocks of young ducks that breed in the wilder districts of the country. I remember an instance of one of his raids on these birds that is not without interest. While on a hunting and collecting excursion in the wilds of Maine, up the Magalloway River, — a beautiful stream that empties into the Androscoggin, near Lake Umbagog, — I wandered down the river banks, that are, for nearly the entire length of the stream, fringed with a thick growth of trees, away from the camp perhaps a mile, I was watching an old Black Duck (^Anas ohseura) and her brood of eight " flappers " disporting themselves in the water, and impa- tiently waiting for an opportunity for a shot; for, kind reader, I can assure you that a " broiled flapper," or wild duck about half grown, is a delicacy which, once enjoyed, is eagerly sought for by the frequenters of the wilderness. As I was creeping cautiously within shot of the birds, I sud- denly heard a " quack " and splash, and the whole bevy was THE cooper's hawk. 29 gone. At that instant, a Cooper's Hawk, that had evidently just made a swoop at the flock and missed it, alighted on a small tree that hung over the water, and remained perfectly motionless. Xow, when man attempts to secure any of these young ducks, the parent almost always flies off", while tlie young dive and swim under water to the banks of the stream or pond where they may be. When a bird of prey makes his appearance, the whole family dives beneath the surface, and swims off; the mother in one direction, the young in another. I have noticed the same fact several times, and conclude that the parent, who frequently makes her appearance above the surface, does so because she is capable of enduring submersion better than her young, and shows herself often, a little farther from her offspring every time, until she had led their pursuer away from them ; giving them, in the mean time, a chance to swim off', and conceal themselves. The hawk, in this instance, was not to be deceived. He followed the parent but once, and then immediately returned to his perch. The banks of the river at this place were steep, there was no vegetation growing in the water, and the chances for obtaining a meal from one of the young ducks were decidedly in the hawk's favor. The young ducks are very expert divers. They have the faculty of sinking beneath the surface at any alarm, and will remain there perhaps half a minute. Unfortunately for them, they cannot swim beneath the surface a great distance, and generally come up quite near the place where they went down. The hawk sat attentively inspecting the river in different places; and, as one of the young birds made its appearance, he marked it for his victim. The moment it rose to the surface, he made a swoop for it, when, of course, it dove. This was repeated several times, the young duck remaining beneath the water a shorter length of time at each dive. Soon it was manifest that the hawk would obtain his quarry, when, as he flew for 30 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. the duck the last time, I pulled trigger on him ; for we are all eminently selfish, and when one of the lower animals, as we regard them, interferes with us in our pleasures or comforts, even if they are fulfilling the dictates of their natures, we brush them from existence, as if zve were the only rightful possessors of this beautiful world. Fortu- nately for the hawk, unfortunately for the tlapper, and much to my chagrin, the cap failed to explode, and the poor duck was borne off for food for the family of the hawk. The Cooper's Hawk breeds in all the New-England States, and is partial to no particular locality. I have found the nest in sections not a mile from the seacoast ; in the deepest woods of Northern Maine; and liave had tlie eggs sent me from different localities in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. The nest of this species is more often found than that of any other. In my collecting trips, my experience has been that I have found certainly two nests of this to one of all others. Audubon says, " The nest is usually placed in the forks of the branch of an oak-tree, towards its extremity. In its general appearance, it resembles that of the common crow, for which I have several times mistaken it. It is com- posed externally of numerous crooked sticks, and has a slight lining of grasses and a few featliers." This does not agree with my observation ; for, in great numbers of nests that I have examined, in which I have found no great variation in character, they were almost invariably in a fork of a tall tree near the top, — in three cases out of five in the differ- ent lihies. They were large, bulky affairs, constructed of twigs and sticks, some of them nearly half an inch m diameter : they were decidedly hollowed, and often lined with leaves and the loose bark of the cedar. The eggs of this species vary in number from two to four. I do not remember ever having found more than four, wliich number is usually laid. Their ground-color is a dirty bluish-white, with often thinly scattered spots of brown, or obscure THE SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. 31 blotches and markings of a shade darker than the ground- color of the egg. A great number of specimens in my col- lection exhibit a variation in dimensions of from 1.82 inch to 2 inches in length, by from 1.50 inch to 1.62 in breadth. The average dimensions are about 1.78 inch by 1.52 inch. The breeding season varies considerably with this species, even in the same latitude. I have found nests with eggs as early as the first week in May, and as late as the first week in June. Usually the eggs are laid before the 20th of May in Massachusetts. The season for the northern district of New England seems to be from one to two weeks later than this ; that of the southern district, about a week earlier. A pair of birds that nested in Newton, Mass., in the summer of 1866, were robbed of their eggs four times in the season. They built different nests in the same grove, and laid in the four litters four, four, five, and three eggs respectively. The eggs of the last litter were very small ; but little larger than the eggs of the Sharp-shinned Hawk. ACCIPITER FUSCUS. — G;rae?m. The Sharp-shinned Hawk. Fdlcnfuscus et duMus, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 280, 281 (1788). Accipiter stnatus, Vieillot. Ois. d'Am. Sept., I. 42 (1807). Fiilco velox et Pennsijlvanicus, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. 116, and VI. p. 13 (1812). S/Jarvius Uneatus, Vieillot. Ency. Meth., III. 1266 (1823). Nisus Maljini, Lesson. Traite d'Orn., I. 58 (1831). Description. Adult. — Small; tail rather long; legs and toes slender; entire upper parts brownish-black, tinged with ashy; occiput mixed with white; throat and under tail coverts white, the tbrmer with lines of black on the shafts of the feathers; other under parts tine light rufous, deepest on the tibiae, and with transverse bands of white; shafts of the feathers with lines of dark-brown; tail ashy-brown tipped with white, and with about four bands of brownish-black; quills brownish-black, with bands of a darker shade, and of white on their inner webs ; secondaries and tertiaries with large partially concealed spots of white. Young. — Entire upper parts dull umber-brown, tinged with ashy; neck behind mixed with white ; greater wing coverts and shorter quills with large partially con- cealed spots of white ; under parts white, with longitudinal stripes and circular and ovate spots of reddish-bro^vn, changing into transverse bands on the flanks 32 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. and tibiae; under tail coverts white; bill dark bluish horn-color; cere and tarsi yellow; iris reddish-yellow. Total length of female, twelve to fourteen inches; wing, seven and a half to eight; tail, six and a half to seven hiclies. Male, ten to eleven inches; wing, six to six and a half; tail, five to five and a half inches. This well-known little species is a general and common summer inhabitant of all the New-England States : it makes its ajipearance with the arrival of the earliest flight of the smaller migratory birds in spring, and remains until the latter part of autumn ; and, in the southern portions of these States, even throughout the winter. The habits of the bird are so well described by Audubon/ that I cannot do better than include the description here. He says : — " "VVliile in search of prey, the Sharp-shinned Hawk passes over the country, now at a moderate height, now close over the land, in so swift a manner, that, although your eye has marked it, you feel surprised that the very next moment it has dashed off, and is far away. In fact, it is usually seen when least expected, and almost always but for a few moments, unless when it has procured some prey, and is engaged in feeding upon it. The kind of vacillation or wavering with which it moves through the air appears perfectly adapted to its wants ; for it undoubtedly enables this little warrior to watch and to see at a single quick glance of its keen eyes every object, whether to the right or to the left, as it pur- sues its course. It advances by sudden dashes, as if imjietuosity of movement were essential to its nature, and pounces upon and strikes such objects as best suit its ajipetite, but so very suddenly that it appears quite hopeless for any of them to try to escape. Many have been the times, reader, when watching this vigilant, active, and industrious bird, I have seen it plunge headlong among the briery patches of one of our old fields, in defiance of all thorny obstacles ; and, passing through, emerge on the other side, bearing off with exultation in its sharp claws a sparrow or finch, which it had surprised when at rest. At other times, I have seen two or three of these hawks, acting in concert, fly at a Golden-winged Woodpecker while alighted against the bark of a tree, where it thought itself secure, but was suddenly clutched by one of the hawks throwing, as it were, its long legs with the quickness of feHARP-SHiNNED IIawk, Acctfiter fuscus. Bouai)arte. THE SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. 33 thought, protruding its sharp talons, and thrusting them into the back of the devoted bird, while it was endeavoring to elude the harassing attacks of another, by hopping and twisting around the tree. Then down to the ground assailants and assailed would fall, the woodpecker still offering great resistance, until a second hawk would also seize ujwn it, and, with claws deeply thrust into its vitals, put an end to its life, when both the marauders would at once commence their repast." Niittall informs us that " descending furiously and blindly upon its quarry, a young hawk of this species broke through the glass of the greenhouse at the Cambridge Botanic Garden ; and, fearlessly passing through a second glass par- tition, he was only brought up by the third, and caught, though little stunned by the effort. His wing-feathers were much torn by the glass, and his flight in this way so impeded as to allow of his being approached." Whilst travelling to some point at a considerable distance, the Sharp-shinned Hawk flies high, though in a desultory manner, with irregular quick flappings of its wings ; and at times, as if to pause for a while and examine the objects below, moves in short and unequal circles, after which it is seen to descend rapidly, and then follow its course at the height of only a few ,feet from the ground, visiting, as it were, every clump of low bushes or brier patches likely to be inhabited by the smaller birds, on which it principally feeds. Agaui, after having satisfied its hunger, it at times rises to a great height, and indeed now and then is scarcely discernible from the ground. Notwithstanding the comparative abundance of this spe- cies, its nest, until quite recently, has been quite rarely found. Audubon met with but three, and neither Wilson nor Nuttall ever saw one. I have been so fortunate as to find several, two of which had in each four eggs. They were built in the forks of pine-trees, about twenty-five feet from the ground : they were loosely constructed of sticks and twigs, were not much hollowed, and were lined with 3 o4 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. smaller twigs and a few leaves. Fourteen eggs in my col- lection, from different parts of New England, exhibit but slight variations ; they are of a bluish-white color, and covered at the larger end with spots and blotches of chocolate-brown : in some specimens these blotches are con- fluent, making a ring near the large end ;^ others are covered nearly over their entire surface with these markings. The form of the egg is nearly spherical ; the length varying from 1.50 inch to 1.23 inch, and the breadth from 1.24 inch to 1.06 inch. Average dimensions about 1.40 inch by 1.20 inch. I have found the eggs as early as the 10th of May ; but usually they are not laid before the 20th, in the latitude of Massachusetts. The same nest is occupied by the parent birds for several years, and the female is a per- sistent layer. A case came to my knowledge in the spring of 1864, when the nest was robbed three times : fourteen eggs were removed ; and, if the female had not been killed when the last eggs were taken, she would probably have laid another litter, as there were several found in her nearly formed. Both sexes, as with nearly all the other birds of prey, incubate. Sub-Family Buteonin^. — The Buz::ard-HawTcs. General form heavy; flight vigorous and long continued, but not so rapid as in the preceding sub-families. Subsist mainly on small quadrupeds and reptiles. BUTEO, CuviER. Bnieo, Covier, Regne Animal, L 323 (1817). Bill short, wide at base ; edges of upper mandible lobed ; nostrils large, ovate , wings long, wide, fourth and fifth quills usually longest; tail moderate, rather wide; tarsi moderate, robust, with transverse scales before and behind, laterally with small circular and hexagonal scales; toes moderate, or rather short; claws strong. Con- tains about thirty species, inhabiting all countries. 1 The specimen, fig. 3, plate L, is marked with a ring of confluent blotches at the smaller end, a peculiarity rarely met with. THE RED-TAILED HAWK. 35 BUTEO BOEEALIS. — HeiVfot. The Eed-tailed Hawk. Falco borealis, Leverianus, and Jamaicensis, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 266 (1788). Falco aquilinus, Bartram. Tniv., p. 290 (1791). £uteo ferrugiiieicauchis, Vieillot. Ois. d'Am. Sept., I. 32 (1807). Accipiter ruficaudus, Vieillot. Ois. d'Am. Sept., I. 43 (1807). Buleo fulvous and Americanus, Vieillot. Nouv. Diet., IV. 472, 477 (1816). Description. Adult. — Tail bright rufous, narrowly tipped with white, and having a subtermi- nal band of black ; entire upper parts dark umber-brown, lighter and with fulvous edgings on the head and neck ; upper tail coverts yellowish-white, with rufous and brown spots and bauds; throat white, with narrow longitudinal stripes of brown; other under parts pale yellowish-white, with longitudinal lines and spots of reddish- brown, tinged with fulvous ; most numerous on the breast, and forming an irregular band across the abdomen; under tail coverts and tibiae generally clear yellowish- white, unspotted, but the latter frequently spotted and transversely barred with light rufous ; under surface of tail silvery-white. Yuuni/. — Tail usually ashy-brown, with numerous bands of a darker shade of the same color, and narrowlj' tipped with white; upper tail coverts white, with bands of dark-brown ; other upper parts dark umber-browTi, many feathers edged with didl white and with partially concealed spots of white; entire under parts white, sides of the breast with large ovate spots of brownish-black, and with a wide irregular band on the abdomen, composed of spots of the same color; under tail coverts and tibiae with irregular transverse stripes and sagittate spots of darji-brown ; bill, blue-black; cere and sides of the mouth, yellow tmged with green; legs yellow; iris pale amber. Total length of female, about twenty-three inches; wing, fifteen to sixteen inches; tail, eight and a half inches. Male, nineteen to twenty -one inches; wing, fourteen inches ; tail, seven and a half to eight inches. The Red-tailed Hawk is a common resident of all the New-England States throughont the year. Its habits are so well known that a description here is hardly needed. Every one has noticed this hawk up in the air, at a consider- able height, soaring in extended circles, and uttering the oft-repeated cry, kae, Jcae, kae, as he examines the earth beneath him for prey. Audubon was of the opinion, that the bird emitted this shriek for the purpose of attracting the notice of birds and animals beneath, and causing them to fly to a place of concealment, thus giving him a knowledge of their whereabouts. This supposition is not improbable ; for he is often observed descending with great rapidity towards a bird that has taken flight at his outcries. 36 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. This Hawk is very destructive among domestic poultry, and is generally regarded with dislilie. I have known of instances when he has almost completely depopulated a poultry-yard before he could be captured. It is the custom of the Hawk, when he has once had a taste of a flock of fowls, to visit it regularly every day at about the same time ; sometimes in the afternoon, oftener in the morning. The moment his cry is heard, the shrill alarm of the cock is given, when the hens run hither and tliither, cackling, and adding to their own affright ; the guinea-fowls rattle their discordant notes ; the mother with her chickens becomes almost frantic in her efforts to protect her young from the inevitable destroyer. In the midst of this clatter, the pirate who has been its sole cause comes on eager wing, and, selecting the fattest of the flock, pounces upon it, and, with scarcely an effort, bears it off to feast his mate and young. The Ruffed Grouse (^Bonasa umhellus) and Com- mon Hare (^Lepus Americanus) both fall victims; and the number he destroys is very great. The Red-Tailed Hawk builds its nest in a lofty fork of a large tree. The nest is one of the largest of our rapacious birds, — in one case, to my knowledge, exceeding two feet in width and twenty inches in depth. It is constructed of large sticks and twigs ; is but slightly hollowed ; and is lined with smaller twigs, leaves, and moss. The eggs are generally three in number, seldom more : their ground- color is a dirty yellowish-white, with blotches of a yellow- ish-brown, and sometimes distinct blotches of a darker brown. Their form varies from nearly spherical to ovoidal ; but they are, in general, nearly as large at one end as at the other. Dimensions of specimens vary from 2.12 to 2.25 inches in length, by from 1.68 to 2 inches in breadth. Three eggs that I took from a nest in the southern part of Oliio, early in the month of April, measure 2.18 by 1.62 ; 2.14 by 1.70 ; and 2.20 by 2 inches, — averaging a little ^^^^:^ ^t # / A ^-«^ % X^A ■^^^^ ---^^-^^x-^^^l^^^^^ THE RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. 37 smaller than specimens collected in New England. These eggs must have been laid by the 2oth of March. In New England, they are seldom laid before the last week in April to the first week in May. BUTEO LINEATUS. — Jn?(/i«e. The Eed-shouldered Hawk. Falco Uneafiis and hyemalis, Gni. Syst. Nat., I. 268, 274 (1788). Falcu buteoides, Nuttall. Man., I. 100 (1st edition, 1832). Desceiptiox. Adult. — "Wing coverts, from its flexure to the body, fine bright rufous; breast and other lower parts of the body paler orange rufous, manj' feathers with transverse bars and spots of white, which predominate on the abdomen and under tail coverts; entire upper parts brown; on the head mixed with rufous, and with white spots on the wing coverts and shorter quills and rump; quills browni>h-black, with white spots on their outer webs, and with bars of a lighter shade of brown and of white on their inner webs ; tail brownish-black, with about five transverse bands of white, and tipped with white. Young. — Entire upper parts yellowish-white, with longitudinal stripes and oblong spots of dark-brown; throat dark brown; upper parts lighter ashy-brown, with manj' partially concealed spots and bars of white; quills dark-brown, with wide transverse bars of rufous and white on both webs; tail ashy-brown, with numerous bands of pale-brownish and rufous white; tail beneath silvery-white; bill light-blue at the base, bluish-black at the tip; cere, basal margin of the bill, edges of the eyelids and the feet, bright-vellow ; iris hazel. Total length, female, twenty-one to twenty-three inches; wing, fomteen; tail, nine inches. Male, eighteen to twenty inches ; wing, twelve ; tail, eight inches. This bird is a rather common resident of all New Eng- land throughout the year. Its habits are so nearly like those of the preceding, that I can add nothing to that I have already written. The best account of the bird's habits in the breeding- season, that I remember, is given by Audubon. It is as follows : — " This bird is one of the most noisy of its genus, during spring especially, when it would be difficult to approach the skirts of woods bordering a large plantation without hearing its discordant shrill notes, — ka-hee, ka-hee, — as it is seen sailing in rapid circles at a very great elevation. Its ordinary flight is even and protracted, 38 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. excepting when it is describing the circles just mentioned, when it often dives and gambols. It is a more general inhabitant of the woods than most of our other species, particularly during the sum- mer, and in autumn and winter ; now and then only, in early spring, showing itself in the open grounds, and about the vicinity of small lakes, for the purpose of securing red-winged starlings and wounded ducks. " The interior of woods seems, as I have said, the fittest haunts for the Red-shouldered Hawk. He sails through them a few yards above the ground, and suddenly alights on the low branch of a tree or the top of a dead stumji, from which he silently watches, in an erect posture, for the appearance of squirrels, iipon which he pounces directly, and kills in an instant, afterwards devour- ing them on the ground. If accidentally discovered, he essays to remove the squirrel ; but, finding this difficult, he drags it, partly through the air and partly along the ground, to some short distance, until he conceives himself out of siglit of the intruder, when he again commences feeding. The eating of a whole squirrel, which this bird often devours at one meal, so gorges it, that I have seen it in this state almost unable to fly, and with such an extraordinary protuberance on its breast as seemed very unnatural, and very injurious to the beauty of form which the bird usually displays. On all occasions such as I have described, when the bird is so gorged, it is approached with the greatest ease. On the contrary, when it is in want of food, it requires the greatest caution to get within shooting distance of it. " At the approach of spring, this species begins to i^air ; and its flight is accompanied with many circlings and zigzag motions, during which it emits its shrill cries. The male is particularly noisy at this time. He gives chase to all other hawks, returns to the branch on Avhich his mate has chanx;ed to jierch, and caresses her. This happens about the beginning of March.^ The spot adapted for a nest is already fixed upon, and the fabric is half finished. The top of a tall tree appears to be preferred by this hawk, as I have found its nest more commonly placed there, not far from the edges of woods bordering plantations. " When one ascends to the nest (which, by the way, is not 1 May in New England. THE RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. 39 always an easy matter, as oui* beech-trees are not only very smooth, but frequently without any boughs to a considerable dis- tance from the ground, as well as of rather large size), the female bird, if she happens to be sitting, flies off silently, and alights on a neighboring tree to wait the result ; but should the male, who supplies her with food, and assists in incubation, be there, or make his appearance, he immediately sets up a hue and cry, and plunges toward the assailant with such violence as to astonish him. " When, on several occasions, I liave had the tree, on which the nest was placed, cut down, I have observed the same pair, a few days after, build another nest on a tree not far distant from the spot in which the first one had been. " The mutual attachment of the male and the female continues during life. They usually hunt in pairs during the whole year; and, although they build a new nest every spring, they are fond of resorting to the same parts of the woods for that purpose.^ " The young remain in the nest until fully fledged, and are fed by the j^arents for several weeks after they have begun to fly ; but leave them, and begin to shift for themselves, in about a month, when they disperse, and hunt separately, until the approach of the succeeding spring, at which time they j^air. " This Hawk seldom attacks any kind of poultry, and yet fre- quently pounces on partridges, doves, or wild jjigeons, as well as red-winged blackbirds, and now and then young rabbits. On one or two occasions, I have seen them make their aj^pearance at the report of my gun, and try to rob me of some blue-winged teals, shot in small ponds. ' I have never seen them chase any other small birds than those mentioned, or quadrupeds of smaller size than the Cotton Rat." My experience has been different from the above para- graph ; for I have known of this Hawk attacking poultry, and, even several times in the same flock, killing a fowl each time. The breeding habits of this and the Red-tailed Hawk are so exactly similar, that the above description well answers for both. 1 I have known of the same nest being occupied by a pair of these birds for several seasons. — E. A. S. 40 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. I have found several nests of this species in different localities, all of which were placed in high forks of trees. They were built of twigs and sticks of different sizes, and usually were of large size. A nest that I found in Milton, Mass., was built in a fork of a large oak, against the trunk, about forty feet from the ground. It was of a bulk nearly sufficient to fill a basket : it was considerably hollowed, and lined witli dry grass and leaves. The eggs, two in number, are in the cabinet of Dr. Brewer, who describes them as follows : — "Two others belonging to this species, obtained in Milton, Mass., by Mr. E. A, Samuels, and identified by securing the parent birds, may be thus described: One measures 2-^^ by l|g inch. The ground-color is a dirty-white, and is marked with large blotches, lines, and dottings of umber-brown of various shades, from quite dark to light. The other is 2 inches by 1\^, has a bluish-white ground, and is only marked by a number of very faint blotches of yellowish-brown and a slate-drab. Except in their shape, which is an oval spheroid, slightly pointed at one end, these bear but very slifyht resemblance to each other, though taken at the same time from one nest." A number of specimens in my collection exhibit as great a variety as the above instances; and one specimen, obtained in Connecticut, wdiich measures 2.12 by 1.65 inches, has a dirty yellowish-white ground-color, which is nearly covered with blotches of faint-purple ; the appearance being as if the purple spots were laid on, and then a coating of white- wash laid over them. BUTEG PENNSYL VANICUS. — -Bonqparie. The Broad-winged Hawk. Falco Pennsyhanicus, Wilson. Am. Ora., VL 92 (1812). Aud. Orn. Biog., T. 161. Falco WiUonii, Bonaparte. Jour. Phila. Acad., IIL 348 (1824). Description. Adult. — Entire upper parts umber-brown; feathers on the occiput and back of the neck white at .their bases; throat white, with longitudinal lines of brown, and THE BROAD-WINGED HAWK. 41 with a patch of brown on each side running from the base of the lower mandible ; breast with a wide band composed of large cordate and sagittate spots and trans- verse bands of reddish-ferruginous tinged with ashy; other under parts white, with numerous sagittate spots of reddish on the tlanlvs, abdomen, and tibiaj. In some specimens, the ferruginous color predominates on all the under parts, except the under tail coverts, and all the feathers have large circular or ovate spots of white on both edges; under tail coverts white; quills brownish-black, widely bordered with white on their inner webs; tail dark-bruwn, narrowly tipped with white, and with one wide band of white and several narrower bands near tiie base. Young. — Upper parts dull umber-brown, many feathers edged with fulvous and ashy-white; upper tail coverts spotted with white; under parts white, general!}' tinged with yellowish, and having longitudinal stripes and oblong and lanceolate spots of brownish-black; a stripe of dark-brown on each side of the neck from the base of the under mandible; tail brown, with several bands of a darker shade of the same color, and of white on the inner webs, and narrowly tipped with white. Bill bluish-black at the tip, blue towards the base; cere and margin yellow; iris hazel; feet gamboge-yellow; claws brownish-black. Total length, female, seventeen to eighteen inches; wing, eleven; tail, six and a half to seven inches. Male, total length, sixteen to sixteen and a half inches; wing, ten inches; tail, six to six and a half inches. This bird, until quite recently, has been regarded as rare in all the New-England States ; and even now it is by no means common, although it is much oftener found here than formerly. It occurs in these States only as a summer visitor, arriving in the spring about the middle of April, and departing for the South in October. The flight of this Hawk is quite rapid, consisting of long intervals of soaring, with shorter periods of flappings of the wings. It seems to prefer the wilder districts to the more thickly settled ones, and is most often met with in the interior of the country. I noticed several individuals, in the course of a day's march in Northern Maine, soaring above the hemlock and pine forests, and uttering their shrill key, hy-ah, ky-ah-ke-ee, ke-ee, as they were searching for prey beneath them. Small birds, reptiles, squirrels, and insects constitute the principal portion of their food ; and they seldom attack a bird larger than a pigeon or quail. Once, while listening to the beautiful song of the White- throated Sparrow, I was startled by the sudden appearance of one of these hawks, which, flying within a yard of my head, as I sat in some bushes on the shores of Lake Umba- 42 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. gog, pounced at a Red Squirrel {S. Hudsonius), that was chattering at me from tlie top of a hollow stump : the squirrel barely escaped by diving into the hollow, when the hawk, turning suddenly, rushed at my little songster, and, clutching him through the vitals, bore him off in exultation. So sudden was the attack, that I had no time to cock my gun before he was half a dozen rods off, when I fired, and brought him to the ground : the sparrow was, of course, dead. The hawk was only wing-tipped ; and, throw- ing himself on his back, his feet extended, he awaited my approach. As I drew near him, he emitted a sort of hiss ; and, as he glared at me with rage-enkindled eye, he appeared the very incarnation of wrath. On killing him, I found that he had had one of his tarsi broken before, apparently by a shot : it had healed, but had lost none of its strength ; for, as I touched liini with a stick, he grasped it with Ijoth feet so powerfully that all his claws were thrust deep into the wood. The nest is rarely found. One that I visited in West Rox- bury, Mass., on the 20tli of May, 1864, had four eggs; it was built in a tall pine-tree, in a fork near the top ; it was composed of coarse sticks and twigs, and was lined with the bark of the red cedar and a few leaves and feathers. The eggs, which are now before me, "vary from 2 by 1.70 inches, to 2.15 by 1.72 inches ; their color is a dirty yellow- ish-white, covered more or less thickly in the different specimens with spots and blotches of reddish-brown : an- other egg, obtained in Newton, Mass., in the previous season, is somewhat smaller, and the markings are fainter, and of a ligliter color. Two other specimens in my collec- tion, collected in New Hampshire, correspond to this description ; but the spots arc much finer and of a darker color. ARCHIBUTEO, Bkehm. Arckibufeo, Brehm, Isis, 1828, p. 1269. Tarsi densely feathered to the toes, but more or less naked behind, and then cov- ered with scales. Wings long and wide; toes short; claws moderate; tail rather short, wide. Other characters very similar to those of Buleo. THE ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. 43 This genus contains six or seven specie?, inhabiting Europe, Asia, and Nortli America, all birds of heavy though robust organization, subsisting mainly on small quadrupeds and reptiles. The species of this genus are easily recognized by their having the tarsi feathered. ARCHIBUIEO LAGOPUS. — Gray. The Rough-legged Hawk. Falco layopus, Gm. Syst. Nat., 260 (1788). And. Orn. Biog , II. 377, and Wilson. Falco plumipes, Daudin. Traite d'Orn., II. 163. Falco peii7mtiis, Cuvier. Reg. An., I. 323 (1817). Archibuteo alticeps, Brehm. Vog. Deutsch, I. 40. Description. Tarsus densely feathered in /ront to the toes, naked behind; wing long; tail rather short. Adult. — Head above yellowish-white, with longitudinal stripes of brown tinged with reddish, especially on the occiput; back scapular, and shorter quills pale cine- reous, with partially concealed transverse bands of white and dark-brown, the latter fi-equently predominating, and giving the color on the back ; rump dark umber-brown ; longer quills and wing coverts umber-brown ; primaries edged externally with ashy, and with a large space on their inner webs at their base, white with a silky lustre ; under parts white; throat with longitudinal stripes of dark-brown; breast with large spots and concealed stripes of reddish-brown; abdomen with numerous transverse narrow bands of brownish-black, most conspicuous on the flanks, and tinged with ashy; tibia3 and tarsi barred transversely with white and dark-brown, and tinged with reddish; under tail coverts white; upper tail coverts white at base and tipped with brownish-black; tail white at base, with a wide subterminal band of black, and about two other bands of black alternating with others of light-cinere- ous; cere and toes yellow; iris hazel; under wing coverts white, with spots of brownish-black, and on the longer coverts with a large space of ashy-brown. Young. — Upper parts light umber-brown, many feathers, especially on the head and neck behind, edged with yellowish-white and pale-reddish ; a wide transverse band or belt on the abdomen brownish-black; other under parts yellowish-white, with a few longitudinal lines and spots of brownish-black; quills ashy-brown, with a large basal portion of their inner webs white ; tail at its base white, with a sub- terminal band of light umber-brown, tip white; tibiae and tarsi pale reddish-yellow, with longitudinal stripes and spots of dark-brown; cere and toes yellow; iris hazel. Total length, female, twenty-one to twenty-three inches; wing, sixteen to seven- teen inches; tail, nine inches. Male, total length, nineteen to twenty-one inches; wing, tifteen to sixteen inches ; tail, eight to eight and a half inches. This Hawk is rarely seen in New England, appearing only in the late fall and winter months. I have had no opportu- nities of studying its habits and characteristics, and will give the short description by Audubon. He says, — 44 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. " The Rough-legged Hawk seldom goes further south along our Atlantic Coast than the eastern portions of North Carolina ; nor have I ever seen it west of the Alleghanies. It is a sluggish bird, and confines itself to the meadows and low grounds bordering the rivers and salt marshes along our bays and inlets. In such places, you may see it perched on a stake, where it remains for hours at a time, unless some wounded bird comes in sight, when it sails after it, and secures it without manifesting much swiftness of flight. It feeds principally on moles, mice, and other small quadrupeds, and never attacks a duck on the wing, although now and then it pursues a wounded one. When not alarmed, it usually flies low and sedately, and does not exhibit any of the courage and vigor so con- spicuous in most other hawks, suffering thousands of birds to pass without pursuing them. The greatest feat I have seen it perform was scrambling at the edge of the water to secure a lethargic frog. " They alight on trees to roost, but appear so hungry or indolent at all times, that they seldom retire to rest until after dusk. Their large eyes, indeed, seem to indicate their possession of the faculty of seeing at that late hour. I have frequently put up one that seemed watching for food at the edge of a ditch, long after sunset. Whenever an opportunity offer, they eat to excess, and, like the Turkey Buzzards and Carrion Crows, disgorge their food, to enable themselves to fly off". The species is more nocturnal in its habits than any other hawk found in the United States." I have never met with the nest of this bird, and know bnt httle of its breeding habits. It does not breed in New England, or, if it does, only very rarely, preferring the more northern sections of the continent. Two eggs in my collec- tion, from Canada, are of the following description. Their ground-color is a dirty blnish-white, wdiich is covered more or less thickly on different parts of their surface with obscure spots and blotches of different shades of brown- ish-ochre and faint-umber. They are broadly ovate in form, and are 2.87 by 1.75 hich and 2.87 by 1.63 inch in dimensions. THE BLACK HAWK. ' 45 AECHIBUTEO SANCTI-JOHANNIS. —Gray. The Black Hawk. Falco snncti-Johannis, Gra. Syst. Nat., 273 (1788). Falco nova-terrcB, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 274 (1788). Falco niger, Wilson. Am. Orn., VI. 82 (1812). Description. Adult. — Entire plumjige glossy black, in many specimens wifh a brown tinge; forehead, throat, and large partially concealed spot on occiput, white; tail with one transverse well-defined baud of white, and irregularly marked towards the base with the same color; quills with their inner webs white, readily seen from below; cere and toes j'ellow; iris hazel; tarsi densely feathered in front, naked behind. Other specimens are entirely dark chocolate-brown, with the head more or less striped with yellowish-white and reddish-yellow; tail with several transverse bands of white, more or less imperfect and irregular. Young. — Upper parts light umber-brown, with the feathers more or less edged with dull-white and reddish-yellow; abdomen with a broad transverse band of brownish-black; other under parts pale yellowish-white, with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black, frequently giving the predominating color on the breast and sides; wings and tail brown, tinged with cinereous, the former marked with white on their inner webs, the latter white at their base ; tarsi and tibire pale reddish- j'ellow, spotted with brown; cere, feet, and iris the same as in adult. Total length, female, twenty-two to twenty-four inches; wing, seventeen to seven- teen and a half; tail, nine inches. Male, twenty to twenty-two inches; wing, sixteen to sixteen and a half; tail, eight to eight and a half inches. This species, so often confounded in the immature plu- mage with the preceding, but which may be separated from it by its greater size and more numerous dark spots beneath, is a rare winter visitor in New England. Like the Rough-legged Hawk, it prefers the marshes and low, swampy woods to the higher localities, and preys upon mice, wounded ducks, and small birds. I have known of it being killed while pursuing a flock of Snow Buntings (^Plectrophanes nivalis'), and have heard of its attacking a flock of domestic poultry. Its habits, therefore, are differ- ent from those of the A. lacfopus, as given by Audubon ; but it lacks the courage and vigor of most of our other rapacious birds, and is hardly worthy of the immortality it has received from the pens of some of our writers. The distribution of this species is limited to the north- ern regions of the continent in summer, and is very rarely 48 • ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. found south of Massachusetts in winter. I do not remem- ber of an instance of its being captured far inland, although J. A. Allen, before quoted, includes it in the catalogue of the birds of Springfield, Mass. A single egg in my collection, from Northern America, is of the following dimensions: 2.17 by 1.70 inch. Its form is a perfect ovoidal. Its primary color is a dirty white ; and it is marked with obscure blotches of lilac, and some obscure blotches of brown and brownish-yellow. None of the markings are decided ; and, at a little distance, the egg has the appearance of being of a dirty-white color. Sub-Family Milvin^e. — Tlie Kites. Size various, usually medium or small ; general form usually rather slender, and not strong; wings and tail usually long; bill short, weak, hooked, and acute ; tarsi and toes usuallj' slender, and not strong, sometimes short. The birds of this group habitually feed on reptiles and other small animals, and are deficient in the strength and courage of the other groups of the falcons. CIRCUS, Lacepeue. ■ Circus, Lacepede, Mem. d'Inst. Paris, III. CXI. 506 (1803). Face partially encircled by a ring or ruff of short projecting feathers, as in the owls; head rather large; bill short, compressed, curved from the base; nostrils large; wings long, pointed; tail rather long, wide; tarsi long and slender; toes moderate; claws rather slender and weak. CIRCUS HUDSONIUS. — Vkillot. The Marsh-hawk; Harrier; Mouse-hawk. Falco JTufJsonius, Linnaus. Syst. Nat., I. 128 (1766). Falco ulifjinosus, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 278 (1788). Falco ulif/inostis, Wilson. Am. Orn., VI. 67. Falco cyaneus, Aububon. Orn. Biog., IV. 396. Description. Adult. — Form rather lonfi; and slender; tarsi long; ruflF quite distinct on the neck in front: entire upper parts, head, and breast, pale bluish-cinereous, on the back of the head mixed witli dark -fulvous ; upper tail coverts white; under parts white, with small cordate or hastate spots of light-ferruginous ; quills brownish- black, with their outer webs tinged with ashy, and a large portion of their inner THE MARSH-HAWK ; HARRIER ; MOUSE-HAWK. 47 webs white ; tail light-cinereous, nearly white on the inner webs of the feathers, and with obscure transverse bands of brown; under surface silky-white; under wing coverts white; bill blue-black at the extremity; cere and legs yellow, the former with a tinge of green ; iris hazel. Younger. — Entire upper parts dull umber-bro^vn, many feathers edged with dull rufous, especially on the neck ; under parts dull reddish-white, with longitudinal stripes of brown, most numerous on the throat and neck before; tibiae tinged with reddish; upper tail coverts white. Young. — Entire upper parts dark umber-brown; upper tail coverts white: under parts rufous, with longitudinal stripes of brown on the breast and sides; tail reddish-brown, with about three wide bands of dark-fulvous, paler on the inner webs; tarsi, cere, and iris as in the adult. Total length, female, nineteen to twenty-one inches; wing, fifteen and a half; tail, ten inches. Male, total length, sixteen to eighteen inches; wing, fourteen and a half; tail, eight and a half to nine inches. This species is pretty generally diffused throughout New England as a summer visitor. It is one of the least mis- chievous of all the hawks, as it destroys but few of the smaller birds. It is more common in districts that are low and marshy than in others ; and this fact gives it the name, in many localities, of the " Bogtrotter." Its flight is low and rapid, consisting of long intervals of flappings, with shorter periods of soaring. I do not remember of ever hearing it cry out in the manner that other hawks do, and think that it hunts silently. It arrives from the South from about the middle of April to the first of May. I am inclined to think that the birds are generally mated before their arrival ; for they are almost always seen in pairs from their first appearance. In choosing a situation for a nest, both birds are remarkably nervous and restless : they are almost constantly on the wing, prying into, and apparently taking into account, every thing with reference to future comfort. The following circumstances came to my observation, and, as I improved every opportunity to watch the proceedings, will serve to illustrate the breeding habits of this bird : A pair made their appearance about the middle of April, a few years since, in a large meadow in Dedham, Mass. They were apparently mated from the first ; and, as the neighborhood gave promise of an abun- 48 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. dance of food (field-mice), I concluded that this would ho selected as a breeding- place, and watched accordingly. The male was very attentive to his mate, often talking to and caressing her. If she should alight on the ground or on a fence-rail, he would alight with her, and often fly and walk around her, bowing and chattering in a ludicrous manner. After a situation (luckily where I could watch them unobserved) was fixed upon for a nest, both birds were very active in its construction. It was built on a hummock, perhaps eighteen inches above the level of the meadow. The materials used in its construction were dried grasses, which were woven together rather neatly. It was considerably hollowed, — perhaps an inch and a half, — and lined with very soft grass. The external diameter of the nest was about eighteen inches ; internal diameter, about eight inches. The female laid four eggs of a dirty- white color, with a faint tinge of blue. In one specimen there were a few faint spots of brown ; but I think that generally the eggs of this species are without spots.^ I have seen a great many, and but a very few had spots, and these not at all distinct. A great number of specimens exhibit a variation of from 1.62 to 1.90 inch in length, and from 1.32 to 1.25 inch in breadth. The habits of this bird entitle it to the protection of the farmer. It subsists almost entirely upon the injurious field-mice, and the numbers of these animals which it destroys in the breeding season are incredible : from early dawn to dim twilight it may be seen busily searching for these pests, seldom molesting the small beneficial birds or poultry. 1 Dr. Brewer, in describing the eggs of this species, says: "With but a single exception, all these eggs (six) are very distinctly blotched and spotted. Their ground-color is a dirty bluish-white, which in one is nearly unspotted; the markings so faint as to be hardly perceptible, and only upon close inspection. In all the others, spots and blotches of a light shade of purplish-brown occur, in a greater or less degree, over their entire surface. In two, the blotches are large and well marked ; in the others, less strongly traced, but quite distinct. This has led to a closer examination of eggs from other parts of the country, and nearly all are per- ceptibly spotted." THE GOLDEN EAGLE ; THE RING-TAILED EAGLE. 49 Sub-Family Aquiline. — The Eagles. Size large, and aU parts very strongly organized; bill large, compressed, straight at base, curved and acute at tip ; wings long, pointed ; tail ample, generally rounded ; tarsi moderate, veiy strong ; claws curved, very sharp and strong. There are about seventy species of eagles of all countries. AQUILA, MOEHRING. Aquila, Moehring, Av. Gen., 49 (1752). General form large and very strong, and adapted to long-continued and swift flight; bill large, strong, compressed, and hooked at the tip; wings long, pointed; tarsi rather short, very strong, feathered to the toes; claws sharp, strong, curved. This genus includes about twenty species, which are regarded as the true eagles. AQUILA CANADENSIS. — Cassin. The Golden Eagle ; the Rin^-tailed Eagle. Falco Canadensis, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. 125 (1766). Falco niger, Gm. Syst. Nat., i. 259 (1788). Aquila nobilis, Pallas. Zoog. Ross. As., I. 338 (1811). Falco chnjscetos, Wilson. Aud., II. 464. Description. Adult. — Large; tarsi densely feathered to the toes; head and neck behind light brownish-fulvous, varying in shade in different specimens, frequently light orange- fulvous, generally darker; tail at base white, which color frequently occupies the greater part of the tail; other terminal portion glossy black; all other parts rich purplish-brown, frequently very dark, and nearly clear black on the under parts of the bodji; primaries shining black; secondaries purplish-brown; tibise and tarsi brownish-fulvous, generally mixed with dark-ashy; cere and toes yellow: iris reddish-hazel. Younger. — Entire plumage lighter, and mixed with dull-fidvous ; imder parts of the body nearl}' uniform with the upper parts; cere, toes, and iris like adult. Total length, female, thirty-three to forty inches; wing, about twenty-five; tail, about fifteen inches. Male, total length, thirty to thirty-five inches; wing, twenty to twenty-three: tail, twelve to fourteen inches. The above description is incomplete, so far as the markings of the tail are men- tioned; for in the adult bird the tail is entirely black, and the yoimg have more or less white in proportion to their age, — the youngest birds having the widest white band at the base. This bird is so extremely rare in New England, that I have had no opportunities for studying its habits. It is occasionally found here in different seasons of the year, 4 50 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. and it undoubtedly breeds in the wildest districts of these States. The following are the most interesting facts, given by Audubon, in relation to this species : — " The Golden Eagle, although a j^ermanent resident in the United States, is of rare occurrence there ; it being seldom that one sees more than a pair or two in the course of a year, unless he be an inhabitant of the mountains, or of the large plains spread out at their base. I have seen a few of them on the wing along the shores of the Hudson, others on the upper parts of the Mississippi, some among the Alleghanies, and a pair in the State of Maine. At Labrador, we saw an individual sailing, at the height of a few yards, over the moss-covered surface of the dreary rocks. "Although powerful in flight, it has not the speed of many hawks, nor even of the White-headed Eagle. It cannot, like the latter, pursue and seize, on the wing, the prey it longs for ; but is obliged to glide down through the air for a certain height to insure the success of its enterprise. The keenness of its eye, however, makes up for this defect, and enables it to spy, at a great distance, the objects on which it preys ; and it seldom misses its aim, as it falls with the swiftness of a meteor towards the spot on which they are concealed. When at a great height in the air, its gyrations are uncommonly beautiful, being slow and of wide circuit, and becom- ing the majesty of the king of birds. It often continues them for hours at a time, with apparently the greatest ease. " The notes of this species are sharp and harsh ; resembiing, at times, the barking of a dog ; especially about the breeding season, when the birds become extremely noisy and turbulent, flying more swiftly than at other times, alighting more frequently, and evincing a fretfulness which is not so observable after their eggs are laid. " They are capable of remaining without food for several days at a time, and eat voraciously whenever they find an opportunity. '' Young fawns, raccoons, hares, wild turkeys, and other large birds, are their usual food ; and they devour putrid flesh only when hard pressed by hunger, none alighting on carrion at any other time. I regret that I am unable to add any thing to our knowl- edge of its habits and breeding peculiarities. Dr. Brewer THE WHITE-HEADED EAGLE, ETC. 51 says; "It breeds in the mountainous portions of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York." The Golden Eagle usually constructs its nest on the sides of steep rocky crags, where its materials are coarsely heaped together on a projecting shelf of rock. These consist of large sticks loosely arranged. In rare instances, they are said to have been built on trees in the Western States, where rocky cliffs are not to be met with. The eggs are usually three in number ; sometimes two, or only one. Mr. Audu- bon describes them as measuring three and a half inches in length by two and a half in breadth ; the shell thick and smooth, dull-white, brushed over with undefined patches of brown, which are most numerous at the larger end. HALIiETUS, Savigny. Size large; tarsi short, naked, or feathered for a short distance below the joint of the tibia and tarsus, and with the toes covered with scales; toes rather long; claws very strong, curved, very sharp; bill large, very strong, compressed; margin of upper mandible slightly lobed; wings long, pointed; tail moderate. HALia^TUS LEUCOCEPHALUS. The 'White-headed Eagle ; the Bald Eagle ; the Gray Eagle. Falco leucocephalus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. 124 (1766). Falco jtygarcjus, Daudin. Traite d'Orn., II. 62 (1800). Falco ossifrac/vs, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. 16 (1813). Description. Bill large, strong, straight at the base, rather abruptly hooked; wings long; tarsi rather short. Adult. — Head, tail, and its upper and under coverts, white ; entire other plumage brownish-black, generally with the edges of the feathers paler; bill, feet, and irides, or iris, yellow. YouiKjer. — Entire plumage, including head and tail, dark-brown; paler on the throat; edges of the feathers paler or fulvous, especially on the under parts; tail more or less mottled with white, which color, in more advanced age, extends over a large portion of the tail, especially on the inner webs ; bill brownish-black ; irides brown. Total length, female, about thirty-five to forty inches; wing, twenty-three to twenty-five inches; tail, fourteen to fifteen inches. Male, thirty to thirty-four inches: wing, twenty to twenty-two inches ; tail, thirteen to fourteen inches. 52 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. This beautiful and well-known bird is occasionally seen in different parts of New England throughout the year, most commonly near the seacoast or in the neighborhood of large tracts of water. I have had several opportunities of observ- ing and studying its habits, but have discovered nothing that has not been already presented to the public. Its flight is THE WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. 63 rapid and graceful, and is often prolonged for hours witli apparent ease. It feeds upon wild-fowl, wild geese, and small animals, and is very partial to fish, which it rohs from the Fish Hawk (P. Carolinensis) , and finds cast upon the shore, dead. Wilson, in describing its attacks on the Fish Hawk, says : — " Formed by nature for braving the severest cold ; feeding equally on the produce of the sea and of the land ; 2Jossessing powers of flight callable of outstripping even the tempests them- selves ; unawed by any thing but man ; and, from the ethereal heights to which he soars, looking abroad, at one glance, on an im- measurable expanse of forests, fields, lakes, and ocean, deep below him, — he appears indifferent to the little change of localities or seasons ; as, in a few minutes, he can pass from siimmer to winter, from the lower to the higher regions of the atmos2)here, the abode of eternal cold, and thence descend, at will, to the torrid or the arctic regions of the earth. He is therefore found at all seasons in the countries he inhabits, but prefers such places as have been mentioned above, from the great partiality he has for fish. " In procuring these, he displays, in a very singular manner, the genius and energy of his character, which is fierce, contempla- tive, daring, and tyrannical, — attributes not exerted but on par- ticular occasions, but, when put forth, overpowering all opposition. Elevated on the high dead limb of some gigantic tree that com- mands a wide view of the neighboring shores and ocean, he seems calmly to contemplate the motions of the various feathered tribes that pursue their busy avocations below, — the snow-white gulls slowly winnowing the air ; the busy tringce coursing along the sands ; trains of ducks streaming over the surface ; silent and watchful cranes, intent and wading ; clamorous crows ; and all the winged multitudes that subsist by the bounty of this vast liquid magazine of nature. High over all these hovers one whose action instantly arrests his whole attention. By his wide curvature of wing and sudden suspension in air, he knows him to be the Fish Hawk, settling over some devoted victim of the deep. His eye kindles at the sight ; and, balancing himself, with half-opened wings, 54 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY, on the branch, he watches the result. Down, rapid as an arrow fi'om heaven, descends the distant object of liis attention ; the roar of its wings reaching the ear as it disappears in the deep, making the surges foam around. At this moment, the eager looks of the Eagle are all ardor ; and, levelling his neck for flight, he sees the Fish-hawk once more emerge, struggling with his prey, and mounting in the air with screams of exultation. These are the signal for our hero, who, launching into the air, instantly gives chase, and soon gains on the Fish-hawk : each exerts his utmost to mount above the other, displaying in these rencontres the most elegant and sublime aerial evolutions. The unencumbered Eagle rapidly advances, and is just on the point of reaching his opponent, when, with a sudden scream, probably of despair and honest execration, the latter drops his fish : the Eagle, poising himself for a moment, as if to take a more certain aim, descends like a whirl- wind, snatches it in his grasp ere it reaches the water, and bears his ill-gotteu booty silently away to the woods. " These predatory attacks and defensive manoeuvres of the Eagle and the Fish-hawk are matters of daily observation along the whole of our seaboard, from Georgia to New England, and frequently excite great interest in the spectators. Sympathy, however, on this as on most other occasions, generally sides with the honest and laborious sufferer, in opposition to the attacks of power, injustice, and rapacity ; qualities for which our hero is so generally notorious, and which, in his superior, man, are cer- tainly detestable. As for the feelings of the poor fish, they seem altogether out of the question. " When driven, as he sometimes is, by the combined courage and perseverance of the fish-hawks, from their neighborhood, and forced to hunt for himself, he retires more inland, in search of young pigs, of which he destroys great numbers. In the lower parts of Virginia and North Carolina, where the inhabitants raise vast herds of those animals, complaints of this kind are very general against him. He also destroys young lambs in the early part of spring ; and will sometimes attack old sickly sheep, aiming furiously at their eyes." It generally chooses for a breeding-place a retired spot in the neighborhood of a tract of water. The nest is THE FISIJ-HAWK. 55 usually placed in the fork of a large dead, tree, and is occupied by the same pair of birds for successive years. I am informed, that a pah' of these birds liave, for a number of years past, made their eyrie on a shelf of an inaccessible cliff on the side of what is called " Diamond Mountain," a few miles south of the Umbagog lakes. Mr. J. A. Allen (Catalogue of Birds of Springfield, Mass., in "Proceedings of Essex Institute," vol. IV., No. 2) says that this species " sometimes breeds on Mount Tom, about twenty miles north of Springfield, Mass." These are probably, how- ever, exceptional cases. The nest is constructed of large sticks, twigs, branches of seaweeds, turf, and moss : some of these sticks are nearly or quite an inch in thickness. It is a bulky affair ; its diameter often being five feet, and its thickness from two to three feet. It is not much hollowed, and is nearly level across the top. Of numbers of eggs of this bird, that I have examined, I could see no material difference as to shape or color ; the form being nearly spherical, and the color a dirty yellowish-white. Length of specimens varies from 2.93 to 3.07 inches ; breadth, from 2.31 to 2.47 inches. PANDION, Savigny. Pandion, Savigny, Hist. Nat. d'Egypt, I. 95 (1809). Wings very long; general form heavy, and not adapted to vigorous or swift flight like the preceding eagles; bill short, curved from the base, compressed; tarsi thick and strong, and covered with small circular scales; claws large, curved, very sharp ; toes beneath rough ; tail moderate or rather short. This genus contains three or four species only, nearly allied to each other, and inhabiting all temperate regions of the world. PANDION CAROLINENSIS. — Bonaparte. The Fish-hawk. Osprey. Fako CaroUnensis, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 263 (1788). Aquila piscatrix, Vieillot. Ois. d'Am. Sept., I. 29 (1807). Pandion Ameincanus, Vieillot. Gal. Ois., I. 83 (1825). Falco haliaitus, Linna;us. Wilson, Am. Orn., V. 14. Fako halicetus, Linnaeus. Aud Orn. Biog., I. 415. 56 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. Description. Wings long; legs, toes, and claws very robust and strong. Adult. — Head and entire under parts white; stripe through the eye, top of the head, and upper parts of the body, wings and tail deep umber-brown, tail having about eight bands of blackish-brown ; breast with numerous cordate and circular spots of pale yellowish-brown; bill and claws bluish-black; tarsi and toes green- ish-yellow; iris reddish-yellow. Young. — Similar to the adult, but with the upper plumage edged and tipped with pale-brownish, nearly white ; spots on the breast more numerous and darker colored. Total length, female, about twenty -five inches; wing, twentj'-one inches; tail, ten and a half inches. Male, rather smaller. " Soon as the sun, great ruler of the year, Bends to our northern climes his bright career, And from the caves of Ocean calls from sleep The finny shoals and myriads of the deep ; When freezing tempests back to Greenland ride, And day and night the equal hours divide, — True to the season, o'er our sea-beat shore, The sailing Osprey high is seen to soar With broad, unmoving wing ; and, circling slow, Marks each loose straggler in the deep below, Sweeps down like lightning, plunges with a roar, And bears his struggling victim to the shore. The long-housed fisherman beholds with joy The well-known signals of his rough employ ; And, as he bears his nets and oars along, Thus hails the welcome season with a song : — THE FISHERMAN'S HYMN. The Osprey sails above the sound ; The geese are gone, the gulls are flying; The herring-shoals swarm thick around ; The nets are launched, the boats are plying. Yo, ho, my hearts ! let's seek the deep, Raise high the song, and cheerly wish her, Still, as the bending net we sweep, ' God bless the Fish-hawk and the fisher ! ' She brings us fish : she brings us spring, Good times, fair weather, warmth, and plenty ; Fine store of shad, trout, herring, ling. Sheep's-head and drum, and old-wives dainty. THE FISH-HAWK. 57 Yo, ho, my hearts ! let's seek the deep, Ply every oar, and cheerly wish her, Still as the bending net we sweep, ' God bless the Fish-hawk and the fisher ! ' She rears her young on yonder tree ; She leaves her faithful mate to mind 'em ; Like us, for fish, she sails to sea, And, plunging, shows lis where to find 'em. Yo, ho, my hearts ! let's seek the deep, Ply every oar, and cheerly wish her, While the slow-bending net we sweep, ' God bless the Fish-hawk and the fisher ! ' " Alexander Wilson. The common and well-known bird which furnishes the theme of the above beautiful yerses is a summer inhabitant of New England along the wholfe coast, and in the neighbor- hood of large sheets of water. The males arrive from the soiith about the middle of April, and the females about a week later. I believe that the same pair are constant to each other for several years : those that commence their matrimonial career in the spring usually mate about the first week in May, in our latitude. The movements of the male, while paying court to the female, are interesting ; and, as Audubon has described them better than I can myself, I will give his description : — " As soon as the females make their appearance, which happens eight or ten days after the arrival of the males, the love-season commences, and, soon after, incubation takes place. The loves of these birds are conducted in a different way from those of the other falcons. The males are seen playing through the air amongst themselves, chasing each other in sport, or sailing by the side or after the female which they have selected, uttering cries of joy and exultation, alighting on the branches of the tree on which their last year's nest is yet seen remaining, and doubtless congratu- lating each other on finding their home again. Their caresses are mutual. They begin to augment their habitation, or to repair the injuries which it may have sustained during the winter, and are 58 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. seen sailing together towards the shores, to collect the drifted seaweeds, with which they line the nest anew. They alight on the beach, search for the dryest and largest weeds, collect a mass of them, clench them in their talons, and fly towards their nest, with the materials dangling beneath. They both alight and labor together. In a fortnight, the nest is complete, and the female deposits her eggs." The nest is generally placed in a large tree in the imme- diate vicinity of the water, either along the seashore, on the margins of the inland lakes, or by some large river. It is, however, sometimes to be seen in the interior of a wood, a mile or more from the water. I have concluded, that, in the latter case, it was on account of frequent disturbance, or attempts at destruction, that tlie birds had removed from their usual haunts. The nest is very large, sometimes meas- uring fully four feet across, and is composed of a quantity of materials sufficient to render its depth equal to its diam- eter. Large sticks, mixed with seaweeds, tufts of strong grass, and other materials, form its exterior, while the in- terior is composed of seaweeds and finer grasses. I have not observed that any particular species of tree is preferred by the Fish-hawk. It places its nest in the fork of an oak or a pine with equal pleasure. But I have observed that the tree chosen is usually of considerable size, and not un- frequently a decayed one. The Fish-hawk is gregarious, and often breeds in colonies of three or four nests in an area of a few acres. The males assist in incubation. I have heard of instances of as many as a dozen nests being found in the distance of half a mile on the coast of New Jersey. In New England, the species is not so plentiful, and sel- dom more than one nest can be found in one locality. The flight of the bird is strong, vigorous, and well sustained. As he flies over the ocean, at a height of perhaps fifty THE FISH-HAWK. 59 feet, his long wings, as they beat the air in quick, sharp strokes, give the bird the appearance of being much larger than he really is. When he plunges into the water, he invariably seizes the fish, his prey, in his talons, and is sometimes immersed to the depth of a foot or eighteen inches in his efforts to capture it. He is of a peaceable disposition, and never molests any of his feathered neigh- bors. If the nest is plundered, the parent attacks the in- truder, and often inflicts ugly wounds in its defence. The eggs are usually laid before the 10th of May : they are generally three in number. They vary considerably, both in shape, size, and markings. In a majority of speci- mens in my collection, the ground-color is a rich reddish- cream, and covered with numerous blotches of different shades of brown. In a number of specimens, these blotches are confluent, and the primary color is nearly hidden. Their form varies from nearly spherical to ovoidal, and the dimen- sions from 2.28 to 2.44 inches in length, and from 1.65 to 1.83 in breadth. 60 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. Family STRIGID^. The Owls. Form usuallj' short and heavy, with the head disproportionately large, and fre- quently furnished with erectile tufts of feathers, resembling the ears of quadrupeds. General organization adapted to vigorous and noiseless, but not rapid, flight, and to the capture of animals in the morning and evening twilight. Eyes usually very large, directed forwards, and, in the greater number of species, formed for seeing by twilight or in the night ; bill rather strong, curved, nearly concealed by projecting, bristle-like feathers; wings generally long, outer edges of primary quills fringed ; legs generally rather short, and in all species, except in one Asiatic genus {Ktttqm), more or less feathered, generally densely; cavity of the ear very large ; face encircled by a more or less perfect disc of short, rigid feathers, which, with the large eyes, gives to those birds an entirely peculiar and frequently catlike expression. Female larger than the male. Sub-Family Buboninje. — The Horned Owls. Head large, with erectile and prominent ear-tufts; eyes large; facial disc not complete above the eyes and bill; legs, feet, and claws usually very strong. BUBO, CuviER. Bilbo, CuviER, K^gne Animal, I. 331 (1817). Size large; general form very robust and powerful; head large, with conspicuous ear-tufts; eyes very large ; wings long; tail short; legs and toes very strong, densely feathered; claws very strong; bill rather short, strong, curved, covered at base by projecting feathers. This genus includes the large Horned Owls, or Cat Owls, as they are sometimes called. These birds are most numerous in Asia and Africa, and there are in all countries about tift;een species. BUBO VIEGINIANUS.— Sowff/wr^e. The Great Horned OwL Strix Virginiana, Qm. Syst. Nat., L 287 (1788). Bonap. S.vn., p. 37. Nutt, L 124. Wilson, Audubon, and others. Bubo articus, Swains. Faun. Bor. Am. Birds, p. 86 (1831). Description. Adult. — Large and strongly organized; ear-tufts large, erectile; bill strong, fully curved; wing rather long; third quill usually longest; tail short; legs and toes robust, and densely covered with short, downy feathers; claws very strong, sharp, curv'ed; variable in plumage, from nearly white to dark-brown, usually with the upper parts dark-brown, every feather mottled, and with irregular trans- verse lines of pale-ashy and reddish-fulvous, the latter being the color of all the plumage at the bases of the feathers; ear-tufts dark-brown, nearly black, edged on THE GREAT HORNED OWL. 61 their inner webs with dark -fulvous ; a black spot above the eye ; radiating feathers behind the eye, varying in color from nearly white to dark reddish-fulvous, usually the latter ; feathers of the facial disc tipped with black ; throat and neck before, white ; breast with wide longitudinal stripes of black; other under parts variegated with white and fulvous, and every feather having transverse, narrow lines of dark -brown ; middle of the abdomen frequently, but not always, white; legs and toes varying fi-om white to dark-fulvous, usually pale-fulvous; in most specimens unspotted, but fi-equently, and probably always in full}' mature specimens, with transverse, narrow bars of dark -brown; quills brown, with wide transverse bands of cinereous, and usually tinged on the inner webs with pale fulvous; tail the same, with the fulvous predominating on the outer feathers; iris yellow; bill and claws bluish-black. Dimensions. — Female, length, twentj'-one to twenty-five inches; wing, fourteen and a half to sixteen; tail, ten inches. Male, eighteen to twenty-one inches; wing, fourteen to fifteen ; tail, nine inches. THIS well-known bird is a resident in all the New-England States throughout the year. It is not so common in Mas- sachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island as in the other States, where, in the vast tracts of forest, it is quite abun- dant ; so much so, that I have heard several of them at the same time making "' night hideous with their discordant, mournful cries." Never shall I forget a serenade I once had the pleasure of hearing in the State of Maine, in which this bird maintained the basso. We were encamped on the shores of Lake Umbagog : our tent was pitched on a bluff overlooking the lake, and behind us was the deep, dark forest of pines and hemlocks. We had just got fairly into our first nap, the sweet follower of our day's toils, when we were awakened by the hootings of one of these owls, " VAiur/h, hoo, Jioo, hoo!"" or "Who cooks for you?" as the Western traveller understood it, which seemed to be addressed to us from a tree almost over our tent. We listened : presently another took up the theme, and then both together. They had scarcely finished their duet, when, from away up the lake, came the shrill, mournful cry or scream of the Loon : this was continued and answered by others, until, with owls and loons, the night was vocal with melodious sounds. After this had died away, and all was still, there came from a bush near our tent the almost heavenly song of the Whitc- tlu'oated Sparrow, the " Nightingale of the North." One 62 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. cannot imagine the effect produced by the contrast : he must be on the spot in the dark night, and, through the sighing of the winds amid the grand old trees, hear the owls and loons ; then, silence, broken by the beautiful song of the Nightin- gale. The flight of the Great Horned Owl is rapid, noiseless, and vigorous : he passes through the mazes of the forest with great dexterity and ease ; and, when flying above the trees, frequently soars in the manner of the Hawks. He is very destructive among domestic poultry, frequently pouncing on fowls that are roosting on trees in the night, and bearing them off in his powerful grasp. This habit has rendered him obnoxious to the farmers, who lose no opportunity for destroying him. Rabbits, grouse, and other birds, fall vic- tims to his rapacity ; and I have often shot individuals of this species, whose feathers were so impregnated with the peculiar odor of the skunk as to be unbearable at a near approach. When a flock of crows discover the presence of one of these birds, they immediately collect from all quarters, and attack him on every side, uttering their harsh, discordant cries : the owl is kept dancing and dodging on the limb, his perch, in a ludicrous manner ; if he takes to flight, he is pursued by his enemies, and soon forced to alight. I have often been enabled to procure a specimen, by following a noisy mob of this description ; just as we often are able to secure one of the smaller owls by proceeding to the copse where numbers of small birds — cat-birds, chewinks, and tlirushes — are scolding at their enemy. I have had several specimens of the Great Horned Owl in captivity : they make amusing pets. When fed with raw meat, they seldom take it freely from the hand or tongs ; and often can be made to swallow it, only by our opening their bills, and putting in the meat. They seem to have the power of seeing by daylight ; for, if a living animal is introduced into their cage, th-ey instantly seize it. I have Ghf.at Horned Owl, Buho Virginianus. Bonaparte. THE GREAT HORNED OWL. 63 often put in a dead mouse, with a string attached to it, by which I dragged it across the cage : an owl instantly seized it, as if it were alive, and ate it. A living bat ( Ves- pertiUo Carolinensis) , on being introduced, was instantly seized, but, after being killed, was rejected. The strong musky scent peculiar to these anijmals may have been the reason for the owl's not eating it : if not, I cannot account for it. In eating its prey, the Owl stands on it with both feet, and tears it with its bill : if the piece torn off is large, the head is thrown back, and the repeated contraction of the muscles of the throat forces it down. In holding a mouse or other small object, all the talons of one foot are clenched in it, while the other foot is left free. On being approached, this Owl, as indeed do almost all the others, faces the intruder, and follows his motions by turning his head, at the same time snapping his bill. In drinking, the bill is immersed, and repeated swallows are taken, after the manner of the pigeons. The Great Horned Owl chooses for its breeding-places the most retired and inaccessible places in the deep forests ; and the student might search for weeks for its nest, and not find it unless by accident. It is usually built in a fork of a tall tree, but is sometimes made in a hollow of a tree or in the top of a stub or stump. Audubon found it twice in fissures of rocks. It is constructed of sticks and twigs, and is lined with leaves, grasses, and moss. The eggs are usually three in number ; sometimes four, rarely more : they are of a white color, with a very faint yellowish tint ; their shape is nearly spherical, and they average in size 2.25 inches by 2 inches. A nest that I found a few miles from Marietta, Ohio, about the middle of March, 1865, was built in a tall, hollow stub of a beech, which was cut down for the purpose of being examined. It was built of twigs and sticks, in num- bers sufficient to fill the cavity : in the middle of these were 64 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. arranged a few leaves and pieces of moss, and a few feath- ers from the body of the parent ; on this nest were found three young birds, apparently but a few days old, as they were covered with gray down, and a few grayish feath- ers. On being taken in the hand, they clutched it tight witli their claws, and squatted perfectly still. The iris of their eyes was a light-grayish color : the inside of their mouths, eyelids, and ears, were yellowish. At the foot of the stump were found small pellets of feathers, small bones, and hairs. I have heard of the deserted nest of a crow or hawk being occupied by this Owl ; but usually it builds its own nest. SCOPS, Savigny. Savigny, Nat. Hist. Egypt, I. 105 (1809). Size small; ear-tufts conspicuous; head large; facial disc imperfect in front and about the eyes; bill short, neai-ly covered liy projecting feathers; wings long; tail rather short, and frequently curved inwards; tarsi rather long, more or less fully covered with short feathers; toes long, generally partially covered with hair-like feathers; head large. General form short and compact. This genus contains twentj'-five to thirty species of small owls, inhabiting all parts of the world except Australia. SCOPS ASIO, — Bonaparte. The Mottled Owl ; Screech Owl ; Red Owl. Strix Asia, Linnjeus. Syst. Nat., I. 1.32 (1766). Audubon, Wilson, and others. Strix nwvia, Gm. Syst. Nat, L 289 ( 1788). Bubo striatus, Vieillot. Ois. d'Am. Sept., L 54 (1808). Description. " Short and compact; ear-tufts prominent; tail short; tarsi rather long. '■'■Adult. — Upper parts pale ashy-brown, with longitudinal Jines of brownish-black, and mottled in-egularly with the same and with cinereous; under parts ashy-white, with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black, and with transverse lines of the same color; face, throat, and tarsi ashy-white, irregularly lined and mottled with pale- brownish; quills brown, with transverse bands, nearly white on the outer webs; tail pale ashy-brown, with about ten transverse narrow bands of pale-cinereous; under wing coverts white, the larger tipped with black ; bill and claws light horn- color ; irides yellow. " Younyer. — Entire upper parts pale brownish-red, with longitudinal lines of brownish-black, especially on the head and scapulars; face, throat, under wing coverts, and tarsi reddish-white; quills reddish-brown; tail rufous, with bands of brown, darker on the inner webs. THE MOTTLED OWL. 65 " Young. — Entire plumage transversely striped with ashy-white and pale-brown; wings and tail pale-rufous. " Total length, nine and a half to ten inches; wing, seven; tail, three and a half inches. Sexes nearly alike in size and color. " The stages of plumage described above have been regarded as characterizing distinct species; and they do present a problem scarcely to be considered as fully solved. This bird pairs and rears young while in the red plumage; and it is not unusual to find a mottled male and red female associated, or the reverse." — John Cassin. As with many of the other birds of prey, the different plumages in wliich this owl is taken have caused great con- fusion ; and, as Mr. Cassin truly remarks, the matter is not yet settled beyond doubt. The observation has generally been, ^^^ that the young birds are in the ^^^^^ red plumage ; but I have cer- ^^V* '^ tainly known of one instance f ^" ^ when the young bird was in the gray. A nest was found in a hollow tree in Milton, Mass., in which tliere were three young birds. They were permitted to remain ; and I vis- ited the nest as often as every two days until they flew off. The last time that I saw them, — the day before they left the nest, — they were fully fledged, and they had very few marks of brownish-red in their plumage. Whether this was an exceptional case, I know not ; but I will present the obser- vations of different ornithologists which conflict with my own. I will also quote Audubon's description of the habits of the bird, as it is better than I can give from my own experience, though it corresponds to my observations so far as they go. He says, — " The flight of the Mottled Owl is smooth, rapid, protracted, and noiseless. It rises at times above the top branches of the highest of our forest trees whilst in pursuit of large beetles ; and at other 66 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. s times sails low and swiftly over the fields, or through the woods, ill search of small birds, field-mice, moles, or wood-rats, from which it chiefly derives its subsistence. On alighting, — which it does plumply, — the Mottled Owl immediately bends its body, turns its head to look behind it, performs a curious nod, utters its notes, then shakes and plumes itself, and resumes its flight in search of prey. It now and then, while on the wing, produces a clicking sound with its mandibles, but more frequently when perched near its mate or young. This I have thought was done by the bird to manifest its courage, and let the hearer know that it is not to be meddled with ; although few birds of prey are more gentle Avhen seized, as it will suffer a person to touch»its feathers and caress it without attempting to bite or strike with its talons, unless at rare intervals. " The notes of this Owl are uttered in a tremulous, doleful manner, and somewhat resemble the chattering of the teeth of a person under the influence of extreme cold, although much louder. They are heard at a distance of several hundred yards, and by some people are thought to be of ominous import." These notes almost exactly resemble the whimpering hine of a small dc different occasions. whine of a small dog, for which I have mistaken them on " The little fellow is generally found about fiirm-houses, or- chards, and gardens. It alights on the roof, the fence, or the garden-gate, and utters its mournful ditty, at intervals, for hours at a time, as if it were in a state of great suffering ; although this is far from being the case, — the song of all birds being an indication of content and happiness. In a state of confinement, it utters its notes with as much satisfaction as if at liberty. They are chiefly heard during the latter part of winter, — that being the season of love, when the male bird is particularly attentive to the fair one which excites his tender emotions, and around which he flies and struts much in the manner of the common Pigeon, adding numer- ous nods and bows, the sight of wliich is very amusing. " The young remain in the nest until they are able to fly. At first, they are covered with a downy substance of a dull yellowish- white. By the middle of August, they are fully feathered, and THE MOTTLED OWL. 67 are then generally of a reddish-brown, although considerable differ- ences exist between individuals, as I have seen some of a deep- chocolate color, and others nearly black. The feathers change their colors as the pairing season advances, and in the first sjiring the bird is in the perfect dress." J. P. Norris, writing in the " Country Gentleman," Jan. 11, 1866, says that he secured two young birds of this species when covered with down, and kept them until they liad become feathered, when their plumage was decidedly red in color. J. P. Giraud, in his " Birds of Long Island," gives a letter from J. G. Bell, of New York, in which that gentle- man says, that he has taken the young birds from the nest, covered with grayish-brown, and kept them through their first plumage, Avhich was red in color. These and other writers seem to agree that the red plum- age is that of the bird in the first year. I leave it to future experimenters to determine the matter beyond a doubt. This bird feeds largely on the injurious night-flying moths and beetles. Numbers of specimens tliat I have examined, contained in their stomachs parts of these in- sects and small mammals : very seldom indeed did they have feathers or other parts of birds. The Mottled Owl selects for a nesting-place a hollow tree, often in the orchard, and commences laying at about the first of May, in the latitude of the middle of Massachu- setts. The nest is made at the bottom of tlie hollow, and is constructed of grass, leaves, moss, and sometimes a few feathers. It is not elaborately made, being nothing more than a heap of soft materials. The eggs are usually four in number: they are pure-white, smooth, and nearly spher- ical in form. Their length varies from 1.30 to 1.37 inch ; breadth from 1.18 to 1.25 inch. Both parents assist in incubation, and the same pair occupy the nest for succeed- ing years. 68 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. OTUS, CuviEK. Olus, CuviEK, Regne Animal, L 327 (1817). General form longer and more slender than in the preceding genera; head mod- erate; ear-tufts long, erectile; bill rather short, cur\'ed from the base; facial disc more perfect than in the preceding ; wings long ; tail moderate ; tarsi and toes cov- ered with short feathers ; claws long, curved ; eyes rather small, and surrounded by radiating feathers. This genus contains ten or twelve species of various countries, all of which are more handsome birds than are usually met with in this familv. OTUS WILSONIANUS.— imo«. The Long-eared OwL Otus Wilsonlanus, "Lesson. Traite d'Orn., I. 110 (1831). Otus Americanus, Bonaparte. Comp. List, 7 (1838). Syn., 37. Stvix otus, Wilson. Bonaparte's edition, 449. Strix otus, LinniEus. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. 572. Nuttall, I. 130. Description. Ear-tufts long and conspicuous; eyes rather small; wings long; tarsi and toes densely feathered; upper parts mottled with brownish-black, fulvous, and ashy- white, the former predominating; breast pale-fulvous, with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black; abdomen white; every feather with a wide longitudinal stripe, and with transverse stripes of brownish-black; legs and toes pale-fulvous, usually unspotted, but frequently with irregular narrow transverse stripes of dark-brown ; eye nearly encircled with black; other feathers of the face ashy-white, with minute lines of black ; ear-tufts brownish-black edged with fulvous and ashy- white; quills pale-fulvous at their bases, with irregular transverse bands of brown; inferior coverts of the wing pale-fulvous, frequently nearly white; the larger widely tipped with black; tail brown, with several irregular transverse bands of ashy-fulvous, which are mottled, as on the quills; bill and claws dark horn-color; irides yellow. Total length, female, about fifteen inches; wing, eleven to eleven and a half; tail, six inches. Male rather smaller. This species is rather common in New England, rather preferring the less settled districts to the others. It is eminently nocturnal in its habits, and has the power of see- ing in the daytime to a less degree than any of the other species with which I am acquainted. A specimen that I once had, as a pet, could not see my hand as it approached him, and would permit my finger to touch his eye before he drew over it the thin nictitating membrane given to all birds to protect this delicate organ. I do not remember of ever hearing this owl utter a cry THE LONG-EARED OWL. 69 in its nocturnal rambles ; and I think that it hunts in silence, except, perhaps, in the mating season. The specimen in my possession would not eat in the day- time ; and, if I fed it then, was obliged to push the food down its throat with my finger : at night, it fed readily on raw meat, but was rather loath to eat when I was by, or when a lamp was near its cage. I had water always accessible to it, but never saw it drink, and think, that, in the space of two months, it drank not more than two or three times ; or, if it did, the quantity it took was so small as not to be appreciable. Notwithstanding the comparative abundance of this spe- cies, its breeding habits are not well known. I have been so fortunate as to find several nests, all of which were built in forks of tall pines, and constructed of twigs and leaves. Audubon says : — " The Long-eared Owl is careless as to the situation in which its young are to be reared, and generally accommodates itself witli the abandoned nest of some other bird that proves of sufficient size, whether it be high or low, in the fissure of a rock or on the ground. Sometimes, however, it makes a nest itself; and this I found to be the case in one instance near the Juniata River, in Pennsylvania, where it was composed of green twigs, with the leaflets adhering, and lined with fresh grass and wool, but without any feathers." Wilson describes its breeding habits as follows : — " About six or seven miles below Philadelphia, and not far from the Delaware, is a low swamj), thickly covered with trees, and inundated during a great part of the year. This place is the resort of great numbers of the qua bird (Night Heron), where they build in large companies. On the 25th of April, while wading through the dark recesses of this place, observing the habits of these birds, I discovered a Long-eared Owl, which had taken possession of one of their nests, and was setting. On mounting to the nest, I found it contained four eggs ; and, breaking one of them, the young appeared almost ready to leave the shell. There were numbers of 70 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. the qua birds' nests on the adjoining trees all around, and one of them actually on the same tree." The reader will perceive from the above account of the breeding habits of this bird, that it is variable in its choice of a nesting-place, although every nest that I have found, or known of, was built in tall pines, and constructed as above ; and I have known instances where the same nest was used for successive breeding seasons. The eggs are generally four in number, seldom more. They are nearly spherical in form, and of a pure-white color. Dimensions of specimens in my collection vary from 1.40 to 1.60 inch in length, by from 1.30 to 1.40 inch in breadth. BRACHYOTUS, Gould. Brachyotiis, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, London, 1837, 10. Ear-tufts very short and inconspicuous ; general form rather strong ; wings long; tail moderate ; legs rather long, which, with the toes, are fully covered with short feathers; claws long, very sharp, and rather slender; head moderate; eyes rather small, surrounded by radiating feathers; facial disc imperfect on the forehead and above the eyes ; tail moderate. This genus contains four or five species only, the two best known of which are the European. BRACHYOTUS CASSINII. — Brewer. The Short-eared Owl. Brachjotus Cassimi, Brewer. Proc. Boston Soc. of Nat. Hist. Strix brachyotus, Forster. Phil. Trans., London, LXH. 384 (1772). Stnx brachyotus, Linnteus. Wilson and others. Description. Ear-tufts very short; entire plumage buff or pale- fulvous; everj' feather on the upper parts with a wide longitudinal stripe of dark-brown, which color predominates on the back; under parts paler, frequently nearly white on the abdomen, with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black, most numerous on the breast, very narrow and less numerous on the abdomen and flanks ; legs and toes usually of a deeper shade of the same color as the abdomen ; quills pale reddish-fulvous at their bases, brown at their ends, with wide irregular bands and large spots of reddish-fulvous; tail, pale reddish-fulvous, with about five irregular transverse bands of dark-bro\vTi, which color predominates on the two central feathers; under tail coverts usually nearly white; throat white; eyes enclosed by large spots of brownish-black; ear- tufts brown, edged with fulvous; bill and claws dark; irides yellow. Total length, female, about fifteen inches; wing, twelve; tail, six inches. Male rather smaller. THE GRAY OWLS. 71 I regret being unable to add any thing to our knowledge of the history of this bird. I have had no opportunities for observing its habits, and know of nothing that has been noted recently which will add to our information. It is not common in any part of New England, and is, I believe, more often met with in the neighborhood of the seacoast than elsewhere. I have never met with its nest, but have no doubt that it breeds in these States, as specimens are occasionally taken here in summer. Richardson says that its nest is formed of withered grass and moss, and is built on the ground. Dr. Bryant (" Pro- ceedings of Boston Society of Natural History," January, 1857) describes a nest found on an island in the Bay of Fundy as follows : — " A nest of this bird was found by Mr, Cabot in the midst of a dry peaty bog. It was built on the ground, in a very slovenly manner, of small sticks and a few feathers, and presented hardly any excavation. It contained four eggs on the point of being hatched." The eggs of this species are of a pure-white color, and vary in dimensions from 1.65 inch by 1.25 inch to 1.50 inch by 1.23 inch. Suh-Family Syrnin^. — The Gray Owls. Head large, with very small and concealed ear-tufts, or entirely without. Facial disc nearly perfect; eyes small for the family of owls; wings rather short, or not so long as in the preceding; tarsi and toes generally fully feathered. This group con- tains some of the largest of owls; generally, however, the size is medium, and fre- quently small. SYRNIUM, S AVION Y. Syrnlum, Savigny, Nat. Hist. Egypt, I. 112 (1809). Size usually large; head large, without ear-tufts; eyes rather small; facial disc somewhat imperfect in front; bill strong, curved from its base; wings moderate, somewhat rounded; fourth and fifth quills longest; tail rather long, wide, and usu- ally rounded at the end; legs moderate, or rather long, which, with the toes, are densely covered with short feathers ; claws long, strong, very sharp. 72 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. Species of this genus inhabit principally the northern parts of the world, and are generally characterized by the prevalence of gray or cinereous, of various shades, in their plumage. STRNIUM CINEREUM. — Audubon. The Great Gray Owl. Strix cinerea, Gm. Syst. Nat., L 291 (1788). Aud. Cm. Biog., IV. 364. Strix accUmator, Bartram. Travels, 289 (1790). Description. The largest Owl of North America. Head very large; eyes small; tail rather long; upper parts smoky or ashy brown, mottled and transversely barred with ashy-white; under parts ashy-white, with numerous longitudinal stripes of dark ashy-brown predominating on the breast, and with transverse stripes of the same on the abdomen, legs, and under tail coverts; quills bro-wTi, with about five wide, irregu- lar bands of ashy-white; tail brown, with five or six wide, irregular bands of ashy- white, mottled with dark-brown; feathers of the disc on the neck tipped with white; eye nearly encircled by a black spot ; radiating feathers around the ej^e, with regular transverse narrow bars of dark-brown and ashj- -white; bill pale-yellow; claws pale yellowish -white, darker at their tips ; iris bright-yellow. Total length, twenty-five to thirty inches ; wing, eighteen ; tail, twelve to fifteen inches. This bird is an extremely rare winter visitor in New Eng- land ; appearing only in the southern districts of these States, in Massachusetts even, in very severe seasons. I never saw one alive ; have, of course, never seen its nest, and can add nothing at all to our knowledge of its haljits. It breeds in the most northern regions ; and, according to Dr. Brewer, " nests in high trees." Its eggs I have never seen. Audubon gives the following account of this spe- cies : — "The comparatively small size of this bird's eyes renders it probable that it hunts by day ; and the remarkable smallness of its feet and claws induces me to think that it does not prey on large animals. Dr. Richardson says, that ' it is by no means a rare bird in the fur countries ; being an inhabitant of all the woody districts lying between the Lake Superior and latitudes 67° or 68°, and between Hudson's Bay and the Pacific. It is common on the borders of Great Bear Lake ; and there, and in the higher parallels of latitude, it must pursue its prey, during the summer months, by daylight. It keeps, however, within the woods, and does not fre- quent the barren grounds, like the Snowy Owl ; nor is it so often met .^r^^ BARitEO Owl, Si/r/tium nehidosum. Gray. 74 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. ease on the backs of chairs, or on other pieces of furniture ; seldom miscalculating the distance or missing a footing, as many of the other owls would in the same circumstances. This bird soon became tame, and would accept food at almost any time in the day or night : on receiving a piece of meat, he sometimes attempted to clutch it with his foot, and my fingers often had narrow escapes from his sharp, crooked talons. Usually, he would seize it with his mouth, and, if not too large, swallow it without tearing : if the piece was more bulky than he could manage, he stood on it, and tore it with his beak. Fish he invariably rejected, but greedily ate mice and small birds : a dead pigeon, that I put in his cage, was untouched for several days. He died in conse- quence of a hurt he received in flying against a window. The Barred Owl subsists principally upon small birds, field-mice, and reptiles. He is frequently seen, in early twilight, flying over the low meadow-lands, searching for the mice that dwell there : he usually takes a direct course, and sometimes flies so low that the tips of his wings seem to touch the grass. When he discovers his prey, he drops on it instantly, folding his wings and protruding his feet, in which his quarry is always secured : he often captures frogs that are sitting on the shores of ponds and rivers ; but I am inclined to think that the statement, quoted by Audubon, that he often catches fish, is incorrect. The Barred Owl usually nests in high trees, placing the structure of sticks and leaves in a crotch near the trunk. The eggs are usually three in number. I have one only in my collection : this is pure-white, almost globular, and, except in shape, hardly distinguishable from the egg of the domestic hen. It is 2 inches in length by 1.68 in breadth. NYCTALE, Brehm. Nyctale, Brehm, Isis (1828), 1271. Size small; head with very small ear-tufts, only observable when erected; eyes small; bill moderate, or not very strong; facial disc nearly perfect; wings rather long; tail short; legs and toes densely feathered. THE SAW-WHET OWL. 75 Contains five species of small and quite peculiar owls, four of which are Ameri- can, and one European. NYCTALE EICHAEDSONII. — Bonaparte. The Sparrow Owl. Nyctale Richardsonii, Bonaparte. Comp. List, 7 (1838). '• Strix Tenr/malmi, Gm." Aud. Om. Biog., IV. 559, and other American authors. Description. The largest of this genus; wings long; upper parts pale reddish-brown, tinged with olive, and with partially concealed spots of white, most numerous on the head and neck behind, scapulars, and rump; head in front with numerous spots of white; face white, with a spot of black in front of the eye; throat with brown stripes; under parts ashy-white, with longitudinal stripes of pale reddish-brown; legs and toes pale-yellowish, nearly white, sometimes barred and spotted with brown ; quills brown, with small spots of white on their outer edges, and large spots of the same on their inner webs ; tail brown, every feather with about ten pairs of white spots ; bill ligbt-j'ellowish horn-color; irides 3'ellow. Total length, about ten and a half inches; wing, seven and a half inches; tail, four and a half inches. This species is an exceedingly rare winter visitor in New England. I have never met with it alive, and can give from my own observation no account of its habits. Dr. Richardson, in the " Fauna Boreali-Americana," says : — " When it accidentally wanders abroad in the day, it is so much dazzled by the light of the sun as to become stupid ; and it may then be easily caught by the hand. Its cry in the night is a single melancholy note, repeated at intervals of a minute or two. Mr. Hutchins says that it builds a nest of grass half-way up a pine-tree, and lays two white eggs in the month of May." NYCTALE ACADICA. — Bonaparte. The Saw-Whet Owl; Acadican Owl. Strix Acadica, Gm. Syst. Nat., L 296 (1788). Bonap. Syn., 38. Nuttall and other authors. " Strix passerina, Linnaeus." Wilson, Am. Om., TV. 66. Description. Small; wings long; tail short; upper parts reddish-brown, tinged with olive; head in front with fine lines of white, and on the neck behind, rump, and scapulars, witli large, partially concealed spots of white ; face ashy-white ; throat white ; under parts ashy-white, with longitudinal stripes of pale reddish-brown ; under coverts 76 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. of wings and tail white; quills brown, with small spots of white on their outer edges, and large spots of the same on their inner webs; tail brown, everj' feather Avith about three pairs of spots of white; bill and claws dark; irides yellow. Total length, about seven and a half to eight inches; wing, five and a half inches; tail, two and three quarters to three inches. Sexes nearly the same size, and alike in colors. This species is also quite rare in New England ; but, as it is occasionally found in the summer months, is probably a resident here through the year. Says Audubon, in his description of this bird, which is very full and perfect : — " The Little Owl is known in Massachusetts by the name of the ' Saw-whet,' the sound of its love-notes bearing a great resemblance to the noise produced by filing the teeth of a large saw. These notes, when coming, as they frequently do, from the interior of a deep forest, produce a very peculiar effect on the traveller, who, not being aware of their real nature, expects, as he advances on his route, to meet with shelter under a saw-mill at no great distance. Until I shot the bird in the act, I had myself been more than once deceived in this manner. • " A nest of our Little Owl, which I found near the city of Natchez, was placed in the broken stump of a small decayed tree, not more than four feet fi-om the ground. I was attracted to it by the snor- ing notes of the young, which sounded as if at a considerable elevation ; and I was so misled by them, that, had not my dog raised himself to smell at the hole where the brood lay concealed, I might not have discovered them. In this instance, the number was five. It was in the beginning of June ; and the little things, which were almost ready to fly, looked exceedingly neat and beauti- ful. Their parents I never saw, although I frequently visited the nest before they left it. The Little Owl breeds naore abundantly near the shores of the Atlantic than in the interior of the country, and is frequent in the swamps of the States of Maryland and New Jersey during the whole year. Wherever I have found the young or the eggs placed in a hollow tree, they were merely deposited on the rotten particles of wood ; and, when in an old crow's nest, the latter did not appear to have undergone any repair. Being quite nocturnal, it shows great uneasiness when disturbed by day, and flies off in a hurried, uncertain manner, throwing itself into the THE SNOWY OWL. 77 first covert that it meets witli, where it is not difficult to catch it, provided the necessary caution and silence be used. Towards dusk, it becomes full of animation, flies swiftly — gliding, as it were — over the low grounds like a little spectre, and pounces on small quadrupeds and birds with the quickness of thought." The Saw-whet Owl nests in hollow trees, in cavities of rocks, and in deserted crows' and woodpeckers' nests. The eggs are from three to five or six in number ; and, according to Dr. Brewer, are of a bright, clear white, and more like a woodpecker's than an owl's in their crystalline clearness. Dimensions, I^q by \^ inch. Suh-Family Nycteinin^. — The Day Owls. General form compact and robust; head moderate, without ear-tufts; wings and tail rather long; tarsi strong, which, with the toes, are more densely covered than in any other division of this family. This division embraces two species only, which inhabit the arctic regions of both continents ; migrating southward in the winter. NYCTEA, Stephens. Nyctea, Stephens, Cont. of Shaw's Zool., XIII. 62 (1826). Large ; head rather large, without ear-tufts ; no facial disc ; legs rather short, and with the toes covered densely with long hair-like feathers, nearly concealing the claws; bill short, nearly concealed by projecting feathers, very strong; wings long; tail moderate, or rather long, wide ; claws strong, fully curved. Contains one spe- cies only. NYCTEA NIVEA. — Gray. The Snowy Owl. Strix nivea, Daudin. Traite d'Orn., 190 (1800). Strix nyctea, Linnfeus. Syst. Nat. I. 132 (1766). " Strix nyctea, Linnaius." Bonap. Syn., 36. Nutt. I. 116. Aud. II. 135. Wil- son and others. Description. Bill nearly concealed by projecting plumes; eyes large; entire plumage white, fre- quently with a few spots or imperfect bands, only on the upper parts dark-brown, and on the under parts with a few irregular and imperfect bars of the same; quills and tail with a few spots or traces of bands of the same dark-brown; the prevalence of 78 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. the dark -brown color varies much in different specimens; frequently both upper and under parts are very distinctly banded transversely, and sometimes this color pre- dominates on the back ; plumage of the legs and toes pure snowy-white; bill and claws horn-color; irides yellow. Total length, female, about twenty-six inches; wing, seventeen to nineteen; tail, ten inches. Male, about twenty-two inches; wing, seventeen; tail, nine inches. As a winter visitor, principally on the seacoast, this bird is a rather common species. It is often taken on the islands in Massachusetts Bay, where it feeds on fish that have been thrown up on the shore by the tide, birds, wounded sea- fowl, and even dead animals, as I am informed by a reliable person who once shot one while perched on and eating a dead horse on the beach. The flight of this Owl is rapid and protracted. I have seen an individual chase and ca|> ture a Snow Bunting (P. nivalis) from a flock; and once saw one make a swoop at a flock of poultry which had come out from their bouse on a fine day, but which immediately retreated on the appearance of their enemy. The Snowy Owl hunts both in the daylight and twilight : he seems to prefer cloudy, gloomy days to bright ones, and is most active just before a storm. Audubon says that this Owl captures living fish in the water by standing quietly by the margin, and seizing its prey with its claws, as it appears near the surface : whether this is a regular habit or not, I cannot say. I never saw one do so ; and I have conversed with several hunters who have shot numbers of specimens, and they all were ignorant of such a fact. Of the breeding habits of this Owl, we are ignorant. The Hudson's Bay, and other northern countries, are its summer homes. Wheelwright, in his " Spring and Sum- mer in Lapland," gives the only description of its nest and eggs accessible to me at present. He says : — " The egg of the Snowy Owl measures 2^ inches in length, and If inches in breadth : its color is jiure-white. The nest is nothing more than a large boll of reindeer moss, placed on the ledge of a bare fell. The old birds guard it most jealously ; in fact, the Lap- landers often kill them with a stick when they are robbing the THE HAWK OWL. 79 nest, which they do upon every occasion that presents itself. The Snowy Owl will occasionally make its nest on the large turf-hillocks in some of the mosses. SURNIA, DuMEKiL Surnia, Dumeril, Zoologie Analytique, 34 (1806). General form rather long, but robust; size medium; head moderate, without ear- tufts ; facial disc obsolete ; bill moderate, curved from the base, covered with pro- jecting plumes; wings long; tail long, wide, graduated; legs rather short, and with the toes densely feathered; contains one species only, which inhabits the arctic regions of both continents. SURNIA ULULA. — Bonaparte. The Hawk Owl; Day Owl. Strix ulula, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. 133 (1766). " Strix funerea,'" Gm. Bonap. Syn. 25. Nutt., I. 115. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. 550. " Stiix Huchonica.'''' Wilson, VL 64. Description. Wings rather long; first three quills incised on their inner webs; tail long, with its central feathers about two inches longer than the outer; tarsi and toes densely feathered; upper parts fuliginous-brown, with numerous partially concealed circular spots of white on the neck behind, scapulars and wing coverts; face graj'ish-white; throat white, with longitudinal stripes of dark-brown; a large brown spot on each side of the breast; other under parts with transverse lines or stripes of pale ashy- brown; quills and tail brown, with transverse bands of white; bill pale-yellowish; irides yellow ; color of upper parts darker on the head, and the white markings more or less numerous in different specimens. Total length, female, sixteen to seventeen inches; wing, nine; tail, seven inches. Male rather smaller. This bird is occasionally met with in different localities in New England ; rarely in the summer, most often in the winter. As its name implies, it is diurnal in its habits, and hunts its prey in the hours w^hen most of the other owls are hidden in their retreats. Its food consists of small birds and mice, which it seizes in tlie manner of the hawks. A specimen was obtained in Vermont on a wood-i)ile in a door-yard, where it was eating a woodpecker that it had just captured. Dr. Richardson, in his "Fauna Boreali- Americana," says that, " when the hunters are shooting grouse, this bird is occasionally attracted by the report of 80 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. the gim, and is often bold enough, on a bird being killed, to pounce down upon it, though unable, from its size, to carry it off. The Hawk Owl occasionally breeds in New England. My friend, George A. Boardman of Milltown, Me., has been so for- tunate as to find its nest, with eggs, in that neighborhood. It usually builds in a hollow tree, but sometimes constructs a habi- tation in the crotch of a tall tree, of sticks, grass, and feathers. According to Richardson, it lays two white globular eggs. Two beautiful specimens in my collection, from William Couper, Esq., Quebec, collected at Nortli- ern Labrador by the Montanaz Indians, are a trifle more elongated and pointed than the eggs of the Red Owl (^Scops asio). Tliey are of a pure- white color, and measure 1.50 by 1.25 inch and 1.47 by 1.22 inch. NOTES. I append the following notes, that have been kindly fur- nished me by William Couper, of Quebec, Lower Canada, for the purpose of showing the northern distribution of tlie birds of prey described in the preceding pages : — HYPOTRIORCHIS COLUMBARIUS. — Only young specimens occur, and those rarely, in the latitude of Quebec : they are more common toward the western portions of Lower and Upper Canada. It has not, to my knowledge, been found breeding in Canada. TINNUNCTJLUS SPARVERIUS. — This species is more abundant than the preceding ; but the majority of the specimens shot in the neighborhood of Quebec are young. I am informed tliat it breeds in the vicinity of the river St. Maurice, which falls into the river St. Lawrence, west of Quebec. NOTES. 81 ASTUR ATRICAPILLUS. — The adult of this species is very rare in this latitude, and it occurs in this plumage about midwinter. The young, how- ever, are sometimes common during the autumn. ACCIPITER FUSCUS. — This is one of the most common of our Hawks. It occurs in young plumage in tlie fall also. I am told that it breeds in Canada; but I have not had the good fortune to find its nest. Sportsmen have told me incidents of tiie audacity of this little species. They say it is always on the alert for woodcock and "nipe, and knows the moment that one of these birds is wounded. It is sometimes so bold, that, as soon as the shot strikes the intended game, the Hawk pounces upon it to carry it away. BUTEO PENNSYLVANICUS. — This species is very common here during the months of September and October. It is generally found preying upon frogs and a species of common field locust. I have not learned that it breeds in Upper or Lower Canada. ARCHIBUTEO LAGOPUS. — Sometimes this species is very abundant in the northern mountains, especially where there is a plenty of hares and grouse. It breeds in Labrador. CIRCUS HUDSONIUS— Occurs only in the fall, and then in young plum- age. Breeds in Western Canada. It has not been detected breeding in the northern swamps of Lower Canada. AQUILA CANADENSIS. — The adult and young of this species are occa- sionally sliot here during autumn and winter. I think it breeds on some of our high northern mountains. The specimens that I have examined had their bodies and legs stuck full of porcupine quills. PANDION CAROLINENSIS. — This is a very rare visitor in the northern regions. I understand that a pair arrive annually, and breed at Lake St. Joseph, north of this city. I never saw an adult specimen in Quebec. BUBO VIR6INIANUS. — This. Owl occurs here during summer and win- ter. I am almost certain it breeds in the mountains behind the city. I have had the young in the down from Bay St. Paul, on the north side of the river St. Lawrence, below Quebec. OTUS WILSONIANUS and BRACHYOTUS CASSINII are extremely rare here, and I cannot give any facts in relation to them. SYRNIUM NEBULOSUM. — This is the common Owl of our forests. SYRNIUM CINEREUM. — Is an accidental winter visitor. SURNIA ULULA. — This bird is also very common during some winters. It breeds in the northern portions of Hudson's Bay and Labrador. NYCTEA NIVEA. — This Owl is more abundant this winter (1867) than it has been for years. NYCTALE RICHARDSONII and N, ACADICA also occur here. The former is occasional ; but the latter, extremely rare. 6 82 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. ORDER IL — SCANSORES. Climbers. The characteristics of this order are given on page 4 of this volume. It is represented in the New-England States by two families, — the Cuculidce or Cuckoos, and the Picidce or Wood- peckers. These families have the arrangement of two pairs of toes opposed to each other in common ; otherwise, they are much dif- ferent in their characteristics. The Cuculidce have " bill thin, usually slender, and rather long, the tip more or less decurved, the base usually without rictal bristles ; tarsi usually rather long, clothed with broad plates ante- riorly ; the tail feathers usually ten, sometimes eight or twelve, all long." The Picidce have " bill straight, rigid, and chisel-shaped at the tip, the base without rictal bristles ; the feet are stout, and clothed anteriorly with broad plates ; tail feathers twelve, the exterior very small and concealed." ^ 1 See Introduction. THE YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. Family CUCULID.E. The Cuckoos. COCCYGUS, ViEiLLOT. Coccyzus, Vieillot. Analyse (1816). Erythrophrys, Swainson. Class. Birds, IL (1S37), 322. Head without crest; feathers about base of bill soft; bill nearly as long as the head, decurved, slender, and attenuated towards the end; nostrils linear; wings lengthened, reaching the middle of the tail; the tertials short; tail of ten graduated feathers; feet weak; tarsi shorter than the middle toe. The species of Coccyijus are readily distinguished from those of Geococcyx by their arborial habits, confniing themselves mainly to trees, instead of living habitu- ally on the ground. The plumage is soft, fine, and compact. The American cuclioos differ from the European cuckoos ( Cuculus) by having lengthened naked tarsi, instead of very short feathered ones; the nostrils are elongated, too, instead of rounded. COCCYGUS AMERICANUS. — 5onrr;jararticularly of apple- trees, where there are no larvjp, and apparently no inducement for them to do so. What their object is has never been satisfactorily established. In Massachusetts, I am not aware that these holes are ever sufficiently large or numerous to cause any material injury to the apple-trees : they are generally seen in circles round the limbs or trunks of small irregularly rounded holes, and in this vicinity are made almost exclusively by the Downy Woodpecker (P. pubescens), aided occasionally by the Hairy Woodpecker (P. villosus). In certain parts of the West, however, it is said that great damage is done to orchards by the Yellow-bellied Wood- pecker (aS*. variiis) ; and Dr. Hoy, of Racine, Wis., has advanced the theory that the object of the bird in so doing is to obtain the inner bark for food. A number of specimens of this bird, for- warded by Dr. Hoy to the Smithsonian Institution, have been 7 98 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. placed in my hands by Professor Baird for examination : as the specimens are alcoholic, the soft parts are, as is always the case, too much distorted to be available for correct comparisons ; the gizzard, however, seems smaller, and the proventriculus larger, than in other species of this family with which I have compared them. The contents of the stomach are berries, small coleoptera, larvae of boring beetles, ants, and fragments of the inner bark of the apple- tree." After giving miiiuto analyses of the characteristics of the tongues and portions of the skulls of the different small woodpeckers, and comparing them with the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker's, showing how the latter differ from the others, he says : — " The general shape of the whole tongue is not much unlike that of the Robin ; the ciliated edges show an analogy to the Melipha- gidce, and indicate that the sap of the trees pecked by them may form a portion of their food. In the stomachs of the six individuals examined by me, fragments of the inner bark were found in all, so that it can hardly be presumed to have been accidentally introduced. It is evident, from the shape of the tongue, that it is not used as a dart, in the manner of the true Woodpecker, to draw out insects from their lurking-places, but that these are seized by the bill, as in other insectivorous birds. Insects, however, probably form their chief diet, as all the stomachs examined also contained insects, the quantity of which was greater than that of the fragments of bark: in one bird, there were two larvjc of a boring beetle, so large that there was not room for both in the stomach at once, and one re- mained in the lower part of the ojsophagus. If these were, as is probable, the larvas of the Saperda, they would do more damage than twenty woodpeckers ; and I sincerely hope that these birds are not to be exterminated, unless it is clearly demonstrated that the injury caused by the destruction of the bark is not more than com- pensated by their destruction of noxious insects." About the 1st of May, the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker commences excavating its hole, which is usually in a de- cayed tree in the woods, but occasionally in a sound tree. THE PILEATED WOODPECKER. 99 This excavation is often eighteen or twenty inches deep. It is not lined with any soft material, and the eggs are depos- ited on chips of the wood left in the bottom. These are iisiially five in number ; they are of a pure-white color, and small for the size of the bird, measuring from .82 to .86 inch in length, by from .74 to .77 inch in breadth. HYLATOMUS, Bairp. JDnjotomits, Maljierbe, Mem. Ac. Metz. (1849) 322, (Not of Swainson, 1831.) Bryopicus, Bonap. Con?p. Zygod. in Aten. Ital. (May, 1854). (Not of Malherbo.) Bill a little longer than the head; considerably depressed, or broader than high at the base; shaped much as in CnrnpephUus, except shorter, and without the bristly feathers directed fonwards at the base of the lower jaw; gonj-s about half the length of the commissure; tarsus shorter than any toe except the inner posterior; outer posterior toe shorter than the outer anterior, and a little longer than the inner anterior; inner posterior ver}' short, not half the outer anterior, about half the inner anterior one. Tail long, graduated, the longer feathers much incurv^ed at the tip; wing longer than the tail, reaching to the middle of the exposed surface of tail, considerably graduated, though pointed, the fourth and tifth quills longest. Color uniform black, with white patches on the side of the head; head with pointed crest. HYLATOMUS PILEATUS- — Baird. The Pileated "Woodpecker; Log Cock. Picus pileat'ut,'L\rmiR\i5. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 173. Yieill. Ois. Am. Sept., II. (1807) 58, Wilson, Am. Orn., IV, (1811) 27. Aud, Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 74. Description, Fourth and fifth quills equal and longest, third intermediate between the sixth and seventh ; bill blue-black ; general color of body, wings, and tail, dull greenish- black; a narrow white streak from just above the eye to the occiput, a wider one from the nostril feathers (inclusive) under the eye and along the side of the head and neck; side of the breast (concealed by the wing), axillaries, and under wing coverts, and concealed bases of all the quills, with chin and beneath the head, white, tinged with sulphur-yellow; entire crown, from the base of the bill to a well-developed occipital crest, as also a patch on the ramus of the lower jaw, scarlet-red ; a few white crescents on the sides of the bodj' and on the abdomen ; iris very dark hazel. Female without the red on the cheek, and the anterior half of that on the top of the head replaced by black. Length, about eighteen inches; wing, nine and a half inches. This species is a resident in the northern districts of New England throughout the year. It has been known 100 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. to breed in Massachusetts ; but, as a general thing, it is not found south of the northern border of this State. Verrill, in his Catalogue of Maine birds, before referred to, says " it is a common resident, and breeds : " he also says it is " most common in winter." The great size and strength of this bird enable it to pierce into and tear apart the decaying trees in which its food is burrowing, with wonderful facility and ease. I have at times, in passing through the forest, found huge trees that had died and fallen to the ground, with their bark stripped off, and large chips torn out, as if some animal had been at work on them ; and I always supposed that a bear had been amusing himself, as those animals sometimes do, in this employment. One day I discovered the author of the demolition, and it proved to be the Pileated Woodpecker. While seated in the woods near the settlement known as AVilson's Mills in Maine, I heard a large animal, as I sup- posed, rooting and tearing into a dead tree a few rods off. I crept up near the sound, hoping to get a shot at a bear, when I discovered this bird, which looked very much like a black hen, busily at work. He was searching for the borers and large black ants that hide beneath the bark ; and so earnestly was he employed, that he permitted me to approach very near him. He would force his powerful bill, by repeated strokes, into the bark, in holes in a direct line with the grain, until he had marked out a patch, perhaps six or eight inches square, and then, striking into it diagonally, tear it off, thus exposing the living vermin beneath, which he lost no time in securing. After clearing that spot, he moved to another, and repeated the same operation, until, by a sud- den movement, I startled him, when he flew off, uttering a rattling cackle similar to that of a garrulous hen. His flight was similar to that of the other woodpeckers de- scribed in another place in this volume. In addition to insects, this Woodpecker eats acorns, beech-nuts, berries, and Indian corn, but is not at all troublesome to farmers ; THE PILEATED WOODPECKER. 101 and the little that it pilfers is much more than repaid by the immense numbers of injurious larvas that it destroys. Wilson, in a very interesting account of the general habits of this bird, says : — " Almost every trunk in the forest where he resides bears the marks of his chisel. Wherever he perceives a tree beginning to decay, he examines it round and round with great skill and dex- terity, strips off the bark in sheets of five or six feet in length, to get at the hidden cause of the disease, and labors with a gayety and activity really surprising. He is sometimes observed among the hills of Indian corn, and it is said by some that he frequently feeds on it. Complaints of this kind are, however, not general ; many farmers doubting the fact, and conceiving that at these times he is in search of insects which lie concealed in the husk. I will not be positive that they never occasionally taste maize, yet I have opened and examined great numbers of these birds, killed in various parts of the United States, from Lake Ontario to the Alatamaha River, but never found a grain of Indian corn in their stomachs." Of its breeding habits I know nothing, and will give the description given by Rev. John Bachman, in a letter to Mr. Audubon. He says, in describing a nest that he found, — " The hole was about eighteen inches deep, and I could touch the bottom with my hand. The eggs, which were laid on frag- ments of chips expressly left by the birds, were six, large, white, and translucent. Before the woodpeckers began to set, I robbed them of their eggs, to see if they would lay a second time. They waited a few days, as if undecided, when, on a sudden, I heard the female at work again in the tree. She once more deepened the hole, made it broader at the bottom, and recommenced laying. This time she laid five eggs. I suffered her to bring out her young, both sexes alternately incubating, each visiting the other at inter- vals, peeping into the hole to see that all was right and well there, and flying off afterwards in search of food." 102 OKNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. MELANERPES, Swainson. Melanei-pes, Swainson, F. B. A., II. (1831) (tj^e M. erythrocepJialvs). Bill about equal to the head, broader than high at the base, but becoming com- pressed immediately anterior to the commencement of the gonys; culmen and gonj's with a moderately decided angular ridge; both decidedly curved from the very base; a rather pa-ominent acute ridge commences at the base of the mandible, a little below the ridge of the culmen, and proceeds but a short distance anterior to the nos- trils (about one-third of the way), when it sinks down, and the bill is then smooth; the lateral outlines are gently concave from the basal two-thirds, then gently convex to the tip, which does not exhibit any abrupt bevelling; nostrils opefl, broadly oval, not concealed by the feathers, nor entirely basal; the outer pair of toes equal; wings long, broad; third and fourth quills longest; tail feathers broad. The species all have the back black, without any spots or streaks anywhere. MELANEEPES ERYTHROCEPHALUS. — Swai7iso?i. The Eed-headed Woodpecker. Picus erythrocephalus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 174. Wilson, Am. Om., I. (1810) 142. Aud. Orn. Biog., L (1832). Description. Head and neck all round crimson-red, margined by a narrow crescent of black on the upper part of the breast; back, primary quills, and tail, bluish-black; under parts generally, a broad band across the middle of the wing, and the rump white; iris hazel; bill and feet bluish-black. The female is not different. Length about nine and three-quarters inches; wing, five and a half. This handsome Woodpecker is a not very common summer inhabitant of New England. It makes its appearance from the South about the 10th of May. Its habits are similar to those of the other species ; and I recollect nothing of any importance that is peculiar to them except, perhaps, that these birds seem to be much fonder of the small fruits than either of the others. Wilson says of this fact : — " Wherever there is a tree, or trees, of the wild cherry, covered with ripe fruit, there you see them busy among the branches; and, in passing orchards, you may easily know where to find the earliest, sweetest apples, by observing those trees on or near which the Red-headed Woodpecker is skulking : for he is so excellent a con- noisseur in fruit, that, wherever an apple or pear is found broached by him, it is sure to be among the ripest and best flavored. When Rkd-mkaued WOODPECKICK, Mdanerpes erythrocephalas. Swai.KS, tree, that it ia sd other. they must w agaiust 104 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. insects form at least two-thirds of his subsistence ; and his stomach is scarcely ever found without them. He searches for them with a dexterity and intelligence, I may safely say, more than human : he perceives, by the exterior appearance of the bark, where they lurk below; when he is dubious, he rattles vehemently on the outside with his bill, and his acute ear distinguishes the terrified vermin shrinking within to their inmost retreats, where his pointed and barbed tongue soon reaches them. The masses of bugs, cater- pillars, and other larviB, which I have taken from the stomachs of these birds, have often surprised me. These larvfe, it should be remembered, feed not only on the buds, leaves, and blossoms, but on the very vegetable life of the tree, — the alburnum, or. newly forming bark and wood. The consequence is, that the whole branches and whole trees decay under the silent ravages of these destructive vermin ; witness the late destruction of many hundred acres of pine-trees in the north-eastern parts of South Cai'olina, and the thousands of peach-trees that yearly decay from the same cause. Will any one say, that, taking half a dozen, or half a hundred, apples from a tree, is equally ruinous with cutting it down ? or that the services of a useful animal should not be rewarded with a small portion of that which it has contributed to preserve ? We are told, in the benevolent language of the Scrip- tures, not to muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn ; and why should not the same generous liberality be ex- tended to this useful family of birds, vphich forms so powerful a phalanx against the inroads of many millions of destructive ver- min ? " About the middle of May, this species pairs, and soon commences excavating a hole in a tree, either in the woods or orchard, as he is not particular in his choice. This work is done by both the birds, who labor with industry and cheerfulness until the excavation is finished ; this is from fourteen to eighteen inches deep, and, like those of other woodpeckers, is roomy at the bottom, and tapering gradually to the entrance, which is only large enough for the comfort- able passage of the bird : it is not lined, but the bottom is partly covered with chips from the sides of the hole. The THE GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. 105 eggs are generally five or six in number, and of a beautiful clear-white. Dr. Thompson says, in his " Birds of Ver- mont," that " they are marked with reddish spots at the large end." This was a mistake ; for the eggs of wood- peckers are always immaculate. The shell is smoother than that of any other woodpecker's egg of my acquaint- ance. Length of specimens vary from 1.07 to 1.12 inch, breadth from .77 to .81 inch. COLAPTES, SwAiNsoN. Colaptes^ SwAiNSON, Zool. Jour., III. (Dec. 1827) 353 (type C. miratus). Bill slender, depressed at the base, then compressed; culnien much curved; gonys straight, both with acute ridges, and coming to quite a sharp point with the com- missure at the end; the bill consequently not truncate at the end; no ridges on the bill; nostrils basal, median, oval, and exposed; gonys very short, about half the culmen ; feet large, the anterior outer toe considerably longer than the posterior; tail long, exceeding the secondaries, the feathers suddenly acuminate, with elongated points. COLAPTES AUEATUS. — Swainson. The Golden-winged Woodpecker; Flicker; Pigeon Woodpecker. Picus auratus, Linnieus. Sj'st. Nat. (1766) 174. Wilson, Am. Ora., I. (1810) 45. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1832) 191. Description. Shafts and under surfaces of wing and tail feathers gamboge-yellow; a black patch on each side of the cheek; a red crescent on the nape; throat and stripe beneath the eye pale lilac-brown; back glossed with olivaceous-green; female with- out the black cheek patch; a crescentic patch on the breast, and rounded spots on the belly, black ; back and wing coverts with interrupted transverse bands of black ; neck above and sides ashy. Length, about twelve and a half inches ; wing, six. This is a very common summer inhabitant of New Eng- land. It is probably the most abundant of all the wood- peckers, and is very generally known. It is in the southern districts of these States a resident throughout the year ; and in Massachusetts I have often met with it in midwinter, when the season was not of the mildest either. They begin to arrive from the south at about the second week in March. 106 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. The habits of this bird are so well known, that any description here seems to be a work of supererogation. About the first week in May, the males begin to pay court to the females ; at this period their movements are amusing. " Their note is merriment itself, as it imitates a prolonged and jovial laugh, heard at a considerable distance. Several males pur- sue a female, reach her, and, to prove the force and truth of their love, bow their heads, spread their tails, and move sidewise, back- wards, and forwards, performing such antics as might induce any one witnessing them, if not of a most morose temper, to join his laugh to theirs. The female flies to another tree, where she is closely fol- lowed by one, two, or even half a dozen of these gay suitors, and where again the same ceremonies are gone through. No fightings occur, no jealousies seem to exist among these beaux, until a marked preference is shown to some individual, when the rejected proceed in search of another female. In this manner, all the Golden- winged Woodpeckers are soon happily mated. Each pair imme- diately proceed to excavate the trunk of a tree, and finish a hole in it sufficient to contain themselves and their young. They both work with great industry and apparent pleasure. Should the male, for instance, be employed, the female is close to him, and congratu- lates hira on the removal of every chip which his bill sends through the air. While he rests, he apjiears to be sjieaking to her on the most tender subjects, and when fatigued is at once assisted by her. In this manner, by the alternate exertions of each, the hole is dug and finished." — Audubon. This is often as much as twenty inches in depth, and in a solid tree very often at that. On the bottom of this hole, the female lays six pure-white eggs : these are generally of uniform ovoidal shape, and vary in size from 1 to 1.16 inch in length, by from .82 to .92 in breadth. When the eggs are removed, the female, after a couple of days' deliberation, lays another litter ; and I have known of this being repeated several times by a bird that was unwilling to leave the nest which she and her mate had been at so much labor to prepare. Instances have occurred THE GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. 107 of this bird's laying eighteen or twenty eggs in a few days, they being removed as soon as laid, and only two or three being left in the nest at a time. The food of this spe- cies consists of insects, berries, and grains. Ants are greedily eaten by it, and constitute no inconsiderable por- tion of its diet. On visiting the nest at night, I have very seldom been able to catch the old bird in it ; she almost always heard my approach, and took flight : once I caught her on the nest ; but, as I put my hand in to secure her, she attacked it with fierce pecks of her bill, and made such an onslaught that I was glad to permit her to escape. But one brood is reared in the season. 108 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. ORDER III. — INSESSORES. Perchers. In accordance with the views of many systematic writers, it may perhaps be as well to retain an order Insessores, and to place in it the Strisores, Clamatores, and Oscines as sub-orders. The characters of the order will then consist chiefly in the posses- sion of three toes in front and one behind (or, at least, never with two toes directed backwards), as in Scansores. The claws are not retractile, nor the bill with a cere, as in the Raptores ; nor is the hind toe situated appreciably above the plane of the others, as in Rnsores, Grallatores, and Natatores. The hind toe of the Insessores corresponds to the thumb or inner toe of the mammals, and is usually quite short. The joints of the anterior toes generally follow the law of number character- istic of birds ; namely, two to the hinder, three to the inner, four to the middle, and five to the outer toes : but a deviation is seen in some Strisores, where there are sometimes but three joints each to the anterior toes, and sometimes only four in the outer. The tarsi are generally covered anteriorly with plates, and furnished behind with granulations or small scales, or else with two long plates covering the sides, the latter feature especially characteristic of the Oscines, or singing-birds : in the latter alone is the tarsus some- times covered anteriorly with a single plate. Sometimes the tarsus is entirely or partly naked, or destitute of plates altogether. The carpal joint or the hand part of the wing is in most Insessores furnished with ten quills (primaries), although the first quill is sometimes very short, or even entirely wanting, as in many Oscines. The fore-arm has from six (in the Humming-birds) to thirteen quills, the average being eight or nine. There are certain peculiarities in the arrangement of he wing coverts of the different sub-orders of Insessores, constituting important distinctive features. Some of these will be hereafter referred to. ORDER III. INSESSORES. 109 The tail of the Insessores exhibits considerable differences. The number of feathers is usually twelve ; sometimes ten only, as in the Strisores. The different groups of the order Insessores are subject to con- siderable variations in respect to the structure of the lower larynx attached to the trachea or windpipe just anterior to its division into the two bronchial tubes. Cuvier long since showed, that the true singing-birds had the larynx provided with a peculiar appa- ratus for the purpose of effecting a modulation of the voice, composed of five pairs of muscles, of which other birds were destitute in greater part, or entirely. The characteristic of the groups Strisores, Clamatores, and Oscines, and of their subdivisions, as will be shown hereafter, depend very much on these peculiarities of the larynx. The tongue of the Insessores varies to a considerable degree. In the Humming-birds, it is thread-like and bifurcated. In most other insessorial or perching birds, it is long or short, flat, and triangular; the posterior extremity bilobed, the anterior usually with the tip horny, serrated, or with fibres, more rarely smooth. These furnish important characteristics for the division into families, and even genera ; the variations being quite considerable. See Introduction, and vol. IX., Pacific R.E.. Reports, 128. 110 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. SUB-ORDER STRISORES. Family TROCHTLID^. The Humming-birds. There is no group of birds so interesting to the ornithologist or to the casual observer as the Humming-birds; at once the smallest in size, the most gorgeously beautiful in color, and almost the most abundant in species of any single family of birds. They are strictlj'' confined to the continent and islands of America, and are most abundant in the Central-American States; though single species range almost to the "Arctic regions on the north and to Patagonia on the south, as well as from the seacoast to the frozen summits of the Andes. The number of known species considerably exceeds three hundred, and new ones are being constant!}' brought to light; so that an estimate of four hundred species is, perhaps, not too large. Many are very limited in their range; some confined to particular islands, even though of small dimensions. The bill of the Humming-bird is awl-shaped or subulate, thin, and sharp- pointed, straight or curved; sometimes as long as the head, sometimes much longer. The mandibles are excavated to the tip for the lodgement of the tongue, and form a tube by the close apposition of their cutting edges. There is no indica- tion of stiff bristly feathers at the base of the mouth. The tongue has some resem- blance to that of the Woodpeckers in the elongation of the cornua backwards, so as to pass round the back of the skull, and then anteriorly to the base of the bill. The tongue itself is of very peculiar structure, consisting anteriorly of two hollow threads closed at the ends and united behind. The food of the Humming- bird consists almost entirely of insects, which are captured by protruding the tongue into flowers of various shapes, without opening the bill very wide. The wings of the Humming-birds are long and falcate; the shafts very strong; the primaries usually ten in number, the first always longest; there are six seconda- ries. The tail has but ten feathers. The feet are small; the claws very sharp and strong.i The species known to inhabit the United States, though few, are yet nearly twice as many as given by Mr. Audubon. It is probable that additional ones will here- after be detected, particularly on our southern borders. The different authors who have made a specialty of the Humming-birds have named a great many sub-families and genera; but there has as yet been no published systematic description of the higher groups. It is probable that the North-Ameri- 1 IMost of the above general remarks are borrowed from Burmeister (Thiere Bra- siliens, Vogel, 311), to which I would refer for an excellent article on the structure and habits of Humming-birds. THE KUBY-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD. Ill can species belong to two different sub-families, — the Lampornithince and the Tro- chilince, — and to at least four genera; but the precise character and limits of these I am unable to give. The following remarks, however, may serve to sketch out the characters of the North- American species : — A. Edges of mandible serrated near the end ; throat without metallic, scale-like feathers. Lampornis. — Bill depressed, slightly curved; fail broad, slightly emarginate, the outer feather as broad as the rest; wings reaching the tip of fail; no metallic feathers on the throat. B. Edges of mandible nearly even towards the tip, without distinct serrations; throat with metallic, scale-like feathers. Trocldlus. — Feathers of tiiroat but little elongated laterally; lateral tail feathers but little narrower than the others, and lanceolate-acute ; tail forked. Selasphorus. — Feathers of the throat much elongated laterally into a ruff; lateral tail feathers much narrower than the middle ones, and linear in shape, or with the sides parallel to the end, which is rounded ; fail graduated or cuneate ; outer primary attenuated at the tip; crown without metallic scales. Atthis. — Similar to the last, but the top of the head with metallic scales like the throat ; the outer primary not attenuated ; tail emarginated, or deeplj' forked. TROCHILUS, Llvn.eus. TEOCHILUS COLUBEIS — Linnceus. The Ruby-throated Humming-bird. Trochilus cofoJn's, LinnjEus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 191. Wilson, Am. Orn., II. (1810) 26. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1832) 248. lb., Birds Amer., IV. (1842) 190. Ornismya culubris, Deville. Rev. et. Mag. Zool. (May, 1&52) (habits). Description. Tail in the male deeply forked, the feathers all narrow lanceolate-acute ; in the females lightly rounded and emarginate; the feathers broader, though pointed; male, uniform metallic-green above; a ruby-red gorget with no conspicuous ruff; a white collar on the throat; sides of body greenish; fail feathers uniformly brownish-violet; female, without the red on the throat; the fail is rounded and emarginate, the inner feathers shorter than the outer; the fail feathers banded with black, and the outer tipped with white; uo rufous or cinnamon on the tail in either sex. Length, three and twenty-five one-hundredf hs inch ; wing, one and sixty one- hundredths; tail, one and twenty-five one-hundredths inch; bill, sixty-five one- hundredths. THIS beautiful little winged gem is distributed through- out New England as a summer visitor. It arrives from the south from about the 15th to the 25th of May, according to latitude, and usually in pairs. The first notice that we have of his arrival is a humming sound, and now 112 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. and then a sharp chirp, like that of a large beetle, among the earliest flowers in the garden. We look in the direction of the sound, and perceive our little stranger darting about, and thrusting his bill and little head into the flowers, busily searching for the small insects that inhabit them, and which constitute the principal part of his food. While we are looking at him, he suddenly alights on a twig, turns his gorgeous throat towards us, and scans us with his bright little black eyes. While he is perched, he busies himself in arranging his plumage, and cleaning from his feathers the drops of dew that have perhaps fallen upon him, uttering occasionally his merry chirp ; presently his .mate appears, and alights by his side. The little lovers (for they are still such) then indulge in mutual caresses, and apparently talk over with much earnestness their plans for future housekeeping. Woe to another humming-bird, if he comes in sight ! for our little friend is not only jealous of his mate, but is very quarrelsome also, and protects his honor with great courage. As he darts off like a bullet at the intruder, his mate watches with no little interest for the results of the battle that is inevitable. The two males meet in the air, and fierce is the contest ; their little wings beat the air with such force that their hummins; is heard at the THE RUBY-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD. 113 distance of several rods ; up they mount, rushing against and striking each other with their sharp little bills, until they are both lost to the sight : presently our acquaintance descends to the twig where his mate is seated, and struts before her with a pride much larger than his body, ap- parently anxious for her approval of his courage. She caresses him ; and, after he has adjusted his plumage, otf they shoot for other scenes and pleasures.^ About the first week in June, the Humming-bird com- mences buildhig its nest : tliis is composed of a soft down, that is taken from the stems of some of the ferns ; it is covered entirely with lichens, which are glued on witli the saliva of the bird, giving it the appearance of a mossy knot. It is usually built on the upper side of a limb ; but I have known of cases of its being built in a forked twig. The whole fabric is about an inch and a half in diameter, and about that in depth externally ; it is hollowed about half an inch, and is three-fourths of an inch in diameter internally; it is lined with soft, downy substances detached from flying- seeds. The eggs are two in number, white, and nearly elliptical in shape, being of about equal size at both ends. Length of eggs, about .45 inch ; breadth, about .31 inch. I am inclined to think, that, in the latitude of New England, this bird raises only one brood in the season ; but further south it undoubtedly rears two. The period of incubation is ten days. On approaching the nest, the parent bird immediately flies at the intruder ; and it was by this means that I have been enabled to find specimens of the nests, when I could not possibly have done so if their locality had not been betrayed by the bird herself. I have heard of young birds being taken from the nest when nearly fledged, kept for several weeks, and fed with nothing but sweetened water ; 1 I had written this incident before I noticed the similar one given by Wilson. I will let it remain, however, because it is an instance of scenes common in the life of this bird. 8 114 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. but they always died after a short confinement, and I believe that it is impossible to keep this bird as a pet, from the fact that its actual food is insects, and it cannot live on any other. AVilson gives the following facts in relation to this. He says : — " The singularity of this little bird has induced many persons to attempt to raise them from the nest, and accustom them to the cage. Mr. Coffer, of Fairfax County, Va., a gentleman who has paid great attention to the manners and peculiarities of our native birds, told me that he raised and kept two, for some months, in a cage, supi^lying them with honey dissolved in water, on which they readily fed. As the sweetness of the liquid frequently brought small flies and gnats about the cage and cup, the birds amused themselves by snapping at them on wing, and swallowing them with eagerness, so that these insects formed no inconsiderable part of their food. Mr. Charles Wilson Peale, proprietor of the Museum, tells me that he had two young Humming-birds, which he raised from the nest. They used to fly about the room, and would frequently perch on Mrs. Peale's shoulder to be fed. When the sun shone strongly in the chamber, he has observed them dart- ing after the motes that floated in the light, as Flycatchers would after flies. In the summer of 1803, a nest of young Humming- birds was brought me, that were nearly fit to fly. One of them actually flew out by the window the same evening, and, falling against a wall, was killed. The other refused food, and the next morning I could but just perceive that it had life. A lady in the house undertook to be its nurse, placed it in her bosom, and, as it began to revive, dissolved a little sugar in her mouth, into which she thrust its bill, and it sucked with great avidity. In this man- ner, it was brought up until fit for the cage. I kept it upwards of three months, supplied it with loaf sugar dissolved in water, which it preferred to honey and water, gave it fresh flowers every morning sprinkled with the liquid, and surrounded the space in which I kept it with gauze, that it might not injure itself. It appeared gay, active, and full of spirit, hovering from flower to flower as if in its native wilds ; and always expressed, by its motions and chirping, great pleasure at seeing fresh flowers intro- THE RUBY-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD. 115 diiced to its cage. Numbers of people visited it from motives of curiosity ; and I took every precaution to preserve it, if possible, through the winter. Unfortunately, however, by some means it got at large ; and, flying about the room, so injured itself that it soon after died. " This little bird is extremely susceptible of cold ; and, if long deprived of the animating influence of the sunbeams, droops, and soon dies. A very beautiful male was brought me this season (1809), which I put into a wire cage, and placed in a retired, shaded part of the room. After fluttering about for some time, the weather being uncommonly cool, it clung by the wires, and hung in a seemingly torpid state for a whole forenoon. No motion what- ever of the lungs could be perceived, on the closest inspection, though, at other times, this is remarkably observable ; the eyes were shut ; and, when touched by the finger, it gave no signs of life or motion. I carried it out to the open air, and placed it directly in the rays of the sun, in a sheltered situation. In a few seconds, respiration became very apparent ; the bird breathed faster and faster, opened its eyes, and began to look about, with as much seeming vivacity as ever. After it had completely recov- ered, I restored it to liberty ; and it flew off to the withered top of a pear-tree, where it sat for some time dressing its disordered plumage, and then shot oflT like a meteor." About the latter part of August, or perhaps by the 8th or 10th of September, the Humming-bird takes his departure for the south. The young birds travel with their parents, or, at any rate, leave this section with them ; for I have invariably noticed tliat these little groups were together up to the time when they left. The parents return to the same breeding-place in the succeeding year; and I have known of a pair breeding on the same apple-tree for three successive seasons. 116 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. Family CYPSELID^. The Savifts. Bill very small, without notch, triangular, much broader than high, the culmen not one-sixth the gape; anterior toes cletl to the base, each with three joints (in the typical species), and covered with skin, the middle claw without any serrations, the lateral toes nearly equal to the middle; bill without bristles, but with minute feathers extending along the imder margin of the nostrils; nostrils elongated, supe- rior, and very close together; plumage compact; primaries ten, elongated, falcate. CH^TUKA, Stephens. Chcetura, Stephens. Shaw's Gen. Zool. Birds, XIII. (1825) 76 (tj'pe C. pelasgia). Tail very short, scarcely more than two-fifths the wings, slightly rounded, the shafts stiffened and extending some distance beyond the feathers in a rigid spine; first primary longest; legs covered by a naked skin, without scutellse or feathers; tarsus longer than middle toe ; lateral toes equal, nearly as long as the middle ; hind toe scarcely versatile, or quite posterior, with the claw, less than the middle anterior without it ; toes slender, claws moderate ; feathers of the base of the bill not extend- ing beyond the beginning of the nostrils. CH^aiTURA PELASGIA. — Stephens. The Chimney Swallow. Hirundo pelasgia, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. I. (1766) 345. Wils. Am. Om. V. (1812) 48. Cypselus pelasgia, Audubon. Cm. Biog. II. (1834) 329; V. 419. Chcetura pelasgia, Stephens. Shaw's Gen. Zool. Birds, XIII. (1825) 76. Description. Tail slightly rounded; of a sooty-brown all over, except on the throat, which becomes considerably lighter from the breast to the bill; above with a greenish tinge; the rump a little paler. Length, five and a quarter inches; wing, five ten one-hundredths; tail, two fifteen one-hundredths. THIS well-known bird is a common summer inhabitant of New England. It arrives in great numbers from the South, about the 1st to the 10th of May. Immediately on arriving, the birds pair, and commence building. The nest is usually constructed in an unused flue of a chimney ; but, before the country was settled, they bred, and I have no THE CHIMNEY SWALLOW. 117 doubt that great imnibers of them in thinly settled districts still breed in hollow trees. The nest is composed of twigs, which are glued together and to the side of the chimney with the saliva of the bird. It is lined with a few feathers and straws. The strength of these structures is wonderful ; and they are so durable that I have known of instances of their remaining in the chimney during three seasons. Usually, the bird displays great sagacity in the choice of a location for a nest, in securing protection from storms and from the attacks of animals ; but occasionally the nest is built in a chimney, open at the top sufficiently wide to permit the rain to trickle down the sides : the result is, that the moisture softens the glue by which the nest is attached to the chimney, and it is, with its living contents, precipi- tated to the bottom. Again, if the nest is built too low in the chimney, the young or eggs furnish agreeable food for rats, which, unfortunately, are sometimes found in dwelling- houses in the country in uncomfortable numbers. The eggs are generally four or five in number, pure-white in color, rather long in shape. Dimensions of five eggs, in a nest collected in Upton, Me. : .84 by .44 inch, .81 by .46 inch, .80 by .46 inch, .78 by .48 inch, .76 by .51 inch. This species is almost nocturnal in its habits. From earli- est dawn until seven or eight in the morning, it is busy in the pursuit of insects : it then retires to its roosting-places in the chimneys, and is seldom seen until late in the after- noon. From early twilight until late in the night, it is again actively employed ; and, having hoard its notes, as it sped through the air, often as late as midnight, I have no doubt that, in pleasant weather, it is busy through the whole night. In descending the chimneys where their young are, the birds fly rapidly until they are immediately over them, when, partially closing their wings, they drop suddenly, and with apparent case, down the flue. In ascending, the noise of their wings in the chimney is 118 OENITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. like that of distant thunder. The flight of these birds is very rapid, surpassing, I thinlv;, that of any other species : it is so peculiar, — the long wings vibrating in short, quick, energetic strokes, — that it furnishes a ready means of dis- tinguishing it, from all other species, at a great height. About sunset, the great multitudes of these birds are out, and the numbers of insects they destroy must be immense. Everywhere they may be seen : away up in the blue sky, as far as the eye can reach, they are coursing in wide-extended circles, chasing each other in sport, and even caressing and feeding their mates while on the wing ; a little lower, they are speeding over the tops of the trees, gleaning the insects that have just left the foliage ; over the surface of the lake or river they fly so low, in the pursuit of aquatic insects, that their wings often touch the water ; everywliere they are busy. Truly, they are deserving of much better treat- ment tlian they too often receive at the hands of the farm'er, to whom they are his best friends ; yet it is a fact, that, in a great many sections, they are driven from the chimneys of the farm-houses, and even destroyed, at every oppor- tunity. About the last of August, the Chimney Swallow, in large scattered flocks, leaves for the South, and spends the winter in Honduras and the West Indies. On returning in the spring, the same pair occupies the chimney used in the pre- vious season, as has been proved by actual observation. THE WHIPPOORWILL. 119 Family CAPRIMULGID^. The Goat-suckers. Suh-Family Caprimulgik.e. Bill very short, triangular, the culmen less than one-sixth the gape; the anterior toes united at the base by a membrane; the inner anterior toe with three joints, the others with four, all with distinct scutelhe above ; the toe much elongated, its middle claw pectinated on the inner edge ; hind toe directed a little more than half for- wards ; tarsi partly feathered superiorly ; the bill more or less bristled, the nostrils separated, rather nearer the commissure than the culmen; plumage soft, lax, and owl-like; primary quills, ten; secondaries, eleven or twelve. ANTPtOSTOMUS, Gould. Antrostomus, Goulu. Icones Avium (1838), Agassiz. Bill remarkably small, with tubular nostrils, and the gape with long, stiff, some- times pectinated, bristles; wings long, somewhat rounded, second quill longest, the primaries emargiuated; tail rounded; plumage loose and soft. ANTEOSTOMUS VOCIFERUS. — Bonaparte. The 'Whippoorwill. Caprimidgus foci/erus, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. (1812) 71; Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1832) 443; V. 405. Antrostoinus vociferus, Bonaparte. List, 1838. Desckiption. Bristles without lateral filaments; wing about six and a half inches long; top of the head ashy-brown, longitudinally streaked with black; terminal half of the tail feathers (except the four central) dirty-white on both outer and inner webs ; iris dark- hazel. Female, without white on the tail. Length, ten inches ; wing, six and a half. THIS familiar species is a summer inhabitant of New England : it arrives from the South about the second week in May. Its habits are not well known, as it is not a very common species, and it inhabits the most secluded spots in the deep woods ; but its song is well known to all, as are its nocturnal wanderings in search for insect food. Tliis bird, as also the Night-hawk, is, to the fai-mer, one of the most valuable among the feathered tribes : its food consists almost entirely of night-flying Lepidoptera, and the number of these insects destroyed is immense. 120 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. The peculiar song of this bird is heard at early eve, and until late into the night, during the mating and part of the breeding seasons. It is not uttered in the depths of the wil- derriess alone ; but the bird, perching on the well-sweep, on the caves of a low shed, or even on the door-sill of the farm- er's house, pours out its melancholy strain. The descrip- tion, by Alexander Wilson, of the habits of this bird, is so accurate and comprehensive, that I will not presume to attempt another. He says : — " The notes seem pretty plainly to articulate the words which have been generally applied to them, whip-poor-will, the first and last syllables being nttered with great emphasis, and the whole in about a second to each repetition ; but, when two or more males meet, their whip-poor-will altercations become much more rapid and incessant, as if each were straining to overpower or silence the other. When near, you often hear an introductory cluck between the notes. At these times, as well as at almost all others, they fly low, not more than a few feet from the surface, skimming about the house and before the door, alighting on the wood-pile, or settling on the roof. Towards midnight, they generally become silent, unless in clear moonlight, when they are heard, with little intermission, till morning. If there be a creek near, with high, precipitous," bushy banks, they are sure to be found in such situations. During the day, they sit in the most retired, solitary, and deep-shaded parts of the woods, generally on high ground, where they repose in silence. When disturbed, they rise within a few feet, sail low and slowly through the woods for thirty or forty yards, and generally settle on a low branch or on the ground. Their sight appears deficient during the day, as, like owls, they seem then to want that vivacity for which they are distinguished in the morning and even- ing twilight. They are rarely shot at or molested ; and, from being thus transiently seen in the obscurity of dusk, or in the deep um- brage of the woods, no wonder their particular markings of plumage should be so little known, or that they should be confounded with the Night-hawk, whom, in general appearance, they so much re- semble. The female begins to lay about the second week in May, selecting, for this purpose, the most imfrequented part of the wood. THE WHIPPOORWILL. 121 often where some brush, old logs, heaps of leaves, &c., had been lying, and always on a dry situation." The Whippoorwill constructs no nest, but lays its eggs, which are two in number, in a slight hollow which it scratches in the earth, usually near a rock, or fallen trunk of a tree. These eggs are of an elliptical form, being as large at one end as at the other ; their ground-color is a delicate creamy-white, with blotches, lines, and spots of different shades of light-brown and lavender : taken alto- gether, it is one of the handsomest eggs found in New Eng- land. The length of several specimens before me varies from 1.21 to 2.27 inches, breadth from .75 to .79 inch. The bird commences laying about the last week in May, and the period of incubation is fourteen days. The young are soon able to walk, and in a very few days can run with considerable speed ; and they hide with such adroitness that it is a work of no little difficulty to capture "^ them. The female, when her young are discovered, imme- diately throws herself before the intruder, counterfeiting lameness so well, that, unless he is well acquainted with the habits of birds, he will quickly be misled into following her. As soon as the young birds are able to shift for them- selves, they are turned adrift by their parents, and are seen only singly, or at most in pairs, during the remainder of their stay. By the latter part of August, or seldom later than the 10th of September, all of them depart for the South, the old males remaining a few days later ; uttering, occasionally, their song, but always in the woods, or in localities far removed from human habitation. CHORDEILES, Swainson. Su-AINSON. Fauna Bor. Amer. (1831) 496. Bill very small, the gape with veiy short, feeble bristles; wings verj' long and pointed, with the first (luill nearly or quite equal to the second, and the primaries not emarginated on the inner edge; tail long, slightly forked in the North-American species; plumage rather compact. 122 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. CHORDEILES FOFETVE. — Baird. The Night-hawk; Bull Bat. Caprimulgm popetue, Vieillot. Ois. Am. Sept., L (1807) 56. CaprimuUjus Ameiicanus, Wilson, V. (1812) 63. Caprimulyus Virf/inianns. Aud. Orn. Biog., IL (1834) 273. Description. Male, above greenish-black, with but little mottling on the head and back ; wing coverts varied with grayish; scapulars with yellowish-rufous; a nuchal band of tine gray mottling, behind which is another coarser one of rufous spots; a white V-shaped mark on the throat; behind this a collar of pale-rufous blotches, and another on the breast of grayish mottling ; under parts banded transversely with dull-yellowish or reddish-white and brown ; wing quills quite uniformly brown ; the five outer primaries with a white blotch midway between the tip and carpal joint, not extending on the outer web of the outer quill; tail with a terminal white patch. Female, without the caudal white patch, the white- of the throat mixed with reddish. Length of male, nine and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, eight and twenty one-hundredths inches. This bird is much more abundantly distributed through- out New England than the preceding; and its habits are, consequently, better known. It arrives from the south about the 10th of May. At this time, great numbers may be observed, at early twilight, coursing through the air in different directions, sometimes at a great height, sometimes just above the trees in the country, or houses in the city ; occasionally, very near the earth or water, or, when near the seacoast, but just above the marshes, where they destroy great numbers of insects. Their flight is very rapid, their long wings giving quick, powerful sweeps ; and, as they dart about in many eccentric movements, busily gleaning their food, they utter, at oft-repeated intervals, their short note or squeak, which almost exactly resembles that of the Com- mon Snipe. About the middle of May, or by the 20th of that month, in Maine, the male commences his attentions to the female. His movements at this time are interesting, and, from their common occurrence, familiar to all who live in the country. THE NIGHT-HAWK. 123 At early evening, and in cloudy weather throughout the greater part of the day, he ascends into the air ; and when he has attained a considerable height, partially closing his wings, he drops with great velocity through the distance of seventy-five or one hundred feet, sometimes nearly to the earth. The sound made by the air passing through the wing quills is so loud that I have often heard it at certainly the distance of half a mile : it resembles, as Nuttall truly says, the sound produced by blowing into the bung-hole of an empty hogshead. This act is often repeated, the bird darting about at the same time in every direction, and uttering his sharp squeak. Wilson was of the opinion, that this habit of the Night-hawk was confined to the period of incubation; the male acting in this manner, as he thought, to intimidate any person from approaching the nest. I have had abun- dant opportunities for observing the bird in all times of the summer, and during its stay with us ; and I should unhesi- tatingly affirm, that, from the time of early courtship, until the young are hatched, if not after, the male acts in this manner. This species constructs no nest, but lays its eggs on the bare ground in a slight hollow scratched by the female, or often on a bare rock. I have found numbers of these eggs, particularly in the northern parts of Maine, where, in walk- ing over a pasture or rocky field, I have flushed sometimes a bird in every ten rods. I remember a ledge of rocks back of the settlement known as Wilson's Mills, which seemed a favorite breeding-place for these birds ; and, in the space of every four or five rods, a female was sitting on her eggs. The eggs are two in number, elliptical in shape, of a dirty-white color, which is covered with fine dottings of different shades of brown, with obscure markings of slate-color, and some spots of lavender. Length from 1.23 to 1.25 inch ; breadth, from .82 to .85 inch. A great num- ber of specimens from different sections do not exhibit an appreciable variation from these dimensions. In the south- 124 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. ern districts, it lays about the 20th of May.; in the northern, about the 10th of June. Tlie male assists the female in incubating, as I have wit- nessed many times. When perched by her on a tree or fence-rail, during the light of mid-day, he always sits along the limb or rail, instead of across it — a peculiarity which is also noticeable in tlie Whippoorwill. Some authors, in speak- ing of this fact, explain it by noticing the comparatively small size of the feet, and apparent weakness of the legs. I think this can hardly be a sufficient cause ; for both these birds, while on the grovmd, can run with considerable speed, and, if captured, can not only perch across the finger of a hand or the back of a chair, as I have often proved, but can rest on one foot, drawing the other up into the feathers of the belly, like other birds. About the 20th of August, after the young have become able to provide for themselves, all the families in a neigh- borhood assemble in a large, scattered flock; and, after having become completely recruited from the labors of incu- bation, they all leave for the south. THE BELTED KINGFISHER. 125 SUB-ORDER CLAMATORES. Screamers. Family ALCEDINIDiE. The Kingfishers. Head large; bill long, strong, straight, and sub-pyramidal, usually longer than the head; tongue very small; wings short; legs small, the outer and middle toes united to their middle; toes with the usual number of joints (2, 3, 4, 5). The gape of the bill in the Kingfishers is large, reaching to beneath the eyes; the third primary is generally longest, the first decidedly shorter; the secondaries vary from twelve to fifteen in number, all nearly equal; the secondaries cover at least three-quarters of the wing; the tail is short, the feathers twelve in number, they are rather narrow, the outer usually shorter; the lower part of the tibia is bare, leaving the joint and the tarsus uncovered; the tarsus is covered anteriorly with plates, behind, it is shagreen-like or granulated; the hind toe is connected with the inner, so as to form with it and the others a regular sole, which extends unbroken beneath the middle and outer as far as the latter are united; the inner toe is much shorter than the outer; the claws are sharp, the middle expanded on its inner edge, but not pectinated. CERYLE, BoiE. Ceryle, Bora, Isis (1S28) 316 (type C. riidis). Bill long, straight, and strong, the culmen slightly advancing on the forehead, and sloping to the acute tip; the sides much compressed; the lateral margins rather dilated at the base, and straight to the tip; the gonys long and ascending; tail rather long and broad ; tarsi short and stout. CERYLE ALCYON. — 5(Me. The Belted Kingfisher. Alcedo alcyon, Linna>us. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 180. Wilson, Am. Om., III. (1811) 59. Aud. Om. Biog., I. (1831) 394. Ceryle nlcyon, Boie. Isis, (1828) 316. Desceiption. Head with a long crest; above blue, without metallic lustre; beneath, with a con- cealed band across the occiput, and a spot anterior to the eye, pure-white ; a band across the breast, and the sides of the bodj- under the wings, like the back ; prima- ries white on the basal half, the terminal unspotted; tail with transverse bands and spots of white. Young, with the sides of body and a transverse band across the belly below the pectoral one, light-chestnut; the pectoral band more or less tinged with the same. Length of adult, about twelve and three-quarters inches; wing, six or more. Eab. — The entire continent of North America. 126 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. THIS species is a very common summer inhabitant of all the New-England States. It arrives from the south about the 1st of April, often earlier, particularly in early springs : indeed, Mr. Verrill says they are sometimes seen in Maine in winter, and they are often found in the southern districts of these States in this season. The birds, on arriv- ing, commence pairing ; and they soon begin excavating in a sand-bank a long, winding hole of about three inches and a half in diameter at the entrance, and gradually larger to the end, at which the nest, composed of grasses, leaves, and feathers, is built, — or laid, which would perhaps be the better terin. This hole is sometimes as much as six or eight feet, usually, from four to six, in length. The female deposits in this nest six eggs usually : these are of a clear-white color, and of a nearly spherical shape, being from 1.35 to 1.42 inch in length, by from 1.05 to 1.08 inch in breadth. I am aware that these measurements exceed any heretofore given ; but they are accurately taken from a large number of speci- mens in my collection. Dr. Brewer gives the dimensions as averaging 1^^ in length by lyL in breadth. The period of incubation is stated by Audubon and other ornithologists to be sixteen days. The habits of this bird are so well known that any description here is almost superfluous. Its food, as its name implies, consists almost entirely of fish, which he obtains by diving into the water, and seizing with his bill. When passing over a sheet of water, he attentively scans the surface beneath him : if he observes a small fish, he pauses in his flight, and remains over it a few seconds, maintaining his position by short, quick vibrations of his wings. If the fish is sufficiently near the surface, he sud- denly dives at it, and, plunging into the water, seizes it, and bears it off to some rock or post, where he can eat it at his leisure. The note of the Kingfisher is a loud, harsh cry, similar to the sound of a watchman's rattle : it is easily heard above the rushing of the waters at a dam or other THE BELTED KINGFISHER. 127 waterfall, and, when heard in such a locality, is not disagree- able. When perched on a limb overhanging the water, he frequently jets his tail in the manner of the Pewee, and often descends from such a perch and seizes a frog or a fish ; and I once shot one that had just seized a meadow mouse (arvicola) in this manner. The young usually remain in the hole in the bank until they are about fledged. I am inclined to think, that usually they return to these holes at night and in stormy weather, as I have frequently seen them about their nests long after they were fledged, and have even seen them passing into them at the close of the day. In migrating, the young leave their parents, and these even separate, and pursue their journey alone ; and it is a case of rare occurrence that two are seen together after the latter part of August. 128 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. Family COLOPTERID^. The Flycatchers. Sul-FamiJy Tyrannin.e. — Tyrant Flycatchers'. Bill broader than high at the base, much depressed, more or less triangular; ciil- men nearly as long as the head, or shorter, straight to near the tip, then suddenly bent down into a conspicuous hook, with a notch behind it; tip of lower jaw also notched ; commissure straight to near the notch ; gonys slightly convex ; nostrils oval or rounded in the anterior extremity of the nas;il groove, and more or less concealed by long bristles which extend from the posterior angle of the jaws along the base of the bill, becoming smaller, but reaching nearly to the median line of the forehead; these bristles with lateral branches at the base; similar bristles mixed in the loral feathers and margining the chin ; tarsi short, generally less than the middle toe, completely enveloped by a series of large scales which meet near the posterior edge of the inner side, and are separated either b}' naked skin or by a row of small scales. Sometimes a second series of nither large phites is seen on the posterior face of the tarsus; these, however, usually on the upper extremity only; basal joint of middle toe united almost throughout to that of the outer toe, but more than half free on the inner side; outer lateral toe rather the longer; wings and tail variable, first quill always more than three-fourths the second; the outer primaries sometimes attenuated near the tip. TYRANNUS, Cuvieu. Tyrannus, Cuviee, Lemons Anat. Comp., 1799-1800 (Agassiz). Tail nearly even, or moderately forked, rather shorter than the wings; the feathers broad, and widening somewhat at the ends; wings long and pointed; the outer primaries rather abruptly attenuated near the end, the attenuated portion not linear, however ; head with a concealed patch of red on the crown. TYEANNUS CAEOLINENSIS. — Baird. King-bird; Bee Martin. Lanius fyranm/s, Linnjeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 136. This belongs to the Cuban T. matutinus, according to Bonaparte. Muscicapn tyranmts (Brisson?), Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 66. Aud. Cm. Biog., L (1832) 403; V. (1839) 420. lb., Birds Amer., L (1840) 204. « Description. Two, sometimes three, outer primaries abruptly attenuated at the end; second quill longest, third little shorter, first rather longer than fourth, or nearly equal; tail slightly rounded, above dark bluish-ash; the top and sides of the head to beneath the eyes bluish-black ; a concealed crest on the crown, vermilion in the THE KING-BIRD. 129 centre, white behind, and before partially mixed with orange; lower parts pure- white, tinged with pale bluish -ash on thf sides of the throat and across the breast; sides of the breast and under the wings similar to, but rather lighter than, the back; axillaries pale grayish-brown tipped with lighter; the wings dark-brown, darkest towards the ends of the quills ; the greater coverts and quills edged with white, most so on the tertials; the lesser coverts edged with paler; upper tail coverts and upper surface of the tail glossy -black, the latter ver}' dark brown beneath; all the feathers tipped, and the exterior margined externally with white, form- ing a conspicuous terminal band about twenty-five one-hundredths of an inch broad. The 3'oung of the year is similar, the colors duller, the concealed colored patch on the crown wanting; the tail more rounded, the primaries not attenuated. Specimens vary in the amount of white margining the wing feathers; the upper tail coverts are also margined sometimes with white. Length, eight and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, four and sixty-five one- hundredths inches; tail, three and seventy one-hundredths inches ; tarsus, seventy- five one-hundredths inches. THIS common species is abundantly distributed through- out New England as a summer resident. It arrives from the South about the 1st to the 10th of May : the males precede the females in small parties of three or four, the latter arriving about a week or ten days later. Soon after the arrival of the females, the males begin their attentions to them; and, as the season of courtship is comparatively short, the new-made couple soon begin their selection of a locality for their nest. This seems to be with them a rather difficult matter to settle ; for I have known of a pair remaining in an orchard a fortnight, examining every tree and its peculiar advantages, before they made a selec- tion. At last, when the location is decided, both birds com- mence work, and the nest is soon completed. It is usually placed on the branch of an apple or pear tree, in a small cluster of twigs or a crotch of a limb : it is constructed outwardly of coarse grasses, mosses, twigs, roots, and weeds; and is deeply hollowed, and lined with fine roots, horse-hairs, and grasses. About the 1st of June, the eggs are laid : these are usually five in number ; their ground- color is a very delicate creamy- white, with irregular spatters and spots of different shades of brown, and some obscure 9 130 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. spots of lavender. Dimensions of a nest complement of five eggs: 1.06 by .71 inch ; 1.04 by .70 inch ; 1.02 by .72 inch ; 1 by .74 inch ; and .94 by .75 inch. During the mating and breeding season, the pugnacity and courage of the King-bird are proverbial : if any bird approach the neighborhood of his nest, he immediately attacks it; and, whether crow (his particular dislike), hawk, or eagle, the intruder is obliged to flee, so fierce an onslaught does this little warrior make on him. As soon as the cry of a crow is heard, he is all activity : he flies from the tree where he is perching to reconnoitre, uttering his shrill twitter, and vibrating his wings in short, quick, nervous strokes ; as soon as the crow appears, the King- bird pursues it, his flight now being very swift and powerful. As soon as he nears his foe, he flies above him, and, dart- ing down on his back and head, attacks him with such vigor that the crow dives and dodges to avoid him. He repeats his attack, and follows his enemy, sometimes to the distance of a mile and more : then, returning to his mate, he perches on the tree by her nest, and twitters a volley of courageous songs. The food of the King-bird consists principally of insects, which he captures usually while on the wing. It seems a provision of nature, that all the Flycatchers shall only take those insects that have taken flight from the foliage of trees and shrubs, at the same time making the warblers and other birds capture those which remain concealed in such places. The King-bird, in seizing a flying insect, flies in a sort of half-flitting hover, and seizes it with a sharp snap of the bill. Sometimes he descends from his perch, and captures a grasshopper that has just taken a short flight, and occasionally seizes one that is crawling up some tall stalk of grass. Those farmers who keep bees dislike this bird because of his bad habit of eating as many of those insects as show themselves in the neighborhood of his nest; but they should remember that the general .<:!*»- TIIP] GREAT-CRESTED FLYCATCHER. 131 interests of agriculture arc greater tliau those of a liive of bees. About the middle of September, this bird with his fiimily and neighbors gather into a scattered flock, and depart for the south, spending the winter in Central America and Southern Mexico. 5IVIARCHUS, Cabanis. Mu'inrclms, Cabanis, Fauna I'oniana (1844-4C) 152. Burmeister, Tliiore Bra- siliens, II. Vogcl (1856) 469. Tarsus equal to, or not lon{,a'r than, the middle toe, which is decidedly lonf^or than the hinder one; bill wider at base than half the culnien; tail broad, long, even, or slightly rounded, about equal to the wings, which scarcely reach the middle of the tail, the first primary shorter than the sixth; head with elongated lanceolate distinct feathers; above brownish-olive; throat ash; belly yellow; tail and wing featliers varied with rufous. MTIARCHUS CEINITUS. — Cnhanis. The Great-crested Flycatcher. M'mcicapa crinita, Linna-us. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 325. Wilson, Am. Orn., II. (1810) 75. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (18,34) 176; V. 423. Tyrcinnus oinitus. Nutt. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 302. Description. Head with a depressed crest; third quill longest, fourth and second successively but little .shorter, first a little longer than seventh, much shorter than sixth; tail decidedly rounded or even graduated, the lateral feather about twenty-five one- hundredths of an inch shorter; upper parts dull greenish-olive, with the feathers of the crown, and to some extent of the back, showing their brown centres; upper tail coverts turning to pale rusty-brown; small feathers at the base of the bill, ceres, sides of tlic head as higli as the upper eyelid, .sides of the neck, throat, and forepart of the breast, bluish-ashy; the rest of the lower parts, including axillaries and lower wing coverts, briglit sulphur-yellow; a pale ring round the eye; sides of the breast and body tinged with olivaceous; the wings brown, the first and second rows of coverts, with the secondary and tertial quills, margined externally with dull-white, or on the latter slightly tinged with oliviiccous-yellow; primaries margined exter- nally for more than half their length from the base with ferruginous, great portion of the inner webs of all the quills very pale-ferruginous; the two middle tail feathers light brown, shafts paler, the rest have the outer web and a narrow line on the inner sides of the shaft brown, pale olivaceous on the outer edge, the remainder ferruginous to the very tip; outer web of exterior featiicr dull brownish-yellow; feet black; bill dark-brown above and at the tip below, paler towards the base. The female appears to have no brown on the inner web of the quills along the shaft, or else it is confined chiefly to the outer feathers. Length, eight and seventy-five one-hundredths inches; wing, four and twenty- 132 OENITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. five one-hundredths ; tail, four and ten one-lunulredths ; tarsus, eighty-five one- hundredths. Ilab. — EasieTn North America to the Missouri, and south to Eastern Texas (not yet observed further west). This species is a rare summer inhabitant of New England. It arrives from the South about the 10th of May in the lati- tude of Massachusetts, — that is, so far as so irregular a visitor may be said to arrive, — and spreads throughout these States. It is less rare in the southern districts than in the middle, and hardly penetrates as far north as the latitude of the middle of Maine. It has been ascertained to breed in all these States ; and two nests, with their con- tents, are before me. One of these was found in a hollow tree in Plymouth, Mass., on the 10th of June ; the other was found in Middleton, Mass., on the 4th of June. These nests are composed of straws, leaves, feathers, and the cast- off skins of snakes ; and it seems a distinguishing character- istic of the nests of this species to have the skins of one or more snakes woven into the other materials. The first of these nests had five eggs ; the other, three. These are of a beautiful creamy-buff, and covered with irregular scratches and lines of different shades of purple. Wilson says of these eggs, " The female lays four eggs of a dull cream-color, thickly scratched with purple lines of various tints, as if done with a pen." Dimensions of eggs vary from .95 by .78 inches to 1 by .80 inch. As this species is quite rare in these States, I have had but very few chances for observing its habits. It appears to be equally courageous and quarrelsome with the King- bird, and has many of the peculiarities of that bird. Its food consists of insects, which it captures while on the wing, after the manner of the other species. When the young leave the nest, they feed on berries and caterpillars, and are fond of crickets and grasshoppers. By the middle of Sep- tember, the whole family leave for the South. THE PEWEE. 133 SAYORNIS, Bonaparte. Saywnis, Boxaparte? Ateneo Italiano (1854). lb., Comptes Rendus (1854), Notes Orn. Delattre. Head with a blended depressed moderate crest; tarsus decidedly longer than middle toe, which is scarcely longer than the hind toe; bill rather narrow, width at base about half the cuhnen ; tail broad, long, slightly forl<.ed, equal to the wings. which are moderately pointed, and reach to the middle of the tail, first priniarv shorter than the sixth. SAYORNIS FUSCUS. — Balrd. The Pewee; Phebe-bird. Muscicapa fusca, GmeWn. Syst. Nat, I. (1788) 931. Aud. Orn. Biog., H. (1834) 122; V. (1839) 424. lb.. Birds Amer., I. (1840) 223. Tijrannusfuscus, Nuttall. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 312. Muscicapa nunciola, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 78; pi. xiii. Description. Sides of breast and upper parts dull olive-brown, fading slightly toward the tail; top and sides of head dark-brown; a few dull-white feathers on the eyelids; lower parts dull yellowish-white, mixed with brown on the chin, and in some individuals across the breast; quills brown, the outer primarj', secondaries, and tertials edged with dull-white; in some individuals the greater coverts faintlj' edged with dull- white; tail brown, outer edge of lateral feather dull-white, outer edges of the rest like the back; tibire brown; bill and feet black; bill slender, edges nearl}' straight: tail rather broad, and slightly forked, third quill longest, second and fourth nearly equal, the first shorter than sixth. Length, seven inches; wing, three and forty-two one-hundredths ; tail, three and thirty one-hundredths. Hub. — Eastern North America. In autumn, and occasionally in early spring, the colors are much clearer and brighter. "Whole lower parts sometimes bright sulphur-j^ellow, above greenish-olive, top and sides of the head tinged with sooty ; in the young of the year, the colors are much duller; all the wing coverts broadly tipped with light-feiTUginous, as also the extreme ends of the wings and tail feathers; the brown is prevalent on the whole throat and breast; the hind part cff the back, rump, and tail, strongly ferruginous. The tail of this species is quite deeply forked, the external feather being from thirty-five one-hundredths to forty one-hundredths of an inch longer than the middle one. This well-known bird is a very common summer inhabi- tant of all New England. It arrives from the South often as early as the middle of March, sometimes before the last snowstorm of the season. As soon as the birds have paired, usually by the last of April, they commence build- 134 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. « ing. The nest is usually placed under a bridge, sometimes under an eave, or ledge of rock, sometimes in a barn or other building. It is constructed of fine roots, grasses, fine moss, and hairs, which are plastered together, and to the object the nest is built on, by pellets of mud : it is hollowed about an inch and a half, and lined with soft grasses, wool, and feathers. The eggs are usually five in number : their color is white, Avith a very delicate cream tint. There are usually in each litter one or two eggs with a few spots thinly scattered over the larger end : these spots are of a reddish-brown. The period of incubation is thirteen days, and two broods are often reared in the season in this latitude. The length of eggs varies from .72 to .78 inch ; breadth, from .54 to .56 incli. The familiar cheerful habits of this species, and the fact that it is one of the first birds to remind us of the return of spring, have made it a universal favorite ; and many residents in the country are so attached to it, that they protect it, and encourage its visits, and even provide quarters for the establishment of its nest. It seems to pre- fer the neighborhood of a pond or stream of water for its home, where, perching on the branch of an overhanging tree, or on the railing of a bridge, or darting about in dif- ferent directions, it busies itself through the day in catching the insects that swarm in myriads in such localities. When perching, it frequently flirts its tail, and erects the feathers of its head, uttering the notes phebe-plielee in a soft plaintive key. Sometimes, this note is more lively, resem- bling the word peweet, pcweet, uttered in a quick, cheerful manner. The beautiful description of the habits of this bird, given by Audubon, is certainly one of the best efforts of that naturalist ; and I would advise all who are interested in the history of the bird to read it. After the young have left the nest, the parents remain together in tlie neighborhood of their home until their departure, about the middle of October. At this time, they THE OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER. 135 are a little more sliy than they were during the season of incubation, and their note is seldom heard ; and, when it is, it consists of a melancholy strain, quite different from that uttered in the spring and early summer. CONTOPUS, Cabanis. Omtopus, Cabanis, Journal fur Ornithologie, III. (Nov., 1855) 479. (Type Muscicapa virens, L.) Tarsus very short, but stout, less than the middle toe, and scarcely longer than the hinder, bill quite broad at the base, wider than half the culmen; tail mod- erately forked, much shorter than the wings (rather more than three-fourths); wings very long and much pointed, reaching beyond the middle of the tail, the first primar3' about equal to the fourth; all the primaries slender and rather acute, but not attenuated; head moderately crested; color, olive above, pale-yellowish beneath, with a darker patch on the sides of the breast; under tail coverts streaked. CONTOPUS BOEEALIS. — 5rt»(/. The Olive-sided Flycatcher. Tyrannus borealis, Sw. and Rich. F. Bor. Am., II. (1831) 141; plate. Muscicapa Coojjeri, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 282. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 422; V. (1839) 422. Tyrannus Co^peri, Bonaparte. List (1838). Nutt. Man., L (2d ed., 1840) 298. Muscicapa inornata, Nuttall. Man. I. (1832) 282. Description. "Wings long, much pointed, the second quill longest, the first longer than the third; tail deeply forked ; tarsi short; the upper parts ashy-brown, showing darker brown centres of the feathers, this is eminently the case on the top of the head; the sides of the head and neck, of the breast and body resembling the back, but with the edges of the feathers tinged with gray, leaving a darker central streak; the chin, throat, narrow line down the middle of the breast and body, abdomen, and lower tail co%'erts white, or sometimes with a faint tinge of yellow; the lower tail coverts somewhat streaked with brown in the centre; on each side of the rump, generally concealed by the wings, is an elongated bunch of white silk}' feathers; the wings and tail very dark brown, the former with the edges of the secondaries and tertials edged with dull-white; the lower wing coverts and axillaries gravish- brown; the tips of the primaries and tail feathers rather paler; feet and upper mandible black, lower mandible brown; the young of the year similar, but the color duller; feet light-brown. Length, seven and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, four and thirty-three one- huudredths; tail, three and thirty one-hundredths; tarsus, sixty one-hundredths. IIab. — B.are on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States. Not observed in the interior, except to the north. Found in Greenland. (Reinhardt.) This bird is a not very common summer inhabitant of New England. It arrives from the South about the 20th 136 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. of May, and is most frequently observed in low growths of oak and chestnut: it seems always busily employed in catching winged insects, of which its food almost entirely consists ; these it seizes in the manner of the King-bird, which bird it resembles hi both its habits and disposition. I have sometimes seen two birds of this species engaged in a fight, which, for fierceness, I have hardly seen surpassed. They would rush together in mid-air, snapping their bills, beating with their wings, and pecking each other, until they both descended to the trees beneath, actually exhausted with their exertions. Mr. Verrill says that it breeds quite common near the Umbagog Lakes, Me. ; but I have never been able to find its nest there or elsewhere, although I have looked for it with great care. It has been found breeding in Vermont ; and Dr. Thomp- son, in his work on the birds of that State, gives a descrip- tion of the nest and eggs. Three nests have been found in Massachusetts within two years ; two in West Roxbury, and one in Dorchester. These were all built in forked twigs of apple-trees, in old neglected orchards, facing to the southward, and were constructed of the same material that the King-bird uses in its nest. In fact, they were almost exactly like the King-bird's nest, but were a little smaller. Two of the nests had three eggs each, and the other had but two. They were all found in the first week in June, and the eggs were freshly laid : probably, if they had been unmolested, more eggs Avould have been deposited. Three of these eggs are in my cabinet. To compare them with the eggs of any other bird, I should say they seem like exceedingly large Wood Pewee's : for they are almost exactly like them in shape, color, and markings ; being of a creamy- white, with large blotches and spatters of lilac, lavender, and brownish-red. Their dimensions are .88 by .68 ; .88 by .66; .86 by .68 inch. Mr. Nuttall, who found a nest in Cambridge, Mass., THE WOOD PEWEE. 137 describes it as follows : " It was built in the horizontal branch of a tall red cedar, forty or fifty feet from the ground. It was formed much in the manner of the King- bird's, externally made of interlaced dead twigs of the cedar ; internally, of the wire stolons of the common Lichen or Usnea. It contained three young, and had had probably four eggs. The eggs had been hatched about the 20th of June, so that the pair had arrived in this vicinity about the close of May." He also describes the bird's note as follows : " The female had a whistling, oft-repeated, whin- ing call of ''iJii ''pa, then varied to ^pu ^pip, and ^pip ^pu, also at times ^pip ^plp ^pu, ^p'lp ^pqj ^pip^, ^pti ^pu ^p>ip-, or Ha Hti Ha, and Ha Hii. The male, besides this note, had, at long intervals, a call of seA' phehee or 'A' phebed, almost exactly in the tone of the circular tin whistle or bird-call." By the second week in September, none of these birds are to be seen ; and, probably before that time, they have all departed on their migrations. CONTOPUS VIRENS. — Cabanis. The Wood Pewee. Muscicapa virem, Linnreus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 327. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 285. Aud. Orn. Biog, II. (1834) 93; V. (1839) 425. Muscicapa rapax, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 81. Tyrannus lirens, Nuttall. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 316. Description. The second quill longest, the third a little shorter, the first shorter than the fourth, the latter nearly forty one-hundredths longer than the tifth ; the primaries more than an inch longer than the secondaries; the upper parts, sides of the head, neck, and breast, dark olivaceous-brown, the latter rather paler, the head darker; a narrow white ring round the eye; the lower parts pale-yellowish, deepest on the abdomen; across the breast tinged with ash; this pale ash sometimes occupies the whole of the breast, and even occasionally extends up to the chin ; it is also sometimes glossed with olivaceous; the wings and tail dark-brown, generally deeper than in S. fiiscus; two naiTow bands across the wing, the outer edge of first primary and of the secondaries and tertials dull-white; the edges of the tail feathers like the back, the outer one scarcely lighter; upper mandible black, the lower yel- low, but brown at the tip. Length, six and fifteen one-hundredths inches; wing, three and fifty one-hun- dredths; tail, three and five one-hundredths. Ilnb. — Eastern North America to the borders of the high central plains, south to New Granada. 138 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. This bird is a common summer inhabitant of New Eng- land, making its appearance from the South from about the 10th to the 20th of May. It prefers tlie solitudes of the deep forests to the more open districts, and is a more retiring species than any of its cousins in these States. About the last of May, tlie birds, having chosen their mates, commence building. The nest is placed usually on the horizontal limb of a tree, generally at a height of about twenty feet from the ground : it is composed of pine leaves and cottony substances, and covered with lichens and mosses, which are fixed on after the manner of the Hum- ming-bird. I think Nuttall's description of the nest the best that I have seen : it is as follows : — " The nest is extremely ueat and curious, almost universally saddled upon an old moss-grown and decayed limb in a horizontal position, and is so remarkably shallow, and incorporated upon the branch, as to be easily overlooked. Tiie body of the fabric con- sists of wiry grass and root fibres, often blended with small branch- ing lichens, held together with cobwebs and caterpillars' silk, moistened with saliva ; externally, it is so coated over with bluish, crustaceous lichens as to be hardly discernible from the moss upon the tree. It is lined with finer root-fibres, or slender grass- stalks." THE WOOD PEWEE. 139 The eggs are generally four in number. They are very beautiful, being of a delicate cream-color, with blotches and spots of lilac and brown around the larger end : there are two shades of lilac, — one obscure, and the other decided, even a lavender. The eggs are generally oval in shape, and but little larger at one end than at the other. Length from .72 to .78 inch ; breadtli from .54 to .56 inch. But one brood is reared in the season in New England. The period of incubation is fourteen days. The habits of this species are not generally so well known as those of the Pliebe, which bird it resembles in many respects. Although it is usually found in the wildest and most thickly wooded localities, it sometimes frequents the orchards and open pastures ; and I have occasionally seen individuals on the trees on Boston Common, busily engaged in hunting insects, and apparently having families in the neighborhood. The note is different from that of the Phebe, being more plaintive and drawling, sounding like the syl- lables '•'"pe-weeee^'' '"'■ pc-iveeee.''^ When the nest is ap- proached, both the parents fly to meet the intruder, hovering over his head, snapping their bills, and uttering short notes of complaint like ehip-pee, pe-jjeu: they often alight on a twig near him, and flirt their tails and quiver their wings in a nervous, irritable manner. After the young have left the nest, the old birds separate; and, though still frequenting the same localities they inhabited during the season of incubation, they are seldom seen together, each seeming to avoid the other. They are now generally silent, and, when approached, are quite shy. Tliey leave the New-England States by the 10th of September, and probably winter in South America. EMPIDONAX, Cabanis. Emjndonax, Cabanis, Journal fiir Ornithologie, III. (Nov., 1855) 480 (type Tyrnnnula pvsilla. Tyrannula of most authors. 140 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. Tarsus lengthened, considerably longer than the middle toe, which is decidedly longer than the hind toe; bill variable; tail very slightly forked, even, or rounded, a little shorter only than the wings, which are considerably rounded, the first pri- mar}' much shorter than the fourth; head moderately crested; color olivaceous above, yellowish beneath ; throat generally gray. EMPIDONAZ TEAILLII. — 5aiVc/. The Traill's Flycatcher. Muscicapa trmllii, Audubon. Cm. Biog., L (1832) 236; V. (1839) 426. Tijrannus traillii, Nuttall. Man., L (2d ed., 1840) 323. Description. Third quill longest, second scarcely shorter than fourth, first shorter than fifth, about thirty-five one-hundredths shorter than the longest; primaries about seventy- five one-hundredths of an inch longer than secondaries; tail even; upper parts dark olive-green, lighter under the wings, and duller and more tinged with ash on nape and sides of the neck; centre of the crown feathers brown; a pale yellowish-white ring (in some specimens altogether white) round the eye; loral feathers mixed with white; chin and throat white; the breast and sides of throat light-ash tinged with olive, its intensity varying in individuals, the former sometimes faintly tinged with olive; sides of the breast much like the back; middle of the belly nearly white; sides of the belly, abdomen, and the lower tail coverts sulphur-yellow; the quills and tail feathers dark-brown, as dark (if not more so) as these parts in C. virens; two olivaceous yellow-white bands on the wing, formed by the tips of the first and second coverts, succeeded by a brown one, the edge of the first primary and of secondaries and tertials a little lighter shade of the same; the outer edge of the tail feathers like the back, that of the lateral one rather lighter; bill above dark- brown, dull-brownish beneath. Length, nearly six inches; wing, two and ninety one-hundredths; tail, two and sixty one-hundredths. Hub. — Eastern United States, and south to Mexico. This bird is occasionally found as a spring and autumn visitor in New England, arriving about the loth or 20tli of May. In its habits, it resembles the Least Flycatcher (^. minimus^, as it does also in its plumage: in fact, these two birds and the Green-crested Flycatcher have been so much mistaken for each other by different naturalists, the confu- sion in whose descriptions is so great, that it requires a very careful examination to identify either of these birds per- fectly and accurately. I have bad no opportunities for observing the habits of the bird now before us, and can add nothing to its history. Thompson, in his " Vermont Birds," THE LEAST FLYCATCHER. 141 gives it as breeding in that State ; and I have no doubt it occasionally passes the summer in each of the New-England States. I had a nest and four eggs brought me in June, 1861, found in Eastern Massachusetts, that were almost exactly like those of E. minimus ; but the bird brought with the nest was unquestionably of this species : whether or not the two belonged together I cannot say, but think that they probably did. The person who collected them informed me that tlie nest was found in an apple-tree in an old orchard : it was built in a small fork about twenty feet from the ground. The bird attacked the person who found it, courageously flying in his face, and snapping its bill witli anger, and uttering a querulous twitter like that of the Phebe. The eggs were nearly hatched ; and, as they were found on the 20th of June, they must have been laid by the 10th of that month. Two eggs in my cabinet, from near Quebec, Lower Can- ada, collected by William Couper, Esq., who informs me this species is occasionally met with there, are of a creamy- white color, like that of the eggs of E. minimus ; each Qgg having a very few pale reddish-brown dots. The form of the eggs is more elongated than that of the eggs of minimus, the dimensions being .77 by .53 inch, and .76 by .55 inch. EMPIDONAX MINIMUS. — BrttVc?. The Least Flycatcher; Chebec. Tyrannula minima, William M. and S. F. Baird. Pr. A. N. Sc. I. (July, 1843) 284. lb., Sillim. Am. Jour. Sc. (July, 1844). And., Birds Amer. VII. (1844) 34.3, pi. 491. Deschiption. Second quill longest, third and fourth but little shorter, fifth a little less, first intermediate between fifth and sixth ; tail even ; above olive-brown, darker on the head, becoming paler on the rump and upper tail coverts; the middle of the back most strongly olivaceous; the nape (in some individuals) and sides of the head tinged with ash; a ring round the eye, and some of the loral feathers white, the chin and throat white; the sides of the throat and across the breast dull-ash, the color on the latter sometimes nearly obsolete; sides of the breast similar to the back, but of a lighter tint; middle of the belly very pale yellowish-white, turning to pale sulphur- yellow on the sides of the belly, abdomen, and lower tail coverts; wings brown, 142 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. two narrow white bands on wing, formed by the tips of the first and second cov- erts, succeeded by one of brown ; the edge of the first primary, and of the second- aries and tertials, white; tail rather lighter brown, edged externall}' like the back; feathers narrow, not acuminate, with the ends rather blunt. In autumn, the white parts are strongly tinged with j'ellow. Length, about five inches; wing, two and sixty-five one-hundredths; tail, two and fifty one-hundredths. Hab. — Eastern United States to Missouri plains. This species arrives from the South usually about the last week in April. The birds commence building about the 20th or 2oth of May. The nest is placed usually in a small fork of a limb of an apple-tree, in the orchard, and often quite near the house : it is composed of soft, fine grass, cobwebs, twine, cotton, — in fact, almost any thing that will help to make a smooth, compact fabric : the interior is lined with soft grass, bristles, fine roots, feathers, and wool. The eggs are usually four in number, sometimes three, some- times five : they are of a beautiful creamy-white color ; and their form is nearly pyriform, being abruptly tapered to the small end. Dimensions of a nest complement of four eggs, taken at random from a large number, collected in different parts of New England: .63 by .50 inch, .64 by .51 inch, .61 by .53 inch, .60 by .53 inch. This species often breeds twice in the season in New England. The period of incuba- tion is thirteen days. This bird, being very abundantly distributed as a summer resident throughout New England, is well known, and its habits are familiar to all. It prefers the neighborhood of civilization, and is most frequently found in orchards and gardens. A pair once built in an apple-tree, immediately beneath my chamber window, — so near that I could touch the nest with a rod four feet in length. The nest was com- menced on the 5th of June, and was finished by the 10th ; both birds working in its construction. The female laid four eggs in three days' time, and commenced sitting when the fourth was laid. Both birds incubated, and the male remained on the nest nearly as long as his mate. When he THE SMALL GREEN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER. 143 was off the nest, he was very pugnacious ; attacking every bird that came near, and even forcing a robin to retreat, so fierce was the onshxught lie made on it. He always, in attacking other birds, uttered his shrill cry, cliehec, chebee, and snapped his bill loudly and fiercely. AVhen perching, he often flirted his tail in the manner of the Phebe ; and, every few seconds, he emitted his note, — chebec, chebee, chebec; varied sometimes into chebec-trree-treo, chebe c-treee- cheu. The young were all hatclicd by the fourteenth day, and left the nest within a month from their birth. They were fed abundantly, while on the nest, by the parents, with insects, which they caught and crushed between their bills : they were fed a few days after they left the nest, and then turned adrift ; the parents having begun another nest on the same tree. The Least Flycatcher has often been called the Small Green-crested or Acadican Flycatcher. I would caution those who are interested in the history of these birds to observe great care, and be certain of their identity before naming them. By the second week in September, it leaves on its south- ern migration. EMPIDONAX AGADICnS.—Baird. The Small Green-crested Flycatcher. f Muscicapa acadica, Gmelin. Sj'st. Nat, I. (1788) 947. Aud. Orn. Biog., IL (1834) 256; V. (1839) 429. Nutt. Man., L (1832) 208. Muscicapa querida, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 77. Tyrannus acadica, Nuttall. Man. I. (2d ed., 1846) 320. Description. The second and third quills are longest, and about equal; the fourth a little shorter, the first about equal to the fifth, and about thirty-five one-hundredths less than the longest; tail even; the upper parts, with sides of the head and neck, olive- green, the crown veiy little if any darker; a yellowish-white ring round the eye; the sides of the body under the wings like the back, but fainter olive, a tinge of the same across the breast; the chin, throat, and middle of the belly white; the abdo- men, lower tail and wing coverts, and sides of the body not covered by the wings, pale greenish-yellow; edges of the first primary, secondaries, and tertials margined 144 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. •with dull j'ellowish-white, most broadly on the latter; two transverse bands of pale- yellowish across the wings, formed by the tips of the secondary and primary coverts, succeeded by a brown one; tail light-brown, margined externally like the back; upper mandible light-brown above, pale-yellow beneath. Li autumn, the lower parts are more yellow. Length, five and sixty-five one-hundredths inches; wing, three; tail, two and seventy-five one-hundredths inches. Ilab. — Eastern United States to the Mississippi. This bird is a rare summer inhabitant of any of the New- England States, seldom coming so far north. I have had no opportunities of observing its habits, and can give no description from my own observation. Mr. Allen says that it breeds in swamps and low moist thickets, which are its exclusive haunts. Giraud, in his " Birds of Long Island," says, " In habits, it is solitary ; generally seen on the lower branches of the largest trees ; utters a quick, sharp note ; arrives among us in the latter part of May, and retires southward early in September." I have no nest, but understand that it resembles that of the Least Flycatcher. Five eggs before me, furnished by J. P. Norris, Esq., of Philadelphia, are of a pale creamy- white color, with a few thin spots of reddish-brown scattered over their larger end. They vary in size from .78 inch in length by about .56 inch in breadth, to .72 inch in length by .55 inch in breadth. The form is like that of E. trailUi ; but the spots are larger and more numerous. OSCINES. SINGING BIRDS. 145 SUB-ORDER OSCINES. Singing Birds. Toes, three anterior, one behind, all at the same level, and none versatile, the outer anterior never entirely free to the base ; tail feathers twelve; primaries, either nine only, or else the first is spurious or much shorter than the second, making the tenth; tail feathers usually twelve; tarsi feathered to the knee, the plates on the anterior face either fused into one or with distinct divisions, the posterior portion of the sides covered b}' one continuous plate on either side, meeting in a sharp edge behind, or with only a few divisions inferiorly. Occasionallv, the hinder side has transverse plates, corresponding in number to the anterior; but there are then usually none on the sides. Larynx provided with a peculiar muscular apparatus for singing, composed of live pairs of muscles. Family TURDIDiE. The Thrushes. The following characteristics of this family and its genera, represented in New England, are given by Professor Spencer F. Baird, in his recent " Eeview of the Birds of North America," published in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collec- tions:— "Primaries ten, the first of which is either spurious or much shorter than the second. The bill is elongated and subulate, moderately slender, and usually notched at tip; nostrils uncovered; the culmen moderately curved from the base, and the mouth well provided with bristles, except in a few cases. Usually, the scutellae covering the fi-ont and sides of the tarsus are fused into one continuous plate, or else scarcely appreciable, except on the inner edge only ; in the Mocking Thrushes, they are, however, distinctlj^ marked. The lateral toes are nearly equal, the outer rather the longer." These general characteristics apply also to the Saxicolidce, more fully spoken of in a succeeding page. The peculiar characteristics of the family Turdidce are: "Wings moderate, more rounded, not reaching beyond middle of the often rounded tail, and not more than one and a third the latter, usualh- more nearly equal. Spurious primary sometimes half the length of second quill, the second quill shorter than the fourth. In the closed wing, the outer secondary reaches three-fourths or more the length of longest primary." Professor Baird divides this family into the sub-families Turdinm, which have "tarsi covered anteriorly with a continuous plate;" and the il/j/«*«cB, whose tarsi are scutellate anteriorly ; scutelliB seven. Sub-Family TuRDiNiE. Nostrils oval; bristles along the base of the bill from gape to nostrils, those of rictus not reaching beyond nostrils; the loral feathers with bristly points; second quill longer than sixth; outer lateral toes longer; wings long. 10 146 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. TURDUS, LiNN.EUs. Turdus, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. (173r>). (Tj'pe T. viscivorvs, fide G. R. Gray.) Bill rather stout; commissure straight to near the tip, which is quite abruptly decurved, and usually distinctly notched; culmen gently convei from baso; bill shorter than the head, both outlines curved; tarsi longer than the middle toe; lateral toes nearly equal, outer longer; wings much longer than the tail, pointed; the first quill spurious and very small, not one-fourth the length of longest; tail short, nearly even, or slightly emarginate. TURDUS MUSTELINUS. — G?ra€/m. The Song Thrush ; Wood Thrush. Turdus mustelinm, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 817. Nutt. Man., L (1832) 343. Aud. Orn. Biog., L (1832) 372; V. (1839) 446. Turdus mehdus, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 35, pi ii. Description. Above, clear cinnamon-brown, on the top of the head becoming more rufous, on the rump and tail olivaceous; the under parts are clear-white, sometimes tinged with buff on the breast or anteriorl_y, and thickly marked beneath, except on the chin and throat, and about the vent and tail coverts, with sub-triangular, sharply defined spots of blackish; the sides of the head are dark -brown, streaked with white, and there is also a maxillary series of streaks on each side of the throat, the central por- tion of which sometimes has indications of small spots. Length, eight and ten-hundredths inches : wing, four and twenty-five one-hun- dredths; tail, three and five one-hundredths; tarsus, one and twenty-six one- hundredths. Hub. — Eastern United States to Missouri River, south to Guatemala. THIS beautiful songster is a pretty common summer inhabitant of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. In the other New-England States, it is rarely seen ; and, when we hear of a Song Thrush occurring there, refer- ence is probably made either to the Hermit or Olive-backed Thrush. It arrives from the South about the 10th of May, both sexes making their appearance at about the same time. They soon commence pairing, and frequent the moist thick- ets and thickly wooded glens, where their amours are con- ducted in privacy and peace. At this season, the beautiful song of the male is heard at early dawn and early twilight : it seldom sings in the middle of the day, unless the weather is dark and cloudy. This song is a beautiful, melancholy strain, similar to the tone THE SONG THRUSH. 147 produced on a flute: the notes are difficult of description. Mr. Nuttall, who was particularly happy in his descriptions of bird-songs, speaks of this as follows : — " The prelude to this song resembles almost the double-tonguing of the flute, blended with a tinkling, shrill, and solemn warble, which re-echoes from his solitary retreat like the dirge of some sad recluse, who shuns the bi;sy haunts of life. The whole air consists usually of four parts, or bars, which succeed, in deliberate time, and finally blend together in impressive and soothing harmony, becoming more mellow and sweet at every repetition. Rival per- formers seem to challenge each other from various parts of the wood, vying for the favor of their mates with sympathetic respon- ses and softer tones. And some, waging a jealous strife, terminate the warm dispute by an appeal to combat and violence. Like the Robin and the Thrasher, in dark and gloomy weather, when other birds are sheltered and silent, the clear notes of the Wood Thrush are heard through the dropping woods, from dawn to dusk ; so that, the sadder the day, the sweeter and more constant is his song. His clear and interrupted whistle is likewise often nearly the only voice of melody heard by the traveller, to mid-day, in the heat of sum- mer, as he traverses the silent, dark, and wooded wilderness, remote from the haunts of men. It is nearly impossible by words to con- vey any idea of the peculiar warble of this vocal hermit; but, amongst his phrases, the sound of 'airoee, peculiarly liquid, and followed by a trill, repeated in two separate bars, is readily recog- nizable. At times, their notes bear a considerable resemblance to those of Wilson's Thrush : such as eh rke/m \n-hehu, then varied to 'eA villia villia, 'eh villia vrhehu, then 'eh velu villu, high and shrill." About the 20th of May, the Song Thrush builds its nest. This is placed usually in a low alder or birch shrub, in a retired locality, almost always in the deep woods. It is composed outwardly of grass, leaves, and weeds, bent and twined together. In this is built a nest composed of mud and grass, and the whole is lined with fibrous roots and soft grass and moss. It is placed on a low branch of a tree, or in the branches of a shrub. I give Wilson's description of 148 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. the nest, not because it is essentially different from my own, but to confirm my own observation, and to help clear up the confusion that exists in many districts concerning the identity of the thrushes. It is as follows : — " The favorite haunts of the Wood Thrush are low, thick-shaded hollows, through which a small brook or rill meanders, overhung with cedar-bushes that are mantled with wild vines. Near such a scene, he generally builds his nest in a laurel or alder bush. Out- wardly, it is composed of withered beech-leaves of the preceding year, laid at bottom in considerable quantities, no doubt to prevent damp and moisture from ascending through, being generally built in low, wet situations : above these are layers of knotty stalks or withered grass, mixed with mud, and smoothly plastered, above which is laid a slight lining of fine black fibrous roots of plants." The eggs are usually four in number ; they are of a uni- form light-blue color, without spots, and with a very slight tint of green ; their form is rather long and pointed. The following are the dimensions of a nest complement of four eggs, found in Milton, Mass. : 1.12 by .68 inch, 1.12 by .69 inch, 1.07 by 70 inch, 1 by .73 inch. But one brood is usually reared in the season in New England. TURDUS PALLASII.— C^Jrtnzs. The Hermit Thrush. Turdus pallasii, Cabanis. Wieggman's Archiv. (1847), L 205. Turdtis solitarius, Wilson. Am. Cm., V. (1812) 95 (not of Linnseus. The figure quoted pi. xliii. tig. 2, belongs to T. Swaimonii). Aud. Syn. (1839). lb., Birds Am., in. (1841) 29, pi. 146. Turdus viinoi; Bonaparte. Obs. Wilson (1825), No. 72. lb., Syn. 0828), 75. Nutt. Man., I. (1830) 346. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 303; V. 445, pi. 58. Description. Fourth quill longest; third and fourth a little shorter; second about equal to the sixth (about a thirtieth of an inch shorter than the longest); tail slightly emargi- nate; above light olive-brown, with a scarcely perceptible shade of reddish, passing, however, into decided rufous on the rump, upper tail coverts, and tail, and to a less degree on the outer surface of the wings; beneath white, with a scarcely appreciable shade of pale-buff across the fore part of the breast, and sometimes on the throat; the sides of the throat and the fore part of the breast with rather sharply defined THE HERMIT THRUSH. 149 subtriangul;ir spots of dark olive-brown; the sides of the breast with paler and less distinct spots of the same ; sides of the body under the wings of a paler shade than the back ; a whitish ring round the eye ; ear coverts very obscurely streaked with paler. Length, seven and fift}' one-hundredths inches; wing, three and eighty-four one- hundredths; tail, three and twenty-five one-hundredths; tarsus, one and sixteen one-hundredths. Hah. — Eastern North America to the Mississippi River. This bird, although not so well known in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, is quite familiar to the people of the other States in New England. It arrives from the South about the middle of April, and passes leisurely to the North, where it arrives about the middle of May. It very seldom breeds in any districts south of the latitude of the middle of Maine ; and from thence north it is quite abundant, where it is known by the name of the Swamp Robin. I have been so fortunate as to find several nests of this species ; and they were all built in very low scrubby trees or bushes, quite near the ground. They were com- posed of twigs, grasses, mosses, and leaves ; they were deeply hollowed, and no mud was used in their composition, as with several other species ; they were lined with soft grasses, mosses, and fine fibrous roots. The eggs were, in one nest, three in number ; and, in the others, four. This was about the 10th of June. Tlie localities were in the neigh- borhood of Lake Umbagog and in the valley of the Magal- loway River, in Maine. The eggs of this species are of a somewhat elongated oval form, and their color is a light- blue with a very faint tint of green : " about one in every four has very thinly scattered spots of reddisji-brown, and occasionally one is met with having an abundance of coarser spots of two shades of brown." Dimensions of specimens from various localities vary from .92 by .65 to .88 by .60 inch. Mr. C. L. Paine, of Randolph, Vt., writes me that he has found numbers of the nests of this bird, and that they were invariably built on the ground. He also says that the eggs 150 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. are always blue in color, and he has never met with one that was spotted in any manner. I have quite a number of specimens in my collection, and not one is spotted. I have also seen many others, and they were not marked ; and I tliink tliat the above quotation must ho, received with cau- tion. A nest sent me from Upton, Me., is composed almost entirely of mosses. It contains five eggs, all unspotted. Mr. Paine writes me that the Olive-backed Thrush breeds in his neighborhood, which, with the other, are the only thrushes breeding there. In answer to his remark that the Hermit Thrush always builds on the ground, I can only say that I found the nests as above. I have noticed that the Tawny or Wilson's Thrush builds on the ground in some localities and in bushes in others, and conclude that the Hermit is also variable in its choice of a nesting-place. The habits, song, and general cliaracteristics of this bird are almost exactly similar to those of the Song Thrush. Its song resembles it so much, that I always supposed the bird was the same, until I examined some of them that I heard singing, when I found my mistake. About the middle of October, the last individuals that are seen in Massachusetts leave for the South. At this time, as in the spring, they are silent and shy : their note is a faint cliirp, uttered in a listless, melancholy tone ; and their whole appearance is in keeping with the great change which has come over the face of Nature. In fact, the Hermit Thrush is always associated in my mind with the falling of leaves, the rattling of acorns, and the whirring of the Ruffed Grouse through the birches and alders of the swampy glens. TURDUS FUSCESCENS. — Stephens. The Tawny Thrush; Wilson's Thrush. Tardus fuscescens, Stephens. Shaw's Zool. Birds, X. (1817) 182. Gray, Genera (1849). Turdits mustelimis, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. (1812) 98 (not of Gm.). Turdus Wilsomi, Nuttall. Man., L (18.32) 349. And. Orn. Biog., IL (1834) 362; V. 446. lb., Birds Am., IIL (1841) 27, pi. 145. THE TAWNY THRUSH. 151 Desceiptiox. Third quill longest, fourth a little shorter, second nearly a quarter of an inch longer than the fifth; above, and on sides of head and neck, nearly uniform light reddish-brown, vnth a faint tendency to orange on the crown and tail; beneath white, the fore part of the breast and throat (paler on the chin) tinged with pale brownish-j-ellow, in decided contrast to the white of the belly; the sides of the throat and the fore part of the breast, as colored, are marlced with small triangular spots of light-brownish, nearly like the back, but not well defined; there are a few obsolete blotches on the sides of the breast (in the white) of pale-olivaceous, the sides of the body tinged with the same; tibiae white; the lower mandible is brown- ish only at the tip ; the lores are ash-colored. Length, seven and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, four and twenty-five one- hundredths; tail, three and twenty one-hundredths inches; tarsus, one and twenty one-hundredths. Hab. — Eastern North America to the Missouri, north to flir countries. This species is well distinguished among the American thrushes by the indis- tinctness of the spots beneath, and their being confined mainly to the fore part of the breast. In some specimens, there is a faint tendency to a more vivid color on the rump ; but this is usually like the back, which is very nearly the color of the rump in T. jMllasii. This quite common species is a summer inhabitant of southern New England. It is quite abundant until we reach the southern portions of Maine, New Hampshire, and Ver- mont, when it begins to grow less common until we reach the latitude of the middle of these States, where it beghis to be replaced by the Hermit Thrush, and soon ceases to occur to the north of this latitude. It makes its appearance from the South about the first week in May, often earlier, and commences building about the 20th of May. The nest is placed occasionally in a low shrub, or tangled clump of briers, usually on the ground. The situation is retired, often in the depths of the woods. The nest is constructed of grass, leaves, and weeds ; in some cases, the outer bark of the grape-vine is the principal material used: it is quite- thoroughly made, and is deeply hollowed, and lined with fine roots and horsehair. The eggs are usually four in nuni])er, sometimes five ; their color is bluish-green, deeper than that of the eggs of the Hermit Thrush, but not so dark as in those of the Cat Bird ; their form is generally an oval, sometimes lengthened and sharpened ; their average size is 152 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. about .90 by .66 inch. As in many other eggs, the longest specimens are not always the broadest. The following are the dimensions of four eggs, taken at random from a large number of this species : .92 by .64 inch, .88 by .64 inch, .86 by .66 inch, .87 by .67 inch. From the first arrival of this bird, during its whole stay here, it seems to prefer the neighborhood of a swampy wood for its home. There, during the mating and incubating seasons, the notes of the male may be heard at the earliest hours of the morning and evening ; and, in cloudy weather, through the day, and sometimes in the night. The song is a peculiar one, with a singular metallic ring, exceedingly difficult to describe : it begins quite loud, the syllables cheury, cheury, chedry, chS'dry^ decreasing in tone to a quite faint lisp ; then, after a short pause, the notes, cheou Hunt, tritter, Hritter, are uttered ; and the whole is finished usually with the ejaculation, chickwJiSu. This song is often re- peated ; and sometimes two or three males, perching on a low shrub or tree, emulate each other in a musical contest that is very pleasing to hear. This thrush, as are all the others, is eminently insectivorous ; and through the whole day he may be heard busily searching among the fallen leaves for his favorite food. About the 10th of September, it leaves for the South : at this time, like most of the others, it is silent and retiring, and is found only in localities that are thickly wooded with a growth of small birclies and oaks. TURDUS SWAINSONII. — Cabmus. The Olive-backed Thrush; Swainson's Thrush. Turdus Swainsonil. Cab. in Tschudi F. Peruana (1844-46) 188. Turdus solitarius, Wilson. Am. Orn., V. Description. Third quill longest, second and fourth but little shorter, and much longer than the tifth (by thirty-five one-hundredths of an inch); upper parts uniform olivaceous, with a decided shade of green; the fore part of breast, the throat, and chin, pale brownish-yellow ; rest of lower parts white, the sides washed with brownish-olive ; THE OLIVE-BlCKED THRUSH. 153 sides of the throat and fore part of the breast with sub-rounded spots of well-defined brown, darker than the back; the rest of the breast (except medially) with rather less distinct spots that are more olivaceous ; tibiiB yellowish-brown ; broad ring round the eye; loral region, and a general tinge on the side of the head, clear reddish-buff. Length, seven inches; wing, four and fifteen one-hundredths ; tail, three and ten one-hundredths inches; tarsus, one and ten one-humlredths. Hab. — Eastern North America to the Black Hills, south to Mexico and Peru, north to Greenland. Accidental in Europe and Siberia. This species is at once distinguished from the others by the peifectly uniform and pure dull-olivaceous shade of its upper parts, most stronglj' marked and appreciable on the rump and tail. The throat and breast are perhaps more reddish than in any of our species, and the tinge in the marking on the side of the head is very much more decided than in any other. The spots on the breast larger than in T. usiulatus, and rather more numerous than in jmUosu. This species is the least common of all the New-England thrushes. It is rarely observed in its passage through the southern portions of these States, and only begins to choose a home for the summer on arriving at the northern districts. I have looked for it repeatedly, but have not been able to find it south of the latitude of Lake Umbagog, in the breed- ing season ; and even there it is not often met with. It arrives in the localities where it breeds about the first week in June. In common with the Hermit Thrush, it is called the " Swamp Robin," and can hardly be distinguished from that bird, either by its song, which is beautiful, or by its breeding habits or nests. The eggs are different, being of a deeper green color : they are always (so far as my experi- ence goes) thinly spotted with dots and blotches of reddish and brown. The following are the dimensions of four eggs that I found in a nest near Wilson's Mills, Me., on the 16th of June, 1864 : .93 by .61 inch, .93 by .63 inch, .92 by .60 inch, .90 by .61 inch. The only difference in the habits of this species from those of the Hermit Thrush is, that, while the latter is most usually found in swampy localities, the other is most often seen in dry, scruljl)y woods, where it is almost always busily engaged in the pursuit of its favorite insect food. J. A. Allen, in his paper on the birds of Springfield, Mass., before referred to, is of the opinion that this species 154 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. and the Tiirdus alicice are the same. In a conversation with Professor Baird, since the issue of Allen's paper, I was in- formed, that, in a large suite of specimens of both species, to which he had access, he could identify each by character- istics so fixed that any confusion was impossible : he was of the opinion that Mr. Allen had not seen the bird Jie calls alicice. I have therefore not given that species as a bird of New England, and think that it 7/et remains to be proved as such. Dr. Bryant, in describing the habits of the Olive-backed Thrush, says : — " Its note differs entirely from that of T. paUasii, and the birds also differ very much in their habits ; the hitter species being gen- erally seen on the ground, while the Olive-backed Thrush prefers to procure its food among the branches. The one seen at Big Mud Lake, Grand Manan, was perched on the top of a small dwarf-fir, and was hunting the passing insects with all the dexterity of a typical Flycatcher." TUEDUS MIGRATOEIUS. — ZiHwaus. The Robin. Turdus mif/ratorius, Linnseus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 292. Wilson, Am. Orn., L (1808) 35. And. Cm. Biog., IL (1834) 190. Merula miijratoria, Sw. and Rich. Fauna Bor. Amer., IL (1831) 176. Description. Third and fourth quills about equal, fifth a little shorter, second longer than sixth; tail slightly rounded; above olive-gray, top and sides of the head black; chin and throat white, streaked with black; eyelids, and a spot above the eye an- teriorly, white; under parts and inside of the wings chestnut-brown; the under tail coverts and anal region with tibiie white, showing the plumbeous inner portions of the feathers; wings dark-brown, the feathers all edged more or less with pale-ash; tail still darker, the extreme feathers tipped with white; bill yellow, dusky along the ridge and at the tip. Length, nine and sevent3'-five one-hundredths inches; wing, five and forty-three one-hundredtlis ; tail, four and seventy -five one-hundredths inches; tarsus, one and twenty-five one-hundredths. Hab. — Continent of North America to Mexico. It is very seldom that specimens exhibit the colors exactly as described. Nearly always in winter, and in most cases at other times, the rufous feathers are margined with whitish, sometimes quite obscuring the color. The black feathers of the head, THE ROBIN. 155 too, have brownish edgings. The white spot above the eye sometimes extends for- wards towards the nostrils, but is usually quite restricted. The white patches on the two eyelids are separated from each other, anteriorly and posteriorly. This very common and well-known bird is a summer in- habitant of all New England, and, in mild winters, remains in the southern districts of these States through the year. The great body of the birds, however, arrive from the South about the middle of March. They commence build- ing from the middle of April to the first week in May, according to lati- tude. The nest is built more often in the trees of the orchards and gardens, near houses, than in the deep woods. It is a large, elaborately built affair, constructed first of a thick layer of straws, weeds, roots, and mosses : on this is built the nest proper, which is made of straws and weeds, woven together in a circular form, and plastered together with mud ; this is lined with soft grasses and moss, the whole making a durable structure, often holding together through the entire year. The eggs are usually four in num- ber : their color is a beautiful greenish-blue, almost the same as that of the Wood Thrush's egg, which they resemble in shape, except they are a trifle broader. Dimensions of a nest-complement of four eggs : 1.16 by .82 inch, 1.16 by .82 inch, 1.10 by .75 inch, 1.10 by .80 inch. Many cases occur, in the southern districts of New England, of two broods being reared in the season, and I have known of three broods being reared in Massachusetts ; but, in the northern districts, I think that the second brood is the exception, instead of the rule. Perhaps none of our birds are more unpopular with horti- culturists than this ; and I will here give the observations 156 ORXITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. of different scientific men, and my own, to sho^y that the prejudice against the bird is unjust and unfounded. Mr. Trouvelot, of Medford, Mass., who is engaged in rearing silkworms, for the production of silk, is troubled by the Robin to a degree surpassing most other birds. He has a tract of about seven or eight acres enclosed, and mostly covered with netting. He is obliged, in self-defence, to kill the birds which penetrate into the enclosure and destroy the worms. Through the season, probably ten robins, for one of all others, thus molest him ; and, of scores of these birds which he has opened and examined, none had any fruit or berries in their stomachs, — nothing but insects. It is to be understood that this was not in a part of the summer when berries were unripe : on the contrary, it was all through the season. His land is surrounded with scrub- oaks and huckleberry-bushes. These latter were loaded with fruit, which was easier of access to the birds than the worms ; but none were found in them. He says they came from all quarters to destroy his silkworms, and gave him more trouble than all the other birds together. He said that, in his opinion, if the birds were all killed off, vegeta- tion would be entirely destroyed. To test the destructive- ness of these marauders, as he regarded them, he placed on a small scrub-oak near his door two thousand of his silk- worms. (These, let me say, resemble, wdien small, the young caterpillar of the apple-tree moth.) In a very few days they were all eaten by Cat-birds and Robins, — birds closely allied, and of the same habits. This was in the berry season, when an abundance of this kind of food was easily accessible ; but they preferred his worms. Wliy ? Because the young of these, as well as those of most other birds, must be fed on animal food. Earthworms assist in the regimen ; but how often can birds like the Robin, Cat- bird, Thrush, &c., get these ? Any farmer knows, that, when tlie surface of the ground is dry, they go to the subsoil, out of the reach of birds ; and it is not necessary here to say THE ROBIN. 157 what proportion of the time the ground is very dry through the summer. Caterpillars, grubs of various kinds, and insects, therefore constitute the chief food of these birds ; and of these, caterpillars and grubs being the most abun- dant, and most easily caught, furnish, of course, the larger proportion. In fact, the Thrushes seem designed by nature to rid the surface of the soil of noxious insects not often pursued by most other birds. The warblers capture the insects that prey on the foliage of the trees ; the flycatchers seize these insects as they fly from the trees ; the swallows capture those which have escaped all these ; the woodpeckers destroy them when in the larva state in the wood ; the wrens, nut- hatches, titmice, and creepers eat the eggs and young that live on and beneath the bark ; but the thrushes subsist on those that destroy the vegetation on the surface of the earth. They destroy nearly all kinds of grubs, caterpillars, and worms that live upon the greensward and cultivated soil, and large quantities of crickets and grasshoppers before they have become perfect insects. The grubs of locusts, of harvest-flies, and of beetles, which are turned up by the plough or the hoe, and their pupoe when emerging from the soil ; apple-worms, when they leave the fruit and crawl about in quest of new shelter ; and those subterranean caterpillars, tlie cutworms, that come out of the earth to take their food, — all these, and many others, are eagerly devoured by the Robin and other Thrushes. The cutworms emerge from the soil during the night to seek for food ; and the Robin, which is one of the earliest birds to go abroad in the morn- ing, is very diligent at the dawn of day in hunting for these vermin before they have gone back into their retreat. The number of these destructive grubs is immense. " Whole cornfields," says Dr. Harris, " are sometimes laid waste by them. Cabbage-plants, till they are grown to a considerable size, are very apt to be cut off and destroyed by them. Po- tato-vines, beans, beets, and various other culinary plants, 158 OENITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. suffer in the same way." The services of the robins, in destroying tliese alone, would more than pay for all the fruit they devour. Indeed, during the breeding season, a robin is seldom seen without having in his mouth one of these cater- pillars, or some similar grub, which he designs for his young; and as the Robin often raises three broods of young during the season, his species must destroy more of this class of noxious insects than almost all other birds together. In my own gardening experiences, I have had my full share of cutworms ; and I have always noticed the Robin, Brown Thrush, and Cat-bird busy early in the morning, — almost before other birds are out of their feather-beds, figuratively speaking, — catching these vermin and eating them, or carrying them for food to their young. To show further the food of this bird, I present the follow- ing experiment. At a meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, a communication was read from Professor Treadwell, of Cambridge, giving a detailed account of the feeding and growth of this bird during a period of thirty- two days, commencing with the 5tli of June. The following is the substance of this re])ort : — When canght, the two were quite young, their tail feathers being less than an inch in length, and the weight of each about twenty-five pennyweights, — less than half the weight of the full-grown birds : both were plump and vigorous, and had evidently been very recently turned out of the nest. He began feeding them with earthworms, giving three to each bird that night. Tlie second day, he gave them ten worms each, which they ate ravenously. Thinking this beyond what their parents could naturally supply them with, he limited them to this allowance. On the third day, he gave them eight worms each in the forenoon ; but in the afternoon he found one becoming feeble, and it soon lost its strength, refused food, and died. On opening it, he found the pro- ventriculus, gizzard, and intestines entirely empty, and con- cluded therefore that it died from want of sufficient food ; THE ROBIN. 159 the effect of hunger being increased perhaps by the cold, as the thermometer was about sixty degrees. The other bird, still vigorous, he put in a warmer place, and increased its food, giving it the third day fifteen worms, on the fourth day twenty-four, on the fifth twenty-five, on the sixtli thirty, and on the seventh thirty-one worms. They seemed insufficient, and the bird appeared to be losing- plumpness and weight. He began to weigh both the bird and its food, and the results were given in a tabular form. On the fifteenth day, he tried a small quantity of raw meat, and, finding it readily eaten, increased it gradually, to the exclusion of worms. With it the bird ate a large quantity of earth and gravel, and drank freely after eating. By the table, it appears that thougli the food was increased to forty worms, weighing twenty pennyweights, on the eleventh day the weight of the bird rather fell off; and it was not until the fourteenth day, when he ate sixty-eight worms, or thirty- four pennyweights, that he began to increase. On this day, tlie weight of the bird was twenty-four pennyweights : he therefore ate forty-one per cent more than his own weight in twelve hours, weighing after it twenty-nine pennyweights, or fifteen per cent less than the food he had eaten in that time. The length of these worms, if laid end to end, would be about fourteen feet, or ten times the length of the intes- tines. To meet the objection, that the earthworm contains but a small quantity of nutritious matter, on the twenty-seventh day he was fed exclusively on clear beef, in quantity twenty- seven pennyweights. At night, the bird weighed fifty-two pennyweights, but little more than twice the amount of flesh consumed during the day, not taking into account the water and earth swallowed. This presents a wonderful contrast with the amount of food required by the cold-blooded ver- tebrates, fishes, and reptiles, many of which can live for months without food, and also with that required by mammalia. Man, at this rate, would eat about seventy 160 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. pounds of flesh a day, and drink five or six gallons of water. The question immediately presents itself, How can this immense amount of food, required by the young birds, be supplied by the parents ? Suppose a pair of old robins, with the usual number of four young ones. These would require, according to the consumption of this bird, two hundred and fifty worms, or their equivalent in insect or other food, daily. Suppose the parents to work ten hours, or six hundred min- utes, to procure this supply : this would be a worm to every two and two-fifths minutes ; or each parent must procure a worm or its equivalent in less than five minutes during teu hours, in addition to the food required for its own support. After the thirty-second day, the bird liad attained its full size, and was intrusted to the care of another person during his absence of eighteen days. At the end of that period, the bird was strong and healthy, with no increase of weiglit, though its feathers had grown longer and smoother. Its food had been weighed daily, and averaged fifteen penny- weights of weight, two or three earthworms, and a small quantity of bread each day, the whole being equal .to eigh- teen pennyweights of meat, or thirty-six pennyweights of earthworms ; and it continued up to the time of the pres- entation of the report. Tlie bird having continued in con- finement, with certainly much less exercise than in tlie wild state, to eat one-third of its weight in clear flesh daily, the Professor concludes that the food it consumed when young was not much more than must always be provided by the parents of wild birds. The food was never passed undi- gested ; the excretions were made up of gravel and dirt, and a small quantity of semi-solid urine. He thought that every admirer of trees may derive from these facts a lesson, showing the immense power of birds to destroy the insects by which our trees, especially our api)lc-trccs, elms, and lindens, are every few years stripped of their foliage, and often many of them killed. THE ROBIN. - 161 " The food of the Robin," the Professor says, " while with us, consists principally of worms, various insects, their larvie and eggs, and a few cherries. Of worms and cherries they can j^rocure but few, and those during but a short period ; and they are obliged, therefore, to subsist principally upon the great destroyers of leaves, — canker-worms, and some other kinds of caterpillars and bugs. If each robin, old and young, requires for its support an amount of these equal to the weight consumed by this bird, it is easy to see what a prodigious havoc a few hundred of these must make upon the insects of an orchard or nursery." Wilson Flagg, an acnte and careful observer of the habits of our birds, gives some of his experiences of the Robin, as follows. He says, — " Before I had investigated the habits of this bird, with particular reference to the service he renders to agriculture, I supposed he was only of secondary importance, compared with the Blackbird and others that possess the faculty of discovering and seizing the grubs that lie concealed beneath the surface of the ground. Though the Robin does not possess this faculty, he is pre-eminently service- able in other ways ; and the more I have studied his habits, the more I am convinced of his usefulness. Indeed, I am now fully persuaded that he is valuable bej^ond all other species of birds, and that his services are absolutely indispensable to the farmers of New England. Some persons believe that the Robin is exclusively a frugivorous bird, and that for fruit he will reject all other food that is witiiin his reach. Others believe that his diet consists about equally of fruits and angle-worms, but that he is not a general con- sumer of insects. The truth is, the Robin is almost exclusively insectivorous, and uses fruit, as we do, only as a dessert, and not for his subsistence, except in the winter, when his insect food cannot be obtained. He is not omnivorous, like the Crow, the Jay, and the Blackbird. He rejects farinaceous food unless it is artificially pre- pared, derives almost his entire support from insects and grubs, and consumes, probably, a greater variety of species than any other bird. I am entirely at a loss to account for this very prevalent and mistaken notion respecting the frugivorous habits of the Robin. 11 162 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. " Early in May," he says, " my son caught and caged three young Robins, and I encouraged him in the act, that I might be enabled to study their habits of feeding. He commenced by feed- ing them with angle-worms and soaked bread, giving them the latter very sparingly. They soon died, evidently from an excess of the farinaceous part of their diet. Pie then took three others from different nests, and fed them more exclusively on worms, and some fruit. Two of these also soon died, and the remaining one ap- peared ill and drooping. I suggested that the bird probably needed insects as well as worms, which alone were not sufficient to supply all the wants of the system ; though he had access to cherries and soaked bread, of which he could eat whenever he wanted them. After this, he was supplied with all sorts of grubs and insects which my son was able to capture. The robin devoured these indiscrimi- nately and with great eagerness. He was never known to refuse one of any description. All kinds of beetles, moths, bugs, grubs, vine- worms, chrysalids, and caterpillars, which were presented to him, he devoured. After this improvement of his diet, the bird soon recovered his health ; and the experiment proved conclusively that this variety of insect food was necessary to the life of the bird, at least while he was young. " These insects were not put into his mouth : they were placed upon the floor of his cage, and he picked them up, hilling them in a way that shoived that he knew instinctively how to manage them. " He was particular in beating the vine-worm considerably before he swallowed it ; but he never refused one, or neglected to eat it. On one occasion, having swallowed a hard beetle, and finding it incommodious, he threw it out of his crop by a voluntary effort, beat it awhile with his bill against the floor, and then swallowed it again. This fact also proved his instinctive knowledge of the mode of proceeding in such emergencies. " It is a fact worthy of notice, that the Baltimore Oriole, or Golden Robin, which has the reputation of performing more ser- vice than the common Robin, may, when confined in a cage, be fed almost entirely on farinaceous food, without injury to his health. This fact is good evidence that the common Robin is more entirely insectivorous than the other. The contrary is generally believed. The fondness of the Robin and others for fruit is not peculiar to his THE BROWN THRUSH. 163 species : it is equally remarkable in almost all other insectivorous birds." I have given these accounts, as I remarked before, for the purpose of removing a prejudice that is too well established against this bird. Instances like the above might be pre- sented to almost any extent ; but my limits will not permit a further notice of this species. Sub-Family Miming. — Mocking Birds. Tail long, vaulted at the base, the feathers more or less graduated ; size large ; general appearance thrush-like ; rictus with distinct bristles ; frontal feathers normal, directed backwards ; anterior half of outer side of tarsi distinctly scutellate. 1 HARPORHYNCHUS, Cabanis. Harporhynchus, Cabanis, Wiegmann's Archiv. (1848), I. 98. (Type Harpes redivivus.) Bill from front as long as, or longer than the head, nearly straight to near the tip, or bow-shaped, without any notch ; tarsus as long as, or longer than the middle toe, conspicuously scutellate ; outer lateral toe a little the longer, not reaching the base of the middle claw ; hind toe longer than lateral, its claw equal to its remaining portion ; wings short, rounded, the fourth or fifth longest; the exposed portion of the first about half that of longest; tail longer than the wings, broad, more or less graduated. HAEPOEHTNCHUS EUFUS. — CaJanes. The Brown Thrush ; Brown Thrasher. Turdus rnfus, Linnasus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 293. Wilson, Am. Orn., II. (1810) 83. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 102; V. (1839) 441. Orpheus rufus, Swainson. F. Bor. Am., II. (1831) 187. Nuttall, Man. I. (1832) 328. Description. Fifth quill longest; the third, fourth, and sixth little shorter; second equal to ninth ; exposed portion of the bill shorter than the head ; outline of lower mandible straight; above light cinnamon-red, beneath pale rufous-white with longitudinal 1 This genus, together with the preceding, has been removed from its position in the Liotrichidce, as given in vol. IX. Pac. R.R. Reports, and placed in the Turdidce by Professor Baird, in his recent Review of the Birds of North America. 164 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. streaks of dark-brown, excepting on the chin, throat, middle of the belly, and under tail coverts; these spots, anteriorly, are reddish- brown in their terminal portion; the inner surface of the wnig and the inner edges of the primaries are cinnamon ; the con- cealed portion of the quills otherwise is dark-brown ; the median and greater wing coverts become blackish-brown towards the end, followed by white, producing two conspicuous bands ; the tail feathers are all rufous, the external ones obscurely tipped with whitish; the shafts of the same color with the vanes. Length, eleven and fifteen one-hundredths inches; wing, four and fifteen one- hundredths; tail, five and twenty one-hundredths inches; tarsus, one and thirty one-hundredths; iris, golden-yellow. Probably none of our summer visitors are better known, and none are greater favorites than this bird. Its beautiful song and well-known beneficial habits have endeared it to the farmer, who takes it under his protection, as he should all the Thrushes, and encourages its approach to the garden and orchard. The Brown Thrush arrives from the South about the middle of April in Connecticut and Rhode Island, and the lOtli of May in Maine and the other northern dis- tricts. The birds seem to be mated before their arrival here, as they are almost always observed in pairs at their first appearance. The nest is built about the middle of May, sooner or later, according to latitude. It is usually placed in a bush or thicket of briers or vines, sometimes on the ground at the foot of a clump of bushes. It is com- posed first of a layer of twigs, then leaves and strips of cedar and grape-vine bark, and the whole is covered with fibrous roots : the nest is pretty deeply hollowed, and lined with fine roots and hairs. The eggs are from three to five in number. Their color is a greenish or dirty white, over which are thickly sprinkled minute dots of reddish-brown : their shape is ovate, and their dimensions vary from 1.16 by .80 inch to 1.06 by .76 inch. A great number before me exhibit these variations, which probably are the greatest of this species, as the eggs are generally nearly of a size. Four eggs in a nest collected in New Hampshire have tlie follow- ing measurements : 1.12 by .78 inch, 1,12 by .76 inch, 1.08 by .76 inch, 1.06 by .76 inch. But one brood is reared in the season in the Northern States. THE BROWN THRUSH. 165 The song of this bird is difficult of description: it is a sort of confused mixture of tlie notes of different birds, or rather seems to be, but is really its own song ; as different individuals all sing nearly alike. The fact that it resembles the Mocking-bird in its medley of notes has caused it to be called, in some localities, the Brown Mocker ; and it is also sometimes called the Mavis and Nightingale, from its habit of singing in the night during the mating season. The description of Wilson's, of the habits of this bird, is pretty comprehensive, in fact, the best that I have seen, and I give it almost entire. He says, — " It is the largest of all our Thrushes, and is a well-known and very distinguished songster. About the middle or 20th of April, or generally abovit the time the cherry-trees begin to blossom, he arrives in Pennsylvania ; and, from the tops c»f our hedge-i'ows, sassafras, apple, or cherry trees, he salutes the opening morning with his charming song, which is loud, emphatical, and full of variety. At that serene hour, you may plainly distinguish his voice fully half a mile off. These notes are not imitative, as his name would import, and as some people believe, but seem solely his own, and have considerable resemblance to the notes of the Song Thrush {Tardus mnsicus) of Britain. Early in May he builds his nest, choosing a thorn-bush, low cedar, thicket of briers, dogwood-sapling, or cluster of vines, for its situation, generally within a few feet of the ground. Outwardly, it is constructed of small sticks ; then, layers of dry leaves ; and, lastly, lined with fine, fibrous roots, but without any plaster. The eggs are five, thickly sprinkled with fer- ruginous grains, on a very pale-bluish ground. They generally have two broods in a season. Like all birds that build near the ground, he shows great anxiety for the safety of his nest and young, and often attacks the black snake in their defence ; generally, too, with success, his strength being greater, and his bill stronger and more powerful, than any other of his tribe within the United States. His food consists of worms, which he scratches from the ground, cater- pillars, and many kinds of berries. Beetles, and the whole race of coleopterous insects, wherever he can meet with them, are sure to suffer. He is accused, by some people, of scratching up the hills "166 OENITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. of Indian corn, in planting time. This may be partly true ; but, for every grain of maize he pilfers, I am persuaded he destroys five hundred insects, particularly a large dirty-colored grub, with a black head, which is more pernicious to the corn, and other grain and vegetables, than nine-tenths of the whole feathered race. He is an active, vigorous bird, flies generally low, from one thicket to another, with his long, broad tail spread like a fan ; is often seen about brier and bramble bushes, along fences ; and has a single note or chuck, when you approach his nest. In Pennsylvania, they are numerous, but never fly in flocks. About the middle of September, or as soon as they have well recovered from moulting, in which they suffer severely, they disappear for the season. In passing tlirough the southern parts of Virginia, and south as far as Georgia, in the depth of winter, I found them lingering in sheltered situations, particularly on the border of swamps and rivers. On the 1st of March, they were in full song round the commons at Savannah, as if straining to outstrip the Mocking-bird, that prince of feathered musicians. " The Thrasher is a welcome visitant in spring, to every lover of rural scenery and rural song. In the months of Aj^ril and May, when our woods, hedge-rows, orchards, and cherry-trees, are one profusion of blossoms ; when every object around conveys the sweet sensations of joy, and Heaven's abundance is, as it were, showering around us, — the grateful heart beats in unison with the varying, elevated strains of this excellent bird : we listen to its notes with a kind of devotional ecstasy, as a morning hymn to the great and most adorable Creator of all. The human being who, amidst such scenes, and in such seasons of rural serenity and delight, can pass them with cold indifference, and even contempt, I sincerely pity ; for abject must that heart be, and callous those feelings, and de- praved that taste, which neither the charms of nature, nor the melody of innocence, nor the voice of gratitude or devotion, can reach. " Concerning the sagacity and reasoning faculty of this bird, my venerable friend, Mr. Bartram, writes me as follows : ' I remember to have reared one of these birds from the nest, which, when full grown, became very tame and docile. I frequently let him out of his cage, to give him a taste of liberty. After fluttering, and dusting THE MOCKING-BIRD. 167 himself in dry sand and earth, and bathing, washing, and dressing himself, he would proceed to hunt insects, such as beetles, crickets, and other shelly tribes ; but, being very fond of wasps, after catch- ing them, and knocking them about to break their wings, he would lay them down, then examine if they had a sting, and, with his bill, squeeze the abdomen to clear it of the reservoir of poison before he would swallow his prey. When in his cage, being very fond of dry crusts of bread, if uiaou trial the corners of the crumbs were too hard and sharp for his throat, he would throw them up, carry and put them in his w^ater-dish to soften, then take them out and swallow them.' " By the first week in October, tlie Brown Thrusli departs on its soutliern migration, and passes the winter in the West Indies and Mexico. MIMUS, BoiE. Mimus, BoiE, Isis (Oct., 1826) 972. (Type Turdus polyghttus.) Bill shorter than the head, deciirved from the base, distinctly notched at tip ; tarsi longer than the middle toe ; lateral toes equal, not reaching the base of the middle claw, and shorter than the hind toe, the claw of which is half the total length; tail variable, equal to or longer than the wings, moderately graduated; wings rounded, the exposed portion of the tirst nearly or quite half that of the second, which is considerably shorter than the third. MIMUS POLYGLOTTUS. — 5o2e. The Mocking-bird. Turdus polijr/lottus, L'mnsius. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 293. Wilson, Am. Om., II. (1810) 14. And. Om. Biog., I. (1831) 108; V. (1839) 438. Mimus pohj