\\ SS SNL a ea PROVISIONAL LIST, ee INCLUDING NATIVES, PERMANENT RESIDENTS, WINTER | | _ RESIDENTS, SPRING AND FALL MIGRANTS; OCCA-) SIONAL VISITANTS AND “STRAGGL ERS” Havas seeder vay aes Pa i b Picea eo eB at OR ACCIDENTAL, VISITANTS, 997) te 5. HL WARREN, M. D., STATE ORNITHOLOGIST, a Gian ‘WEST CHESTER, PENNA. Pome ane i a I phe numbers following the common names Meter to Check-lists of Moroes ASY an Baird, (marked B) published i in 1858; Dr. Elliott Coues, (marked C) ¥ "published ; in 1873; Prof. Robt. Ridgway, (marked R) published i 1 1 S8Oe MD tate Ca Elliott Coues Gnarked €) published in 1882, and that of the American ase Ornithologists’ Union (amarked U) published in ‘1886, 1 eae In addition to the different birds observed by myself, I have added a~ Lean ‘numiber of species which have been given in the writings (published and unpublished) , of different observers. This list has been prepared for: gratuitous distribution among ornithologists and oologists who are respect-, PN _ fully requested to make such adiHonsy and corrections as their belts Pete _ experience will wartant. © ) AN Ce eee The following suggestions are offered te eee who will kindly aid sh oD We ‘the preparation of an accurate list of the Birds of Pennsylvania, meatie hs: (1. Mark with an * before the common names, the birds which breed _ aad regularly in your locality. hee ee evebtace. the tetter i: nee the commion names of birds’ found { in. your . “ locality during all months of the year. _ eee ERG ‘Indicate. the birds which occur aD your heelys as spring and fall ean ees | migrants, by the letter M. > Nui aas i. Birds ‘which are found i in your locality only: during the winter SEASON), (yee anark with thé letter W. TERY eg 5. Place the letter ,Z after the common names of birds which occur in|“ a your locality as occasional visitants, and state if possible what month and A year the species was last seen. Airs a 6, Birds which, you regard | as “‘stragelers” or accidental visitants, mark acta a crea: the lettenie. mae Do you'know of 2 any. wild Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) _ 7608s. OE Uh ah eee places in this State; ifso where are they? Also state last authen- ae tie record of a Wild Pigeon roost or breeding place in Pennsylvania which NP as ae: is known to VOUN aya) ea: a) CRON you know of. any birds’ co mentioned in the following list which are found in Pennsylvania? ‘If so, please name them and state by whom, where, and when speciniens were taken. ‘ Do you know of any birds nemed in this list which are erroneously included’ in our cee Re : ‘ ate! Pecan Nein, A oon neh — ns ae | | _ COLYMBUS HOLBOLLAT goal ee cl ee Hayes _ Holbeell’s Grebe. {B 702, C 610, R By c an, a 2 - SER ae -COLYMBUS. WURETUS Manin, ae a se oe es jew wos) Blaeke throated Loon. [B 699, C C 606, R 8 G 84a, U 9] Vee | _ STERCORARIUS PARASITICUS (LInn.)..) “RISA TRIDACTYLA’ (LINN. ) " STERNA FORSTERI ANUTI i : Banat "i . _ sma HIRUNDO (Linn, )- Horned Grebe. [B 706, C 611, a 732 c 248, U 2. ae OEE Cad We PODILYMBUS PODICEPS (LINN. ). ne oo i . _ Pied-billed Grebe. [B. 7o9, C 6x4, e nS S 852, u v6) _ URTNATOR IMBER (Gunn.). |) © Loon. [B 698, C 605, R 73, c 840, U 7 ae _ URINATOR ARCTICUS (LINN.).. _ URINATOR LUMME (GUNNA) ‘Red-throated Loon. [B 701, C er, R 740, C S44, 1 U, Ir, iq _PRATERCULA ARCTICA (Linn:). | 2) a Bathing, Bi 15, C1613, 743, Cc 854, U 13. ee _CEPPHUS: GRYLLE (Lawn. y : BNC ee ak Nee Black Guillemot. 8 726, path @ 631, part, a: a _ R 760, part, Cc 871, part U Can) “cEPPHUS MANDTIE (Lacut.). i. | eae Guillemot. a 726 part, © 631, part, aS < R 760, part, € 871, art u ay *: URIA LOMVIA (LaNN.). Lik) Sieh Brunnich’ s Murre. iB 730 (C oe R 7640, 876, uy 3t. I gE a “ALLE ALLE (Layn.). cas eT EY ae ere! Doyekie. [B 738, C 626, R 752, Cc 863, U 34 _LARUS DELAWARENSIS (ORD.). ee Ring-billed Gull. [B 664, @ 548, R 669, Cc 7. oD 54. Ay ieee _LARUS ATRICILLA (LINN). Laughing Gull. [B 667, C 554, R 673, C 780, u 58, 1 “LARUS PHILADELPHIA (OrpD.). (— ft _ Bonaparte’s Gui iB GronC 556, R 675, & 788, UW 60. 1 ea Fe _GELOCHELIDON NILOTICA. (HLASSELQ.). OC Uae Gull-billed Tern. _ [B 681, C 560, R 679, ¢ 792, Uy, 63. L 7 a aan ane STERNA ‘TSCHEGRAVA (LEPECH.). 5 ATG Caspian Teri: 3[ B’ 682; C Sot, R 680, & 793; U oe 2 “STERNA MAXIMA (Bopp.). : Royal Tern. [B 683, C 562, R 681, Ic 794; vl 65. ds Forster’s ‘Tern. [B 691, 686, C 566, R 685, Ci 798, U °9 a es yee an ‘i Common! Tera.) iB eso, © 565, R 686, C 797, U 70.1 | STERNA PARADISAA (BRUNN.). oe Arctic ‘Tern. ABB ee 693, C 567, 368, R 687, 6 799, U Be od os s SPERNA DOUGALLI (MoNTAG.). GAS Aa -Roseate Tern. [B 692, C 569, R 688, C 800, U 72. zl ae | SPERNA ANTILLARUM (hess.).5 | ee ed yj Weast Terns B.694, C570, R 690, @ Sor, AU 74.| Wann STERNA FULIGINOSA (GMEL.) So leteaiee Sooty Tern. |B 688, C 573, R 691, C 804, Cee75ve ater HYDROCHELIDON NIGRA SURINAMENSIS (GMEL,). | i Black Tern. | [B 695, C575, R 693, C 806, W773 es RYNCHOPS NIGRA (LINN. Nees ee he Black Skimuner. | [B 697, C 577, R 656, Cc 809, U 80. ] Mh PUFFINUS MAJOR (FABER. ). ! Pale serie © 'Greater Shearwater. [B 647, C 597, R a) C 832, U 80. 1 eos ame PROCELLARTA PELAGICA (LINN.). SAUNS Stormy Petrel: [B 645, C 587, R 721, C 829, U ton) sea Se OCEANODROMA IL.EUCORHOA (VIBILI..). eas, Leach’s Petrel. [B 642, 'C 588, R 723, C 823, U- 106. 2 ceive PHALACROCORAX CARBO (LINN.). Ca ata Cormorant. [B 620, C 528, R 642, C 750, U oe | SS PHALACROCORAX DILOPHUS (Sw. & RIcH.). ng md Double-crested Cormorant. [B 623, C 530, R 643, O751,Ui 120. ] Mh PELECANUS ERYTHRORHYNCHOS (GMET.. ). # _ American White Pelican. [B 615, C 526, R 640, C 748, U 125. ] MERGANSER AMERICANUS (CaAss.). aay, i= American Merganser. [B 611, C527, (R ee Cc 743; U 129. | a ae MBERGANSER SERRATOR (Inn? 2) '. Red-breasted Merganser. [B 612, C 522, R 637, C 744, U 130] LOPHODYTES CUCULLATUS (LINN.). | | Go.) (‘Hooded Merganser. [B 613, C 523; R 638, C7455 1h ] oe ANAS BOSCHAS (LINvN.). | Ng Mallard. [B 576, C 488, R 601, C 707, U 132.] ANAS OBSCURA (GAMEL. yi at ) -Black Duck. [B 577, C 489, R 602, C 708, U 133. ] ° _ ANAS STREPERA (LINN,). yen .Gadwall. [B 584, C 491, R 604, C 711, U 135.] my, ANAS PENELOPE (LINN. ). we ee 3 Widgeon. [B°586)-C 492, R 606, C 712, U 136. ] a sae ANAS AMERICANA (GMEL.). | we - Baldpate. [B 585, C 493. R 607, c 713, U 137-] ep cat “ANAS CAROLINENSIS (GMEL, ): aris Green-winged Teal. [B 579, C 495, = 612, C 715, U 139. Ma ANAS) DISCORS (Liny.).. ee hak ‘Blue- winged Teal. [B 581, C 496, R 609, B 716, U Hae "4 Bee SPATULA CLYPEATA (LInNN,). gs ive ploveller.. [B 58307 C 408, RiGos" C 718, U 142.] ae DAFILA ACUTA (LINN.). Aa : Pintail. [B 578, C 490, R 605, C 710, U 143. |] ATX SPONSA (LINN.). ee + © Wood Duck. [B 587,°C 499, R 613, . 719, U ee ] pL) AVTHYA AMERICANA (Eyt.). Pee Redhead: /B 501, C.503,;/R6r8)-C 723, U 146. ] Renin AYTHYA VALLISNERIA (WIts.). Soya st Canvas-Back. [B592,.C 504, R 617, C 724, U 147. I a AVTHYA MARILA NEARCTICA (STEN. ). Taga American Scaup Duck. [B 588, C 500, R 614, C 720, U 148.). aan AYTHYA AFFINIS (Eyt.).. Py aaah hese cay Duck. [B 580, C'501, R 615, C 721, U 149. | 4 j | ie . i \ } AVTHYA COLLARIS ae i a MU Oe: | Ring-necked Duck. [B 599, C 502; R Ate © 722, U. 1a GLAUCIONELTA CLANGULA see (BONAP.). \ American Golden-eye. [B 593, C 505, R 620, C725, U Ge iv CHARITONETTA ALBEOLA (INN: a | Buffle-head. (B595, C 507, R 621, Cc Hose U 153. 1 CLANGULA HYEMAIAS (LInw. ). * Old-squaw.” [B 597, C508, R 623, C728) 154.) SOMATERIA DRESSERI (SHARPE). x American Hider. [B 606, part, C513, part, R 6270 @ 134, U ieee OIDEMIA AMBRICANA (Sw. & RICH. ), American Scoter. [B 604, C 516, R 630, C 737, U 163, ] OIDEMIA DEGLANDI (Bonap,). White-winged Scoter. [B 601, we 517, R 632, 738, U 165: dee ERISMATURA RUBIDA ,(WILS.). Ruddy Duck. [B 609,'C 519, R 634, C 741, U 167. ] | CHEN HYPERBORBA NIVALIS (Fors?. ). | '_ Greater Snow Goose.” [B 563, C 480, R 501, . 695, U 1690. Ae BRANTA, CANADENSIS (LINN .). ‘ ; - ‘Canada Goose. [B 567;.C 485, R 594, ¢ 7O2\) 0) 172. 1 if BRANTA BERNICLA CLAN 84 a ete ode (Brant. |B 570, © Ada, Uni 595; € 700, U 173.) ‘ OLOR COLUMBIANUS (ORD.). aise Whistling Swan.) [B 561, bis, Cc 477, R 588, C 689, iO 180.) OLOR BUCCINATOR CRTC Ey) i es! Trumpeter Swan. [B 562, 'C 476, R 589, C 688, U 181, ). GUARA ALBA (LINN). : . White Ibis. [B 499, C446, R 501, © Asi. -U 184. i PLEGADIS AUTUMNALIS (HASSELQ.). | Glossy Ibis. [B 500, C445, R 593) , Cc 649, U oe Ve PLEGADIS GUARAUNA (Linn2). . W hite- faced Oo Ibis. (B,C 445 bts, 445, ter, oa Ro 504, Cc pee U nee >, TANTALUS LOCULATOR (Lan, » Aa Wood Ibis. ,[B 497; C 444, R 500, C 648, U 188. il ‘ BOTAURUS LENTIGINOSUS (MONTAG. ). ‘American Bittern. [B)492, C Anes R 497, i. 666, U 190] BOTAURUS EHXILIS (GMET..). ) Least Bittern, [B 491, C 461, R oe C 667, U tor. 1 vi ARDEA HERODIAS CINN. i "Great Blue Heron.’ [B 487, C 449, R 487, © 65, U Oe 7 ARDBA PGRETTA (GMEL.). Ainerican\Eeret. [B 486, C 452, R Ae) Cc 058; U) ren ARDEA CANDIDISSIMA '(GMET, ). - Snowy Heron.’ [B 485, C 453, R 490, C 659, U 197. le ARDEA TRICOLOR’ RUFICOLLIS (GOSSE. ). Louisiana Heron. ,[B 484, © 454, R 492, C 660, U ee i ARDEA CGSRULEA (LANN.): } Little Blue Heron., [B 490, C 456, R, 493. ie 662, U 200, ‘ ARDEA VIRESCENS (Lixn.). | Green Heron. \[B 493, Cc eg R 494, Cc 663, U 201. ie NYCTICORAX NYCTICORAX NZFVIUS (Bopp ))n -c: Black-crowned Night Heron. [B 495, C 45%; R 495, .¢ 664, U 202, j NYCTICORAX VIOWVACEHUS (LAnn.). ' | Yellow- crowned Night eo: [B 496, C 459; R oe © bee, U 203.) =k 2 “eRUS CANADENSIS EIN Ss) Little Brown Crane. [B 480, C 463, R584, C 669, : 225. ie RALLUS ELEGANS (AUD.). ~ King Rail. [B 552, C 466, R'569, C 676, U 208.] RALLUS. LONGIR OSIRIS CREPITANS (Gmel.).- Clapper ikatls. GBi553,-@ cog kG el © O73, 2 Us oT -RALLUS VIRGINIANUS (Linn.). Virgittia: Rail, -(B 554; C7467; R oe: C 677 U B12) PORZANA CAROLINA (Linn;). Sora. (B 555, C 648, R 574, C 679, U 214:) RORZANA NOVEBORACENSIS (Gmiel.). 7 Vellow Rail, (B 557, © 469, R575, © 689, U 2155 “ROKZANA JA MAICENSIS (Gmel.). Black Rail: (B 556, C 470, R 576, C 681 U: 216.) IONOSNIS MARTINICA (Linn.). ~'-Purple Gallinule. -(B 561, € 473, R578, € 685, U.218:) GALIANULA GAL BATA (Ciacht). Florida Gallinule. (B 560,-C 472, R.579, C 684, U 2192) “FULICA AME TCANA (Gimel.) American Coot.» (B.559, ©-474,_.R. 580,-C 686; U 227.) CRY MOPITILUS FULICARIUS (Linn. ). Kved Phalarope.(B 521, C 411, R 563, C604, U 222.) ~PHALAROPUS-LOBATUS (Linn. ». Northern Phalarope. <(B 520, C 410, R 564, C 603, U 223.) PHALAROPUS TRICOLOR (Viell.). Wilson’s Phalarepe. (B 519, C_4o9, R 299) C 6c2, U 224.) RECURVIROSTRA AMERICANA (Guiel. y vi, Asierican Avocet -(B 517, C7407, R566, © 6co, U 225.) : ‘SCOLOPAX RUSTICOLA (Linn.) European Woodcock. “(B—, © 413, R 524, C 606, U 227.) : PHILOHELA MINOR (Gmel.), = American Woodcock. (B 522, C412, R 525; C 605, U 228.) GALLINAGO. DELICATA (Ord.). Wilson's Snipe. (B523, C414, R.526a, C 608, U 230.) MACRORE: A MPHUS GRISEUS (Gmel). - -= Dowiteher. ~ §B 524, Cars, R527; C 609, Ui 231.1 MICROPALAMA FAIMANTOPUS (Bonap). Stilt Sandpiper. — [B 536, C 416, R 528, €E Gir, Azan TRINGA CANUTUS Linn: Knot. [B 526, C 426, R 529,C 626, W234. 4] TRINGA MARITIMA Brunn. Purple Sandpiper. [B528, C Lees RY 5 305.C).620, 7.023551] TRINGA MACULATA Vieull: Pectoral Sandpiper. [B.531, C 420, R 534, C 616, U 239. J 5 ae FUSCICOLLIS Vieill. White-rumped Sandpiper. [B 533; Cc At, R 536, C one U oe TRINGA MINUTILLA’ Vieillo » _ Least Sandpiper. —[B 532, © 418, R538, C614, U 242. ]- TRINGA ALPINA, Linn. Dunlin. [B—, C—, R539, € 623, U 243.] TRINGA ALPINA PACIFICA (Coues). — ey Red-backed Sandpiper. [B 530, C 424, R 539a, C Se U 243a.] EREUNETES PUSILLUS (Linn)... : Semipalmated poppe LD 535, fe A17, R 541, C612, U 246.) - CALIDRIS ARENARIA dane LIMOSA FEDOA. (Linn). i _ BARTRAMIA LONGICAUDA (Bechst.). TRYNGITES SUBRUFICOLLIS (Vieill.) : ACTITIS MACULARIA (Linn. ey _NUMENIUS LONGIROSTRIS Wils. | ~ NUMENIUS HUDONICUS Lath, NUMENIS BOREALIS Forst. ‘CHARADRIUS DOMINICUS Mull. AEGIALITIS VOCIFERA (Linn)) = ANGIALITIS SEMIPALMAYTA Bonap. | ARPNARIA INTERPRES (Linn, ). | “COLINUS VIRGINIANUS (Linn.). - BONASA UMBELLUS (Linn.). SS AV MPANUCHUS AMERICANUS (Reich.). : ECTOPISTES MIGRATORIUS (Linn.). ZENAIDURA MACROURA (Linn.).. “COLUMBIGALLINA PASSERINA (Linn.). sy CATHARTES AURA, (jinn.). ; eens es Gr 2 Sanderling. (B534,/C 427, R 542, C or U 248.) Marbled Godwit [B 547, 'C 428, R 543, C 628, U oe | eae LIMOSA HASMASTICA (Linn.) Vise Re Hudsonian Godwit. [B 548, C 429, R 545, eC 629, U 351.} ear aeenee OTANUS MELANOLEUCUS (Gutel. ) FO ae = oe Greater Yellow-legs. [B 539, C 432, R548, C 633, U 254. 1 TOTANUS FLAVIPES (Gimel. ( ee (a Yellow-legs, [B 540, C 433, R549, C 634, U 255.] Fae ee CO TOTANUS SOLITARIUS (Wils.) are en ea a Ree Solitary Sandpiper. [B.541, C435, R 550, c 637, uU 256, hee eee SYMPHEMIA SEMIPALMATA (Gmel.) Se Willet. [-B 537 part, C 431 pavit, R 552 part, C 632 part, U ee a Bartramian Sandpiper. [B 545, ie 438, R555; C Ore AW) 26. te Buff-breasted Sandpiper. [B 546, C 439, R 556, Cc 641, U 262. |! 2 Spotted Sandpiper. [B 543, C 436, R557, C 638, U 263.] Long-billed Curlew. [B 549, C 441, R 558, C 643, U 264. i Hudsonian Curlew.. [B 550. C 442, R 559} C645, U 265 =| Eskimo Curlew. [B 551, C 443, R 560, C 646, U 366, ] CHARADRIUS SOQUATAROLA (Linn.) Black-bellied Plover. [B'510, C 395, R513, C 580, U 270. ] American Golden. Plover. [B 503, © 3906, R 515, C581; if 272.) : . : — “ Katideer (Be 504, e 397, R 516, C 484, U 273.) 2 Semipalmated Plover. [B 507, C 399 R517, € 829) U oe 1 AIGIALITIS MELODA (Ord.) Piping Plover. - [B 508, C 400, Ra20; C587,U 277. ] - AGIALITIS WILSONIA (Ord.) ee Wilson’s Plover. [B 506, C398, R522, C 585, U 280. : Turnstone. [B 515, C 406, R509, C598, U 583. ] Bob-white; Quail. [B 471, 'C 389, R 480, C571, U 289.] nee i 2 ee oe ited GrGnee [Bos CQSe Rags Geen U soon eg Prairie Hen. [B 464, C 384, R 477, C 563, U 305: ): MELEAGRIS GALLOPAVO (Linn.). oes eae Wid Turkey. [B 457, C 379a, R 370a, C 554, U B10; nes Passenger Pigeon. [B 448, C370, R 459, C543, U ee . 3 = ee Mourning Dove. [B451,\C 371, R 460,’C 544, U 316. ) Ground Dove. [B 453 part, C 374 part, R 465 part, C547 part U 320. ci Turkey Vulture. [B1.-C 365, R 454, © 527 325. y oka. t 3 “cIRCtS HUDSONIUS (Linn.).’ | Harlan’s Hawk. |. BUDEO LINEATUS: (Gmel)) “3 ee : [B 25, © 352, R 439 C 520, U 339.) | . sie ant Parrett et = i Z Fs Ni BED emake - i 2 : Eat: ee BUS ae ape Le CATH ARISTA ATRATA. han . Black Vulture. —[B 3, © 366, R Mss, C 538, U 326. ) ~ELANOIDES FOREICATUS: (iinn.).c » + ~ Swallow-tailed Kite. [B 34, C ae R A26, ¢ 493, U ICTINIA, MISSISSIPPIENSIS (Wils.) ra Mississippi Kite. [€ 36,C 335, R 2) CAor wer feo, le Marsh Hawk. [B 38, C 333, R 430, C 489, U 331. le ACCIPITER VELOX (Wils.). _ Sharp-shinned Hawk., [B 17, C 338, R432; :C 404, U 332" |.5 “ACCIPITER- COOPERI (Bonap. eee Cooper's Hawk. [B 15, 16, C 339, R 431, C 495, U 333: ] “ACCIPIZFER ATRICAPILLUS (Wils.). American Goshawk. [B14, C 340, R 433, C 496, U 334. | _ BUTEO BOREALIS (Gmel.). ia Red-tailed Hawk. [B 23, C 351, R 436, C 516, U 337. ae - BUTEO. HARLANI (Aud.). [ B22, ©. 350, R 438, C515; U 338.] Red-shouldered Hawk. BUTEO LATISSIMUS (Wils.). Broad-winged Hawk. [B 27 (255d 443, € 524, U 343. j oe ARCHIBUTEO LAGOPUS SANCTIJOHANNIS (Gmel.) 8 a FALCO SPARVERIUS Linn. me _ STRIX PRATINCOLA Bonap. 2 _ASIO ACCIPITRINUS (Pall, ) Sew whet. Owl: “ _ MBGASCOPS ASIO (Ldnn.) aa. BEBO VIRGINIANUS Gmnel.) American Rough-leg ged Hawk. [B 3° BT C256, “AQUILA CHRYSAETOS (Linn. Golden Eagle. [B 39, C361, R 449, C 532; U 349. J ‘HALLELTUS LEUCOCEPHALUS (Linn.) py (Baldwtagle: vB At,43; © 362, .RoA5E, W534\7 U; 3524 - PALCO PEREGRINUS ANATUM (Bonap.) Duck Hawk. [B 5, 6, C 343, R 414, C 503, U 356.] _FALCO COLUMBARIUS Linn. . Pigeon Hawk. [B 7, C 344, R 417, ae 505, U 357. ] wee American Sparrow Hawk. [B 13, C 346, 3460, a . R 420, 420a, € 508, 509, U 360 _PANDION HALIAETUS CAROLINENSIS (Gmel. ) ~~ American Osprey. [B’44, ‘C 360, R 425, C 530, U 364.] _ American Barn Owl. (Buz, ie ao R594, c fo; U 365. _ASIO WILSONIANUS (Less. ) ~ . . American Long-eared Owl. Short-eared Owl. [B 52, Caer R 396, C 473, U 367,] ~SYRNIUM NEBULOSUM eee Pe 2 BarrediOwl. (eBi54, € 323, R307, 476, U 368. i - SCOTIAPTEX CINEREA (Gmel. ) - Great Gray Owl. [B 53, C 222,°R 390, C474? U 370.] “NYCTALA ACADIC A (Gmel 4 _[B.56, 57, C as R 4or, C 483; ie 372. 7 ~ Screech Owl. [B 49 fart, C 318, R 402, C 465, U 373: ] eae Horned Owl. LP » C317, R 405, C 6a, U 375. i} on | / \ R447, C 525, U Sara. ay “ [B 51, € 320, R 395; C 472, U 366.) — oNYCTIOA ace he | : i So ee Stiowy Owl: [B 61, € 325, R 106, C A79Q, Ut. Sea ie Seok oa e SURNIA ULULA CARPAROCH, (Mull). ous American Hawk Owl. - [B’ 62; C 326, R 407, Cc co 168 a7) ~CONURUS CAROLINENSIS (Linn.) Carolina Paroquet.. [B.63, C 315, R 39%) ic 460, U oe | CROTOPHAGA ANT (Linn) “ | PONT. [B 66,:67,. C-288, RB 389,7C 425, U- 851 = COCCVYZUS AMERICANUS: (inn,) Yellow-billed Cuckoo. . [B 69,'C 291, R 387, © Me U 5S). pees COCCYZUS ERYTHROPHTHALMUS (Wils.) ; Black-billed Cuckoo. ~[B 70,°C 290, R 388, C 428, U 388.4) CERYLE ALCYON (Linn:) Belted Kingfisher. [B 117, C 286, R 382, C4o7 su, Sead os DRYQBATES VILLOSUS Ciann.) Hairy Woodpecker. [B74part ¢C 298 Tae R 360, C 438 part, GF 393: Be RYOBATES VILLOSUS LEUCOMELAS ,(Bodd.) Northern Hairy Woodpecker. [S 74 Part, ( 298 part, R. 3602, . 438 part, U 930] ~ DRYOBATES PUBESCENS Gann.) , Downy Woodpecker.” [B 76, C 299, R 361, C 440, U 394..] - DRYOBATES BORHALES {Vieill.) Red-cockaded Woodpecker. [B80, C 296, R 362, C 433, co PICOIDES ARCTICUS (Swains. ) ? caste S St ee Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker. [B82,C Te € 443, U 400, | PICOIDES AMERICANUS (Brehm. ) : American Three-toed Woodpecker. ~ [B 83, € 301, \. R 368, C4a4, U 407. £] SEES VARIUS Cinn.) ua Vellow-bellied Sapsucker. [B 85, C 302, RR 359, € 446, U 4o2. | CROPHLGUS PILEATUS [Linn.] Pileated Woodpecker. —[B-90, C 294, R oo, =¢ 4325 U 405. : MELANERPES HERYTHROCHPHALUS (Linn. Ue Red-headed Woodpecker. [B-94, C 300, R: 375) Cc 453, U 406. | MELANERPES. CAROLINUS (Linn.) © Red-bellied Woodpecker. (B91, C306, R BO ‘450, U 409.) ‘ COLAPTES AURATUS (Lian) Blacker’. (B97, C312, R 378.C ‘457, U 412. ye COLAPTES CAFER (Guiel.) E Red-shafted Flicker. (8 98, C 314,-R 3780, C * 459, U Aas, . ~ ANTROSTOMUS VOCIFERUS (Wils. ). Whip-poor-will. (B 112, '€ 265, R 354, C 397, U Aqy. ir CHORDEILVES VIRGINIANUS (Ginel.), 7 Nighthawk. (B 114, C267, R 357, © 399, Uv 20> CHATURA PRiEAGICA -Ch oe : Chimney Switt: «CB! to¢,-Cr27i eR 35h C05 U) 42 ) EROCHILUS COLUBRIS Chinn). Ruby-throated Hummingbird. (8-101, C 275) Ra35.46 409, U 428. - TYRANNUS TYRANNUS (Clinn.). Kingbird. °(B 124, © 242, R 304, C 368, u a. y MYIARCHOS CRINITUS (Uinn.). Crested Flycatcher. (B 130, C 247, R312, c 373, Uy 452. > SAYORNIS PHCIBE (Lath. ). Ricebe: ~~ (B.135,°C%252, e315 3 370504756) ) X ee) Bike 9. i CONTOPUS BOREALIS ea ) ek ASME heirs -_ Olive-sided Flycatcher. [B 137,.C 253, R A Cc 380, U 459. ] aie aaron CONTOPUS VIRENS (Linn.) hie etl z "Wood Pewee. [B 139, C 255, R 320, C 382, U 461.] — pie -EMPIDONAX FLAVIVENTRIS (Baird.) , |. -Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. [B 144, € 259, R 322, C 388, U 463. Ti i EMPIDONAX ACADICUS (Gmel.) Be Acadian Flycather. [B 143, C 256, R 324, C 354; U 465. | ' EMPIDONAX PUSILLUS TRAILLIT (Aud.) / Traill’s Flycatcher. [B 140, C 257, R 325a, C 385, U A66a.] EMPIDONAX MINIMUS (Baird. ) | PCR ee sea ! Least Flycatcher [B 142, C 258, R 326, C 387, U eet ] hes os ALAUDA ARVENSIS (Linn.) | SEE REY ous Hoo “Skylark. [B—, C55 bis, R299, C 88, U 473.] OTOCORIS ALPESTRIS (Linn. ) ss \ Horned Larks* [B 302, C 53, R 300, C 82, U 474. HE Say ot on OTOCORIS ALPESTRIS PRATICOLA (Hensh. ) CME cent Prairie Horned Lark. [B—, C—, R—, C—, U 4740.) AE See CYANOCITTA CRISTATA (Linn. 8 RETR iy (oe tied WN Blue Jay. [B 434, C 234, R 289, C 349, U 477.) avanti _ PERISOREUS CANADENSIS (Linn.) «Canada Jay. [B 443, C 239, R ee C 359, U 484. ] Be CORVUS CORAX SINUATUS (Wagl.) goa nari _ American Raven. [B 423, 424, C 226, R 280, C 338, U 486. | Li CORVUS AMERICANUS (Aud.) ORE ores oeh American Crow. '[B 426, C 228, R 282, C 340, U 488.] CORVUS OSSIFRAGUS (Wils.) Meehan _ Fish Crow. [B 429, C 229, R 283, C 343, U 490.] See UNS Ee Satara DOLICHONYX ORYZIVORUS (Linn.) SC TLR Cc Bobolink. [B 399, C 210, R 257, C 312, U 494. ] MOLOTHRUS ATER (Bodd.) CAC eat . Cowbird. [B 400, C 211, R 258, C 313, U 495. ] Ber ete. XANTHOCEPHALUS XANTHOCEPHALUS (Bonap. ) Hein ke Yellow-headed Blackbird, [B 404, C 213, R Be C 319, U ‘A97- ] - AGELAIUS PHG2NICEUS (Linn.) Red-winged Blackbird: [B 4o1 pari, C 212 part, R 261 part, C 316 part, U 198 ] STURNELLA MAGNA (Linn, ) ' Meadowlark. [B 406, C 214, R 263, C 320, U 501. | AR Rey Jha ICTERUS. SPURIUS (Linn.) ERR ar NSIS thy) ~ Orchard Oriole. [B 414, C 215, R 270, C 324, U 506. ] es Ce, Nae ICTERUS .GALBULA (Linn. ) ie _. Baltimore Oriole. [B 415, C ee ea OE C 326, U 507. | SCOLECOPHAGUS CAROLINUS (Mut: Hee Rusty Blackbird. [B.417, C 221, KE 73s € 331, U 509. ] BN QUISCALUS QUISCULA (Linn.) | Purple Grackle. [B 421, C 225, R 278; €335,., U 5114.] QUISCALUS QUISCULA AENEUS (Ridgw.) 3 Bronzed Grackle. [B—, C 225a, R 2780, C237. U 5110. \ PINICOLA ENUCLEATOR (Linn. ) Pine Grosbeak. [B 304, C 137, R 166, C 190, U 515.] | CARPODACUS PURPUREUS. (Gmel.) i a Nea _ Purple Finch. [B 305, C 139, R 168, C 194, U 517.) _. LOXIA CURVIROSTRA MINOR (Brehm.) Pe te fo. American Crossbill. [B 318, C 143; R 172, € 199, te 521. | Ute meu iii. LOXIA LEUCOPTERA (Gurel, ) ety oe ‘White-winged Crossbill, [B 319, C 142, R 173, C 198, U 522. i eupet7 en ACANTHIS LINARIA (Linn.) RMSE SAR Redpoll. [B 320, C 146, 1462, R179, C 207, U 528. | ro ACANTHIS LINARIA ROSTRATA (Coues.) CEES Redpoll. Ce ‘C—, R 179a es C 208 Par, U 5288: Me es Pass, DOMESTICUS (Linn.) SPINUS CRISTISs inn), aye . | Savanna Sparrow. [B 332, C159, R 193a, € 227, U 542. ) TSU aes a ; AMMODRAMUS SAVANNARUM PASSERINUS, (Wils.) Pe PRAMAS hex SO iy Grasshopper Sparrow. [B 338, C 162, R 198, G 234, U 516. qo EVO ae saa AMMODRAMUS HENSLOWIL (Aud.) .- Henslow’s Sparrow. [B 339, C 163, R 199, @ 236, U 547.] CHONDESTES GRAMMACUS (Say.) Pena aK Lark Sparrow. [B 344 part C 186 pave, R 204, C581 part U eal ie me ae - “ZONOTRICHIA LHUCOPHRYS (Forst. ) 5 White-crowned Sparrow. [B 345, C 183, R 206, C 276, U 554.) 7 LOGS aC ea ne aN ~ ZONOTRICHIA ALBICOLULIS (Gmel.) Vis Se RD aati oye pes | White-throated Sparrow. [B 349, C 182, R 209, C 275, U 558. 1 (ieiecaleop MBAR OSC SPIZELLA MONTICOLA (Gmel.) a iF SE IO ‘> Pree Sparrow. [B 357 part, C177 part, R 210 part, Na eS eine SN a a | | 268 C part U 559. L je Naat Us SPIZELLA SOCIALIS (Wils.) EE ORGS PR _ Chipping Sparrow. [B 359 part, C 178, R 2 21, © 269, U 560. ] RS SLO ER Ua a SPIZELLA PUSILLA (Wils.) . CERT RAR os ee \ Field Sparrow. [B 358, C 179, R 214, © 271, U 563:] : Se Oa ia cee JUNCO HYEMALIS (Lann:) Fah ae: ee Sica Slate-colored Seo, [B 354 part, C 174 part, 4 or NMR eer ob eae a R eer C aoe U 567.1 TIENT Mayen. tc =-8Ns English or Huropean House Sparrow. my) [Be Cte: Cas U—.] ’MBELOSPIZA FASCIATA (Gmel. ) Ay Song Sparrow.,’:|B 363, C 169, R231, C244, U 581 ale MELOSPIZA LINCOLNI (Aud.) ; Sie ren Lincoln’s Sparrow. | [B 368, C 167, R 234, C 242, U 583] > ar MELOSPIZA GHRORGIANA (Lath. ) ea Swamp Sparrow. [B 360, C 168, R 233, € 243, Sek PASSERELLA ILIACA (Merr.) Fox Sparrow. [B 374, C.188, R 235, C 282, U 585. ] PIPILO HRYTHROPHTHALMUS (Linn, ) Lowhee} «(RB 391, © 204; R237, C 301,5U 5874 CARDINALIS: CARDINALIS Guinn.) . Cardinal. [B 390, C 203; R 242,.C 299, U 593. | HABIA LUDOVICIANA (Linn.) Rose-breasted Grosbeak. [B 380, C 193, R 744, (O 280, U 5051 . GUIRACA CAIRULEA (Linn.) . Blue Grosbeak. [B 382 ae C195 part, R 246 part, @ 201 pari, WU. 597. -PASSERINA CYANEA fiainn, | Indigo Bunting. | [B 387;.C 199, R 248,'C 295, U 598.1 : SPIZA AMBERIGCANA (Ginel.) i Dickcissel,, |B 378, C 191, R 545 O72 87 5A 604.] SPIZA TOW NSENDI. | Townsend’s Bunting. [B 379) © 192, Rie55 C2880) ) EG Hypothetical ist a | i} erate : ene ae ‘ PIRANGA BRYLHROMELAS (viciil. vi Searlet Tanager. [B 220, c LOP LOL Cor 5A, 608i] BRR Gs RUBRA ‘(Linn.). ane Sumimer Tanager. [B 221, C 108, R 164, © 155, U 610. | PROGNE SUBIS GUTishiEp yen Purple Martin. (9 [B 231,C 117, R152, 'C 165, U 611. | PETROSHELIDON LUNIFXONS (Say.). Cliff Swallow. [B 226, C 114, R 153, G62) U ora} ‘. CHEIIDON ERVIHROGASTER (Bodd.).| Barn Swallow. [B 225,C 111, R154, C150, U 613. ] ~TACHYCINETA BICOLOR (Vieill. ). Tree Swallow., -(B 227, C112, R155, € 160, U 614.) CLIVICOLA RIPARIA (Linn.) : Bank Swallow. [B 229, C 115, R 157, C 163, U 616.) STELGIDOPTER YX SHRRIPENNIS (Aud.). _ Rough-winged Swallow. [B 230.,C 116, R 158, C 164, U 617.] AMPELIS GARRULUS (Linn. ) Bohemian Waxwing. éB ZAI nT ove 5 Om TOG,” 618.] __AMPELIS CEDRORUM (Vieill.) Cedar Waxwing, [B 232, € 119, R51, C 167, U 619.] LANIUS BOREALIS (Vieill. ) Northern Shrike: [B 236, C134, R148, C 186, U 261. | LANIUS LUDOVICIANUS (Linn.) Loggerhead Shrike. [B 237, C 135, R 149, C 187, U 622.] Leas LUDOVICIANUS EXCUBITORIDES (Swains. ) : Waite: rumped Shrike. [B 238 part, C 135a part, ) R 149a part, C 188 PUL, U 6220-4) VIREO OLIVACHUS (Linn. ) | Red-eyed Vireo. [B 240, C 122, R 435, C 170, U 624.] VIREO PHILADELPHICUS (Cass. ) Philadelphia Vireo. [B 244, C 124, R 138, C 173, U 626. ] VIREO GILVUS (Vieill.) 2 Warblime Vireo. [B 245, C125, 125@, R 139, 139a@, C174, 175 U 627.] VIREO FLAVIFRONS (Vieull. ) - .. Yellow-throated Vireo. [B 252, C 126,R 740, C 176, U 628. ] VIREO SOLITARIUS (Wils.) - ~Blue- headed Vireo. [B.250 part, C 127 part, | R 141 part, C 177 part, U 629. | VIREO NOVEBORACENSIS (Gimel.) | White-eyed Vireo, [/B:248, OC 129, R 143, C 181, U 631. -MNIOTILTA VARIA (Linn.} - | ae Black and White Warbler. [B 167, C57, R74, 74@,C 91, 92, U 636. | “S PROTONOTARIA CIDREA @Bodd.) -. . | - Prothonotary Warbler. [B 169, C 59, R.75. C95, U 637. | HELMITHERUS VERMIVORUS (Gmel.) ai Worim-eating Warbler. [B 178, C 60, R 77, C 96, U 639. ] | HELMINTHOPHILA PINUS (Linn.) Blue-winged Warbler, [|B 180, C 62, R 70), C 98, U 641.] HELMINTHOPHILA CHRYSOPTERA (Linn. Jac ! Golden-winged Warbler. (B 181, C 63, R 81, C 102, U 642.) HELMINTHOPHILA RUFICAPILLA (Wils. ) Nashville Warbler. (B 183 part, © 67 part, R $5 part, C 106 part, U 645.) - HESLMINTHOPHILA CELATA igh » Mee Orange-crowned Warbler. (184 fart, C 68, R 86, C 107, U a ) _ HEL MINTHOPHILA PEREGRINA (Wils.) : Tennessee Warbler. (B 185, C 69, R 87, € 109, U 647. ) - COMPSOTHLYPIS AMERICANA (Linn.) | Va barula Warbler, 1 (Biloos C5385 Ri85,C 93) U 648.) ee TIGRINA (Gmel.) Ble Cape May Was (Be 206, C 85, R'go, C 126, U 650.) 12 : ' DENDROICA ASTIVA (mel. Wet Be Cee neta ted Yellow Warbler. (B 203 part, C ae pe R 93 part, o III fart, ee oe ova. U 652. lO i ee # i ey DENDROICA CAH RULESCENS (Gmel. \ Black-throated Blue Warbler. (B 193, C 76, R 94, C 117, U 654.) DENDROICA CORONATA (Linn.) , | Myrtle Warbler. (B 194, C 78, R95, C 119, U 655.) StS VDI atta ; DENDROICA MACULOSA (Gmel.) “A ca NOONE Seep Ra Magnolia Warbler. (B 204, C 84, R 97, C125, U 657. ‘ i Ur Dae adh DENDROICA CASRULEA (Wils.) : | ( Cerulean Warbler, (B 201, C 77, R98, C 8) U 658.) | ia eal ae DENDROICA PENSYLVANICA (Linn. yi (is sk Cesta nea Chestnut-sided Warbler. (B 200, C 83, R 99, C 124, U a ies DENDROICA CASTANEA (Wils.) ' Bay-breasted Warbler. (B 197, C 82, R 100, C 123, U 660. yen DENDROICA STRIATA (Forst.) : | Black-poll Warbler. (B 202; C 81, R101, or 122, U 66r. ps DENDROICA BLACKBURNI4 (Gmel. ) £4 Blackburnian Warbler. (B 196, C 80, R 102, C 121, U 662. ) DENDROICA DOMIMICA (Linug.) - : Yellow-throated Warbler. [B 209 part, C 88, R 103, ¢ tea, U 6631 Eas ee DENDROICA VIRENS (Gmel.) ASU ROL Eran Black-throated Green Warbler. [B 189, C71, R 107, C 112 U aol ee DENDROICA TOWNSENDI (Nutt.) Reacie AEN . Townsend’s Warbler. (B 191; C 73, R 108, Cc 114, U 668..) aA Ee RN ANY DENDROICA KIRTLANDI (Baird. ) pe IS DERE ere iey Kirtland’s Warbler. (B 205, C 89, R 110, Cc 131, U 670, ae UN OG aT -DENDROICA VIGORSII (Aud.) ESSN : Pine Warbler. (Bi198, Cg1, R 111, C134, U 671.) : mu anal possi DENDROICA PALMARUM (Gmel.) i Mate . Palm Warbler. | (B 208 part, C 90 part, R 113, Cc 132, U 672. : DENDROICA PALMARUM HYPOCHRYSEA (Ridgw.) AT BER eis Yellow, Palm Warbler. (B 208 PE, C 9° part, R 113d, C 133, U wae DENDROICA DISCOLOR (Vieill.) i Prairie Warbler. (B 210,C. 86; R Sb C 127, Ui 673. ye SEIURUS AUROCAPILLUS (Linn. ) Oven-bird, (B 186, C 92, R 115, C 135, U 674.) SEIURUS NOVEBORACENSIS (Gmel.) | Water-Thrush. (B 187 part, C’ 93 part, R 116, C 136, U ae ) | SEIURUS MOTACILLA (Vieill.) | Louisiana Water-Thrush. (B 188, C94; R 117, C 138 U 676.) GEOTHLYPIS FORMOSA (Wils.) : Kentucky Warbler. (B 175, C 96, R 119, C 140, U 667. ) GHOTHLYPIS-AGILIS (Wils.) Teen eee aoe . Connecticut Warbler. (B174,C 95, R118, C 139, U 678.) ENC NCeaDS Shes See ihe -GEKOTHLYPIS PHILADELPHIA (Wils.) ' Na ele Mourning Warbler. (B 172, C98, R 120, C 142, U 679. ) - GEOTHLYPIS TRICHAS (Linn, ) Maryland Yellow-throat., (B 170 part, C97 part, PEN ae | 5 R 122 part, C 141 part, U 681. a ICTHRIA VIRENS (Linn.) — Yellow-breasted Chat. (B 176, oF 100, R123, C 144, U 683: i SYLVANIA MITR ATA (Gmel.) Hooded Warbler, (B 211, C 101 R 124, C146, U 64) SYLVANIA PUSILLA (Wils. ) f Wilson’s Warbler. (B 213 part, C 102, R 125,26 147, U 685. ) SYLVANIA CANADENSIS (Linn.). : ; Canadian Warbler. (B 214, 215, C103, R127, C149, U 686.) SETOPHAGA RUTICILLA (Linn.). ; American Redstart. (B 217, C 104, R 128, C152, U 687. 7m - ANTHUS PENSILVANICUS (Lath.). | oe AT een Oe American Pipit. [B 165, C 55, R 71, C 89, U 697.) PMR VERON Ret US Oi ‘ i \ | ee ee rs 7 N MIMUS POLYGLL TOS $ (Lian, ye fi Peron Mockingbird. (B 253, 253a, o 8, Be LI, ce 15, U 703. ye au GALBOSCOPTES: CAROLINENSIS (Linn. you AN Ae @athird. » CB’ 254" Cio) Ri12,,C 16. U 704.) ue | HAR PORHYNCHUS RUFUS (Linn.) - | Nera h Brown Thrasher. (B 261, 261a, C 10, R 13, C 17, U 705.) Bee ie THRYOTHORUS LUDOVICIANUS (Lath. Naas . ee Ne Carolina Wren. (B 265, C 47, R 60, C 68, U 718.) es THRYOTHORUS BEWICKII (Aud.).~ | Va ae 8 Bewick’s Wren. (B 267, C 48, R 61, C Tt Uy 7i19;,) TROGLODYTES AEDON Vieill. ie - House Wren. (B 270, 272, C 49, R 63, Cc 74). U:721. WEN, TR OGLODYTES HIEMALIS Viell. PD etcuaNG .. Winter Wren. (B 273, C 50, R 65, C 76, U Oo) BAS CISTOTHORUS STELLARIS (Licht.) . Ge Rea Short-billed Marsh Wren. (B 269, C 52, R 68, € 81, U 724. ) PeN a CISTOTHORUS PALUSTRIS (Wills.) . | foie Long-billed Marsh Wren. (B 268, C 51, R 67, C: 79, 80, U ca ap CERTHIA FAMILIARIS AMERICANA (Bonap Ls) fine Gaenn we Brows Creeper. + (B.275 part, C 42 part, R 55° part, ic 62 part, U 6 a S SIITA CAROLINENSIS Lath. ) a vie se iWhite-breasted Nuthatchy:(B 277, O38) Rii§t,/ G's 7) Wi727.) aia SITTA CANADENSIS Linn. aah | “Red-breasted Nuthatch. (B 279; Cc 39 R52, €C 59, U 728.) Re SITTA PUSILLA Lath. mas - Brown-headed Nuthatch. (B 280, C 40, R 53; C 60, U 729, ) LONG PARUS BICOLOR (Linn. Ns oho erated ‘hitmouse: (RB 285. C27, R36, .C 40, U 731. ) ee PARUS ATRICAPILLUS (Linn. ) . aes _ Chickadee. (B 290, C 31, R. 41, C ie U F254), ao PARUS CAROLINENSIS Aud. aie _ Carolina Chickadee. (B 293, C 310, R 42, C 47, U 736.) . | REGULUS SATRAPA Licht. | : niet Golden-crowned Kinglet. (B 162, part, € 22 part R33) G34; Se ) eat REGUL. US CALENDULA (Linn, yi Pate -- _Ruby-crowned Kinglet. (B 161, C 21, R 30, C 33) U 749.) oi REGULUS CUVIERI (And s)7~ MaRS Cuvier’s Kinglet. (B 163, C—R 22 Cay 27 Hypothetical List). er POLIOPTILA CAYRULEA (Linn.) ae _ Blue-gray Gnateatcher. (B 282, C 23, R 27; Cc 36, Wi7stsy mee TURDUS MUSTELINUS Gmel. + Re Wood Thrush. (B 148, C 3, R 1, c 6, U 755- ) ots ‘TURDUS FUSCESCENS Stepay ives ___ Wilson’s Thrush, (B 151, C 6, IR2,. 07, 756. y aa TURDUS ALICLA# Baird. be .. Gray-cheeked Thrush. (B54, © 5a, R/3, Cr12) W757): oe TURDUS ALICIA) BICKNELLI (Ridgw.) OE Aas Bicknell’s Thrush. (B 154 pari, C 5@ part, R 3 part, cae Cire ba U 797 a, i Ao, TURDUS USTULATUS SWAINSON II (Cab.) Pee Olive-backed Thrush, (B153,Ci5) Rua C13) U 7580. ) i TURDUS AONALASCHK AS Pelee! (Cab.) Be _Hermit Thrush. (B 149, C 4, R50, C Io, U 7596. ys | MERU LA MIGRATORIA (Linn.) Kite ' American Robin, B 155 part, C1 part, R7, C1, dane Saw _ SIALIA SIALIS (Linn.) © at pee) _ Bluebird. CB oe G16; Ri 22, Cc 27, U 766. ) alae is ; ie er poy sit m i : ees ON THE BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. WitH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE Foop-HABITSs, BASED ON OVER THREE THOUSAND STOMACH EXAMINATIONS. BY B. H. WARREN, M. D., ORNITHOLOGIST OF THE STATE BOARD AGRICULTURE; ASSOCIATE MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGIST’S UNION; SECRETARY OF THE CHESTER COUNTY (PA.) ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES, ETC. ILLUSTRATED WITH FIFTY PLATES. HARRISBURG: EDWIN K. MEYERS, STATE PRINTER. 1888. ty fd sang Haake ae 4 528043 J 1044 | opens — li f aati aie gi pr 2F IAPS IST BE Pa | OFFICE OF THE ORNITHOLOGIST OF THE State BoarpD or AGRICULTURE, West Cuester, Pa., Vovember 1, 1888. To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania : - GENTLEMEN: I have the honor to transmit herewith the Report on the Birds of Pennsylvania, authorized by the act of May 12, 1887. B. H. WARREN, State Ornithologist. (ii) CONTENTS. fs Page, HIS OMMRIALES Oe eh Me teee lc ata lel aimelgetinerie™ 6 dC e BR OUO RG. be OLA Ib koko aL MELO CUCLVOMNE ac. arremeces arias hl niet et ote 6 Re aeweets S16 GLO G0 dG On oN r5x¢ Order Pygopodes—The Diving Birds, ........ 6G 8G) Gucmor OF GoNG. 6) ale 1 Family Podicipidee—The Grebes,...... S89 GO JOLO OMG, O18 616 tat, USZaD Openness IU@OOR 4 4 oo 6 8 8 Estcialenichie ronke: votmenremeer: 8,230 Mcidse—— hem viurnestand Puts ee eee ielrelvs ele veliel is och as) eaoU: Order Longipennes—The Long-winged Swimmers, Family Stercorariide—The Jaegers, ...... 4:6 00°06 10 61a. oa 230 Laricles—Nne Crouils| avanGlanerane oy. 6 6d GO oOo 6 oO oo CA Rynchopidee—The Skimmers, =... . 5. PERS MEL SDE olah 232 Order Tubinares—The Tube-nosed Swimmers. Family Procellariidze—The Shearwaters and Petrels,.......... £282 Order Steganopodes—The Totipalmate Swimmers. Hamibyerhalacrocoracids— lire Cormorantsyy) 3 ye) 6) sl ou se 232 iRelecanidse-—ThersPelicansyirs 1. amuse viele nels e Colles Secreta pweOn Order Anseres—The Lamellirostral Swimmers,..........+4.6++4-. 4 Family Anatide—The Ducks, Geese and Swans,....... Paty iuliiey wee Order Herodiones—The Herons, Werets, ete, ..........- Sie tn aaa 17,234 In uTavU hy? IL onic bs— abe Ise 554 Ga apm oud Mono GdaONO iby GO) OU olpeo 234 Ciconiidae—The Wood Ibises,........ SPAMS et La Toye 234 /NROETCES—MNn® Islerroyans,, IBMT EW GG 6606506 400 618 6 17, 234 Order Paludicole—The Rails, Coots, ete, ......... Heat stot at ete bie 27 lneyodulby Caxias Nae) Oimavest 614 5 5 a Babe o Gee oO Sho aC Liiaos WOO ane dior ae Ineullbioles— Nove Indic Celbbailesh tae, 5 56 5 6.6 oo. uo glole . 27,234 Ordersinimicolse—— lhe) SHOreMBINAS so ear ee ea) wells) awe ee evel barbell meine 32 Hanmlyaehalaropodidc—-lhelbhalaropesya me) «0 st) ea ce oe oh i ieee 235 Scolopacidze—The Snipes, Sandpipers, ete,. .... siete sees 32, 235 Charadimidsc=— Mi eRPlOVerssaas sua tne) aes ie le Les seas Manian: 43 , 236 Aphrizidee—The Turnstones,........ Staion al cine mtoneiace hrs 237 Order Galline—The Gallinaceous Birds,. .......... Seach BP AO Oe OLROUEE 47 Family Tetraonidz—The Grouse, Partridges, ete., .......... . 47,237 Phasianidie— hen MunlceySyny san) ie terete ts SOE Miecireireck tas see Lined 0p Order Columbs-Mheweicconswen wey ts yi cee te ola ete Agate 51 Family Columbidse—The Pigeons, ........... PUNCH Ae Raaece es Bc Bl LEyHHGIS Ont levy Guar wae) SOS Yee Myo 77 AN Coyt Aiibbavs) Hay BSS 9G B56 6 A aaeal os Bl ble. o 5d Oracrsapconres—— MiemMiLd SOMITE Va wien saber uke te) of salience sivieiven os Gude 2s 72 Family Cathartide—The American Vultures, .........6.+... 72,237 Halcourdpe——rlawl ciate 142, 239 mrochiidc— Mier UMMM DIAS ewan) se cideeeie ie elke te vce 143 , 239 (7) vi CONTENTS. Page. Order Passeres—The Perching Birds, ......... eile: roti etemmet ey ys. Coyle 145 Family Tyrannidse—The Tyrant Flycatcherg, .......+..... . 145,239 Alaudidse—The Larks, ......... HO 8 O00 06 a oo HEBD) Corvide—The Crows and Jays, ..... Sd 6 0 4-0 6 6) d Ataf Pel) Icteride—The Blackbirds, Orioles, ete, ........... . 163,240 Fringillidee—The Finches, Sparrows, ete., 6 B25 0 0 6 odbeR Pel OuIs) Tanacridz—The Tanagers, .........:. Ba 5 O9e.6 a SPAN IHS Hirundinidse—The Swallows, ...... SO 08O 6 56 G06 6 6 PAIR 8} Ampelide—The Waxwings,....... BO ra Oo Otago ee 208 , 244 Laniidee—The Shrikes, ........ ile. jects tele oso teraess 1) COU a Vireonidsee—The Vireos,....... Ss ONOROLD O55 10 os CUMEOMUT ome) Mniotiltide—The Wood-Warblers, ...... ae Joes . . 211,244 Motacillide—The Wagtails, ........... SMO Reiss nate, BOAT Troglodytidze—The Wrens, Thrashers, ete., . oer . . 217,248 Certhiidzs—Thei@ree pers eee ree o', su feame Rarenae 248 Paridse—The Nuthatchesand Tits, ...... oo ee . 200,248, 249 Sylviidee—The Kinglets and Gnateatchers, ......... . 222,248 Turdidse—The Thrushes, Bluebirds, ete., .......-... . 223,249 IN DVONIGLRS Ms faci boi Shes he oh ie ote os yal eRe ze We Rta OOO Od 6 toro 6 ol Peay) Index, eMC CSE CH OMT ION OO ROC IC ON ORONO Oo ON OLG LS Gb tetro 6 6 3 OR LIST OF PLATHS. Plates SOoODNATR ON ee ot ope OS OP OC Le any aj 18. 31. 82. 88. . Figures illustrating terms used in descriptions. . Horned Grebe (Colymbus auritus). . Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus). Wood Duck (Aiz sponsa). American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus). Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticoraxr nevius). Sora (Porzana carolina). . American Coot (/ulica americana). . Wilson’s Snipe (Gallinago delicata). . Solitary Sandpiper ( Totanus solitarius). . Killdeer (“gialitis vocifera). . Bob-white or Partridge (Colinus virginianus). . Marsh Hawk (Circus hudsonius). . Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter veloz).) . Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo borealis). . Fig. 1. Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo latissimus). 2, 3. Sparrow Hawk (Falco sparverius). . Barn Owl (Striz pratincola). Screech Owl (Megascops asio). . Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus). . Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon), . Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus). . Flicker (Colaptes auratus). . Fig. 1. Nighthawk (Chordeiles virginianus). 2, Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus). . Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus). . Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). . Bobolink or Reedbird (Dolichonyx oryzivorus). . Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phaniceus). . Meadow Lark (Sturnella magna). . Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula). » Fig. 1,2. Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus). ie) . Chipping Sparrow (Spizella socialis). . Song Sparrow (Melospiza fasciata) . American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis). . Pine Finch (Spinus pinus). Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca). . Vesper Sparrow (Poocetes gramineus). . Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla). . Yellow-winged Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum passerinus). Fig. Fig. ONEONE KE . Fig. 1, 2. English Sparrow (Passer domesticus). 3, 4. Snowbird (Junco hyemalis). . Cardinal or Winter Red-bird (Cardinalis cardinalis). . Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Habia ludoviciana). . Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea). Scarlet Tanager (Piranga erythromelas). Tree or White Bellied Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), (vil) Vill List oF PLATES. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49, 50. Cedar Waxwing (Ampelis cedrorum). Red-eyed Vireo ( Vireo olivaceus). Yellow Warbler (Dendroica estiva). Maryland Yellow-throat (Geothlypis trichas). American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). — Brown Thrush (Harporhynchus rufus) House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis). Chickadee or Black-cap Titmouse (Parus atricapillus). Golden-crested or Crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa). American Robin (Merula migratoria). Bluebird (Stalia sialis). ene INTRODUCTION. In this present work I have given the Classification, Nomenclature and Habitat (Geographical limits) found in the A. O. U. Gheck List of North American Birds*, a publication representing the joint labors of a “Committee on Classification and Nomenclature” appointed by the Union at its first Congress, held in New York city, September 26— 29, 1883. This Committee consisting of such eminent naturalists as Dr. Elliott Coues, J. A. Allen, Robert Ridgway, William Brewster, and H. W. Henshaw, assisted by Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, was most competent to recommend the many changes, etc., which were adopted and published by the American Ornithologists’ Union. The numbers (other than in the Appendix) preceding the scientific “names correspond strictly with those of the A. O. U. Check List. The descriptions (specific characters) have in some instances been taken from “ Birds of North America,” by my late lamented friend, Prof. 8S. F. Baird; others have been compiled, in part, from the works of Dr. Elliott Coues + and Robert Ridgway {, which are recognized as the standard text books on North American Ornithology. Such descrip- tions as have been taken in their entirety or in part from other writ- ers, have been used, as they are far better than those which I could give from the limited number of specimens in my possession. *The Code of Nomenclature | and | Check List | of North American Birds. | Adopted by the American Ornithologists’ Union. | Being the Report of the Committee of the Union on Classifica- tion and Nomenclature. | (Motto). | | New York: | American Ornithologists’ Union. | 1886. [8 VO., pp. i-viii, 1-392. For sale by L. S. Foster, No. 85 Pine street, New York city. Price $3.00. + Key | to | North American Birds, | containing a concise account of every species of living and fossil bird at present known from the continent north of the Mexican and United States boun- dary, inclusive of Greenland and lower California, | with which are incorporated | General Orni~ thoiogy. | An outline of the structure and classification of birds | and | Field Ornithology | a man- ual of collecting, preparing, and preserving birds | The third edition | exhibiting the new nomen- clature of the American Ornithologists’ Union, and including descriptions of additional species, ete. | By Elhott Coues, A. M., M. D., Ph. D., etc. | Profusely illustrated | (pp. i-x, i-xxx, 1-895) | Boston (Mass). | Estes and Lauriat. | 1887. | | Price $7.50). + A | manual | of | North American Birds, | by Robert Ridgway (Curator Department of Birds U.S. National Museum and Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.). | Illustrated by 464 out- line drawings of the generic characters. | Philadelphia | J. B. Lippincot Company. | 1877. | [pp. i- xi, 1-631. Price $7.50, H. K. Coale, agent, Chicago, Illinois.] ( ix ) Xx INTRODUCTION. In order that the descriptions of birds on the succeeding pages may be clearly understood, the figures on Plate 1, with the following ex- planations are given : | 1. Maxilla or upper mandible. 2. Lower mandible. _ 3. Forehead; also called front and frons. 4, Iris (Plural irides): Colored circle of the eye around the “dark spot” or pupil. . Upper part of throat including chin. . Lower part of throat or foreneck: Jugulum . Breast or pectus, also spoken of as pectoral region. . Wing-coverts (Greater, Middle and Lesser). . Bastard or spurious wing or Alula composed of the feathers grow- ing on the so-called thumb. 10. Occiput; back part of head. 11. Tertiaries, Tertials, or tertiary quills are the large inner quills © CO =) SG that grow from the humerus (arm-bone) or elbow, and in the closed wing are generally concealed by the longer scapular feathers. 12. Scapulars or scapular feathers. 13. Abdomen or belly; under surface of body from breast-bone to vent. 14. Lower tail coverts ; crissum. 15. Crown or top of head. A. Culmen. The ridge of upper mandible. - B. Cere. The naked skin at base of bill, well shown in aes C. Lore or loral space between the bill and eye. D. Gape or rictus. S. Commissure ; outlines of closed bill. The additional technical terms —the definitions of some of which are compiled from “/zdgway’s Nomenclature of Colors’’*—are also employed. Ear-coverts cr Auriculars. Feathers covering the ear-opening. Avilla. Arm-pit. Alar extent. Measurement of outstretched wings. Azillaries or Avillars The (generally) soft and lengthened feathers growing from the armpit: Adult. This term is applied to individuals which have attained full or mature plumage (‘a bird may be adult as regards organization with- out being of adult plumage”): Bend of the Wing. Angle or prominence formed at the carpus *A | Nomenclature of Colors | for naturalists | and | compendium of useful knowledge | for or- nithologists, | by Robert Ridgway, | curator, Department of Birds, United States National Mu- seum, | with ten colored plates and seven plates of outline illustrations. | Boston: | Little, Brown, and Company. | 1886. | Price $3.00, Plate I. y) hy, Uf Y y Y f Wi ff i] V7, Wit) yy Lf [WWOLIEL Ny, AW My y / , | i GY M7 gg ee) FS = 2 INTRODUCTION. Xi or wrist joint, in the folded wing: Basal. Relating to the base, as basal portion of tail or quills, etc.: Chin. Thespace between the forks or rami of the lower mandible or jaw: Carpus. The wrist or space between the bend and hand-joint of the wing: Carpal. Pertaining to the carpus: Cervix. The hind-neck; from occiput to the beginning of back, including the nape and scruff: Cervical. Pertaining to the cervix: Cheek. *‘An arbitrary sub-division of the side of the head, differently employed by various writers, but usually corresponding to the malar region, or the feathered portion of the lower jaw:” Compressed. Narrowed sideways; higher than wide: Crest. Lengthened feathers on top of the head: Decomposed. Separated or standing apart: De- cumbent. Bending or hanging downward: Har-tufts. Lengthened and erectile tufts of feathers springing from the sides of crown or forehead ; well Shown in certain owls, and the Horned Lark: Emarginated. Notched at the end; an “ emarginate tail has the middle feather shortest, the resi successively a little longer ; hence an emarginate tail is very slightly forked. An emarginate quill has the web suddenly narrowed by an abrupt cutting away of theedge:’” Hrectile. Capable of being raised, as a crest: Falcate. Sickle-shaped; scythe-shaped: Femoral. Pertaining to the thigh, or part of leg from knee to hip: Flanks. Most posterior feathers on sides of trunk: [orm. ‘Tn a special sense, a sort of non-committai term frequently used by modern writers to designate what is of doubtful rank. The term ‘form’ is thus used for what may prove to be a species, or may be only a race, but as to the rank of which the author is in doubt.” Fuscous. A dark brown color: Genus. ‘“‘An assemblage of species which agree in the posses- sion of certain characters distinguishing them from otherwise allied forms. (In taxonomic value a genus ranks next below a sub-family.)” Gorget. Throat-patch, distinguished by color or text- ure of the feathers; as the gorget of a Humming bird: Gonys. Keel or outline of bill from tip- to point where the mandibular rami begin to diverge: Ground-color. The prevailing color of the general surface of the egg-shell: Gula. The throat; Gular. Pretaining to the throat or upper foreneck: Family. ‘‘A systematic group in scientific classification, embracing a greater or less number of genera which agree in certain characters not shared by other birds of the same order. In rank, a Family stands between Order and Genus, the former being composed of a greater or less number of nearly related families. In zoological nomenclature the name of a Family is taken from a typical Genus, the name of which is modified by the termination idw. Sub-famil- ies are distinguished by the termination inw.:” Hooded. A bird is said to be Hooded when the feathers of the head are markedly different in color from the rest of the plumage, as the Hooded Merganser and Warbler (Sylvania mitrata): Immature. This term is applied to a bird which has not attained the mature or adult plumage: Incubation. The actof sitting on eggs for the pur- pose of hatching young: Lanceolate. Shaped like a lancehead: Leg. Used generally as synony- mous with tarsus often written ‘‘legs and feet”’ otherwise tarsi and toes: Linear. Narrow with straight parallel edges or sides: Lower parts and Under parts. These terms refer to the whole under surface of a bird from the chin to the crissum: Malar Region. A well defined, and gen- erally feathered space, extending from base of bill, to side of neck bounded above by lores and auriculars, and below by chin and throat: MNape or Nucha. Upper part of hind-neck, next to the occiput: Nuchal. Pertaining to the Nucha: Occipital. Pertaining to the occiput: Orbit. The region around the eye: Order. ‘‘In natural history, a group of families possessing in common peculiar characteristics: Parasitic. This term is applied to the Cow Blackbird (Molothrus ater) in this country, and also to the European Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) which habitually make use of the nests birds to which are left the duties of incubation and rearing the young: Pyriform. Pear-shaped: Quadrate. Square: Ramus (plural rami) branch or fork of the lower mandible; the chin is bounded on the sides by the rami. Race. ‘‘A nascent species or a ‘form’ which on ac- count of the existence of intermediate specimens cannot be considered a species, no matter how great a degree of differentiation may have been reached. Races are distingvished as ‘Geograph- ical’ and ‘Local’ according as to whether they occupy extensive or limited areas of country. Geo- graphical races are usually correlative with definite geographical areas, being in fact, the ex- pression of geographical variation :” Recurved. Bent or curved upward: Rufous. A brownish- red color: Scutellate. Having transverse scales on tarsusortoes: Semipalmate or Semipalmated. Half-webbed: having a membrane between the front toes, reaching about half-way to their ends: Shaft. The stem or middle part of a feather: Species. “The aggregate of individuals re- lated by generic descent, and differing constantly in certain features whereby they are distin- guished from all other beings :”’ Speculum. A brightly colored area on the secondaries, particularly of ducks; Spurious. Bastard; imperfect; false; rudimentary: Spurious quill. Applied to the first primary when very short: Sub-orbital. Below the eye: Supra-orbital: Above the eye: Sub-order. ‘““A group intermediate in taxonomic rank between an order and a family :” Supercil- liary. Refers to the region above the eye (eye-brow) as a streak of black, white, etc., over the eye: Totipalmate. Having all toes webbed: Variety. ‘‘Properly, an individual or unusual and irregular variation from the normal type of form or coloration, as the various breeds or ‘strains* of domestic animals. But the term is often, though improperly applied to subspecies, or geo- graphical races.’’ Web. The thin part or vane of a feather on either side of the shaft. To Mr. Benjamin M. Everhart, of West Chester, Pa., a gentleman Xi INTRODUCTION. well known in scientific circles, as a botanist, [ am greatly indebted for much valuable assistance in the preparation of this report. In conclusion, it may be stated that the ornithologist has had no disposition to disregard the law limiting this report to a certain num- ber of pages, but found it impracticable, in consequence of the fact that the avi-fauna of Pennsylvania embraces over three hundred spe- cies and sub-species, to give the required descriptions, etc., without ex- ceeding the limit. While the report exceeds by a few pages the limit given in the act authorizing its publication, [ would add that over two hundred and fifty pages of the manuscript originally intended for the publication, have been dropped with a view of keeping within the prescribed limit. Although obliged to eliminate much matter relating to the feathered tribes, I have endeavored to give a brief history of the birds which are most common and generally met with, and in the Appendix have given a list of all birds occurring (so far as can be ascertained from reliable sources) in the Keystone Com- monwealth. ; B. H. WARREN. West CHESTER, Pa., (Vov. 1, 1888. Plate 9. + of natural size. Sa bees ral Cotned E “Yole 1. Adult Male; 2. Female in U NEY. 2 W, BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. ORDER PYGOPODES. DIVING BIRDS. SuBOoRDER PODICIPEDES. GREBEs. Famity PODICIPIDA.. GREBES. Genus COLYMBUS. Linnzvs. 3. Colymbus auritus (Limy.). Horned Grebe. DESCRIPTION. (Plate 2.) Adult.—Upper part of the head, cheeks, throat, and ruff, glossy-black ; a broad ‘band running from the bill over the eyes, and the elongated occipital tufts behind ‘them, yellowish-red, deepest in color adjoining the bill; upper surface brownish- JDlack; the feathers margined with gray; primaries brownish-ash; secondaries mostly white, some of the outer ones dark-ash ; the fore-neck and upper part of the ‘breast bright chestnut-red, sides of the same color, intermixed with dusky ; abdo- men silky-white ; bill bluish-black, yellow at the tip ; loral space bright-carmine , iris carmine, with an inner circle of white; tarsi and feet dusky-gray externally, -dull-yellow internally, and on both edges of the tarsus. Young.—The whole upper plumage grayish-black, darkest on the head, feathers of the back with gray margins; throat, sides of the head, a broad space on the sides of the neck, nearly meeting behind, breast, and abdomen, silvery-white; sides and Jower part of abdomen dusky. . Length about 14 inches; wing, 52; bill, 1; tarsi, 13. fabitat._-_Northern Hemisphere. Breeds from Northern United States north- ward. This species is recorded as quite a common winter resident through- out the United States, and although sometimes found nesting within our northern limits, it retires chiefly north of the United States during the breeding period. Audubon found nests in Ohio, near Lake Erie; Dr. Coues ( Birds of the Northwest) mentions that he has found it breeding at various points in northern Dakota, and Mr. H. A. Samuels records it as nesting in more northern latitudes than New England. nm Pennsylvania, the Horned Grebe is an irregular sojourner, from 1 Breas. 2 Birps oF PENNSYLVANIA. about the middle of October until eariy in April, and like other of the Grebes has a common habit, when apprehensive of danger, of sinking into the water and swimming off with nothing but its head above the surface. The stomach-contents of several of these birds which I have examined consisted mainly of sand, remains of fish and portions of green-colored aquatic plants. In the stomachs of two specimens [ have found, in addition to other food-stuffs, small ball-like masses of feathers. GENUS PODILYMBUS. Lesson. 6. Podilymbus podiceps (Linv.). Pied-billed Grebe. DESCRIPTION. Adult.—Upper plumage very dark brown; primaries dark-ash ; secondaries ash on the outer webs, and white on the inner ; bill pale-blue, dusky on the ridge of the upper mandible, both mandibles crossed with a broad black band, including the nostrils ; chin and throat marked with a conspicuous black patch nearly two inches in extent; cheeks, and sides of the neck brownish-gray ; lower part of the neck, upper part of the breast, and the sides, dull rusty-brown, spotted and rather indis- tinctly barred with brownish-black ; lower part cf breast and abdomen grayish- white, mottled with dusky spots; iris brown ; tarsi and feet grayish-black. Young.—The throat is white and the bill without the transverse black band, the under plumage more silvery-white ; in other respects the same as the adult ; some specimens, probably the birds of the year, have whitish lines on the sides of the head. Length, 14 inches; wing, 5}; bill, 7; tarsus, 15. Hab.—British Provinces, southward to Brazil, Buenos Ayres and Chili, including the West Indies and the Bermudas, breeding nearly throughout its range. The Pied-billed Grebe, although sometimes said to breed in Penn- syivania, is seldom found here during the breeding season. I have observed this bird only as a winter visitant, not uncommon. arriving usually about the middle of September and departing early in April. The food of this species is similar to that of the Horned Grebe. Notre.—In relation to the Grebes in general it may be stated that these paddle-toed birds unless flying are always to be seen in the water. They swim and dive with the utmost facility; when swim- ming beneath the water’s surface it is said they use their wings in the same manner as when flying in the air. Their well-known habit of diving when alarmed, and particwarly if shot at, has won for them the common name of “ Hell-divers.”” The Grebes are found chiefly in this Commonwealth as winter visitants. During excessively cold weather they forsake our streams and ponds and migrate southward. Though not numerous, they are by no means rare about the larger streams and ponds. Although these birds generally occur singly, oc- casionally four or five individuals may be observed together. Grebes feed chiefly on fish, aquatic insects, and, to a limited extent, | Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 3 on various water plants. They confer no especial benefits, nor are they in any particular detrimental to agricultural interests. Their flesh is seldom eaten; the feathers, however, are considerably used by milliners, and for the manufacture of muffs, etc. Jor these purposes the beautiful silvery-white plumage of the breast and abdomen are mostly taken. / SUBORDER CHPPHI. Loons, Ere. Famity URINATORIDA. Loons. GENuS URINATOR. Cuvier. 7. Urinator imber (Gunv.). Loon; Great Northern Diver. DESCRIPTION. Bill compressed, strong and tapering, outline or upper mandible nearly straight, very slightly curved ; the lower mandible has a groove underneath, running from the junction of the crura towards the point; the tail consists of twenty feathers. Adult.—The head and neck are dark bluish-green, the upper part and sides of the head glossed with purple; there is a small transverse mark on the throat, composed of white feathers of a quill-like form, distinct from each other, and placed longitu- dinally on each side of the neck ; lower down are larger patches of white, of the same peculiar form, and running in the same direction; these almost meet behind, and in front are about one inch apart; the effect of these pure white feathers, relieved by the dark color of the neck, is very beautiful ; the upper plumage and wing coverts are deep glossy-black, beautifully marked with pure-white spots placed in regular transverse rows, slightly curving downwards: these spots, on the upper part of the back, are small and nearly round, but, as they descend lower on the back, increase in size, and become quadrangular in form, being largest on the scupularies; on the lower part of the back, upper tail coverts, and sides (which are black), the spots are small and round; the sides of the neck, near the shoulder, are beautifully lineated with black and white; the primaries, secondaries, and tail, brownish-black ; the under surface glossy-white, with a narrow band of dusky feathers crossing the lower part of the abdomen, and marked with small white spots; lower tail coverts blackish- brown, tipped with white; bill black; iris deep bright-red; tarsi and feet grayish- blue externally, tinged on the inside with pale-yellowish red ; webs brownish-black ; claws black. Young.—The plumage above is grayish-black, the feathers of the back margined with grayish-white, the under plumage pure-white ; bill yellowish, with the ridge of the upper mandible dusky ; iris brown. Length, 31 inches; wing, 14; tarsus, 3}; bill, 3; height at base, 1 inch. HTab.—Northern part of Northern Hemisphere. In North America breeds from the northern tier of States northward ; ranges in winter south to the Gulf of Mexico. This bird, the largest of all the Divers, is about as large as a medium- sized domestic goose. Loons are abundant on the Atlantic coast and about the lakes and large rivers in the interior; oftentimes solitary birds (mostly in immature plumage) are observed, during the winter season, frequenting our smaller streams and mill-ponds. The Loon, “ Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA, ever cautious and vigilant, will dive at the flash of a gun and proceed under the water to a very considerable distance before reappearing. These birds, it is said, when endeavoring to elude their enemies, and also, at times, when in quest of food, swim under the water with greater rapidity than they fly through the air. “Far out at seain winter, and in the great western lakes, particularly Huron and Michigan in sum- mer, I have often heard, on a fine, calm morning, the sad and wolfish call of the solitary loon, which, like a dismal echo, seems slowly to invade the ear, and rising as it proceeds, dies away in the air. This boding sound to mariners, supposed to be indicative of a storm, may be heard sometimes for two or three miles, when the bird itself is in- visible, or reduced almost to a speck in the distance.” — Nuttall. The stomach-contents of five Loons, captured during the winter months in Chester and Delaware counties, Pa., consisted entirely of fish-bones and scales; two other specimens, purchased in the winter of 1881 from a game dealer in Philadelphia, were found to have fed on small seeds and portions of plants, apparently roots. ORDER ANSERES LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS. Famity ANATIDA. Ducks, Grxsu, Ere. SUBFAMILY MERGINA. MERGANSERS.* Gunus MERGANSER. Brisson. 129. Merganser americanus (Cass). American Merganser; Goosander; Sheldrake; Fish Duck. DESCRIPTION. Feathers of the forehead extending on the bill in an acute angle for half the dis- tance between those on the sides and the nostril ; outline of those on the sides nearly vertical, and reaching only a little beyond the beginning of lower edge of bill, but as far as those on the side of lower jaw; nostril large, far forward, its middle. oppo- site the middle of the commissure. Male.—Head without conspicuous crest; head and neck green; forepart of back black ; beneath salmon-color ; wings mostly white, crossed by one band of black ; sides scarcely barred transversely; iris red or yellowish. Femate.—Head with a compressed occipital crest; head and neck chestnut, above ashy; beneath salmon-colored ; white of greater coverts with a terminal bar of ashy (sometimes wanting); the black of base of secondaries entirely concealed ; outer ter- tials ash. *'The Mergansers or Fishing Ducks are probably the most common of all ‘‘ Wild Ducks ” about our smaller streams and ponds during the winter season. Mergansers can easily be recognized by the bill, which is long (two inches or more in length), hooked, almost cylindrical, quite slender and furnished with saw-like teeth. Like the Loons and Grebes, these birds are most proficient divers; when swimming under the water they employ their wings in the Same manner as in fly- ing in the air. Mergansers subsist almost wholly on fish. Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 5 Head without conspicuous crest, though one is visible in life. Head and most of neck all round very dark-green; rest of neck and the body generally, except the upper part, creamy-white, deepening to salmon-red beneath. Lower part of back, rump, and tail feathers, plumbeous ; forepart of back, interscapular region, and inner scapulars, black. Length, 26.50 inches ; wing, 11; tarsus, 1.84; commissure, 2.90 inches. Hab.—North America generally, breeding south to the northern United States. Mr. E. A. Samuels (Our Northern and Hastern Birds) states that this species ‘‘is one of the most abundant summer residents in the jake region of northern Maine, and about the Umbagog lakes and Richardson lakes it is the most common Duck.” Jn former years the Sheldrakes unquestionably bred in various sections of Pennsylvania; of late years, however, from all the information I can obtain, these birds rarely, if ever, occur here during the season of reproduction. Nuttall narrates the following interesting account of a brood of these birds which he found in this State: ‘“‘Harly in the month of May (1832), while descending the Susque- hanna near Dunnstown, a few miles below the gorge of the Alle- ehenies, through which that river meanders near the foot of Bald Eagle mountain, G. Lyman, Esq., and myself observed, near the head of a little bushy island, some wild Duck, as we thought, with her brood making off round a point which closed the view. On rowing to the spot, the wily parent had still continued her retreat, and we gave chase to the party, which, with all the exertions that could be made rowing, still kept at a respectable distance before us. We now per- ceived that these diminutive possessors of their “natal island were a female Goosander, with a small but active little brood of eight young ones. On pushing the chase for near half an hour, the young, be- coming somewhat fatigued, drew around their natural protector, who now and then bore them along crowding on her back. At length, stealing nearly from our sight, as the chase relaxed, the mother landed at a distance on the gravelly shore, which, being nearly of her own sray color and that of her family, served for some time as a complete concealment. When we approached again, however, they took to the water, and after a second attempt, in which the young strove to es- cape by repeated divings, we succeeded in cutting off the retreat of one of the family, which was at length taken from behind a flat-boat, under which it had finally retreated to hide. We now examined the little stranger, and found it to be a young Merganser of this species, not bigger than the egg of a goose, and yet already a most elegant epitome of its female parent, generally gray, with the rufous head and neck, and the rudiments of a growing crest. After suffering itself to be examined with great calmness and without any apparent fear, we restored it to its more natural element, and, at the first effort, this little diminutive of its species flew under the water like an arrow, and 6 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. coming out to the surface only at considerable distances we soon lost sight of it, making good its aquatic retreat in quest of the parent. On inquiry, we learned from the tavern-keeper that for several years past a nest or brood of these birds had annually been seen near this solitary and secluded island.” This species has been found breeding in Perry * county, Pa. Turnbull, in his ** Birds of Teeter Pennsylvania and New Jersey,” published in 1869, writing of this species, says: ‘‘ Abundant from the beginning of November to April, but many breed in the interior and are resident.” This species, like all other of our “ wild Ducks,” is exceedingly shy and difficult to approach. According to Audubon, “the food of the Goosander consists chiefly of fish, but also of bivalve shells, snails, leeches, aquatic lizards, crays and frogs. Its voracity is great, so that it consumes an extraordinary quantity of fish. I have found fishes in its stomach seven inches in length, and of smaller kinds, so many as to weigh more than half a pound. Digestion takes place with great rapidity, insomuch that some which I have had in captivity devoured more than two dozen of fishes about four inches in length, four times daily, and yet always seemed to be desirous of more.” The stomachs of six of these birds, which I have examined, contained only the remains of fish. 130. Merganser serrator (Linv.). Red-breasted Merganser. DESCRIPTION. Feathers of the forehead extending on the bill in a short obtuse angle, and falling far short of the end of those on the sides; the outline of the latter sloping rapidly forwards, and reaching half-way from the posterior end of the lower edge of bill to the nostrils, and far beyond those on the side of lower jaw; nostrils narrow, poste- rior; their posterior outline opposite the end of basal third of commissure. Male.—Head with conspicuous pointed occipital crest; head and upper part of neck, all around, dark-green ; under parts reddish-white; jugulum reddish-brown, streaked with black; sides conspicuously barred transversely with fine lines of biack ; feathers anterior to wing white, margined with black ; white of wing crossed by two bars of black ; bill, feet and eyes red; young male similar to female. Fematle.—Head with compressed occipital crest; chestnut-brown; body above ash ; beneath reddish-white ; the black at base of secondaries exposed ; outer tertials white, edged with black. Length, 23.35 inches; wing, 8.60; tarsus, 1.80; commissure, 2.76. Hab.—Northern portions of Northern Hemisphere ; south in winter throughout the United States. This Merganser, a summer resident chiefly of high northern lati- tudes, is found throughout different portions of the United States, * List of Birds found in the vicinity of Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pa., by William M. and Spencer Ff’. Baird, published April, 1844; American Journal Sciences and Arts, Vol. XLVI. Here- after whenever reference is made to the Baird List, it will apply to this publication. ‘qwway 2 Sajoyy 1 peurlnIyp Vee er eos. pA te ews ‘€ o}eId ‘ezIs jeinjeu jo ¢ Brirps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 7 principally as a winter visitant. In Pennsylvania this bird is not an uncommon sojourner about our larger streams, etc, from late in October until early in April. The Messrs. Baird, in their list of 1844, mention this bird as a native of Perry county, Pennsylvania; Dr. Turnbull, writing in 1869, also says that a few breed in east Pennsyl- -vania. The nest and eggs are described by Audubon, as follows: ‘In Labrador, as well as in several parts of the United States, where I have found the nests, they were placed within a very short distance of the margins of fresh-water ponds, among rank grasses and sedges or beneath low bushes. * * * The nest is made of dry weeds and mosses of various kinds, and is warmly lined with down from the breast of the female bird, for the male leaves her as soon as she has completed the laying of the eggs, the number of which I have never found to exceed ten, they being more frequently six or eight. Itisa very remarkable fact that the eggs in this family of birds are usually even in number, whereas in most land birds they are odd. * * * The eggs resemble in form those of the domestic fowl, and are of a uniform plain, dull yellowish cream-color.” : GENUS LOPHODYTHES. ReEIcHENBACH. 131. Lophodytes cucullatus (Linv.). Hooded Merganser. DESCRIPTION. (Plate 3.) Head with an elongated, compressed, semicircular crest; anterior extremity of nostril reaching not quite as far as the middle of commissure; frontal feathers ex- tending nearly as far as half the distance from lateral feathers to nostril; the latter much beyond the feathers on side of lower mandible; bill shorter than head. Male.—Bill black ; head, neck and back black ; under parts and center of crest white; sides chestnut-brown, barred with black ; white anterior to the wing, crossed by two black crescents; lesser coverts gray; white speculum with a basal and me- dian black bar; black tertials streaked centrally with white; iris yellow. Female.—With a shorter and more pointed crest; the head and neck reddish- brown; the back without pure-black ; the sides without transverse bars; the white of wings less extended. Length, 17.50 inches; wing, 7.90; tarsus, 1.20; commissure, 1.98 inches. Hfab.—North America generally, south to Mexico and Cuba, breeding nearly throughout its range. This handsome bird, the smallest of all the Mergansers, is found generally throughout North America. Nuttall remarks that in winter it migrates as far south as Mexico. The Hooded Merganser breeds in various portions of the United States, and also far northward. Dr. Coues (birds of the Northwest) states that it “ breeds in northern Dakota and also on the Upper Missouri and Milk rivers.” I have seen eggs of this bird which were labeled ‘ Maine,” and I am informed that young, but a few days old, have been taken in New York State. 8 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. Although I have only observed this Duck as a winter visitant in Penn- sylvania, | am inclined to think it may be found in this State as an occasional breeder. The Messrs. Baird record this Merganser as a native in Perry county. Mr. William Rambo, of West Chester, has in his collection a pair of adult birds which were taken two years ago, in midsummer, in Union county, Pennsylvania. ‘The Hooded Mer- gansers that remain with us nestle in the same kind of holes or hol- lows as the Wood Duck; at least I have found their nests in such sit- uations seven or eight times, although I never saw one of them alight on the branch of a tree, as the birds just mentioned are wont to do. They dive as it were directly inte their wooden burrows, where, on a few dried weeds and feathers of different kinds, with a small quan- tity of down from the breast of the female, the eggs, five to eight in number, are deposited. The young, like those of the Wood Duck, are: conveyed to the water by their mother, who carries them gently in her bill; for the male takes no part in providing for his offspring, but abandons his mate as soon as incubation has commenced. The affec- tionate mother leads her young among the tall, rank grasses which fill the shallow pools or the borders of creeks, and teaches them to. procure snails, tadpoles and insects.”— Audubon. : I have noticed that the Hooded Mergansers are frequently, in fact generally, to be found about mill-ponds and other small bodies of water, while the other two species are mostly found frequenting the shallow borders of the larger streams. Foon. During the summer months these birds are said to feed on fishes and various forms of aquatic insects. No. DATE. LOCALITY. Foop MATERIALS. 1 | November 23, 1881, .. .| Chester county, Pa... .{ Remains of fish. 2 | December 24, 1882, .. .| Philadelphia Market, Pa., .| Remains of fish. 3 | January —, 1883, .. .| Philadelphia Market, Pa., .| Remains of fish. 4 | January —, 18838, .. .; Philadelphia Market, Pa., . | Remains of fish. 5 | February 20, 1884, .. .; Delaware county, Pa., .! Remains of fish. 6 | April 3, 1884, .. .}| Chester county, Pa... . .| Remains of fish. 7 | Mareh 26, 1887, .. .| Chester county, Pa... . .| Remains of fish. 8 |! March 26, 1887, Chester county, Pa, ... .! Remains of fish. + of natural size. Plate 4. We aod. C= C7 Duck 1. Male; 2. Female. Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 9 SuBFAMILY ANATINAX. River Ducks. Genus AIX. Born. 144. Aix ‘sponsa (Lrinv.). Summer Duck; Wood Duck; Acorn Duck. DESCRIPTION. (Plate 4.) Head and crest metallic-green to below the eyes; the cheeks, and a stripe from behind the eye, purplish; a narrow, short line from the upper angle of the bill along the side of the crown and through the crest, another on the upper eyelid, a stripe _ starting behind and below the eye, and running into the crest parallel with the one first mentioned, the chin and upper part of the throat sending a well-defined branch up towards the eye, and another towards the nape, snowy-white; lower neck and jugulum, and sides of the base of tail, rich-purple; the jugulum with triangular spots of white and a chestnut shade; remaining under parts white, as is a crescent in front of the wing bordered behind by black; sides yellow-gray, finely lined with black ; the long feathers of the flanks broadly black at the end, with a sub-terminal bar, and sometimes a tip of white; back and neck above nearly uniform bronzed- green and purple; scapulars and innermost tertials velvet-black, glossed on the inner webs with violet; the latter with a white bar at the end; greater coverts vio- let,.succeeded by a greenish speculum, tipped with white; primaries silvery-white externally towards the end; the tips internally violet and purple; iris red or grayish. Female with the wings quite similar; the back more purplish; the sides of the head and neck ashy ; the region round the base of the bill, a patch through the eyes, and the chin, white; the purple of the jugulum replaced by brownish; the waved feathers on the sides wanting. Length, 19 inches; wing, 9.50; tarsus, 1.40; commissure, 1.54 inches. Hab.—Temperate North America, breeding throughout its range. The Wood Duck is a resident, and breeds in various sections of this Commonwealth. During the breeding season it generally is found about streams and ponds in heavily-wooded and thinly-populated dis- tricts. In Pennsylvania this species is rare in winter and most plen- tiful in autumn. The Wood Duck is an abundant winter resident in Florida, where it also breeds. I have seen downy young of this bird which were captured late in March, 1885, in Orange county, Florida. “The Wood Duck breeds in the Middle States about the beginning of April, in Massachusetts a month later, and in Nova Scotia, or on our northern lakes, seldom before the first days of June. In Louisiana and Kentucky, where I have had better opportunities of studying their habits in this respect, they generally pair about the first of March, sometimes a fortnight earlier. [ never knew one of these birds to form a nest on the ground or on the branches of a tree. They appear at all times to prefer the hollow, broken portion of some large branch, the hole of our large Woodpecker, or the deserted retreat of the fox squirrel; and I have frequently been surprised to see them go in and out of a hole of any one of these, when their bodies, while on the wing, seemed to be nearly half as large again as the aperature within which they had deposited their eggs. Once only I found a 10 Brirps oF PENNSYLVANIA. ~ nest (with ten eggs) in the fissure of a rock, on the Kentucky river, a few miles below Frankfort. (Generally, however, the holes to which they betake themselves are either over deep swamps, above cane- brakes, or on broken branches of high sycamores, seldom more than forty or fifty feet from the water They are much attached to their breeding-places, and for three successive years I found a pair near Henderson, in Kentucky, with the eggs, in the beginning of April, in the abandoned nest of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. The eggs, which are from six to fifteen, according to the age of the bird, are placed on dry plants, feathers, and a scanty portion of down, which I believe is mostly plucked from the breast of the female. They are perfectly smooth, nearly elliptical, of a light color, between buff and pale green, two inches in length by one and a half in diameter. ‘‘ No sooner has the female completed her set of eggs than she is abandoned by her mate, who now joins others, which form themselves into considerable flocks, and thus remain apart till the young are able to fly, when old and young of both sexes come together, and so remain until the com- mencement of the next breeding season. In all the nests I have ex- amined, I have been rather surprised to find a quantity of feathers belonging to birds of other species, even those of the domestic fowls, and particularly those of the Wild Goose and Wild Turkey. On com- ing on a nest with eggs when the bird was absent in search of food, I have always found the eggs covered over with feathers and down. al- though quite out of sight, in the depth of a Woodpecker’s or squirrel’s hole. On the contrary, when the nest was placed on the broken branch of a tree, it could easily be observed from the ground, on ac- count of the feathers, dead sticks and withered branches about it. If the nest is placed immediately over the water, the young, the mo- ment they are hatched, scramble to the mouth of the hole, launch into the air with their little wings and feet spread out, and drop into their favorite element; but whenever their birth-place is some dis- tance from it, the mother carries them to it, one by one. in her bill, holding them so as not to injure their yet tender frame. On several occasions, however, when the hole was thirty, forty, or more yards from a bayou or other piece of water, [ observed that the mother suf- fered the young to fall on the grasses and dried leaves beneath the tree, and afterwards led them directly to the nearest edge of the next pool or creek.”—Axdubon. Foop. According to Nuttall, the food ‘‘consists principally of acorns, the seeds of aquatic plants, such as those of the wild oat (Zizania aquat- ica), Ruppia, etc., and insects, which inhabit in or near waters; and I have seen a fine male whose stomach was wholly filled with a mass Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 11 of the small coleopters, called Donatias, which are seen so nimbly flying over or resting on the leaves of the Pond lily (Wymphoa); they are therefore very alert in quest of their prey, or they could never capture the wary insects.” No, | DATE. LOCALITY. Foop MATERIALS. 1 September —, 1878, .| Chester:county, Pa... .| Acorns. 2 | September —, 1878, .| Chester county, Pa., .. .| Acorns. 3 | September —, 1878, .| Chester county, Pa... .| Acorns and small seeds. 4 | September —, 1878, .| Chester county, Pa,... .| Small seeds. 5 | October 4, 1880, .| Philadelphia Market, Pa., .| Acorns. 6 | October 4, 1880, .| Philadelphia Market, Pa.,.| Small seeds and other vegetable matter. 7 | November 20, 1883, .| Philadelphia Market, Pa., . | Small seeds. 8 November 3, 1882, . | Philadelphia Market, Pa., . | Small seeds. In some twenty odd examinations that I have made of these birds, which were killed in Florida in March and April, 1885, I found only vegetable substances, consisting chiefly of various small seeds, had been fed upon. GENUS AYTHYA. Born. 146. Aythya americana (Eyr). Red-head. DESCRIPTION. Bill as long as the head, broad, blue, the end black ; the region anterior to the nos- trils dusky; head, and neck for more than half its length, brownish-red, glossed above and behind with violaceous-red ; rest of neck and body anterior to the shoul- ders, lower part of back and tail coverts, black ; beneath white, sprinkled with gray and black anterior to the crissum ; the sides, interscapulars and scapulars finely lined with undulating black and white in nearly equal proportions, imparting a general gray tint; wing coverts bluish-gray, finely sprinkled with whitish; the speculum, consisting of the ends of the secondaries, hoary grayish-blue, lightest externally, and the innermost narrowly edged with black; basal portion of inner primaries somewhat similar to the speculum ; tail of fourteen feathers ; iris orange-yellow. This species, with a strong resemblance to the Canvas-back, is readily distin- guished by the shorter, broader bill, absence of brown on the head, and a greater predominance of black in the waved lines; this being equal in amount to the white instead of much less. Female with the head, neck and forepart of body brownish; the region round the base of the bill whitish. Length of male, 20.50 inches; wing 9.50; tarsus, 1.60; commissure, 2.30 inches. Hab.—North America; breeding from California and Maine northward. This handsome bird, frequently confounded by sportsmen and others with the Canvas-back, is oftentimes to be found about our larger streams during the winter season. The Canvas-back, on the other hand, I have observed in this région only as a casual visitant on mi- grations. Some few years ago, while hunting along the Brandywine creek, near West Chester, Pa., | suddenly came upon a party of thirteen 12 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. Red-heads which were busily engaged in feeding. As the ducks arose from the water I succeeded in killing two of them. Assisted by my honored friend, Benjamin M. Everhart, I made an examination of the stomachs of these two specimens, and found that both had fed ex- clusively on “ wild celery,’* a somewhat common, though not abun- dant aquatic plant in this vicinity. Foop. Wilson says the Red-head is a common associate of the Canvas- back, frequenting the same places and feeding on the stems of the wild celery. Audubon, writing of the Red-heads, states: “I have found their stomachs crammed with young tadpoles and small water-lizards, as well as blades of the grasses growing around the bank. Nay, on sev- eral occasions, | have found pretty large acorns and beech-nuts in their throats, as well as snails, entire or broken, and fragments of the shells of various small unios, together with much gravel.” I have examined the stomach-contents of twenty-one Red-heads. both sexes, which have been killed during the shooting season at Havre-de-Grace, Maryland, and found only gravel and vegetable matter, the latter consisting mainly of the so-called ‘* wild celery ” ( Vallisneria spiralis ). 147. Aythya vallisneria (Wirts.). Canvas-Back. DESCRIPTION. Bill long, slender and tapering; head all round and neck chestnut; the top of the head and region around the base of the bill dusky-brown ; rest of neck, body ante- rior to the shoulders, back behind, rump and tail coverts, black ; under parts white ; the region anterior to the anus, the sides, the interscapulars and scapulars, white, finely dotted, in transverse line, with black, the white greatly predominating ; spec- *‘**This plant, like many others, has a variety of local names. Some of the most common which I now cali to mind are tape grass, from the tape-like appearance of the long leaves; channel-weed, as it frequently grows in channels where the water flows, not swiftly; eel-grass; this name arises, it is said by Dr. Darlington (Fiora Cestrica), ‘from the habit which eels have of hiding under the leaves which are usually procumbently floating under the water’s surface.’ The appellation ‘wild celery ’—a local term applied, I think, chiefly by gunners and watermen at Havre-de-Grace and vicinity—is, I consider; like many vulgar synonyms, a misnomer, as this plant is in no particular related to celery, which by botanists is known as Apium. * Wild celery,’ or as it is more generally known in this vicinity (Chester county, Pa.), as ‘eel-grass,’ is found in the Brandywine creek growing in slow running water. The scientific name of the plant is Vallisneria spiralis (Linn.), the generic name being given in honor of Antonio Vallisneri, an Italian botanist; the specific spiralis is applied in consequence of the fact that the fertile stalk in its development assumes a spiralform. It isa remarkable dioecious, herbaceous plant on account of its mode of fertilization. It grows entirely under water, has long, radical grass-like leaves, from one to three feet long and from one-fourth to three-fourths inches wide. The female flowers float on the surface at the end of long, thread- like spiral scapes, which curiously contract and lengthen with the rise and fall of the water. The male flowers have very short stems or scapes, from which the flowers break off and rise to the surface, to fertilize with their pollen the attached, floating female flowers.”—B. M. Everhart’s Botanical Publications, November, 1886. : Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. ite ulum bluish-gray, lighter externally; the innermost secondaries of the speculum edged externally with black ; iris red; feet grayish-blue. Female with the black and chestnut replaced by brown, the cheeks and chin lighter, and some tinged with dull-rufous. Length, 20.10 inches; wing, 9.30; tarsus, 1.70; commissure, 2.65 inches. Hab.—Nearly all of North America, breeding from the north-western States north- ward to Alaska. . Wilson, in describing the habits of the Canvas-back, says: ‘The Canvas-back Duck arrives in the United States from the north about the middle of October: a few descend to the Hudson and Delaware; but the great body of these birds resort to the numerous rivers be- longing to and in the neighborhood of the Chesapeake Bay, particu- larly the Susquehanna, the Patapsco, Potomac and James rivers, which appear to ke their general winter rendezvous. Beyond this, to the south, I can find no certain accounts of them. At the Susquehanna, they are called Canvas-backs; on the Potomac, White-backs; and on — James river, Sheldrakes. They are seldom found at a great distance up any of these rivers, or even in the salt-water bay, but in that par- ticular part of tide-water where a certain grass-like plant grows, on the roots of which they feed. This plant, which is said to be a spe- cies of Vallisneria, grows on fresh-water shoals of from seven to nine feet (but never where these are occasionally dry), in long, narrow, erass-like blades, of four or five feet in length; the root is white, and has some resemblance to small celery. This grass is in many places so thick that a boat can with difficulty be rowed through it, it so im- pedes the oars. The shores are lined with large quantities of it, torn up by the Ducks, and drifted up by the winds, lying, like hay, in windrows. Wherever this plant grows in abundance, the Canvas- backs may be expected either to pay occasional visits or to make it their regular residence during the winter. It occurs in some parts of the Hudson; in the Delaware, near Gloucester, a few miles below Phiiadelphia; and in most of the rivers that fall into the Chesapeake, to each of which particular places these Ducks resort; while, in waters unprovided with this nutritive plant, they are altogether unknown. “On the first arrival of these birds in the Susquehanna, near Havre- de-Grace, they are generally lean; but such is the abundance of their favorite food that, towards the beginning of November, they are in pretty good order. They are excellent divers, and swim with great speed and agility. They sometimes assemble in such multitudes as to cover several acres of the river, and, when they rise suddenly, pro- duce a noise resembling thunder. They float about these shoals, div- ing, and tearing up the grass by the roots, which is the only part they eat. They are extremely shy, and can rarely be approached, unless by stratagem. When wounded in the wing, they dive to such pro- digious distances, and with such rapidity, continuing it so persever- 14 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. ingly and with such cunning and active vigor as almost always to render the pursuit hopeless. From the great demand for these Ducks, and the high price they uniformly bring in market, various modes are practiced to get within gunshot of them. . The most successful way is said to be decoying them to the shore by means of a dog, while the gunner lies closely concealed in a proper situation. The dog, if prop- erly trained, plays backwards and forwards along the margin of the water, and the Ducks, observing his manceuvres, enticed perhaps by curiosity, gradually approach the shore, until they are sometimes within twenty or thirty yards of the spot where the gunner lies con- cealed, and from which he rakes them, first on the water and then as they rise. This method is called tolling them in. If the Ducks seem difficult to decoy, any glaring object, such as a red handkerchief, is fixed round the dog’s middle or to his tail, and this rarely fails to at- tract them. Sometimes, by moonlight, the sportsman directs his skiff towards a flock whose position he had previously ascertained, keeping within the projecting shadow of some wood, bank or headland, and paddles along so silently and imperceptibly as often to approach within fifteen or twenty yards of a flock of as many thousands, among whom he generally makes great slaughter. Many other stratagems * are practiced, and, indeed, every plan that the ingenuity of the expe- rienced sportsman can suggest, to approach within gunshot of these birds; but of all the modes pursued, none intimidate them so much as Shooting them at night, and they soon abandon the place where they have been thus repeatedly shot at. ‘“ During the day they are dispersed about, but towards evening col- lect in large flocks and come into the mouths of creeks, where they often ride as at anchor, with their heads under their wings, asleep, there being always sentinels awake, ready to raise an alarm on the least appearance of danger. Even when feeding and diving in small parties the whole never go down at one time, but some are still left above on the lookout. When the winter sets in severely, and the river is frozen, the Canvas-backs retreat to its confluence with the bay, occasionally frequenting air-holes in the ice, which are some- times made for the purpose, immediately above their favorite grass, to entice them within gunshot of the hut or bush, which is usually fixed at a proper distance, and where the gunner lies concealed ready to take advantage of their distress. A Mr. Hill, who lives near James river, at a place called Herring creek, informs me that one severe winter he and another person broke a hole in the ice, about twenty *The favorite method now employed by sportsmen at the well-known ducking grounds at Havre-de-Grace, Maryland, is the sink-box, a coffin-like structure, furnished with canvas “‘wings,”’ in which the gunner conceals himself after the box has been anchored amidst two hundred or three hundred decoy ducks, on the feeding-grounds where the Red-heads and Canvas-backs backs daily resort.— Warren. Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 15 by forty feet, immediately over a shoal of grass, and took their stand on the shore in a hut of brush, each baving three guns well loaded with large shot. The Ducks, which were flying up and down the river in great extremity, soon crowded to this place, so that the whole open space was not only covered with them, but vast numbers: stood on the ice around it. They had three rounds, firing both at once, and picked up eighty-eight Canvas-backs, and might have collected more, had they been able to get to the extremity of the ice after the wounded ones. In the severe winter of 1779-80, the grass on the roots of which these birds feed was almost wholly destroyed in James river. In the month of January, the wind continued to blow from W.N.W. for twenty- one days, which caused such low tides in the river that the grass froze to the ice everywhere, and a thaw coming on suddenly, the whole was raised by the roots and carried off by the freshet. The next winter a few of these Ducks were seen, but they soon went away again, and for many years after they continued to be scarce; and even to the present day, in the opinion of my informant, have never been so plenty as before.” Foon. Audubon, writing of the food of the Canvas-back, says: “It varies according to the season and locality. The plant Vallisneria, on which it is said to feed when on the head-waters of the Chesapeake, is not found equally abundant in other parts, and even there is at times so reduced in quantity that this Duck, and several other species which are equally fond of it, are obliged to have recourse to fishes, tadpoles, water-lizards, leeches, snails and mollusca, as well as such seeds as they can meet with, all of which have been in greater or less quan- tity found in their stomachs.” | | My examinations of four of these Ducks, which were killed at Havre-de-Grace, showed only vegetable substances, which I judged to be remains of Vallisneria. Wilson asserts that the Canvas-backs when feeding on the Vadllis- neria eat only the roots, and, on the other hand, the Red-heads feed on the stems of this plant. Grenus CHARITONETTA. STEJNEGER. 153. Charitonetta albeola (Linn.). Buffle-head. DESCRIPTION. Male.—Bill blue; head and neck anteriorly dark colored; the region in front of the eye and on the sides of the collar behind rich green; this color shading into purplish on the upper and under surfaces of the head; a broad patch on each side of the head from the posterior border of the eye, and meeting its fellow on the nape, the lower neck all round, under parts generally, wing coverts (except the lesser), 16 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. and most of the secondaries and the scapulars, white ; the latter narrowly edged ex- ternally with black. Rest of upper parts, except as descrioed, black; passing grad- ually on the upper tail coverts into pale gray , axillars and under wing coverts sooty brown, more or less tipped with white; iris brown. Female with the entire head, neck, and upper parts almost black. An elongated patch behind and below the eye (not reaching it). The outer webs of some secon- daries, and the under parts white; the jugulum, sides, and anal region, plum beous- gray. Length, 15 inches; wing, 6.65; tarsus, 1.25; commissure, 1.44. Female smaller than male; young males very similar to females. Hab.—North America; south in winter to Cuba and Mexico. Breeds from Maine northward; through the fur countries and Alaska. This beautiful little Duck, commonly called Butter-ball, is fre- quently met with during migrations about our rivers and mill-ponds. This species is, however, much more common in autumn than during the winter and spring. The Buftle-head, like the Grebe and Loon, will dive at the flash of a gun and swim, it is said, under the water with only its bill above the surface. Audubon says: “Their food is much varied, according to situation. On the sea-coast, or in estua- ries, they dive after shrimps, small fry, and bivalve shells, and in fresh water they feed on small cray-fish. leeches and snails, and even grasses.” In the stomachs of five of these Ducks, which I have ex- amined, were found small shells and coleopterous insects. SupramMity ANSERINAE. GEEsE. GENUS BRANTA. Scopo.i. 172. Branta canadensis (Linn. ). Canada Goose. DESCRIPTION. Tail of eighteen feathers; head, neck, bill and feet, deep-black ; a large triangular patch of white on the cheeks behind the eye; the two of opposite sides broadly con- fluent beneath, but not extending to the rami of lower jaw; afew whitish feathers on lower eyelid; upper parts brown, edged with paler; under parts light, with a tinge of purple-gray, sometimes a shade of smoky-brown ; the edges of the feathers paler ; the color of the body of the feathers, though similar, becoming deeper on the sides, tibia, axillars, and inside of wings ; the gray of the belly passes gradually into white on the anal region and under coverts; the upper tail coverts are pure-white ; the primary quills and rump are very dark blackish-brown ; the tail feathers are black ; iris brown. Length, 35 inches ; wing, 18; tarsus, 3.10; commissure, 2.10 inches. Hab.—Temperate North America, breeding in the northern United States and British Provinces; south in winter to Mexico. This well-known bird, usually called Wild Goose, is a common spring and fall migrant in Pennsylvania. In this locality Wild Geese are rarely observed resting either on land or water, but are almost always seen or heard flying. In referring to this species, Wilson says: “The flight of the Wild Geese is heavy and laborious, generally in a straight line, or in two S a}eIg ‘aoWMag 2 Savy ft MG 2 VLU ES eYACS yeanjeu A Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. iif lines, approximating to a point thus, >: in both cases the van is led by an old gander, who, every now and then, pipes his well known honk, as if to ask how they come on; and the honk of ‘Ail’s well’ is generally returned by some of the party. Their course isin a straight line, with the exception of the undulations of their flight. When be- wildered in foggy weather, they appear sometimes to be in great dis- tress, flying about in an irregular manner, and for a considerable time over the same quarter, making a great clamor. On these occasions, should they approach the earth and alight—which they sometimes do to rest and recollect themselves—the only hospitality they meet with is death and destruction from a whole neighborhood already in arms for their ruin.” The food of this species consists chiefly of vegetable materials, such as cereals, the seeds, roots and other portions of plants. ORDER HERODIONES. HERONS, ETc. SUBORDER HHRODII. Herons, Herets, Birrerns. Famity ARDEIDAS. Herons, Birrerns. SUBFAMILY BOTAURINA,. BITrEeRNSs. Genus BOTAURUS. HERMANN. 190. Botaurus lentiginosus (Monraae). American Bittern. ; DESCRIPTION. (Plate 5.) Brownish-yellow, finely mottled and varied with dark-brown and brownish-red ; a broad black stripe on each side the neck, starting behind the ear; iris yellow. Length, 26.50 inches; wing, 11; tarsus, 3.60; bill, above, 2.75 inches. Hab.—Temperate North America, south to Guatemala and the West Indies. The Bittern or Green-legged Crane, as this species is locally de- nominated, is readily distinguished from other birds of the family by its brownish-yellow plumage, greenish-colored legs and large size. Although this bird is given by certain writers as a summer resident in eastern Pennsylvania, I have observed it as a spring and fall mi- erant, moderately abundant. In this locality these birds are never found in flocks; commonly only solitary individuals are seen frequent- ing chiefly the thick swampy districts about meadows and rivers. During the daylight Bitterns conceal themselves in the long grasses, weeds, bushes, etc., growing about swamps. They migrate and feed during the night. : 2 BIRDS. 18%)" | Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. Foop. According to Dr. Coues, “the food of this bird consists of various kinds of small aquatic animals. In its stomach may be found different molluses. craw-fish, frogs, lizards, small snakes and fishes, as well as insects. Such prey is captured with great address, by spearing, as the bird walks or wades stealthily along. The thrust of the bill is mar- vellously quick and skillful—more action is displayed on such occa- sions than probably under any other circumstance.”—Airds of the Northwest. Although Bitterns frequently devour fish, I believe they prefer other kinds of animal food, especially snakes, frogs and insects. No. DATE. LOCALITY. FooD-MATERIALS. 1 | April 11, 1880,. .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Beetles and scales of fish. 2 | April 23, 1880,. .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Water-snake. 3 | April 29, 1881, . .| Delaware county, Pa., .| Cray-fish and frogs. 4 | Sept. —, 1881,. .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Beetles and frogs. 5 | April —, 1882, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Two snakes, each about eighteen inches in length. 6 | April —, 1882, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Snake and snails. (einOcts 3, 18838, . .| Phila. Market, Pa., . .| Grasshoppers and beetles. 8 | April —, 1885,. .| Orange county, Fla, .| Numerous insects. 9 April —, 1885, . .!| Orange county, Fla., .! Cray-fish and remains of fishes. My | Yj 191. Botaurus exilis (GMEL.). Least Bittern. DESCRIPTION. Head above and the back dark glossy-green; upper part of neck, shoulders, greater coverts, and outer webs of some tertials, purplish-cinnamon ; a brownish- yellow scapular stripe (broadest in female). Female and young with the green of head and back replaced by purplish-chestnut. Tris yellow. Length, 13 inches; extent, about 17; wing, 4.75; tarsus, 1.60; bill above, 1.75. Hab.—Temperate North America, from British Provinces to the West Indies and Brazil. The Least Bittern, the smallest of all the herons, I have found in this region only as a rare visitant during the spring and fall migra- tions. These birds, it is stated, sometimes breed in Pennsylvania. When alarmed, they fly generally but a few yards, and take shelter among the reeds or long grass. Least Bitterns are scarcely ever seen exposed, but skulk during the day, and, like the preceding species, feed chiefly in the night. Wilson says: “In the meadows of Schuyl- kill and Delaware, below Philadelphia, a few of these birds breed every year, making their nests in the thick tussocks of grass in swampy places.” According to Audubon, the nest ‘‘is sometimes placed on the ground, amid the rankest grasses, but more frequently it is at- Brirps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 19 tached to the stems several inches above it. It is flat, composed of dried or rotten weeds, and in shape resembles that of the Louisiana Heron, though this latter employs nothing but sticks. The eggs are three or four, seldom more, of a dull greenish-white, without spots, an inch and a quarter in length, almost equal at both ends. * * * In two instances, I found the nests of the Least Bittern about three feet above the ground in a thick cluster of smilax and other briary plants. In the first, two nests were placed in the same bush, within a few yards of each other. In the other instance, there was only one nest of this bird, but several of the Boat-tailed Grakle, and one of the Green Heron, the occupants of all of which seemed to be on friendly terms. When started from the nest, the old birds emit a few notes resembling the syllable gud, alight a few yards off and watch all your movements. If you go towards them, you may sometimes take the female with the hand, but rarely the male, who generally flies off or makes his way through the woods.” Foop. According to Nuttall, this species subsists chiefly on small fish and aquatic insects. Audubon states that “the food of this bird consists of snails, slugs, tadpoles, or young frogs and water-lizards. In sev- eral instances, however, I have found small shrews and field-mice in their stomachs.” No. DATE. LocaLiry. Foov-MATERIALS. 1 | April 29, 1879, . .| Lancaster county, Pa., | Hair of small mammal. 2 | Sept. —, 1880, . .| Delaware county, Pa., .| Beetles. 3 | Sept. —, 1880, . .| Delaware county, Pa., .| Insects and remains of fish. 4 | Sept. 20, 1881, . .| Phila. Market, Pa., . .| Portion of a small snake and in- sects. 5 | Aug. 25, 1883, . .| Delaware county, Pa., .| Beetles and ‘‘worms.’’ 6 May 20, 1884, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. . | Vegetable-matter. SUBFAMILY ARDEINA. HeERoNS AND EGRETS. Grenus ARDEA. LINNaAUS. 194. Ardea herodias. Linn. _Great Blue Heron; “ Big Crane.” DESCRIPTION. Lower third of tibia bare; above bluish-ash; edges of wing and the tibia rufous; neck cinnamon-brown ; head black, with a white frontal patch ; body beneath black, broadly streaked on the belly with white; crissum white; middle line of throat white, streaked with black and rufous. Adult.—Bill yellow, dusky at the base and greenish above; the forehead and cen- tral part of the crown are white, encircled laterally and behind by black, of which color is the occipital crest and its two elongated feathers ; the neck is of a light smoky 20 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. cinnamon-brown, with perhaps a tinge of purple; the chin and throat whitish; the feathers along the central line of the throat to the breast white, streaked with black, and also with reddish-brown, except on the elongated feathers of the breast; the body may be described as bluish-ash above and on'the sides; the under parts, in cluding the tuft of feathers on each side the breast and the belly to the white cris- sum, are sooty black, much varied along the middle line with white; the tibia and the edge of the wing are rufous; the quills are black, becoming more plumbeous internally until the innermost secondaries are ashy, like the back; the elongated tips of the scapular feathers have a whitish shade ; the tail is of a bluish-slate color ; according to Mr. Audubon, the bill in life is yellow; dusky-green above; loral and orbital spaces light-green ; iris yellow ; feet olivaceous, paler above the tibio-tarsal joint; claws black. . Young.—The upper mandible is blackish ; the lower yellow, except along the com- missure; the head above is entirely dusky, without the much elongated occipital feathers; the breast is grayish, streaked with white and light-brown, but without any pure-black patches ; the back is without the elongated scapular feathers ; in still younger specimens, the coverts are all margined with rufous, which becomes lighter at the tip; the rufous of the tibia is much lighter. Length, 42 inches; wing, 18.50; tarsus, about 6.50; bill, about 5.50 inches. Hab.—North America, from the Arctic regions southward to the West Indies and northern South America. This bird, the largest of our Herons, is a summer resident in various localities in this State. During the last few years, however, several favorite breeding resorts in eastern Pennsylvania, which were annu- ally visited by this and-other species, have been broken up by boys and men, who destroyed the birds, old and young, simply because their feathers would bring a few dollars, and, as they remarked, “ there’s no law to stop wt.” I have no doubt that the time will soon come when this beautiful Heron will be known in this Commonwealth only as a rare straggling visitant. The nest is made of large sticks and twigs, and placed on the larger limbs of trees, generally near the water. The eggs vary in number from three to five, are light-blue in color, and about the size of those of our common domestic fowl. This bird, and the same is true of other Herons, when wounded and unable to escape, is one which can not be handled with too much caution, as it frequently, with its sharp and powerful bill, inflicts severe, dangerous, and, it is said, sometimes fatal wounds. In Florida I met a hunter who had an eye destroyed by one of these birds which he had winged and care- lessly attempted to pick up. By some, particularly residents of certain of the Southern States, the flesh of the Great Blue Heron is consid- ered quite a delicious morsel. Some few winters ago, when camping in the Cypress swamps of Florida, I, more from necessity than choice, eat the breast-meat of this Heron and also that of the Water Turkey, (Anhinga anhinga), a bird which preys exclusively on fish, and al- though I did not especially relish the dish, I must admit that to a hungry man it was in no way disagreeable. Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 21 Foon. The following interesting observations on the food-habits are given by Nuttall: “ Fish is the principal food of the Great Heron, and for this purpose, like an experienced angler, he often waits for that con- dition of the tide which best suits his experience and instinct. At such times they are seen slowly sailing out from their inland breed- ing haunts, during the most silent and cool period of the summer’s day, selecting usually such shallow inlets as the ebbing tide leaves bare or accessible to his watchful and patient mode of prowling; here wading to the knees, he stands motionless amidst the timorous fry, till some victim coming within the compass of his wily range is as instantly seized by the powerful bill of the Heron. * * * If large, the fish is beaten to death, and commonly swallowed with the head descending, as if to avoid any obstacle arising from the rever- sion of the fins or any hard external processes. On land our Heron has also his fare, as he is no less a successful angler than a mouser, and renders an important service to the farmer in the destruction he makes among most of the reptiles and meadow shrews. Grasshop- pers, other large insects, and particularly dragon-flies, he is very ex- pert in striking, and occasionally feeds upon the seeds of pond lilies, contiguous to his usual haunts. Our species, in all probability, as well as the Kuropean Heron, at times preys upon young birds which may be accidentally straggling near their solitary retreats.” In the months of March and April, 1885, [ examined the stomachs of twenty-three of these birds which had been killed by plume- hunters in Orange and Volusia counties, Florida. Twelve birds had fed entirely on fish; three had taken fish and cray-fish; two, small snakes; one, frogs and fish; one, fish and a few feathers; one, traces of beetles. Three birds were destitute of all food-materials. From my investigations made in Florida, as well as the records in the following table, I would say this Heron is mainly piscivorous in habit. No. DATE. LOCALITY. FKFoopD-MATERIALS. il || dws Bi, Mery, 6 4! 6 » || Jeveieewonmbae, ING on Soca i Remains of fish. 2 || Aine, 25 Wer 2 6 4 o || Olnceiwere Cowboy, Iehes SA) a 1m || laxeroarsnuars) Ont aafslal & | June 7, 1880, . . . .| Delaware county, Pa.,.. .| Remains of fish. 4 | June 12, 1880, . . . .| Berks county, Pa., ... .| Remains of fish. 5*| May 15, 1880, . .. .| Chester county, Pa... .| Remains of fish. |] ASSO, ay Whee, og | dbaker nanpnne, ING ay h o.oo a Remains of fish. 7. | Oct. 24, 1883, . . . .| Delaware county, Pa.,. . .| Remains of fish. 8 | April 20, 1884, ... .| Delaware county, Pa.,.. .| Remains of fish. OR PAU onc IS S4 eam n|PWHLLIStOWIO, Ba... Remains of fish. HOM AUS SS penny le VVLLIStowm,) Pal.) 9.) 2... Remains of fish: MN ke a 22, Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 196. Ardea egretta. GMEL. American Egret; Large White Crane. DESCRIPTION. The plumage of this bird is entirely white ; in the breeding season the adults have the backs ornamented with long hair-like plumes, frequently so long that they touch the ground when the bird stands erect; legs and feet black; eyes bright yel- low ; bill yellow, and about five inches long; point of upper mandible black ; meas- ures, from tip to tip of wings, about five feet. Hab.—Temperate and tropical America, from New Jersey, Minnesota and Oregon south to Patagonia; casually on the Atlantic coast to Nova Scotia. This beautiful bird, now chiefly found in the Southern States, where it is rapidly being exterminated by the heartless and money-loving plume-hunters, is a rare migrant along our rivers. It occurs in this State, according to my observation, only in the late summer and au- tumn, when straggling individuals are sometimes taken. In former years, this species is said to have reared its young in Pennsylvania. Foon. No. DATE. LocaLiry. Foop-MATERIALS. 1 | August, 1879, . .| Lancaster county, Pa., | Fishes and insects. Zeal menubar 1881, . .{ Chester county, Pa.,. .| Field-mouse and cray-fish. 3 | July, 1884, . .| Delaware county, Pa., .| Fishes and frogs (Rana). 4 | April, 1885, . .| Orange county, Fla. .j| Cray-fish. 5 | April, 1885, . .| Orange county, Fla, .| Fish-scales and bones. Geel Acor Sl SSo ye Oran e counbyaytlas warn eisives: 7 | April, 1885, . .| Orange county, Pla., . | Imsects. 8 | April, 1885, . .| Orange county, Fla., .| Feathers, apparently of a spar- row (?). 9 | April, 1885, ..| Orange county, Fla, .| Cray-fish and small snake. 10 | April, 1885, ..j/ Orange county, Fla., .| Fish-scales and bones. 11 | April, 1885, .| Orange county, Fla., .j| Cray-fish and fish-scales. 2a eV aiys, 1885, . .{| Volusia county, Fla., .| Stomach empty. 13 | May, SSH eee | Volusia county, Fla., .! Beetles and dipterous insects. 197. Ardea candidissima. GMEt. | Snowy Heron. DESCRIPTION. Occiput much crested ; scapular plumes reaching to the end of the tail ; lower neck furnished with long plumes; plumage pure white; bill black, yellow at base; legs black ; toes and lower posterior part of tarsus yellow; iris yellow. Length, 24 inches; extent, about 38 inches; wing, 10.20; tarsus, 3.80; bill above, 3.15 inches. : Hab.—Temperate and tropical America, from Long Island and Oregon south to Buenos Ayres; casual on the Atlantic coast to Nova Scotia. This beautiful Heron is found most plentifully in the Southern States, where it breeds in company with other species. Solitary indi- viduals are sometimes found in this locality during the late summer or early autumn. Nuttall says: “ Its food, as usual, consists of small crabs, worms, snails, frogs and lizards, to which fare it also adds at Brraps of PENNSYLVANIA. 93 times the seeds of the pond lilies and other aquatic plants.” In April, 1885, I visited an island in a small lake in Orange county, Florida, where this species, also the Louisiana, Little Blue and Green Herons, were breeding on low bushes. I shot seven Snowy Herons, and found in the viscera of all only the remains of fish. 901. Ardea virescens. LINN. Green Heron. DESCRIPTION. “The Green Bittern is eighteen inches long, and twenty-five inches in extent; bill black, lighter below, and yellow at the base; chin, and narrow streak down the throat, yellowish-white ; neck dark vinaceous-red; back covered with very long, tapering, pointed feathers, of a hoary green, shafted with white, on a dark-green ground; the hind part of the neck is destitute of plumage, that it may be the more conveniently drawn in over the breast, but is covered with the long feathers of the throat and sides of the neck that enclose it behind; wings and tail dark glossy green, tipped and bordered with yellowish-white; legs and feet yellow, tinged be- fore with green, the skin of these thick and movable; belly ashy-brown; irides bright-orange; head crested and very dark glossy green. ‘‘The female, as I have particularly observed in numerous instances, differs in nothing, as to color, from the male; neither of them receive the long feathers on the back during the first season.’’— Wilson. Hab.—Canada and Oregon, southward to northern South America and the West Indies; rare or absent in the middle province. The Green Heron is known by a variety of local names, some of | which are much more expressive than elegant. This bird, the most common and abundant of all our Herons, is found throughout the State, frequenting rivers, streams and ponds. It arrives in this sec- tion occasionally as early as the first week in April, from the Southern States, where it resides when the chilling blasts of winter have frozen over our streams and marshes. This species sometimes breeds in small companies; generally, however, but two or three pairs are found nesting together. The nests, built of sticks and twigs, are placed in low bushes or small trees adjacent to a stream or pond. The nests frequently are built in apple orchards. Indeed, the largest number of nests that I ever found in one locality was in an apple-orchard along the Brandywine, where for several years some twenty-five or thirty of these birds annually resorted. While it is true that I have found these Herons breeding in small numbers with the Night and Great Blue Herons in Pennsylvania, and also in Florida in company with the Little Blue, Louisiana and Snowy Herons, and even some- times in the colonies of Water Turkeys and Cormorants, I think, as a rule, they usually prefer to remain by themselves during the season of reproduction as well as at other times. Various writers state that the eggs are four in number. I have examined many nests, and con- sider the usual complement to be not less than five; frequently six 94 Brrps or PENNSYLVANIA. egos are laid. The eggs are pale-blue and larger than those of our common pigeon. Koop. This species feeds much more frequently on insects than other of the Herons that reside with us. Nuttall writes of the Green Heron in the following language: ‘‘ He is also particularly attracted by ar- tificial ponds for fish, not refraining even to visit gardens and domes- tic premises which any prospect of fare may offer. He is, at the same time, perhaps as much in quest of the natural enemy of the fish, the frog, as of the legitimate tenants of the pond. These bold and intru- sive visits are commonly made early in the morning, or towards twi- light, and he not unfrequently, when pressed by hunger, or after ill- success, turns out to hunt his fare by day as well as dusk, and, at such times, collects various larvee, particularly those of the dragon-fly, with grasshoppers and different kinds of insects. At other times he preys upon small fish, crabs and frogs, for which he often lies patiently in wait till they reappear from their hiding places in the water or mud, and on being transfixed and caught, which is effected with great dex- terity, they are commonly beaten to death, if large, and afterwards swallowed at leisure.” No. DATE. ; LocaALiry. Foop-MATERIALS. 1 |; June —, 1879, . .| Barnegat, N. J.,. .. .| Beetles and other insects. Zip Oct. LOS 1879) | Chestvericoumnityegea. mem moka let sian 3 April 29, 1880, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Frog and minnows. 4 | April 29, 1880, . .| Chester county, Pa. . .| Fragments of insects and small quantity of hair, probably that of a field-mouse. 5 | May 12, 1880, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Beetles. 6 | July 3, 1880, . .| Delaware county, Pa., .| Frog. 7 June 30, 1881, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Remains of small fishes. 8 | Aug. 17, 1881, . .| Chester county, Pa., . Beetles and other insects. 9 | May 14, 1882, . .| Lancaster county, Pa., | Fishes and frogs. 10 | July 29, 1882, . .| Chester county, Pa., . Remains of small fishes.* 11 | July 29, 1882, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. :| Remains of small fishes.* 12 | July 29, 1882, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Remains of small fishes.* 13 | July 29, 1882, . .| Chester county, Pa., . .| Remains of small fishes.* 14 Sept. 4, 1883). ; | Wonks oonmmmys LFA 2. | Dipterous and other insects. * Four young birds taken from the nest. GENUS NYCTICORAX. STEPHENS. 202. Nycticorax nycticorax neevius (Bopp). Black-crowned Night Heron. DESCRIPTION. (Plate 6.) Head above and middle of back steel-green; wings and tail ashy-blue; under parts, forehead, and long occipital feathers white; sides tinged with lilac. Bill very thick at the base, and tapering all the way to the tip. Culmen nearly straight for half its length, then considerably zurved; lower outline of bill nearly TP A. YO V LAM LIAA YG ‘e Synpy 7 A “SuUNnOo D . OSE jeinjeu jo ¢ ry “OZ1IS° ‘9 32d Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 25 straight; legs short, but stout; the tarsus equal to the middle toe; covered through- out with hexagonal scales, the anterior largest, but those on the upper portion much larger, and going entirely across; tibia bare for about one-fifth; lateral toes nearly equal; the outer rather longest; claws small; considerably curved; tail short, of twelve broad, rather stiff feathers. Head with the occipital feathers elongated, and with two or three very long, straight feathers (as long as the bill and head) springing from the occiput. These are rolled up so as to appear like a single cylindrical feather; back of the neck covered with down, but not provided with long feathers; interscapular feathers and scapulars elongated and lanceolate, the webs scarcely decomposed. The upper part of the head, including the upper eyelids, the occipital crest, and the interscapular region and scapulars, dark lustrous steel-green ; the wings and tail are ashy-blue; the under parts, the forehead, and the long occipital feathers, are white, passing into pale ashy-lilac on the sides and on the neck above; this color, in fact, tinging nearly the whole under parts. The region along the base of the bill, however, is nearly pure, as are the tibia. The bill is black; the loral space green ; the iris red; the feet yellow; the claws brown. Length, about 25 inches; wing, 12.50; tarsus, 3.15; bill, above, 3.10. Hab.—America, from the British possessions southward to the Falkland Islands, including part of the West Indies. Next to the Green Heron the Night Heron is unquestionably the most abundant of the family in this State. The adult birds are easily distinguished from other Herons by the black feathers on top of head and back, red eyes, and frequently three long, fine, white feathers, which grow from the base of the head. The plumage of the young birds is grayish-brown above, with numerous spots or stripes of white; lower parts lighter; eyes light yellow. The appellation, Night Heron, is highly appropriate, as this bird is strictly nocturnal in its habits. During the daytime the Night Heron is inactive, and generally is found perched on a log or the limb of a tree in a quiet nook about the swamps and streams. As twilight ap- proaches this drowsy wader becomes, as it were, a new being—im- pelled, no doubt, by the pangs of hunger—he stands erect, the loose and shaggy plumage, which before seemed ill-adapted to his body, now fits neat and closely as he carefully walks to the extremity of the dead and decorticated limb on which he has been dozing, and sud- denly with a loud sqguawk launches himself into the air, uttering at short intervals his harsh note, and, rising above the trees of the forest, he speedily visits some favorite mill-dam. These birds arrive in Penn- sylvania about the 25th of April and remain until the latter part of September. They seem to repair at once on their arrival in spring to localities where they are accustomed to breed. After the breeding, 2. €., about the middle of August, when the young are amply able to provide for themselves these birds forsake their nesting-places and be- come quite plentiful along the rivers, streams and bushy marshes. The Night Heron rarely, if ever, breeds singly, but always in large companies. I have visited, on different occasions, two of these breed- ing resorts and found from twenty-five to seventy-five nests, which, 26 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. like those of the other species, were built of sticks and placed usually in high trees. In Berks county, near Blue Rock, for many years this species annually reared their young in the edge of a large woods along the margin of which was a good-sized stream of clear running water. In this place many of the nests were built in a bunch of saplings, some fifteen or twenty feet high and so small in diameter that it was impossible to climb them. Wilson has very properly said that the noise of the old and young in one of these breeding-places would in- duce one to suppose that two or three hundred Indians were choking or throttling each other. The same writer, in referring to examina- tions which he made, states that the teeth of the pectinated claw were thirty-five or forty in number, and, as they contained particles of the down of the bird, showed evidently from this circumstance that they act the part of a comb, to rid the bird of vermin in those parts which it cannot reach with its bill. Foop. The late Isaac G. Darlington, of West Chester, some years ago, had large numbers of gold-fishes in a pond near his residence. One day Mr. Darlington caught twenty-five of these fish and placed them in a small pool, intending to remove them the following morning. About bedtime, Mr. D. said. | heard a loud squawking, and on going out saw two Night Herons actively engaged in catching these fish. I shot one of the robbers, which you there see mounted, on the book-case, and on making an investigation found only one of the fish remaining. “An incident may illustrate the habits of the Night Heron, and per- haps of the whole family. A Night Heron had been noticed for sev- eral days sitting on a tree near a branch of White Clay creek. It was at length shot and brought to me, with the tail of a large fish project- ing four inches beyond its bill. On removing the fish (a sucker Ca- tostomus, Which must have been twelve inches long), its head and shoulders—except the bony portions—were eaten away by the gastric liquor of the stomach. ‘This case affords evidence of the facts: “1. Of the great strength and dexterity of the bird to capture so large a fish. “9. Of the instinctive sagacity to swallow the fish head foremost. “3. Of the great length of time required to digest so large an ob- ject as it slowly entered the stomach. ‘4. Of the stolid endurance of the bird under circumstances appar- ently so uncomfortable.” —dfichener. I have examined the stomachs of twenty odd of these Herons, adult and young; which have been shot in June at the breeding-grounds, and found in all only the remains of fishes. In two or three imma- ture birds, taken in August and September, I have discovered a few grasshoppers and portions of insects. BirRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. PAL | ORDER PALUDICOLA. RAILS, ETC. SuporpER RALUI. Rais, Coots, Erc. Faminy RALLIDA. Rais, Gauiinuues, Etc. SuBFAMILY RALLINA. Rais. GENUS RALLUS. Linnavus. 212. Rallus virginianus Linn. Virginia Rail. DESCRIPTION. Much smaller than either the Clapper or King Rails, but resembling them in form, and resembling also &. elegans in colors; upper parts olive-brown, with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black ; line from base of bill over the eye reddish-white; throat white ; neck before and breast bright-rufous; abdomen and under tail coverts with transverse bands of black and white, the former being the wider; upper wing cov- erts bright rufous-chestnut; under wing coverts black, with transverse lines of white; iris red. Total length (from tip of bill to end of tail), about 7; inches; wing, 4; tail, 15 inches. Hab.—North America, from British provinces south to Guatemala and Cuba. Notwithstanding the fact that the plumage of the Virginia and King Rails is similar, the species can readily be distinguished by the great difference in size, the Virginia Rail being only about one-third as large as the King Rail. This species arrives in Pennsylvania by the first of May and remains with us until the middle of October— specimens have been killed during the first week in November. These birds, although only occasionally observed, are, I am certain, much more plentiful about our large swamps and marshy river borders than it is usually supposed. Frequenting, as they do at all times, however, marshy districts, which are thickly covered with various grasses, bushes, reeds, &c., it is rather exceptional to see them. Like all the Rails, they are shy and timid. If approached they seldom fly, but run rapidly and quickly conceal themselves among the thick tus- socks or other suitable cover. They are seemingly in no way impeded in making their retreat even across large-sized spaces of water on which are floating a few blades of grass, leaves or twigs, over which they run with the same celerity as when on the ground. The nest, a frail structure consisting mainly of grass, is built commonly in a tus- sock located generally in the most inaccessible portion of the swamp. The eggs, it is said, vary in number from six to ten and are dirty white, with numerous spots and different shades of brown. Nuttall writes: “The female is so much attached to her eggs, after sitting, as ¢ sometimes to allow of being taken up by the hand rather than desert 28 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. the premises, which affection appears the more necessary as the male seems to desert his mate and leave her in the sole charge of her little family.” Foon. According to several writers, the food of this bird is made up al- most entirely of various forms of aquatic insects, larvee and worms. No. DATE. LocaLiry. FooD-MATERIALS. 1 | Sept. 3, 1879, . .| Delaware county, Pa., -| Beetles: 2 Sept. 15, 1879, . .| Phila. Market, Pa., . .| Insects and small seeds. 3 | Sept. 15, 1879,-. .| Phila. Market, Pa., . .| Fragments of beetles. 4 | May 13, 1880, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Harth-worms. 5 | May 30, 1880, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Beetles and vegetable matter. 6 | July 20, 1882, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Beetles. a Oct. 5, 1882, . .| Delaware county, Pa., .| Insects and small seeds. 8 | Aug. 14, 1883, . .| Wilmington, Del.,. ..| Beetles. 9 | Sept. 2, 1884, . .| Delaware county, Pa., .| Beetles. 10 | Sept. 2, 1884, . .| Delaware county, Pa., .| Small ‘‘worms.”’ La Sept. 2.1884, > | Delawarelcounby.. arn. | Beetles and seeds. GENUS PORZANA. VIEILLOT. 214. Porzana carolina (LINN.). Sora; Carolina Rail; Rail-bird, Etc. DESCRIPTION. (Plate 7.) Space around the base of the bill, extending downwards on the neck before and over the top of the head, black. Male.—Upper parts greenish-brown, with longitudinal bands of black, and many feathers having narrow Stripes of white on their edges; behind the eye, sides of the neck, and the breast, fine bluish-ashy, with circular spots and transverse bands of white on the breast; middle of the abdomen and under tail coverts white; sides and flanks with transverse bands of brownish-black and white; bill greenish-yellow ; legs dark-green. Femate.—Similar, but duller in colors; iris ight-brown in both sexes. Young.—W ithout black at the base of the bill or on the neck; throat dull-whiite; breast dull yellowish-ashy ; upper parts tinged with dull-yellow. Length, about 85 inches; extent, about 13 inches; wing, 43; tail, about 2 inches. Hab.—Temperate North America, but most common in the eastern province, breeding chiefly northward. South in winter to the West Indies and northern South America. The Carolina Rail and Virginia Rail resemble each other in size and form, but otherwise are greatly different. First, they differ in plumage; secondly, the bill of the Carolina Rail is about three-fourths of an inch long, while in the Virginia Rail this organ is often over one and one-half inches in length; again, the legs of the Carolina Rail are greenish-yellow, those of the Virginia Rail are dull reddish- brown. This species and the preceding may be said to be the only Rails which are regularly found in Pennsylvania. The Carolina Rail . z of natural size. : Plate 7. eo Red mtbeet ee Nisa De MGIC Zn CINGIE Gee OU G & Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 29 arrives in this region about the first week in May. During the latter part of August and early in September. it is not uncommon to find this species in parties numbering from half a dozen to twenty indi- viduals in the swamps and wet grassy meadows. The Messrs. Baird mention this species among the natives of Cumberland county. Al- though I have never discovered their nests, | am fully convinced that they oftentimes breed with us. Prof. EK. A. Samuels, of Boston, Mass., in his interesting and instructive work entitled “ Our Northern and - Eastern Birds,” gives the following account of nests and eggs: ‘“‘ Karly in May the season of incubation commences. The nest is constructed of pieces of straw and weeds, arranged in a large pile, and hollowed to the depth of an inch or more: it is usually placed in a tussock of grass or beneath a piece of turf. A specimen, which I found in Ded- ham meadows, was built beneath some thick cranberry-vines, and I have known of others being placed in small brier patches; but gen- erally the fabric is built in an open meadow, usually on an elevated tussock in a boggy tract of ground. The eggs vary from five to eight or ten in number; their form is almost always an exact ovoidal. Their color is a yellow-drab, with a faint-olivaceous tint, different from the color of any of our other Rail’s eggs. They vary in dimen- sions from 1.35 by 1 inch (Quincy, Mass.) to 1.15 by .85 inch (Albion, Wis.). The average size is about 1.26 by 1.92 (Cambridge and Need- ham, Mass.).” Foon. During fall migrations, when this species is shot in great numbers about the reedy shores of the large rivers, their diet is principally of a vegetal character; when breeding it is said they subsist chiefly on insects and their larvee. No. DATE. LocALIrTy. Foop-MATERIALS. 1 | Sept. 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., | Green-colored vegetable matter. 2 | Sept. 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., | Brown-colored seeds, large and small. 3 | Sept. 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., | Brown and vellow-colored seeds. 4 | Sept. 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., | Brown and yellow-colored seeds. 5 | Sept. 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., | Yellow seedsand particles of shells. 6 | Sept. 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., | Green-colored vegetable matter. 7 | Sept. 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., | Seeds and other vegetable matter. 8 | Sept. 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., | Yellow-colored seeds. 9 | Sept. 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., | Yellow and brown-colored seeds. 10 | Sept. 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., | Seeds and other vegetable matter. 11 | Sept. 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., | Seeds and other vegetable matter. 12 | Sept. 8, 1880, Near Chester city, Pa., | Seeds and other vegetable matter. 13 | Oct. 3, 1880, Pocopson, Pa, .. . .| Black-colored seeds. 14 | May 3, 1882, Chester county, Pa.,. . | Small ‘‘worms.”’ 15 | July 20, 1884, Chester county, Pa.,. .| Small green seeds. 16 | Aug. 12, 1884, Chester county, Pa., . Beetles and vegetable matter. a 30 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 215. Porzana noveboracensis (GMEL.). Yellow Rail. DESCRIPTION. Entire upper parts ochre-yellow, with longitudinal wide stripes of brownish-black . and transverse narrow Stripes of white ; neck and breast reddish ochre-yellow ; many feathers tipped with brown; middle of abdomen white; flanks and ventral region with transverse bands of dark reddish-brown and narrow bands of white; under tail coverts rufous with small spots of white and black; under wing coverts white. Length, (from tip of bill to end of tail) about 6 inches; extent, about 13; wing, 33; tail, 12; -bill, § inch. Hab.—Kastern North America, from Nova Scotia and Hudson’s Bay west to Utah and Nevada. No extralimital record except Cuba and the Bermudas. Birds of this species are occasionally taken about our rivers and ~ meadows during the spring and fall migrations. I have seen two specimens which were captured in the early part of July, 1882, in Delaware county, near Chester city. It is possible that this little Rail sometimes breeds in Pennsylvania, yet I have no positive infor- mation to this effect. According to Audubon the nest is usually placed on the ground, in the center of a thick tuft of grass. It is composed of different kinds of weeds, and is occasionally covered over in the same manner as that of the Meadow Lark. The eggs, ac- cording to different writers, vary from six to ten, and are described as yellowish-brown, marked at the larger end with reddish -spots, and measure about 1.18 by .82 inches. SUBFAMILY GALLINULINA.. GALLINULES. GENUS GALLINULA. Brisson. 219. Gallinula galeata (Licur.). Hlorida Gallinule; Blue Rail. DESCRIPTION. Frontal plate large, obovate, terminating square on the top of the head ; bill shorter than the head, rather thick, compressed; wing rather long; tail short; legs mod- erate ; toes and claws long, robust. Head, neck, and entire under parts dark bluish- cinereous, frequently nearly black on the head and neck, and generally lighter on the abdomen ; a few feathers on the flanks widely edged with white; edge of wing at the shoulder and outer edge of first primary quill white; shorter under tail coy- erts black, longer white. Upper parts brownish-olive ; darker on the rump; quills dark-brown ; tail, brownish-black ; frontal plate and bill bright-red, tipped with yel- low ; tibia with bright-red space on the portion next to the feathers ; (the red color on frontal plate and tibie is oftentimes hardly noticeable in specimens taken in au- tumn ;) lower portion of tibia, tarsus, and toes yellowish-green ; iris brown. Total length, about 125 inches; extent, about 21; wing, 62; tail, 3; bill, 13; tarsus, 13. Hab.—Temperate and tropical America, from Canada to Brazil and Chili. The Blue Rail, as the Florida Gallinule is usually called by sports- men, is a regular, though rare, spring and fall migrant in this locality. ¥ natural size. Plate 8. ETM FL ss 7 nip vinenew mens hath feeeh dhe ‘ 5 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 3] The Messrs. Baird mention this species as a rare native in Cumberland county. Their food, according to Audubon, “‘ consists of grasses, seeds, water insects, worms and snails, along with which they swallow a good deal of sand or gravel.” | No. DATE. | LOCALITY. Foop-MATERIALS. 1 | May 11, 1879, .| Chester county, Pa, . .| Vegetable matter (green-colored). 2 | Sept. 8, 1880, .| Near Chester city, Pa., | Seeds. 3 | Sept. 15, 1880, .! Near Chester city, Pa., | Seeds and green-colored vegetable matter. 4 | Oct. 20, 1883, . | PhilasMarket, Rasy os. | Black-colored seeds. In addition to the examinations given in the above table, I found in the gizzards of five of these birds, which were killed in Florida, in March, 1885, numerous small yellow and brown seeds; also the stems and leaves of different kinds of aquatic plants. SUBFAMILY FULICINA,. Coors. GENUs FULICA. LInN2US. 991. Fulica americana GMEL. American Coot. (Plate 8.) Hab.—North America, from Greenland and Alaska, southward tothe West Indies and Central America. To recognize a Coot, remember it is about the size of a Pheasant, bill short, thick and white, or nearly so, dark at base of frontal plate, and a brownish spot near the end of each mandible. Head and neck black; body lead-gray color; white on edge of wing and a white patch under its tail; toes furnished with broad lobes. The American Coot, commonly known in eastern Pennsylvania as Mud-hen,* breeds in various localities throughout its extensive range. In the British prov- inces it is said to be quite a common summer resident. Mr. Samuels remarks that it breeds probably in all the New England States. Dr. Coues has found it breeding in northern Montana and Dakota. Mr. H. W. Henshaw found them to be very numerous at the Alkali lakes, southern Colorado, where, according to this eminent authority, “ they breed in colonies among the rushes, the nests often being but a few feet apart. These are very bulky structures, composed of weeds and * The vernacular name of Mudhen is also given to the Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris crepi- tans—Gmel.) which breeds so abundantly in the extensive marshes about Atlantic City and else- where on the Atlantic coast in New Jersey and southward. By) Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. rushes raised to a height of several inches from the surface of the water, so that the eggs are kept perfectly dry, and are moored to the stems of the surrounding reeds.” During the winter months Coots may be seen in large flocks along the St. John’s river, Florida; at “Mud Lake,” about ten miles north of Sanford, I have seen over a thousand in one fiock. These birds arrive in Pennsylvania about the last week in April, and, like the Rails, are found frequenting marshy sloughs, etc. Coots do not, I think, breed in this Commonwealth, but occur here chiefly as spring and fall migrants; they are much more common in the autumn than during the spring. Audubon states that its food consists of seeds, grasses, small fishes, worms, shails and insects, along with which it introduces into its stomach a good quantity of rather coarse sand. Nuttall observes that they feed principally on aquatic vegetable sub- stances, as seeds, leaves, etc. In March, 1885, I obtained seventeen Coots at Little Lake George, Florida, and found in the stomachs of all only small seeds, blades of grass, with, in most every instance, a smal] quantity of sand or gravel. Six of these birds, which I have obtained in Chester county, Pa., had only vegetable materials, small black and yellow seeds, also sand in their muscular gizzards. ORDER LIMICOLA. SHORE BIRDS. Famity SCOLOPACIDA,. Snipes AND SANDPIPERS. Grenus PHILOHELA. Gray. 228. Philohela minor (GMEL.). American Woodcock. DESCRIPTION. Bill long, compressed, punctulated and corrugated near the end ; upper mandible longer than the under, and fitted to it at the tip; wings moderate, three first prima- ries shorter than the fourth and very narrow; tail short; legs moderate; eyes in- serted unusually distant from the bill; occiput with three transverse bands of black, alternating with three others of pale yellowish-rufous 3; upper parts of body vari- egated with pale-ashy, rufous, or yellowish-red of various shades, and black; large space in front, and throat, reddish-ashy ; line from the eye to the bill, and another on the neck below the eye, brownish-black ; entire under parts pale-rufous, brighter on the sides and under wing coverts; quills ashy-brown; tail feathers brownish- black, tipped with ashy, darker on the upper surface, paler and frequently white on the under; bill light-brown, paler and yellowish at base; legs pale-reddish; iris brown. Total length, about 11 inches; wing, 5}; tail 25; tarsus, 1} inches. Hab.—Hastern province of North America, north to the British provinces, west to Dakota, Kansas, etc., breeding throughout its range ; no extralimital records. Birps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 33 This bird, well known to sportsmen, is frequently confounded by the casual observer with the Gray or Wilson’s Snipe. This error, however, can readily be avoided if you bear in mind that the Wood- cock has entire lower parts, including lining of wings, uniformly red. dish-brown; on the other hand, the snipe has abdomen white, throat and upper parts of the breast speckled and the lining of the wings barred with white and black. Bill in both species measures two and one half inches or more in length. The Woodcock arrives in Penn- sylvania about the middle of March, sometimes earlier, and occasion- ally a few are found during the ‘‘ warm-spells” of winter lingering about the spring-heads. This bird, strictly speaking, is an inhabitant of the lowlands and boggy districts of our woods and dense thickets. Oftentimes during the fall migrations it is found along the muddy shores of streams, &c., or in the late summer when its usual feeding- grounds have become dry and hard through the continued summer’s heat, it resorts to corn-fields where it probes the humid soil in search of food. I am not positive that the ‘“‘ Wood-hen, as some esthetic market-women prefer to call her,” makes any attempt to build a nest. In April, on three occasions, I have found eggs, and once (May 10) took four young, but a few days old, all of which were on the ground in the woods. The eggs were deposited in slight depressions in the earth, in and about which were dried leaves; the young birds were discovered on a lot of dead oak-leaves, and from the appearance of their bed I judge they had been there only a short time. It is stated by Dr. Coues “that the young are sometimes removed from danger by the parent carrying them with the feet.” The Woodcock is prin- cipally nocturnal in its habits, and during the fall migrations is gre- garious. I shot one of these birds in Florida, in March, 1885, and was informed by Mr. Richard L. Dade that the species breeds in that State. Foon. Nuttall writes: ‘“‘According to their usual habits, they keep secluded in the woods and thickets till the approach of evening, when they sally forth to seek out springs, paths and broken soil, in quest of worms and other insects, on which they feed. They now disperse themselves over the country to breed, and indicate their presence in all directions by the marks of their boring bills, which are seen in such soft and boggy places as are usually sheltered by thickets and woods. They also turn over the fallen leaves from side to side with their bills in quest of lurking insects, but never scratch with their feet, though so robust in appearance. The sensibility possessed by the extremity of the bill, as in the Snipe, is of such an exquisite na- ture that they are enabled to collect their food by the mere touch, 5 Brrps. 34 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. without using their eyes,* which are set at such a distance and eleva- tion in the back part of the head as to give the bird a remarkable as- pect of stupidity.” No | DATE. LOCALITY. FooD-MATERIALS. 1 | May 10, 1879, .| Willistown, Pa, .. .j| Small fragments of ‘‘worms.’’* 2| May 10, 1879, .| Willistown, Pa, .. .| Small fragments of ‘‘worms,’’* 3 | May 10, 1879, .| Willistown, Pa, .. .| Small fragments of ““worms.”’ 4 | May 10, 1879, .| Willistown, Pa, .. .| Small fragments of ‘‘worms.’’* 5 | May 10, 1879, .| Willistown, Pa, .. .| Earth-worms and fragments of bee- tle. + 6 | July 20, 1882, .| Chester county, Pa, . .| Spider and unrecognizable insects. 7 | Aug. 3, 1884, .| Delaware county, Pa., .| Insects and larve. 8 | Oct. 20, 1882, .| Schuylkill Coes Pa., | Beetles and earth-worms. 9! Nov. 8, 1880, .! Delaware, . . | Small seeds. | | *All young birds. + Parent of above. Grenus GALLINAGO. LEacu. 230. Gallinago delicata (Orp.). Wilson’s Snipe; Gray Snipe. (Pate 9.) Dimensions.— Length, about 11 inches; extent, about 18 inches; wing, about 5 inches; tarsus, 1.25; tail, 2.25 inches. Female somewhat smaller than the male. Hab.—North and middle America, breeding from the northern United States northward; south in winter to the West Indies and northern South America. This bird, usually, though improperly, called “ English Snipe,” ar- rives in Pennsylvania about the last week in March. After the first of May, these birds are rarely seen again until the fall migrations, at which time you seldom find them in small flocks or ‘* wisps,” but gen- erally see them singly in the meadows, where but a few months be- fore they were plentiful. The Gray Snipe zs not found in the woods or dense thickets, but at times when sojourning in this region is seen about the marshes or meadows, and in the early spring he shows a special preference for spring-heads, about which, at this time, the tender blades of grasses grow in abundance. Audubon says: “I never had the good fortune to meet with a nest in Pennsylvania, al- though I have known several instances of a pair breeding not far from Mill Grove. on the Perkioming.”’ While I do not dispute the fact that a few nests of this species have, at times, been taken in Pennsylvania, Iam que ¢ certain that the Snipe does aot commonly breed in this “The eyes being acd high up and far back in both the Snipe and Woodcock (well shown in plate No. 9) is a wise provision of nature, as these birds by this peculiarity escape many of their enemies. It can easily be understood by this arrangement that the field of vision is greatly increased. Obtaining their sustenance, as they do, chiefly by probing with their long bills, so amply supplied with nerves, they have comparatively little use for their eyes when feeding, un- less it is to keep a watch for their numerous foes.— Warren. ‘aoMmag 2 ‘sayy 5 ty Yas waUUutD gd) — IY jue FY), in Gabe mat ‘ozIS [einjeu % 6 93eId Oe ma) : te i Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 35 State. Individuals of this species have been shot in summer near West Chester, also in Delaware county, but on examining them [ found that, although able to fly a short distance, they were so crippled from wounds received during the spring shooting season that they were unable to perform any extended migrations. Should these crip- ples remain in a locality during the summer months, I have no doubt some of them might reproduce. Foop. According to Audubon, ‘the food of our common Snipe consists principally of ground-worms, insects, and the juicy slender roots of different vegetables, all of which tend to give its flesh that richness of flavor and juicy tenderness for which it is so deservedly renowned, it being equal to that of the Woodcock. Many epicures eat up both Snipe and Woodcock with all their viscera, worms and insects to boot, the intestines, in fact, being considered the most savory parts. On opening some newly-killed Snipe, I have more than once found fine large and well-fed ground-worms, and at times a leech, which I must acknowledge I never conceived suitable articles of food for man, and for this reason I have always taken good care to have both Snipes and Woodeocks well cleaned, as all game ought to be.” No. DATE. LOcALITY. FoOoD-MATERIALS. 1 | March 22, 1879, .| Birmingham, Pa.,...| Water beetles and two seeds of Smart-weed.* 2 | March 22, 1879, .| Birmingham, Pa.,...| Water beetles and three seeds of smart-weed. 3 | March 22, 1879, .| Birmingham, Pa.,.. .| Water beetles. 4 | March 22, 1879, .| Birmingham, Pa.,. . .| Water beetles. 5 | March 22, 1879, .| Birmingham, Pa.,.. .| Water beetles. 6 | March 23, 1879, .| Birmingham, Pa.,.. .| Beetles. 7 | April 1, 1879, .| West Chester, Pa... .{| Harth-worms and fragments of beetles. 8 | April 2, 1879, .| West Goshen, Pa.,.. .| Harth-worms. 9) April 2, 1879,.| West Goshen, Pa.,.. .| Earth-worms. 10 | April 2, 1879, .| West Goshen, Pa... .| Beetles and blades of grass. 11 | April 2, 1879, .| West Goshen, Pa.,.. ./| Various insects. 12 | April 7, 1879, .| West Chester, Pa, ..{ Beetles and two seeds of smart- weed. 18 | April 12, 1879, . | Chester county, Pa., . Vegetable matter, apparently roots of small plant. 14 | April 15, 1879, .| Kast Bradford, Pa., . .| Beetles. 15 | April 15, 1879, .| East Bradford, Pa., . .| Beetles. 16 | April 22, 1879, .| Kast Bradford, Pa., . .; Portions of grass blades and roots. 17 | April 1, 1884, .| West Goshen, Pa.,.. .| Small seeds and earth-worms. 18 | May 3, 1884, .| Hast Bradford, Pa., 19 | May 3, 1884, .| East Bradford, Pa., . 20 | May 6, 1884, .| Hast Bradford, Pa., - 21) May 10, 1884, .| East Bradford, Pa., Beetles and earth-worms. Beetles. Beetles and earth-worms. Various insects and vegetable mat- ter. Small seeds. Small seeds and earth-worms. Vegetable matter. Small seeds. 22 | April 17, 1888, .| Chester county, Pa., . 23 | April 17, 18838, .| Chester county, Pa., . 24 | April 17, 1883, .| Chester county, Pa., . 25 | April 17, 1883, . | Chester county, Pa., * Polygonum. 36 Brrps of PENNSYLVANIA. GENUS TRINGA. LINNZUS. 242. Tringa minutilla VI§EILL. Least Sandpiper. DESCRIPTION. The smallest of all known species of this group found in North America; bill about as long as the head, slightly curved towards the end, which is very slightly expanded ; grooves in both mandibles to near the tip; wing long; tertiaries nearly as long as the primaries; tail short; middle feathers longest; outer feathers fre- quently longer than the intermediate; legs long; lower third of the tibia naked ; toes long, slender, margined, and flattened beneath ; hind toe small; upper parts with nearly every feather having a large central spot of brownish-black, and widely margined with ashy and bright brownish-red; rump and middle of the upper tail coverts black ; outer coverts white, spotted with black ; stripe over the eye, throat, and breast, pale ashy-white, with numerous small longitudinal spots of ashy-brown ; abdomen and under tail coverts white; quills dark-brown, with the shafts of the primaries white ; tertiaries edged with reddish ; middle feathers of the tail brownish- black ; outer feathers light ashy-white; under surface of wing light brownish-ashy, with a large spot of white near the shoulder; axillary feathers white; bill black ; tarsus brownish-green ; iris brown. Total length, from tip of bill to end of tail, about 55 to 6 inches; extent, about 11 inches; wing, 3} to 32; tail 1; bill to gape, 3; tarsus, ? inch. Hab.—The whole of North and South America, breeding north of the United States. Accidental in Hurope. This, the smallest of our Sandpipers, occurs in Pennsylvania only as a transitory visitor in the spring and fall migrations. According to my experience, it is rare in spring, but quite frequently found in the autumn, at which time it is often seen in company with other spe- cies of its family. Sometimes these birds are found about our rivers and ponds in good-sized flocks. Near West Chester, about six years ago, in the latter part of August, an acquaintance of mine found a flock of probably one hundred feeding on the muddy bottom of a mill- dam from which the water had been allowed to escape. Foon. In my notes I find that no records appear of food-materials of these birds, although I have obtained several in Pennsylvania and killed many along the Atlantic coast and elsewhere. Nuttall tells us that ‘for the discovery of their food their flexible and sensitive awl-like bills are probed into the mire, marshy soil, or wet sand, in the manner of the Snipe and Woodcock, and in this way they discover and rout from their hidden retreats the larve and soft worms which form.a principal part of their fare. At other times they also give chase to insects, and pursue their calling with amusing alacrity.” BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 37 | Genus TOTANUS. BEcHSTEIN. 255. Totanus flavipes (GMEL.). Yellow-legs. DESCRIPTION. Bill rather longer than the head, straight, slender, compressed ; wing long pointed; tail short; legs long, lower half of the tibia naked; toes moderate, slender, mar- gined, the outer and middle united at base; rump and upper tail coverts white, the latter transversely barred with ashy-brown; other upper parts ashy, many feath- ers having large arrowheads and irregular spots of brownish-black, and edged with ashy-white; under parts white, with numerous longitudinal lines on the neck be- fore, and arrowheads on the sides, of dark ashy-brown ; axillaries and under wing coverts white, with bands of ashy-brown, very indistinct in many specimens, but generally well defined ; quills brownish-black ; tail ashy-white with transverse bands of dark-brown, middle feathers darker; bill greenish-black; legs yellow; iris brown. ‘Young.—Entire upper plumage tinged with reddish-brown ; neck before with lines much less distinct and pale-ashy. Total length, about 10 to 10§ inches; wing, 6 to 6§ ; tail, 25 ; bill, 15 ; tarsus, 2 inches. Bill in this species is always less than 2 inches long. Hab.—America in general, breeding in the cold temperate and sub-arctic dis- tricts, and migrating south in winter to southern South America. Less common in the western than the eastern province of North America. This bird is a miniature representative of the Greater Yellow-legs* ( Totanus melanoleucus). Both species are easily recognized by their long yellow legs and white markings on rump. The Yellow-legs, commonly known along the sea-shore as “ Little Yellow-leg-Tell-tale,” is quite frequently found in Pennsylvania dur- ing migrations Although often seen in spring, it is most numerous during the last of August and in September. It is generally found in the interior, singly or in pairs, and sometimes, though not often, in parties of five or six. I have often found them about ponds, pools, and muddy flats, never along streams of running water, unless the borders of such streams were muddy and destitute of grasses and other vegetation. Dr. Ezra Michener, in a list of the Chester county birds, published in 1865, says this species is a “‘frequent summer resident.” I have never known this bird to occur in Chester county as a summer resident, and I am satisfied that it is now found in Chester county and throughout Pennsylvania only as a spring and autumnal migrant. Foon. Referring to the food of this bird, Nuttall says: ‘It resides chiefly in the salt marshes, and frequents low flats and estuaries at the ebb of the tide, wading in the mud in quest of worms, insects and other small marine and fluviatile animals.” I have been informed that these birds sometimes prey on small fishes. | *The Greater Tell-tale, as this bird is usually denominated by gunners, measures 14 inches in length by about 25 inches in extent. The bill is about 2} inches long; never wnder two inches in length. ; 38 BirpDs OF PENNSYLVANIA. No. DATE. LOocALiry. Foop-MATERIALS. 1 | April 30, 1879, . | Chester county, Pa., . .| Insects, chiefly beetles. 2| May 7, 1879, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Small ‘“‘worms.”’ 3 | Aug. 27, 1879, .| Accomack county, Va., | Insects. 4 | Aug. 27, 1879, .| Accomack county, Va., | Insects. 5 | Aug. 27, 1879, .| Accomack county, Va., | Insects. 6 | Sept. —, 1882, .| Brigantine, N. J., . . .| “Small worms.”’ 7 | Sept. —, 1882, .| Brigantine, N. J., . . .} ‘*Small worms.” 8 | Sept. —, 1882, .| Brigantine, N. J., . . .| Beetles. 9} Aug. 30, 1882, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Insects. 10 | Oct. 10, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Beetles and ‘‘worms.”’ 11 | Oct. 10, 1880, . | Chester county, Pa.,. .| Insects and fragments of shells. 12 | Oct. 10, 1880, . | Chester county, Pa.,. .| Insects. 13 | Oct. 10, 1880, . | Chester county, Pa.,. .! Insects. 256. Totanus solitarius ( WILS.). Solitary Sandpiper. DESCRIPTION. (Plate 10.) Bill rather longer than the head, straight, slender, compressed; both mandibles with narrow grooves; wing long, pointed; tail medium or rather short, rounded; legs rather long, slender; lower half of the tibia naked ; toes long, the outer united to the middle by a small membrane, flattened underneath, marginated ; upper parts greenish-brown, with numerous small circular and irregular spots of ashy-white; upper tail coverts darker; under parts white; breast and neck before with numer- ous longitudinal lines of greenish-brown; sides, axillaries, and under wing coverts white, with numerous transverse narrow bands of dark greenish-brown ; under tail coverts white, with a few transverse bands of dark-brown; quills brownish-black, with a slight bronzed or reddish lustre on the primaries ; two middle feathers of the tail greenish-brown ; other feathers of the tail pure-white, with about five transverse bands of brownish-black; bill and legs dark greenish-brown ; iris brown. Total length, about 8 to 85 inches; wing, 5; tail, 2}; bill, 14; tarsus, 1; inches. Hab.—North America, breeding occasionally in the northern United States, more commonly northward, and migrating southward as far as Brazil and Peru. The Solitary Sandpiper, unlike other of the Sandpipers occuring in this region, appears to have a special fondness for stagnant pools in and about the woods. During its spring and fall passage through — Pennsylvania it is common, frequenting at all times muddy borders of ponds, pools and sloughs. This species seldom arrives in this State before April 25. About the first week in May you find them singly, in pairs, and occasionally in flocks, numbering sometimes as many as eight or even twelve individuals. After the 20th of May you rarely see a Solitary Sandpiper until the last week in September. In Wil- son’s Ornithology, the following mention is made of the species: “I have made many long and close searches for the nest of this bird without success. They regularly breed on Pocono mountain, between Easton and Wilkes-Barre, in Pennsylvania, arriving there early in May and departing in September.” In Cumberland county the Messrs. Baird record it as a native species. Wilson also says that these birds inhabit the watery solitudes of our highest mountains during the ¥% natural size. Plate Io. : oldaty Landpifie Hk. Male , 2. Female. Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 39 summer from Kentucky to New York, but are nowhere numerous, seldom more than one or two being seen together. Dr. Coues has found ‘‘ young birds in July in northern Dakota, about the pools of Turtle mountain.” The same writer also states that “in Maryland and Virginia, and in nearly correspondent latitudes in the west, I have shot birds in August so young as to leave no doubt in my mind that they were bred in the vicinity.” Nuttall says: “A pair, but oftener a single individual, have frequented, very familiarly, the small fish- pond in the Botanic Garden in Cambridge. Attracted by the numer- ous Donatias and their larvee, which feed upon the water-lily (Vym- phoa odorata), | observed one of them tripping along upon the sink- ing leaves with great agility, expanding its wings and gently flitting over the treacherous element in the manner of the Rail. At another time, probably the same individual (who at first was accompanied by a mate) was seen day after day collecting insects, and contentedly resting in the interval on the border of the pond. The water having been recently let off, the lily leaves and insects were covered with mud. As soon as our little familiar and cleanly visitor had swallowed a few of these insects, he washed them down with a drink of water, and at the same time took the precaution to cleanse his bill and throat. Indeed, it is remarkable that however dirty the employment of these shore birds may be, so neat are they in all their habits that not a stain or a soil is allowed for a moment to remain upon their limbs or plu- mage. * * According to the observations of Mr. Ives (of Salem), the Solitary Sandpiper swims and dives with great facility, when dis- abled from flying by a wound; it even proceeds under the water, like the Divers or Grebes, and is only overtaken by a close pursuit.” According to Audubon, the Solitary Sandpiper is expert in catching. insects on the wing, “especially the smaller kinds of dragon-flies, which it chases from the sticks on which they alight, and generally seizes before they have flown across the little ponds which are the favorite places of resort of this species. I have found their stomachs filled with aquatic insects, caterpillars of various kinds, and black spiders of considerable size.” No. DATE. LOcALITY. Foop-MATERIALS. 1 | May 5, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa., . .| Small shells; 2| May 6, 1880, . | Chester county, Pa.,. .| Vegetable matter. 3 | May 9, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Small ‘‘worms.”’ 4 | May 7, 1882, .| Chester county, Pa, ..| ‘‘ Worms” and beetles. 5 | May 7, 1882, .| Chester county, Pa, . .| ‘“Worms”’ and beetles. 6 | Sept. 21, 1883, .| Chester county, Pa., . .| Beetles. U | OG, By WekbE ,)]| Claesineie Cohan, Teeny on lp CON Wcorea ath” 8 | Oct. 20, 1883, .| Schuylkill county, Pa., | Insects. 9 | May 11, 1884, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Beetles and earth-worm. 10 | May 11, 1884, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Dipterous insects. iM | May 11, 1884, . | Chester county, Pa.,. .' Small worms. | | | 40 Brreps ofr PENNSYLVANIA. Genus BARTRAMIA. Lesson. 261. Bartramia longicauda (Brcust.). Bartramian Sandpiper. DESCRIPTION. Bill about as long as the head, rather wide and flattened at base, curved at the tip ; nostril with a large membrane; nasal groove long; wing long; tail long for this group; legs moderate or rather long; lower half of the tibia naked ; toes moderate, the outer and middle toe united by a membrane, inner and middle free to the base, hind toe small; general color of the upper parts brownish-black, with a greenish lustre, and with the feathers edged with ashy-white and yellowish, the latter espe- cially on the wing coverts; lower part of the back, rump, and upper tail coverts, brownish-black ; lateral coverts of the tail yellowish-white, with arrow-heads and irregular spots of black ; wide stripe over the eye, and entire under parts very pale yellowish-white, nearly pure-white on the abdomen; neck before with numerous. longitudinal lines of brownish-black; breast and sides with waved and pointed transverse narrow band of the same; axillary feathers and under wing coverts pure- white, with numerous nearly regular transverse narrow bands of black; quills brownish-black, with numerous transverse bands of white on their inner webs, very conspicuous on the under surface of the wing; shaft of first primary white; middle feathers of the tail same greenish-brown as the back, with irregular and imperfect transverse bands of black; outer feathers pale reddish-yellow, edged and tipped with white, and with several irregular transverse bands and a large sub-terminal arrow-head of black ; bill greenish-yellow, with the under mandible more clear yel- low towards its base, tip and ridge brownish-black ; legs light-yellow ; toes darker ; iris brown. Total length, about 12 inches; wing, 63; tail, 35 inches. Hab.—Kastern North America, north to Nova Scotia and AlasEa, breeding through- out its North American range; migrating in winter southward, as far even as south- - ern South America. Occasional in Europe. This bird, known to sportsmen as Field or Grass Plover, is a com- mon native in Pennsylvania. It arrives here usually about April 20. This species resides during the breeding period in grass-fields and highlands. In this particular it differs from other birds of its family. Nests on the ground; eggs, three to four and spotted. In August, when the young are amply able to fly, the Plovers collect in flocks and frequent the fields and meadows. By the last of September, but few of the species are found in the interior, as they appear to soon leave the breeding-grounds and migrate towards the sea-coast and large tide rivers. Foon. No. DATE. | LOCALITY. Foop-MATERIALS. 1 | July —, 1879, .| Willistown, Pa.,... .| Beetles.* 2 | July —, 1879, .| Willistown, Pa.,. .. .| Various insects.* 3 | July —, 1879, .| Willistown, Pa.,... .| Grasshoppers.* 4; June 6, 1880, .| Honeybrook, Pa., .. .| Beetles. OR UNe IG W1S8O en MEloneybrook sean ern beebles: 6 | Sept. 15, 1880, .| Phila. Market, Pa., . .' Small ‘‘worms.”’ 7 | Gept. 15, 1880, .| Phila. Market, Pa., . .| Beetles. * Young birds. } Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 4] No. DATE. LOCALITY. FooD-MATERIALS. 8 | Aug. 20, 1883, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Grasshoppers and small seeds. 9; Aug. 20, 1888, . | Chester county, Pa.,. .| Grasshoppers. 10 | Aug. 20, 1888, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Grasshoppers. 11 | Aug. 20, 1888, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Grasshoppers and fragments of bee- tles. 12 | Aug. 14, 1884, .| Chester county, Pa., . .| Grasshoppers. 18 | Aug. 14, 1884, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Dipterous insects. 141 Aug. 14, 1884, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .! Small seeds and grasshoppers. GENUS ACTITIS. I.Licer. 263. Actitis macularia (LINv.). Spotted Sandpiper. DESCRIPTION. Small; bill rather longer than the head, straight, slender; long grooves in both mandibles; wing rather long, pointed; tail medium, rounded; legs rather long; lower third of the tibia naked; toes long, margined, and flattened underneath ; outer connected with the middle toe by a large membrane; inner very slightly connected to the middle toe; upper parts brownish olive-green, with a somewhat metallic or bronzed lustre, and with numerous longitudinal lines, and sagittate, lanceolate, and irregular spots of brownish-black, having the same lustre; line over the eye, and entire under parts white, with numerous circular and oval spots of brownish-black, smaller on the throat, largest on the abdomen; quills brown, with a green lustre; primaries slightly tipped with white, and having a white spot on their inner edges; secondaries white at their bases, and tipped with white; middle feathers of the tail Same green as other upper parts; outer tipped with white, and with irregular bars of brownish-black ; bill flesh-color, tipped with brown; feet reddish-yellow ; iris brown. Young less bronzed above, and under parts white, without spots. Total length, 75 to 8 inches; wing, 43; tail, 2; bill, 1; tarsus, rather less than 1 inch. Hab.—North and South America, south to Brazil. Breeds throughout temperate North America. Occasional in Europe. The Tilt-up, as this Sandpiper is universaliy known in this section, arrives in Pennsylvania about the middle of April, sometimes even earlier. It is common and indigenous. The nest is placed on the ground in a grass field, sometimes in a grain-field, or on the sandy bank near streams and ponds, along which these birds are commonly found industriously seeking their hidden prey. Wilson very properly says: ‘“ This species is as remarkable for perpetually wagging the tail as some others are for nodding the head; for, whether running on the ground, or on fences, along the rails, or in the water, this motion seems continual; even the young, soon after they are freed from the shell, run about constantly wagging the tail.” When you approach the eggs or young the old birds manifest great concern. They flutter along the ground as if injured, and should you follow and attempt to catch them they will lead you to a considerable distance from their treasures before flying off. Wilson mentions the following instance, which shows the great solicitude which the female has for her young: 492 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. ‘‘ My venerable friend, Mr. William Barton, informs me that he saw one of these birds defend her young for a considerable time from the repeated attacks of a ground-squirrel. The scene of action was on the river shore. The parent had thrown herself, with her two young behind her, between them and the land, and at every attempt of the squirrel to seize them by a circuitous sweep, raised both her wings in an almost perpendicular position, assuming the most formidable ap- pearance she was capable of, and rushed forwards on the squirrel, who, intimidated by her boldness and manner, instantly retreated ; but presently returning, was met, as before, in front and on flank by the daring and affectionate bird, who, with her wings and whole plu- mage bristling up, seemed swelled to twice her usual size. The young crowded together behind her, apparently sensible of their perilous situation, moving backwards and forwards as she advanced or re- treated. This interesting scene lasted for at least ten minutes; the strength of the poor parent began evidently to flag, and the attacks of the squirrel became more daring and frequent, when my good friend, like one of those celestial agents who, in Homer’s time, so often decided the palm of victory, stepped forward from his retreat, drove the assailant back to his hole, and rescued the innocent from destruction.” To escape capture when wounded the Tilt-up will re- sort to many devices. One day when out shooting along Beaver creek, a tributary of the Brandywine, about two miles from West Chester, I crippled one of these birds; it fell to the ground and ran rapidly to the edge of the stream, which at this point was probably ten feet wide. The water was about a foot deep, perfectly clear, and, except on one side for about eighteen inches, was dammed back and remained quite motionless. I approached the bird, when, to my great surprise, it plunged into the water and went down to the sandy bottom like a stone. It ran on the bottom seemingly without any difficulty, and even through the swiftly running water along the edge, came up on the opposite side of the stream and thrust its head into some long grass, but kept its body submerged. The bird repeated this performance three times before I secured it. The Tilt-up is not gre- garlous. Foon. No. DATE. LOCALITY. Foop-MATERIALS. 1 | June —, 1879, .| Barnegat, N. J.,. .. .| Dipterous insects. 2| July 12, 1879, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Coleoptera and grasshoppers. 3 | May 4, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa., . .| Diterous insects. 4 | May 6, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Beetles. 5 | May 10, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Small ‘““worms’”’ and beetles. 6 | Aug. 14, 1882, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Beetles and worms. U |) Seyi Bh Ist, | Chester county, Pa.,. . | Worms. Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 43 FamMiIty CHARADRIIDA. PLOoVERs. GENUS CHARADRIUS. LINN AUS. 270. Charadrius squatarola (LINv.). Black-bellied Plover. DESCRIPTION. Bill and legs strong; wings long; a very small rudimentary hind toe; around the base of the bill to the eyes, neck before and under parts of body, black; upper white, nearly pure and unspotted on the forehead; sides of the neck and rump tinged with ashy, and having irregular transverse bars of brownish-black on the back, scapulars, and wing coverts; the brownish-black frequently predominating on those parts, and the rump also frequently with transverse bars of the same; lower part of the abdomen, tibia, and under tail coverts, white; quills brownish-black, lighter on their inner webs, with a middle portion of their shafts white and a nar- row longitudinal stripe of white frequently on the shorter primaries and seconda- ries; tail white, with transverse imperfect narrow bands of black; bill and legs black; the black color of the under parts generally with a bronzed or coppery lustre, and presenting a scale-like appearance ; the brownish-black of the upper parts with a greenish lustre; iris black. Younger and winter plumage.—Entire upper parts dark-brown, with circular and irregular small spots of white, and frequently of yellow, most numerous on the wing coverts ; upper tail coverts white ; under parts white, with short longitudinal lines and spots dark brownish-cinereous on the neck and breast; quills brownish- black, with large longitudinal spots of white on their inner webs, and also on the outer webs of the shorter primaries. Young.—Upper parts lighter, and with the white spots more irregular or scarcely assuming a circular shape ; narrow lines on the neck and breast more numerous. Total length, about 113 ; wings, 75 ; tail, 3 inches. Hab.—Nearly cosmopolitan, but chiefly in the Northern Hemisphere, breeding far northward, and migrating south in winter; in America to the West Indies, Brazil and New Grenada. This bird, according to my observation, occurs in Pennsylvania only as a rare migrant: when found is mostly seen in autumn. In former years, it seems that these birds were found as natives. If this species now breeds in Pennsylvania it certainly is confined to the mountain- ous regions. Audubon, speaking of its breeding, says: ‘ Individuals of this species spend the summer months in the mountainous parts of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, where they breed. I have found their nests near the waters of the Delaware and the Perkio- ming creek * * in the same localities as those of the Field Plover (B. longicauda), as well as in plowed fields. The nest is merely a slight hollow with a few blades of grass. The eggs are four, an inch and seven and a half eighths in length, an inch and three-eighths in their greatest breadth; their ground-color yellowish-white, tinged with olivaceous, and pretty generally covered with blotches and dots of light-brown and pale-purple, the markings being more abundant to- ward the small end.” Wilson, writing of the species in this Commonwealth, says: ‘ This 44 Brrps or PENNSYLVANIA. bird is known in some parts of the country by the name of the Large Whistling Field Plover. It generally makes its first appearance in Pennsylvania late in April; frequents the countries towards the mo~ n- tains; seems particularly attached to newly plowed fields, whe it forms its nest of a few slight materials, as slightly put togeth “ie female lays four eggs, large for the size of the bird, of al‘. ulive color, dashed with black, and has frequently two broods in tk same season. It is an extremely shy and watchtul bird, a, clamorous during breeding-time.” Dr. Ezra ppcheners in his catalogue (1863), mentions the Black- bellied Plover as a ‘“‘rare summer resident” in Chester county. ‘* During winter, or as long as they frequent the seashore, they feed on marine insects, worms and small shell-fish, and when they are in the interior, on grasshoppers and other insects, as well as berries of various kinds.”— Audubon. 972. Charadrius dominicus. MULL. American Golden Plover. DESCRIPTION. Bill rather short; legs moderate; wings long; no hind toe; tarsus covered before and behind with small circular or hexagonal scales; upper parts brownish-black, with numerous small circular and irregular spots of golden-yellow, most numerous on the back and rump, and on the upper tail coverts, assuming the form of trans- verse bands generally; also with some spots of ashy-white; entire under parts black, with a brownish or bronzed lustre, under tail coverts mixed or barred with white; forehead, border of the black of the neck, under tail coverts, and tibiee, white; axillary feathers cinereous; quills, dark-brown; middle portion of the shafts white, frequently extending slightly to the webs, and forming longitudinal stripes on the shorter quills; tail dark-brown, with numerous irregular bands of ashy- white, and frequently tinged with golden-yellow; bill black; legs dark bluish- brown; iris dark-brown. Younger.—Under parts dull-ashy, spotted with brownish on the neck and breast, frequently more or less mixed with black; many spots of the upper parts dull ashy- white ; other spots, especially on the rump, golden-yellow. Total length, about 95 inches; wing, 7; tail, 25 inches. Hab.—Arctic America, migrating southward through North and South America to Patagonia. I have never seen the Golden Plover in this State during the spring migrations, and as an autumnal visitant it is uncertain. Tor several consecutive seasons none will be observed in certain districts; the following season, however, the birds will be found abundantly in these same districts. The largest flight of Golden Plovers that I ever saw in this section (Chester county) was in the fall of 1880, when flocks of from fifty to one hundred were quite plentiful about the plowed grounds and grass-fields in the neighborhood of West Chester. Mr. Francis Jaccbs, of West Chester, informs me that about the year 1860 ‘It Qel[d aes bilo? § ‘Pat ews ¢ & ‘azts [einjzeu jo ¢ SL wane Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 45 Bull-head* Plovers were abundant in the Great Valley and in the vicinity of West Chester, where, in September, they came in flocks of hundreds and literally covered the fields where wheat had been sown. In those days the wheat was sown, as but few farmers had drills. Mr. J. states that he has often killed fifteen or twenty at one shot, and, in company with his brother, has shot two hundred or more in one day. ‘These birds would remain about two weeks, or until the wheat had sprouted. They subsisted almost exclusively on wheat. My informant states that prior to 1860, for at least fifteen years, these birds annually, in the fall, made these visits, and that he had always been told, when a boy, that ‘‘ Bull-heads” were abundant every year. 3 Foon. Audubon furnishes the following information of this species: ‘‘ While searching for food on the sand or mud bars of the seashore they move in a direct manner, often look sideways toward the ground, and pick up the object of their search by a peculiar bending movement of the body. They are frequently observed to pat the moist earth with their feet to force worms from their burrows. In autumn they betake themselves to the higher grounds, where berries as well as insects are to be met with, and where they find abundance of grasshoppers.”’ | No. | DATE. LocaLiry. | FooD-MATERIALS. 1 | Sept. —, 1880, . .| West Goshen, Pa.,. . .| Beetles and few seeds. 2 | Sept. —, 1880, . .| West Goshen, Pa.,. . .} Grasshoppers. 3 | Sept. —, 1880, . .| West Goshen, Pa.,.. .| Grasshoppers. 4 | Sept. —, 1880, . .| West Goshen, Pa.,. . .| Beetles and grasshoppers. 5 Oct. 3, 1880, . .!| Birmingham, Pa.,.. .| Grasshoppers and worms. | Genus ANGIALITIS. Bore. 273. JHgialitis vocifera (LrnNv.). WMilldeer. DESCRIPTION. (Plate 11.) Wings long, reaching to the end of the tail, which is also rather long; head above and upper parts of body light-brown with a greenish tinge; rump and upper tail coverts rufous, lighter on the latter; front and lines over and under the eye white ; another band of black in front above the white band; stripe from the base of the bill towards the occiput, brownish-black ; ring encircling the neck and wide band on the breast, black ; throat white, which color extends upwards around the neck ; other under parts white; quills brownish-black with about half of their inner webs white, shorter primaries, with a large spot of white on their outer webs, secondaries widely tipped or edged with white ; tail feathers pale-rufous at base; the four mid- dle light olive-brown tipped with white, and with a wide subterminal band of black ; lateral feathers widely tipped with white; entire upper plumage frequently edged and tipped with rufous; very young have upper parts light-gray, with a longitudinal band on the head and back black ; under parts white; iris, dark brown. * The name Bull-head is given to both the Golden and Black-bellied Plovers. 1 suppose the birds mentioned by my friend Mr. Jacobs to have been Golden Plovers (Charadrius dominicus). 46 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. Total length, about 9§ inches; wing, 6§ ; tail, 3} inches. Hab.—Temperate North America, migrating in winter to the West Indies and central and northern South America. Reader I am sure you can always cRedeacenish this bird by the well- known cry which gives rise to its common name. Should you, how- ever, have the lifeless body of one of these birds, you can without any difficulty distinguish it from other of its numerous relatives by the red eye-lids and long legs. In addition you will also see a white line, with black margin, extending over the bill, between the eyes. The white feathers of the throat are continuous, with a conspicuous and immaculate collar, below which is a ring of black, separated by a streak of white from a band of black across the breast. During the spring, summer and autumn the Killdeer is common, and in winter is quite frequently observed. ‘The spotted pyriform eggs. usually four in number, are placed in a slight hollow in the eround, oftentimes near a hill of corn. Foon. “The food of this species consists of earth-worms, grasshoppers, crickets and coleopterous insects, as well as small crustacea, whether of salt or fresh water, and snails. Now and then they may be seen thrusting their bills into the mud in search of some other food. Dur- ing autumn they run about the old fields and catch an insect which the Blue-bird has been watching with anxious care from the top of a withering mullein stalk. They run briskly after the plowman, to pick up the worms that have been turned out of their burrows. Now standing on the grassy meadow, after a shower, you see them patting the moist ground, to force out its inhabitants. During winter, you meet with them on elevated ground, or along the margins of the rivers; but wherever you observe one about to pick up its food, you clearly see its body moving in a see-saw manner on the joints of the legs, until the former being so placed that the bill can reach the ground, the object is seized, and the usual horizontal position is re- sumed.”— Audubon. No. DATE. LOcALiry. | FooD-MATERIALS. 1 | April 10, 1879, . .| Chester county, Pa.,...| Snails and beetles. 2 | April 30, 1879, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| EHarth-worms. 3 June 18, 1879, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. . | Beetles. 4 | Nov. 14, 1879, . .| Lancaster county, Pa., .| Fragments of fresh water shells. 5 | May 15, 1880, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Harth-worms. 6 | May 15, 1880, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. : | EKarth-worms and larvee. 7 | Aug, 21, 1880, . .| Delaware county, Pa., .| Grasshoppersand small seeds. 8 Dee. 138, 1881, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Grasshoppers. 9 | July 31, 1883, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Beetles and larvee. 10 July 31, 1883, . | Chester county, Pa.,. .| Beetles. Wik Wl fSkeyorr, PAD; ltetsee, 4 | Chester county, Pa.,. .| Grasshoppers and seeds. | Oe! male tier. =) i 4 er od ‘sunozx & 'awmay e fap pe 7 UDLULP + eens ~ es ove d ‘azis je.injeu jo % Brraps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 47 ORDER GALLIN/. GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. SusorpER PHASIANI. PuHeasants, QuaiL, Lire Famiry TETRAONIDZ. Grousz, Hc SUBFAMILY PERDICINA. PARTRIDGES. GENus COLINUS. LEsson. 289. Colinus virginianus (LINN.). Bob-white. DESCRIPTION. (Plate 12.) Forehead, and line through the eye and along the side of the neck, with chin and throat, white ; a band of black across the vertex, and extending backwards on the sides, within the white, and another from the maxilla beneath the eye, and crossing on the lower part of the throat; the under parts are white, tinged with brown an- teriorly, each feather with several narrow, obtusely V-shaped bands of black ; the forepart of back, the side of the breast and in front just ‘below the black collar, of a dull pinkish-red ; the sides of body and wing coverts brownish-red ; the latter al- most uniform, without indications of mottling; scapulars and upper tertials coarsely blotched with black, and edged internally with brownish-yellow ; top of head red- dish; the lower part of neck, except anteriorly, streaked with white and black; primary quills, unspotted brown; tail, ash; iris, brown. Female with the white markiugs of the head and throat replaced by brownish- yellow; the black wanting. Length, about 10 inches; extent, about 15; wing, about 4.70; tail, 2.75 inches. This species is subject to considerable variation, both in size and color. Hab.—Eastern United States and southern Canada from southern Maine to the South Atlantic and Gulf States; west to Dakota, eastern Kansas and eastern Texas. This species is found in Pennsylvania at all seasons, yet I am fully convinced that the great majority of those that breed here migrate in the autumn southward. During the fall and particularly in the month of October, I have observed flocks, consisting of several families and numbering from sixty to a hundred or more individuals engaged in such migrations. Partridges at all seasons other than when breeding are gregarious. When not migrating we find them, in flocks of twelve to fifteen each, frequenting fields and swamps usually near the bor- ders of woods or thickets, to which they speedily repair when dis- turbed. Karly in April these birds pair and about the first of May commence nesting. The nest is always placed on the ground, gener- ally in a slight hollow, and is constructed chiefly of small twigs and grass. The nest is usually placed in a grass field, concealed by a high tuft of grass or protected by a thick overhanging bush. The eggs are white, pear-shaped, and although variable, generally num- ber about fifteen. The birds are mainly terrestrial in habits. In the autumn and winter when continually pursued by sportmen and dogs, they oftentimes when flushed seek refuge in trees; they usually alight 48 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. on a large limb close to the main trunk and crouch so close that not unfrequently they escape the notice of the eager hunter. A gentle- man of my acquaintance some years ago while out hunting Pheasants noticed a slight movement among some dead leaves in the top of an oak tree, he raised his gun quickly and fired into the leaves when to his astonishment down came fourteen Partridges dead and wounded. Partridges breed readily in confinement, and occasionally, though rarely, become quite tame. Wilson says: “Two young Partridges that were brought up by a hen, when abandoned by her associated with the cows, which they regularly followed to the fields, returned with them when they came home in the evening, stood by them while they were milked, and again accompanied them to the pasture. They remained during the winter, lodging in the stable, but as soon as spring came they disappeared.” Foon. The food of this species consists principally of cereals, various small seeds, berries, and in the breeding season insects, chiefly beetles, are taken in limited numbers. B. M. Everhart, thewell-known naturalist and botanist, informs me that four or five years ago he examined the stomach-contents of twenty odd partridges which his brother had shot when on a gunning excursion in Delaware, and found that all the birds had fed exclusively on the seeds of skunk-cabbage (Symplo- carpus faditus). No DATE LOCALITY. FooD-MATERIALS. 1 | July 21, 1879, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Small seeds. 2 | July 21, 1879, . .| Chester county, Pa., . .| Wheat and berries. 3 | Aug. —, 1880, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. . ra seeds and remains of eetles. Ay | Aue 73, 1880s | Chester county,uka.. ns | PCeLles: 5 | Oct. 20, 1880, . .| Chester county, Pa., . .| Corn and small seeds. 6 | Oct. 20, 1880, . .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Corn and wheat. 7 | Oct. 20, 1880, . .| Chester county, Pa., . .| Corn and seeds. 8 | Oct. 20, 1880, ...| Chester county, Pa., . . | Wheat. 9 | Nov. 20, 1880, . .| York county, Pa.,.. .| Rag-weed seeds and corn. 10 Nov. 20, 1880, . .| York county, ge 5 -o |) Coan, 11 Nov, 30, 1880, . .| Newark, Del., . . . .| Small seeds. 12 Decay el SSZaieme Newark, DIG 6 bo oe |} Cora, 18. | Dec. —, 1882, . .| Newark, DteIky ... .} Green vegetable material. 14° | Dec. —, 1882, . .| Newark, Del,,. ....| Green vegetable material and small seeds. 15 | May 20, 1884, . .| Chester county, Pa. .| Small seeds. 16 | May 20, 1884, . .| Chester county, Pa.,.. Small seeds and insects. Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 49 SUBFAMILY TETRAONINA,. Grouse. GENUS BONASA. STEPHENS. 300. Bonasa umbellus (Linv.). Rutffed Grouse; Pheasant. DESCRIPTION. Tail of eighteen feathers, reddish-brown or gray above; the back with cordate spots of lighter; beneath whitish, transversely barred with dull brown ; tail tipped with gray, and with a subterminal bar of black ; broad feathers of the ruff black. Tail lengthened, nearly as long as the wing; very broad, and moderately rounded ; the feathers very broad and truncate, the tip slightly convex, eighteen in number; upper half of tarsus only feathered; bare behind and below, with two rows of hexa- gonal scutelle anteriorly ; a naked space on the side of the neck, concealed by an overhanging tuft of broad, truncate feathers; there are no pectinated processes above the eye, where the skin instead is clothed with short feathers; iris, brown. Length, 18 inches; wing, 7.20; tail, 7 inches. Hab.—¥Yastern United States, south to North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Arkansas. This. well-known game bird is quite plentiful in various sections of to} Pennsylvania. The species is most numerous in the mountainous regions, heavily-wooded and thinly-settled districts. Dr. Coues says: “The ‘drumming’ sound for which this bird is noted, is not vocal, as many suppose, but is produced by rapidly beating the wings.” Dur- ing the breeding season and at other times, if not continually har- assed by sportsmen, the Grouse are tame and unsuspicious. The nest is made on the ground, and consists principally of leaves; it is al- ways placed in the interior of a woods, and is usually concealed by a log or thick bushes. The eggs are a ‘yellowish-white color and num- ber about fifteen. I once found a nest with nine eggs, in which in- cubation was well advanced. HE. A.Samuels,in his entertaining work, “ Our Northern and Eastern Birds,” says: ‘‘ From several instances which have come to my knowledge, I am inclined to think that the female Ruffed Grouse, if persistently molested When nesting on the ground, avails herself of the abandoned nest of a crow, or the shelter afforded in the top of some tall broken trunk of a tree, in which she deposits her eggs. ‘Two of my collectors in Northern Maine have sent me eggs which they positively declared were found in acrow’s nest in a high pine, but which are undoubtedly of this species; and recently { have heard of another occurrence from my friend L. E. Ricksecker, of Pennsylvania. The only satisfactory theory that I can advance to account for these departures from the usual habits of the Grouse, is that the birds had been much disturbed, their eggs or young perhaps destroyed ; and as they are often in the trees, and are expert climbers. they laid their eggs in these lofty situations to secure protection from their numerous foes below. + Brrps. 5O Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. Foon. By Nuttall we are advised that their food consists commonly in the spring and. fall, of the buds of trees, the catkins of the hazel and alder, even fern buds, acorns and seeds of various kinds. * * *#* At times I have seen the crop almost entirely filled with the buds of the apple tree, each connected with a portion of the twig. the wood of which appears to remain a good while undigested; cinquefoil and strawberry leaves, buds of the Azaleas, and of the broad-leaved Ka- lonia, with the favorite Partridge berries, ivy berries (Cissus heder- acea) and gravel pebbles are also some of the many articles which form the winter fare. In summer, they seem often to preter berries of various kinds, particularly dewberries, strawberries, grapes and whortleberries. , Wilson writes: ‘They are exceedingly fond of the seeds of grapes; occasionally eat ants, chestnuts, blackberries and various vegetables. + It has been confidently asserted that, after having fed for some time on the laurel buds, their flesh becomes highly dangerous to eat of, partaking of the poisonous qualities of the plant. o Sites an aas Though I have myself ate freely of the flesh of the Pheasant, after emptying it of large quantities of laurel buds, without experiencing any bad consequences, yet, from the respectability of those, some of them eminent physicians, who have particularized cases in which it has proved deleterious, and even fatal, I am inclined to believe that, in certain cases, where this kind of food has been long continued, and the birds allowed to remain undrawn for several days, until the con- tents of the crop and stomach have had time to diffuse themselves through the flesh, as is too often the case, it may be unwholesome and even dangerous.” My knowledge of the food-materials of the Grouse is limited to some thirty examinations which I have made, during the months of October, November and December, of birds which have been killed in Schuylkill, Chester and Dauphin counties, Pennsylvania. I found the greater part of these birds had fed chiefly on Partridge-berries (Gaultheria procumbena), others had in their crops and gizzards chestnuts, small seeds and other vegetable matter. Ten of this lot were shot when the snow was deep and they all were gorged with buds of laurel. + Prof. John H. Brinton, M. D., of the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pa., informed me that he had known of several cases of Glossitis Gnflammation of the tongue) to have been caused by eating Pheasants which had fed on laurel.— Warren. Birps of PENNSYLVANIA. 51 Famity PHASIANIDA. Turkeys, [rtc. SUBFAMILY MELEAGRINA. Turkeys. GENuS MELEAGRIS. Linn 2us. 310. Meleagris gallopavo. Linn. Wild Turkey. Hab.—United States, from southern Canada to the Gulf coast, and west to the plains, along the timbered river valleys; formerly along the Atlantic coast to southern Maine. This noble game bird, although rapidly becoming extirpated, is still found in small numbers in the wooded. thinly-populated and uncul- tivated districts of this Commonwealth. Nests on the ground; eggs very similar to those of our domestic turkeys. The food consists chiefly of cereals, berries, acorns, chestnuts and other vegetal ma- terials. ' ORDER COLUMBAE. PIGEONS. Famity COLUMBIDA.. Picrons. Grnus ECTOPISTES. Swalrnson. 315. HEectopistes migratorius (LINN.). Passenger Pigeon; Wild Pigeon. DESCRIPTION. Tail with twelve feathers; upper parts generally, including sides of body, head and neck, and the chin, blue, beneath, purple brownish-red, fading behind with a violet tint; anal region and under tail coverts, white ; scapulars, inner tertials and middle of back, with an olive-brown tinge; the wing coverts, scapulars and inner tertials, with large oval spets of blue-black on the outer webs, mostly concealed, ex- cept on the latter ; primaries blackish, with a border of pale-bluish tinged internally with red; middle tail feathers brown; the rest pale-blue on the outer web, white internally ; each with a patch of reddish-brown at. the base of the inner web, fol- lowed by another of black ; sides and back of neck richly glossed with metallic golden-violet ; tibia, bluish-violet ; bill, black ; feet, purplish-red ; iris, red. The female is smaller; much duller in color; more olivaceous above ; beneath, pale-blue instead of red, except a tingeon the neck; the jugulum tinged with olive; the throat whitish. | The blue of the side of the head extends to the throat and chin; the upper part of the back and lesser coverts are of a darker blue than the head and rump; the inner primaries are more broadly margined with light-blue, which tapers off to the end; the axillars and under surfice of the wing are light-blue; the longest scapulars have the black on both webs; there is no blue on the outer web of the first tail feather, which is white, and the inferior surface of the tail generally is white. In some specimens the entire head all round is blue. 52 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. Immature birds very similar to female but much duller in color; the wing-coverts — and scapular feathers, also most of the feathers of head and neck being margined with whitish, have a spotted appearance. Length, about 17 inches; extent, about 24; wing, 8.50; tail, 8.40; tarsus, 1 inch. Hab.—Eastern North America, from Hudson’s Bay southward, and west to the Great Plains, straggling westward to Nevada and Washington Territory. The Wild Pigeon and Turtle Dove are the only representatives of the Pigeon family occurring in Pennsylvania. Both species are highly esteemed as articles of food, and in the autumn are eagerly sought after by gunners. Wild Pigeons, during the fall especially, are fre- quently found in this State. They.are seen usually in small parties ; a few remain during the summer season and rear their young, in dif- ferent sections of this Commonwealth. ‘‘ We do not have the ‘millions’ that the earlier writers speak of in the eastern United States now; * * * the greatest roosts and flights we now hear of are in the upper Mississippi Valley. Nest in trees and bushes, a slight, frail platform of twigs, so open as to leave the egg visible from below. Hggs, white 1 or 2, equal-ended, 1.45 by 1.05.”—Ooues. The following interesting description of a flight and roosting place are taken from Audubon’s Birds of America: : ‘In the autumn of 1813, I left my house at Henderson, on the banks of the Ohio, on my way to Louisville. In passing over the Barrens, a few miles beyond Hardensburg, I observed the pigeons fly- ing from north-east to south-west, in greater numbers than I thought I had ever seen them before, and feeling an inclination to count the flocks that might pass within the reach of my eye in one hour, I dis- mounted, seated myself on an eminence, and began to mark with my pencil, making a dot for every flock that passed. In a short time, finding the task which I had undertaken impracticable, as the birds poured in in countless multitudes, I rose, and counting the dots then put down, found that 163 had been made in twenty-one minutes. I traveled on, and still met more the farther I proceeded. The air was literally filled with pigeons; the light of noonday was obscured as by an eclipse; the dung fell in spots, not unlike melting flakes of snow. Whilst waiting for dinner at an inn at the confluence of Salt river with the Ohio, I saw, at my leisure, immense legions still going by, with a front reaching far beyond the Ohio on the west, and the beech-' wood forests directly on the east of me. Nota single bird alighted; for not a nut or acorn was that year to be seen in the neighborhood. They consequently flew so high that different trials to reach them with a capital rifle proved ineffectual. Before sunset I reached Louis- ville, distant from Hardensbureg fifty-five miles. The Pigeons were still passing in undiminished numbers, and continued to do so for three days in succession. The people were allin arms. ‘The banks of the Ohio were erowded with men and boys, incessantly shooting at the pilgrims, which Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 53 there flew lower as they passed the river. Multitudes were thus des- troyed. For a week or more, the population fed on no other flesh than that of Pigeons, and talked of nothing but Pigeons. One of these curious roosting places, on the banks of the Green river in Kentucky, I repeatedly visited. It was, as is always the case, in a portion of the forest where the trees were of great magnitude, and where there was little underwood. I rode through it upwards of forty miles, and cross- ing it in different parts, found its average breadth to be rather more than three miles. My first view of it was about a fortnight subse- quent to the period when they had made choice of it, and I arrived there nearly two hours before sunset. Hew Pigeons were then to be seen, but a great number of persons, with horses and wagons, guns and ammunition, had already established encampments on the bor- ders. T'wo farmers from the vicinity of Russellville, distant more ‘than a hundred miles, had driven upwards of 300 hogs to be fattened on Pigeons which were to be slaughtered. Here and there, the peo- ple employed in plucking and salting what had already been pro- cured, were seen sitting in the midst of large piles of these birds. The dung lay several inches deep, covering the whole extent of the roosting-place. Many trees two feet in diameter, I observed, were broken off at no great distance from the ground; and the branches of many of the largest and tallest had given way, as if the forest had been swept by a tornado. Hvery thing proved to me that the num- ber of birds resorting to this part of the forest must be immense be- yond conception. As the period of their arrival approached, their foes anxiously prepared to receive them. Some were furnished with iron pots, containing sulphur, others with torches of pine knots, many with poles, and the rest with guns. The sun was lost to our view, yet not a Pigeon had arrived. HKvery thing was ready, and all eyes were gazing on the clear sky, which appeared in glimpses amidst the tall trees. Suddenly there burst forth a general cry of ‘Here they come’ The noise which they made, though yet distant, reminded me of a hard gale at sea, passing through the rigging of a close-reefed vessel. As the birds arrived and passed over me, I felt a current of air that surprised me. Thousands were knocked down by the pole-men. The birds continued to pour in. The fires were lighted, and a magnificent, as well as wonderful and almost terrifying, sight presented itself. The Pigeons, arriving by thousands, alighted everywhere, one above an- other, until solid masses were formed on the branches all around. Here and there the perches gave way under the weight with a crash, and, falling to the ground, destroyed hundreds of the birds beneath, forcing down the dense groups with which every stick was loaded. It was a scene of uproar and confusion. No one dared venture within the line of devastation. The hogs had been penned up in due 54. Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. time, the picking up of the dead and wounded being left for the next morning’s employment. The pigeons were constantly com- ing, and it was past midnight before I perceived a decrease in the number of those that arrived. The uproar continued the whole night, and as I was anxious to know to what distance the sound reached, I sent off a man, accustomed to perambulate the forest, who, returning two hours afterward, informed me he had heard it distinctly when three miles distant from the spot. Towards the approach of day, the noise in some measure subsided; long before objects were distinguishable, the Pigeons’ began to move off in a direction quite different from that in which they had arrived the evening before, and at sunrise all that were able to fly had disappeared. The howlings of the wolves now reached our ears, and the foxes, lynxes, cougars, bears, raccoons, opossums and polecats were seen sneaking off, whilst eagles and hawks of different species, accompanied by a crowd of vultures, came to supplant them, and enjoy their share of the spoil. It was then that the authors of all this devastation began their entry amongst the dead. the dying and the mangled. The Pigeons were picked up and piled in heaps, until each had as many as he could possibly dis- pose of, when the hogs were let loose to feed on the remainder.” Genus ZENAIDURA. BONAPARTE. 316. Zenaidura macroura (LInv.). Mourning Dove; Turtle Dove. DESCRIPTION. Tail feathers, 14. Above bluish, although this is overlaid with light brownish olive, leaving the blue pure only on the top of the head, the exterior of the wings, and upper surface of the tail, which iseven slightly tinged with this color; the entire head, except the vertex, the sides of the neck, and the under parts generally, light brownish-red, strongly tinged with purple on the breast, becoming lighter behind, and passing into brownish-yellow on the anal region, tibia and under tail coverts; sides of the neck with a patch of metallic purplish-red; sides of body and inside of wings clear light-blue; wing coverts and scapulars spotted with black, mostly con- cealed, and an oblong patch of the same below the ear; tail feathers seen from be- low blackish, the outer web of outermost white, the others tipped with the same, the color becoming more and more bluish to the innermost, which is brown; seen from above, there is the same graduation from white to light-blue in the tips; the rest of the feather, however, is blue, with a bar of black anterior to the light tip, which runs a little forward along the margin and shaft of the feather; in the sixth feather the color is uniform bluish, with this bar; the seventh is without bar; bill, black ; feet, purplish-red. Female somewhat smaller, with less red beneath ; me- tallic purplish-red of neck less distinct; black spot below the ear smaller, and of a brownish hue. Young very similar to female, but duller in color and lack the me- tallic markings on sides of neck. Length of male, 12.85 inches; extent, about 18; wing, 5.75; tail, 6.70 inches. Hab.—North America, from southern Maine, southern Canada and Oregon south to Panama and the West Indies. BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 55 The only species with which the Mourning Dove, so called from its note, can possibly be confounded is the Wild Pigeon, from which it can readily be distinguished if the following facts are remembered. The Dove measures about thirteen inches in length and eighteen inches in alar extent; the Pigeon about seventeen by twenty-five inches. So, first we find a marked difference in size. Secondly, the Dove has fourteen tail feathers; the Pigeon has but twelve ; again, the eyes of the Dove are brown, while those of the Pigeon are red. This bird is found in Pennsylvania during all seasons of the vear, and at times other than when breeding is gregarious. In March, the flocks which have been observed during the winter about the fields and or- chards, separate and begin their love-making. The nest, a carelessly constructed affair, is made up entirely of small sticks, and is generally found placed on a large limb of a tree in an apple orchard. On the barren ridge, in eastern Pennsylvania, I have on several occasions found these birds nesting in pine trees; the eggs are two in number, white and unspotted. Sometimes these birds will occupy nests which have been deserted by other species. I once, some few years ago, found a pair breeding in the nest of a Green Heron, which had been deserted by the original possessors. On another occasion, a nest was found built in that of a Crow Blackbird. Foop. Doves rarely feed on insects, but subsist almost exclusively on cereals, small seeds, and, occasionally, it is said, on various wild ber- ries. | No. | DATE. LOocaLiry. Foop-MATERIALS. 1 | Sept. 11, 1880,. .| East Bradford, Pa, . .| Gyrass-seeds. 2 | Oct. 15, 1880,. .| East Bradford, Pa., . .| Small seeds. 3} Feb. 16, 1880,. .| Pocopson, Pa.,... . .| Seedsand other vegetable matter. 4 | March ‘6, 1880, . . | Chester county, Pa.,. .| Seeds of Amaranthacee. 5 | March 20, 1882, . .| Chester county, Pa., . W heat and small black seeds. 6 | April 5, 1882,. .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Corn and small seeds. 7 | May 7, 1883, . .| West Goshen, Pa., ..| Wheat and corn. 8 | May 25, 1883, . .| West Goshen, Pa, . .| Small seeds. 9 | June 31, 1883,. .| West Goshen, Pa. . .| Wheat. 10 | Nov. 29, 1886, . .| North Brook, Pa... .| Appleseedsand seeds of grasses. 11 | Nov. 29, 1886,. .! North Brook, Pa... .| Appleseeds and seeds of grasses. ! Birds of Prey and the ‘‘Scalp” Act of June 23, 1885. In an agricultural district. the preservation of the hawk and owl tribe is a matter of great importance. These birds, with few excep- tions, subsist mainly on mice, other small quadrupeds and various 56 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. insects, which are so destructive in the fields, orchards, gardens and about buildings. Until within a quite recent period, ‘Pennsylvania has been burdened with an act of Assembly awarding premiums for the destruction of these well-known feathered friends of the farmer. The members of ‘The West Chester Microscopical Society,” recog- nizing the great wrong and injury which was being accomplished by the enforcement of this odious “Scalp Act,” as it was universally called, took an active part in endeavoring to secure its repeal. From *reports issued by their Committee on Protection of Birds of Prey, the following extracts are taken : ‘““The committee appointed at the last meeting of the Microscopical Society to take into consideration the act of Assembly passed the 23d day of June, A. D. 1885, entitled ‘An act for the destruction of wolves, wild cats, foxes, minks, hawks, weasels and owls in this Com- monwealth,’ beg leave to report that the chairman of the committee, Dr. B. H. Warren, Ornithologist of the Pennsylvania State Board of Agriculture, has devoted several years of his life to the collection, dissection and examination of birds, and that all of the committee from observation and experience have believed that all of the birds denounced in the law with rare exceptions, have been found to be the best friends of the farmer. Lest, however, any of the committee might be mistaken they have corresponded with the best ornithologists in the country, men who have made ornithology a study and are con- nected with that department in the Smithsonian Institution, asking their opinion as to the benefits or injury likely to arise from the execu- tion of the law against the birds therein named. “They have received answers from Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Ornitholo- gist of the United States Department of Agriculture; Dr. Elliott Coues, Vice President American Ornithologists’ Union; Robert Ridg- way, Curator of Department of Birds United States National Museum; Dr. Leonard Stejneger, Assistant Curator of the same department ; H. W. Henshaw, of the Bureau of Ethnology, also a collector of birds for the Smithsonian Institution, and connected with the late Wheeler Survey of the Territories, and Lucien M. Turner, a collector of birds, etc., for the Smithsonian Institution for the last twelve years. These answers, which are annexed to this report, all bear testimony that the hawks and owls are of great benefit to the farmer, and render him far greater service than injury, and that it is unwise to select any of them for destruction. “The committee regrets to say that there have been ninety odd . hawks and a dozen or more owls killed since the law was passed, June * Reports of the Microscopical Society of West Chester, Pa., on the act of Assembly of said State awarding a premium for the destruction of Hawks, Owls, Minks, Weasels, etc., ete., _ enacted June 23, 1885; published January, 1887. Brirps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 57 23, 1885, at a cost to this county of about $75, and that the slaughter is still going on. ‘‘ Believing, therefore, that the killing of likes birds is detrimental to the interests of the agriculturists, they believe that instead of being destroyed they should be protected, and they, therefore, recommend the passage of the following resolution : “« Resolved by the Microscopical Society of West Chester, that in the opinion of the Society the act of June 23, 1885, offering a premium for the destruction of hawks and owls, is unwise and prejudicial to the interest of agriculture, and so far as those birds are concerned, ought to be repealed. “ Pesolved, That the President and Secretary of the Society be in- structed to forward a copy of the above resolution to our members of the Legislature at its next session and request their aid towards the repeal of the act so far as is above stated. ‘‘All of which is respectfully submitted. “B. H. WARREN, W. TOWNSEND, Tuos. D. Dunn, JAMES C. SELLERS, Committee. “ March 4, 1886. ° “YU. S. DEPARTMENT oF AGRICULTURE, : W asuineton, D. C., larch 2, 1886. “ Dr. B. H. WARREN, Ornitholcgist of the Pennsylvania State Board : of Agriculture: “ DEAR Str: Your letter of the 18th inst. has just come to hand. I have read with surprise and indignation the copy sent of section 1, page 141, of the laws of Pennsylvania for 1885, in which a bounty is offered for the destruction of weasels, hawks and owls. The clause purports to have been enacted ‘for the benefit of agriculture, ete. “The possibility of the passage of such an act by any legislative body is a melancholy comment on the widespread ignorance that pre- vails even among intelligent persons, concerning the food of our com- mon birds and mammals, and is an evidence of the urgent need of just such systematic and comprehensive investigations as this depart- ment is now making on the subject of the relation of food habits to agriculture. ‘““ Their are two kinds of weasels in the Eastern States. The smaller kind feeds chiefly on mice and insects, and is not known to kill poul- try. The larger also preys mainly upon mice and rats, but in addition sometimes kills rabbits and poultry. Both species are friends of the 58 Brrps or PENNSYLVANIA. farmer, for the occasional loss of a few chickens is of trifling con- sequence compared with the good that these animals are constantly doing in checking the increase of mice. “You ask my opinion in regard to the beneficial and injurious quali- ties of the Hawks and Owls which inhabit Pennsylvania. This ques- tion seems almost superflous in view of the fact that your own inves- tigations, more than those of any other one person, have led to a bet- ter knowledge of the food-habits of these birds, and what you have done in the Hast Prof. Aughey, of Nebraska, has done in the West. Many others have added their * mites,’ till at the present time a suffi- cient array of facts has been accumulated to enable us to state, with- out fear of contradiction, that our Hawks and Owls must be ranked among the best friends of the farmer. With very few exceptions, their food consists of mice and insects, meadow-mice and grasshop- pers predominating. The exceptions are the fierce Goshawk from the North, and two smaller resident Hawks, Cooper’s and the Sharp- shinned, which really destroy many wild birds and some poultry. These three Hawks have long tails and short wings, which serve, among other characters, to distinguish them from the beneficial kinds. Strange as it may appear to the average farmer, the largest Hawks are the ones that do the most good. Foremost among these are the Rough-legged and Marsh Hawks, which do not meddle with poultry and rarely prey upon wild birds. ‘““Of Hawks and Owls collectively, it may safely be said ane except in rare instances, the loss they occasion by the destruction of poultry is insignificant in comparison with the benefits derived by the farmer and fruit grower from their constant vigilance; for when unmolested the one guards his crop by day and the other by night. “It is earnestly to be hoped that you will succeed not only in caus- ing the repeal of the ill-advised act which provides a bounty for the killing of Hawks and Owls, but that you will go farther, and secure the enactment of a law which will impose a fine for the slaughter of these useful birds. “’ Very truly yours, “C. Hart MERRIAM, “ Orpnithologist of the Department of Agriculture. “Unitep States Natrona Museum, ‘‘Under Direction of the Smithsonian Institution, “ Wasuineton, March 3, 1886. ‘Dr. B. H. Warren, West Chester, Pa. : ‘¢ DEAR Dr. WARREN: I am just in receipt of your letter of the Ist instant, and therefore fear that my reply cannot reach you in time for use at the meeting to-morrow evening. it affords me much pleasure, Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 59 however. to comply with your request for my views concerning the food-habits of Hawks and Owls and their relation to man. ““Of all the species which you name there are only two which, ac- cording to my best judgment, are at all seriously destructive to game or poultry, these being Cooper’s Hawk and the Great-horned Owl. The rest, with the possible exception of the Sharp-shinned Hawk, which certainly is destructive to the smaller birds, my experience leads me to regard as very decidedly beneficial to man. their food con- sisting very largely, if not chiefly, of the smaller rodents, field mice especially. The Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks occasionally pick up a young chicken or rabbit, but I feel quite sure that their service to man far outweighs the injury which they thus do. The little Sparrow Hawk and other smaller species destroy large numbers of grasshoppers, locusts and other large insects. “Very truly yours, ‘* RoBERT Ripeway, “ Curator, Dept. Birds. ‘SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, “ Wasuineaton, D. C., Warch 3, 1886. “Dr. B. H. Warren, West Chester, Pa. : “ DeaR Doctor: In reply to your letter of the 3d inst., asking for my opinion in regard to the food, etc., of certain Hawks and Owls specified, I would state that I have read Mr. Robert Ridgway’s an- swer to a similar request from you and that I agree with him in every particular. The idea of persecuting the majority of Hawks and Owls » systematically is simply preposterous, and any law which has for its object their indiscriminate destruction should be immediately re- pealed, since most of the birds alluded to are among the very best friends of the farmer. In regard to a few species it is well worth while to suspend judgment until a thorough investigation as to their habits and food in your State can be carried out, for, as you are well aware, a species which in some parts of the country and at some seasons may be injurious, in other regions and under altered circum- stances may be chiefly beneficial. ‘““T remain, yours sincerely, a ‘ LEONARD STEJNEGER, “Assistant Curator, Dept. of Birds, U. S. Nat. Mus. “WasHineton, March 3, 1886. “B. H. Warren, M. D., West Chester, Pa.: * DEAR Sir: In reply to your favor of the Ist inst., asking for my opinion with regard to the economic utility of the birds of prey, I 60 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. take pleasure in responding as follows: ‘To the ornithologist, whose business it is to study the habits of birds, the widespread ignorance | of the habits of the Hawk and Owl tribe, and the mistaken idea as to the amount of injury they do are almost inconceivable. ‘““So common, however, are these erroneous ideas respecting the birds of prey and their relations to the farmer and agriculturist that it is not at all surprising that laws similar to the one now in force in Pennsylvania should be enacted. “ Your own investigations into the nature of the food of the birds of prey of your county might be cited in support of the statement that such enactments are based upon erroneous conceptions. I may add that wherever such investigations have been systematically con- ducted they have resulted in a verdict favorable to the birds of prey. In almost every portion of the country I have found the opinions of all field ornithologists to be in favor of the preservation of the Hawk and Owl tribe on account of the good they do. I believe the time will come when the farmers as a class will carefully protect the Hawks and Owls on the ground of their beneficent services. “ Following is the list of species most numerous in your State: “1. Marsh Hawk. Corcus hudsonius. “9. Sparrow Hawk. Falco sparverius. “3. Red-shouldered Hawk. Buteo lineatus. “4, Red-tailed Hawk. Buteo borealis. “5. Cooper’s Hawk. entire upper parts reddish-brown; on the head mixed with rufous, and with white Spots on the wing coverts and shorter quills and rump; quills brownish-black, with white spots on their outer webs, and with bars of a lighter shade of brown and of white on their inner webs; tail brownish-black, with about five transverse bands of white and tipped with white ; bill blue-black ; cere and feet yellow; iris brown. Young.—Entire under parts yellowish-white, with longitudinal stripes and oblong spots of dark-brown; throat dark-brown; upper parts lighter ashy-brown, with many partially concealed spots and bars of white; quills dark-brown, with wide transverse bars of rufous and white on both webs; tail ashy-brown, with numerous bands, pale-brownish and rufous white; tail beneath silvery-white; legs and feet greenish-yellow. Total length: Female, 21 to 23 inches; extent, about 44 inches; wing, 14; tail, 9 inches. Male, 18 to 20 inches; extent, about 40; wing, 12; tail, 8 inches. Hab.—Eastern North America, west to Texas and the plains, south to the Gulf Coast and Maine. During the winter these Hawks frequent principally the large water courses, meadow-lands, and the vicinity of ponds, and not unfre- quently an individual of this species can be observed on its perch overlooking a spring-head. When the streams and meadows are frozen, I have noticed that they especially resort to such localities as last named. When disturbed from its perch it utters, in a plaintive and impatient voice, the note, keeo, keeo. — Its flight, which is generally short, is graceful and very owl-like. This Hawk, like its relative, the Red-tail, may be observed sitting by the hour on some favorite tree or stake adjacent to swampy or boggy ground, watching for small quadrupeds and batrachians, which constitute its principal fare. AJ- though this species is a native in this State it has never been my good fortune to find a nest. | From ‘ Birds of Connecticut,” by Doctor William Wood, the follow- ing mention of the nest, eggs and habits is taken: ‘ Nidification commences soon after their arrival from the south. Oviposition usually occurs from the middle of April to the first of May. In one instance I took eggs on the first day of April that had been incubated at least a week, and then, again, I have taken them as late as the middle of May. More eggs can be obtained of this bird in this vicinity than of any other of our Rapacia, and I think it may safely be said, all others. The nest is usually placed in the fork ofa 88 BrrpDs OF PENNSYLVANIA. high tree (the bird instinctively seeking safety rather than any par- ticular kind of a tree), and consists of sticks and twigs, resembling the - Crow’s nest, though generally somewhat larger and more compactly built. Period of incubation about three weeks. The eggs usually number from two to four, more commonly three; in one instance I found six. Of some thirty sets before me, there is a great diversity of markings. In shape, form and ground-work they are all alike, but in markings quite different. They are about the size, or a little larger, than the eggs of the domestic fowl; of a broad, oval form, granulated ; of a dusky-white color, very slightly inclined to blue in the fresh egg, with one or more very large reddish-brown blotches on the larger end, interspersed with smaller ones, diminishing in size and number as they approach the smaller end. This is the most common appearance of the egg. I have taken from the same nest eggs handsomely blotched and white, or dirty-white without any marks. I have selected four sets. for measurement : No. 1, long diameter, . . 2.30; short diameter, . . 1.85 Bot Cod OL SORT Sen Leen Ne) na Ce ONS (Rak “ PEND @ 4 C2 yy BOR mas eh Sete SO * During the courting season it is very noisy, sailing around in cireles: with its mate, and filling the air with its shrill notes. Their mutual attachment continues through life. They hunt in pairs. The male not only assists in incubation, but supplies his mate with food. If — approached by the sportsman while sitting, if the nest is low and ex- posed, the female will fly off very quietly and stealthily long before the male arrives within shot, and alight at some distance. If the nest is high up she will draw down her head, thinking herself perfectly concealed and secure, while her tail invariably projects over the nest, giving unmistakable evidence of its occupancy. They become attached to a particular piece of woods, and will build near the same spot for years, if not killed, and will even continue to build there for some time if their eggs are annually taken, occasionally rebuilding an old nest; according to my observations they usually prefer a new one. Foop. Dr. Wood says: ‘‘ This species subsists mostly on small birds and quadrupeds, now and then adding to their bill of farea snake.”” Merriam says: “I once took from the stomach of one of these hawks a snake measuring twenty-two inches in length.” Wilson informs us that he has taken the fragments and whole carcasses of ten frogs of various dimensions from the’crop of a single individual. “If not successful in obtaining a supply of frogs, it will eat the flesh of dead animals or fowls, apparently with a good relish.” — Wood. aah vi 6 4 of natural size. Plate 16. 4. QDhieaud- wewit 7 EA Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 89 Nuttall remarks that this Hawk lives principally on frogs, and probably insects and cray-fish in the winter. Gentry tells us the food consists of small quadrupeds and small birds generally, reptiles and many insects, and that the food of the young consists of fragments of quadrupeds, besides an immense number of young grasshoppers and beetles. In my examinations of fifty-seven of these Hawks which have been captured in Pennsylvania, forty-three showed field-mice, some few other smali quadrupeds, grasshoppers and insects, mostly beetles ; nine revealed frogs and insects; two, small birds, remains of small mammals and a few beetles; two, snakes and portions of frogs. The gizzard of one bird contained a few hairs of a field-mouse and some long black hairs which appeared very much like that of a skunk. The bird on dissection gave a very decided odor of pole-cat. In two of these Hawks, shot in Florida, I found in one portions of a small catfish, and in the other remains of a small mammal and some few coleopterous insects 343. Buteo latissimus (WILs.). Broad-winged Hawk. DESCRIPTION. (Plate 16, Fig. I.) Adult.—Entire upper parts umber-brown ; feathers on the occiputand back of the neck white at their bases; throat white, with longitudinal lines of brown and with a patch of brown on each side running from the base of the lower mandible; breast with a wide band composed of large cordate and sagittate spots and transverse bands of reddish-ferruginous tinged with ashy; other under parts white, with numerous sagittate spots of reddish on the flanks, abdomen and tibize. In some specimens, the _ ferruginous color predominates on all the under parts, except the under tail coverts, and all the feathers have large circular or ovate spots of white on both edges; under tail coverts white ; quills brownish-black, widely bordered with white on their in- ner webs; tail dark-brown, narrowly tipped with white, and with one wide band of white and several narrower bands near the base; bill, dark; feet, yellow; iris, brown. Young.—Upper parts dull umber-brown, many feathers edged with fulvous and aShy-white; upper tail coverts spotted with white, under parts white, generally tinged with yellowish, and having longitudinal stripes and oblong and lanceolate spots of brownish-black ; a stripe of dark-brown on each side of the neck from the base of the under mandible ; tail brown, with several bands of a darker shade of the same color, and of white on the inner webs, and narrowly tipped with white ; length of male about 14 inches; extent of wings about 32; tail about 7 inches; female, length about 17 inches, extent about 38; tail about 71 inches. Hab.—EHastern North America, from New Brunswick and the Saskatchewan re- gion to Texas and Mexico, and thence southward to Central America, northern South America, and the West Indies. Of the genus Auzzeo, in this section, the Broad-winged is the least abundant. It is a native and resident. The movements in the air of this Hawk are easy and beautifully graceful. When in quest of food, its flight is in circles. At times, when circling, like the Sparrow e e ° . / e Hawk, it will stand for an instant beating the air, and then descend 90 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. with great velocity upon its prey, which it secures, not in its descent, but as it is on the rise. I have on more than one occasion witnessed this species take aliment in the way described. I incorporate it, not- | withstanding that it disagrees with certain good authority. Nest-building takes place from the first to the micdle of May, and the four nests which I have found near West Chester have all been located in high trees; three in hickory trees, the other in an oak. All of these nests were over fifty or sixty feet from the ground. The nest is very similar to that of the Cooper’s Hawk; it is made of sticks, twigs, leaves and rootlets, lined with feathers; one I found lined with bark. The complement of eggs is usually four, although three some- times is the full set. The eggs are somewhat larger than those of the Cooper’s Hawk, with a dull white, grayish-ground color, with brown- ish red spots, which vary in size from specks to large patches, fre- quently confluent. This Hawk is easily captured, appearing quite tame and unsuspi- cious. I have always found it to be cowardly, and to evince no dis- position to repel an invasion of its nest. Audubon relates the following circumstance, which came under the notice of himself and brother-in-law while out on atour: ‘“ As we crossed a narrow skirt of woods my young companion spied a nest on a tree of moderate height, and, as my eye reached it, we both per- ceived that the parent bird was sitting in it. Some little consultation took place, as neither of us could determine whether it was a Crow’s or a Hawk’s nest, and it was resolved that my young friend should climb the tree, and bring down one of the eggs. On reaching the nest, he said the bird, which still remained quiet, was a Hawk, and unable to fly. I desired him to cover it with his handkerchief, try to secure it, and bring it down, together with the eggs. All this was accomplished without the least difficulty. I looked at it with inde- scrible pleasure, as I saw it was new to me, and then felt vexed that it was not of a more spirited nature, as it had neither defended its eggs nor itself. It lay quietly in the handkerchief, and I carried it home to my father-in-law’s, showed it to the family, and went to my room, where I instantly began drawing it. I put the bird on a stick made fast to my table. It merely moved its feet to grasp the stick, and stood erect, but raised its feathers, and drew in its head on its shoulders. I passed my hand over it to smooth the feathers by gentle pressure. It moved not. The plumage remained as I wished it. Its eye, directed towards mine, appeared truly sorrowful. I measured the length of its bill with my compass, began my outlines, continued measuring part after part, as I went on, and finished the drawing with- out the bird even moving once. The drawing being finished I raised the window, laid hold of the poer bird, and launched it into the air, Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 91 when it sailed off until out of my sight, without uttering a single cry, or deviating from its course.” ! | It would seem, however, that the disposition of this bird, under cer- tain circumstances, is very variable. Mr. A. G. Boardman, of Maine, who has found several nests, and secured the eggs, finds it to be cour- ageous and spirited. A man whom he had employed to obtain a nest, was attacked with great fury, while ascending the tree; his cap was torn from his head, and he would have been seriously injured if the bird had not been shot. Another instance is mentioned by Dr. Wood, where this Hawk attacked a boy climbing to her nest, fastened her talons in his arm, and could not be removed until heaten off and killed with a club. | Foon. , Gentry says: “The food of this species consists of small birds, small quadrupeds, reptiles and insects.” ‘‘ When skimming athwart a meadow or similar situation, it moves with trifling noise, and when it espies a reptile or a quadruped, pounces down upon it with the fleetness of an arrow, seldom missing its aim, and bears it away to an adjoining tree, where it feasts upon its still quivering flesh with self- complacency. When it visits the farm-yard, which it seldom does, there 1s manifested much of the fearless spirit of /zneatus. It comes directly to the spot and not in a stealthy, circuitous manner, after the fashion of borealis, alights upon the summit of a tall tree, singles out its victim and darts down upon it, bearing it away, even when the proprietor is within easy distance. The coolness and audaciousness of the act, for the time being, disconcert the actions of the latter, and entirely eclipse his presence of mind. In some districts young chickens and goslings are the objects of these visits; but with us tame pigeons and the smaller fowls.” —Gentry. In speaking of this bird, Dr. Wood says: “Seldom, if ever, does it. seize its prey on the wing, but secures it mostly on the ground, sub- sisting on frogs, snakes, mice and small birds, devouring the latter without removing the feathers. This Hawkin its habits is not as neat in preparing its food as most of its genus; holding its prey with both feet, it tears and eats without much regard to cleanliness or feathers.” In twelve specimens examined by myself, four revealed mice; three, small birds ; four, frogs; one, killed the 22d of May, 1882, was gorged with cray-fish, with which were traces of coleopterous insects. 99 Breps or PENNSYLVANIA. Genus ARCHIBUTEO. Breum. 347a. Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis (GMEL.). American Rough-legged Hawk. DESCRIPTION. “Adult male and female: Too variable in plumage to be concisely described. In general, the whole pumage with dark brown or blackish and light brown, gray, or whitish, the lighter colors edging or barring the individual feathers ; tendency to excess of the whitish on the head, and to the formation of a dark abdominal zone or area which may or may not include the tibiz; usually a blackish anteorbital and maxillary area. Lining of wings extensively blackish. Tail usually white from the base for some distance, then with dark and light barring. The inner webs of the flight feathers extensively white from the base, usually with little, if any, of the dark barring so prevalent among buteonine hawks. From such a light and vari- egated plumage as this, the bird varies to more or less nearly uniform blackish, in which case the tail is usually barred several times with white. * * Jength ofa female, 22.00; extent, 54.00; wing, 17.50; tail, 9.00; iris light brown; bill mostly blackish-blue, cere pale greenish-yellow, feet dull yellow, claws blue-black. This is about an average size ; the male averages smaller.’’—Coue’s Key. fHab.—Whole of North America north of Mexico, breeding chiefly north of the United States. In any plumage this bird can easily be distinguished from other of our hawks by the tarsus, which is thickly feathered in front to the toes. I have found the Rough-legged or Black Hawk in Pennsylvania only as a winter sojourner, about the meadows and grass fields along or near large streams. In the winter of 1879, when hunting along the Brandywine creek, I saw seven of these hawks at one time, perched about on trees in a meadow of some five acres in extent. In this lo- cality, the species is usually found singly or in pairs. The Rough- legs generally migrate northward about the middle of March; I have, however, observed them here late in April. “Its migrations appear to be quite regular and extensive—more so, perhaps, than is generally supposed—though probably it does not differ from most Hawks in this respect. Birds of this family must follow their prey, wherever this leads them, and only a few of the more powerful species, able to prey upon hares and Ptarmigan, pass the winter in our highest latitudes. The Rough-legged is a rather northerly species, rarely, if ever, breed- ing within the limits of the United States, and becoming rarer to- wards its southern terminus.” —Coues. Although this Hawk usually breeds north of the United States, or at least is generally so recorded by various writers, it occasionally nests as far south as Pennsylvania. April 5, 1886, Mr. Samuel B. Ladd, of West Chester, Pa., found a nest and two eggs of this bird, in a thick woods, at Fites Eddy, on the Susquehanna river. Mr. Ladd has kindly furnished me with the fol- lowing description of this nest and eggs: ‘‘The nest, partly con- cealed by a wild grape vine, was built in the crotch of an oak tree, Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 93 some thirty feet from the ground, and was composed entirely of sticks, averaging about one-half an inch in diameter; interior made up of small sticks or twigs. The general appearance of the nest was as if it had been crushed. Eggs measure respectively. 2.55 x 1.79 and 2.40 ’ Birps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 125 certain long hairs thrown forward and upward; bill a bluish horn-color, grooved, wedged at the end, straight and about an inch and a quarter long ; touches of black, proceeding from the lower mandible, end in a broad, black strip that joins the black on the shoulder ; back black, divided by a broad, lateral strip of white, the feathers composing which are loose and unwebbed, resembling hairs,—whence its name; rump and shoulders of the wing black ; wings black, tipped and spotted with white, three rows of spots being visible on the secondaries and five on the primaries; greater wing coverts also spotted with white ; tail, asin the others, cuneiform, con- sisting of ten strong-shafted and pointed feathers, the four middle ones black, the next partially white, the two exterior ones white, tinged at the tip with a brownish burnt-color; tail coverts black ; whole lower side pure white; legs, feet and claws light blue, the latter remarkably large and strong; inside of the mouth flesh col- ored ; tongue pointed, beset with barbs, and capable of being protruded more than an inch anda half; the oshyoides, in this species, passes on each side of the neck, ascends the skull, passes down towards the nostril, and is wound round the bone of the right eye, which projects considerably more than the left for its accommodation. The great mass of hairs that cover the nostril appears to be designed as a protection to the front of the head, when the bird is engaged in digging holes into the wood. The membrane which encloses the brain in this, as in all the other species of Wood- peckers, is also of extraordinary strength ; no doubt, to preventeany bad effects from violent concussion while the bird is employed in digging for food. The female wants the red on the hind head, and thé white below is tinged with brownish.’’— Wilson. fiab.—Middle portions of the eastern United States, from the Atlantic coast to the great plains. The Hairy Woodpecker is found in Pennsylvania at all seasons of the year. It is quite plentiful, but in many sections, and probably throughout the State, is less abundant than the Downy Woodpecker. The Hairy Woodpeckers, generally shy and somewhat difficult to ap- proach, are found mostly in the woods, and although they sometimes when in quest of food visit the treesin orchards and yards, their visits to these places are much less frequent than those of the little Downy. Both the Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers are called ‘ Sap-suckers,” by those who are unacquainted with birds, from the common belief that both subsist largely on the sap of apple and other fruit trees. This popular, yet mistaken idea, has induced many farmers and fruit erowers to destroy these two species, as well as other Woodpeckers, when found about their orchards. Foop. Gentry says: “Its food consists of the larvee and the pupz of insects which eke out an existence in the outer woody layer, or lie dormant underneath the bark. The small spiders. which also occupy the latter situations, contribute no mean part of their diet. When there is a scarcity of insect food in winter, the seeds of grasses and various kinds of berries are greedily eaten.”” Wilson refers to this bird as “‘ a haunter of orchards and lover of apple trees, an eager hunter of insects, their eggs and larvee in old stumps and old rails, in rotten branches and crevices of the bark.” ‘The food of this species consists principally of the eggs and larvee of injurious insects that are burrowing in the 126 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. wood of our fruit and forest trees; these he is enabled to obtain by chiselling out a small hole with his powerful bill, and drawing them from their lurking-places with his long barbed tongue. He also eats some small fruits and berries, but never, so far as I am aware, the buds or blossoms of trees, as some persons assert.—/. A. Samuels. No. | DATE. LOCALITY. Foop-MATERIALS. 1 | Nov. —, 1879, . | Chester county, Pa., . . | Seeds of berries. 2 | April 11, 1880, .| Newark, Delaware, . .| Larvee and beetles. 3 | June 13, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Spiders and dipterous insects. 4 | Dec. 30, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Small seeds and particles of Indian corn. 5 Jian. 28, 188i, - | Chester county. Pa-, . - | Beetles: 6 | Mar. 10, 1881, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Numerous insects. 7 | Sept. 18, 1881, .}| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Black ants and larvee. 8 | May 18, 1883, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Black ants, diptera and beetles. 9 | Mar. 26, 1884, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Beetles and larve. 394. Dryobates pubescens (LINN.). Downy Woodpecker. ~ DESCRIPTION. A miniature of D. villosus. Above black, with a white band down the back ; two white stripes on the side of the head ; the lower of opposite sides always separated ; the upper sometimes confluent on the nape ; two stripes of black on the side of the head, the lower not running into the forehead ; beneath white ; wing much spotted with white, the larger coveris with two series each ; tertiaries or inner secondaries all banded with white ; two outer tail feathers white, with two bands of black at the end, third white at tip and externally. Male, with red terminating the white feathers on the nape; legs and feet bluish-gray; claws light-blue tipped with black ; iris brown ; bill blackish. Length, about 6} inches; wing, 33. HTZab.—Northern and eastern North America, from british Columbia and the eastern edge of the Plains northward and eastward. This indefatigable little insect-hunter, the smallest of all our Wood- peckers, is a common resident in Pennsylvania. The timid disposition so frequently noticed in the preceding species is rarely, if ever, shown by the Downy Woodpeckers, which, at all seasons, are found frequent- ing our shade and fruit trees, and not unfrequently these little feath- ered carpenters may be observed excavating nesting places in trees close to the habitations of man. ; Foon. Downy Woodpeckers subsist chiefly on various forms of insects, and when this food becomes scarce they feed oftentimes on the seeds of grasses and some few other plants; also, small fruits, such as wild grapes, cedar berries, etc. In the winter months I have seen these Woodpeckers, also Tufted Titmice and White-bellied Nuthatches feed with apparent relish on pieces of fat beef and pork, which had been suspended in trees or nailed to grape-arbors for their benefit. The Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 127 kernels of walnuts, shell-barks and other nuts that I have placed in trees were likewise eaten by both the Woodpecker and Nuthatch. The following interesting and instructive account of the Downy Woodpecker in apple orchards is given by Wilson: “ The principal characteristics of this little bird are diligence, familiarity, perseverance and a strength and energy in the head and muscles of the neck which are truly astonishing. Mounted on the infected branch of an old apple tree, where insects have lodged their corroding and destructive brood in crevices between the bark and wood, he labors sometimes for half an hour incessantly at the same spot before he has succeeded in dis- lodging and destroying them. Atthese times you may walk up pretty close to the tree, and even stand immediately below it, within five or six feet of the bird, without in the least embarrassing him. The strokes of his bill are distinctly heard several hundred yards off. * * * * ‘He has a single note, chink, which like the former species, he fre- quently repeats; and when he flies off, or alights on another tree, he » utters a rather shriller cry, composed of nearly the same kind of note, quickly reiterated. In fall and winter, he associates with the Titmouse, Creeper, etc., both in their wood and orchard excursions, and usually leads the van. Of all our Woodpeckers, none rid the apple:trees of so many vermin as this, digging off the moss which the negligence of the proprietor had suffered to accumulate, and probing every crevice. In fact, the orchard is his favorite resort in all seasons; and his indus- try is unequalled and almost incessant, which is more than can be said of anv other species we have. In fall he is particularly fond of boring the apple trees for insects. digging a circular hole through the bark, just sufficient to admit his bill; after that, a second, third, etc., in pretty regular horizontal circles round the body of the tree; these parallel circles of holes are often not more than an inch or an inch and a half apart, and sometimes so close together that I have covered eight or ten of them at once with a dollar. From nearly the surface of the ground up to the first fork, and sometimes far beyond it, the whole bark of many apple trees is perforated in this manner, so as to appear as if made by successive discharges of buck-shot ; and our little Woodpecker—the subject of the present account—is the principal perpetrator of this supposed mischief; I say supposed, for, so far from these perforations of the bark being ruinous, they are not only harm- less, but, I have good reason to believe, really beneficial to the health and fertility of the tree. I leave it to the philosophical botanist to account for this; but the fact I am-confident of. In more than fifty orchards which I have myself carefully examined, those trees which were marked by the Woodpecker (for some trees they never touch, perhaps because not penetrated by insects) were uniformly the most thriving and seemingly the most productive. Many of these were 128 Brrps of PENNSYLVANIA. upwards of sixty years old, their trunks completely covered with holes, while the branches were broad, luxuriant and loaded with fruit. Of decayed trees, more than three-fourths were untouched by the Wood- pecker, Several intelligent farmers, with whom I have conversed, candidly acknowledge the truth of these observations, and with justice look upon these birds as beneficial; but the most common opinion is, that.they bore the tree to suck the sap, and so destroy its vegetation ; though pine and other resinous trees, on the juices of which it is not pretended they feed, are often found equally perforated. Were the sap of the tree their object, the saccharine juice of the birch, the sugar-maple, and several others, would be much more inviting (because more sweet and nourishing) than that of either the pear or apple tree; but [ have not observed one mark on the former for ten thousand that may be seen on the latter. Besides, the early part of spring is the’ season when the sap flows most abundantly; whereas, it is only dur- ing the months of September, October and November that Wood- peckers are seen so indefatigably engaged in orchards, probing every erack and crevice, boring through the bark—and, what is worth re- marking, chiefly on the south and south-west sides of the tree—for the eggs‘and larvee deposited there by the countless swarms of summer insects. These, if suffered to remain, would prey upon the very vitals —if I may so express it—of the tree, and in the succeeding summer give birth to myriads more of their race, equally destructive. ‘“ Here, then, is a whole species, | may say genus, of birds, which Providence seems to have formed for the protection of our fruit and forest trees from the ravages of vermin, which every day destroy millions of those noxious insects that would otherwise blast the hopes of the husbandman ; they even promote the fertility of the tree, and, in return, are proscribed by those who ought to have been their pro- tectors, and incitements and rewards held out for their destruction! Let us examine better into the operations of nature, and many of our mistaken opinions and groundiess prejudices will be abandoned for more just, enlarged and humane modes of thinking.” No. DATE. LOCALITY. Foop-MATERIALS. 1| Feb. 20, 1880, .| East Bradford, Pa., . .| Larve. 2| Feb. 20, 1880, .| East Bradford, Pa., . .| Beetles and other insects. 3 | Mar. 6, 1880, .| East Bradford, Pa., .| Larvee, beetles and seeds of Rosa . lucida. 4 | May 1, 1880, .| Willistown, Pa,... .| Larvee. 5 | Sept. 25, 1880, .| East Bradford, Paw, . .| Berries and ‘‘ grub worms.” 6 | Sept. 24, 1880, .| East Bradford, Pa., . .| ‘‘ Wood grubs.”’ 7 |-Nov. 20, 1884, .| East Bradford, Pa., . .| Small seeds and fragments of beetles, 8 | Noy. 20, 1884, .| East Bradford, Pa., . .| Larvee and fragments of beetles. 9 | Dec. 20, 1884, .| West Chester, Pa., . .| Insects, chiefly beetles. 10 | May 23, 1885, . | Chester county, Pa.,. .| Larve. / Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 129 Genus SPHYRAPICUS. Barrp. 402. Sphyrapicus varius (LInv.). Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. DESCRIPTION. First primary shortest; fourth longest; third a little shorter; general color above black, much variegated with white; feathers of the back and rump brownish-white, ‘spotted with black ; crown scarlet, bordered by black on the sides of the head and nape; a streak from above the eye, and another from the bristles of the bill, passing below the eye and into the yellowish of the belly, and a stripe along the edges of the wing coverts white; a triangular broad patch of scarlet on the chin, bordered on -each side by black stripes from the lower mandible, which meet behind, and extend into a large quadrate spot on the breast ; rest of under parts yellowish-white, streaked ‘on the sides with black ; inner web of inner tail-feather white, spotted with black; outer feathers black, edged and spotted with white. Female, with the red of the throat replaced by white. Young male, without black on the breast, or red on the top of the head. Length, 8.25 inches; extent about 16; wing about 4.75; tail, 3.30 inches. Hab.—North America, north and east of the Great Plains, south to the West In- dies, Mexico, and Guatemala. The Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, although mentioned by some writers as a resident in Pennsylvania, very rarely, I think, breeds here. Occasionally a few of these birds are found in winter. Gen- erally speaking, however, the Yellow-bellied Woodpeckers are to be observed as somewhat common spring and fall migrants, which arrive in this region early in April, and soon disappear to return again, but not earlier than the last week in September. During their visits in the spring these birds are much less abundant than in the autumn, and are seen principally in the woods, although I have, in many in- stances, observed them in apple orchards. While they sojourn with us in the fall, they evince a strong disposition to frequent apple trees ; often as many as six or eight of these birds, can be secured in a small orchard. All Woodpeckers have a common habit of hiding behind limbs, or sometimes in holes, etc., as you approach a tree on which they are feeding, and usually they continually shift their positions to escape notice. When hunting in apple orchards, particularly in the fall, I have repeatedly seen the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker slip be- hind a limb, and remain perfectly motionless, as if he understood that the color of his back, not unlike the general appearance of -the _ bark or lichens, against which he rested, might aid him in eluding ob- servation. Oftentimes I have made two or three circuits about trees where these birds were thus hiding, and generally noticed that they would not move until convinced by my actions that they had been discovered. Of all our Woodpeckers, the subject of this present sketch is probably the most expert in capturing insects on the wing; 9 Brrps. 130 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. this bird, oftentimes, like the Common Pewee or other fly-catchers, may be seen to start from a timb and seize its passing prey. This bird, like the Hairy and Downy. Woodpeckers, is frequently seen clinging to the small twigs of various trees and bushes collecting in- sects or picking at berries. The Yellow-bellied Woodpecker is the only representative of the genus Sphyrapicus found east of the Mis- sissippi river; two species and one sub-species of this genus occur in the Rocky mountain and Pacific coast regions of the United States. Foon. In referring to these sap-sucking Woodpeckers, Dr. Coues says: ‘‘ Birds of this remarkable genus feed much upon fruits, as well as insects, and also upon soft inner bark (cambium); they injure fruit- trees by stripping off the bark, sometimes in large areas, instead of simply boring holes. Of the several species commonly called “ Sap suckers,” they alone deserve the name. In declaring war against Woodpeckers, the agriculturist will do well to discriminate between these somewhat injurious and the highly beneficial species.”’ My field observations, also the post mortem examinations of some twenty odd Yellow-bellied Woodpeckers (taken chiefly during the fall migrations), lead me to think that in this region these birds subsist mainly on in- sects, such as beetles, large flies, ants, spiders and larvee. In the vis- cera of specimens taken in the late autumn and winter, I have found sometimes small seeds and berries. In the stomachs of two birds which were shot in apple trees, I detected a small amount of a voge- table substance, which may have been inner bark. On one occasion I opened the stomach of an adult male, taken in the spring, and no- ticed that it contained a considerable quantity of fluid, of a yellowish color; a drop of this fluid touched to my tongue was found to be ex- ceeding.y sweet. ‘““ Dr. Bryant, who has paid some attention to the examination of the food of this bird. in the * Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History,’ vol. X, 91, makes the following remarks: ‘It has long been known that some of our smaller Woodpeckers pick out portions of the sound bark of trees, particularly of apple trees, where there are no larve, 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 and con- sist of small, irregularly rounded holes, and in this vicinity are made almost exclusively by the Downy Woodpecker (D. pubescens), aided occasionally by the Hairy Woodpecker (D. vzllosus). In certain parts of the west, however, it is said that great damage is done in or- Brrps oF PENNSYLVANTA. 131 chards by the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker (S. varius); 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 speci- mens of this bird, forwarded by Dr. Hoy to the Smithsonian Institu- tion, have been placed in my hands by Professor Baird for examina- tion: 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 coleopters, larvze of boring beetles, ants, and fragments of the inner bark of the apple tree.’ | “ After giving minute analyses of the characteristics of the tongues and portions of the skulls of the different small Woodpeckers, and comparing them with the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker’s, showing how the latter differ from the others, he says: “The general shape of the whole tongue is not much unlike that of the Robin; the ciliated edges show an analogy to the Meliphagida, 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 exam- ined by me, fragments of the inner bark were found in all, so that it can hardly be presumed to have been accidentally intro- duced. 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 quan- tity of which was greater than that of the fragments of bark: in one bird, there were two larvze of a boring beetle, so large that there was not room for both in the stomach at once, and one remained in the lower part of the cesophagus. If these were, as is probable, the larvee of the Saperda, they would do more damage than twenty Wood- peckers; and I sincerely hope that these birds are not to be extermi- nated, unless it is clearly demonstrated that the injury caused by the destruction of the bark is not more than compensated by their de- struction of noxious insects.”.—From EF. A. Samuels’ Northern and Eastern Birds. Gentry says: ‘‘ The food of these birds is less of an insect character than that of any other of the Picarian family. Although a great de- stroyer of insects in their most destructive stages, yet the untold mis- chief which they achieve in the perforation of the inner bark of many trees to such an extent as to kill them, fairly outbalances the immense good which they accomplish. In some parts of Wisconsin, this de- struction is perpetrated on a grand scale. In 1868, Dr. Brewer, in com- 132 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. pany with Dr. Hoy, visited Racine, and witnessed the results of this perforatory process. The punctures were made into the inner bark of trees, and were so close together that the bark eventually became stripped off, causing a complete and fatal destruction of them. In one garden, all the mountain-ash and white pine trees were entirely killed. It is evident from the foregoing statements that these birds manifest an ungovernable and decided taste for the inner bark. As these at- tacks were made in the spring, it is probable that the sap, which had begun to circulate, was the chief source of attraction. We have ob- served them to attack trees in this neighborhood, but never to such an extent.” GENUS CHOPHLGUS. COaBANis. 405. Ceophloeus pileatus (Linv.). Pileated Woodpecker. DESCRIPTION. Bill blue-black, lower mandible much lighter in color than the upper; feet and tarsi in dried specimens black ; iris yellowish ; general color of body, wings and tail dull black; a narrow white streak from just above the eye to 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-devel- oped occipital crest, as also a patch on the ramus of the lower jaw, scarlet-red ; a few white crescents on the sides of the body and on the abdomen. Female similar to male, but without red on the cheek and only the back part of crest red. Length about 18 inches ; extent about 27 ; wing, 93 inches. Hab.—Formerly whole wooded region of North America; now rare or extirpated in the more thickly settled parts of the Eastern States. This bird, the largest of all our Woodpeckers, is found in Pennsyl- vania at all seasons, but occurs only in the heavily wooded districts, and even in these secluded localities it is not common. In April, 1885, I found a nest of the Pileated Woodpecker in Orange county, Florida, where this species is exceedingly numerous. It was made in a wild cherry tree, growing near the edge of an orange grove. The excavation, about two feet, or a little less in depth, was made in a dead limb. The entrance to the nest was not over twelve or fifteen feet from the ground. The glossy, white eggs, quite small for the size of the bird, were removed when three had been deposited on a few chips at the bottom of the opening. As the mouth of the cavity had been somewhat broken when they were taken out, I supposed the birds would desert the place, but about one week later I visited the tree and saw a Pileated Woodpecker, which I judge was the same bird that had been robbed by me, at work in this cavity. Having heard the bird. working, I approached the tree cautiously, and stood back of a neighboring tree, whose thick branches, with their abun- OR) ta ‘ CSW ve Te be at eee 5 G pan aN. Rr ak 4 mite visi, Plate 21. ize. of natural s i 3 Cpl publ Naod pecker 1. Male; 2. Female; 3. Young. Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. : 133 dant covering of “long moss,” entirely concealed my person from this woodchopper’s keen eye. I watched, and soon saw its large bill clasp- ing a chip appear at the opening of the cavity, in another instant the head and neck were protruded, and after taking a quick survey of all surroundings, as if to assure herself that no enemy was a witness to her industry and vigilance, the chip was dropped down, and the bird resumed her digging. After she had thus reappeared several times with pieces of wood, and always manifested the same caution before dropping the chips, I, when she again came in view, made a slight noise, but did not show myself, when immediately she dropped back into the cavity and did not again continue her labors or show herself, although I remained quiet for several minutes. As the dinner horn had sounded some time before, I deemed it more important to attend to the wants of the inner man than to continue to wait for the bird to renew her work, and picking up a piece of shell-rock I threw it against the limb, when she flew out uttering a shrill cry. These birds feed largely on beetles and their larvze, which are so abundant in dead trees. Wild grapes, berries and acorns are also sometimes eaten. GENUS MELANERPES. Swarnson. 406. Melanerpes erythrocephalus (Linv.). Red-headed Woodpecker. DESCRIPTION. (Plate 21.) Head and neck all around 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 ; belly usually tinged with reddish. Bill and feet blue-black ; iris brown. Female is not different. Young.—Head, neck and back dull gray, varied with blackish; secondary feath- ers, usually crossed with dark bands. The head in nearly all specimens taken in fall and winter, with more or less red feathers. Length, 95 inches; extent about 18; wing, 5} inches. Hab.—United States, west to the Rocky mountains, straggling westward to Salt Lake valley ; rare or local east of the Hudson river. ; The Red-headed Woodpecker, readily recognized by its red, white and blue plumage, is found in Pennsylvania at all seasons, but during the summer is much more abundant than at other periods. I have repeatedly observed these birds during the autumn and winter months, in small parties numbering from eight to a dozen or sometimes twenty individuals, but never found them in large flocks. Mr. Gentry says: “Near the center of our State, especially in the counties of Union and Northumberland, the greatest numbers are to be found. No later than the tenth of August, we have seen immense flocks, numbering hundreds, in orchards, gleaning among the trunks and branches of apple trees for the insects which lurk in their creviced bark. So tame 134 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. and confiding were they that it was possible to approach within a few. paces of them without exciting suspicion or creating alarm. In the vicinity of the White Deer mountains, in Union county, they exist in great abundance during the breeding period, and are the objects of special protection by the farmers, for the immense good which they accomplish in the destruction of myriads of noxious insects.” In many localities in Eastern Pennsylvania during the past few years these beautiful birds have become quite scarce. As farmers and fruit-growers very generally seem to fully appreciate the beneficent services these birds render, and seldom subject them to persecution, I attribute this scarcity largely to the fact that the adult Red-heads find a ready market for millinery purposes: When pursued by gun- ners, these Woodpeckers first endeavor to escape by flying to the top- most branches of the tallest trees; then, if further molested, they will conceal themselves in holes, where I have known them to remain for over one hour before venturing out. In this locality these birds subsist chiefly on an insect bill of fare; cherries, berries, occasionally ripe apples, green corn and pears are fed upon. In several examinations that I have made of birds shot in the winter season were discovered particles of acorns, gravel and dif- ferent forms of insects. In the winter, like the common Crow Black- birds, the Red-heads will sometimes visit corn-cribs and feed on corn which they pick from the ears. Although I have never seen this spe- cies store up acorns, etc., there is no doubt that they occasionally thus provide for themselves. In writing of the food-habits of the Red- head, Wilson says: ‘“* Though this bird occasionally regales himself on fruit, yet his natural and most useful food is insects, particularly those numerous and destructive species that penetrate the bark and body of the tree to deposit their eggs and larve, the latter of which are well known to make immense havoc. That insects are his natural food is evident from the construc- tion of his wedge-formed bill, the length, elasticity, and figure of his tongue, and the strength and position of his claws, as well as from his usual habits. In fact, insects form at least two-thirds of his subsist- ence; 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 vehe- mently 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, caterpillars and other larvee which I have taken from the stom- achs of these birds have often surprised me. These larve, it should be remembered, feed not only on the buds, leaves and blossoms, but Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 135 on the very vegetable life of the tree—the alburnum, or newly form- ing bark and wood. The consequence is, that the whole branches and whole trees decay under the silent ravages of these destructive vermin ; witness the late destruction of many hundred acres of pine trees in the north-eastern parts of South Carolina, and the thousands of peach trees that yearly decay from the same cause. Will any one say that taking half adozen 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 con- tributed to preserve? We are told,in the benevolent language of the Scriptures, not to muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn; and why should not the same generous liberality be extended to this useful family of birds, which form so powerful a phalanx against the inroads of many millions of destructive vermin 2” a DATE. LOCALITY. ; Foop-MATERIALS. 1. | May 6, 1880, . | Chester county, Pa.,. .| Beetles and sand. 2. | May 17, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| larvee and seeds. 3. | June 12, 1880, . | Chester county, Pa., . . | Cherries. 4, | June 12, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa., . .| Cherries and ants. 5. | Sept. 11, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .; Corn (maize). 6. | Sept, 11, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Black ants, 7..| Sept. 11, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Larvee and beetles. 8. | May 8, 1883, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Chiefly beetles and few dipterous insects. 9. | July 5, 1883, .| Chester county, Pa, .{ Piece of an apple. 10. | March 15, 1886, .| Allerton Farm, Pa., . .| Beetles. 11. March 13, 1885, .| Volusia, Florida,.. . .; Palmetto berries. | 409. Melanerpes carolinus (LINv.). Red-bellied Woodpecker. DESCRIPTION. ‘Top of head and nape crimson read; forehead whitish, strongly tinged with light red, a Shade of which is also seen on the cheek; still stronger on the middle of the belly. Under parts brownish white, with a faint wash of yellowish on the belly; back, rump and wing coverts banded black and white; upper tail coverts white, with occasional blotches; tail feathers black; first transversely banded with white; second less so; all the rest with whitish tips; inner feathers banded with white on the inner web; the outer web with a stripe of white along the middle; iris red. Female with the crown ashy; forehead pale red; nape right red. Length, 92 inches; extent about 17; wing about 5 inches. Hab.—Eastern United States, to the Rocky mountains; rare or accidental east of the Hudson river. Audubon found nests of Red-bellied Woodpeckers in orchards in Pennsylvania. The Messrs. Baird, writing in 1844, mention this species as occuring in the vicinity of Carlisle, Cumberland county, in refer- ence to it they say: ‘** Abundant; most so in winter; resident.” Dr. Ezra Michener, in his Chester county list of 1863, records this 136 Brrps or PENNSYLVANIA. bird as a “resident, frequent; rare in summer.” Dr. Turnbull, in his: Birds of Eastern Parateyl aarti and New Jersey, 1869, says, ““common, but more frequent in summer; found mostly on the larger trees of the forest.” Mr. Gentry, Paine in 1877 (Lite Histories of Birds), observes that he has found a few of these birds in Eastern Pennsy}- vania from November until the latter part of April. According to my observation, the Red-bellied Woodpecker occurs in Pennsylvania only as a rare winter visitant. The few birds observed by myself in this locality were exceedingly shy, and when found were seen in tall trees in the forests. The stomach contents of three of these birds, captured during the winter months in Chester and Delaware counties, Pa., consisted of black beetles. larvae, fragments of acorns, and a few seeds of wild orapes. In various sections of Florida where the Red-bellied Woodpeckers are exceedingly numerous; in fact, by odds, the most abundant of all the woodpeckers, the common names of “ Orange Sapsucker” and ‘“ Orange-borer” are universally applied tothem. On making inquiry of farmers and others, I learned that the names were given because these woodpeckers ‘‘ sucked the sap ” of orange trees and fed on oranges. Supposing these statements were wrongfully made, I, at first, gave but little attention to them. When, however, [ visited Welaka, Palatka, Volusia, Deland and other places where numerous orange trees were thriving, I was informed by the orange growers that the Red-bellied Woodpeckers oftentimes destroyed large numbers of oranges when they had matured and were ready for picking; also, that ‘they dam- aged the orange trees by boring holes in them and sucking the sap.” I had but little opportunity of making a careful study of this orange- eating habit, so greatly talked about, owing to the fact that when I first visited these localities it was late in February, or after the oranges had been picked and shipped north. In the month of March, 1885, I camped a few days at “ Bluffton,” near Volusia, in an orange grove, owned by Mr. Bird, of New York city. This grove contained about thirty acres of trees, which were loaded with fruit, then being picked for market. Through the kindness of Mr. Bird and his overseer, Mr. Curtis, I collected twenty-six Red-bellied Woodpeckers in this orange grove, eleven of these birds had fed to a more or less extent on oranges. Three of the eleven stomachs taken from specimens killed in the forenoon, soon after daylight, contained only orange pulp. Light stomachs showed, in addition to orange pulp, insects and berries. The stomachs of the remaining fifteen birds contained no traces of oranges, but revealed chiefly insects, a few berries and seeds. Iexamined two dozen or more oranges which had been attacked by the Woodpeckers, and found that all had been bored about midway between the stem of natural size. Biche 1. Male; 2. Female. Plate 2 Brrps 0F PENNSYLVANIA. 137 and blossom end. These holes, always round, varied greatly in size. The birds usually, I think, pick off the skin from a space about the size of an ordinary five cent piece, and then eat out the pulp. In an orchard at Hawkinsville, near Deland Landing, on the St. John’s river, I oftentimes, in the month of April, 1885, found oranges which had been evidently overlooked when the crop was gathered, and in most instances observed that they were bored. In this orchard, on one oc- casion, I saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker eating an orange. He evi- dently recognized the fact that it was about the last of the season, as he had enlarged the opening sufficiently that his head was almost en- tirely hidden in the yellow skin. from the sides of which he picked the few remaining particles of pulp. I was shown orange trees that these ‘““Sap-suckers”’ were said to have bored, these borings, however, did not appear to injure the trees, as they seemed to me to be equally as flourishing as other trees whose trunks showed no marks of a wood- pecker’s bill. : GENUS COLAPTES. Swarnson. 412. Colaptes auratus (LInvN.). Flicker. DESCRIPTION. (Plate 22.) Bill differs from other of our woodpeckers. It is long, slender, slightly curved, without lateral ridges; nostrils exposed. Shafts and under surfaces of wing and tail feathers gamboge yellow; a black patch on each side of the cheek ; a red cres- cent on the upper part of hind-neck, throat and stripe beneath the eye pale lilac brown. A crescentic patch on the breastand rounded spots on the belly black ; back and wing coverts with interrupted transverse bands of black; neck above and on sides ashy. In the female the black check patch is usually absent. Length, about 125 inches; extent about 20; wing about 6 inches. HTab.—Northern and eastern North America, west to the eastern slope of the Rocky mountains and Alaska, Occasional on the Pacific slope from California northward. Accidental in Europe. This species, the most common of all our Woodpeckers, is found in Pennsylvania during all months of the year, but is far more numerous in the summer season than at other times. The Flicker, like all of the Woodpeckers, flies in an undulatory manner. When flying it is easily recognized from other species by its conspicuous golden-yellow under parts of the tail and wings and whiterump. As previously remarked, Woodpeckers are not commonly seen on the ground; in this particu- lar, however, the subject of this present sketch differs from other of his kin, as he is frequently to be observed hopping about in grass fields, meadows or along the roadside searching for food. Although the Flicker commonly lays about six eggs, I have known as many as seven- teen eggs to have been taken from the nest of one bird. Flickers are great destroyers of ants; they also subsist on various forms of noxious 138 Brrps or PENNSYLVANIA. insects, and in the fall and winter season, eat in addition to insect- food, berries, wild cherries, small seeds of grasses, ete. ORDER MACROCHIRES. GOATSUCKERS AND SWIF'TS. SUBORDER CAPRIMULGI. GoatTsucKERs. Famity CAPRIMULGIDA. GoatTSsucKERs. GENUS ANTROSTOMUS. Gou_p. 417. Antrostomus vociferus (Wits.). Whip-poor-will. (Plate 238.) Length about 10 inches; extent of wings about 18 inches. Hab.—Eastern United States to the plains, south to Guatemala. The name of ‘ Goatsuckers,” given to members of this family, originated from a silly notion that the Kuropean species sucked the teats of goats. It is misleading and should be abolished. Although the Whip poor-will and Night Hawk are ponorallvme re- garded, by those who are not versed in ornithology, as the same bird, it can readily be seen, by referring to plate 23, that they differ greatly. It will be observed that the Whip-poor-will has conspicuous, long and stiff bristles at the base of bill; the bill of the Night Hawk is not fur- nished with long, conspicuous and stiff bristles. The Whip-poor-will has no white spot on the primaries; the Night Hawk has a well-marked spot of white on five outer primaries. The white on tail of males of both species is also different. In the Whip-poor-will the lower half, of the three outer tail featers, is white; Night Hawk has a broad white bar crossing the tail (except middle feathers) near the tip. The males, both species, have transverse white throat bars. The female Whip-poor-will has a tawny throat bar, and inconspicuous terminal spots of the same color on lateral tail feathers. Female Night Hawk, throat bar tawny, white spot on wing, but no terminal patch of white crossing tail. The Whip-poor-will is a rather common summer resident in the wooded and mountainous portions of Pennsylvania. It arrives in this locality from April 22 to May 1, and migrates southward in Septem- ber. The Whip-poor-will migrates singly or in pairs, and, unlike the Night Hawk, is never to be found in flocks. The Whip-poor-will is nocturnal in habits, and is seldom seen during the day unless acci- dentally discovered in a state of repose, when, if started, it rises and ~ 1 of natural size. Plate 23. e tL. M ales. &, at yh iv Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 139 flies off, but only to such a distance as it considers necessary, in order to secure it from the farther intrusion of the disturber of its noon-day slumbers. “Its flight is very low, light, swift, noiseless and protracted, as the bird moves over the places which it inhabits, in pursuit of the moths, beetles and other insects of which its food is composed. Dur- ing the day, it sleeps on the ground, the lowest branches of small trees, or the fallen trunks of trees, so abundantly dispersed through the woods. In such situatians, you may approach within a few feet of it; and, should you observe it whilst asleep, and not make any noise suf- ficient to alarm it, will suffer you to pass quite near without taking flight, as it seems to sleep with great soundness, especially about the middle of the day. In rainy or very cloudy weather, it sleeps less, . and is more on the alert. Its eyes are then kept open for hours ata time, and it flies off as soon as it discovers an enemy approaching, which it can do, at such times, at a distance of twenty or thirty yards. ‘“‘ It always appears with its body parallel to the direction of the branch or trunk on which it sits, and, I believe, never alights across a branch or fence rail. ‘* No sooner has the sun disappeared beneath the hori- zon, than this bird bestirs itself, and sets out in pursuit of insects. It passes low over the bushes, moves to the right or left, alights on the ground to secure its prey, passes repeatedly in different directions over the same field, skims along the skirts of the woods and settles occa- sionally on the tops of the fence stakes or on the stumps of trees, from whence it sallies, like a Flycatcher, after insects, and on seizing them returns to the same spot. ‘* When thus situated, it frequently alights on the ground, to pick up a beetle; it also balances itself in the air, in front of the trunks of trees, or against the sides of banks, to discover ants and other small insects that may be lurking there. It is aremarkable fact that even the largest moths on which the Whip- poor-will feeds, are always swallowed tail foremost, and when swal- lowed, the wings and legs are found closely laid together, and as if partially glued by the saliva or gastric juice of the bird. The act of deglutition must be greatly aided by the long bristly feathers of the upper mandible, as these no doubt force the wings of the insects close together, before they enter the mouth.”—Audubon. In several of these birds, which I have examined, were found only insects, chiefly of a lepidopterous character; once [ took from the stomach of a male bird the remains of two or three common potato beetles. The Whip- poor-will never builds anest. In this section, it deposits its eggs about the 20th of May, on the bare ground, or on dry leaves, and oceasion- ally, though rarely, it is said on logs, in the gloomy retreats of thickets or woods. The eggs, never more than two in number, are white or yellowish white, irregularly spotted or Llotched with brown, and blu- ish-gray. They measure about 1.25 inchesin length and .89 of an inch 140 Brraps ofr PENNSYLVANIA. in width. This bird, like the Chuck-will’s-widow,* when flying about in quest of food, may be heard to utter a kind of low growling sound. This noise is the only sound I ever heard the Whip-poor-will make when on the wing. Grenus CHORDEILES. Swanson. 420. Chordeiles virginianus. (GMEL.). Night Hawk. DESCRIPTION. (Plate 23). Male, above mottled with blackish, grayish and rufous; 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 red- dish white and brown ; wing quills quite uniformly brown ; the five outer prima- ries 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 red- dish. Length about 9§ inches; extent about 23; wing about 8 inches. #fab.—Northern and eastern North America, east of the Great Plains, south through tropical America to Buenos Ayres. The Night Hawk occurs in Pennsylvania as a common summer resi- dent. It usually arrives from its southern winter resorts, a few days after the Whip-poor-wills have made their appearance. The note of the Night Hawk, is a short, sharp squeak. During the breeding season this bird has a curious habit, when flying, of falling through the air with a loud booming sound, which as Nuttall has truly said, resembles the noise produced by blowing into the bung-hole of an empty hogs- head. This peculiar booming or whirring sound, which can be heard oftentimes to the distance of a quarter of a mile or over, is produced, it is stated, by the air rushing through the stiff wing feathers. The Night Hawk never breeds in woods or thickets, but deposits her two eggs on the bare ground or rocks in open situations; the favorite breeding places are barren and rocky lands, though sometimes they have been known to deposit their eggs on roofs of buildings in large cities and towns, over which these birds all day long may be seen or heard flying in pursuit of their favorite insect prey. The eggs, elliptical in shape and abont the same size as those of the hy preorannill so closely resemble the ground or pieces of rock on which they are deposited, that they are frequently overlooked by persons who are accustomed to searching for them. The Night Hawk, like the Whip-poor-will, manifests great affection for her eggs and *The Chuck-will’s-widow (Antrostomus carolinensis (Gmel.), inhabits the south Atlantic and Gulf States, ‘‘ and lower Mississippi Valley, north to the Carolinas and southern Illinois.”’ said to winter chiefly south of United States, in Mexico, Central America, ete. April, 1885, I found this species breeding in Orange and Volusia counties, Florida, where these birds are abundant. In February and March I neither saw or heard them, and residents of Florida assured me that the “ Chuck-will,” as the bird is there known, was found in that State only as a summer resident. ie Ss ey ee eee — ST = ea ey —_ "ay, Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 141 young, and will resort to numerous devices to induce you to follow her, when these treasurers are approached or discovered. It is stated that birds of this family have a common habit, when their eggs or young are disturbed, of removing them in their capacious mouths, to different localities. I have known the Night Hawk to move its eggs a distance of over two hundred yards, in less than one hour after I had examined them. In the breeding season especially, these birds are frequently seen sitting lengthwise on fences and on the limbs of high trees, in the vicinity of their breeding grounds. Several pairs of Night Hawks may often be found breeding within a few yards of each other. The Night Hawk, although oftentimes observed flying about during the daytime, is particularly active in the afternoon, and in cloudy weather. This bird when on the wing, if not too distant. can easily be recognized by the white spot on the primaries, which is com- monly spoken of asa ‘hole in the wing.” During the latter part of August, these birds collect in large bands and leisurely proceed to winter quarters in Mexico, Central America, and portions of South America, ete. The somewhat prevalent idea that Night Hawks are destroyers of young poultry is simply absurd, as it requires only a careless exami- nation of a specimen to prove conclusively that it would be physically impossible tor them to capture such prey. The great mistake of applying improper vernacular names to birds, was clearly demonstrated during the enforcement of the scalp act of 1885, when commissioners, of whom I have knowledge, took the stand that they were obliged to allow bounty on the Night Hawk, because it was known as a “ hawk.” Audubon writing of this species states that the food consists entirely of insects, especially beetles, although they also feed on moths and caterpillars, and are very expert at catching crickets and grasshoppers, with which they sometimes gorge themselves, as they fly over the ground with great rapidity. ‘When flying closely over the water they occasionally drink in the manner of swallows.” No. DATE. LOCALITY. Foop-MATERIALS. i May 5, 1879, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Fliesand other insects, ‘2 | July 20, 1879, .| Delaware county, Pa., .| Grasshoppers. 3 | May 30, 1880, . | Chester county, Pa.,. .| Beetles and larve. 4 | August 13, 1880, . | Chester county, Pa.,. | Many crickets, ete. 5 | August 13, 1880, . | Chester county, Pa.,. .| Many crickets, ete. 6 | August 13, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Many crickets, ete. 6 UN ee 20, 1883, . | Chester county, Pa.,. .| Water beetles. 8 | May 28, 1883, . |.Chester county, Pa:,. .| Beetles and two lime-like-masses. 9 | April —, 1885, .|} Orange county, Fla., . .| Various insects. 10 | April —, 1885. Orange county, Fla., . .| Beetles and large flies. ll | June 1, 1886, . | Chester county, Pa.,. .| Various insects. 142 Brrps of PENNSYLVANIA. SUBORDER CYPSELI. Swirrts. Famity MICROPODIDA. Swirts. SuBrAMILY CHA: TURINA. SpINe&-TAILED SwIFTs. GENUS CHAK TURA. STEPHENS. 423. Cheetura pelagica (LINN.). Chimney Swift. DESCRIPTION. Tail slightly rounded and spiny ; of asooty brown ail over, except on the throat, which becomes considerably lighter from the breast to the bill ; above witha green- ish tinge; the rump a little paler. Length, 5.25 inches ; wing, 5.10; tail, 2.15. Hab.— astern North America, north to Labrador and the fur countries, west to the plains, and passing south of the United States in winter. The Chimney-bird, unless resting on its nest or clinging to the sooty chimney sides, is always seen flying. In Pennsylvania these birds are generally first observed about the last week in April. In the early autumn they collect in large flocks before retiring to their winter re- sorts. I have observed birds of this species in Chester county (Pa.) as late as the 20th of October. In this locality the nest of the Chim- ney-Swift, or Swallow, as it is mostly called, is composed of small twigs. which are glued together and to the sooty walls of unused chimneys, with the birds’ saliva.* The twigs used in constructing nests are broken off of trees by these birds when on the wing. The eggs, four to six in number, are white and unspotted. They measure about three-fourths of an inch in length and about half an inch in width, Foop. These birds subsist entirely on various kinds of insects which they collect during the night as well as in daylight. No. DATE. LOCALITY. Foop-MATERIALS. 1 | June 8, 1880, | Chester county, Pa., .| Beetles and other sinall-winged insects. 2 | June 8, 1880, | Chester county, Pa., .| Remains of beetles and other insects. 3 | June 8, 1880, | Chester county, Pa., .| Dipterous insects. 4 | June 8, 1880, | Chester county, Pa., .| Fragments of beetles and other insects. 5 | May 1, 1880, | Chester county, Pa., .} Beetles. 6 | May 1, 1880, | Willistown, Pa.,. . .| Beetles and small-winged insects. 7 | June 8, 1883, | Newark, Delaware, .| Beetles and caterpillar. 8 | June 8, 1883, | Newark, Delaware, .| Beetles. 9 | June 8, 1883, | Newark, Delaware, .| Beetles. 10 | June 8, 18838, | Newark, Delaware, .| Beetlesand dipterous insects. — 11 | June 2, 1884, | Chester county, Pa., .| Larvee and flies. 12 Aug. 11, 1884, | Chester county, Pa., . | Dipterous insects. 4 * A writer in a recent scientific journal, which I have mislaid, says: *‘In the case of our Own Chimney-Swifits it has lately been shown that the gelatinous matter with which the twigs are fastened together is of a vegetable and not an animal character, and in a particular case re- cently investigated by a scientist, the gum was found to have come from a cherry tree.” oS a a ee Brrps ofr PENNSYLVANIA. 143 SusorDER TROCHILI. Humminesirps. Famity TROCHILIDA,. HumMiInasirps. GrENus TROCHILUS. Linnzus. 428. Trochilus colubris LInn. Ruby-throated Hummingbird. DDSCRIPTION. Male.—Tail deeply forked, the feathers all narrow and pointed ; uniform metallic green above; sides of body greenish ; below white ; ruby-red gorget; wings and tail purplish-black. . Femate.—Metallic green of upper parts duller than in male; tail double rounded; its feathers pointed but broader than in male; no red on throat; the tail feathers banded with black ; the lateral ones broadly tipped with white. Young Male.—Very similar to adult female, but throat more or less streaked with dark, tail also more forked than in female. Nearly all specimens show a trace of metallic red on throat. Young Female.—Throat white, without streaks or specks; tail less forked, other- wise similar to young male. Irides in old and young brown. Length about 3.25 inches; extent of wings about 5 inches. Hab.—Eastern North America to the Plains, north to the fur countries, and south, in winter, to Cuba and Veragua. Although fifteen distinct species of Hummingbirds are given by Dr. Elliott Coues, as occurring within the limits of the United States, only one—the Ruby-throat—is found east of the Mississippi river. Hum- mingbirds, as Dr. Coues observes, are peculiar to America. Species are found from Alaska to Patagonia. In tropical South America, par- ticularly New Granada, these beautiful feathered gems are most abundant. ‘There are, it is stated, over four hundred different species of Hummers known to scientists. The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, the smallest of all our feathered visitants, arrive in Pennsylvania about the first week in May and re- mains until about the middle of September, when they migrate south. This species is common during the winter in Florida, where they also, it is said, breed. During the months of February, March and until about the 20th of April, I found these birds to be quite numerous in the orange orchards along the St. John’s river. Although Humming- birds cannot be called gregarious, it is not at all uncommon, especially in the spring, to see a flock of twenty or more of these birds feeding among the flowers of some favorite tree. I have, at one time, counted thirty odd Hummers, feeding, fighting and pluming themselves, among the flowers of a single horse-chestnut tree. The Hummingbird never alights on the ground, though it often rests on twigs and branches. When sitting in trees or bushes it may frequently be observed to spread out one wing and draw the quill-feathers through its bill. The 144. Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. nest, a beautiful cup-shaped structure, is composed of downy sub- tances, chiefly of a vegetable character, covered externally with lich- © ens ‘‘ which are glued on with the viscid saliva of the little workers;” in many instances the lichen coverings are strenghtened by strands of cobwebs. This bird is not at all particular as to the situation which it chooses for nest-building. Sometimes it builds in a honeysuckle vine or a rose bush; at other times it erects a domicile in an apple or pear tree, usually, however, the nest is built on an oak or beech tree in the woods, and is placed mostly on the upper side of a horizontal limb. It is constructed by the united labor of both birds, who com- plete the work in five or six days. In this locality the nest is gener- ally built about the last week in May. A nest now before me meas- ures a little over one inch and a half-in height and one inch and a half in diameter; the cavity is three-quarters of an inch wide and the same in depth. This nest was built on the upright limb of a beech tree, where for three consecutive years a pair of Hummers regularly nested, each season building a new nest over the few remaining frag- ments of their abode of the previous year. The white eggs, never more than two in number, are elliptical in shape, equally obtuse at both ends and measure .50 by .83 of an inch. The period of incuba- tion is about ten days. Occasionally, though rarely I think, two ‘ broods are reared in one season. Although these birds feed among the flowers of various plants, they prefer those of the horse chestnut, honeysuckle and trumpet vine. From the fact that these diminutive creatures are generally observed about flowering plants, the popular yet erroneous belief has arisen that they subsist entirely on the sweets of flowers. Audubon writing of this species, says: ‘‘ Their food consists principally of insects, generally of the coleopterous order, these, to- gether with some equally diminutive flies, being commonly found in their stomachs. The first are procured within the flowers, but many of the latter on the wing. The Hummingbird might therefore be looked upon as an expert fly-catcher. The nectar or honey which they sip from the different flowers, being of itself insufficient to sup- port them, is used more as if to allay their thirst. I have seen many of these birds kept in partial confinement when they were supplied with artificial flowers made for the purpose, in the corallas of which water with honey or sugar dissolved in it,was placed. The birds were fed on these substances exclusively, but seldom lived many months, and on being examined after death, were found to be extremely ema- ciated. Others, on the contrary, which were supplied twice a day . with fresh flowers from the woods or garden, placed in a room with windows merely closed with gauge netting, through which minute insects were able to enter, lived twelve months, at the expiration of which time they were liberated.” > giv mi r Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 145 No. DATE. | LOCALITY. Foop MATERIALS. 1 | May 30, 1883, | West Chester, Pa.,|] Small worms and numerous small spiders.* 2 | May 80, 1883, | West Chester, Pa.,| Small flies and beetles.* 3 | May 30, 1883, | West Chester, Pa.,! Small flies and beetles.* 4 | May 12, 1884, | West Chester, Pa.,| Small flies and beetles.* 5 | May 14, 1884, | West Chester, Pa.,| Small green-colored beetles.* 6 | May 14, 1884, | West Chester, Pa.,| Small green-colored beetles.* 7 | May 14, 1884, | West Chester, Pa.,| Small green-colored beetles.* 8 | May 14, 1884, | West Chester, Pa.,) Small green-colored beetles and flies.* 9 | May 14, 1884, | West Chester, Pa.,| Small green-colored beetles and flies,* 10 | May 14, 1884, | West Chester, Pa.,| Small green-colored beetles.* 11 | May 14, 1884, | West Chester, Pa.,) Small green-colored beetles.* 12 May 14, 1884, | West Chester, Pa.,] Small green-colored beetles.* 13 | May 14, 1884, | West Chester, Pa.,| Small green-colored beetles.* = cs | May 14, 1884, | West Chester, Pa.,| Small green-colored beetles and spiders.* 15 | May 14, 1884, | West Chester, Pa.,| Small green-colored beetles and spiders.* 16 | May 14, 1884, | West Chester, Pa.,| Small green-colored beetles and spiders.* 17 | May 14, 1884, | West Chester, Pa.,) Small green-colored beetles.* 18 | Aug. 3, 1884, | West Chester, Pa.,| Small black beetles. 19 | Aug. 5, 1884, | West Chester, Pa.,| Small black beetles. 20 | Aug. 5, 1884, | West Chester, Pa.,| Small black beetles. In addition to Audubon’s observations on the food habits and my own examinations given in the above table, it might be added that in March and April, 1885, I shot seventeen of these birds in the Florida orange orchards and found that all had only insects in their viscera. May 14, 1886, I received from Mr. George Hartman, of West Chester, Pa., fifteen Hummers which had been captured while feeding among the flowers of a horse-chestnut tree. The stomachs of these birds. which were kindly examined for me by Prof. C. V. Riley, entomolo- gist, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., showed chiefly the remains of small spiders and some few coleopte- rous insects. ORDER PASSERES. PERCHING BIRDS. Susorper CLAMATORES. Soneuess Percuine Breps. Fawtny TYRANNIDA. Tyrant Fiycarcuers. + * These seventeen birds were all killed when feeding in horse-chestnut trees. +Of the several species of this highly beneficial family which occur in Pennsylvania as sum- mer residents or passing visitants but two, viz: the King-bird and and common Pewee, are gen-_ erally known to those who are not interested in ornithological pursuits. Both of these birds are common breeders about the habitations of man, and unlike most others of their kin are not shy or difficult to approach. Although at times some of the Flycatchers descend to the earth for food, it is safe to say that these birds, collectively considered, are seldom observed on the ground teeding. ‘‘The structure of the bill is admirably adapted for the capture of winged insects; the broad and deeply fissured mandibles form a capacious mouth, while the long bristles are of service in entangling the creatures in a trap and restraining their struggles to escape. The shape of the wings and tail confers the power of rapid and varied zerial evolutions necessary for the successful pursuit of active flying insects. A little practice in field ornithology will enable one to recognize the flyeatchers from their habit of perching in wait for their prey upon 10 Brrps. 146 Brrps of PENNSYLVANIA. some prominent out-post, in a peculiar attitude, with the wings and tail drooped and vibrating in readiness for instant action, and of dashing into the air, seizing the passing insect with a quick movement and a click of the bill, and then returning to their stand. Although certain Oscines have somewhat the same habit, these pursue insects from place to place, instead of perching in wait at a particular spot, and their forays are not made with such admirable elan. Depending entirely upon insect food, the Flycatchers are necessarily migratory in our latitude. They appear with great regularity in spring and depart on the approach of cold weather in the fall, The voice, susceptible of little modulation, is usually harsh and strident, though some species have no unmusical whistle or twitter.’—Coues’ Key, page 429. Genus TYRANNUS. Cuvier. 444. Tyrannus, tyrannus (LINN.). Kingbird; Beebird. (Plate 24.) Length about 8; inches; extent about 145 inches; bill and feet black ; iris brown; above blackish-ash ; top of head quite black ; crown with a concealed patch of orange red; lower parts pure white, tinged with pale bluish-ash on the sides of the throat and across the breast; sides of breast and under the wings similar to, but rather lighter than, the back ; axilleries pale grayish-brown tipped with lighter ; the wings dark-brown, darkest toward the end of the quills; the greater coverts and quills edged with white, most so on the tertials; the lesser coverts edged with paler ; upper tail coverts and upper surface of the tail glossy black, the latter very dark brown beneath ; all the feathers tipped, and the exterior margined externally with white, forming a conspicuous terminal band about .25 of an inch broad. Young.—Very similar but colors generally duller; the concealed colored patch on the crown wanting; the tail and wings in some specimens often edged with rusty. Hab.—Kastern North America, from British Provinces south to Central and South America. Rare west of the Rocky mountains (Utah, Nevada, Washington Ter- ritory, etc. ). This well known bird is a common summer resident in Pennsyl- vania, where it arrives usually about the 25th of April. The males precede the females in their arrival by some three or four days. These birds generally, I think, migrate singly; I have never observed them in the spring in small flocks. During the month of February and until the 20th of March, 1885, ] saw no Kingbirds in various localities along the St. John’s river, Florida, but from the 20tk of March and until quite late in April these birds (in that State called Field Martins) were oftentimes met with. The technical name tyrannus given to the subject of this present sketch is particularly appropriate, as this bird during the breeding season is ever on the alert, and seemingly anxious to attack his feath- ered neighbors.. Whenever a hawk or crow is observed flying, even at a considerable distance, this little warrior immediately starts in pursuit, and by his rapid flight speedily overtakes the object of his wrath and uttering almost continually his sharp and rapid twitter, is seen to mount above his adversary and make repeated and violent assaults on the head of his flying victim, who, frequently, to escape further persecution makes a precipitate 1etreat to a tree, bushes or the ground. 1 2 of natural size. -_—— alehit, 04 1. Male; 2 Female. tH Plate 24. Wal" be ey ‘ is oF ies i) - Al Lend © - i) y. Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 147 The nest, a rather bulky and loosely made structure, is composed of grasses, weeds, roots, etc., and is built generally on the limb of an apple or pear tree in an orchard; sometimes, however, nests are placed in oak and other trees. It is built by the joint labor of both birds, who complete this work in about five days. The eggs, usually four or five in number, are creamy-white spotted conspicuously with different shades of brown and indistinct spots of bluish-gray. The eggs vary greatly in size; a large one measures an inch in length and 2 of aninch in width. The period of incubation is about fourteen days. Frem his favorite perch either on a stake, the top of a tree or a high weed in the field, the Kingbird watches for his insect prey; at other times he is observed flying over a field in a man- ner similar to that of the Sparrow Hawk, watching for grasshoppers, crickets or other insects. As Wilson observes, he sometimes hovers over a river or pond, darting after insects that frequent such places, snatching them from the surface of the water, and diving about in the air like a swallow. Some few years ago I saw a Kingbird dart down to the water in a shallow pond and fly off with a shining object in his bill, that at the time I thought appeared like a small fish, but never having seen or heard of this species feeding on fishes, but little notice was taken of the bird, which flew to a tree some two hundred yards distant. From an article published in the Forest and Stream, Sep- tember 2, .882, and written by Milton P. Peirce, it appears that King- birds som :times feed on fishes. Mr. Peirce writes: ‘These birds are very abuiidant about my premises, nesting in some cases within a few feet of my residence * * * [I have often noticed them striking the surface of the water in my fish ponds, but supposed they were either taking a bath or else catching insects which were flying near the surface of the water. When I constructed my. bass pond, a few years ago, I stocked it with minnows to afford ample food for the bass. At times the entire surface of the pond seems alive with them. A few days ago I observed at least a half dozen Kingbirds perched on trees and bushes, near the margin of the pond, and almost every moment some of them would dive into the water precisely like a Kingfisher, and I concluded they were catching bugs or other insects, which were floating upon the surface of the water. Watching them closely, I soon saw one of them leave the water with something pre- ceptibly shining in its bill. It alighted on a tree about fifty yards from where I was sitting, and acted precisely as a Kingfisher does when killing a fish. Taking a telescope, I also took an observation and discovered that the Kingbird had a minnow not less than three inches long. I continued my observations for about fifteen minutes, and during that time these birds caught several small minnows and ate them.” Notwithstanding the benefits which this bird confers, de- ® 148 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. stroying, as Dr. Coues remarks, a thousand noxious insects for every bee it eats, many farmers and others who keep honey-bees, are ever ready to slay every Kingbird which visits their premises. Although it is believed by some that these birds take only drone bees, such is not the case, as I have found both drone and working-bees in their stomachs; Mr. Gentry also in speaking of the bee-eating habit states that the Kingbird is no respecter of kinds. Nuttall writing of this bird says: As insects approach him, or as he darts after them, the snapping of his bills is heard, like the shutting of a watch-case, and is the certain grave of his prey. Beetles, grasshoppers, crickets and winged insects of all descriptions form his principal summer food; at times canker worms from the elm are also collected. Towards autumn, as various kinds of berries ripen, these constitute a very considerable and favorite part of his subsistence; but with the exception of currants (of which he only eats perhaps when confined), he refuses all exotic productions, contenting himself with blackberries, whortleberries, those of the sassafras, elder and poke. Thesame writer further says: ‘Raisins, foreign currants, grapes, cherries, peaches, pears and apples were never even tasted, when offered to a bird of this kind, which I had many months as my pensioner; of the last when roasted, sometimes, however, a few mouthfuls were relished, in the absence of other more agreeable diet. Berries he always swallowed whole. grasshop- pers, if too large, were pounded and broken on the floor, as he held them in his bill. To manage the larger beetles was not so easy; these he struck repeatedly against the ground and then turned them from side to side, by throwing them dexterously into the air, and the insect was uniformly caught reversed as it descended, with the agility of a practiced cup-and-ball player. At length the pieces of the beetle were swallowed, and he remained still to digest his morsel, tasting it distinctly soon after it entered the stomach, as became obvious by the ruminating motion of his mandibles. When the soluble portion was. taken up, large pellets of the indigestible legs, wings and shells, as likewise the skins and seeds of berries, were, in half an hour or less, brought up and ejected from the mouth in the manner of Hawks and Owls. When other food failed, he appeared very well satisfied with fresh minced meat, and drank water frequently, even during the severe frosts of January. * * * Some very cold evenings he had the sagacity to retire under the shelter of a depending bed-quilt.” The few examinations which I have made are given in the following table : eke Ee alae aad aA) Birps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 149 No. DATE. LOcALITY FooD-MATERIALS. 1) May 5, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Diptera and beetles. 2| June 9, 1880, .| New Castle county, Del.,| Two honey-bees. 3 | June 9, 1880, .| New Castle county, Del.,| Stomach gorged with honey-bees. 4/1 June 13, 1880, .| New Castle county, Del.,| One honey-bee. 5 | June 14, 1880, .| New Castle county, Del.,| Beetles and two honey-bees. 6 | May 21, 1884, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Beetles and other insects. 7 | June 11, 1884, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Diptera and raspberry seeds. 8 | June 13, 1884, .| New Castle, Del., . . .| Beetles and dipterous insects. 9 | June 13, 1884, .| New Castle, Del., . . .| Beetles and larve. 10 | Aug. 10, 1881, .| Chester county, Pa., . .| Seeds of berries. 11 | July 5, 1885, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Various insects. 12 | Aug. 11, 1885, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Colorado potato beetle and seeds. GENUS MYIARCHUS. CaBANISs. 452. Myiarchus crinitus (Livv.). Crested Flycatcher. DESCRIPTION. Length, about 85 inches; extent, about 13}; inches; head with a depressed crest; 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, sides of the head as high as the upper eyelid, sides of the neck, throat, and forepart of the breast, bluish-ashy ; the rest of the lower parts, including axillaries and lower wing coverts, bright sulphur-yellow ; a pale ring round the eyes; sides of the breast and body tinged with olivaceous ; the the wings brown, the first and second rows of coverts, with the secondary and tertial quills, margined externally with dull-white, or on the latter slightly tinged with olivaceous-yellow ; primaries margined externally 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 havethe 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 feather dull brownish-yellow ; feet black ; bill dark-brown above and at the tip below, paler towards the base; iris brown. Hab.—Eastern United States and southern Canada, west to the Plains, south through eastern Mexico to Costa Rica. The Crested Flycatcher, although probably not as abundant as the preceding species, is a common summer resident in Pennsylvania. I have seen these birds in the southern portions of this State as early as the 23d of April, usually, however, they arrive about the first of May. and remain until late in September, when they migrate south- ward and winter it is stated beyond the southern borders of the United States. Although this species sometimes nests in orchards and other places near houses, it is chiefly found in wooded districts. Unlike all other of our Flycatchers, these birds build their nests in holes of trees, and occasionally in hollow fence rails or posts. I have examined nine nests of the Crested Flycatcher, which were found in Chester county, and in six of this number discovered the remains of cast off skins of 150 Brirps oF PENNSYLVANIA. snakes. The eggs,* usually five, are of a creamy brown ground color with numerous dark brownish blotches or spots and lines, the latter generally of a purplish tint appear as if traced with a pen. The nest of this bird is constructed of various materials, such as feathers, hay, leaves, etc. Mr. Gentry some few years ago found a nest of this species, near Germantown, which was placed between the bifurcated branch of an apple tree. “It was composed almost entirely of feathers of our common Gallus, which were held together by long grasses.” The note of this bird is a harsh squeak or kind of whistle, exceedingly unpleasant to the ear, and which can be heard toa considerable dis- tance. The food of this species is mainly of an insectivorous nature; in the late summer and autumn different kinds of berries are often- times fed upon. Some writers state that the Crested Flycatchers like the Kingbirds, are equally fond of honey-bees. Mr. Gentry says: ** From the vast numbers of ground-beetles, which have been noticed in the numerous stomachs which we have examined, it is obvious that the species leads almost wholly a terrestrial existence for a week or so after its arrival. As the season advances, and the higher types of insects swarm into existence, it becomes more exclusively arboreal, and aerial, so to speak. We have watched these birds for hours, while perched upon a dead branch of a tree, in the active enjoyment of pro- curing a full meal. Their movements are perfectly ludicrous. There they sit, bobbing the head this way and then that way, now up and then down, ever on the alert for caitiffs, which form their appropriate diet. Hosts of iepidoptera, both larvee and imagoes, are greedily de- voured.” | In the following table will be found the results of the few examina- tions which I have made of the Crested Flycatcher : No. DATE. LOCALITY. FooD-MATERIALS. 1 | May 17, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Large flies. Pale Vavel (nl SS0\e aes sOhesrericountyemlzawgs||| aecebles: 3 | May 30, 1881, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Beetles and flies. 4 | May 14, 1882, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Beetles and larve. 5 | June 8, 1883, .| New Castle, Delaware, | Larvee. 6 | June 8, 1883, .| New Castle, Delaware, | Butterflies. 7 | June 8, 18838, .| New Castle, Delaware, | Beetles. : 8 | Sept.12, 1883, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Berries and beetles. 9 | Aug. 7, 1884, .| Chester county, Pa.,-. .| Seeds and pulp of berries. —<—$—____ * The eggs measure about .86 long by .65 wide. Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 151 Gunus SAYORNIS. Bonaparte. 456. Sayornis phoebe (LATH.). Phoebe; Pewee. 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 primary, secondaries, and tertials edged with dull white ; in some individuals the greater coverts faintly edged with dull- white ; tail brown, outer edge of lateral feather dull-white, outer edges of the rest like the back ; tibize brown; bill and feet black ; bill slender, edges nearly straight ; tail rather broad, and slightly forked, third quill longest, second and fourth nearly equal, the first shorter than sixth. In autumn, and occasionally in early spring, the colors are much clearer and brighter. Whole lower parts sometimes bright sulphur-yellow, above greenish-olive, top and sides of the head tinged with sooty ; in the young of the year, the colors are much duller; all the wing coverts broadly tipped with light-ferruginous, as also the extreme ends of the wings and taii feathers; the brown is prevalent on the whole throat and breast; the hind part of the back, rump, and tail, strongly ferruginous. Length about 7 inches; extent about 11 inches. Hab.—Eastern North America, from the British Provinces south to Eastern Mex- ico and Cuba, wintering from the South Atlantic and Gulf States southward. The Phoebe bird or Pewee, so named from its note, is one of our earliest spring migrants; it arrives in Pennsylvania mostly about the middle of March, and continues in this region until about the 15th of October. A few individuals sometimes linger as late as the first of November. Inthe early part of February, 1883, I saw Mr. C. D. Wood, of Philadelphia, skinning a Pewee which had been shot on the 22d of January, 1883, at Spring City, Chester county, Pa, In Cecil county, Maryland, and the southern portion, of Delaware, I have on different occasions seen these birds as late as the 25th of No- vember. During the latter part of February, 1885, when camping at Drayton Island, in Lake George, Florida, I obtained five of these Fly- catchers, and found that all had fed chiefly on Palmetto berries. The nest is generally built under a bridge or shelving rocks; oftentimes, however, this species is found breeding about barns and other build- ings. Although the Pewec seldom breeds in the woods, it occasionally builds its nests against the dirt-covered roots of trees which have been blown over; I have twice found their nests, in forests, placed in these situations. Both sexes engage in building their nest, which is completed in about six days. The materials used in its construction are mosses, grasses, fine roots, mud, feathers, etc. The eggs, usually five in num- _ ber, are pure white and unspotted, sometimes, however, they are faintly spotted with reddish brown. They measure about .80 of an inch in length, and .55 of an inch in width. Incubation, which is en- gaged in only by the female, lasts for a period of about twelve days. ]ene Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. During the late summer, autumn and winter, I have noticed that these birds, in addition to various insects, feed to a considerable extent on different kinds of fruits, such as those of the raspberry, blackberry, poke, wild-grape and cedar. The young of this species are fed exclu- sively on insects. No DATE LOcALITY. FooD-MATERIAL. 1 | Mar. 31, 1880, .| New Castle county, Del.,| Beetles. 2/1 Mar. 31, 1880, .| New Castle county, Del.,| Purple colored insects (diptera). 3 | Mar. 31, 1880, . | New Castle county, Del.,, Various insects(principally diptera) 4 | Sept. 11, 1880, .| Hast Bradford, Pa, . .| Flies and remains of beetles. DmmOcts 2, 1880, .| East Bradford, Pa., . .| Beetles and small flies. 6 | Oct. 4, 1880, .| East Bradford, Pa, . .| Flies and small berries. “Oct: 6, 1880, .| Willistown, Pa.,... .| Flies and beetles.* 8 | Oct 6, 1880, .| Willistown, Pa,... ., mal worms and remains of bee- tles.* 9 | Oct 6, 1880, .| Willistown, Pa... . .| Grasshoppers and flies.* 10 | Oct 6, 1880 Willistown, Pa.,... .| Several large yellow wasp-like in- sects.* 11 | Oct 6, 1880, .| Willistown, Pa,... .{| Numerous flies.* 12 | Oct. 7, 1880, .| Willistown, Pa... . .| Large wasp-like insect.* 13 | Oct. epesSOne Willistown, Pa.,... .| Large wasp-like insect.* 14 | Sept. 30, 1882, .| Chester county, Pa. .»... | Beetles, grasshoppers and crickets.. 15 | Sept. 30, 1882, .| Chester county, Pa.,. .| Beetles and flies. 16 | Sept. 380, 1882, .| Chester county, Pa, . . | Grasshoppers and few beetles. GENUS CONTOPUS. CaBanIs. 461. Contopus virens (L1Nv.). Wood Pewee. DESCRIPTION. Feet black ; iris brown ; the upper parts, sides of the head, neck and breast, dark oblivaceous-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 paleash sometimes occupies the whole of the breast, and even occasionally extends up to the chin; it is also sometimes glossed with oblivaceous ; the wings and tail dark brown, generally deeper than in S. phoebe: two narrow bands across the wing, the outer edge of first primary and of the second_ aries and tertials dull-white; the edges of the tail feathers like the back, the outer one scarcely lighter ; upper mandible black, the lower yellow, but brown at the tip. Length about 6.25 ; extent about 10 inches. iTZab.—EKastern North America to the plains, and from auton Canada south- ward. The Wood Pewee, a common summer resident, arrives in Pennsyl- vania early in May and continues with us until about September 20th. This bird is found commonly in forests or the shady retreats of apple orchards. During the breeding season, particularly, the Wood Pewee when perched on the dead branches of trees, watching for his insect prey, utters a peculiar plaintive drawling note—“pé-d- wee, d-pée-wee!”’ —which once heard is rarely forgotten. A writer has very properly *Taken in the morning’s feeding near a small pond. Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 153 said that these notes in the latter part of the summer are almost the only ones heard in the woods. The thin-bottomed, thick-walled and somewhat saucer-shaped nest, built usually on a thick, horizontal tree limb, is composed, internally, of grass stems, fine fibres of roots or other soft substances, and covered externally with lichens, which are held in place by cobwebs or “‘ glued to the other materials by the bird’s saliva.” The eggs, four or five in number, are yellowish-white, with reddish-brown and lilac spots, generally in a ring about the larger end. They measure about .75 of inch in length, and a little over .50 of an inch in width. I have never found Wood Pewees feeding on small fruits, but have always observed that they feed exclusively on insects. Audubon, however. states during the winter months he has observed these birds in Florida, Louisiana and other of the Southern States, feeding on ‘‘ different berries, as well as insects.” No. DATE. LOCALITY. Foop-MATERIALS. 1 | May 19, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa., .. .| Beetles and flies. 2 Sepe. 22018805) |) Chestercounty, Bas, ) « . | Hives: 3 | Sept. 25, 1880, ._ | Chester county, Pa., .. .| Beetles. 4 May 25, 1884, .| Chestercounty, Pa, .. .| Butterfly. GENUS EMPIDONAX. CaBANis. 463. Empidonax flaviventris. Barrp. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. DESCRIPTION. Above olive-green (very similar to the back of Vireo noveboracensis) ; crown rather darker ; a broad yellow ring around the eye; the sides of the head, breast and body, and a band across the breast like the back, but lighter ; the rest of the lower parts bright sulphur yellow ; no white or ashy anywhere on the body; quills dark brown; two bands on the wing formed by tips of the primary and secondary coverts, the outer edge of the first primary and of the secondaries and tertials pale yellow, or greenish yellow. Tail feathers brown, with the exterior edges like the back ; upper mandible dark brown; lower mandible yellow ; legs and feet black ; iris brown. In the autumn the colors are purer, the yellow is deeper, and the mark- ings on the wings of an ochry tint. Dimensions of afemale: Length, 53 inches; extent, 85 ; wing, 24 inches. fHab.—Eastern North America to the plains, and from southern Labrador south through eastern Mexico to Panama, breeding from the northern States northward. The Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, according to my observation, is found in eastern Pennsylvania as a rather rare spring and autumnal visitant. It arrives, in this locality, from its southern winter resorts about the last of April, and after remaining a few days, frequenting chiefly wooded districts, passes northward to breed. This Flycatcher, about the 20th of September, again makes its appearance in our 154 Brrps OF PENNSYLVANIA. — woods, and remains until, occasionally, as late as the first of October. The note as described by Dr. Coues is a low soft pe-a, uttered slowly. The Yellow-bellied Flycatcher is usually seen perched on the low limbs of trees or bushes, along the borders of streams or ponds in the woods. I have never observed it on the high branches of trees. Ac- cording to Mr. Gentry it is occasionally observed on the ground, in active pursuit of insects, which contribute to its bill-of-fare. In the few examinations which I have made of this species the following insects were found : No. DATE. LOocALITY. FoopD-MATERIALS. 1 | Sept. 22, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa., .. .| Beetles. 2 | Sept. 24, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa, .. .| Small flies. 3 | Sept. 25, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa, .. .| Beettes and flies. 4 Sept. 30, 1880, .| Chester county, Pa, .. .| Grasshopper. 465. Empidonax acadicus (GMEL.). Acadian Flycatcher. i DESCRIPTION. The upper parts, with sides of the head and neck, olive-green, the crown very little if any darker; a yellowish-white ring around 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 abdomen, lower tail and wing cov- erts, and sides of the body not covered by the wings, pale greenish-yellow ; edges of the first primary, secondaries, and tertials margined with dull yellowish-white, most broadly on the latter ; two transverse bands of pale-yellowish across the wings, formed by the tips of the secondary and primary coverts, succeeded by a brown one; tail light-brown, margined externally like the back; upper mandible light-brown above, pale-yellow beneath. In autumn the lower parts are more yellow; iris brown. Length about 6 inches; extent about 9 inches. Hab.—EKastern United States, chiefly southward, west to the plains, south to Cuba and Costa Rica. For a period of about five months, or from early in May until late in September, the Acadian Flycatcher is a common resident in Penn- sylvania, frequenting chiefly woodlands. This species is somewhat shy and difficult to approach, and like the Cuckoo or Yellow-breasted Chat, is oftener heard than seen. The shallow, saucer-shaped and loosely-made nest, is placed usually on a drooping and forked branch of a tree in the forest, a dog-wood, beech or hickory generally being selected. It is composed of blossoms, grasses, fine rootlets or fine pieces of bark. The majority of nests which I have found in the vicinity of West Chester, Pa., were built entirely of blossoms. The nests are rarely more than eight or ten feet from the ground, and are so open at the bottom that the eggs can readily be seen from below. oS ee ee a7 ee ee Ce £9 eee Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 155 \ The eggs, usually four in number, are very similar in size, etc., to those of the Wood Pewee—they are creamy-white, spotted with reddish- brown. During the late summer and autumn months this species subsists to a limited extent on various kinds of berries. No.| DATE. LOcALITY. Foop-MATERIALS. iL || IMleny I, Ike 5 6 6 «|| Claversywerr croibbalins Jet 45 of 6 a |} lbkereilest Ze UNC MISS. | Chestencounty, Pav suey |) uangemiesiandelanyece: SE OUIMNeE20 wl SSO we OC heStemcountva baal PA clOUSHMSe Cts: AL | ANS, GAD, Thekey4, 5 5 5 5 || Olavesiwer Combing Ie, 6 6 6 0 Berries. |) Aniwies, BO, ISSyt 3 5 6 || Clnesierp cowimny, 1b 5 6 6 6 z Beetles and flies. © || Sepa, AO, Ue 5 . 5 o || Claesiwerr Commmny, eho 6 5 6 6 o Insects. na | May 2v, 1888, .. . , Chester county, Pa,.... .! Beetles. 466a. Empidonax pusillus traillii (AUvD.). Traills’ Elycatcher. DESCRIPTION. Upper parts dark olive-green, lighter under the wings, and duller and more tinged with ash on nape and sides of the neck ; center 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 some- times 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 sul- phur-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 ; iris brown. Length nearly 6 inches; extent about 8.75 inches. Hab.—EKastern North America, breeding from the Middle States (southern Illinois and Missouri) northward ; in winter south to Central America. Traills’ Flycatcher, a somewhat suspicious frequenter of thickets, near streams or ponds. I have found in Pennsylvania only as a rare spring and autumnal migrant. In the spring it arrives generally early in May; when returning to its winter resorts beyond the southern limits of the United States, it is again seen, but only for a few days, about the twentieth of September. In addition to insects, this spe- cies, it is stated, feeds also on different kinds of berries. 467. Empidonax minimus BaIrp. Least Flycatcher. DESCRIPTION. Above olive-brown darker on the head, becoming paler on the rump and upper tail covets ; the middle of the back most strongly olivaceous; the nape (in some in- dividuals) 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 156 Brrps oF PENNSYLVANIA. 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 yel- lowish-white, turning to pale sulphur-yellow on the sides of the belly, abdomen, and lower tail coverts ; wings brown two narrow white bands on wing, formed by the tips of the first and second coverts, succeeded by one of brown; the edge of the first primary, and of the secondaries and tertials, white ; tail rather lighter brown, edged externally like the back feathers narrow, not acuniinate, with the ends rather blunt. In autumn, the white parts are strongly tinted with yellow. Length about 5§ inches; extent about 8 inches. fTab.—YKastern North America, south in winter to Central America. Breeds from the Northern States northward. _ From personal observation I am unable to give any information of this species. The following remarks relative to it are taken from Mr. Gentry’s interesting account in L2fe Histories of Birds. This Flycatcher is rather rare in eastern Pennsylvania, arriving during the last week of April, and occasionally, as fate as the first week of May. Its stay is rarely, if ever, prolonged beyond a week. At the expiration of this time, it seeks more northern latitudes, for the purposes of breeding. Unlike the species last described, it is far from being unnecessarily shy, and seemingly courts rather than shuns the society of man. It delights in open grounds, and will not hesi- tate to visit gardens in close proximity to houses, when in quest of food. The borders of small streams are also favorite resorting places. During its short stay, we have never noticed the slightest indication of the quarrelsome disposition which is so strikingly characteristic of acadicus and in a less degree, of traliiz. When foraging, our smaller species are permitted to approach without the least fear of being mo- lested. Its habits of feeding, in some particulars, resemble those of tralliz. It will perch upon a dead limb overhanging a stream of wa- ter, or in an open field or garden upon a weed or the fence, and awaits its prey with the most commendable patience. Its feeding is per- formed almost in silence, being now and then interrupted by a simple twit. The food consists mainly of beetles and diptera. SUBORDER OSCIN ES. Sone Brrps. Famity ALAUDIDA. Larks. Grenus OTOCORIS. BoNnaAPARTE. 474. Octocoris alpestris (LINv.). Horned Lark. DESCRIPTION. Above grayish-brown or pinkish-brown, the feathers of the back streaked with dusky. A broad band across the crown, extending backwards along the lateral tufts; a crescentic patch from the bill below the eye and along the side of the head ; a jugular crescent, and the tail feathers, (except middle pair which are reddish brown) black. 6 vat 4A hy by a ae a 1 Le eRe Wee R 0 | . | \\ « ‘. AK Se eee ae = ~_ ed Ax Ce SONS \ NOH SAN NSS RSA NV AAAS SST