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I have seen the Stilt Sandpiper at Clark’s Pond. It is a diligent feeder on
mud-flats and probes the mud with bill slightly opened. Although its body is not
larger than that of a Ring-neck, its long legs make it look as big as a Dowitcher.
The legs are yellow, but not as bright as those of the Yellow-legs. Its bill is
long and slightly decurved. There is a light line through the eye. In flight it
shows a grayish-white tail but lacks the gray rump-triangle of the Dowitcher
and the white rump of the Yellow-leg. The note I have heard is a single whistle.
105 [234] Tringa canutus Linn.
’ ’
Knot; “ RED-BREASTED PLovER”; “ BLUE PLOVER”;
Common transient visitor. May 20 to June 12 (June 25); July 17 to
November 8.
On June 11 and 12, 1910, during an easterly storm I found four full-plumaged
Knots on the beach at Ipswich. In wading in a tidal pool one went beyond its
depth and swam across to the other side.
While the tarsi of the young are greenish yellow, as stated in the original
Memoir, those of the adult are dark, almost black.
106 [235] Arquatella maritima maritima (Briinn.).
Purple SANDPIPER; “Rock SNIPE”; “ WINTER SNIPE.”
Common winter visitor. (July 30) ; November 1 to May 30.
On the late date of May 30, 1918, Mr. C. R. Lamb! found a flock of forty of
these birds on the Salvages off Rockport. He shot six for his collection.
On March 14, 1909, at the Salvages and at Thatcher’s Island, I saw three
flocks of Purple Sandpipers, one of ten, another of twenty-four, and a third of
twenty-eight individuals. In feeding at low tide among the rock-weed they are
1Lamb, C. R. Auk, vol. 35, p. 233, 1918.
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY SI
frequently washed by the waves which they follow as eagerly as Sanderlings, but
instead of retreating by running as the latter bird generally does on the beach,
they flutter up the steep rocks partly in and partly out of the water.
On the wing they resemble other sandpipers, flying in compact flocks, often
close to the water and turning swiftly from side to side.
No mention was made in the original Memoir of the call of this bird. I have
since recorded it as a sweet but rather squeaky chip, and in a huddled flock low
conversational chippings are frequently heard.
I have also noticed that the bill is slightly decurved. The yellow base of the
bill is a noticeable feature either in profile or in front view.
107 [239] Pisobia maculata (Vieill.).
PECTORAL SANDPIPER; “ GRASS-BIRD”; “‘ BROWN-BACK.”
Very rare spring, common and at times abundant autumn transient visitor.
May 23, 24; July 15 to November 6.
On May 23, 1908, Mr. C. J. Maynard saw several Pectoral Sandpipers at
Clark’s Pond; on May 24, 1912, Mrs. Edmund Bridge found two at Eagle Hill.
These are the only spring records I have for this bird.
On September 29, 1918, I made a careful study of a flock of fifteen or twenty
of these birds in the salt-marshes near my house. Their behavior was character-
istic. Flying in a compact bunch they swung in response to my whistle within easy
gunshot of me, as I stood unconcealed. Alighting suddenly, they became invisible
in the short grass, through and under which they ran, spreading out in all direc-
tions. Occasionally several would stand still and stretch their necks above the
grass and look about, but it required close attention to see them. They kept to
the cover of the grass and avoided the bare muddy sloughs preferred by other
shore-birds of the marsh. The name “ Grass-bird” fits them well. They did not
flush until I was within a few yards of them and they rose a few at a time uttering
either the alarm note, a rasping krick, or the sweet rolling or trilling whistle much
like that of the Least Sandpiper. After flushing some of the flock I nearly stepped
on others before they rose.
That the Grass-bird looks like “a large Least Sandpiper” is carried out even
to the slight decurving of the bill as in that species. Although not a brilliantly
colored or marked bird, its well-shaded and spotted neck and breast, and deli-
cately pencilled back, with feathers bordered with white and buff, make it very
attractive. While the tarsi of the adult males are straw-colored, those of the
females and young have a greenish-yellow hue.
6
82 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
As I was watching this flock a male Duck Hawk suddenly appeared and,
striking down a Grass-bird within thirty yards of me, passed on in its impetuous
flight but swung around, picked the dead bird up in its talons and was off.
The Pectoral Sandpiper is rarely seen away from salt water in the County.
On October 13, 1916, Dr. J. C. Phillips saw seventy-five or a hundred on the
Topsfield meadows of the Ipswich River. About the same time several flocks
were seen near Wenham Lake.
1o8 [240] Pisobia fuscicollis (Vieill.).
WHUITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER; BONAPARTE’S SANDPIPER; “ BULL-PEEP.”
Rare spring and common autumn transient visitor. May 23 to June 9; July
10 to November Io.
109 [241] Pisobia bairdi (Coues).
Barrp’s SANDPIPER; “ BULL-PEEP.”
Rare transient visitor. July 28 to October 1.
In the last fifteen years I have seen several Baird’s Sandpipers at Ipswich,
both on the beach and at Clark’s Pond. When alone it does not seem much larger
than a Semipalmated Sandpiper, but when with this latter species it looks at times
noticeably larger. I have noted it as about the size of a Sanderling, but standing
rather higher. The bright, almost golden pattern on the back is noticeable, and
the buffy wash on the sides of the neck. The tarsi are greenish and there is a
rather broad but indistinct white line seen on the wings in flight.
110 [242] Pisobia minutilla (Vieill.).
Least SANDPIPER; “ PEEP”; “ MuD-PEEP.”
Abundant transient visitor. May 5 to June 7 (summer); July 3 to Septem-
ber 13 (October 13).
The increase in numbers of this species is at times very striking. On May
23, 1915, Dr. J. C. Phillips saw on the beach at Great Neck, Ipswich, a number
of flocks of 500 or more each, totalling many thousands in all.
A surprisingly large number of early migrants from the north appeared at
Ipswich on July 3, 911. A flock of at least fifty whirled about and alighted near
me on the marsh. All went off but a few and I counted ten of these that
remained.
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 83
The courtship flight-song of this bird I have observed on the breeding-grounds
in the North. The bird rises like a mechanical toy and flies in irregular circles
from twenty to fifty yards above the bog with wings set down and quivering
rapidly. In the flight it emits a short fine trill suggestive of a cricket, rapidly
repeated. On one occasion the bird remained in the air five minutes and con-
tinued to trill after it had reached the ground. Immediately it was up again, trill-
ing, and, as I left the bog it followed after me, still trilling. On the ground the
colors matched so well those of the bog that the bird at once became invisible if not
carefully noted down.
In the original Memoir I referred to the resemblance of the Least to the
Pectoral Sandpiper and have since come across the following by Coues:* “ This
diminutive species in form, color and general habits, is very closely allied to the
preceding [Pectoral Sandpiper] of which it is in fact a perfect miniature.”
In the original Memoir I discussed at some length the field-marks of this
species, and have to add here only the facts that the bill is slightly decurved and
that the white line on the wings is more clearly defined than in the Semipalmated
species.
111 [243a] Pelidna alpina sakhalina (Vieill.).
RED-BACKED SANDPIPER; DUNLIN; “ BRANT-BIRD.”
Rare spring and common autumn transient visitor. May 20 to June 18;
September 1 to November 8 (December 13).
The December 13 record is of one seen at Ipswich in 1913 by Dr. G. M. Allen.
In a large flock of Sanderlings at Ipswich on May 31, 1915, I saw a single full-
plumaged Dunlin, and another single bird on May 28, 1916.
112 [244] Erolia ferruginea (Brimn.).
CuRLEW SANDPIPER.
Accidental visitor from Europe.
There are no additions to the three previous records.
1Coues, Elliott. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 230, 1861.
84 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
113 [246] Ereunetes pusillus (Linn.).
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER; ‘“‘ SAND-PEEP.”’
Abundant transient visitor. May 13 to June 14; summer; July 10 to
October 30.
The Semipalmated Sandpiper appears to have responded to the protection
afforded by the Federal Law for Migratory Birds. On August 8, 1913, I counted
a flock of 380 of these birds on Ipswich Beach. On August 12, 1913, I found an
immense flock on Coffin’s Beach, composed entirely of these birds with the excep-
tion of twenty Semipalmated Plovers and two Sanderlings. Partly by counting
and partly by estimation I found there were at least 1500 birds in the flock.
In the protection of Clark’s Pond at Great Neck, Ipswich, this species is
very abundant, especially when the water is low and large flats are exposed. The
birds are so scattered I have not been able to estimate the numbers at these times.
Several times in August I have been much interested in the actions and notes of
the Semipalmated Sandpipers here collected,—actions and notes that are not
heard when the birds are busily feeding on the beach. I have noticed that the
birds were nearly all young and were frequently fighting, probably in play. Two
would face each other, crouching almost flat on the mud or in the water and sud-
denly spring at each other with wings outspread. Sometimes they would slowly
walk toward each other with neck and body almost touching the ground and with
head up. This would be repeated again and again. Nearly all the birds appeared
to be emitting a rapidly repeated rolling note. I have sometimes described it as
a whinny in my notes, and have tried to reduce it to the syllables eh eh eh or
what-er, what-er. This rolling note was constantly heard from all over the mud-
flats, and produced a considerable volume of sound. It was entirely unlike the
familiar whistle of the migrating flocks on the beaches. It suggests to me a modi-
fication of the nuptial song which I described in the original Memoir. This,
besides the succession of sweet notes that recall a Goldfinch or a Canary, has a
rolling or whinnying character. One was heard in the nuptial song in the
marshes by my son Charles in the darkness of the evening and of a fog at 8 P.M.
on May 22, 1915.
I have noticed that this species in walking on the beach sometimes pauses
with the rear foot slightly lifted showing plainly the semipalmation.
114 [247] Ereunetes mauri Cabanis.
WESTERN SANDPIPER.
Rare autumn transient visitor. July 30 to September 20.
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 85
115 [248] Calidris leucophza (Pallas).
SANDERLING; “ BEACH-BIRD”’; “ WHITEY”; “ BEACH PLOVER.”
, ’ ,
Abundant transient visitor. May 20 to June 8; July 10 to November 25
(December 6, 12).
The December 12 record is of several birds seen by Mr. A. C. Stubbs near
the Nahant Coast Guard Station. In June 8, 1919, I saw a flock of six Sander-
lings on Ipswich Beach.
The Sanderling has held its own and may possibly have increased in numbers
since the Federal Law went into effect, but the increase is not so noticeable as in
the case of the Semipalmated Sandpiper.
On the hard wet sand of the beaches one may see in places the characteristic
probings of the Sanderling without a trace of their foot marks, and these may be
the cause of considerable mystery to the uninitiated. While the Semipalmated
Sandpiper runs about with his head down dabbing irregularly here and there, the
Sanderling vigorously probes the sand in a series of holes a quarter of an inch to
an inch apart in straight or curving lines a foot to two feet long. Sometimes the
probings are so near together that the line is almost a continuous one like the
furrow of a miniature plough. The sand is thrown up in advance so that one can
tell in which direction the bird is going. A close inspection of the probings often
reveals their double character, showing that the bill was introduced partly open.
The probings are for the minute sand fleas and other crustaceans in the sand,
their principal food. I have seen Sanderlings running about nimbly on the beach,
catching the sand fleas which were hopping on the surface. I have also seen them
catching flies. Ihave the record of one I shot in 1884, whose stomach was stuffed
with small specimens of the common mussel, Mytilus edulis.
116 [249] Limosa fedoa (Linn.).
MarsLep Gopwit; Brown Martin.
Accidental transient visitor.
Besides the four records of this bird given in the original Memoir two are
to be added from Mr. Damsell’s records.t_ Both of these birds were shot, one on
July 28 and another on July 30, 1888.
1 Auk, vol. 30, p. 24, 1913.
86 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
117 [251] Limosa hemastica (Linn.).
Hupsoni1an Gopwit; “ BLACK-TAIL.”
Rare autumn transient visitor. July 20 to November 12.
,
“Large flocks” of this bird are recorded by Mr. Damsell on September 7,
1891; and on August 26, 1908, Mr. T. C. Wilson and others reported a flock of
seventy on the great marshes of Plum Island River.
It is my great regret that I have never yet seen this bird alive.
118 [254] Totanus melanoleucus (Gmel.).
GREATER YELLOW-LEGS; GREATER TATTLER; ‘‘ WINTER
YELLOW-LEGS ”’; “ WINTER.”
Common transient visitor. (March 27) April 19 to June 14 (June 28, July
6); July 20 to November to.
On May 20, 1905, I counted 145 of these birds in a scattered flock on the
marsh at Ipswich.
The courtship song of the Greater Yellow-legs comes up from the marshes
of Essex County throughout the month of May, but is heard in greater volume
during the two middle weeks. It has a sweet and pleading character and seems to
say wull yer? wull yer? Although it differs from the Flicker-like call described
in the original Memoir, which may be heard at the same time, it too has a decided
Flicker-like flavor. It is heard throughout the day, but in the evening until it is
nearly dark, the marshes often resound with the plaintive callings.
In walking in the shallow water of a pond these long-legged birds kick out
their legs behind as if to rid them of weeds or grass. They dab at the mud or
water like a plover instead of deliberately probing it like a sandpiper with head
down. They often pick off insects from the grass or the surface of the water,
and I have found small fish in their stomachs.
119 [255] Totanus flavipes (Gmel.).
YELLOW-LEGS; LESSER YELLOW-LEGS; “ SUMMER
YELLOW-LEGS”’; “ SUMMER.”
Common autumn transient visitor, accidental in spring. April 30, May 3;
July 3 to September 15 (October 11, 30).
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 87
120 [256] Helodromas solitarius solitarius (Wils.).
SoLirary SANDPIPER.
Not uncommon transient visitor. April 30 to May 30; July 9 to October 14.
My record for April 30 is of a bird seen by me in Ipswich, in 1905. The
May 30 record was of a bird seen in Wenham by Mr. Ralph Hoffmann in 1907.
The early July records are by Mr. A. P. Stubbs of several birds seen in Lynn
in 1916.
121 [258] Catoptrophorus semipalmatus semipalmatus (Gmel.).
WItteET; “ HuMILItTy.”
Uncommon transient visitor. May 13 to June 4 (June 17); August 4 to
September 1.
The striking black-and-white wing feathers make it easy to recognize this
bird even when it flies over at a considerable height. It is probable that the notes
on occurrence given above should now be transferred to the Western Willet as
will be stated under that subspecies.
*122 [258a] Catoptrophorus semipalmatus inornatus (Brewst.).
WESTERN WILLET.
It is believed that most, if not all, of the Willets of the Essex County coast
belong to this western subspecies, as the eastern form may not now breed north of
Virginia, although, within a few years, a summer resident of Nova Scotia. It is
possible, of course, for Virginia birds to wander north after the breeding season.
In the winter plumage, which is assumed in summer, this form can be dis-
tinguished from the eastern form only by its slightly larger size. In nuptial
plumage it is paler above, the breast less heavily streaked and more suffused with
buffy, and the middle tail-feathers lack black bars.
123 [260] Machetes pugnax (Linn.).
Rurr.
Accidental visitor from the Old World.
The single record of 1871 remains unique.
88 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
124 [261] Bartramia longicauda (Bechst.).
UpLanp PLover; “ PASTURE PLOVER.”
Very rare spring, uncommon autumn transient visitor (summer). April 3
to May 7 (June 24, 25, July 2, 3, 9) ; July 16 to October 26.
I have several more spring records for this bird. One was seen by me in a
field at Ipswich on April 29, 1906; Mr. A. P. Stubbs saw two near Lynn on June
25, 1916; three were seen at Newburyport on June 24, 1916, by Mr. S. W. Bailey.
The June and early July records suggest breeding birds. I saw one of the birds
found by Mr. Stubbs near Lynn on July 3, 1913, and two had been seen there by
Mr. Stubbs in July, 1912. This splendid bird is certainly less common than it
was fifteen or twenty years ago.
When an Upland Plover alights, it may hold its wings stretched vertically up
over the back for a second, motionless, before slowly folding them. When stand-
ing still, it often nods its head nervously by drawing it first backward; it may or
may not jerk its tail at the same time. In walking, its head and neck are thrust
out and back in a dove-like manner, and the tail is held parallel with the ground.
When flushed both sexes emit the mournful, tremulous alarm or call-note
described in the original Memoir, often several times in rapid succession.
At No Man’s Land, off Martha’s Vineyard, on June 15, 1913, I had an oppor-
tunity to study four or five pairs that were probably nesting on the island. Several
of these birds were flying in irregular circles, sometimes at a considerable height,
alternately soaring or on tremulous wings. From time to time they gave forth a
wierd song, wild and sad, suggestive of rushing winds in desolate regions. This
aeolian wailing melody was undoubtedly the courtship song, and although usually
given from the air, it was at times emitted from the ground. Very inadequately
I have endeavored to express this song by the syllables oh-whee-oup, whee you.
125 [262] Tryngites subruficollis (Vieill.).
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER; “ HILL GRASS-BIRD.”
Rare transient visitor. July 28 to September 14.
The September 14 record was made by Dr. Walter Faxon at Ipswich in 1916.
1 Bailey, S. W. Auk, vol. 34, p. 207, 1917.
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 89
126 [263] Actitis macularia (Linn.).
SpoTTED SANDPIPER; ‘“ TEETER-PEEP.”
Common summer resident. April 20 to November 14.
Eggs: May 30 to July 4. ;
It is an interesting fact that the downy young of this species only three or
four days out of the egg, before a sign of a tail appears, teeters the posterior
extremity of its body up and down as do its parents.
In Labrador I caught a nearly full grown young still unable to fly and put it
in a small river. It at once dove and swam under water for the distance of three
or four feet using for propulsion its wings and probably its feet although I could
not be sure of the latter point. It then rose to the surface and swam to the
opposite side like a little duck and walked out on the sand where the mother was
anxiously calling.
I have seen adults, who evidently had young near, alternately fly at Esqui-
maux dogs and lead them away by flying low and slowly before them.
In the spring and early summer they frequently give voice to what may be
called a song: trru-wheet rapidly repeated several times very sweetly and sug-
gestive of the end of the song of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. This may be given
from the ground or on the wing and I have heard it in the evening when it was
too dark to see the bird.
127 [264] Numenius americanus Bechst.
LONG-BILLED CURLEW; “ SICKLE-BILL’’; “ HEN CURLEW.”
Accidental transient visitor.
The latest authentic record given in the original Memoir was for 1884. Dam-
sell’ left two records in his notebooks of birds shot on the Salisbury marshes,
namely for July 21, 1887, and July 25, 1891.
128 [265] Numenius hudsonicus Lath.
Hupsontan CurLEw; “ JACK CURLEW.”
Rare spring, uncommon autumn transient visitor. May 24 to May 30; July
5 to September 17.
The early date of July 5 records three birds flying south over the Essex
marshes in 1912.
1 Allen, G. M. Auk, vol. 30, p. 24, 1913.
go MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
This splendid bird has, I am afraid, diminished in numbers in the last fifteen
years. In the original Memoir I said it was “an apparent, but I am inclined to
think, only an apparent, exception to the rule that the shore birds are all decreas-
ing in numbers,” and went on to explain that the Long-billed species was so much
more common in proportion to the Hudsonian in former days up to the seventies,
that the latter species was considered rare. The following quotations from
Wayne's! “ Birds of South Carolina” put a different light on the subject and are
of great interest. They confirm the statements of Maynard who found the Long-
billed Curlew “not uncommon ” at Ipswich between 1867 and 1872, and the Hud-
sonian Curlew “very rare.” Wayne says of the Hudsonian Curlew: “ This species
supplanted the Long-billed Curlew between the years 1883 and 1885, for previous
to these dates the former species was rare, but it gradually became more abundant
each year until it established itself firmly in great numbers. The result was that
the Long-billed Curlew was driven from its accustomed range by a smaller species,
in the struggle for existence.”
He says that the Long-billed Curlew “is now almost extinct on the South
Carolina Coast, while it once swarmed in countless multitudes. Since 1885 it has
been supplanted by the Hudsonian Curlew (NV. hudsonicus), which is still exceed-
ingly abundant during the spring and autumn migrations. .. . 1 do not think that
americanus has been exterminated by being shot, but that it has changed its route
of migration.”
I once watched a large bird of this species, probably a female, feeding on the
mud-flats of Clark’s Pond. It probed with the bill partly open sometimes forcing
it half its length into the mud. Later the bird flew up into the pasture on the hills
and pursued and ate grasshoppers and other insects.
129 [266] Numenius borealis (J. R. Forst.).
Eskimo CurLew; “ DouGH-zirp.”
Transient visitor, accidental in the spring, very rare in the autumn. August
24 to September 15.
An extraordinary record is the following: “ Eskimo Curlew in Massachusetts.
—I am informed by Mr. E. H. Ives, of Boston, that a flock of about fifty Eskimo
Curlew (Numenius borealis) was seen last spring (May 17, 1916) at Chut-Head
Sands, near the mouth of the Rowley River between the towns of Ipswich and
Rowley, Mass.
1 Wayne, A. T. “Birds of South Carolina.” Contrib. Charleston Mus., no. I, pp. 55,
57, IGIO.
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY gI
“A letter to Mr. Ives from J. E. Short (not dated) says, ‘I should say there
were fifty of them—they stayed around two days. Charles Bartlett saw them
(also) and he said he hadn't seen any for 15 years.’
“Both Short and Bartlett are ‘clammers’ and have been experienced shore-
bird gunners in the past. Mr. Ives has talked with both these men and others at
Rowley and feels certain that there was no mistake in identification—Joun C.
Puitiies,t Wenham, Mass.”
Of historical interest is the following quotation from Audubon overlooked in
the original Memoir: “ Previous to my voyage to Labrador I had seen only a
single bird of this species, which was kindly given me by my learned friend, Wil-
liam Oakes, Esq., of Ipswich, Massachusetts, who had procured it in his imme-
diate neighborhood, where, as I have since ascertained, the Esquimaux Curlew
spends a few days in early autumn while on its way southward.”
The only other definite record for Essex County in the last fifteen years I am
able to give is the following: “I purchased of Mr. John Hardy of the Boston
Market, a male Eskimo Curlew (Numenius borealis) taken at Newburyport,
Mass., by A. B. Thomas, August 27, 1908. He shot two, but the other bird had
its head so badly shot that it could not be made into a skin—Joun E. THayer,’
Lancaster, Mass.”
130 [270] Squatarola squatarola (Linn.).
BLACK-BELLIED PLover; “ BEETLE-HEAD’’; “ BLACK-HEART”’;
“ BULL-HEAD”’; “ CHUCKLE-HEAD.”
Common transient visitor. May 8 to June 10 (June 25, 27); July 5 to No-
vember 20.
On June 10, 1906, there were five on Ipswich Beach, two in full black-bellied
plumage, three with pale bellies. On June 27, 1909, I found three on the beach,
one in full plumage, two mottled.
Besides the counts of the various stages of plumage seen in the spring, given
in the original Memoir, the following of a flock of sixty-six that passed by me
within a hundred yards as I lay concealed on the beach at Ipswich, may be added.
This was on May 21, 1905. Nineteen were in full nuptial plumage, twenty-seven
in various stages of molt from the pale-belly winter plumage to the summer
plumage, and twenty were apparently still in winter plumage, but nearly all
showed on close scrutiny with a telescope a few black feathers coming in on the
1 Phillips, J. C. Auk, vol. 33, p. 434, 1916.
2 Audubon, J. J. The Birds of America, vol. 6, p. 45, 1843..
3 Thayer, J. E. Auk, vol. 26, p. 77, 1909.
92 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
lower breast. Dr. J. C. Phillips records a Black-bellied Plover shot at Wenham
Lake on October 21, 1914, the only one he ever shot there.
I have little to add to my former notes on this splendid bird. One of the
very few times I have seen it in the salt-marshes was on May 20, 1906, when a
flock of almost fifty swung around and alighted in the marsh near my house at
Ipswich. On May 30, 1907, about four in the afternoon a flock of over twenty
flew north over my house in perfect V-formation. Their calls came down in a
shower of sweet yet mournful whistles. Mr. R. M. Marble at Ipswich on the
morning of May 15, 1912, saw a flock of about two hundred of these birds fly up
until nearly out of sight and then strike out for the north.
A study of the wet sand where Black-bellied Plover have been feeding shows
that the hole made by the bill is often double, indicating that the bill is open when
the bird dabs at the sand.
131 [272] Charadrius dominicus dominicus (Miill.).
GOLDEN PLOVER; ‘“ PALE-BELLY”’; ‘‘ GREEN-BACK”’; “ GREEN PLOVER.”
Accidental spring, rare autumn transient visitor. April 8 to May 18; August
23 to November 14.
The April 8 record was made in rort, at Plum Island by Mr. J. L. Peters'
in company with Dr. J. B. Brainerd, Barron Brainerd, and Richard M. Marble.
Mr. Peters shot the bird which is now in his collection. The bird proved to be a
male with a single black feather near the middle of the breast. ‘The bird had
not been seen by members of the Plum Island life-saving station near which it
was shot, neither were there any traces of old wounds. His body was entirely
free from fat. Whether he was a straggling migrant or a bird that had been
forced to winter is a question open to discussion.” Damsell records that this
species was abundant in 1891. In 1908, following a storm on August 26, there
was a large flight of these birds on the Essex County coast and individuals
remained until September 29. Mr. G. M. Bubier estimates there were 270 birds
and that 28 were shot at Eagle Hill. Mr. George Patterson reported “a large
bunch” crossing over the Ipswich dunes on August 26, 1918.
132 [273] Oxyechus vociferus (Linn.).
KILLDEER.
Not uncommon summer resident (winter). March 13 to December 15
(winter).
1 Peters, J. L. Auk, vol. 28, p. 368, 1911.
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 93
This species has changed in the last seven years from a very rare and some-
what accidental visitor to a summer resident. It is to be hoped that it has become
a regular breeder in the County.
Mr. Arthur P. Stubbs? on June 25, 1913, while exploring the borders of the
Lynn marshes near Revere, discovered three Killdeer. Each year since, during
the breeding season, he has found Killdeer in this locality, his dates ranging from
April 25 to September 27. Although he has never found the eggs or young, their
continued presence during the season seems to indicate their breeding. Mr. Stubbs
kindly notified me of his discovery and I visited the region on July 3 and 12, 1913.
On the former date I found the largest number of Killdeer I have ever seen
together in the County. As I entered the marsh, nine birds got up together from
several places, united, and flew off in one flock, all crying out noisily.
Mrs. Lidian E. Bridge? reported from one to five Killdeer at Clark’s Pond,
Ipswich, on July 24 to August 28, 1912. These were probably migrants, but may
have nested in the County. I have seen from one to four there in other years.
On May 18, 1918, Mr. G. M. Bubier saw one Killdeer at Ipswich.
Mr. S. W. Bailey® reported a Killdeer at West Newbury on May 24, 1915, in
a pasture and three flying over on September 6 and others on October 18, 1915.
Throughout May and June, 1916, he found two to four adults frequently in
ploughed fields and pastures. It is probable these birds were breeding.
On October 18, 1917, fourteen birds were reported at Peabody by Mr. R. B.
Mackintosh and in May, 1918, a pair undoubtedly nested there. In 1919, Mr. A.
B. Fowler found a pair evidently nesting at this place. On March 30, 1910, Judge
Robert Walcott saw a Killdeer at Gloucester. It is a great satisfaction to be able
to report such an increase in the numbers of this interesting bird in the County.
Dr. Allen* gives some earlier records by Daimsell. He says: “ The memorable
winter flight of these birds in 1888 [referred to in the original Memoir] was
noticed at Amesbury, where on December 4, four were shot, and two the following
day. In 1884 a bird was shot on the marsh in August, and in 1895 one is recorded
November 25.”
The Killdeer is a noticeable bird in the field both on account of its markings
and on account of its voice. It says kill-dee kill-dee very plainly. Its cries
resound through the marsh and are often varied by piercing tee-ars rapidly
repeated or by cries of ker ker ker or eet eet ect. It is a noisy bird.
In flight the white bar on the wings is very noticeable. Alighted, its long,
1 Stubbs, Arthur P. Bird-Lore, vol. 18, p. 364, 1916.
2 Bridge, Lidian E. Auk, vol. 29, p. 537, 1912.
3 Bailey, S. W. Auk, vol. 34, pp. 207, 208, 1917.
4 Allen, G. M. Auk, vol. 30, p. 24, 1913.
94 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
straw-colored legs, its long tail with buff-colored upper coverts, and the two black
bars on the breast are all good field-marks. It is rather a tall bird in proportion
to the size of the body and it bobs occasionally, the head going up, the tail down.
It dabs at the water or mud in the regular plover style.
133 [274] Aégialitis semipalmata (Bonap.).
SEMIPALMATED PLOVER; ‘“‘ RING-NECK.”
Abundant transient visitor in the autumn, not common in the spring. May
7 to June 14 (June 26, 30) ; July 12 to October 26 (November 10).
The June 30 record is for 1918, when I saw three in full cry flying north over
the Castleneck River. The November io record is of a single bird seen on
Ipswich Beach, in 1913, by Dr. Walter Faxon and Dr. W. M. Tyler.
On the breeding-grounds I have watched this species flying about in irregular
circles calling frequently. These repeated calls, which are not very unlike the
Flicker’s call are also given from the ground. I have also heard this courtship
song, for so it may be regarded, at Ipswich in September. At the same time the
birds, which were adults, were crouched low and chasing each other with tails
spread and slightly cocked up, the wings partly open and the feathers of the flanks
puffed out. Occasionally two birds walked slowly in this manner side by side.
134 [277] Aégialitis meloda (Ord).
Pip1nG PLOVER.
Rare summer resident, not uncommon transient visitor. March 29 to
October 28.
Eggs: May 20.
In the ’sixties and ‘seventies, Mr. C. J. Maynard described this bird as “ breed-
ing very plentifully on the Ipswich sandhills.” It continued to breed there in fast
diminishing numbers until about the publication of the original Memoir. Between
1905 and 1915, I doubt if it laid its eggs in that region, but in the latter year and
since, one and possibly more pairs have bred every summer. I have found them
in June nervously flying about and acting like wounded birds fluttering along the
sand. The eggs are deposited in depressions in the sand under a tuft of grass
or in the open. Sometimes the nest is lined or decorated with bits of white shell
which makes the sandy-colored eggs conspicuous.
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 95
Since the original Memoir was published the subspecies, circumcincta, or
Belted Piping Plover, has very properly been dropped from the Check-List. On
August 6, 1907, of a flock of six Piping Plover on Ipswich Beach two were beauti-
fully belted, and on May 3, 1914, out of five all but one were belted.
135 [280] Ochthodromus wilsonius (Ord).
WILSon’s PLOVER.
Accidental visitor from the South.
The record from the County for May 8, 1904, still remains unique. The bird
was shot by Mr. Charles W. Loud, and I trust he will pardon me for not having
given him the credit in the original Memoir. He was the “gunner” mentioned,
and to his generosity I owe both the record and the specimen.
136 [283a] Arenaria interpres morinella (Linn.).
Ruppy TuRNSTONE; “ CHICKEN PLOVER”; “ CHICKEN”; “ CALICO-BIRD.”
Common transient visitor. May 10 to June 3; July 25 to October 16.
I have nothing to add to my account in the original Memoir of this interesting
bird, except that I find in my notes the expression “bald head” and “the mark-
ings on the back of the bird in flight suggest a zebra.” These may serve to impress
on the mind some of the field-marks of the bird.
137 [289] Colinus virginianus virginianus (Linn.).
Bos-wHITE; “ QuAIL.”
Rare resident.
Eggs: May to September.
The Bob-white has never recovered from the winter of 1903-4. As stated
in Chapter II, the introduction of southern forms of this bird has not sufficed to
reéstablish it and has probably done harm by weakening the little remaining native
stock by interbreeding.
Dr. Allen’ has found in his examination of the notebooks of Mr. B. F. Dam-
sell that this bird is entered nearly every year among the birds seen about Ames-
1 Allen, G. M. Auk, vol. 30, p. 24, 1913.
96 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
bury, but after 1905, it appears no more. The severe winter of 1917-18 was also
disastrous to this species.
’ On September 8, 1918, I released eight Bob-whites at my place at Ipswich
sent me by the Fish and Game Commission. They were seen about the place for
two days only. I doubt if they survived the severe winter which followed.
Numerous birds were reared and released at Wenham in 1915 and 1916 by
Dr. J. C. Phillips—as many as seventy-five birds in one group. He has never
learned what became of them. He states that the southern Bob-white lays about
ten days earlier than our native bird.
138 [298c] Canachites canadensis canace (Linn.).
CANADIAN SPRUCE GROUSE; “ SPRUCE PARTRIDGE.”
Accidental visitor from the North.
The record of 1851 remains unique.
139 [300] Bonasa umbellus umbellus (Linn.).
RuFFED GROUSE; “ PARTRIDGE.”
Common permanent resident.
Eggs: May 7 to June 2.
Dr. J. C. Phillips, who has made a careful study of the. relative abundance of
Ruffed Grouse, has written his conclusions as follows: “In the winter of 1914—
1915 Grouse were very plentiful indeed. I started twenty-five at Wenham in a
short morning’s walk on February 13, 1915. The floods of July 1 to 10, 1915,
seemed to start the decline in the Grouse of Essex County. During this period—
nearly ten inches fell in July—I picked up nearly full-grown Pheasants, dead,
many times. In the fall of 1915 there were less than for the past several years
and fewer young birds. Still they were perhaps 75 to 90 per cent. normal. In
1916, Grouse fell to about 30 per cent. normal and Pheasants to Io per cent.
normal. In 1917, I was away, but from all reports and from what I saw in one
day’s hunting, they were down to 20 or 25 per cent. In 1918, from all accounts,
they were not over I5 or 20 per cent.
“Thus far in 1919 there is without doubt a very marked increase, which I
should estimate might be up to 50 or 60 per cent. normal.”
The tracks of Ruffed Grouse in the snow are somewhat smaller than those of
the Pheasant, the marks are thicker and the three toes are more nearly at right
angles to each other.
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 97
140 [301] Lagopus lagopus lagopus (Linn.).
WILLOW PTARMIGAN.
Accidental visitor from the North. The record for 1859 remains unique.
[306] Tympanuchus cupido (Linn.). HeatH Hen; “ PHEeasant.”—Extirpated.
It is to be hoped that the remnant of this species, guarded so zealously by the State at
Martha’s Vineyard, may so increase in numbers under wise care that in time the old haunts
of this bird may be restocked, and that even at the northern limits of its range in Essex
County it may come to it's own again. How interesting it would be if the spectacular court-
ship performance of this bird could be seen on the bare hills of Essex County!
[310a] Meleagris gallopavo silvestris Vieill. Wutp TurKey.—Extinct.
[315] Ectopistes migratorius (Linn.). PAsseNcerR Piceon; “ Witp Piceon.”—Prob-
ably extinct.
Dr. Allen, in his “ Essex County Ornithologist,” says: “ Mr. Damsell was quite familiar
with this species and the Mourning Dove, and his collection contains specimens of both,
locally obtained. Of the Pigeon, a male and a female were shot on August 24, 1886. In
1887, the species is entered twice, on April 23 and November 29. The year 1888 is the last
year in which the Passenger Pigeon was observed, a flock of five on May 6. This was about
the year when the bird practically disappeared from New England.”
141 [316] Zenaidura macroura carolinensis (Linn.).
Mourninc Dove.
Rare summer resident. March 24 to November 21; winter.
Eggs: —— to July 28.
Damsell has records for February 24, 1890, and January 9, 1892, for this
bird. Dr. J. C. Phillips observed twelve of this species on the Rice estate in Ips-
wich on August 24, 1914.
A note in the Auk? gives the interesting stomach-contents of a nestling taken
by me at Boxford on August 12, 1905.
142 [325] Cathartes aura septentrionalis Wied.
TuRKEY VULTURE.
Accidental visitor from the South.
There have been no records as far as I know added to the three already
published.
1 Allen, G. M. Auk, vol. 30, p. 24, 1913.
2 Townsend, C. W. Auk, vol. 23, pp. 336, 337, 1906.
7
98 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
143 [326] Catharista urubu (Vieill.).
BLACK VULTURE.
Accidental visitor from the South.
There are three more records for this bird, and, curiously enough, one was
taken at Pigeon Cove, where the 1863 record was obtained, and one at Nahant
near the 1850 record at Swampscott. The Nahant record is of a bird shot on
April 1, 1913, by Mr. Albert Richards. The Pigeon Cove record is of a bird taken
on May 12, 1916, now in the collection of Mr. C. R. Lamb. In 1917, one was
taken at Wenham on August 18, by Archer L. Pierce.
144 [327] Elanoides forficatus (Linn.).
SWALLOW-TAILED KITE.
Accidental visitor from the West.
The one record for 1882 remains unique.
145 [331] Circus hudsonius (Linn.).
Marsu Hawk.
Common summer resident, very rare in winter. March 21 to November 22
(January I, 21, February 9).
Eggs: May 27 to June tf.
The January 1 record is for 1917, a single bird seen by me at Ipswich. On
February 9, 1912, Mr. R. M. Marble saw a Marsh Hawk at Ipswich.
The courtship flight of the Marsh Hawk is a spectacular performance. I
have been favored with it on two occasions. On June I, 1919, at Ipswich two
birds were soaring high in the air. One rose in circles higher and higher without
apparent movement of the wings. At a great height it suddenly dove down head
foremost and then “looped the loop.” This was repeated several times. Once it
appeared to turn a somersault sidewise; it screamed at the same time.
I am afraid this hawk does not always live up to his reputation as a hunter
of mice alone, for certain individuals appear to be fonder of birds. The experi-
ence of those in charge of the Heath Hen Reservation at Martha’s Vineyard shows
this to be the case. In the original Memoir I gave an account of a nest of the
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 99
Marsh Hawk at Ipswich with its tell-tale bird pellets and two other instances of
bird-hunting by Marsh Hawks. On a number of occasions I have observed a
Marsh Hawk bird-hunting at Ipswich. In the latter part of June and early July,
in 1917, and again in 1918, I have been awakened from my bed in the “ forest”
on my farm by a great outcry among Robins and Bronzed Grackles, and I have
seen a male Marsh Hawk circling over the trees, diving down among them and
making off pursued by angry birds. This has happened day after day not only
in the early morning but at other times of day. Several times I have found the
feathers and other remains of Grackles and Robins in the “ forest.” Mr. R. A.
Nichols, of Salem, reported at a meeting of the Essex County Ornithological Club
on April 28, 1919, that a Marsh Hawk had struck with its talons several of his
pullets weighing over a pound, but was unable to carry them off. The pullets soon
died of the injuries. The hawk succeeded in carrying off a small pullet weighing
about three-quarters of a pound. It is a pity that a few individuals should dis-
grace the species, for the majority are undoubtedly mouse-hunters and helpful
to the farmers.
The Marsh Hawk has a great variety of cries. A large brown bird, probably
a female, was constantly to be seen near a pine grove in the dunes in June and
July, 1917. On my approach she would circle above the trees and emit a loud
Flicker-like call which sounded like pe'-ter pe'-ter pe’-ter. Another bird in Boxford
I heard call stee-whit-a-whit-a-whit. A third, a female who probably had young
concealed near, several times flew straight at me to within thirty yards and then
sheared up and around. She screamed constantly pee pee pee repeated fifteen or
twenty times, and swt, wat, wat, wat; at times the notes were run together so
that they sounded like a whinny.
Like all hawks this species is frequently set upon by Crows. As a rule the
Marsh Hawk circles upward and makes no effort to retaliate when the Crows
endeavor to pounce from above on their victim; but, on one occasion at Ipswich,
a Marsh Hawk, thus annoyed, while it was peacefully quartering a meadow,
turned and struck at one of the Crows with its talons, but failed to hit it.
The long pointed wings and long tail, the customary manner of flight by
quartering the ground, and especially the white ramp make the recognition of this
bird easy in the field. The adult male is sometimes a beautiful gray blue, while
the young and females are brown. Like all hawks they carry the legs extended
behind under the tail in flight. When carrying prey in the talons hawks carry
it suspended below or at an angle behind toward the tail. They seem to tow it
along through the air.
100 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
146 [332] Accipiter velox (Wils.).
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK.
Common transient visitor, rare summer resident ; very rare in winter. March
10 to November 9 (December 7, January 5).
Eggs: May 27 to June fo.
All the Accipiters appear to be unafraid, and do not hesitate to dash at their
quarry in the close proximity of man. One at Ipswich flew into an apple tree
within twenty feet of me and did not leave until it had looked me over. I have
seen them on two occasions attack Red-tailed Hawks with great fury and once a
Marsh Hawk.
A pair soaring and playing together high in the air gave me a beautiful exhi-
bition. The smaller one, the male, would dart at the larger one, the female, who
would shake or tip the wings to spill the air and fall down only to glide up again
without movement of the wings to a great height. Again they would dart down
with great speed, and turn and glide up again.
Although the Sharp-shinned Hawk is capable of soaring as just described,
their usual and characteristic flight is a succession of flutters and sails, of wing
flappings and glidings.
Their alarm cry is a sharp ki ki ki and at times they whinny like a Hairy
Woodpecker. The young have a squealing whistle.
The short rounded wings and long tail are characteristics of the Accipiters.
The tail of the Sharp-shinned Hawk which is frequently spread in flight has a
straight edge which distinguishes it from the Cooper’s Hawk with its rounded tail.
. It must be remembered that the female Sharp-shinned Hawk is about as large as
the male Cooper’s Hawk.
147 [333] Accipiter cooperi (Bonap.).
Coorer’s Hawk.
Permanent resident, common in summer, very rare in winter. April 22 to
October 28 (January, February 10).
Eggs: May 8 to June 11.
I have heard a loud single whistle emitted by one of these birds circling in
August over the dunes in small circles and occasionally advancing by flapping its
wings. At the nest it has a loud cackling ka ka ka.
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY IOI
I watched one at Ipswich that alighted in the salt-marsh and stayed there
for five minutes.
One that visited my place at Ipswich on September 3, 1915, killed in a short
time a Robin and a half-grown chicken. I flushed the hawk who was feasting on
the remains of the chicken within ten feet of me.
The recognition of this bird in the field is given under the Sharp-shinned
Hawk.
148 [334] Astur atricapillus atricapillus (Wils.).
GosHAWK.
Rare and irregular winter visitor; at times common. September 28 to
April 22.
A large flight from the North of this splendid but destructive hawk occurred
during the winter of 1906-07, and these birds were reported from all over the
County. A female Goshawk seized a live Black Duck decoy in the Topsfield
Marshes of the Ipswich River in November, 1906, and was shot by Mr. Julian M.
Dodge. On December 16 of that year, an adult alighted in the top of an apple
tree on my place at Ipswich. Another flight occurred in the winter of 1917-18.
The Goshawk has the same characteristics as the Accipiters in its flight,
boldness, and general appearance. It is about twice as large as a Sharp-shinned
Hawk but has similar short rounded wings and long tail which is rounded or
graduated like that of the Cooper’s Hawk. The adult is bluish slate-color above
with a dark crown and patch on cheek, but the immature is brown above and
lighter below like a Buteo. Its characteristic shape and manner of flying easily
distinguish it.
149 [337] Buteo borealis borealis (Gmel.).
ReED-TAILED HAwk; “ Hen Hawk.”
Very rare summer resident, more common transient visitor; rare in winter.
Eggs: April 27.
The cry of this hawk is a piercing whistle strongly suggestive, as Chapman
says, of the sound made by escaping steam. ;
All the Buteos are distinguished by their broad wings and short tails and their
habit of soaring in circles. The Red-tailed Hawk is slightly larger than the Red-
shouldered Hawk and the adult can be recognized by its rich rufous or terra-cotta
red tail as seen in a good light either from above or below; immature birds lack
this tail coloring.
102 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
150 [339] Buteo lineatus lineatus (Gmel.).
RED-SHOULDERED Hawk; ‘“‘ Hen Hawk.”
Permanent resident, common in summer, uncommon in winter.
Eggs: April 3 to June 6.
At times this hawk, like the other hawks, migrates in large companies. One
such was recorded by Damsellt at Amesbury on September 18, 1886, when a
“flock of about 300” passed.
The scream of this bird is so exactly imitated by the Blue Jay that one is
often uncertain which species is present. The hawk sailing in circles is con-
stantly changing the locality from which the sounds come, while the Blue Jay
often screams from the same point in the woods. The latter bird is very apt to
betray its identity by lapsing into its customary jay jay cry.
A Red-shouldered Hawk, sailing in circles, lowered its legs until they hung
straight down, voided, and then drew the legs back again under the tail.
An adult female of this species was caught by a farmer at Ipswich on Janu-
ary 20, 1913, ina trap baited with a dead hen. Although this confirmed the farm-
er’s contention that the hawk was a veritable ‘‘ Hen Hawk,” there is reason to
believe that it was attracted by carrion and the case does not prove that it would
attack living poultry.
The large size of this hawk, its broad wings, and short tail (which is not
rufous in color), its habit of soaring in circles, as well as its cry so often imitated
by the Blue Jay, serve to identify it. It is to be remembered, however, that the
immature Red-tailed Hawk lacks the rufous tail color. Only under very favor-
able circumstances can the red shoulders of lineatus be distinguished.
151 [342] Buteo swainsoni Bonap.
Swatnson’s Hawk.
Accidental visitor from the West.
I am glad to be able to report here a fourth record of this hawk for Essex
County. On October 28, 1917, my son and I while motoring near Candlewood
Corner, Ipswich, saw a bird flying across the fields toward us that we at first
thought was a Crow. It crossed the road within seventy-five yards and although
it was nearly black it was evident from its form that it was not a Crow but a small
1 Allen, G. M. Auk, vol. 30, p. 25, 1913.
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 103
Buteo. I could distinctly see the shape of its bill and a shade of chestnut-brown
on the flanks. After talking with Mr. Brewster and examining his specimens I
have little doubt but that this was a Swainson’s Hawk.
152 [343] Buteo platypterus (Vieill.).
BROAD-WINGED HAWK.
Not uncommon transient visitor, very rare summer resident. May 3 to May
21; July ; September 11 to November 30.
This is one of the easiest hawks to study as it generally allows of close
approach. Its characteristic Buteo shape,—short tail and broad wings, whose
tips reach nearly to the end of the tail when the bird is on a perch,—and its small
size, about that of a Crow, make its recognition in the field easy. On careful
scrutiny one can often see a light buff line over the eye, the brown markings on
the side, the buff middle breast and belly, and the yellow cere and tarsi. Its
characteristic cry, which it frequently emits, also helps identify it. This is heard
both when the bird is perched and when it is soaring in circles. It is a mournful
double whistle suggestive of the call of the Wood Pewee. I have written it down
as te-whe'e or tswa-ee’ and again as pss-whee'e.
153 [347a] Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis (Gmel.).
RouGH-LEGGED Hawk.
Not uncommon winter visitor. October 25 to May 14.
In the original Memoir I recorded only six instances of this bird. Only once
had I seen it. Since then I have become familiar with it not only in Labrador
but at Ipswich and it has even alighted on my windmill within a couple of hundred
yards of my house. In fact the regularity with which I have seen one or two,
and once four of these birds within a short distance of my house every winter
with one or two exceptions since 1905, makes me think that this part of Ipswich
near the dunes is a regular winter station or at least a stopping-place during the
migrations. Mr. H. W. Wright saw one at Marblehead on January 22, 1907, and
one at Nahant on December 17 of the same year.
The Rough-legged Hawk is a noble bird. It may be known by its large size,
broad wings, and long tail. Shaped like a Buteo, its longer tail marks it out, but
its distinguishing mark in all but the black phase is its white rump, or rather base
to its tail. The only other hawk with this distinguishing mark is the Marsh
Hawk, but the much smaller size, slenderer form, narrow wings, and longer tail
in proportion make the distinction an easy one.
104 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
All phases of plumage are described in my notes of the Ipswich birds. A
light phase is nearly white below with a black bar across the upper belly, and a
black square patch in the middle of the white of the lower surface of the wing
near the wrist joint. The tips of the primaries are dark. I have also noted indi-
viduals that lacked the black bar on the upper belly. In the light phase the upper
brownish surface is relieved by the strikingly white rump or base of the tail. In
one the tail was white above to within a short distance of the tip so as to give the
effect of a white tail with a black terminal band. In the dark phase the bird is as
black as a Crow both above and below and lacks any sign of white rump patch.
Intermediates occur, dark brown in color, with or without an obscure white rump.
My notes describe a dark bird seen several times at Ipswich during the spring
of 1905. In the winter and spring of 1908-09, four birds were seen; one in the
dark, two in the light phase, and one was intermediate. In 1912, a bird in the
light phase was seen. In the winter of 1913-14, two birds were at Ipswich, one
dark, the other light. In the winter of 1916-17, a bird in the light phase was
seen several times. In the fall of 1918, a bird in intermediate plumage, and in the
spring of 1919, two in light plumage were seen. I have other records but they
lack the descriptions of plumage.
Perched, the Rough-legged Hawk sits very erect. One bird that I watched
seemed to have a special liking for windmills. On one occasion he visited and
perched on three in succession,
The flight of the Rough-legged Hawk is graceful and indicative of skill and
power. In soaring, the wings and tail are spread to their full extent; the first
half-dozen primaries are spread out separately like fingers and curve upward at
their tips. On motionless wings, if the wind be favorable, this bird may often be
seen soaring high up over the land. In April and May, I have several times seen
’ two of them, probably a pair, rising up higher and higher as they circled, and,
arrived at a considerable elevation, striking out in flight for the northeast.
When soaring they may be seen looking down, and I have several times seen
them partially close their wings, lower their long feathered tarsi and drop like a
plummet. On one occasion the bird secured a large mouse with which it flew
to the marsh and perched on an ice cake. On another occasion a fine Rough-leg
pounced successfully on a cotton-tail rabbit and bore it off.
In searching the ground for game of this sort they often fly slowly, alternately
flapping and sailing, from fifty to a hundred yards up in the air. Occasionally
they hang over one place by hovering, and often drop their legs preparatory to
pouncing on the prey and draw them up behind when they change their minds.
If the wind be favorable, they hang suspended in the air as motionless as a kite.
The wind needed for this is an up-current over the brow of a steep hill or cliff.
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 105
In this case gravitation acts like the kite-string, and by skillful disposition of
the plane of the wings to the up-current, the bird remains motionless if the wind
is steady. When the wind is irregular and flawy, the bird swings about more or
less, just as a kite acts under similar circumstances. When the wind drops for a
moment the bird hovers.
When two birds soar upward together they are apt to whistle. It is a loud
peeping and rather plaintive whistle suggestive somewhat of the whistle of the
Red-tailed Hawk, but lacking the sound of escaping steam.
I have examined the stomach of one of these birds that was shot at the
Heath Hen Reservation in Martha’s Vineyard. It was believed by the keeper
to have been harassing the Heath Hens. The stomach was stuffed with mice fur
and bones; not a feather was to be found. I believe it is one of the most bene-
ficial of our hawks.
154 [349] Aquila chrysaétos (Linn.).
GoLDEN EAGLE.
Very rare visitor.
Besides the four specimens from the County mentioned in the original
Memoir I can add the following: a Golden Eagle was shot at Peach’s Point, Mar-
blehead, on November 5, 1915. The specimen is now in the Museum of the Pea-
body Academy at Salem.
155 [352] Halizetus leucocephalus leucocephalus (Linn.).
Bap EAacie,
Not uncommon visitor at all seasons.
Damsell’s! records for this bird are as follows: “In 1890, ‘one dark and two
white-headed birds’ were seen March 1, and a single bird May 30. In 1891,
there are records for February 7, July 15, August 3 and 11, December 20.” On
July 16, 1905, I saw an immature Bald Eagle sitting bolt upright on Eagle Dune,
at Ipswich, with its tail pressed into the sand. As it flew off it was attacked by
Crows that seemed small in comparison. On January 31, 1909, Mr. G. M. Bubier
saw one at Nahant, and Mr. H. W. Wright saw probably the same bird on Feb-
ruary 2, 1909, on the thin ice of Lynn Harbor. On February 3, 1912, Mr. J. D.
Sornborger saw one at Rowley and on March 5 of the same year Mr. G. M. Bubier
saw one near Lawrence. Mrs. Martha E. Ward saw one at Birch Pond, Lynn,
1 Allen, G. M. Auk, vol. 30, p. 25, 1913.
106 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
on December 17, 1913. On June 22, 1913, I saw a Bald Eagle at Ipswich. Mr.
G. M. Bubier has seen two and sometimes three of these birds near Groveland in
the winters of 1915, 1916, and 1917. On January 28, 1916, he saw two in full
plumage at Groveland.
In the last week of August, 1916, I several times saw an immature Bald Eagle
at Ipswich Beach where it fed on dead fish. This bird showed by its tracks on
the beach that it walked with short steps dragging its toes. From the tip of the
hind toe to the tip of the middle toe the distance was six and a half inches.
The flight of this splendid bird is strong and vigorous. I have seen them
soar in a strong breeze to a great height, at first in large and then in small circles,
without a perceptible movement of the wings. The secondary feathers of the
great wings appeared almost as long as the primaries which are spread so that
each feather is distinct by itself and bent up at the ends. Arrived at a great
height they sometimes volplane down with amazing speed.
In the adults the snowy white head and tail flash out alternately in the sun-
light as they soar, and they present a magnificent sight.
The cry of this bird is a piercing whistle. I have also heard them emit a
grunting noise.
*156 [353] Falco islandus Brunn.
WHITE GYRFALCON,
Very rare winter visitor.
I am glad to be able to add this bird to the list on the authority of Mr. Jewell
D. Sornborger. He writes me under date of March 7, 1912, that “on January
20, 1912, in the ‘far division’ of the Rowley woods I saw a white hawk flying
along Mud Creek towards its mouth . . . this bird seemed so white that I think it
must have been islandus.”
I once had the great privilege of seeing this bird at Henley Harbor, Labrador.
It was flying about the great cliff, alighted on a shelf and fluttered and hopped a
few paces. It was one of a pair that had been observed there for several years
by Dr. Grenfell.
[354a] Falco rusticolus gyrfalco (Linn.). Gyrratcon.—An erroneous record.
157 [354b] Falco rusticolus obsoletus Gmel.
BLACK GyYRFALCON.
Very rare winter visitor.
In addition to the three records given before I have the following note to
offer. On January 6, 1918, after a week of zero and below-zero weather, a large
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 107
hawk as black as a Crow and with long pointed wings was seen by me flying over
the dunes at Ipswich. At one point over a pine grove it poised for a moment like
a Sparrow Hawk with rapidly moving wings. It disappeared behind the dunes
and I did not see it again. It could have been none other than a Black Gyrfalcon.
158 [356a] Falco peregrinus anatum Bonap.
Duck Hawk.
Not uncommon transient visitor (winter). May 12 to 24; August 17 to
October 20 (December 16, January 19).
The January 19 record is of a bird seen in 1913, at Ipswich Beach by Mr. J.
H. Baker and myself. The December 16 record is an interesting one. I was at
the beach at Ipswich on this date, in 1906, and saw a Duck Hawk fly out from the
dunes and scale over a flock of Scoters on the ocean. It then turned about and
disappeared among the dunes. The Scoters appeared not a whit disturbed and
paid no attention to their very transient visitor. On relating the incident to Mr.
Brewster and expressing my surprise at the action or rather lack of action on the
part of the Scoters, he assured me that ducks on the water were not afraid of a
Duck Hawk as this bird strikes them only in the air, while the reverse is the case
with the Bald Eagle.
The May 12 record is for 1907, at Essex, and as it is of interest I copy my
notes as written at the time: “ Noticed a commotion among some Grackles and a
fine blue Duck Hawk, apparently a female from its size, appeared. It flew over
at a considerable height and then tipped quickly from side to side and fell down
behind some trees soon to reappear with another hawk which I saw was a Marsh
Hawk. The two circled about high up, the upper one frequently falling rapidly
as if to strike the lower who would then turn over to grapple, although as far as
I could see they never actually touched each other. This was repeated again and
again, sometimes one and sometimes the other the aggressor. The white rump
and long tail of the Marsh Hawk easily distinguished it from the Duck Hawk
with its blue back and peculiar head-markings. They finally disappeared from
This was apparently a case of play between
”
sight, still circling and striking.
individuals of two species.
Under the Pectoral Sandpiper I have described the killing of one of these
birds by a Duck Hawk in the marsh at Ipswich. As the hawk flew off, the
victim was carried in the talons below and then extended out behind. The whole
thing was done in the twinkling of an eye so that it was difficult to realize what
had happened.
108 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
The Duck Hawk may be distinguished by its falcon characteristics,—the nar-
row pointed wings which are long enough to reach nearly to the end of the tail
when the bird is perched, and by the plainly marked black cheek-patch or
“ mustachio.”
159 [357] Falco columbarius Linn.
Picron Hawk.
Common transient visitor. March 12 to May 8; September 7 to October 9.
The Pigeon Hawk, like all the falcons, is distinguished by its long pointed
wings and long tail. The difference in size between a male Pigeon Hawk and a
female Sparrow Hawk is not great, the latter being somewhat smaller, but the
broader shoulders and dark blue rather than brown color of the back serve to
distinguish the Pigeon Hawk. ‘The cry is a rapidly repeated wheet wheet wheet
varied to a ki ki ki, harsher in the female than in the male. On the breeding-
grounds both parents boldly launch themselves at the intruder with great energy
and scold him with their quavering cries.
160 [360] Falco sparverius sparverius Linn.
Sparrow Hawk.
Common permanent resident, locally.
Eggs: April 27.
The pretty little Sparrow Hawk is a permanent resident in the County and
_ has, I am inclined to think, slightly increased in numbers. In winter I have found
it roosting at nights under the piazza roofs of summer cottages at Ipswich. It
may often be seen alighted on telegraph poles or wires gently wagging its tail, and
it sometimes keeps ahead of the foot traveller on a road by flying from pole to
pole. It is often seen in thickly settled regions and appears to enjoy the neighbor-
hood of mankind. Mr. H. W. Wright has given me numerous winter records
for this bird since 1907 at Nahant, Lynn, and Marblehead.
Its long, pointed wings, long tail and small size make its recognition easy.
The only hawk with which it can be confused is the Pigeon Hawk which is larger
and broader-shouldered. The adults of the two species are easily distinguished
if the colors can be seen. The Sparrow Hawk is chestnut-brown above and
beautifully marked on the head; the Pigeon Hawk is dark bluish black above.
The flight of the Sparrow Hawk is graceful and swallow-like. It has a habit
of hovering at various heights from a few yards to sixty or more feet above the
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 109
ground, remaining stationary in one spot by the rapid vibration of its wings while
it scans the ground below for game. Now and again it drops quickly down and
bears off a mouse or a grasshopper in its talons, but often its swoops are failures
and turn to upward glides before it reaches the ground. If the wind is blowing
strongly over the brow of a hill it will remain motionless for several minutes at a
time like a kite, supported by the upward currents.
Its call is suggestive of the call of the Lesser Yellow-legs, but sharper.
It may be written as ker wee, ker wee, or killy, killy, and at times resembles a
whinny.
161 [364] Pandion haliaétus carolinensis (Gmel.).
Osprey; Fish Hawk.
Common transient visitor. April 4 to May 31 (July 11); July 31 to October
21 (December 15).
The Fish Hawk is now only a migrant through Essex County. Whether it
could be induced to tarry and nest by the erection of suitable nesting-sites is open
to doubt, but it would be an interesting experiment to try, and well worth the
trouble if successful. In Bristol, R. I., old cart-wheels are placed at the top of
tall poles, often close to farmhouses, and upon these the birds build huge nests.
The use of these platforms is, however, secondary to the use of trees for this
purpose as there is a considerable colony of Fish Hawks there. In a visit to this
region I counted thirty nests, five of which were on cartwheels. The community-
nesting instinct is evidently strong, although in many places the bird nests singly.
Two or three cartwheels on long poles near the shore might be a sufficient induce-
ment to start a summer colony of this splendid bird at Ipswich.
The Fish Hawk is easily recognized by its large size, its dark color above with
a noticeable white line through the eye, and its light color below.
Its manner of fishing is characteristic. Hovering at a considerable height,—
a hundred feet or more,—above the water with its head pointing to windward,
it lowers its feet, which have been held extended below the tail, and drops with
a great splash into the water. In the plunge it may become partially or wholly
immersed ; sometimes the tips of the wings alone are to be seen. I watched one
hover eleven times before the final plunge which after all was unsuccessful. The
fish, sometimes of considerable size, is carried in the talons, with the head point-
ing forward, below and slightly behind. I have seen a Fish Hawk that was carry-
ing a fish well out behind lower it down and forward, void, and then bring the
fish back again.
Their cry is a whou whou whou frequently repeated, at times low, soft, and
110 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
inquiring, at times sharp and even rasping and grating. A whistling note and
sharp ki kis are also heard.
162 [365] Aluco pratincola (Bonap.).
Barn Ow.
Accidental visitor from the South.
On October 21, 1915, Dr. J. C. Phillips caught a Barn Owl in a trap at Wen-
ham. This is the only addition to the former scanty records.
163 [366] Asio wilsonianus (Less.).
LONG-EARED OWL.
Uncommon permanent resident, rather common autumn transient visitor.
Eggs: April and May.
One was shot by Dr. J. L. Goodale in his orchard at Ipswich on November
19, 1905.
In May and June, 1917, a pair nested in an old Crow’s nest in a pitch pine in
the Ipswich dunes as has been already recorded by me in the Auk.*/ An examina-
tion of the pellets and upper layers of the nest by the U. S. Biological Survey, in
Washington, showed that this pair had eaten some thirteen different species of
birds and twenty-three individuals; also four species of mammals and twenty-
five individuals.
The notes of these birds suggested at times the barking of a small puppy,
-at times the notes ud-hunk.
164 [367] Asio flammeus (Pont.).
SHORT-EARED OWL.
Not uncommon transient visitor, rare in winter. March 11 to May 4; Sep-
tember 27 to November 16 (December, January, February).
This owl does not seem to me to be as common as in former years. The May
4 record is of a bird seen by me at Ipswich, in 1913. I have two more winter
records to add to those in the original Memoir, each of birds seen by me at Ips-
1 Townsend, C. W. Auk, vol. 35, p. 183, 1918.
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 16} fb
wich: one on December 16, 1906, and one on February 18, 1917. On the occasion
of the excursion of the American Ornithologists’ Union to the Ipswich dunes on
November 16, 1917, one Short-eared Owl was good enough to show himself.
On March 11, 1917, I took Dr. A. A. Allen, of Ithaca, to the Ipswich dunes
and we were treated with the unusual sight for Essex County of five and possibly
six Short-eared Owls. They were seen flying about the dunes or sitting in
elevated positions in the beach-grass back of the beach. In the latter position
their colors and shape made them very difficult to see and they were easily mis-
taken for stumps or posts with patches of white sand, lichen, or snow on them.
After being deceived several times, Dr. Allen and I both were willing to consider
a certain obvious stump to be an owl, but after deciding that it was not one, the
“stump ”’ opened its wings and flew away!
Although the ground seems to be their usual perch, I have seen one on a
post as related in the original Memoir, and once in a tree, very erect.
The flight is by alternate flapping and sailing with tail spread.
I have yet to hear it utter a sound.
165 [368] Strix varia varia Barton.
BARRED OWL.
Uncommon permanent resident, at times common in the autumn.
This bird of the wise and benevolent countenance has of late years occa-
sionally taken up its residence in winter in Boston, where it subsists on the Eng-
lish Sparrows whose populous roosts are at once broken up, and each sparrow
shifts for itself at night. Whether this has occurred in any of the cities of Essex
County I do not know.
166 [370] Scotiaptex nebulosa nebulosa (J. R. Forst.).
GREAT GRAY OWL.
Very rare and irregular winter visitor.
I have one more record to add to the previous list for the County, making
eight records in all. This was a bird shot on January 6, 1894, in the Great Swamp
at Amesbury. The specimen, found in Mr. Damsell’s collection, has been acquired
by the Boston Society of Natural History.t
1 Allen, G. M. Auk, vol. 30, p. 25, 1913.
112 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
167 [371] Cryptoglaux funerea richardsoni (Bonap.).
RICHARDSON’s OWL.
Irregular and very rare winter visitor.
Mr. Damsell' has added two more records to the previous seven for this owl
for the County. One was taken February 25, 1889, the other on January 5, 1903,
both in the vicinity of Amesbury.
168 [372] Cryptoglaux acadica acadica (Gmel.).
SAW-WHET OwL; ACADIAN OwL.
Rare winter visitor, possibly resident. September 20 to April 4.
A note, overlooked in the original Memoir, from Baird, Brewer and Ridg-
way is as follows: “On one occasion I found one of these birds in April, at
Nahant. It was apparently migrating, and had sought shelter in the rocky cliffs
of that peninsula. It was greatly bewildered by the light, and was several times
almost on the point of being captured by hand.”
On April 20, 1912, Mrs. Edmund Bridge found the wings and tail of this bird
in the Ipswich dunes.
Mr. H. W. Wright saw an Acadian Owl at Pine Grove Cemetery, Lynn, on
December 20, 1905, and another on April 4, 1906, in the center of Marble-
head Neck.
169 [373] Otus asio asio (Linn.).
ScREECH OWL.
Common permanent resident.
Eggs: April 15 to May 5.
170 [375] Bubo virginianus virginianus (Gmel.).
Great Hornep OwL.
Not uncommon permanent resident.
Eggs: March to April 20.
In the latter part of December, 1918, the great Crow roost at Castle Hill,
Ipswich, temporarily ceased to be, the Crows going elsewhere. On February 16,
1 Allen, G. M. Auk, vol. 30, p. 25, 1913.
2 Land Birds, vol. 3, p. 46, 1874.
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 113
1919, I started a Great Horned Owl from the roosting-woods. On March 2, a
band of two hundred or more Crows was heard making a great outcry there,
and from their actions I concluded they were evidently mobbing and chasing a
Great Horned Owl, the disrupter of the roost. I had previously found Crows’
feathers in various places where these birds had been killed.
171 [376] Nyctea nyctea (Linn.).
Snowy OwL.
Irregular, but at times common visitor in the late autumn, less common in
winter and early spring. October 18 to April 18.
‘In the winter of 1905-06 occurred a very large flight of the Snowy Owl,
larger probably than the great flight in the fall of 1876. For that flight, and the
smaller one of 1901-02, the Owls were fortunate in having Mr. Ruthven Deane’
as their historian. Mr. Deane “received records of some eight hundred speci-
mens from localities scattered from Nova Scotia west to Nebraska and from
Manitoba south to Missouri, showing that in this territory, at least, the flight had
been quite general.”
The records for Essex County I was able to collect of this flight and send to
Mr. Deane he enters as follows: ‘“‘ Two seen by himself in the Ipswich dunes, on
Noy. 5, 1905, and Feb. 11, 1906; five shot in the Ipswich dunes, November 25,
1905; one seen near Salem, Jan. 1, 1906. At different dates during November
and December, 1905, and January, 1906, a gunner from Newburyport shot nine-
teen specimens, most of them being taken on Plum Island.” Mr. Everett Gordon,
taxidermist of Lynn, reported one taken at Nahant on November 22, 1905, and
one at Gloucester on November 23.
Mr. Damsell’s? records are for 1886, Nov. 26, Dec. 10; 1887, Feb. 10; 18809,
Nov. 8; 1890, Jan. 23, Nov. 28, Dec. 6, 11, 20, 24; 1891, Dec. 16; 1893, Nov. 7;
1896, Nov. 16; 1901, Dec. 26, two, Dec. 28; 1902, Jan. 3, 11, 18, 25, Feb. 3, 4,
Apr. 3, Oct. 18, 23; 1903, Mch. 12; 1905, Nov. 21. ,
Besides my own observations shortly to be related, I have also to record a
Snowy Owl seen at Ipswich by Mr. R. G. Vickery on April 18, 1907, one on
November 4, 1911, at Plum Island by Mr. James L. Peters, and one on February
9, 1912, at Ipswich, by Mr. R. M. Marble.
Since the manuscript for the original Memoir was handed to the printers, I
1Deane, R. Auk, vol. 23, p. 289-2098, 1906, also p. 100.
2 Allen, G. M. Auk, vol. 30, p. 25, 1913.
114 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
myself have had the privilege of seeing Snowy Owls five times at Ipswich and
once at Milk Island off Cape Ann. ;
On November 5, 1905, Dr. G. M. Allen and I saw a Snowy Ow/l sitting on a
sand dune at Ipswich with body inclined at the usual angle of about 45 degrees.
It was a handsomely marked bird with white face, dark gray crown and nape and
with diagonal rows of black spots on its back. By walking diagonally toward it
we were able to approach within seventy yards. Its eyes were narrow slits and
after watching us for a few minutes with one eye it would quickly turn its head
and watch us with the other eye. Horned Larks fed undisturbed within thirty
yards of it. When we crouched and attempted to crawl straight toward the owl
it at once rose and flew off with broad slow sweeps of its wings and with feet
stretched out behind. After sailing for a distance it again alighted, throwing out
its feet in front. This time by stalking behind dunes we were able to approach
within twenty-two yards.
A dark bird seen on February 11, 1906, looked like a gray stump on the top
of a dune at a distance of nearly a mile. This bird flew away alternately sailing
and flapping close to the ground.
A very white bird was seen on March 14, 1909, sitting on a rock on Milk
Island. There were several Crows about it on the rocks, some within three or
four yards. The owl was evidently on the alert and at times sat nearly erect.
As we approached it flew off toward the mainland pursued by Crows who occa-
sionally flew down on it from above. The owl pursued its way undisturbed,
flying directly with steady slow flappings of its great wings. The island was full
of the signs of rats.
The bird seen on January 17, 1913, at Ipswich, was a dark bird, that, dis-
turbed from a dune-top, rose in the strong wind and poised motionless like a kite,
- with the tips of its primaries bent up. As it sailed about, it would occasionally
stretch its neck and lift its great round head above the level of the back and look
about. Later it skirmished for prey low over the beach-grass where it alternately
sailed and flapped.
On December 21, 1913, I watched a dark Snowy Owl in the dunes that was
being mobbed by a large flock of Snow Buntings that swirled about it and darted
down toward it, as it sat on a dune-top. On March 9, 1918, my son Charles saw
a Snowy Owl at Ipswich.
On November 17, 1918, I found a dead Snowy Owl in rather dark plumage
thrown up by the waves at Ipswich Beach. The bird had been shot and the skin
is now in the collection of the Boston Society of Natural History.
On December 16 of the same year, I saw from my house a dark Snowy Owl
flying by alternate flappings and sailings high over the salt-marsh. The bird
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY II5
alighted in the top of a tree on one of the islands. On December 26, my son
Charles saw a Snowy Owl alight on the roof of an outbuilding of a farm at
Ipswich.
172 [377] Surnia ulula caparoch (Mill.).
Hawk Ow ..
Very rare and irregular winter visitor.
Mr. C. E. Moulton! in March, 1900, caught one of these owls in his hand at
Lynn. The bird was hiding in a fallen pine tree in a swamp.
Mr. Everett W. Ricker, of Andover, wrote me on September 12, 1914, that
on November 22, 1913, he saw a Hawk Owl at dusk near his chicken coops. After
wounding it slightly he kept it for three months, during which time it became quite
tame. At the end of three months it died and the body was sent to Mr. C. J.
Maynard. It was a female.
173 [378] Speotyto cunicularia hypogzea (Bonap.).
BurRROWING OWL.
Accidental visitor from the West.
The record of 1875 remains unique.
174 [387] Coccyzus americanus americanus (Linn.).
YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO.
Not uncommon irregular and local summer resident. May 10 to September.
Eggs: May 20 to June 30.
I can now add Topsfield and Amesbury to the towns where this bird has been
found. In the latter town at the northern limit of the County the bird was found
by Damsell? in 1884, 1901, 1903, and 1906. In r1gor, on June 24, a nest and eggs
were found.
1 Moulton, C. E. Bull. Essex County Orn. Club, p. 38, 1919.
2 Allen, G. M. Auk, vol. 30, p. 25, 1913.
116 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
175 [388] Coccyzus erythrophthalmus (Wils.).
BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO.
Common summer resident. May 10 to September 25 (October 21).
Eggs: May 30 to July 4.
On October 8, 1919, Mr. Ralph Hoffmann saw this species at Andover.
In the spring and early summer the curious song of the Black-billed Cuckoo
may be heard not only by day, but occasionally in the dusk of the evening and at
night. It may be delivered on the wing as a flight song. The full song may be
described as a preliminary harsh clearing of the throat followed by from six to
twelve short coughs which in turn are succeeded by the more pleasing doublets
and triplets of cows. The Yellow-billed Cuckoo repeats his cows or cowks in
regular order without dividing them into sets and they sound as woodeny as if he
were striking a plank with a mallet.
176 [390] Ceryle alcyon (Linn.).
BELTED KINGFISHER.
Common summer resident (winter). March 28 to October (December 11,
15, 29, January 31, February 16, 22).
In August, 1917, a Kingfisher was detected at Ipswich by Mr. R. T. Crane’s
gamekeeper pouncing on young Bob-whites hatched in captivity. He shot the
bird, a female, and, on opening its crop, found the legs and feathers of the young
Bob-whites.1
177 [393] Dryobates villosus villosus (Linn.).
Harry WOooDPECKER.
Not uncommon permanent resident, more common autumn transient visitor.
Eggs: May 30.
Mr. Damsell’s? note-books “ bring out very strongly the fact that on the coast
in the vicinity of Amesbury, at all events, the Hairy Woodpecker appears very
regularly during October and November in small numbers, but only rarely in the
winter and spring months.”
As an indication of the extent to which this bird breeds in certain parts of
the County I may instance the fact that in a two days’ canoe trip on the Ipswich
1 Townsend, C. W. Auk, vol. 35, pp. 184, 185, 1918.
2 Allen, G. M. Auk, vol. 30, p. 25, 1913.
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 107,
River from Danvers to Ipswich with the annual bird trip of the Essex County
Ornithological Club, I observed three pairs of this bird. One pair was seen going
in and out of a hole in a dead tree, and the female carried something in her bill.
In the winter of 1918-109, there occurred a large flight of Hairy Woodpeckers
in eastern Massachusetts and I found them common at Ipswich. They looked
larger than usual and I secured two specimens, whose measurements are as
follows:
C. W. T. Coll. 1483. January 12, 1919, 6; wing 136 mm.; tail 86 mm.; bill
32 mm. ; tarsus 17 mm.
C. W. T. Coll. 1486. February 1, 1919, #; wing 125 mm.; tail 77 mm.; bill
31 mm.; tarsus 20 mm.
One, if not both, of these appears by the measurements to be referable to the
northern race, septentrionalis, but the plumage is that of villosus.
Ridgway in his key to the species and subspecies of Dryobates' characterizes
D. villosus septentrionalis, the Northern Hairy Woodpecker, as “ averaging: wing
more than 130, tail more than 83, exposed culmen more than 31 mm.,” and D.
‘
villosus villosus as “averaging: wing less than 121, tail less than 75, exposed
culmen less than 30.”
Of course they may have been unusually large specimens of villosus. Unfor-
tunately, we do not know where they were reared. These birds as well as some
Downy Woodpeckers were feeding on the flaming, furry fruit of the staghorn
sumach.
On one occasion I startled a female or young male Hairy Woodpecker that
rattled like a red squirrel as it flew from tree to tree with the feathers on the nape
erected in anger. The rattles, at times suggestive of those of the Kingfisher, were
also given on the wing and were interspersed with sharp clicks. As the bird flew
from tree to tree the fluttering of the wings could be distinctly heard. On the
limb of a tree the bird kept up a vigorous up-and-down bobbing of the head. This
performance continued for nearly ten minutes during all the time I stayed near.
The ordinary whinny of the Hairy Woodpecker is lower in tone, more mellow,
and lacks the sharpness of the whinny of the Downy Woodpecker.
178 [394c] Dryobates pubescens medianus (Swains.).
Downy WoopPECKER.
Common permanent resident.
Eggs: May 22 to June 21.
In October and November, 1918, there was a considerable migration of
1Ridgway, R. Birds of North and Middle America, pt. 6, p. 196, 1914.
118 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
Downy Woodpeckers, some of which were so much larger than the usual breed-
ing bird that they may have been of a northern race.
179 [400] Picoides arcticus (Swains.).
ARCTIC THREE-TOED WOODPECKER.
Irregular but on rare occasions a common winter visitor.
Dr. G. M. Allen? found in Damsell’s notebooks the measurements of a bird
taken November 24, 1883. ‘“ Another specimen is entered October 28, 1887, both
no doubt from Amesbury.”
180 [401] Picoides americanus americanus Brehm.
THREE-TOED WOODPECKER.
Irregular and very rare winter visitor.
There are no additions to the three previous records.
181 [402] Sphyrapicus varius varius (Linn.).
YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER.
Uncommon and irregular transient visitor (summer). April 19 to May 21;
June 12, July, August 9; September 23 to October 19 (November 4).
The November 4 record is for 1890 by Damsell* at Amesbury.
Nearly every fall I find fresh rings or bands of holes on one at least of my
apple trees at Ipswich, and on one occasion I saw a Sapsucker flying away from
the tree. Whether these holes are made for practice or to obtain the inner bark
I do not know. They are dry and free from sap. It has been stated that these
rings or holes are made by Downy Woodpeckers. That this species makes single
holes I do not doubt, but it hardly seems possible to me that it would make rings
of holes so characteristic of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.
1 Allen, G. M. Auk, vol. 30, p. 26, 1913.
SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 119
182 [405a] Phlceotomus pileatus abieticola (Bangs).
NORTHERN PILEATED WOODPECKER.
Accidental visitor.
In the original Memoir I was unable to give the source of the record of the
Manchester, 1885, bird. It is as follows: “Salem, Mass., Dec. 28 [1885]. = =
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