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Annotated list of the Ave
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THE BROWN PRINTING COMPANY
MONTGOMERY, aLa.
1@24
WILLIAM CUSHMAN AVERY, M. D.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
EUGENE ALLEN SMITH, State Geologist
MUSEUM PAPER NO. 4
ALABAMA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
»
ANNOTATED LIST OF THE
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION
IN
THE ALABAMA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
(GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MUSEUM)
BY
ERNEST G. HOLT
Biographical Sketch of Dr. William Cushman Avery
by his sister
MISS MARY E. AVERY
UNIVERSITY, ALABAMA
1921
PRESS
BROWN PRINTING Co.
MONTGOMERY
ALABAMA
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
To His Excellency,
Governor Thomas E. Kilby,
Montgomery, Alabama.
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith the manu-
script of an annotated list of the Avery bird collection,
with the request that it be printed as Museum Paper No.
4 of the Alabama Museum of Natural History, (Geologi-
cal Survey Museum).
Very respectfully,
EUGENE A. SMITH,
State Geologist.
University of Alabama,
September, 1921.
GEOLOGICAL CORPS.
Eugene Allen Smith, Ph.D State Geologist
William F. Prouty, Ph.D. ]
George I. Adams, D.Sc. | Assistant Geologists on Special Work.
George H. Clark, C. E. J
Robert S. Hodges Chemist
Roland M. Harper, Ph.Duo.. oc Geographer and Botanist
Mrs. Herbert H. Smith Acting Curator of Museum
Truman H. Aldrich Honorary Curator of Mollusca
Rev. H. E. Wheelev.....2- Assistant in Paleontological Work
George N. Brewer. Field Assistant
A. T. Donoho Secretary
RIVER GAGE HEIGHT OBSERVERS.
Tallapoosa River at Sturdevant, Ala.
A. L. Stow... Alexander City, Ala.
Elk River at Elkmont, Ala.
Dr. William E. Maples Elkmont, Ala.
Observations are made every day by these observers of the gage
readings at the several stations. From these records when extend-
ed through sufficient time, the calculation of available horse power
to be obtained from the different streams is made.
PREFACE.
HE act of the legislature of Alabama, approved April
18, 1873, “To revive and complete the geological and
agricultural survey of Alabama,” has from the first been
construed to include, as related to agriculture and there-
fore legitimately a part of the survey work, the investi-
gation of the fauna and flora of the State. In the pre-
face of my first report, 1874, I have outlined the scope of a
complete report of this survey to include,
J. Physical Geography.
II. Geology and Paleontology.
III. Economic Geology. °
IV. Agricultural Relations, and
.V. Botany and Zoology,
and the reports of the Survey from year to year have
covered more or less in detail all of these subjects.
Collections of the native plants of this State, begun in
1873 and continued since, have resulted in the accumula-
tion of a fairly complete herbarium of the plants growing
without cultivation in Alabama, and the publication of the
classical work of Dr. Charles Mohr “The Plant Life of
Alabama.” Additional notes on the flora of the State have
been published in most of the Survey reports up to the
present time.
Naturally the insects injurious to vegetation and the
birds and other animals which prey upon them, or which
are themselves directly destructive of vegetation, must
be considered in any reasonably complete account of the
agricultural features of the State.
In my report for 1875 was published a preliminary
paper on the cotton worm by Prof. A. R. Grote, and in
the 1876 report, A Preliminary List of the Fresh Water
Shells of the State, by Mr. James Lewis.
We have now in manuscript ready for publication, a
similar list of the Reptiles and Batrachians of Alabama
by H. P. Loding of Mobile, and the present report con-
6 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
tains a list of the collection of Birds of Alabama made
by Dr. William C. Avery and now in the State museum,
together with all his ornithological notes.
This is preliminary to a complete account of the birds
of the State, which we hope in due time to present.
A similar report on the mammals of the State and on the
insects, especially those injurious to vegetation, should
follow in due course, but the overwhelming number of
insect forms existing at the present day, makes a com-
plete presentation of the insect life even of a state, a life
work. We may hope, however, soon to make at least an
initial report on the most important insect forms in their
relation to agriculture.
EUGENE A. SMITH.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WILLIAM CUSHMAN
AVERY.
Condensed from notes by his sister Miss Mary E. Avery.
ILLIAM CUSHMAN AVERY, M. D., son of Rev.
John Avery, D. D., and Ann Paine, his wife, was
born in Edenton, N. C., Sept. 21, 1831.
From his earliest years he evinced a love of knowledge.
He went to the root of all that he felt worth learning;
the more difficult the research, the more fascinating.
He was tutored at home by his mother, until he entered
his teens. She recognized and appreciated his talents,
and furthered their development. He loved nature, espec-
ially in the animal and vegetable kingdoms. I remem-
ber when a child seeing him pore over his volumes of
natural history and filling a book with drawings of ani-
mals and of birds, sketches from nature, and copied from
these histories.
He had such a love for drawing and painting, that at
one period he thought seriously of making this his life
work. He possessed great versatility of thought and
aptness of learning in almost every branch.
He inherited a taste for languages from his father, who
was a graduate of Williams College, Mass.; and after-
wards of Yale College in 1813.
My brother, Dr. William C. Avery, graduated at Bur-
lington College, N. J. in 1851 or 752. His college life
was one of great happiness; wrapped in the pursuit of
learning he won the esteem of the professors and the
friendship of the students, many of whom were to be
noted men in the world. He seemed utterly free from
self conceit, so that none manifested envy towards him.
In regard to literary investigations he was thoroughly
self-reliant and self-sufficient, yet showing nothing of
arrogance towards others.
After graduating at Burlington College, he ‘taught
school for several years. He then studied medicine at
8 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
the University of Pennsylvania and completed his course
in Paris. a
While in Paris he studied French, sparing no pains In
becoming proficient in that language. He frequently
avoided meeting his friends from America, not wishing
to speak English while striving for fluency in French.
Just so it was while he was in Italy, Germany and
Spain, his application was such that he became proficient
in these languages also. While in Europe he traveled
in Germany and Switzerland on foot, there studying na-
ture.
After his return home he decided to settle for life
in Marshall, Texas, and there to practice medicine. Af-
ter a few years, he returned to his old home, “Content-
ment,” near Greensboro, Ala., to visit his mother. Feel-
ing that it was best to be near her, he did not return to
Texas, but settled in Selma, Ala., in the early spring of
1861.
His office had scarcely been opened, when the signal
of war sounded. He was filled with enthusiasm. He
gave up everything and enlisted as a private in Col. N.
H. R. Dawson’s regiment.
His lot was never to be in a battle, for like many a
fellow soldier, he was taken with measles soon after
reaching Virginia. He knew nothing of the glories of
a soldier’s life, only sickness and weariness in the sol-
dier’s camp.
Recovering from the measles he came with his division
to Dumfries on Ocoquon Creek, Virginia, not far from
Washington City. There, from fatigue and lack of suit-
able care and nourishment in his broken down condi-
tion, he was taken with typhoid fever. That he did not
die seemed a miracle; but he was saved for other work.
Through this illness he was incapacitated for the duties
of a soldier. His furlough and discharge from the army
were granted and he returned to Greensboro, Ala., where
he taught school for some time and then resumed the
practice of medicine. He did not care for town life, but
always made his home in the country.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 9
Living in close touch with nature he had the opportun-
ity of gratifying his love of natural history. He studied
ornithology and related subjects for the mere love of
them, but he became soon an ornithologist recognized and
endorsed by the first in our land.
By correspondence he became well known to ornithol-
ogists, and among them claimed as his friends, Messrs.
J. A. Allen and Frank Chapman, curators in the Museum
of Natural History Central Park, N. Y.; and Prof. Coues,
Messrs. Bendire, Merriam, and Robert Ridgway of the
Smithsonian Institution in Washington City.
He had a great desire to make a collection of the birds -
of Alabama. Like many a gifted student, he had no
‘money of his own, nor the aid of influential wealthy
friends to advance him in his work. This did not deter
him but added zeal and determination to his desire. He
“was very accurate. Time and labor were factors to prove
or establish a fact.
He anticipated the necessity of the “bird law” which has
recently been passed. In 1882 he wrote a long article on.
“Causes Leading to the Lessening and Destruction of our
Game.” This article is given below in the Systematic
List.
Not long after the English sparrow was introduced
‘into Central Park, New York, I spent the summer in
‘Orange, N. J. The little birds increased so rapidly that
‘Central Park could not hold them, and myriads flocked
‘to the Jersey town. Now it was hoped that gardens and
-orchards would be freed from insects. Everybody re-
joiced. I was fascinated with them, and made arrange-
ments to take some of them home to my brother but I
-was disappointed. After getting home I told him of my
plan, saying, “Brother, I hoped to bring you a lovely’
‘present, a gift that would give you more pleasure than
anything else, but I did not succeed.” “What was it?,”
the asked. “Oh,” I replied, “a cage full of lovely little
‘English sparrows. There were thousands of them in
‘Orange, N. J., and everybody was wild about them.”
“English sparrows,” he exclaimed. “Thank God, you
did not succeed. Don’t you know that they will prove
10 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
an awful pest. Those who introduced them thought
the English sparrow was insectivorous, but instead it is
granivorous; and I trust we will not have them here.”
After all they have come to stay.
To him no pleasure was equal to going off with gun,
game bag and note book and spending the whole day,
alone in the most unfrequented woods to watch the habits
of birds.
Dr. Avery wrote very little for publication. His most
important articles are in the American Field; Vols.
XXXIV and XXXV, published in 1890 and ’91. His cor-
respondence with ornithologists, mammalogists and taxi-
dermists was quite extensive and always instructive.
He made a collection of 900 birds, preparing them
for scientific use, according to Audubon’s plan. This col-
lection was purchased by the Geological Survey of Ala-
bama through Eugene A. Smith, State Geologist, and is
now in the Alabama Museum of Natural History, Univer-
sity of Alabama.
In January, 1894, Dr. Avery seemed less capable of
enduring great fatigue. We feared heart trouble. And
thus it was for on March 11, 1894, God called him sud-
denly to his eternal rest.
“He who dies believing,
Dies safely through His love.”
On his father’s side, Dr. Avery was a lineal descend-
ent of Dr. William Avery who came to America
from Berkshire, England, in 1650; of Robert and Thom-
as Cushman, who came to America in the Mayflower
in 1620; and of Isaac Allerton, likewise a Mayflower pass-
enger.
On his mother’s side he was closely related to Robert
Treat Paine, one of the signers of the Declaration of
Independence.
THE ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES OF
DR. WILLIAM CUSHMAN AVERY
INCLUDING A CATALOGUE OF HIS ALABAMA
COLLECTION.
COMPILED AND EDITED BY ERNEST G. HOLT.
INTRODUCTION.
N THE Museum of the Geological Survey of Alabama,
at University, is a small but well preserved collection
of birds brought together by the late Dr. William Cush-
man Avery of Greensboro, Ala. Most of the specimens
were collected and preserved by Dr. Avery’s own hands,
although there are many secured by exchange with well
known ornithologists, and a few that were purchased.
The collection as a whole is fairly representative, except
for the water birds, but is of especial interest because
the greater part of the specimens were collected in the
vicinity of Greensboro, and at other points in Alabama—
a State none too well known ornithologically.
Since the death of Dr. Avery in 1894, many sub-species
have been described and sweeping changes have been
made in nomenclature, rendering a revision of the col-
lection desirable. The privilege of this work was given
the writer’ by Dr. Eugene A. Smith, State Geologist, and
in January, 1914, a complete check of the collection was
made with the assistance of Mr. Lewis S. Golson, of
Prattville, Ala. All records were placed at our disposal,
and though these consisted only of five combination cata-
logues and journals and a few loose pages, many interest-
ing facts regarding the bird-life of the region and the
early ornithological struggles of Doctor Avery were
gleaned from them.
It was at first proposed by Dr. Smith to publish a cata-
logue of the revised collection, but because Dr. Avery’s
published notes are scattered through journals long since
out of print, or otherwise unavailable, and because the
unpublished material contained in his note-books seems
of considerable value, it was decided to bring all together
in a bulletin in the form of an annotated catalogue.
The following list of 216 species and subspecies is the
result. Alabama specimens only are included in this,
though the collection contains many western and north-
ern birds, and others taken beyond the boundaries of
14 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
the State. Dr. Avery did not collect personally outside
his native state and almost all the specimens listed here-
in were taken by himself. It has been the writer’s aim
to make of this bulletin at once a complete resume of Doc-
tor Avery’s ornithological labors, and to bring together
any interesting facts connected with the acquirement of
his store of bird-lore.
Because of the exigencies of the writer’s service with
the U. 8. Biological Survey, the work of searching
through the Doctor’s old records and compiling his pub-
lished papers had to be done at odd moments between
field trips. The war caused a further delay and the
actual writing of the manuscript was accomplished in a
military camp after the signing of the armistice. Thus
several years have elapsed since the collection was worked
over but the results have not been affected by the delay
in publication.
It is worthy of note that Dr. Avery did not take a
scientific interest in birds until comparatively late in
life; this interest continued, however, until almost the
hour of his death—7:30 o’clock on Sunday morning,
March 11, 1894. His last specimen catalogued was a mock-
ingbird taken on March 5th, 1894. The earliest note
found is dated June 21, 1875, the fortieth anniversary
of his birth, and is written in French on a page cut
from an old journel (see under Piranga r. rubra, No.
151). A catalogue of fifty-five numbers and an “Oologi-
cal Register” of seven numbers, running from May 23,
1876, to August 28, 1881, is contained on a few other
pages from the same old account book, but few of these
specimens are now in the collection. His really serious
work was begun apparently in 1886, when he started a
catalogue on July 6th. This latter catalogue is an orderly
affair entered in five books through which are dispersed
fragmentary journal records, notes on bird habits, song,
nesting, and other items of interest.
Though Dr. Avery’s published writings are not in them-
selves of great importance, his ornithological work bore
abundant fruit through others. He contributed quite a
number of stomachs of raptorial birds to the U. S. Bio-
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 15
logical Survey (then the Division of Ornithology and
Mammalology), the analyses of which are included in
Dr. A. K. Fisher’s classic work on “The Hawks and
Owls of the United States in Their Relation to Agricul-
ture.” His correspondence with Dr. Fisher was exten-
sive and it is very interesting to learn from Dr. Fisher
that he himself, by mail, through the medium of the Eng-
lish sparrow, taught Dr. Avery to make bird skins. Spar-
row skins were prepared in such a way as to show the
different operations necessary to produce a good museum
skin and forwarded to Dr. Avery who thus was enabled
to copy them in preparing other birds. Dr. Fisher also
identified many of the more obscure species for Dr. Avery.
Dr. Avery also corresponded actively with the officials
of the U. S. National Museum and the American Museum
of Natural History, notably: Dr. Elliott Coues, Major
Charles E. Bendire, Robert Ridgway, Dr. J. A. Allen, and
Dr. Frank M. Chapman. He contributed many speci-
mens to both museums, including birds, eggs, fiests, and
notes which were sent to Maj. Bendire. Among the old
Avery papers is quite a bundle of the diploma-like ac-
knowledgments of these specimens by the Smithsonian
Institute, all signed by G. Brown Goode, Assistant Sec-
retary. His sets of Peucaea aestivalis bachmani were of
considerable importance; and Davie’s quotation in ‘‘Nests
and Eggs of North American Birds” of Bendire’s descrip-
tion of “5 nests and several full sets” form the greater
part of the information regarding the nesting of Bach-
man’s sparrow published in that work. A series of
specimens of Quiscalus quiscula was collected to aid Mr.
Ridgway in working out the relationships of the different
subspecies. Besides the aforementioned scientists, Dr.
Avery corresponded more or less regularly with the fol-
lowing: Dr. Harrison Allen, University of Pennsylvania;
Frank B. Armstrong, Brownsville, Texas; Prof. Spencer
F. Baird, Smithsonian Institution; William Brewster,
Cambridge, Mass.; C. 8. Brimley, Raleigh, N. C. (Brim-
ley visited Avery at Greensboro in September, 1890) ;
George G. Cantwell, Lake Mills, Wisconsin; F. H. Car-
penter, Rehoboth, Mass.; William Dutcher, New York
16 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
City; H. W. Flint, New Haven, Conn.; Flood Brothers,
Hudson, Mass.; Thomas H. Jackson, West Chester, Pa. ;
Thomas Mcllwraith, Hamilton, Ontario; Dr. C. Hart Mer-
riam, Washington, D. C.; J. T. Park, Warner, Tenn.;
Harry G. Parker, Chester, Pa.; Charles J. Pennock, Ken-
nett Square, Pa.; G. H. Ragsdale, Gainesville, Tex.; W.
G. Smith, Colorado; G. E. Stilwell, Kansas City, Mo.;
Frank B. Webster, Boston, Mass. There are specimens
in the collection taken by Dr. Edgar A. Mearns, W. E. D.
Scott, L. M. Loomis, and John Rowley, but the writer
was unable to ascertain whether Dr. Avery corresponded
directly with these gentlemen or received the specimens
in exchange through some of his museum correspondents.
Many of the letters from his correspondents fortunately
are preserved in the files of the State Department of
Archives and History, at Montgomery, and these are very
interesting. For instance there is one from Robert Ridg-
way thanking Dr. Avery for correcting the diagnosis of
Dendroica vigorsi as published in the former’s “Manual
of North American Birds,” 1887, and Dr. J. A. Allen tells
how to make a fat scraper and gives a few hints on pois-
oning the tails of mammal skins.
That Dr. Avery’s interest in Zoology was not confined
to birds is evidenced by a catalogue of fifty-three mam-
mals taken Dec. 16, 1890, to Feb. 2, 1894. The collec-
tion included mice, rats, moles, skunks, chipmunks, musk
rats, minks, flying squirrels, and others, the most of the
specimens were little spotted skunks. Apparently few of
his specimens were retained for his own collection, the
majority being sent to Dr. A. K. Fisher, Dr. C. Hart Mer-
riam, and the Smithsonian Institution. Snakes also were
collected and sent to Dr. Leonhard Stejneger of the U.
S. National Museum, and there was some correspondence
with Drs. L. O. Howard and C. L. Marlatt, of the U. 8.
Bureau of Entomology, relating to insect specimens sent
to them by Dr. Avery for identification. Dr. Avery was
also something of an amateur botanist.
Doctor Avery was ever the sportsman. Besides being
an enthusiastic gunner he was a lover of dogs and was
widely known as an excellent trainer of these animals.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 17
An extensive correspondence was carried on with I.
Yearsley, Jr., of Coatesville, Pa., for whom he trained
many bird-dogs. He also raised and sold dogs registered
‘with the American Kennel Club of New York City. He
was also interested in game fowls as shown by the fol-
Jowing note from his sister, Miss Mary E. Avery: “You
will notice that there are quite a number of hawks in the
collection. I am sure that my brother felt a peculiar
pleasure in stuffing them rather than they should stuff
themselves with his beautiful game fowls.” Like all true
sportsmen the Doctor was keenly interested in guns, and.
the two works following occupied a place among his
‘bird books: “The Gun and Its Development,” 1884, by
W. W. Greener, and “The Dead Shot; or Sportsman’s
‘Complete Guide: Being a Treatise on the Use of the Gun,”
1867, by “Marksman.” Another book, much used and
‘bound in cloth, probably by Dr. Avery himself, is “The
‘Wild-Fowler,” 1864, by H. C. Folkard. In a letter from
Amory R. Starr of Marshall, Texas, is the interesting
statement that Dr. Avery was the “‘first to introduce the
‘use of short guns into this section; by short guns meaning
30 and 32 inch barrels.” At that time (August 28, 1889)
‘however, one of Mr. Starr’s friends was still addicted to
the use of a 48-inch muzzle-loader! Doctor Avery owned
‘several guns, of course, because he hunted deer as well
-as quail. For his ornithological collecting he used a .44
-caliber and No. 12 shot.
Dr. Avery was an authority on Latin and Greek and
-was not unacquainted with French, Spanish and German.
“Much of his correspondence with Dr. Coues and Mr. Ridg-
-way related to the etymology of ornithological names,
-and Mr. Ridgway in several letters took occasion to thank
‘Dr. Avery for his criticisms of the nomenclature used in
‘the “Manual of North American Birds,” 1887. A con-
‘siderable portion of Dr. Avery’s correspondence with Dr.
“Merriam was devoted to questions of nomenclature, par-
ticularly etymology, and to some of Dr. Avery’s criti-
cisms of the nomenclature adopted by the American Or-
‘nithologists’ Union Dr. Stejneger replied at length
:through Dr. Merriam. Dr. Avery was a stickler for the
18 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
classic Latin and Greek and of course his ideas did not
conform to the A. O. U. rules on original spelling. Miss
Mary E. Avery in a letter to Dr. T. M. Owen writes that
“Tt would be difficult to say whether he loved the study
of languages or of nature best.”
Dr. Avery became an Associate Member of the Ameri-
can Ornithologists’ Union in 1887, and his name was
listed in “The International Scientists’ Directory,” pub-
lished by S. E. Cassino, Boston, 1888.
Though Dr. Avery’s serious interest in ornithology did
not awake until late in life, he then surrounded himself
with the best books that could be had at that time on the
subject. In his library were found among others, the
following: Coues’ “Key to North American Birds,” 1872;
Ridgway’s “Manual of North American Birds,” 1887,
and “Nomenclature of Colors for Naturalists,” 1886;
Davie’s “Nests and Eggs of North American Birds,”
1889; A. O. U. “Code of Nomenclature and Check-List of
North American Birds,’ 1886; Maynard’s “Naturalist’s
Guide,” 1887; and Hornaday’s “Taxidermy and Zoological
Collecting,” 1891.
Dr. Avery was much concerned over the increasing
scarcity of birds and scattered through his journals are
many references to the subject. The following are of
interest: “Sept. 5th, 1889. Saw on the edge of a piece
of woods many warblers, gnatcatchers, and cuckoos feed-
ing evidently upon the army worms on the cotton in the
adjacent field. Shot a blue yellow-back warbler; too
badly shot to preserve; this individual with several others
of the same species, and numerous blue-gray gnatcatch-
ers were feeding on army worms.
“I have often seen the fields around woods completely
protected against worms by the birds; but that was fifteen
or twenty years ago. The birds have decreased so since
that time that they seem to make little impression on
the army of worms even around forests.”
“Jan. 22, 1892. Birds have been scarcer this winter
than I have ever known them before; a few myrtle warb-
lers, and sparrows, with now and then a robin, or a small
bunch of cedar waxwings are nearly the sum total of our
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 19
birds. Breech-loaders in the hands of free negroes are
fast exterminating our small birds, as they have already
destroyed our squirrels and hares; our game little part-
ridges (Colinus) also are fast disappearing.”
“Sept. 27, 1893. The day was bright and clear and
many birds were seen, but a negro began to shoot and
continued his fusillade at the little birds from eight o’clock
in the morning till ten. It was gall and wormwood to me
to hear the report of his gun every four or five minutes.
How many beautiful birds this savage must have killed!”
In this connection see notes under Colinus v. virginia-
nus, No. 56 and the fifth paragraph under Meleagris g.
silvestris, No. 57.
In the following pages each species of pird noted by
Dr. Avery is listed in the systematic position adopted in
the 1910 edition of the “A. O. U. Check-list of North
American Birds.” The nomenclature used ‘here is that
of the same work, except as noted in specific instances.
Under each species or subspecies are brought together
all the notes on that form that could be found, published
or unpublished, regardless of the source from whence
derived. All of his published ornithological writings are
here republished but not in their original form, the notes
being assembled under the species to which they refer.
After each quotation from a published paper is given a
date, often followed by a letter, in parentheses; this is
the date of publication and refers to the bibliography at
the end of the bulletin where complete titles and refer-
ences to original publication are given. Original (un-
published) notes are enclosed within quotation marks
but are not followed by a_ bibliographical reference.
Where specimens of any given bird exist in the collec-
tion, these are listed as the last items under the particu-
lar species or subspecies concerned.
All notes refer to Hale county, Alabama, unless other-
wise specified.
The writer acknowledges with gratitude the assistance
received from Mr. Alexander: Wetmore, Mr. Arthur H.
Howell, and the late Prof. Wells W. Cooke of the U. S.
Bureau of Biological Survey. Many of the specimens in
20 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
the Avery collection were identified by Lr. H. C. Ober-
holser of the same bureau. Thanks are also due Dr.
Thomas M. Owen, director of the State Department of
Archives and History, for granting access to the Avery
books and correspondence on file in his department.
But the writer is especially indebted to Mr. Lewis S. Gol-
son of Prattville, Alabama, for his assistance in working
over the collection, and to Dr. Eugene A. Smith, State
Geologist, for making possible the entire undertaking.
ERNEST G. HOLT.
Barachias, Ala.
May 22, 1919.
SYSTEMATIC LIST.
(For explanations see closing paragraphs of Introduction.)
1. PODILYMBUS PODICEPS (Linneus).
PIED-BILLED GREBE.
“Didapper.””
Speaking of this bird in Hale County, Dr. Avery stated
that it was “Not uncommon during spring migration”
(1890d) and records taking a specimen on March 15th
(1884). ;
2. GAVIA IMMER (Brunnich).
Loon.
“A specimen has been taken on a pond eight miles
west of Greensboro, at Umbria.” (1890d).
8. LARUS ATRICCILLA (Linnzus).
LAUGHING GULL.
There were no notes on this species found among the
Avery papers, though the following specimen is in the
collection :
No. 495. Dauphin Island. Sept. 20, 1892. W. C. Avery.
4. STERNA MAXIMA (Boddert).
RoyaL TERN.
Dr. Avery records taking the royal tern ‘“‘on the Gulf,”
presumably near Dauphin Island on Sept. 19, 1892.
5. STERNA ANTILLARUM (Lesson).
Least TERN.
“One specimen shot on Cocke’s Mill Pond, five miles
west of Greensboro.” (1890d). This specimen is not in
the collection and the date of capture could not be found
in the original notes.
6. HYDROCHELIDON NIGRA SURINAMENSIS (Gmelin).
Biack TERN.
“Seen rarely during the fall migration? I have in my
collection a specimen shot by William Hall, of Greensborv,
22 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
in the latter part of July, 1888.” (1890d). The stomachs
of the two specimens in the collection were ‘packed witb
cotton-boll flies.”
No. 1064. Male. Cocke’s Pond near Greensboro. Sept. 11, 1893.
W. C. Avery.
No. 1065. . Male. Cocke’s Pond near Greensboro. Sept. 11, 1893.
W. C. Avery.
7. RYNCHOPS NIGRA (Linnezus).
BuLack SKIMMER,
“Shearwater.”
“Black skimmer, common Gulf Coast of Baldwin
(County), Sept. 21, 1892. Several specimens were tak-
en on Dauphin Island, Sept. 21, 1892” (Original notes).
An odd head, bearing no label, seems to be the only trace
of these specimens in the collection.
8. ANHINGA ANHINGA (Linneus).
WATER TURKEY.
“Found rarely; breeds; resident” (1890d).
One specimen without label.
9. PHALACROCORAX AURITUS (Lesson).
CORMORANT.
“Nigger Goose.”
In 1892 Dr. Avery spent the time between Sept. 16th
and Oct. 2nd in Baldwin County and along the Gulf
Coast to Dauphin Island. He records: “Cormorants
were seen, but no specimens were taken.”
10. PELECANUS ERYTHRORHYNCHOS (Gmelin).
WHITE PELICAN.
See note under succeeding species.
11. PELECANUS OCCIDENTALIS (Linnzus).
BROWN PELICAN.
The following note appeared under “Natural History”
in the “American Field” for July 1, 1893:
“Mr. J. S. Christy in the American Field of June 17
describes the American white pelican (Pelecanus eryth-
rorhynchos) ahd he wishes to know: ‘Whence it came or
where its native home is.’ The American white pelican
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 23
is generally common west of the Mississippi river, and
breeds from Utah northward. It is rare, however, in the
Atlantic and Gulf States. A white pelican was taken
several years ago near Livingston, Alabama. Captain
J. W. A. Wright, of Livingston, mounted the specimen.
I have never seen the white pelican; but on Sept. 20,
1892, I took two specimens of the brown pelican (Pele-
canus fucus) near Fort Morgan, on the Gulf of Mexico.
I found the brown pelican common all along the coast,
from Perdido Bay to Dauphin Island.” (1898a).
12, LOPHODYTES CUCULLATUS (Linnezus).
HoopeD MERGANSER.
“Summer Duck.”
“Not common; winter resident” (1890d). This bird
should be found breeding in Hale county in favorable
places. Broods of young have been observed in Autauga
county.
13. ANAS PLATYRHYNCHOS (Linneus).
MALLARD.
“Greenhead.”
“Common; winter resident.” (1890d).
14. ANAS RUBRIPES (Brewster).
Biack Duck.
“Black Mallard.”
“Rare; winter resident.” (1890d).
15. MARECA AMERICANA (Gmelin).
BALDPATE.
Writing of the pintail in a letter to the American Field,
Dr. Avery stated “This duck appears here (Greensboro)
about the first of March, with the blue-wing teal, the
bald pate and the blue-wing shoveller.” (1884). Six
years later he wrote, “Seen occasionally fall and spring.”
(1890d).
16. NETTION CAROLINENSE (Gmelin).
GREEN-WINGED TEAL.
“Once abundant, now rarely seen. Winter resident.”
(1890d). This statement must be taken as comparative,
24 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
for the green-winged teal is still one of the common ducks
in Alabama.
17. QUERQUEDULA DISCORS (Linnzus).
BLUE-WINGED TEAL.
The first mention made of this species by Dr. Avery
was incidental, in writing of the pintail, and the quota-
tion will be found under that species. He states in this
article that the blue-winged teal appears at Greensboro
about March Ist, but in his original notes for 1886 there
is a record of the bird on Sept. 10th, and in 1891 this
note appears under date of Sept. 14th: “A flock of blue-
winged teal were reported at Cocke’s Pond, of which Mr.
Cocke bagged two.” “Once common, now seldom seen.
Winter resident.” (1890d).
No. 1082. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 9, 1893. W C. Avery.
18. SPATULA CLYPEATA (Linnezus).
SHOVELLER.
For first mention of this species see note under Dafila
acuta. “Seen in the spring, never in large numbers, but
in bunches of six to eight at-the highest.” (1890d).
19. DAFILA ACUTA (Linnezus).
PINTAIL.
“March 2nd I saw and obtained a specimen of Dafila
acuta (Pintail.) Have heard of others being shot. This
duck appears here about the first of March, with the
blue-wing teal, the bald pate and the blue-wing shovel-
ler.” (1884.)“ Once abundant during spring and autumn
migrations; but, like all ducks, growing yearly scarcer
in this country.” (1890d).
20. AIX SPONSA (Linnzus).
Woop Duck.
“Summer Duck.”
“Once abundant, now not at all common. Twenty-five
years ago, in September, I saw one morning at least
three hundred of these ducks come at dawn, to feed in
a pond, at Millwood, on the Warrior River, ten miles
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 25
west of Greensboro. Now for a whole year not half of
that number could be found in that locality.” (1890d).
No. 1006. Male. Warrior River, Greensboro. Dec. 2, 1892. W.
C. Avery.
No. 1007. Female. Warrior River, Greensboro. Dec. 3, 1892.
W. C. Avery. :
No. 1008. Male. Warrior River, Greensboro. Dec. 3, 1892. W.
C. Avery.
21. MARILA AMERICANA (Eyton).
REDHEAD.
“About ten years ago common in the Cypress Slough,
near Millwood, on the Warrior River. Has not been
seen for eight or ten years.” (1890d).
22. MARILA MARILA (Linnzus).
Scaup Duck.
“Common on the Warrior River. Winter resident.”
(1890d).
23. MARILA AFFINIS (Eyton).
Lesser Scaup Duck.
“Has not been seen for ten years; once common during
migrations.” (1890d).
No. 908 (805) Female. Warrior River. Greensboro. Nov. 7, 1890.
Cy Jones.
24. BRANTA CANADENSIS CANADENSIS (Linnzus).
CANADA GOOSE.
“Rare. Winter resident.” (1890d).
25. MYCTERIA AMERICANA (Linneus).
Woop Isis.
Dr. Avery’s original notes show that he took one of
these birds at Cocke’s Pond, five miles west of Greens-
boro, July 26, 1891, though unfortunately the specimen
is not now in the collection. He writes: “This bird has
been seen several times but never collected till this speci-
men and hence never with certainty identified. When it
was seen some years ago at Cocke’s Pond it was then sup-
posed to be the wood stork or ibis.” His supposition
seems to have been correct.
26 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
26. BOTAURUS LENTIGINOSUS (Montagu).
BITTERN.
“Not common. Spring migrant.” (1890d).
No. 818. Male. 5 mi. W. of Uniontown. Mar. 28, 1891. W. C.
Avery.
27. ARDEA HERODIAS (Linneus).
GREAT BLUE HERON.
“Big Blue Crane.”
“Common. Resident. Breeds.” (1890d). Under date
of Sept. 21, 1892, Dr. Avery wrote in his note book:
“Great blue heron seen frequently on Perdido Bay and
along the Gulf Coast.’ These birds were probably sub-
species wardi. A specimen taken Nov. 26, 1913, by Pratt
Thomas on the Black Warrior River, near University,
Ala., is referable to herodias.
28. HERODIAS EGRETTA (Gmelin).
EGRET.
“White Crane.”
In 1884 Dr. Avery published the following record of
this species: “There (Cocke’s Pond, five miles west of
Greensboro) I shot last spring a beautiful specimen of
the great white egret, Ardea egretta.” (1884). Six
years later he writes: “Rare. I have a specimen in my col-
lection which was shot at Cocke’s Mill Pond, five miles
west of Greensboro; I have seen two others. My speci-
men is labeled August 14. The other two were seen in
the spring.” (1890d).
No. 183. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 14, 1889. W. C. Avery.
29. EGRETTA CANDIDISSIMA CANDIDISSIMA (Gmelin).
SNowy EGRET.
A specimen of this species was taken in Greene County,
July 1, 1889, and mounted by Dr. Avery for John Cocke,
Jr., of Cockeville.
30. FLORIDA CATRULEA (Linneus).
LitTLE BLUE HERON.
“Common. Summer resident.” (1890d).
No. 186. Male. Millwood, near Greensboro. Aug. 16, 1889. W.
C. Avery.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 27
31. BUTORIDES VIRESCENS VIRESCENS (Linnzus).
GREEN HERON.
“Fly-U p-T he-Creek.”
“The first recorded specimen of this heron was shot
June 9, 1888, while “flying down the Walton Bottom”
near Greensboro. Its stomach was filled with crawfish.
Common. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1890d).
No. 171. Male, hornot. Greensboro. July 12, 1889. W. C.
Avery.
No. 869. Sex (?). Greensboro. June 24, 1891. W. C. Avery.
Odd specimén with no label.
32. NYCTICORAX NYCTICORAX NASVIUS (Boddert).
BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON.
In his original notes, Dr. Avery records this bird near
Greensboro, Sept. 6, 1886, but for some reason omitted
the record from his “Birds Observed in Alabama,” pub-
lished in 1890.
83. NYCTANASSA VIOLACEA (Linnezus).
YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON.
July 1, 1879, recording the capture of one of these her-
ons, Dr. Avery wrote: “This bird lit in a cedar .(in the
back yard) where the fowls had gone to roost. It was
killed after sunset.” Eleven years later he published this
note: “Not common. A specimen in my collection is la-
beled Aug. 12.” (1890d).
No. 185. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 12, 1889. W. C. Avery.
34. GRUS AMERICANA (Linneus).
WHOOPING CRANE.
“Rare. Seen many years ago in the Cypress Slough,
Millwood.” (1890d).
35. RALLUS ELEGANS (Audubon).
KING RAIL.
Concerning this bird, Dr. Avery in 1888 published the
following:
“On the 24th of March I met three small boys who
were returning from the field with dogs and guns. Be-
sides a half dozen hares which one of them carried on a
28 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
string over his shoulder, was a king rail (R. elegans)
tied by the leg and in the hands of one of the boys.
““ITt seems that the rail had been pointed by their dog,
flushed and shot at. She returned immediately, however,
to the spot where she had been flushed first, and allowed
herself to be captured by the boys. I asked permission
of the owner to examine the bird, and oberving a protub-
erance near the vent, I pressed it, and received in my
hand a mature egg. This egg measures 1.54 by 1.22. The
ground color is dull white, blotched and spotted with
rusty brown, also specks of the same color and indistinct
spots of lilac. The brown spots are largest and irregu-
larly scattered over the surface. They vary in size from
fifteen hundredths to the one hundredth of an inch in
diameter. I returned to the marsh with one of the boys,
who not being able to locate the tussock of bulrush where
they had captured the rail, our search for the nest was
fruitless.” (1888).
Two years later he wrote: “Not common. Resident.
Breeds.” (1890d).
No. 327. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 23, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 853. Male. Greensboro. May 23, 1891. W. C. Avery
36. PORZANA CAROLINA (Linneus).
Sora.
Recorded by the Doctor at Greensboro, Oct. 10, 1888.
Another entry in his original note books reads: “A sin-
gle individual of the sora was seen and taken on Dauph-
in Island, Sept. 21, 1892.” ©
“Rare. Occurs during autumn and spring migra-
tions.”’ (1890d).
No. 1028. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 11, 1893. W. C. Avery.
No. 1029. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 11, 1898. W. C Avery.
37. COTURNICOPS NOVEBORACENSIS (Gmelin).
YELLOW RaIL.
In consulting the entry in the Doctor’s original cata-
logue of the specimen cited below, this note was found
which serves to show his view of a certain phase of
nomenclature: “My first record of the yellow crake.
In looking up the name of this bird I find that the A. O.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 29
U. have adopted the appellation rail instead of crake
used by Dr. Coues. Now it is very desirable that we
should have generic names as precise as possible. Why
not translate Porzana (Coturnicops was then included un-
der Porzana) as crake and Rallus rail?”
No. 964. Male. 10 mi. S. of Greensboro. Dec. 19, 1891. W. C.
Avery.
38. FULICA AMERICANA (Gmelin).
Coot.
In 1886 Dr. Avery published an article in the “Orni-
.thologist and Oologist”’ entitled, “Migration of the Coot,”
and four years later used much of the same material in
his list which appeared in the “American Field.” How-
ever, it is considered worth while to republish here both
notes in full.
“A fact relative to the migration of the coot (Fulica
americana), known here by the French name, Roule-d’
eau, may, perhaps, be worth recording. About the mid-
dle of April, 1885, as I was going out of the house, at sun-
rise, my attention was attracted to a bird sitting within
a few feet of the porch. It proved to be a coot. Instead
of trying to escape, as any other bird would have done,
when I extended my hand to catch it, the poule-de’eau
showed fight. I confined it in a chicken-coop in the
yard, and supplied it with some corn-bread and water.
If it ever ate or drank while in my possession, I was not
aware of the fact. It took, to my knowledge, neither
food nor water. It seemed to spend every minute of the
day and night in perpetual motion. Its efforts were not
in vain.
““Omnia vincit improbus labor,’ was, doubtless, the
motto of my prisoner. By thrusting the head and neck
through every opening within reach, the restless bird at
last forced off a slat and recovered its freedom. On the
third day after it had been placed in ‘durance vile,’ I
saw it standing on top of its prison pluming itself. I
advanced towards it, expecting to capture it again. Imag-
ine my surprise when it rose on strong pinions, flying
high and going in a northerly direction, as far as I could
see it. This was not the first time that I had seen in
30 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
the spring this, to me, apparently silly bird offering bat-
tle to its captor. I had believed that ‘coot’ and fool were
justly synonymous.
“The coot has been slandered; it does not fly because
it cannot fly. Not because it wants the sense of danger,
but because it has not the power to escape, does it allow
itself to be taken, when it drops exhausted, on its long
migratory flight, and rests till its tired wings have re-
covered strength to bear it onward.” (1886a).
“Spring and autumn migrant. Among the various
names given to this bird is that of ‘fool hen.’ ‘Coot’ is
also a synonym of stupidity. I believe this to be a slan--
der on this bird. Some years ago, as I stepped out of
doors early one morning, I found a coot seated under
the edge of the steps. It made no effort’to escape, as it
was exhausted, and had fallen there to rest during the
night. I kept it confined in a coop for several days;
most of the time was spent by it, night and day, in the
endeavor to escape; it finally pushed off a slat from the
coop, and I found it seated there pluming its feathers.
On seeing me approach to recapture it, it took wings
and flew northward, and went in that direction as far ac
the eye could reach. On October 29 last a specimen of
this bird was brought to me; it is now in my collection.
It lay in a fence corner where it had fallen and was
resting to resume its migration southward. It did not
try to escape, but simply pecked at the hand of its cap-
tor. It could not fly, and did not make the attempt.
Instead of being a ‘fool,’ it acted wisely, as escape was
impossible.” (1890d).
No. 800. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 29, 1890. W. C. Avery.
39. PHILOCHELA MINOR (Gmelin).
Woopcock.
“The woodcock is not a common bird in this part of
Alabama (Hale County) and for that very reason it is
more prized by the sportsman here than any other species
of game, not even the Bob White excepted.
“Very few woodcocks are found in the black lands:
but in the willow thickets, and swamps of the northern
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 31
part of Hale County, with a dog trained to hunt them,
the shooter might bag half a dozen of these interesting
birds in a day. There are many more of them always
than one would suppose, as they escape notice by their
retired habits. The almost impenetrable briar patches
and sloughs, where they lie concealed till twilight, save
many of them from the bird bag. At that hour of the
day the whistle of their wings may be heard as they pass
swiftly by to their feeding grounds in tne open fields.
They are mute till the nesting season, which begins here
early in February. Then they are quite a noisy bird.
The male makes his whereabouts known at that time by
ascending on sounding pinions, just before night, and,
suspended several hundred feet above some open land,
cotton or corn field, now bare, he plays fantastic tunes
before high Heaven. The observer might mistake these
tunes, which the woodcock plays with his wings, for
songs; but he cannot produce a musical sound except with
his wings, which are the Aeolian-harp, and the primaries
or pinions are the strings of that harp, whose vibrations
are very similar to the sounds produced by running the
fingers over the strings of a guitar.
“When this aerial performance, which lasts for several
minutes, is ended, he falls headlong to the ground, and
so rapidly that he is generally secure from any untimely
shot that might be intended for him.
““Now begins his call to his dusky partner. There is no
music in that ‘spake’ followed by a dissyllable so low and
whispered that it can be heard only at a few feet distant,
‘gooduck!’ All is silent; then comes another ‘spake! goo-
duck!’ This is certainly not musical; but it answers the
purpose of a song and serves to attract the female.
“Woodcocks were ‘soaring’ and ‘spaking’ here on the
sixth of last February—‘spaking,’ as the Irishman would
say, to their fair companions. Is there a shooter—I will
not say a sportsman—who kills woodcocks here in the
South in February? If there is, he is not a sportsman,
but an assassin.” (1890a).
In Dr. Avery’s original note books, under date of Feb.
23, 1893, is the following entry:
32 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
“Took a nest of woodcock on the edge of a swamp next
to Hopewell Branch. Set of 4; incubation slight. Nest
was about 6 inches above the level of the marsh. Mater-
ial: leaves and pine straw. The old bird was pointed on
the nest by my setter ‘Jeff Bo,’ and I flushed and fortu-
nately missed it when I fired, not being aware that she
was sitting—reflection, woodcock should not be shot in
Alabama after the middle of January.”
No. 291. Female. Greensboro. Dec. 3, 1889. Gaillard Harvey.
40. GALLINAGO DELICATA (Ord.)
WILSON’S SNIPE.
“Snipe.”
The earliest record found of this species is a note
dated Jan. 17, 1878, giving measurements of an adult
male taken at Greensboro. It reads further, “I have shot
snipe as early as the middle of September; they gener-
ally appear late in the fall and are abundant till April.”
“Gallinago wilsonti has been abundant since the latter
part of February. Wilson’s snipe is always on the move
here; hundreds appear at times and after remaining a
few days suddenly disappear. A few, however, spend the
winter here.” (1884).
“Spring and autumn migrant. Once abundant; now not
common.” (1890d).
The following appears among the Doctor’s original
notes for 1891: “September 12: Wilson’s snipe were seeh
at Cocke’s Pond September 14; four or five Wilson’s snipe
were seen at Cocke’s Pond and one was bagged by Mr.
Cocke’s son Webb. September 16; collected at Cocke’s
Pond two yellow shanks (Totanus flavipes) ; also Wil-
son’s snipe (Gallinago delicata).”
On the label of the specimen listed below was found the
interesting bit of information that the “stomach contain-
ed two leeches.”
No. 987. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 19, 1892. W.c. Avery.
41. PISOBIA MACULATA (Vieillot).
PECTORAL SANDPIPER.
“Not common. Spring migrant.” 1890d).
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 33°
‘Several pectoral sandpipers were observed on Dau-
phin Island, Sept. 21, 1892.” (Original notes).
No. 996. Male. Dauphin Id. Sept. 21, 1892. W. C. Avery.
No. 997. Male (?). Dauphin Id. Sept. 21,1892. WC. Avery.
No. 998. Female. Dauphin Id. Sept. 21, 1892. W. C. Avery.
No. 1080. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 25, 1893. W.C. Avery.
No. 1031. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 25, 1893. W. C. .Avery.
No. 1045. Female. Greensboro. Apr. 15, 18938. W. C Avery
42. PISOBIA FUSICOLLIS (Vieillot).
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER.
“Not common. Spring migrant. Two specimens tak-
en May 26, 1888.” (1890d).
No. 858. Female. Cocke’s Pond, Greensboro. May 30, 1891. W.
C. Avery.
No. 860. Female. Cocke’s Pond, Greensboro, May 30, 1891. W.
Cc. Avery.
No. 861. Male. Cocke’s Pond, Greensboro, May 30, 1891. W. C.
Avery.
No. 862a. Female. Cocke’s Pond, Greensboro. May 30, 1891.
W. C. Avery.
43. PISOBIA MINUTILLA (Vieillot).
LEAST SANDPIPER.
“Peep.”
“Several seen on the Island (Dauphin) Sept. 21, 1892.”
(Original notes).
No. 837a. Male. Greensboro, May 9, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 840. Female. Greensboro, May 9, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 849. Female. Greensboro, May 16, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 851 (?). Male. Greensboro, May 16, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 853 (?). Male. Greensboro, May 16, 1891. W. C. Avery.
44, EREUNETES PUSILLUS (Linnzus).
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER.
“Not common. Spring migrant. A specimen, May
26, 1888.” (1890d).
No. 859. Male. Greensboro. May 30, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 862. Male. Greensboro. May 30, 1890. W. C. Avery.
45, CALIDRIS LEUCOPHAA (Pallas).
SANDERLING.
The only mention of the sanderling is under date of
Sept. 21, 1892, in the Doctor’s original notes. He writes:
“Sanderling common on the Gulf Shore of Baldwin
2—AB
34 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
(County) ; many were shot here and on Dauphin Is-
land.”
No. 1035. Baldwin Co., near mouth of Perdido Bay. Sept. 21,
1892. W.C. Avery.
No. 1036. Baldwin Co., near mouth of Perdido Bay. Sept. 21,
1892. W.C. Avery.
46. LIMOSA FEDOA (Linneus).
MARBLED GODWIT.
In 1884 Dr. Avery published the following note on this
species in a miscellaneous article addressed to the Editor
of the American Field: “I will mention in this connec-
tion, that in 1880, in the spring, I shot a rare bird in this
county—the great marbled godwit, (Limosa fedoa). It
was feeding in the mud of a mill-pond, the dam of which
had just broken. My attention was attracted by the
peculiar manner in which the bird was feeding, thrusting
its long bill up to its eyes in the mud, while its tail de-
scribed an arc of ninety degrees. This pond, abut five
mile west of Greensboro, is a favorite resort for birds of
the snipe family and water-fowl during the Spring and
Fall migrations.” (1884).
Evidently speaking of the same individual, he wrote
six years later: ‘A specimen was taken at Cocke’s Mill-
pond, several years ago during the spring migration.
Three only seen.” (1890d).
47. TOTANUS MELANOLEUCUS (Gmelin).
GREATER YELLOW-LEGS.
“Not common. Spring and autumn migrant.” (1890d).
“Dauphin Island, Sep. 21 (1891); several observed.”
(Original notes). ‘
48. TOTANUS FLAVIPES (Gmelin).
YELLOW-LEGs.
“March 15th, saw and shot Totanus flavipes (lesser
yellow shanks). (1884).
“Not common. Spring and Autumn migrant.” (1890d).
“Collected at Cocke’s Pond two yellow shanks (Totanus
flavipes) ; also Wilson’s snipe (Gallinago delicata). The
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 35
yellow shanks were the first seen this fall.” (Original
notes. Sept. 16, 1891.)
“Several were taken on the Island (Dauphin) on the
21st (Sept. 1892).” (Original notes).
No. 838. Female. Greensboro. May 9, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 839. Male. Greensboro. May 9, 1891. W. C. Avery.
49. HELODROMAS SOLITARIUS SOLITARIUS (Wilson).
SoLiTaRy SANDPIPER.
“Common. Spring and Autumn migrant. In my col-
lection is a specimen of this bird with label bearing date
August 25, 1888; collected two miles west of Greensboro.
One peculiarity of this wader is that it sometimes perches
upon stumps or fences, near its feeding grounds.” (1890d)
No. 465. Male. Greensboro. April 19, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 481. Male. Greensboro. April 26, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 941. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 29, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 1059. Male. Greensboro. May 4, 1893. W. C. Avery.
50. CATOPTROPHORUS SEMIPALMATUS (Gmelin).
WILLET.
Under Symphemia semipalmata in Dr. Avery’s notes
appears:
“Willets were observed on the Island (Dauphin) on
the 2ist (Sept. 1892) ; but none were captured.”
(51. BARTRAMIA LONGICAUDA (Bechstein).
UPLAND PLOVER.
“Not common. Spring migrant.” (1890d).
52. ACTITIS MACULARIA’ (Linnzus).
SPOTTED SANDPIPER.
“Peetweet.”
“March 21, saw Tringoides macularius (Spotted Sand-
piper).” (1884). ,
“Summer resident. Not common.” (1890d).
No. 116. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 26, 1889. W.C. Avery.
No, 841. Female. Greensboro. May 9, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 850. Male. Greensboro. May 16, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 852. Male. Greensboro. May 16, 1891. W. C. Avery.
36 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
53. NUMENIUS AMERICANUS (Bechstein).
LONG-BILLED CURLEW.
The only mention of this species in Dr. Avery’s notes
follows:
“Sept. 21, 1892. Numenius longirostris, Long-billed
curlew, seen on Dauphin Island.”
54. SQUATAROLA SQUATAROLA (Linnezus).
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER.
“Some specimens were obtained several years ago at
Cocke’s Millpond. None seen since that time.” (1890d.)
55. OXYECHUS VOCIFERUS (Linneus).
KILLDEER.
“The killdeer is a common bird in Alabama. It resides
here during the whole year, and is the only one of the
plover family, so far as I know, which builds its nest, or
I should say—for it lays on the bare ground—rears its
young in this vicinity. It lays several eggs on the ground.
The young are what ornithologists call ‘precoces,’ or
precocious, that is, running about like little chickens as
soon as hatched. It goes in large bands sometimes in
the winter; and may be found in low muddy places or
upon old commons or bare fields.”’ (Original notes. June
7, 1876). ‘lhe stomach of a specimen taken on the day
of this entry was reported to contain insects.
“Resident. Common. Breeds. A favorite nesting
site of this species is on the ‘bed’ of a cotton or corn row,
where it remains undisturbed by the laborer, save to
frighten it off the nest once or twice while it is incu-
bating, as he works his growing crop.” (1890d).
No. 233. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 5, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 827. Male. Greensboro. May 2, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 828. Male. Greensboro. May 2, 1891. W. C. Avery.
56. COLINUS VIRGINIANUS .VIRGINIANUS (Linneus).
Bos-WHITE.
“Quail.” “Partridge.”
“On reading the experience of M. E. Allison with a Bob
White I was reminded of an instance of a similar nature
of the devotion of a male Bob White to his family duties.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 37
Two years ago, in June, my friend, Dr. J. M. Pickett, an
enthusiastic naturalist and a close observer of birds, in-
formed me that a male Bob White had been incubating
for some days, and that he constantly occupied the nest.
Desiring to be an eye witness of this to me ynusual fact,
J accompanied the Doctor to the oatfield, where the nest
was to be found. After a short search, he walking up
one land and I another, I almost trod on the devoted pat-
er-familias, when he fluttered from the nest and stood
eyeing me suspiciously, a few feet off. I could not be mis-
taken as to the sex; the white markings of the head and
the white throat attested it. After a few seconds he flew
off 10 the adjoining woods, leaving a dozen white eggs
which, in spite of his assiduous care, were not to be
warmed into life. He sat upon them so long afterward
that Doctor Pickett, suspecting they were spoiled, broke
one of them, and finding they could not be hatched, de-
stroyed them all, and put an end to the useless incubation.
The female had evidently been killed, and the male return-
ing +o the unoccupied nest had taken the place of his mate,
and filled it, till the eggs were destroyed.” (1889c).
“Abundant still. Resident. Non-migratory. Breeds
-from first of May ’till first of October. Several broods
reared by one pair. The male assists in incubation. It
has been recorded by me, in a previous issue of the Amer-
ican Field, that a male Bob White was found incubating
by Dr. J. M. Pickett, of Cedarville, Alabama. I rode six
miles to witness this novel sight. The Doctor visited the
nest frequently for several weeks, and finding that the
eggs would not hatch, he destroyed them and relieved this
faithful pater-familias from his hopeless endeavor to rear
a brood. The female had perhaps been killed, and the
mule, finding the nest unoccupied, took the place of his
mate, but after the eggs were cold and the embryos dead.”
(1890d).
The stomach of a specimen taken at Greensboro, Nov.
20, 1891, “contained peas and weed seeds.”
Among the old Avery papers on file in the State De-
partment of Archives and History, at Montgomery, is an
unpublished manuscript on the “Cause of the Scarcity of
Game,” dated January 5, 1892. It is quoted below in full.
38 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
“Dock Lodge’ owns a dropper and shoots partridges;
tells me he shoots every day for two or three hours, when
he stops for dinner.
“‘Tke Woolen’ owns a setter; shoots every day.
“Buster Key’s son owns an Irish setter; shoots part-
ridges.
“Fred and Ollis Evans shoot partridges; Fred tells me
that he and Willie Brown (colored sportsman) went out
one day last year and killed thirteen partridges. Fred
says—and I believe him—that he and Willie killed more
partridges than a party of sportsmen who were shooting
the same day.
“We kept,’ said Fred, ‘in sight of Mr. Rush; and,
when the covies were flushed and scattered, we marked
down any birds that flew in our direction, or escaped the
notice of Mr. Rush and his friend; and Doctor,’ continued
Fred, ‘we killed more partridges than the party of white
men.’
“Did you kill them all on the wing,’ said I.
“<No sir,’ said he, ‘I killed three out of pine trees
where they lit.’
“«*Can you shoot partridges well on the wing?” said I.
“ ‘Yes,’ said Fred, ‘when a covey rises I generally get
one’ (I know that Fred and Ollis shoot rabbits well).
““How many partridges have you killed this season,
Fred?’
“Six. I was hunting rabbits, and the dogs scared
up the partridges and I followed them up and shot them.
My dogs never pass a flock of partridges without scaring
’em up, and I watch and see where the birds light, and
shoot them.’
“Asbury McShann testified as follows: ‘I have killed
two partridges this year.’
““Flying,’ said I.
“Yes, but they’s hard to kill flying.’
““How many times have you shot, as near as you can
guess ?’
““About a dozen times,’ said Asbury.
“Asbury is a poor boy and has not the ammunition to
spare; yet he shoots at partridges and wastes his powder
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 39
and shot. His desire to become a wing-shot exceeds the
wish to save his ammunition.
“Sam Gibson (colored sportsman), owns a pointer and
a breech loader. Sam tells me that he has killed up to
the first of January eighty partridges. I have no reason
to doubt Sam’s word, as Asbury McShann says that Sam,
at a single shot, killed seven birds out of nine huddled
under a bush, on Mr. J. McCrary’s ‘Jenkins’ Place.’ Of
the two birds escaping, one was badly wounded. I have
seen Sam shoot, myself, and I know that he shoots fairly
well on the wing.
“Oliver Ward, colored sportsman, bought an Irish set-
ter from John Cocke. Owns a breech loader, shoots birds
on the wing. Killed seven on Thanksgiving Day. Why
should not Oliver shoot well? He has fired more shots
at birds since the emancipation of our slaves than the
average white man.
“Jno. Paine (colored sportsman) owns an Irish setter
bitch, purchased from Jno. Cocke for five dollars; also
other pointing dogs. Oliver Ward informs me that John
killed eight or ten partridges on Thanksgiving Day.
“Sol May (colored sportsman) owns a setter bitch or
dog; at any rate he owns a pointing dog, for I have seen
it. Sol shoots on the wing.
“The three last named gentlemen have exhausted their
resources of eloquence to get a dog from me.
“Now Maus William, don’t you think you ought to give
your old servant a dog?’
“‘My price is twenty-five dollars,’ said I, ‘for a puppy
two months old.’ But may ruin overtake me and may
my right hand be palsied when it receives a dollar from
a ‘nigger’ for one of my noble dogs!
“Sam Lawson shoots partridges on the wing whenever
he has the opportunity. This sportsman when quite
small used to hold the horses for the Cobbs boys when
they went shooting, and marked down birds for them.
Thus he became enamored of field sports and wing shoot-
ing especially. Sam hunted many days during the sea-
son of 90 and ’91 with one of Mr. Cobbs’ dogs. Having
lived on the place, Sam knew the dog, and thus managed
to entice him off either by firing a gun in the neighbor-
40 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
hood or ‘by whistling him out of the yard. This Sam
continued to do till he was detected and informed that
the next time the dog was taken off by him his gun would
be appropriated by the owner of the dog.
“Sam killed a good many partridges last season, and up
to Christmas 1891 had bagged more than the writer of
these notes.
‘“‘Woody Lawson shoots partridges when time and op-
portunity permit. Woody lived many years with Dr.
Cobbs and often accompanied him and the boys shooting,
hence his love for wing-shooting.
“Ellis Ryan, as all know, shoots partridges and he
makes heavy bags—too heavy, alas! for sportsmen to get
an equal share of game. The desire to make big bags
and to boast about it is doing as much as any other thing
to exterminate our partridge. For my part, I take pleas-
ure in saying that I killed on such or such a day two or
three or four, or half a dozen birds, as the case may he.
Though Ellis is a good shoot, if he confined himseif to
shooting at the covey on the wing alone, he could not
get so many more birds than other shooters; but I have
hunted with him and seen him find covey after covey on
the ground, when his dog pointed. My presence alone
prevented their destruction.
“TI have mentioned some of the negro shooters in and
around Greensboro who have taken to wing-shooting, to
show that the scarcity of birds may be easily accounted
for when we take into consideration the fact that the ne-
gro, having exterminated the squirrel, has turned his at-
tention to poor little Bob White; and I fear greatly that
this game little fellow must soon go the way of the
squirrel.
“It is not only around Greensboro, but, if what the
negroes themselves tell me can be believed, everywhere in
the Blackbelt they are shooting partridges.
“Tt was not without cause last year, that, discovering
this widespread and increasing pursuit (with gun and
dog) of our little game bird, I felt that his destruction
was not far off, though it has come much sooner than I
expected.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 41
“TI crossed the river at Erie last year and found the
covies in Greene County very small, and far between.
Mr. Tunstall had been shooting there, it was told me. The
truth is, the negroes were shooting and trapping the
birds. Mr. Tunstall nor any other single shooter could
perceptibly diminish the number of birds from Millwood
to Erie, even if he had hunted every day. ‘Many mickles
make a muckle’ as the Scotch say; it is this everlasting
‘shooting of the many’—even though the average of game
killed to the gun be small—that must wipe out our game
and put an end to sport with gun and dog, unless some
means can be devised to protect the birds.
“The drought has been alleged as the cause of the scar-
city of birds this year, but I think I have stated the true
cause, which will continue in the future, no matter
~whether the seasons are wet or dry, favorable or un-
favorable, if some law is not passed to enable those to
‘protect the birds on their land, who wish to save them
from annihilation.”
No. cance Male. Greensboro. Dec. 31, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 999. Female. Baldwin Co. Sept. 28, 1892. ‘W. C. Avery.
57. MELEAGRIS GALLOPAVO SILVESTRIS (Vieillot).
Witp TURKEY.
“Twenty years ago the wild turkey, if not common, was
not a very rare bird, in this part of Alabama. <A drove
of turkeys could be found almost anywhere, where there
was a considerable body of the primeval forest still
‘standing. They wandered out in every direction from
these forests, especially in the breeding season, when the
hens would leave their usual haunts in the woods, in
‘search of nesting places. These would be sometimes two
or three miles from their habitat, in some sedge field, or
some thicket in a piece of woods not usually frequented
by wild turkeys. This propensity of the hen to hide
her nest from her own kind exposed her to the danger
of having her eggs taken, or her young captured some-
times before they could fly.
“One day a young: turkey, a few days old, was brought
‘me by a negro who had caught it in the field about a mile
42 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
from the house, and two miles from the town of Greens-
boro. The wild turkey hen had hatched her brood some-
where in this field, where she would remain until fall,
when she would take her young to the timbered land on
the creek bottoms, two or three miles distant. I raised this
young turkey. It proved to be a hen, was very gentle,
feeding from my hand, and manifesting, after it was
grown, none of the wild instincts of this wildest of birds.
“Another attempt at rearing and domesticating the
wild turkey was made with equal success. This time,
however, the eggs were hatched, and the young raised
by a barnyard hen. I was out one day shooting squirrels,
when, in a somewhat frequented spot, and where I should
never have thought to find the nest of a wild turkey, a
hen rose almost under my feet, and ran off through the
woods. Examining the spot that she had just left I dis-
covered her nest in the leaves not three feet from where
I was standing. It contained ten eggs, in shape and size
not differing from those of the tame turkey. There was
no undergrowth in the woods around the nest; but a few
bushes and briers grew over it. As I looked at the eggs
the idea suddenly suggested itself that I might set these
eggs under a domestic hen, and raise the young. I took
the eggs from the nest, carried them home carefully, and,
incubation having already advanced, they were hatched
in about ten days, under a barnyard hen.
“To prevent the young turkeys from running away
and being lost—for they are very wild when first hatched
—I had an inclosure (of boards) about two feet high
and twenty feet square. In the center of this, the hen
was confined in a coop. The inclosed space gave the
young turkeys room to exercise, and also prevented their
escape, till they had lost their natural wildness, and had
become gentle enough to feed from the hand, or to allow
themselves to be handled without alarm. They were sup-
plied chiefly with animal food in the form of curds, the
whey having been pressed from milk after coagulation.
They grew and thrived on this diet. Out of nine that
were hatched, eight lived to be grown, one dying when
about a month old, from a wound inflicted by the spur
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 43
of a barnyard cock. Under a different state of affairs
these four hens and four cocks might have bred me a
large flock of turkeys.
“It was just after our civil war, reconstruction of the
states was undergoing its accomplishment, and the freed-
man, armed with his sham-dam skelp, was ubiquitous;
and my turkeys, as well as every other species of game
or vermin, were objects of his pursuit. Squirrels were
almost exterminated, except in the river bottoms. The
mocking-bird, even, did not escape this promiscuous
slaughter. I saw one day, on my place, two negro boys,
about eighteen years old; they both had guns, and when
interrogated as to the species of game their bags contain-
ed, they made some evasive answer. I thrust my hand
into the sack and drew out four mocking-birds. Indigna-
tion seized me, and the reader may imagine that I used
some very strong language at this ruthless destruction
of a bird that the worst white boy in the South would
hestitate to kill.
“My turkeys being very gentle, as I said, and daily at-
tention and feeding from the hand preventing shyness,
or any disposition to wander far from home in the breed-
‘ing season, the hens laid in the yard. Sambo and his
‘sister discovered the nests, and the eggs were stolen.
‘Thwarted thus at first, the four hens wandered far from
‘the house to find a safe retreat for their nests. One flew
at least a half a mile every morning before she alighted,
and fed along toward her nest, about two miles distant.
She returned home to roost late in the evening; but after
she went to sitting I did not see her again. She reared a
brood, as I afterward learned from a neighbor, who saw,
‘with her, in his field, a young wild turkey nearly grown,
-and'as the field lay in the direction taken by my hen, I
inferred that it must be my lost turkey and her brood.
‘One of the other three hens brought home five nearly
grown turkeys; but where she nested or how she escaped
being killed, I knew not; I did know, however, that she
was stolen from the yard fence where she roosted with
‘her family. Silly bird! If she had known Sambo’s thiev-
ish propensities as well as I knew them, she would have
44 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
sought the top of the tallest tree. The other hens did
not rear any young. One of them, the following year,
laid and hatched a dozen eggs. This time a white boy,
the son of a Baptist preacher, who drove his father’s
cow to pasture every day in a field near my house, took
a dozen little turkeys from the mother. The next day he
brought his gun with him and shot the old hen. I hap-
pened to be in town when this Nimrod marched down the
street with my turkey swinging on his back. I was
standing across the street, and I heard some one say:
“You got her, eh?’I walked across the street and, full of
ire, I took my beautiful turkey from the rascal. He did
not say a word; he was guilty and made no attempt to
defend himself. I found my little turkeys at his rever-
end sire’s but the poor little birds had been starved twen-
ty-four hours, and they all died in spite of my effort to
raise them.
“T shall mention one habit of these turkeys, and then I
shall close this perhaps already too long communication.
Whenever they were threatened by danger, even when a
mile from the house, they rose with their loud cry of
alarm “put! put! put!” which they never ceased to utter
’till they found themselves safely alighted in the yard.
They roosted in a large post oak that had stood for fifty
years in the yard, and which may have been a hundred
years old. It was ivy-mantled from the ground; the ivy
had covered the stem and most of the branches. There at
least these persecuted birds were safe, and there their
instinct taught them to fly from danger.
“Seeing that I could not keep my turkeys, I gave to a
neighbor one of the cocks, a magnificent bird, so gentle
that he allowed himself to be taken while feeding from
my hand. The rest of the flock I killed myself.
“Thus went my turkeys; the oak where they roosted
is gone; it was blasted by lightning; the hands that
planted the ivy and the dear old house itself has vanished
ae earth, and death, and ‘the flames have done their
work.
‘Return! sad thoughts! return!
I wish to dream and not to weep’.” (1886b).
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 45
“Common in suitable localities. Resident. Breeds.”
(1890d).
The last record of observation of the species at Greens-
boro is contained in the Doctor’s original notes for Octo-
ber 25, 1890. In his notes for Sept. 16th-Oct. 2d, 1892, he
writes: “Wild turkeys are not uncommon on Perdido
Bay ; much ‘sign’ was seen though no birds were observed
or taken during my stay.”
58. ECTOPISTES MIGRATORIUS (Linnzus).
PASSENGER PIGEON.
“Once countless thousands came in winter to feed upon
the mast of our forests. Not one to my knowledge has
keen seen since the winter of 1887, when Mr. Edward Pas-
teur, of Greensboro, shot a single specimen in the corpor-
ate limits of the town. This bird was not accompanied
by any other of his species.
“Since writing the observations above on the passenger
pigeon I have been informed that a flock of about two
hundred of these birds were seen the first week of No-
vember.” (1890d).
59. ZENAIDURA MACROURA CAROLINENSIS (Linnzus).
MovurRNING DOVE.
Common. Resident. Breeds.” (1890d).
In the Doctor’s original notes for Baldwin County,
Sept. 16th to Oct. 2nd, 1892, appears the following:
“Zenaidura macroura abundant in the pine woods; feeds
on the mast of the long-leaved pine.”
No. 1026. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 4, 1898. W. C. Avery.
No. 1087. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 13, 1898. W.C. Avery.
60. CHASMEPELIA PASSERINA TERRESTRIS (Chapman).
GROUND DOVE.
“Rare. A few examples have been brought to me for
identification. Does not breed here that I know.” (1890d).
This species is known to breed in Autauga and Mont-
gomery Counties and should certainly breed in Hale Coun-
ty where conditions are not noticeably different.
46 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
61. CATHARTES AURA SEPTENTRIONALIS (Wied).
TURKEY VULTURE.
“Turkey Buzzard.”
“Common. Resident. Breeds. It is generally not be-
lieved that this vulture has the sense of smell acute, but
from actual observation I think it must be guided by
smell as well as by sight in finding its prey. During the
summer past in July a small chicken, about the size of a
Bob White, died, and was thrown out of the yard under
some pines so dense that no eye could detect so small an
object from above. About four days after this chicken
had laid there a turkey vulture perched upon a fence near
by and extended his neck in different directions, as if
“feeling for the scent;”’ ascertaining the course of the
odor, he flew toward the spot, lighted, passed some yards
beyond the dead chicken, as a dog that seeks his prey by
his olfactories, and then discovering his mistake, he turn-
ed and went directly to the object of his search. Mr. C.
S. Brimley, this summer, removed the anal glands of a
little striped skunk, and threw them about a hundred
yards from my door. Several days after this tidbit was
exposed, the piercing sight or the keen scent of a turkey
vuiture discovered its location and the vulture perched
or the fence above it; a few minutes afterward he was
joined by two others of his species. There they remained
for some moments, till one of the number flew down and
svallowed the coveted morsel. It seemed to me that the
‘sense of smell guided these vultures in this instance; and
no one, who observes them closely, can escape the conclu-
sion that turkey vultures depend much upon the sense of
smell to find their prey.” (189(d).
62. CATHARISTA URUBU (Vieillot).
BLACK VULTURE.
“Carrion Crow.”
“Common. Resident. Breeds.” (1890d).
“Saw black vulture feeding her young by regurgitation,
as a pigeon.” (Original notes. Sept. 1, 1890).
“Found nest of black vulture in a hollow of a tulip
tree (Lyriodendron tulipifera). The two eges lay on
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 47
the bare ground, there being no nest. The set was sent to
the National Museum.” (Original notes. April 11, 1891).
68. ELANOIDES FORFICATUS (Linnzus)
SWALLOW-TAILED KITE.
“Not common. Once abundant. It may breed along
the Warrior River, where it is now occasionally seen.”
(1890d).
CIRCUS HUDSONIUS (Linnezus.)
MarsH Hawk.
“Rabbit Hawk.”
Concerning this species, Dr. Avery wrote in his note-
book: “On March the 17th (1888) flushed a marsh hawk
that had just caught a partridge; shot at the hawk and
wounded it. This is the first time I ever knew C. hud-
sonius to catch so large a bird.” The specimen listed
below was shot with a mockingbird in its talons.
“Common. Winter resident.” (1890d).
No. 220. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 17, 1889. W. C. Avery.
65. ACCIPITER VELOX (Wilson).
SHARP-SHINNED Hawk.
“Tittle Blue Darter.” “Pigeon Hawk.”
A male taken 10 miles west of Greensboro, Nov. 26,
1877, forms the basis of the first journal record of this
species. Another specimen, taken Nov. 11, 1887, 10 miles
southwest of Greensboro, is of interest because Dr.
Avery carefully notes that its “stomach contained re-
mains of vesper sparrow.” Of the specimens listed below,
the stomach of No. 1025 “contained portion of bird”
while that of No. 1038 contained bird debris.
“Not common. Resident. Breeds.’ (1890d).
No. 261. Female. Greensboro. Nov. 9, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 950. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 5, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. ...-. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 6, 1892. W. C. Avery.
No. 1025. Male. Greensboro. Feb. 24, 18938. W. C. Avery.
No. 1038. Female. Greensboro. Apr. 3, 1893. W. C. Avery.
48 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
66. ACCIPITER COOPERI (Bonaparte).
Cooper’s Hawk.
“Chicken Hawk.” “Big Blue Darter.”
The first specimen of this hawk recorded was an adult
male taken at Greensboro, Nov. 138, 1877. Ten years
later (Aug. 30, 1887) the Doctor launches a tirade, not
undeserved, against this species. He writes: “No. 31
was shot while flying across the yard. A cooperi is more
destructive of game and fowls than any hawk. There
is no telling how many pigeons this hawk has taken from
me this summer. On the 28th I fired twice at one and in
less than 15 minutes it returned and caught a pigeon.
Nothing can exceed the daring of Cooper’s hawk. While
not as swift a flyer as the falcon, it is nevertheless very
destructive of fowls and game. I believe it destroys more
game and fowls than all the other species of hawks to-.
gether.
“One for instance has broken up the pigeons in the lit-
tle box against the gable end of the kitchen: it has caught
the old birds (cock and hen) and has caught the young
ones also. May my right hand forget her cunning if I
kill them not!”
Sept. 18th, following, another specimen was taken, the
stomach of which contained “parts of a sand lizard.”
Under this entry is written: “this hawk was killed flag-
rante delicto. She pursued a pigeon in the yard, knocked
it to the ground, and would have captured it but for my
presence. She pitched on the limb of a pine just outside
of the front gate, when she came to grief by a charge
from my gun. Specimen was mounted.
The Doctor evidently delighted in taking a large series
of this species. Here is another note, entered Sept. 27,
1887, after the record of No. 35: “This hawk was a
large female; raked at pigeons; lit in a pine near the
house; flew off into the grove; just as I came out of the
house with my gun she circled high over the yard. I
cocked and presented, but having in my left hand a cha-
mois skin and a bunch of keys, I found on looking down
the barrel to aim at the hawk that the skin obstructed
the line of aim; I had to throw it down, recover my aim
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 49
and fire. The hawk was flying fast and had made some
twenty yards more before I pressed the trigger ; she must
have been sixty yards from me, but a number five shot
took her right wing close to the body, and down she came
‘with the cry of distress peculiar to Cooper’s hawk when
‘severely wounded: ‘Chiteree! Chiteree! Chiteree!’ Whop!
She struck the ground loud enough to be heard a hundred
-yards.”
Such wealth of detail seems to indicate that the Doctor
derived more than the ordinary collector’s pleasure from
the taking of specimens of this species. It might be in-
‘ferred too that he loved his pigeons. But it is now well
known that Cooper’s hawk is really chargeable with most
of the pilfering of poultry yards usually blamed upon
the slow-flying, rodent-eating, broad-winged, red-shoul-
dered, and red-tailed hawks.
“Common. Resident. Breeds. This hawk seems to
‘be the greatest enemy of domestic fowls. But above all
‘birds, he seems to prefer the tame pigeon. Two or three
times a week my pigeons have to fly for their lives. When
very hungry a Cooper’s hawk will make repeated attempts
at capturing his quarry before he will desist. Several
years ago I fired both barrels of my gun at one of these
‘hawks while in pursuit of my pigeons. In less than thir-
-ty minutes he returned and carried off a pigeon.” (1890d.)
No. 35. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 27, 1887. W. C. Avery.
No. 179. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 1, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 232. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 30, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 399. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 5, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 440. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 12, 1890. W. C. Avery.
‘No. 812. Male. Greensboro. Feb. 8, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 946. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 2, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 1020. Male. Greensboro. Feb, 3, 1898. W. C. Avery.
67. BUTEO BOREALIS BOREALIS (Gmelin).
RED-TAILED HAWK.
It is interesting to find that Dr. Avery’s first specimen
.of this bird, taken Jan. 20, 1878, 10 miles west of Greens-
‘boro, was sent to Dr. Elliott Coues.
This note, published in 1890, would indicate that the
‘Doctor paid little attention to Oology “Winter resident.
Has never been found breeding here to my knowledge.”
50 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
(1890d). The red-tail is a common breeder in Autauga
County and undoubtedly is to be found resident in Hale.
After the entry of speciment No. 1022, listed below, in
his catalogue, Dr. Avery wrote the following note on the
food of the red-tail that has been amply substantiated by
the investigations of Dr. A. K. Fisher of the United
States Biological Survey :
The stomach of this buzzard contained mice (Arvicola
pinetorum) and insects. This red-tailed buzzard is known
as the hen hawk. It occasionally preys upon fowls;
but the harm it may do by its visits to the farmer’s poul-
try yard is more than compensated by the vermin it de-
stroys. But to the superficial observer a buzzard is a
hawk and must atone for his resemblance by his death
on all occasions.
“T have examined the contents of many stomachs of
this species; and I have yet to find one containing a do-
mestic fowl.”
No. 330. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 28, 1889. W.C. Avery.
No. 346. Female. Greensboro. Jan. 4, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 350. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 18, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 366. Male. Greensboro. Feb. 6, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 370. Male. Greensboro. Feb. 12, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 1019. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 8, 1893. W. C. Avery.
No. 1021. Male-juv. Greensboro. Feb. 6, 1893. W. C. Avery.
No. 1022. Male. Greensboro. Feb. 9, 1893. W. C. Avery.
No. 1027. Female-juv. Greensboro. Mar. 10, 18938. W. C. Avery.
68. BUTEO LINEATUS LINEATUS (Gmelin).
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK.
The collection contains the following three specimens
of the typical subspecies:
No. 189. Female-adult. Greensboro. Aug. 19, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 358. Female. Greensboro. Jan. 28, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 1109. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 27, 1893. W. C. Avery.
The stomach of No. 1109 contained “remnants of a frog
and of grasshoppers.”
69. BUTEO LINEATUS ALLENI (Ridgway).
FLORIDA RED-SHOULDERED HAWK.
“Common. Resident. Breeds.” (1890d).
As this species is so universally known to the country
people as “chicken hawk,” it is interesting to note that
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 51
the stomach of a specimen (No. 38) taken near Greens-
boro, Nov. 19, 1887, was “filled with grasshoppers and
beetles.” The stomach of No. 959, listed below, ‘“‘con-
tained a good gill of insects and a snake about 6 inches
long.” :
No. 151. Male-juv. Greensboro. May 25, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 182. Female-juv. Greensboro. Aug. 10, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 188. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 17, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 221. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 19, 1889. W.C. Avery.
No. 226. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 28, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 279. Female. Greensboro. Nov. 26, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 331. Male. Greensboro. Dec. .28, 1889.
No. 959. .Female. Greensboro. Dec. 4, 1891. W.C. Avery.
70. BUTEO PLATYPTERUS (Vieillot).
BROAD-WINGED HAWK.
“Rare. Only one specimen has come under my obser-
‘vation. That was shot and mounted by Dr. J. M. Pickett,
of Cedarville, Alabama: I have the specimen in my col-
lection.” (1890d).
Unfortunately this specimen has since disappeared.
71. HALLZETUS LEUCOCEPHALUS LEUCOCEPHALUS
, (Linnezus).
Bap EAGLE.
“Kight years ago while shooting five miles west of
«Greensboro, a bald eagle flew over my head at scarcely
-forty feet high. It took but a second to cock my gun and
present, but my horse, for the first time that I had
known him, reversed ends'as quick as thought; and I
found myself with my face and my gun turned in the
-opposite direction from that which I had intended. The
eagle continued on his way and I have not seen him
-since. My nephew had been shooting from my horse,
-and had poked the gun between his ears, perhaps, repeat-
ed shocks from charges fired too close to his ears, or
‘perhaps grains of powder burning him, had made him
gun shy and caused me to lose the only specimen of the
‘bald eagle I ever saw. Moral reflection: Don’t lend
-your horse, or dog, or gun.” (1890e).
“Bald eagles were common on the sea coast of Baldwin
‘County.” (Original notes. Sept. 16-Oct. 2, 1892.)
52 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
72. FALCO PEREGRINUS ANATUM (Bonaparte).
Duck Hawk.
The first mention of this species by Dr. Avery is the
record of two individuals at Greensboro, Sept. 10, 1886;
the last record is of a single bird seen on the Gulf Coast
of Baldwin County, Sept. 22, 1892. The species was evi-
dently of considerable interest to the Doctor for he pub-
lished three articles concerning it. These are quoted
here in full. ,
The first appeared under the title “Wiles of the Pere-
grine Falcon,” and was published in the old “Ornitholo-
gist and Oologist which has long since expired. It fol-
lows:
“While shooting one day, as I entered a large field,
my attention was attracted to a flock of killdeer, flying
high over head. They were as noisy as usual and flew
in different directions, as if they had been disturbed and
scattered.
“Far below the killdeers, came rapidly towards me a
peregrine falcon, one eye glancing up at a killdeer many
feet above him. His long pointed wings beat the air
with short, quick strokes, as they bore him with increas-
ing speed till he reached a point just below his unwary
victim, when, as an arrow from a bow, he shot upwards,
passing not a foot ahead of the incoming killdeer. The
bird literally flew into the outstretched talons-that seized
and bore it several hundred yards to the top of a tall
oak tree.
“Not many minutes had elapsed before I was standing
under the tree. A well directed charge of No. 8 shot was
launched at the hawk; the killdeer fell from his grasp;
he fell to the under side of the limb on which he was
perched, quivered a few seconds, released his hold, and
followed his dead quarry to the ground.
“On another occasion, I was shooting ducks in a slough
in the Warrior bottom, when I heard an unusual noise,
so loud and so continued was it that I took it to. be the
scream of same large bird in distress—a pileated wood-
pecker perhaps. I hastened towards the place whence
the cries proceeded. As I waded into the water, I saw
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 53
a peregrine falcon hovering above the timber, as a fish
hawk balances himself before he descends. I started a
black duck from under a log not ten feet from me; as I
proceeded other ducks left their hiding places and sought
safety in flight. They were aware of the danger over
head in the shape of the falcon, and all the frightful
screams of the cunning hawk had not caused. them to
leave the water. My presence in their very midst had
alarmed them and so soon as they were on the wing the
falcon darted like lightning after them, and disappeared
through the timber with their pursuer close behind them.
“The capture of the killdeer by the falcon, in the
manner above described, was certainly astonishing. It
was evidently a ruse, as the bird did not see its enemy,
*till like an apparition, he shot up just ahead and the two
taloned feet were extended to received it.
“The falcon resorts, also, to cunning when he seeks
to frighten the ducks from the water by screams louder
than I had supposed it possible for such a bird to make.
“Sometimes the shooter is surprised by the presence
of the peregrine falcon as he falls, as it were, from the
very clouds.
“Once, upon the coast of North Carolina, near Nay’s
Head, I had shot several willets and was reloading my
muzzle, when a peregrine falcon stooped at a winged
willet that stood in the water not twenty yards from me.
The wounded bird escaped by squatting suddenly. The
upward flight of the falcon seemed to me not less rapid
than had been his descent. I had one barrel loaded, the
contents of which I sent after him without apparent ef-
fect, as he towered in a few seconds beyond the reach of
danger.
“One among other occasions, when this marauder has
suddenly appeared on the scene, I shall never forget. J
had one day scattered a covey of partridges Colinus vir-
ginianus in an open field, and had hunted the single birds
for some time with varied success; now killing, now miés-
ing a bird. Finally my dog pointed in a sedge field, at
least a half a mile from the nearest woods. I flushed the
bird and missed it; almost simultaneously with the shot, a
54 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
peregrine falcon stooped from the sky, coming down-
ward and directly behind the whirring partridge, he
passed by me swift as the leaden shower I had just sent
in vain after poor Bob White; overtaking but missing his
quarry before it had flown two hundred yards. It seem-
ed to me that the falcon must have flown with at least
four times the speed of the partridge, and that he flew
at least a half mile while the latter was going two hun-
dred yards.
That bird was bagged that day by neither shooter nor
hawk. I marked it down; but I had not the heart to
flush and shoot at it again when it had escaped the leaden
missiles hurled after it, and the sharp talons of the hun-
gry falcon that followed in their wake.” (1887).
Next came this extended note in “Birds Observed in
Alabama”:
“Rare. Gererally seen in autumn and winter, in the
wake of the wild duck. His presence is a good indica-
tion that there are ducks somewhere not far distant. It
has occurred to me once to see one of these falcons cap-
ture a tame pigeon. There were two of them together,
tiercel and falcon, male and female, as might be easily
seen from their difference in size. They fell like thun-
derbolts from the clouds; the pigeons, the object of their
pursuit, perceived them and took wing; the female falcon
leading struck a pigeon and, fastening to it, was borne
downward some distance; but, making her hold secure,
she rose with her quarry and flew more than half a
mile, lighting on the top of a tall gum (liquidambar).
Two or three years ago I witnessed another exciting
chase of these tigers of the air, after my pigeons. Again
came a pair, tiercel and falcon; this time, however, the
pigeons discovered their pursuers in time to rise above
them. This advantage was not maintained long, for
both falcons, following swiftly behind and below their
destined quarry, began to “ring” or ascend in rapid cir-
cles; the male got his “pitch” first, but before he had
attained it, the pigeons were perhaps two hundred yards
away and imagined themselves safe; but to close his
long, pointed wings, and to dash through their terrified
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 55
ranks seemed to me to require but two or three seconds.
Indeed, so swift was his flight that the pigeons appeared,
in comparison, scarcely to move. He missed his bird,
however, and now it was his mate’s turn. Pigeons and
falcons vanished from my view behind some trees; but
they came into sight again in a few seconds, one of the
falcons about a quarter of a mile off descending to the
ground a few feet behind a pigeon, which was captured
without doubt, as escape seemed impossible. What grand
sport it would be to have well-trained falcons to pursue
our pinnated grouse! Why does not some sportsman
take the initiative, who can afford it? Judging from
the performances of the wild birds in capturing their
prey, shooting game to pointers or setters is tame sport
compared with capturing it with falcons.” (1890e).
The following was published in 1893 in answer to a
question in the “Ornithologist and Oologist”:
“What is authentically known of the rapidity of flight
by different species of birds, and which is considered the
swiftest ?’
“To Mr. Smith’s question, I believe it may be answered
that the falcons are the swiftest, and as far as my exper-
ience goes it seems to me that the duck hawk is swifter
than any other species.
“It easily overtakes any bird within the range of its
vision, and does so with incredible velocity.
“A Bob White, once fired at by me, was overtaken by a
duck hawk in the distance of two hundred yards, though
the hawk apparently had to fly three times as far as its
quarry before it reached the latter.
“On another occasion two duck hawks were seen pur-
suing a flock of tame pigeons. These were far above
their pursuers, and while in that position were safe. But
the falcons began to ‘ring,’ or ascend in circles ’till the
smaller bird, the male, got his ‘pitch’ first, then, with
astonishing swiftness, he overtook the pigeons, whose
rapidity of flight is very great. When the falcon began
his swoop, at about an angle of twenty degrees with the
flight of the pigeons, these, though going very fast,
seemed in comparison with the progress of their pursuer
56 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
scarcely to move, as he shot like an arrow through the
flock. Other instances of the swiftness of flight by Fal-
cons might be given but these seem to show that no bird
flies as fast as the falcon.” (1893b).
73. FALCO COLUMBARIUS COLUMBARIUS (Linneus).
PIGEON Hawk.
“Rare. I saw one of these falcons last year pursuing
tame pigeons. His performance was poor compared to
the brilliant work of the peregrine.” (1890e).
The only original reference to this species that could
be found is one of the Doctor’s Baldwin County notes
that is not very authoritative: “While returning from
Dauphin Island at dawn on Sept. 22d, a falcon was seen
pursuing a tern off the shore of the Gulf. It was sup-
posed from size to be the pigeon hawk.” This was in
1892.
The stomach of No. 1106, listed below, “contained re-
mains of a small bird.”
No. 947. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 6, 1891. W. Cc. Avery.
No. 1106. Male-juv. Greensboro. Dec. 22, 1893. W. C. Avery.
74, FALCO SPARVERIUS SPARVERIUS (Linnzus).
SPARROW Hawk.
“Common. Resident. Breeds.” (1890e).
The stomach contents of an adult male taken Mar. 17,
1888, near Greensboro, were recorded as “grasshoppers
and crickets.” It is well known that the food of this in-
nocent little hawk consists principally of such insects
during the warmer months, while mice enter largely into
its bill of fare during the winter, but nevertheless the
slaughter of the species continues.
No. 280. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 28, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 801. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 1, 1890. W.C, Avery.
No. 958. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 21, 1891. W.c. Avery.
No. 963. Female, Greensboro. Dee. 18, 1891. W. ¢. Avery.
No. 972. Male. Greensboro. Dee, 26, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 1008. Male. Baldwin Co., Oct. 2, 1892. w. C. Avery,
No. 1005. Sex (?). Baldwin Co. Oct. 2, 1892. Ww. C. Avery.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 57
75. PANDION HALIAETUS CAROLINENSIS (Gmelin).
OSPREY.
“Fish Hawk.”
“Observed only a few times by me in this country.”
(1890e).
The foregoing note was published by the Doctor before
his trip to the Gulf Coast in 1892. In his journal for the
period Sept. 16-Oct. 2, he writes: ‘Many ospreys were
seen on the Gulf Coast and on Perdido Bay; on Soldier
Creek there were many nests in the pines and cypresses.”
76. ALUCO PRATINCOLA (Bonaparte).
Barn OWL.
“Rare in this country, as far as I know, except six
miles south of Greensboro, on Mr. James Sledge’s place,
where these owls are abundant. A quantity of their
castings may sometimes be gathered under the trees in
his grove, where the owls are found. They feed on rats
and mice.” (1890e).
77. ASIO WILSONIANUS (Lesson) ).
LONG-EARED OWL.
“Rare. Three specimens have come under my obser-
vation ; two shot by Mr. John Cocke of this county and one
by myself; flushed in a cornfield on the edge of a thicket,
while shooting. Time, winter.” (1890e).
The stomach of the specimen listed below “contained
hair and bones of mice.” A note appended to the entry
of this specimen in the Doctor’s original catalogue reads:
“It was told me that eight or ten of these owls were
seen in a flock, and that three or four might have been
killed at a shot.” A little farther down the page is
penned: “On Saturday, March 3d, 1894, a badly shot
specimen of Asio wilsonianus was brought to me.”
No. 1108. Sex (?). Greensboro. Dec. 27, 18938. W.C. Avery.
78. ASIO FLAMMEUS (Pontoppidan).
SHORT-EARED OWL.
“Tolerably common some years; others not seen at all.
Frequently flies about in the daytime, and is flushed
from the tall grass of meadows and marshes. A half
58 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
dozen or more are often seen together. Winter resident.”
(1890e).
The stomach of the specimen listed “eontained a male
redwing.”
No. 958. Female. Greensboro. Dec. 4, 1891. W. C. Avery.
79, STRIX VARIA VARIA (Barton).
BARRED OWL.
A specimen in the collection, bearing no label, is refer-
able to this subspecies. It is thought to be No. 100, taken
by Dr. Avery at Greensboro, Oct. 18, 1888.
80. STRIX VARIA ALLENI (Ridgway).
FLORIDA BARRED OWL.
“Common. Resident. Breeds.” (1890e).
No. 885. Female. Greensboro. May 6, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 951. Female. Greensboro. Nov. 18, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 992. Female-juv. Greensboro. Sept. 7, 1892. W. C. Avery.
81. OTUS ASIO ASIO (Linnzus).
FLORIDA SCREECH OWL*.
The first record found of the screech owl is the journal
entry of specimen No. 6 (old series), an adult female
taken at Greensboro, June 3, 1876. After a description
of the eyes, bill and nails, and a note on the stomach
contents, “debris of beetles,” is written: ‘The screech
owl is found in Alabama about barns and near dwelling
houses. It builds for years in the same hollow tree.”
The next specimen was taken just two weeks later, in
the same locality, and under the record is appended:
“This bird has two plumages which do not characterize
either male or female; both being indifferently clad now
in one, now in the other: i. e., the male may sometimes
be found with a reddish or rufus plumage, and the female
may sometimes have the same, sometimes the male may:
be mottled and then again the female may be mottled.
No. 6 is an instance of a female with the rufus plumage,
and the present specimen is a female with the mottled
plumage.”
*Ridgway, Birds of N. and Mid. Am., Part VI, p. 687, Wash. 1914.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 59
The catalogue record shows that the stomach of another
specimen, a female taken Dec. 23, 1893, at Greensboro,
contained beetles, but the beneficent influence of the
screech owl, in spite of the superstition concerning it, is
so well known, that its mouse and insect-eating proclivi-
ites need not be enlarged upon here. However, it does
seem strange that Dr. Avery’s only published note on
the species should consist of just these three words:
“Common. Resident. Breeds.” (1890ey.
No. 271. Female. Greensboro. Nov. 18, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 527. Male-hornot. Greensboro. May 31, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 983. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 27, 1892. W. C. Avery.
No. 1009. Male. Greensboro. Dee. 12, 1892. W.C. Avery.
No. 1011. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 24, 1892. W.C. Avery.
No. 1023. Male. Greensboro. Feb. 21, 1898. W.C. Avery.
No. 1024. Male. Greensboro. Feb. 23, 1898. W. C. Avery.
No. 1087. Male. Greensboro. Feb. 15, 1898. W. C. Avery.
82. OTUS ASIO NASVIUS (Gmelin).
SCREECH OWL.*
The following specimen is referable to this subspecies:
No. 976. Female. Greensboro. Jan. 18, 1892. W. C. Avery.
83. BUBO VIRGINIANUS VIRGINIANUS (Gmelin).
GREAT HORNED OWL.
“Rare. Resident. Breeds.” (1890e).
No. 962. Female. Greensboro. Dec. 8, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 990. Male. Greensboro. July 19, 1892. W. C. Avery.
No. ....... Odd specimen with no label.
84. CONUROPSIS CAROLINENSIS (Linnzus).
CAROLINA PAROQUET.
“Has not been seen in this country for many years.
Once common.” (1890e).
Probably the Doctor had to accept hearsay evidence as
toe the former abundance of this species, for it is doubtful
that he ever saw a Carolina paroquet in life.
85. COCCYZUS AMERICANUS AMERICANUS (Linnezus).
YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO.
“Rain Crow.”
“Common. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1890e).
*Ridgway, Birds of N. and Mid. Am., Part VI, p. 690, Wash. 1914.
60 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
Sept. 11. 1889, Dr. Avery noted in his journal that he
saw “a half dozen yellow-billed cuckoos feeding on cotton
worms.”
No. 500. Female. Greensboro. May 4, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 595. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 22, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 604. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 23, 1890. W. C. Avery.
86. CERYLE ALCYON (Linneus).
BELTED KINGFISHER.
“Common. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1890e).
This note is too restricted, for the kingfisher is a per-
manent resident in Alabama.
The Doctor recorded the species as common on Per-
dido Bay during his stay in Baldwin County, Sept. 16 to
Oct. 2, 1892.
No. 584. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 16, 1890. W. C. Avery.
87. CAMPEPHILUS PRINCIPALIS (Linneus).
IvORY-BILLED WOODPECKER.
“In 1866, while I was stalking some mallards in the
Cypress Slough, near the Warrior River, and ten miles
‘west of Greensboro, a bird which I thought was a pileat-
ed woodpecker (called here log-cock), flew by me, but a
strange note made me at once suspect the identity of the
bird, and in two seconds a female ivory-billed wood-
pecker instead of the mallards was secured by me. This
is the only instance known to me of its occurrence in this
country.” (1890e).
88. DRYOBATES VILLOSUS AUDUBONI (Swainson).
SOUTHERN HAIRY WOODPECKER.
“Common. Resident. Breeds.” (1890e).
No. 174. Male. Greensboro. July 24, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 596. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 22, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 698. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 20, 1980. W.C. Avery.
No. 718. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 29, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No, 823. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 11, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 889. Male. Greensboro, Aug. 11, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 10638. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 4, 1893. W. C. Avery.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 61
89. DRYOBATES PUBESCENS PUBESCENS (Linnezus).
SOUTHERN DOWNY WOODPECKER.
“Common. Resident. Breeds.” (1890e).
No. 396. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 5, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 404. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 10, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 428. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 19, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 599. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 22, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 759. Male-juv. Greensboro. Oct. 16, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 777. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 21, 1890. W. C. Avery.
90. DRYOBATES BOREALIS (Vieillot).
RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER.
“Common in the pine woods north of Greensboro. It
was discovered last September, the 20th, in a growth of
pines, in the Warrior River bottom, near Millwood. Mr.
Cc. S. Brimley of Raleigh, North Carolina, who was mak-
ing biological explorations here for the Agricultural De-
partment at Washington, discovered it tnere, where it
had previously escaped my observation. Resident. Breeds.
(1890e).
The stomachs of a male and female of this species, tak-
en Jan. 4, 1891, near Greensboro, contained, respectively,
“red ants” and “insects :”
Red-cockaded woodpeckers were ‘“‘seen frequently” dur-
ing the Doctor’s stay in Baldwin County, Sept. 16 to
Oct. 2, 1892.
No. 692. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 20, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 809 (?). Female. No label.
91. SPHYRAPICUS VARIUS VARIUS (Linneus).
YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER.
Dr. Avery’s first specimen of this woodpecker, so far
as the record goes, was taken Jan. 10, 1878, at Greens-
boro. Oct. 8, 1887, another specimen was recorded
whose “stomach contained only ants.”
“Common during the autumn migration.” (1890e).
No. Bis40. Female. Greensboro. Jan. 10, 1878. W. C. Avery.
No. 230. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 28, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 240. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 9, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 241. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 9, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 403. Male. Greensboro. Jan. .... 1886. W.C. Avery.
No. 774. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 20, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 779. Male juv. Greensboro. Oct. 22, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 795. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 25, 1890. W. C. Avery.
62 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
92. PHLCZOTOMUS PILEATUS PILEATUS (Linnzus),
PILEATED WOODPECKER.
“TLog-Cock.”
“Not common, though once abundant. Found in heavily
timbered localities ; chiefly in the river bottom.” (1890e).
Writing of Baldwin County, Sept. 16-Oct. 2, 1892, the
Doctor noted: ‘“‘Pileated woodpecker not common; one
specimen was taken at ‘Rambler’s Rest’ on Perdido Bay.”
No. 1004. Male. Baldwin Co. Oct. 2, 1892. W.C. Avery.
No. 1063. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 8, 18938. W. C. Avery.
938. MELANERPES ERYTHROCEPHALUS (Linneus).
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER.
“Shirt-Tail.”
After cataloging an adult male taken at Greensboro,
June 9, 1876, as No. 14 of his first series, Dr. Avery
writes:
“Stomach contained debris of insects, and blackberry
seeds.
“When I was a boy the red-headed woodpecker was a
very common bird. Thousands of these harmless birds
have been destroyed, under the pretext of saving the
fruit and the Indian corn. I believe that when they
peck into the latter it is to search for a worm that de-
stroys the corn: be that as it may the red-headed wood-
pecker does more good by the destruction of insects than
harm by eating a little fruit or corn even.
“No bird affords a better mark for wanton shooters
than this beautiful bird. Thousands perish because they
are a good mark for a rifle shot.
“There used to be hundreds in Alabama where there
is one now. When we destroy our friends, our enemies,
the cotton worms, increase until their number is legion.
“My country thou art doomed! The degraded African
destroys every day with ruthless hand thy crown of trees,
thy noble forests. Even the mockingbird does not escape
the senseless, soulless negro. Not long after the war, I
saw two negro boys with guns, both of them at least
seventeen or eighteen years old. I asked one of them
what he had in his bird-bag. He told me (I think) that
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 63
he hada rabbit. I put my hand into his pouch and pulled
out—Oh, horrors!—four mockingbirds.”
In the summer of 1888 a specimen was catalogued with-
out date, the entry followed by this note:
“My little nephew, Willie Cobbs, shot this bird, a pet,
which had nested in my lot. M. erythrocephalus (red-
headed woodpecker) is scarce in this locality. When I
was a boy it was one of the commonest birds of this coun-
try.”
The foregoing statements are especially interesting in
view of the Doctor’s terse published note on the species
which appeared in 1890: “Abundant. Summer resident.
A few remain during the winter. Breeds.” (1890e).
It is doubtful that there has been any great diminution
in numbers of this woodpecker, in spite of its unwonted
persecution, because its natural enemies are compara-
tively few and with the “deadening” of timber incident
upon the opened up of new lands its food supply has been
augmented and the number of desirable nesting sites in-
creased.
The present writer deplores with the Doctor the wan-
ton destruction of our beneficial birds, that continues
even at this time, but he would point out that the negro
is not alone responsible. After more than thirty years
of educational work on the part of the United States
Department of Agriculture, the ornithological societies,
and lesser agencies, it is indeed a sad commentary upon
our civilization that our whites still persist in using as
targets the protectors of our crops, orchards and forests.
No. 554. Sex (?). Greensboro. July 28, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 829. Male. Greensboro. May 2, 1891. W. C. Avery.
»No. 882. Male. Greensboro. May 4, 1891. W. C. Avery.
94. CENTURUS CAROLINUS (Linnzus).
RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER,
After the record of No. 51, listed below, the stomach
of which “contained portions of acorns and beetles,” oc-
curs this note:
“This bird is common in this country; but like iés rela-
tive the red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythroce-
phalus) it is becoming every year scarcer.”
64 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
“Common. Resident. Breeds.” (1890e).
Recorded as “quite common” in Baldwin County, Sept.
16 to Oct. 2, 1892.
No. 51Bis. Male. Greensboro. Feb. 7, 1878. W. C. Avery.
No. 638. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 3, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 914. Male hornot. Greensboro. Sept. 8, 1891. ‘W. C. Avery.
No. ...... Odd specimen without label.
95. COLAPTES AURATUS AURATUS (Linnzus).
FLICKER.
“Yellow Hammer.”
There is only one specimen of the resident subspecies
in the collection; it is listed below.
No. 866. Male-hornot. Greensboro. June 18, 1891. W.C. Avery.
96. COLAPTES AURATUS LUTEUS (Bangs).
NORTHERN FLICKER.
“Yellow Hammer.”
“Abundant. Winter resident. A few remain during
summer and nest here.”’ (1890e).
Subspecies luteus was not described until 1898, so the
above note was absolutely correct at the time it was
published. It is known now, however, that auratus is the
breeding bird while luteus is only a winter visitant.
No. 49Bis. Female. Greensboro. Jan. 28, 1878. W. C. Avery.
No. 318. Female. Greensboro. Dec. 19, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 351. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 22, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 817. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 24,1891. W.C. Avery.
No. ...... Odd specimen—no data.
97. ANTROSTOMUS CAROLINENSIS (Gmelin).
CHUCK-WILL’s Wipow.
Entered under the record of No. 34 (old series), an
adult female, taken at Greensboro, Sept. 3, 1877, the
stomach of which contained “debris of large beetles,” is
this note:
“This bird is found in Alabama only in warm weather;
appearing here in the spring and leaving on the approach
of cold weather. It is insectivorous hence it must go to
some climate farther south, where insects abound dur-
ing ouf winter.”
Of course the Doctor had reference to flying insects
such as comprise the food of the goatsuckers.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 65
The stomach of No. 49, listed below, also contained
“debris of beetles.”
“Common. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1890e).
“On May third (1890), shot either a male chestnut
sided warbler or a male black-throated green warbler.
Lost it. While trying to find it flushed Antrostomus
carclinensis from her nest. Have since flushed her three
times from her nest, and have not yet found that she
has carried her egg off in her mouth as Davie quotes
Audubon as saying.” (Original notes.)-
“May 10, 1891. Sent Captain Bendire an egg of the
chuck-will’s widow. -Nest found on the bare ground
about a quarter of a mile this side of the Long Bridge, in
an oak wood on the north side of the Milwood road.
“June 11, 1891. Set of eggs of A. carolinensis, found
near the brick church on the Millwood Road; half incu-
bated. Sent to Captain Chas. E. Bendire.” (Original
notes.)
No. 34Bis. *Female. Greensboro. Sept. 3, 1879. W. C. Avery.
No. 49. Male-ad. Greensboro. Apr. 5, 1888. W .C. Avery.
No. 522. Female. Greensboro. May 28, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 900. Male-hornot. Greensboro. Aug. 23, 1891. W. C.
Avery.
98. ANTROSTOMUS VOCIFERUS VOCIFERUS (Wilson).
Wuip-Poor- WILL.
“Rare. Spring and autumn migrant.” (1890e).
Oct. 14, 1890, the Doctor records seeing a whip-poor-
will “on a wooded hillside about 14 mile north of Pine
Knoll,” near Greensboro.
99. CHORDEILES VIRGINIANUS VIRGINIANUS (Gmelin).
NIGHTHAWK.
“Bullbat.”
“On Sept. 22, 1887, Dr. Avery “saw large flights of
nighthawks late in the evening, flying south; appeared
to be a migratory wave.” Large numbers were recorded
again next day. .
“Common. Summer resident. Breeds. Abundant
during autumn migration.” (1890e).
3—AB
66 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
It is not probable that subspecies virginianus breeds
in Hale County. Though the specimen listed below was
taken in May it could easily have been a migrating bird.
No. 510. Male. Greensboro. May 8, 1890. W. C. Avery.
100. CHORDEILES VIRGINIANUS CHAPMANI (Coues).
FLoripa NIGHTHAWK.
“Bullbat.”
About half of Dr. Avery’s only published note on the
nighthawk, given under the preceding subspecies, is really
applicable to chapmani for this is the breeding bird in
Hale County. The following breeding record is taken
from the Doctor’s original notes:
“June 10,1891. Set of eggs of Chordeiles vir ginianus;
incubation advanced; found by a negro on the bare
ground in a cottonfield.”
No. 5338. Female. Greensboro. June 26, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 552. Male-hornot. Greensboro. July 26, 1890. W. C.
Avery. ,
101. CHASTURA PELAGICA (Linnezus).
CHIMNEY SWIFT.
“Abundant. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1890e).
No. 196. Female. Greensboro (Millwocd). Sept. 7, 1889. W.
C. Avery.
102. ARCHILOCHUS COLUBRIS (Linneus).
RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD.
That Dr. Avery’s enthusiasm was boundless cannot be
denied when it is known that his twenty-fifth specimen
was a bird of this tiny species. It was taken on that
remarkable 17th of June, 1876, when the Doctor put up
skins of a number that would have done credit to a more
seasoned collector. He writes that he had intended to
mount this specimen but had not the necessary wire, so
merely made a skin of it.
“Abundant. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1890e).
The stomach of a hummer taken Sept. 21, 1893, at
Greensboro, “was full of insects.”
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 67
Hummingbirds were recorded as abundant in Baldwin
County, Sept. 16-Oct. 2, 1892.
No. 560. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 11, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. ........... Female. No data.
NO. ceeeeesssene Male. No data.
103. TYRANNUS TYRANNUS (Linnzus).
KINGBIRD.
“Bee Martin.” “Bee-Bird.”
The first mention found of this species is under date of
June 9, 1876, when Dr. Avery entered in his journal, as
No. 15, an adult male taken at Greensboro. He writes:
“Stomach contained insects alone. A most useful bird
although he destroys a few bees. Who knows how many
thousands of cotton flies this active little bird may de-
stroy? His wings being formed for rapid and powerful
flight, he seems to be the terror of carnivorous birds, at
least of the heavier and more awkward genera, known
by ornithologists as buzzards. The hawk proper or blue-
darter as it is stupidly called, would be more than a
match for this tyrant.”
The following is an entry made sometime in June, 1876
(though not dated), in the Doctor’s “Oological Register,”
as he called it:
“No.5-15 Nest of Tyrannus carolinensis (Bee-bird).
This nest was far out on one of the later branches of a
sweet gum (liquidambar tree). In attempting to pull in
the limb and secure the nest, the limb parted company
with the stem to which it was attached and threw all the
eggs to the ground, very much to my disappointment as
it was the first nest of a bee-bird hat I had ever seen.
The eggs are white, dotted with reddish specks about the
size of a pin point.”
“Common. Summer resident. Breeds. This bird is not
nearly so destructive to bees as the summer tanager
(Piranga rubra).” (1890e).
No. 473. Male. Greensboro. April 21, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 474. Male. Greensboro. April 21, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 488. Male. Greensboro. April 29, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 489. Female. Greensboro. April 29, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 837. Male. Greensboro. May 8, 1891. W. C. Avery.
68 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
104. MYIARCHUS CRINITUS (Linnzus).
CRESTED FLYCATCHER.
“Common. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1890e).
“May 31,1891. Asbury McShan took a nest of M. crin-
itus (Crested flycatcher) ; set of five, slightly incubated;
nest in a hollow mulberry about ten feet from the ground.”
(Original notes).
No. 458. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 14, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 670. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 12, 1890. W. C. Avery.
105. SAYORNIS PHOEBE (Latham).
PHOEBE.
“Common. Winter resident.” (1890e).
No. 260. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 5, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 309. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 11, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 340. Female. Greensboro. Jan. 4, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 738. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 7, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 808. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 13, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 1089. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 15, 1898. W. C. Avery.
106. MYIOCHANES VIRENS (Linneus).
Woop PEWEE.
“Abundant. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1890e).
Recorded as late as Oct. 24 (1890) at Greensboro.
The stomach contents of an adult male taken June 22,
1888, at Greensboro, were recorded as Hymenoptera and
Coleoptera.
No. 516. Male. Greensboro. May 12, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 548. Male. Greensboro. July 16, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 674. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 16, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 753. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 15, 1890. W. C. Avery.
107. EMPIDONAX FLAVIVENTRIS (W. M. & S. F. Baird).
YYELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER.
“Rare. There are two specimens in my collection;
one taken by C. 8. Brimley at Millwood, on September
20 of this year, the other by myself on the 23rd of that
month. These are the only examples of this bird that I
have met with.” (1819a).
No. 691. Male. Greensboro (Millwood). Sept. 20, 1890. W.
C. Avery.
No. 1066. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 20, 1893. W. C. Avery.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 69
108. EMPIDONAX VIRESCENS (Vieillot).
ACADIAN FLYCATCHER.
“Common. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1891a).
After recording an adult female taken at Greensboro,
May 25, 1889, the Doctor noted: “This bird was incubat-
ing. Nest of gray moss in a shag-bark tree, 12 ft. from
ground; nest suspended by the rim; shallow.”
No. 548. Male. Greensboro. July 22, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 549. Female. Greensboro. July 22, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 5738. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 14, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 597. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 22, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 666. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 11, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 696. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 23, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 705. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 25, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 920. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 10, 1891. W. C. Avery.
109. OCTOCORIS ALPESTRIS ALPESTRIS (Linnzus).
HORNED LARK.
“Only two notes can be found in Dr. Avery’s catalogues
concerning this species. These follow:
“No. 1012 (listed below was captured from a small
flock of six horned larks, form known as prairie; they
were feeding in the snow not forty steps from the Greens-
boro depot. The very cold weather of the season must
account for the presence of the horned lark so far
south.”
“A flock of about a dozen prairie horned larks was
seen on the 20th and six of them were captured within
fifty yards of the Greensboro station.” (This note fol-
lowed the entry of No. 1012, listed below.)
It will be seen that the Doctor. considered all these
specimens representatives of the form praticola, but Mr.
Oberholser of the U. S. Biological Survey refers them to
alpestris.
No. 1012. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 19, 18998. W. C. Avery.
No. 1013. Female. Greensboro. Jan. 20, 1893. W. C. Avery.
No. 1014. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 20, 1893. W. C. Avery.
No. 1015. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 20, 1893. W. C. Avery.
No. 1016. Female. Greensboro. Jan. 20, 18938. W. C. Avery.
No. 1017. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 20, 1893. W. C. Avery.
70 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
110. OCTOCORIS ALPESTRIS PRATICOLA (Henshaw),
PRAIRIE HORNED LARK.
The following specimen, collected from the same flock
as the last five listed under the preceding subspecies, has
been referred to praticola by Mr. Oberholser.
No. 1018. Male. Greensboro, Jan. 20, 1893. W. C. Avery.
111. CYANOCITTA CRISTATA FLORINCOLA (Coues).
FLoripa BLUE JAY.
“Jaybird.”
“Abundant. Resident. Breeds.” (1891a).
No. 235. Sex (?). Greensboro. Oct. 8, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. ....... Male-hornot. Greensboro. July 23, 1891. W. C. Avery,
No. 1040. Female. Greensboro. Apr. 8, 1893. W. C. Avery.
No. ....... Odd specimen—no data.
112. CORVUS BRACHYRHYNCHOS PAULUS (Howell).
SOUTHERN Crow*.
“Abundant. Resident. Breeds.” (1891a).
From the following note it would appear that the Doc-
tor occasionally turned his medical skill along avian
lines:
“On February 28th (1891) a crow was shot and
wounded. The broken wing has been amputated and I
hope that he will prove a more amiable captive than
the ferocious crow-blackbirds. At this time he seems to
have recovered from. the wound.”
Crows were recorded as abundant in Baldwin County,
Sept. 16-Oct. 2, 1892.
No. 224. Male-juv. Greensboro. Sept. 28, 1889. W.C. Avery.
No. 225. Male-ad. Greensboro. Sept. 28, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No, 295. Female-ad. Greensboro. Dec. 7, 1889. W. C. Avery.
113. DOLICHONYX ORYZIVORUS (Linneus).
BoBOLINK.
“Not common. Spring migrant.” (1891a).
The specimens listed below were taken in Carl Tut-
wiler’s oat field; stomachs contained oats and debris of
beetles.
No. 187. Female. Greensbsyo. May 15, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 188. Male-ad. Greensboro. May 15, 1889. W. Cc. Aver
*Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXVI, pp. 199-202, Oct. 28, 1913,
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 71
114, MOLOTHRUS ATER ATER (Boddaert).
COWBIRD.
In a letter to the Editor of the “American Field,” in
1884, Dr. Avery wrote:
“This is the first of the Icteridae to appear here, com-
ing early in the Fall.” (1884).
In 1891 the following appeared:
“Abundant. Resident from the middle of July till
April. This bird not having the care of rearing its
young as others, does not seem to tarry long in its north-
ern home.” (1891a).
No. 922. Male-hornot. Greensboro. Sept. 14, 1891. W. C.
Avery.
No. 949. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 1, 1891. W. C. Avery.
115. AGELAIUS PHGNICEUS PHCNICEUS (Linnzus).
FLORIDA RED-WING.
The specimen listed below has been referred to the typ-
ical subspecies by Mr. Oberholser.
No. 339. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 3, 1890. W. C. Avery.
116. AGELAIUS PHCENICEUS PREDATORIUS (Wilson).
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD.*
“May 28, 1889. Saw several pairs of red-wings, A.
phoeniceus (Linn.). Found two nests in the marsh north
of the Millwood road, on the Bolling Branch. One nest
was empty, the other contained a single bird. I could
not determine whether the empty nest had been just com-
pleted or whether the eggs had been hatched and the
young birds had left the nest. One of these nests was
three feet from the ground, the other over six. They
were bulky structures for so small a bird; both built in
button-bushes (Cephalanthus occidentalis) .
“Visited these nests again on the 31st, and found three
nests more in the same marsh. These last were on reeds
and in coarse grass, a foot or two from the ground; one
of them contained two eggs and a yaung bird just
hatched, the others contained nothing. One of the nests
found on the 28th, then empty, contained two eggs on
the 31st.” (Original notes).
*Mearns, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXIV, pp. 226-227, 1911.
72 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
“Winter resident. A few remain all the year and nest
here. Abundant.” (1891a).
No. 69. Male. Greensboro. June 2, 1888. W. C. Avery.
No. 70. Female. Greensboro. June 2, 1888. W. C. Avery.
No. 326. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 23, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. ...... Male. Greensboro. Jan. 21, 1893. W. C. Avery.
117. STURNELLA MAGNA MAGNA (Linneus).
MEADOWLARK.
“Oldfield Lark.”
It is not certain that the first recorded meadowlark,
taken Jan. 26, 1878, was of this subspecies, but as three
of the four meadowlarks now in the collection are refer-
able to magna, and argutula was not described until
twenty-one years later, it seems reasonable to place the
record here. Dr. Avery records the fact that the stomach
of this specimen “contained portions of beetles,” and
writes that the species is “very common in this state.”
It is certain that the northern form is abundant in Ala-
bama during the fall and winter months.
No. 377. Female. Greensboro. Feb. 21, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 764. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 18, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 1098. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 25, 1893. W. C. Avery.
118. STURNELLA MAGNA ARGUTULA (Bangs).
SOUTHERN MEADOWLARK.
“Abundant. Resident. Breeds.” (1891a).
Dr. Avery recorded the meadowlark as “common in
the pine woods on Perdido Bay” Sept. 16-Oct. 2, 1892.
Possibly both forms were included in his observations.
No. 1032. Female. Greensboro. Mar, 28, 1893. W. C. Avery.
119. ICTERUS SPURIUS (Linneeus),
ORCHARD ORIOLE.
“Abundant. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1891a).
No. 20. Male-juv. Greensboro. Ma 18, 1887. W Avery.
No. 457. Male-juv. Greensboro. res 14, 1890. Ww. ra very,
No. 466. Male-juv. Greensboro. Apr. 19, 1880. W.C. Avery.
No, 475. Male-juv. Greensboro. Apr. 21, 1890. W.C. Avery.
No. 480. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 26, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 482. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 26, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 834. Female. Greensboro. May 6, 1891. j
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 73
120. ICTERUS GALBULA (Linneus).
BALTIMORE ORIOLE.
“Rare. Have observed it only as an autumn migrant.”
(1891a). ;
No. 639. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 4, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 697. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 23, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. ...... Odd specimen—no data.
121. EUPHAGUS CAROLINUS (Muller).
Rusty BLACKBIRD,
“Winter resident. Rare.” (1891a).
No. 984. Male. Greensboro. Feb. 28, 1892. W. C. Avery.
No. 985. Female. Greensboro. Feb. 28, 1892. W.C. Avery.
No. 986. Male. Greensboro. Feb. 28, 1892. W. C. Avery.
122. QUISCALUS QUISCULA QUISCULA (Linnzus).
PURPLE GRACKLE.
“Crow Blackbird,”
Though Dr. Avery’s manuscript notes on the purple
grackle are rather voluminous and of considerable in-
terest, his published notes consist of only’ two or three
terse sentences. The first of these appeared in 1884,
in a letter to the Editor of the “American Field:” “Ob-
tained specimens of Scolecophagus cyanocephales (purple-
headed grackle) (March 21st). A few individuals of
this species remain here all summer, build aests and rear
young.” (1884).
The other notes appeared in his “Birds Observed in
Alabama—No. 8,” published in 1891. These follow just
as they were printed:
“Quiscalus quiscula; purple grackle.—Rare, the usual
form being intermediate between quiscula and agleus.
“Quiscalus quiscula aglaeus; Florida grackle.—Inter-
mediate between quiscula and aglaeus, but belonging
rather to the latter form. Resident. Breeds.” (1891a).
The last paragraph is incorrect. All the spring and
summer specimens in the collection from the vicinity of
Greensboro are referable to subspecies quiscula. The
only representatives of aglaeus found were three speci-
mens from Florida; one collected on Indian River, in
1886, by C. J. Maynard, and two taken at Micco, in 1889,
by F. M. Chapman.
74 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
The oldest extant specimen of quiscula is No. 34, taken
Sept. 22, 1887. Its “stomach contained chicken corn,
maize and parts of insects.” In connection with the food
of the bird this note, following the entry of the specimen
in the catalog, is of especial interest: “The purple grackle
nests here; it is not so common as it was when the coun-
try was first settled; forty-five years ago it was one of
the greatest pests which the planter had to encounter; it
pulled up acres of corn as soon as the leaves appeared
above the ground. Children were employed to scare the
crow blackbirds from the corn fields, and numbers were
shot without apparent diminution of the individuals com-
posing their ranks. The nest of this bird is a coarse
structure of sticks daubed with mud. I saw a small col-
ony of purple grackles, in 1876, building their nests in
the trees near the Mallory Old Place, Beat 7.”
The stomach of another bird, taken May 7, 1889, and
presented to the U. S. National Museum, contained craw-
fish. Still another specimen, shot -the same day, had
eaten insects. A bird collected June 5, 1889, after din-
ing upon coleopterous insects, had taken dewberries for
dessert. The stomach of another, collected next day,
contained dewberry seeds and grasshoppers; but the cli-
max is reached in No. 732 (listed below), whose stomach
contained acorns. Thus it will be seen that the purple
grackle has a very varied dietary.
The following note, appended to the entry of No. 162
in the Doctor’s catalogue, under date of June 6, 1889, evi-
dences the fact that he was in no wise free from the usu-
al collector’s difficulties: ‘Measured this young quis-
aol left it on my table to skin, but the rats carried
it off!”
The following notes are taken verbatim and in chrono-
logical order from the Doctor’s journals:
“April 14,1890. Found nest of Florida grackle (Quis-
calus quiscula aglaeus) ; nest of Dryobates pubescens ex-
cavated in a willow limb about ten feet from ground;
nest of blue gray gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) on
the horizontal limb of a willow.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 75
“April 18th. Visited these nests; those of the grackles
(Q. q. aglaeus) were in willow trees; were bulky and
built of coarse grass leaves; they were situated close to
the body of the tree, and supported by the limbs or
sprouts growing from the axis.
“My climber on ascending to these nests found an egg
in each of them (Q. q. Aglaeus), the other nests were
empty.
“25th. Visited the nests of the grackles found on the
14th and 18th. They each contained five eggs. These
I collected with the nests and sent to the National Mu-
seum.
Measurements of Nests.
No. 28. External width, 6 inches; external depth, 4
inches; internal width, 4.50 inches; internal depth, 3.50
inches.
“May 5th. Found four nests of grackles in pines near
Julia Woodruff’s, one at the gate about twenty steps
from house.
“May 18th. Saw grackles carrying crawfish to their
young; their nests were a mile from the grounds where
they caught the crawfish.
“June Ist. Found nest of purple grackle in my lot.
“June Ist, 1890. Saw a purple grackle catch a craw-
fish. This he picked out of shallow water as quickly as
a flycatcher would capture an insect on the wing. The
crawfish was quite large—his captor flew off about 10
steps from the branch and lighting with his prey began
his matin meal by pecking and tearing the crustacean in-
‘to suitable pieces for swallowing. I approached too near
in my eagerness to see the performance, when the grackle
flew about a hundred yards, and lighting, continued
his eating on the remnant of the crawfish carried with.
him. I had a good view of Quiscalus with my field glass.
A red-wing hopped up within a foot of the spot where
the feast was being held, and looked wistfully, but re-
spectfully, on till Q. g. aglaeus finished and flew off, when
Agelaius phoeniceus began to consume the fragments.
As soon as he had done I walked to the spot and found a
76 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
thorax bare of legs, and the ‘meat’ eaten from the inside
of the shell.
“Watched a pair of grackles near the branch till some-
time after sunset; in fact the moon.was up and shining
brightly. I thought they were going to roost on the oak
at ‘Contentment’ gate, but a signal from one being given,
they suddenly launched themselves into the air and soon
disappeared on their way homeward.
“Just at night the old grackle, with nest in my pasture,
brought either a crawfish or a stick to feed her young or
complete her nest; I must see the nest to-morrow.
“June 10, 1890. I have two young grackles captured
May 20th; they must be about a month old. They began
to feed themselves yesterday by taking the bits of hard
boiled egg and crawfish, blackberries and earthworms
supplied them. They are interesting pets, much attached
to me and always recognize my presence by flying against
the bars of their prison, or screaming as loud as they
can and shaking their wings and stretching their capa-
cious jaws.
“A set of three nestlings of Q. g. aglaeus were taken
by me, two on the 4th, and one on the 5th of June. The
nest was reported to me on the Ist by a little negro, who
said that he saw the parents carrying material to build.
On the third the little birds were heard crying in the
nest and on the 4th two were captured by me and the
third nestling, which had left the nest, was taken on
the 5th. On the 4th, for positive identification, the par-
ents were both shot.
“On the morning of the 5th I heard a young bird com-
plaining and calling in vain for its parents. It must be
rescued; a boy was sought and hired to climb a large
oak to catch this one, but search proved fruitless when
the boy arrived.
“About an hour later the little starvling had wandered
accidentally to my grove near the house, and perched up-
on the top of a pine, filled the air with its piteous cries
for food. Soon it flew from the tree upon the chimney
of my house, then upon the roof, where :t pursued the
pigeons with quivering wings and loud cries for food.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 77
They retreating from this strange apparition, it pursued
them to the roof of the pigeon house. It must be caught
and fed, poor little famished bird. A long fishing pole
dislodged it from the pigeon house. It flew into a pine
nearby; scared from this it lighted in another; still
pursued by hunger and not knowing where to go, it took
a long flight which brought it near to the ground, but
still in a pine; another and another time compelled to
fly, it left the pine grove and flew to the hillside where
its parents had fallen to my gun; again frightened from
its perch, a long flight brought it to an oak where it set-
tled on a limb near the ground; once more disturbed, and
its wings now weak with constant use, it made about
seventy-five yards of trajectory and grappling at the low-
est limbs of a willow fell to the ground. The cries of
hunger were soon appeased by a bountiful supply and
the little captive seems happy with his brothers. Its ef-
forts to escape after it had fallen hungry and tired to
the ground were in vain; its feeble wings refused to bear
it aloft.
“Why were its parents killed? A problem in ornithol-
ogy was to be solved. A pair of grackles must be col-
lected, and only a mated pair! to prove whether the
bronze and Florida grackles interbreed, or whether they
belong to different species. Three mated pairs have al-
ready been collected, and there has yet been found. no
crossing of the two species; hence the conclusion is that,
they do not mate except with their own kind. This was
a cruel task and one which will be pursued no more by
me. It was done at the suggestion of Professor Robert
Ridgway of Washington City.”
The next paragraph, dated June 11, 1890, gives the
catalog numbers of the six mated birds sent to Mr. Ridg-
way and the exact localities where the specimens were
collected. There is also a short discussion of relation-
ships, but this is substantially the same as the published
notes of 1891, already quoted.
“1891. March 22, The crow blackbirds taken on May
20th, 1890, and June 4th and 5th of the same year, lived
harmoniously together till they were full grown when
78
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
the oldest male killed the other four and fed upon their
brain
morn
by th
s. The door of the cage was found open one
ing and the savage bird had escaped to be devoured
e cat; he was never seen after that day: Sic semper
tyrannis.”
. 84. Female-juv. Greensboro. Sept. 22, 1887. W.C. Avery..
. 732. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 4, 1890. W. C. Avery.
. 441 (?) Male. Greensboro. April 3, 1891. W.C. Avery.
No. 842. Male. Greensboro. May 9, 1891. W.C. Avery.
No. 844. Male. Greensboro. May 12, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 845. Female. Greensboro. May 13, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 855. Male. Greensboro. May 26, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 856. Male. Greensboro. May 28, 1891. W.C. Avery.
No. 863. Female. Greensboro. June 1, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 865. Female-hornot. Greensboro. June 2, 1891. W. C.
Avery.
No. 868. Female-hornot. Greensboro. June 24, 1891. W. C.
Avery.
No. 873. Male-kcrnot. Anniston. July 3, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 874. Female-adult. Anniston. July 3, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 876. Male-adult. Anniston. July 3, 1891. W.C. Avery.
No. 877. Male-hornot. Anniston. July 3, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 1053. Female. Greensboro. Apr. 29, 1893. W. \. Avery.
123. QUISCALUS QUISCULA ANEUS (Ridgway).
BRONZED GRACKLE.
“Professor Ridgway considers this a good species, and
he is doubtless right in his belief. Winter resident.
Does not breed here.” (1891a).
The stomach of specimen No. 173, collected at Greens-
boro, July 17, 1889, and sent to Mr. Ridgway, contained
beetles and grains of oats.
No.
No
No
No
No
No
Oct.
353. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 24, 1890. W. C. Avery.
. 854, Male. Greensboro. Jan. 24, 1890. W. C. Avery.
. 8359. Female. Greensboro. Jan. 31, 1890. W. C. Avery.
. 360. Female. Greensboro. Jan. 31, 1890. W. C. Avery.
. 365. Female. Greensboro. Feb. 3, 1890. W. C. Avery.
- 1010. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 12, 1892. W. C. Avery.
124. MEGAQUISCALUS MAJOR MAJOR (Vieillot).
BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE.
Writing of his trip to Baldwin County, Sept. 16-
2, 1892, Dr. Avery records seeing several boat-tails
on Dauphin Island, though none were taken.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 79
125. CARPODACUS PURPUREUS PURPUREUS (Gmelin).
PURPLE FINCH.
The stomach of the first recorded bird of this species,
a specimen taken at Greensboro, Jan. 14, 1878, “contain-
ed debris of berries.” The Doctor writes that it is a
rare bird.
Four days later, recording another specimen, he
write: “Winter visitant; seems to feed on seeds. of va-
rious trees and weeds. I have seen this bird eating the
seeds of the Jamestown weed. This bird is rare in Ala-
bama. He is said to sing well.’
“Common some years; others rare. Winter resident.”
(1891a).
This little note is found under date of March 15, 1890,
in the Doctor’s catalog: “The purple finch has been
common this winter.
No. 314. Female. Greensboro. Dec. 18, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 391. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 2, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 392. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 2, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 411. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 13, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 421. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 15, 1890. W. C. Avery.
126. PASSER DOMESTICUS (Linnezus).
ENGLISH SPARROW.
The Doctor did not deign to waste ink upon this feath-
ered “varmint” though there are two specimens in the col-
lection. The crop of the first contained corn, that of the
other “grain.”
No. 254. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 2, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 255. Female. Greensboro. Nov. 2, 1889. W. C. Avery.
127. ASTRAGALINUS TRISTIS TRISTIS (Linnzus).
GOLDFINCH.
The first goldfinch recorded by Dr. Avery is his No.
17 (old series), an adult female taken at Greensboro,
June 10, 1876. He entered in his journal under that
date: “This little bird is not very common in this por-
tion of Alabama. In early spring it appears in little
flocks, which soon disband, and the note of a solitary
bird may be occasionally heard, as he flies over. Even
after the season for pairing, they may be seen together
in squads of five or six. Do they build their nests and
80 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
rear their young in this State. Has the male any song
peculiar to the season of love? These are questions that
I cannot answer. ‘Je ne suis qu’un ane en ornitologie’.”
~However, he did answer the first question; and also
corrected his first statement.
“Common. Resident. Breeds.” (1891a).
No. 292. Female. Greensboro. Dec. 3, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 349. Female. Greensboro. Jan. 15, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 414. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 13, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 416. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 18, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 417. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 13, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 685. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 3, 1890. W. C. Avery.
128. SPINUS PINUS (Wilson).
PINE SISKIN.
“Met with during spring migrations. Abundant in
‘some years, and rare in others.” (1891a).
No. 880. Female. Greensboro. Feb. 24,1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 459. Female. Greensboro. Apr. 14,1890. W.C. Avery.
129. POG:CETES GRAMINEUS GRAMINEUS (Gmelin).
VESPER SPARROW.
Jan. 26, 1878, the first recorded specimen of this
‘species was taken at Greensboro. Concerning it is writ-
ten: “Stomach contained small seeds. This bird is a
‘winter visitant.”
“Abundant. Winter resident.” (1891a).
No. 258. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 5, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 1097. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 25, 1893. W. C. Avery.
130. PASSERCULUS SANDWICHENSIS SAVANNA (Wilson).
SAVANNA SPARROW.
“Abundant. Winter resident.” (1891a).
No. 129. Male. Greensboro. May 8, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 405. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 10, 1890. W. GC. Avery.
No. 407. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 11, 1890. W. C. Avery.
"No. 798. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 25, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. wu. Sex (?). Greensboro. Nov. 25, 1893. W. C. Avery. °°:
131. AMMODRAMUS SAVANNARUM AUSTRALIS (Maynard).
GRASSHOPPER SPARROW.
“Yellow-Winged Sparrow.”
Dr. Avery’s early difficulties in forming an acquaint-
ance with this species but typifies the experience of most
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 81
embryonic ornithologists with members of the sparrow
family. His journal records of his first specimens are
quite interesting and are given here practically in toto.
The first, an adult male (No. 16, old series) was taken
June 9, 1876, at Greensboro, and presented to the Smith-
sonian Institution. After recording the measurements,
color of feet and bill, and the fact that the stomach con-
tained insects, the Doctor writes: ‘This is a most in-
teresting specimen to me. I think I recognize in his sum-
mer dress an old acquaintance; voice, manners, dress all
completely changed. It must be the sparrow that sings
so sweetly in the hedges and in the foliage of evergreens
in winter. It is possible that this bird spends his sum-
mers here and I had never found it out. Go to Wash-
ington little fellow. Professor Baird can tell all about
you.”
A few days later, June 17th, he records an adult female
(No. 21, old series) and writes: “This sparrow the same
with No. 16, presented to the Smithsonian Institution,
resembles most nearly Passerculus savanna, the savanna
sparrow (Genus 65 of Coues’ ‘Key to North American
Birds’). My specimens differ, however, though not es-
sentially, from the sparrow described in the ‘key’ as the
gavanna sparrow. The markings about the breast of
mine are not the same.
““How little we use our eyes is proven to me by the
discovery of this sparrow, which I have always taken
for the chipping sparrow and should always have done
so, if I had not heard his curious insect-like, hardly dis-
tinguishable from a cricket’s, song. If this is the sa-
‘vanna sparrow he is completely metamorphosed, and close
inspection could alone discover the resemblance to that
bird. The savanna sparrow has in wiuter a whistle
something like the words ‘see! see! see!’ much prolonged.
Everyone is acquainted with him, who takes notice of
anything. Even the flight of my bird is not like that of
the savanna sparrow. He flies like a wounded bird es-
pecially just before he lights, not with the usual irregular
flight of the sparrow, up and down, this side and that
side. This however is nothing unusual in the breeding
82 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
season, a8 many birds have a very characteristic flight
at that time. My sparrow flies as a partridge by con-
stant vertical elevation and depression of the wings.
This movement, though is slow and peculiar and may
be assumed as that of the turtle-dove or that of Icteria
virens (yellow-breasted chat) at the period when they
are making love. The chat is not only ‘chatty’ at the
season of nesting, but his flight is most amusing. It
would make many persons laugh to see him perform his
aerial evolutions.”
There is a marginal note, written a little later, giving
the correct identification of the above specimen. The
very next entry is another grasshopper sparrow, taken
the same day, indicating that the Doctor was at this time
a better collector than an ornithologist. He states that
“This as well as that above had debris of insects in
stomach.”
In August, 1889, Dr. Avery published the following
“Observations on the Grasshopper Sparrow in Hale
County, Alabama”:
“Hale County lies between Tuscaloosa County on the
north and Marengo County on the south; its western
boundary is the Warrior River, its eastern, Perry County.
The grasshopper sparrow, Ammodromas savannarum
passerinus, is found only in the Canebrake or Black Belt
of Hale County. On its northern migratory path it prob-
ably finds there suitable breeding grounds; and that
may account for its presence in summer in that part of
the county, while it is never seen at all, to my knowledge,
in the less fertile, piney and sandy portion of the north
of the county.
“It winters farther south, and makes its appearance
in this locality about the first of May, when it begins to
breed. A nest of this species found by me on the 11th of
this month (May) contained five eggs slightly incubated;
it was in a depression in the ground, lined with grass,
and was arched or domed on the top. The eggs were
white and spotted with reddish-brown, mostly on the
larger end, and not differing from the description given
of ee eggs of the grasshopper sparrow breeding farther
nortn.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 83
“The specimens of this sparrow collected by me in this
county in the spring and summer have never been streak-
ed, and measurements correspond with the measurements
of this species given by Ridgway in his ‘Manual.’
“As Mr. Maynard states, a southern grasshopper spar-
row may exist, but, if so, it must be farther south than
this latitude, which is about the 33d degree north.”
(1889a).
Two years later this note was included in his “Birds
Observed in Alabama’: “Common in the black lands.
Summer resident. Breeds.” (1891a).
It should be stated here that this species is a perma-
nent resident in Alabama.
No. 127. Female. Greensboro. May 8, 1889.
No. 128. Male. Greensboro. May 8, 1889.
No. 530. Male. Greensboro. June 3, 1890.
No. 682. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 17, 1890.
No. 957. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 30, 1891. W.
244
132. PASSERHERBULUS HENSLOWI HENSLOWI (Audubon).
HENSLOW’s SPARROW.
“Rare. On January 12 of this year I took my first and
only specimen of this species.” (1891a).
The original note in the Doctor’s catalog, under date
of Jan. 12, 1890, reads: ‘‘This specimen was shot to
pieces and scarcely enough was left for its identification.
It was shot near Myer’s Bluff on the Warrior River,
while I was shooting partridges.”
1338. CHONDESTES GRAMMACUS GRAMMACUS (Say).
Lark SPARROW.
“The habitat of this bird, as given in the A. O. U.
Check List, is: ‘Mississippi valley region, from Ohio,
Illinois and Michigan to the Plains, south to Eastern
Texas.”
“Every summer for the last four or five years, I have
seen sparrows with the tail feathers tipped with white.
They occur in the black lands southwest of Greensboro,
Ala., in bunches or flocks of five or six individuals, as if
they might be the family of the parent birds and their
young. They are rare, however, as I have met with
84 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
them perhaps only once or twice during the summer, and
always in July. It has been my misfortune never to
secure a specimen of these sparrows, so as to remove
all doubt as to their identity. In the summer of 1887, in
July, while returning home from a barbecue and shoot-
ing match, given by Mr. R. Jeffries, not far from that
gentleman’s home, two large sparrows, with the tails
tipped with white, rose from the grass in front of my
horse, and perched on the fence by the road. I had a
gun, but no cartridges—at least none that.I thought suit-
able. I returned to Mr. Jeffries’ for shells; he had none.
I then took two heavily loaded shells, which had already
missed fire, and inserted them in my gun, a Lefever semi-
hammerless; the gun had weak mainsprings, and I had
turned out the screws on the under side of the frame to
strengthen the mainsprings. This caused the plungers
to project so much from the standing breech that I had to
cock the gun to close it. In letting down the hammers,
or rather in uncocking the gun, I pressed the triggers
before placing my thumb on the lever; the gun was dis-
charged, and eight drams of powder and two and a half
ounces of shot drove the butt of the gun with such force
against my thigh that I was paralyzed with pain and
was hors de combat for that day, and for some time after.
I was thus disappointed in obtaining the coveted speci-
men of this to me unknown.and rare bird.
“In July of 1886, while on my way to Faunsdale, I saw
two miles south of Greensboro, about a half dozen of
these sparrows, in an osage orange hedge. I had my gun,
and fired at one of the birds, but failed to bag it, as it
fell into the dense hedge, it being impossible to reach the
spot where it fell, or search for it, on account of the
thorns. The other birds disappeared and could not be
found.
“In 1885, in July, I saw a bunch of a half dozen of
these same sparrows, on the Demopolis road, six miles
southwest of Greensboro.
“On July 28, this year, while I was riding, a mile and
a half south of Greensboro, a large sparrow, with the
white-edged tail, rose from the grass, and lighted on a
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 85
weed. My attention was at once attracted by the tail
marking, as well as by the peculiar way that it erected
the crown-feathers into a crest, as the meadow lark often
does. I had no gun this time, but I examined the bird
with my field glass, and could see the white superciliary
lines and the streaked crown. From the markings of
the head and tail, and the size of the sparrow, I identified
it as Chondestes grammacus (Say), the lark sparrow.”
(1889b).
“Not common. It has been observed in July and Aug-
ust. It may breed here, though this belief is without
other foundation than finding the bird here in July with
its young. Found chiefly in the black lands (cane-
brake), in the southern part of the county.” (1891a).
No. 588. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 16, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 665. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 11, 1890. W. C. Avery.
134. ZONOTRICHIA ALBICOLLIS (Gmelin).
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW.
The first white-throats are recorded under date of Jan.
20, 1878, when two were taken at Greensboro. The stom-
ach of one “contained seeds” and the other ‘“‘gravel and
Indian corn meal.” Concerning them the Doctor wrote:
“Winter visitant. One of our commonest sparrows in
winter.” et
In 1891 the following note was published: “Abundant.
Winter resident.” (1891a).
No. 256. Female. Greensboro. Nov. 4, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 319. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 19, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 373. Female. Greensboro. Feb. 19, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 394. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 2, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 813. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 17, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 819. Female. Greensboro. Apr. 11, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 1102. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 27, 18938. W. C. Avery.
135. SPIZELLA PASSERINA PASSERINA (Bechstein).
CHIPPING SPARROW.
April 6, 1887, Dr. Avery recorded his first chippie with
the following note which furnishes an additional example
of his early difficulties with the sparrows: “Specimen
shot with three others feeding -on the ground in a large
flock. One of the remaining three was Spizella pusilla
86 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
(field sparrow). This specimen of the chipping spar-
row is the first that I have ever examined closely enough
to distinguish it from the field sparrow. I have never
found the ‘chippey’ here in summer. It feeds in large
flocks, on lawns in the spring especially.”
Naturally one wonders, if this was the first time that
the Doctor had distinguished the chipping from the field
sparrow, how he could know that it did not occur in
summer. That he was not slow to correct his errors is
evidenced by this published note: “Common. Resident.
Breeds.” (1891a).
July 24, 1889, is recorded the observation of an adult
male feeding a grasshopper to a young male of the season.
No. 139. Male. Greensboro. May 18, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 284, Male. Greensboro. Nov. 30, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 294. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 6, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 324. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 20, 1889. W Avery.
Cc.
No. ...... Male-hornot. Greensboro. Aug. 9, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 857. Female. Greensboro. May 29, 1891. W. C. Avery.
136. SPIZELLA PUSILLA PUSILLA. (Wilson).
. FIELD SPARROW.
The first mention of this sparrow is significant in that
it reflects the state of the Doctor’s knowledge of
ornithology at the time. June 17, 1876, he records his
first specimen as Spizella socialis and writes: “This little
bird is very common. It has a very cheerful, and loud
song for a bird so small. At the North it is called ‘chip-
pie.’ It hops about there in the yards and like the robin
is very gentle.” However, he secured the proper tool
(Coues’ “Key”) and that he made good use of it is evi-
denced by the fact that the last two sentences were
scratched and the following note inserted on the margin:
“Since writing this I see my mistake in calling this bird
Socialis, it is anything but social in its habits. It is
Pusilla.”
The nest and eggs of the field sparrow had been taken
prior to the capture of the above specimen. Ag No. 4 of
the “Oological Register,” is entered a nest taken June 5,
1876, at Greensboro. Besides the bare record of species,
date, and locality, there is the following paragraph: “
had supposed till I found this nest, that this little bird
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 87
built its nest always on the ground; because a good many
years ago I found the nest of one of this species on the
ground, in a sedge field. No. 4 was built in a little shrub
by the roadside.”
The following note was found under date of April 6,
1887: “My setter puppy swallowed a specimen of Spiz-
ella pusilla, filled with arsenic. I poured down her throat
three heaping tablespoonfuls of salt; Donna vomited the
contents of stomach and is now relieved.” Even the dog
found the sparrows a difficult group!
April 25, 1888, a set of 8 eggs was taken from a nest
about 3 feet from the ground in weeds of the last years’
growth. These eggs measured: .47 by .67, .48 by .69,
and .50 by .70.
The Doctor’s only published note is, as usual, very
much to the point: ‘‘Resident. Breeds. Abundant.”
(1891a).
No. 425. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 15, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 488. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 26, 1890. W. C. Avery.
geen Sex (?). Uniontown. Nov. 9, 1893. W. C. Avery.
No. 1105. Female. Greensboro. Dec. 11, 1898. W. C. Avery,
Albinistic.
187. JUNCO HYEMALIS HYEMALIS (Linneus).
SLATE-COLORED JUNCO.
“Common. Winter resident.” (1891a).
No. 275. Female. Greensboro. Nov. 23, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 276. Female. Greensboro. Nov. 23, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 283. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 30, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 304. Female. Greensboro. Dec. 10, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 323. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 20, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 395. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 2, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 1099. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 26, 18938. W. C. Avery.
138. PEUCZHA ASTIVALIS BACHMANI (Audubon).
BACHMAN’S SPARROW.
Dr. Avery, like others, had trouble identifying his first
Bachman’s sparrow. July 8, 1886, he collected an adult
male which he entered in his catalog as “S. pusilla” with
the following note: “This bird corresponds nearly with
Dr. Coues’ description of S. pusilla but the yellow at the
bend of the wing disagrees with the characters given by
88 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
him. Iam ata loss how to explain this anomaly.” How-
ever, he did soon explain the “anomaly,” because next
day he discovered his mistake and inserted the proper
name.
Another specimen was taken May 21, 1887, the stom-
ach of which “contained insects.”
The following extended accounts of the nesting of this
species appear in the Doctor’s notes for 1888:
“8th May. Found nest of P. ae bachmani; nest domed;
on hill side grownup in old field pines; rear of nest
supported by a tuft of coarse grass; the entrance looking
upwards at an angle of several degrees; well put together
and compact; visited nest several times before I found
the parent at home. Although I attempted to catch her
on the nest, by going behind and placing my hand over
the opening, she fluttered rather than flew out of the
nest, running on the ground, and not rising till I had
followed her some distance.
“9th. Found nest of P. ae bachmani in a patch of old
field pines and plum bushes (Prunus chicasa). This
contained three young and one egg which did not hatch.
The old birds were perched on a pine some fifteen steps
from me and manifested their alarm at my presence by
their nervous movements. A short search revealed this
nest with the young birds. This resembled the nest found
on the 8th, except that the entrance was somewhat more
inclined upwards and not as much concealed by the 2
tufts of grass beside which it was placed.
“May 23rd. Found nest of P. ae. bachmani on the
slope of a hill covered with old field pines, in an open
place, under a fallen pine branch, with some coarse grass
growing near it. The parent fluttered from under my
.feet which had disturbed the nest by striking the pine
limb; my left foot touched the right border of the nest
and shook the limb before the bird moved. She threw
herself on the ground about a foot from me, and then,
literally trembling, every feather quivering on her body,
her tail spread and wings drooping, after she had gone
about ten feet from me she remained in view beside a
pine till I at last discovered the nest under my very feet.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 89
All this time she uttered not a sound. When I moved
towards her she ran off through the thick weeds and
briars; and finally I pursuing she pitched upon a tree and
began her ‘seep! seep!’ till to make identification sure I
reluctantly shot but lost her in the dense thicket over
which she was perched.
“June 3. Found nest of P. ae bachmani. This nest
was on a hill covered with loblolly pines (P. taeda) and
tall grass, but the situation of the nest was open and
bare except for some scattered tufts of grass and small
Virginia creepers. The entrance to the nest was near
the ground and very little inclined to the horizon. As in
every case but one where I had found the nest of bach-
mani, the noise made by the alarm of the parent at my
presence, attracted my attention, and indicated also to
me in this instance where I should search.
“While looking at a ‘mimosa’ (Albizzia julibrissin) and
wondering by what agency it had been brought to this
unusual spot among the old field pines, a rustling a few
feet behind me and the hiss, as I supposed, of a snake,
disturbed my meditations. I saw the sparrow and soon
the nest, with four young just hatched. The old bird
did not fly, but stood ‘seeping’ about ten feet from me.
He had changed his scold into the anxious ‘seep! seep’ of
his vocabulary, ’till I turned towards him, when he ran
off through the grass and did not fly until he had led me
at least fifteen steps. He then rose and pitched upon a
fallen tree top, bobbing up and-down much after the
fashion of a wren, and while I was examining him with
my field glass he broke forth into song, as soft and sweet
and full of gladness as that which at times wells from
his throat when the shadows of evening creep over his
sombre pines.
“This was a beautiful structure, when compared with
one which I found on the 28rd of May. This last was
scarcely woven into a fabric, and fell to pieces when I
lifted it from the ground.
“June 6th. Found nest of P. ae. bachmant. This nest
when found contained two eggs; it was domed as the prev-
ious nests, but was so thin and poorly constructed that I
90 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
could see the eggs through the straw as I stood behind
it. The parent ran from the nest. I have yet to see one
fly as other birds do when disturbed at incubation. They
run; some showing great alarm for the safety of their
little thatched domicile and its contents and expressing
it by a sound resembling more the hissing of a snake
than the scolding of a bird. If the intruder follows they
continue to run till they have led him some distance
frorn the nest and then they fly upon a tree and begin
their ‘seep, seep,’ all the while accompanying these sounds
with movements up and down, or jerking of the body like
a wren.
“These birds are terrestrial in their habits, though
when flushed they often light in trees. Frequently they
rise when disturbed suddenly, with an audible whir which
distinguishes them from the field sparrow.
“They sing at all hours of the day; but especially is
their song striking and attractive after sunset, and when
darkness begins to descend—a prelude of some sweet
soul-stirring sounds and then a trill louder and more
melodious than that of the field sparrow. This prelude
is varied, and relieves the song of monotony; the little
musician seems to endeavor to make himself as enter-
taining as possible, by frequent change in the introduc-
tory notes of his strain.”
There follow a few more nesting records condensed
from the Doctor’s note books:
May 12, 1888. Greensboro. Nest on ground between
two tufts of broom sedge; contained three young and
one egg.
June 29, 1888. Greensboro. Nest in an old field near
a loblolly pine, on the edge of a portion of the primitive
forest. Four eggs, incubation just begun. “Fayette
Sheppard was ploughing when the parent bird flew from
under the feet of his oxen. He thought the bird was a
snake and struck several times at the place where he had
seen it, ’till he discovered the nest.”
May 16, 1889, the Doctor found a young Bachman’s
sparrow that could just fly and a nest with four fresh
eggs of the same species.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 91
In view of the extended observation of this bird by
Dr. Avery it is strange that his published account should
total just these three words: “Common. Resident.
Breeds.” (1891a). He noted the species in Baldwin
County too, between Sept. 16th and Oct. 2, 1892.
Several of the skins and sets of eggs were presented
to Capt. Chas. E. Bendire of the Smithsonian Institution.
No. 312. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 18, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 847. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 12, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 367. Male Greensboro. Feb. 7, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 878. Male. Greensboro. Feb. 21, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 422. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 15, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 518. Male. Greensboro. May 11, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 647: Female. Greensboro. Sept. 5,1890. W.C. Avery.
No. 731. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 4, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 734. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 6, 1890. W. C. Avery.
189. MELOSPIZA MELODIA MELODIA (Wilson).
SoNG SPARROW.
“Common. Winter resident.” (1891a).
No. 268. Female. Greensboro. Nov. 9, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 281. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 30, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 296. Female. Greensboro. Dec. 8, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 321. Female. Greensboro. Dec. 20, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 345. Female. Greensboro. Jan. 4, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 379. Female. Greensboro. Feb. 21, 1890. W.C. Avery.
No. 410. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 11, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 790. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 24, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 814. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 17, 1891. W. C. Avery.
140. sails Se GEORGIANA (Latham).
SwaMp SPARROW.
“Common. Winter resident.” (1891a).
A late spring record, May 3, 1891, is found in the Doc-
tor’s journal.
No. 268. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 9, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 301. Female. Greensboro. Dec. 10, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 797. Male Greensboro. Oct. 25, 1890. W.C. Avery.
No. 1087. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 12, 1893. W. C. Avery.
141. PASSERELLA ILIACA ILIACA (Merrem).
Fox SPARROW.
“Not common. Winter resident.” (1891a).
After the entries of Nos. 978 and 979 in the Doctor’s
catalog appear these notes:
92 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
“Today (Jan. 19, 1892) we have had the coldest weath-
er for several years; sleet and ground frozen. I have
never seen the fox sparrow near any habitation unless
it were very cold. In a very cold spell, about 1876, sev-
eral came into the yard at ‘Contentment,’ where there
were also many more birds than I have seen lately. Nos.
977 and 978 were shot near my house at Pine Knoll, dur-
ing the very cold weather of the 19th. Craws contained
weed seed.” “i
“Saw several fox sparrows today (Jan. 22, 1892).”
No. 310. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 13, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 869. Male. Greensboro. Feb. 7, 1890. W.C. Avery.
No. 806. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 19, 1890. W. C.-Avery.
No. 977. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 19, 1892. W. C. Avery.
No. 978. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 19, 1892. W. C. Avery.
No. 979. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 22, 1892. W. C. Avery.
No. 981. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 24, 1892. W. C. Avery.
No. 982. Female. Greensboro. Jan. 25, 1892. W. C. Avery.
142. PIPILO ERYTHROPHTHALMUS ERYTHROPHTHAL-
MUS (Linneus).
TOWHEE.
“Joree.”
“Common. Winter resident.” (1891a).
No. 966. Female. Greensboro. Dec, 29, 1891. W. C. Avery.
143. PIPILO ERYTHROPHTHALMUS ALLENI (Coues).
WHITE-EYED TOWHEE.
Among the Doctor’s Baldwin County notes for the per-
iod from Sept. 16th to Oct. 2, 1892, is the following:
“Towhee was common; out of five specimens taken one
only belonged to alleni, the others being typical Pipilo.”
Only three of the Baldwin County specimens are now in
the collection, but two are referable to alleni and one to
canaster.
No. 998. Male. Baldwin County. Sept. 27, 1892. W. C. Avery.
No. 1000. Male. Baldwin County. Sept. 29, 1892. W. C.
Avery.
144. PIPILO ERYTHROPHTHALMUS CANASTER (Howell).
ALABAMA TOWHEE*,
“Joree.”
This is the breeding form in Central Alabama.
*Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXVI, pp. 199-202, Oct. 28, 1913.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 93
No. 290. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 2, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 1001. Female. Baldwin Co. Oct. 1, 1892. W. C. Avery.
No. 1090. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 25, 1898. W. C. Avery.
145. CARDINALIS CARDINALIS CARDINALIS (Linnzus).
CARDINAL.
“Redbird.”
Considering how common and easily accessible are the
nests of the redbird about the thickets and brier-patches
in spring, it is not surprising that Dr. Avery should col-
lect a set of eggs before taking the bird itself. The fol-
lowing is taken from his early “Oological Register.” :
“No. 2. Nest of Cardinal Grosbeak (Red-bird)—Car-
dinalis virginianus—27th May, 1876. I discovered, by
the twitterings of the parent birds, this nest in a black-
berry vine. The cardinal builds its nest on trees or
shrubs near the ground. This nest contained three eggs,
the whole ‘clutch.’ I waited several days after I found
it; expecting the old bird to lay another egg;; but finding
her constantly on the nest, I became aware that she was
sitting.”
The small number of eggs laid by the cardinal seems
to have interested the Doctor, for in 1890 he published
the following under the title “Number of Eggs in a Set
of the Cardinal.” :
“In Hale county, Alabama, three eggs constitute a com-
plete set of the cardinal. More than three have never
been found by me, nor by any one else whom I know in
this locality. Dr. J. M. Pickett of Cedarville, Alabama,
has had the same experience as myself; he has never col-
lected a set of more than three of the cardinal, although
he has taken many sets.
“The cardinal is one of our commonest birds, nesting
from early in April till September, and therefore produc-
ing more than one set. This bird may lay fewer eggs
to the set than in localities farther north, where the
nesting period is short, and where one set may be the
usual number.
“Davie in Nests and Eggs of North American Birds
says that the red-eyed vireo lays three or four eggs; in
this latitude it lays only three. Having, like the cardinal,
94 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
a longer time for nesting, it produces fewer eggs to the
set, but in all probability lays three more sets than in
colder regions. It would be a very great surprise to me
to find a set of more than three eggs in a nest of the car-
dinal or of the red-eyed vireo.” (1890c).
The same year he entered in his journal: “This bird
(No. 803) had not long finished moulting; there were
some pin feathers in his wing. It may be observed in
this connection that the cardinal moults very late; and
TI believe he rears at least two sets of young every season.
He may be heard singing late in August when most other
birds are silent, as they are losing their feathers and don-
ning a new suit, a process which takes the music out of
them.”
“Abundant. Resident. Breeds.” 1891a).
No. 287. Female. Greensboro. Nov. 30, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 288. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 30, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 316. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 18, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 605. Male-hornot. Greensbaro. Aug. 23, 1890. W. C.
Avery.
No. 758. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 16, 1890. W.C. Avery.
No. 808. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 2, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 908. Male-hornot. Greensboro. Aug. 29, 1891. W. Cz
No. 942. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 29, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 974. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 10, 1892. W. C. Avery.
No. 980. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 22, 1892. W. C. Avery.
No. ..... Female. No data.
146. ZAMELODIA LUDOVICIANA (Linnezus).
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK.
“It has been observed only as an autumn migrant.
Rare.” (1891a).
No. 702. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 25, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 1071. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 26, 1898. W. C. Avery.
No. 1076. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 4, 1893. W. C. Avery.
No. ...... Male. No data.
147. GUIRACA CH RULEA CAHRULEA (Linnzus).
BLUE GROSBEAK.
After cataloging his first specimen of this species, an
adult male taken at Greensboro, June 6, 1876, Dr. Avery
writes:
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 95
“This bird is not common in this part of Alabama. His
song, which I have heard only once, is very sweet. He
seems to be granivorous, as he may be seen along the
edges of oat fields, or in the roads at times—where grain
may be found either in the dung of horses or wasted
there when carried to mill.
“He is very shy for so small a bird. His call note is a
chirp like that of the cardinal grosbeak, with this modi-
fication: the chirp of the blue grosbeak is to the chirp of
the red-bird as the ring of a silver dollar is to the thump
of a copper cent or to that of a nickel.
“The indigo-bird has a note very similar to the chirp
of these two grosbeaks, but much feebler.
“The blue-grosbeak disappears from this part of Ala-
bama on the approach of cold weather.”
Eleven days later a female, whose “stomach contained
grains of wheat and debris of insects,” was taken in the
same locality.
Early in June, 1888, the Doctor collected a set of
four eggs, with nest, from a sweet gum, about three feet
from the ground, but unfortunately he neglected to record
the exact date. Dimensions of nest: Circumference
around rim, 11.50 in.; outside depth 3 in.; inside depth,
1.50 in.; outside diameter, 4 in.; inside diameter, 2.75 in.
Materials: “Foundation: dried stems of herbs; then also
woven in, portions of snake shed; then leaves of coarse
grass woven in with the leaves of deciduous trees; the
whole lined with dry grass stems. This nest was on a
pine hill in an open locality a few steps from a path.”
“Common. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1891a).
No. 424. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 18, 1881 (?). W. C. Avery.
Nc. 568. Male-juv. Greensboro. Aug. 12,1890. W.C. Avery.
No. 709. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 26, 1890. C. Avery.
Ww.
No. 710. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 26, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 854. Male. Greensboro. May 23, 1891. W. C. Avery.
148. PASSERINA CYANEA (Linneus).
INDIGO BUNTING.
“Indigo Bird.”—‘Summer Bluebird.”
The Doctor’s first specimen of this species was an adult
male taken at Greensboro, June 3, 1876. Its stomach
“contained seeds, sand, and small oblong, white bodies
96 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
which I took for seeds not matured.” After the entry
of the specimen the Doctor wrote:
“This bird is a beautiful blue, which for the want of a
better name I have called ‘summer blue-bird.’ He is
found in Alabama during the spring and summer and dis-
appears with cold weather. The female has nothing of
the beauty-of plumage of the male. She can hardly be
distinguished from a sparrow as to color.”
Recording the capture of another specimen, July 6,
1886, he writes:
“C. cyanea is not a rare bird in this locality. The
mate doubtless of this very bird, for several weeks past,
perched every morning upon the top of a gum near my
door, has made his song heard. It nests here.”
April 6, 1887, the Doctor records hearing the song of
the first arrival of the season. Oct. 18, 1890, he enters a
late record for the species.
“Abundant. Breeds.” (1891a).
No. 146. Female-ad. Greensboro. May 22, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 164. Male. Greensboro. June 8, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 534,. Female. Greensboro. June 26, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 535. Female-hornot. Greensboro. June 26, 1890. W. C.
No. 577. Male-hornot. Greensboro. Aug. 15, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 578. Male-ad. Greensboro. Aug. 15, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 648. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 5, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 678. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 15, 1880. W. C. Avery.
No. 831. Male. Greensboro. May 4, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 1058. Male. Greensboro, May.4, 1898. W.C. Avery.
149. SPIZA AMERICANA (Gmelin).
DICKCISSEL. ~ s
“Black-throated Bunting.” “Prairie Lark.”
One June 6, 1876, Dr. Avery records his first dickcissel,
an adult male taken at Greensboro, as No. 9 of his old
series. He remarks: “Stomach contained comminuted
fragments of insects, no grain that I could discover.
“This little bird affects the black lands, cane brake and
‘prairies.’ He is found along the road-sides, where he
often builds his nest in the thick foliage of the ‘haw,’ or
other low shrubs and trees.
“Perched upon the top-most spray of tree or shrub by
the roadside, his cheerful, but monotonous notes may be
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 97
heard during the spring and summer. He disappears on
the approach of cold weather.”
July 17, 1876, the following record was added to the
“Oological Register” as the last entry in that series:
“No. 7. Nest of black-throated bunting—Euspiza ameri-
cana. Clutch of four eggs. Two of the eggs fell from the
nest and were broken in bringing it home. I found this
nest in a small hackberry, a few feet from the ground.
These birds build their nests in shrubs or trees, near the
ground.”
“Common in the black lands in the southern portion of
the county. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1891a).
No. 514. Male. Greensboro. May 11, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 851. Female. Greensboro. May 23, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 852. Male. Greensboro. May 28, 1891. W. C. Avery.
150. PIRANGA ERYTHROMELAS (Vieillst).
SCARLET TANAGER.
“Rare. Only observed during the autumn migration.
One specimen taken on October 16 last. (1891a).
The species is a fairly common spring migrant in Ala-
bama, and two years after the publication of the fore-
going note the Doctor captured No. 1056 listed below.
No. 760. Male. Greensboro. Oct.'16, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 924. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 18, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 932. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 23, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 933. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 24, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 943. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 1, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 944. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 2, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 945. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 2, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 1056. Male. Greensboro. May 3, 18938. W. C. Avery.
151. PIRANGA RUBRA RUBRA (Linneus).
SUMMER TANAGER.
“Summer Redbird.”
Dr. Avery did not become acquainted with the home
life of this common species until he had reached middle
age—another bit of evidence that his interest in the
birds was long delayed. But be it said to his credit that
when he did undertake the study of ornithology he was
thorough.
Under date of June 21, 1875, the fortieth anniversary
of his birth, the following paragraph is entered in French
4—AB
98 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
in his journal: “I found to-day in an oak the nest of a
tanager. It is the first that I have ever seen.”
In the first series of numbers, 18 was an adult male
summer tanager shot near Greensboro, June 9, 1876, and
later presented to the Smithsonian Institution. Under
this entry is written: “Stomach contained debris of in-
sects, was stained internally with the juice of blackber-
ries, and contained some seeds of blackberries.
“Found here in summer and spring. Disappears when
its food becomes scarce.
“‘Pyranga rubra’ and ‘Pyranga aestiva’ are the same
bird. There is quite a variety of plumage in the tan-
ager; some (the males) being red and green, others red
having the wings and tail slightly shaded with black.”
(The variation in the plumage of the summer tanager
is one of age and season and occurs only in the male. The
female is constantly orange olive-green above, with yel-
lowish orange underparts.)
Among the old journal sheets are three or four pages
of ‘“Oological Register,” the first entry of which follows
in toto:
“No. 1 Nest of Pyranga rubra; 26 May, 1876. This
nest was found in an oak tree on the Greensboro and
Millwood road 114 miles southwest of Greensboro, and
very near ‘Contentment.’ ‘Clutch’ of four eggs.
“The nest was built on an oak limb within a few feet
of the ground, and overhanging the side of the road.
In walking under.the limb I frightened the bird, and
suspecting that there must be a nest, upon search I found
it concealed by the dense foliage; and but for her having
flown, the parent bird might have kept the secret, hatched
her brood and departed undisturbed with her off-snring
to her winter home.
“This bird, called also Tanagra aestiva, affects the oak
as a building place. He appears in our country early in
the spring as soon as his insect food becomes abundant
and disappears in the fall with frost. The male may
often be seen perched high upon a dead limb of his oak
home, where he pours forth his song, not a very melod-
ious one. His notes are rather feeble, but quite sweet.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 99°
He reminds one of a young lady who is trying very hard
to make herself exceedingly agreeable by singing, but
who has but a mediocre voice, and sings always the same
song.”
A specimen of summer tanager taken June 25, 1888,
was presented to Dr. A. K. Fisher of Washington, D. C..
This note is interesting because it indicates Dr. Avery’s
correspondence with noted ornithologists.
“Abundant. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1891a).
No. 25. Female. Greensboro. May 21, 1887. W. C. Avery.
No. 163. Male. Greensboro. June 8, 1889. W. C. Avery.
. No. 517. Male. Greensboro. May 12, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 526. Male. Greensboro. May 31, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 585. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 18, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 642. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 4, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 656. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 6, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 699. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 23, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 706. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 25, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 830. Female. Greensboro. May 38, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 904. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 25, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 909. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 30, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 923. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 17, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 940. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 26, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 989. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 14, 1892. W. C. Avery.
No. 993. Male-hornot. Greensboro. Sept. 9, 1892. W. C. Avery.
152. PROGNE SUBIS SUBIS (Linneus).
PURPLE MARTIN.
In a letter to the Editor of the “American Field,” in
June, 1884, Dr. Avery stated that on March 21st of that
year he “Saw also, for the first time this season, Progne
purpurea.” (1884).
“Common. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1891a).
No. 1044. Male. Greensboro (Cocke’s Pond). Apr.:15, 1893.
W. C. Avery. .
153. PETROCHELIDON LUNIFRONS LUNIFRONS (Say).
CLIFF SWALLOW.
“Observed only in the spring; have not found it nest-
ing here.” (1891b).
No. 501. Male. Greensboro. May 6, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 502. Male. Greensboro. May 6, 1890. W. C. Avery.
100 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
154. HIRUNDO ERYTHROGASTRA (Boddaert).
ee BARN SWALLow.
“Spring and autumn migrant. Abundant.” (1891b).
No. 505. Female. Greensboro. May 7, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 506. Male. Greensboro. May 7, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 507. Female. Greensboro. May 7, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 509. Male. Greensboro. May 7, 1890. W. C. Avery.
155. STELGIDOPTERYX SERRIPENNIS (Audubon).
ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW.
“Observed in the spring. Not found breeding. Com-
mon.” (1891b).
Further field work should certainly prove this species
to be a common breeder in Hale County.
No. 477. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 23, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 478. Female. Greensboro. Apr. 28, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 508. Female. Greensboro. May 7, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 879. Male. Anniston. July 7, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 880. Female. Anniston. July 7, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 881. Female-hornot. Anniston. July 7, 1891. W.C. Avery.
No. 882. Hornot. Anniston. July 7, 1891. W. C. Avery.
156. BOMBYCILLA CEDRORUM (Vieillot).
CEDAR WAXWING.
“Cedarbird.” “Seal.”
This demure little grayish-brown species bears the dis-
tinction of furnishing the subject of the first ornithologi-
cal record to be found in Dr. Avery’s papers. Under
date of May 23, 1876, is found this entry on a page cut
from an old journal:
“No. 1. 3 miles southwest of Greensboro;
“Ampelis Cedrorum; male adult;
“Was so fat that I found some difficulty in keeping the
skin from being soiled by the grease. His stomach con-
tained a black mulberry. This bird is a migrant, pass-
ing a short time with us during the spring.”
Here is another original entry, dated April 11, 1890:
“About half an hour before sunset I saw a cedarbird
perched on a liquidambar tree. It being unusual: to see
one of these birds alone, I watched it for some mirutes,
till darkness put an end to my observations. It sat mo-
tionless for some minutes on its perch and then sallied
forth in pursuit of a passing insect; behaving like a fly-
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 101
catcher, except that it changed its perch at each flight
taken.
“It finally disappeared in a thicket and I looked in vain
to find its roosting place.
“From the shape of the bill of the cedarbird (Ampelis
cedrorum) it might have been deemed a flycatcher, as
it really is if the catching of insects can make it such.”
“Winter resident. Common.” (1891b).
No. 436. Female. Greensboro. April 1, 1890. W. C. Avery.
_No. 487. Female. Greensboro. April 1, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 438. Male. Greensboro. April 1, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 489. Male. Greensboro. April 1, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 780. Male-juv. Greensboro. Oct. 22, 1890.
Noy ax Odd specimen. No data.
157. LANIUS LUDOVICIANUS LUDOVICIANUS (Linnezus).
LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE,
“Butcher-bird.”
The first note of interest regarding this species is taken
in full from the Doctor’s “‘Oological Register :”
“No. 1. Name: Lanius ludovicianus.
“Locality: Near Greensboro, Alabama.
“Date: 25th April, 1887.
“Collector: Wm. C. Avery, M. D.
“Set 6. Identity: Shot parent. Incubation advanced.
“Nest: In a pine tree near the end of a limb and about
8 ft. from the ground.
“Description of nest. Dimensions of nest: External
diameter 7 inches by 7 inches; internal 4 inches by 314,
inches; depth two and a half inches. The nest is a large
structure for so small a bird; the foundation is composed
of sticks, some of which are more than a foot long; most
of these sticks are from thorn trees—osage orange, plum
and honey locust; this frame of coarse sticks supports a
quantity of stalks of grass and bits of cotton; the nest is
lined with fine bits of grass, cotton and feathers.
“Dimensions of eggs: No. 1 .95 by .75. Dull white;
wreathed with confluent blotches about-the larger end;
color of spots and blotches brownish-black; specked with
the same color and having some small spots on the less
end and on the sides. No. 2 .96 by .76. Blotched with
wreath of blackish-brown about larger end, blotches
102 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
spreading more about sides and extending lower than in
No. 1. Some indistinct blotching, mingled with well de-
fined spots and specks, reaching to less end; the latter
being marked with faint specks. No. 8 .92 by .75. Cov-
ered with dark confluent blackish-brown blotches about
larger end, the whole end being blotched; specked and
spotted on sides with same color; small specks on less
end. No. 4. .96 by .74. Blotched about larger end;
spotted and specked on sides, the markings growing few-
er and smaller at the less end. No. 5 .96 by .74. Thick-
ly blotched at larger end, blotches, spots and specks
sparsely scattered over sides and diminishing at less end
to small specks. No. 6, .92 by .76. Wreathed with
blotches confluent around larger end; some few spots to-
wards less end, the latter specked.”
“Common. Resident. Breeds.” (1891b).
The loggerhead shrike was seen frequently by the Doc-
tor during his stay in Baldwin County, Sept. 16 to Oct.
2, 1892.
No. 239. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 9, 1889. W.C. Avery.
peeks 544, Male-hornot. Greensboro. July 17, 1890. W. C.
Wo. 168; Maly, (Gresabonay- Gut: 18, 1890. W.C. Avery.
No. 767. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 18, 1890. W. GC. Avery.
No. 915. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 8, 1891. c C. Avery.
No. 1002. Male. Baldwin Co. Oct. 2, 1892. W. Avery.
No. 1034. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 31, 1893. W. C. Avery.
158. VIREOSYLVA OLIVACEA (Linnzus).
RED-EYED VIREO.
Dr. Avery’s earlier bird notes are very interesting in-
asmuch as they throw considerable light upon his pro-
gress in ornithology. No. 2 of his old series was a
specimen of this common bird, but after carefully re-
cording the sex, measurements, color of eyes, mandibles
and tarsi, as was his custom, he writes, under date of
May 24, 1876:
“IT am little acquainted with this bird. He moves in-
cessantly about among the dense foliage of forest trees
where he seems to spend his time entirely. He is a sum-
‘mer resident and must build here, and rear his young.
The testicles were much developed; being as large as
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 103
garden peas, while those of No. 1, Ampelis Cedrorum,
were very small; showing that there had been no recent
sexual excitement; the latter does not breed in this lati-
tude; at least I have never seen his nest nor his young.”
Recording another specimen, No. 18 (old series), under
date of June 12, 1876, he writes:
“Stomach contained debris of insects and seeds of ber-
ries.
“The red-eyed greenlet, though seldom seen, is not un-
cgmmon. He warbles constantly among the dense foli-
age of the trees which are his home. I know not when
he approaches the ground for I have never seen him
there.”
Under the next entry, No. 19, this note is found:
“This is the second bird of this species shot by me to-
day. Though I have heard the bird and know him when
I see him, I have not yet learned to recogxiize him by his
song. This bird has 12 rectrices.”
June 17, 1876, an adult female was taken at Greens-
boro, and the following note entered under the record:
“T secured the nest of this bird. It contained three
white eggs, with dark brown specks at the larger end.
The eggs are shaped very much like those of the part-
ridge, being ‘top-shaped,’ shaped like a top.”
Referring to this nest in his “Oological Register,” Dr.
Avery writes:
“Tt is a pensile nest, and was suspended to the lowest
branch of an oak, so near the ground that I could not
have walked under it without striking my head. The
eggs are shaped very much like those of the partridge
‘perdin virginiana’ (Aud).
“It is probable that the parent might have laid an egg
or two more, as the eggs did not appear to have been set
upon. The old bird may have been on the nest for the
purpose of laying. The germ of the egg seemed to be
unchanged, there being no blood-vessels or no embryo
formed.”
The same day another specimen was recorded with
this note:
“Stomach contained insects. This bird could not be
distinguished from the female by the plumage.”
104 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
On June 22, 1888, the Doctor took a set of three fresh
eggs near Greensboro. Nest woven of the inner bark
of cedar, lined with pine leaves, a few grass stems, and
stems of moss, and bound to the forks of a horizontal
branch, about ten feet from the ground, with spider webs
and dried “moss” stems. Dimensions: Outside circum-
ference of rim, 8 in.; outside depth, 214 in; inside depth,
2 in. Measurements of eggs: .72 by .56, .89 by .59, .78
by .58.
“Abundant. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1891b). .
The species was seen often during the Doctor’s visit in
Baldwin County, Sept. 16 to Oct. 2, 1892.
No. 478. Female. Greensboro. April 25, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 504. Male. Greensboro. May 6, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 561. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 11, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 579. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 15, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 594. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 21, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 622. Male Greensboro. Aug. 29, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 649. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 5, 1890. W.C. Avery.
No. 768. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 18, 1890. W. C. Avery.
159. LANIVIREO FLAVIFRONS (Vieillot).
YELLOW-THROATED VIREO.
The first recorded specimen of this vireo was taken
at Greensboro, June 17, 1876. The stomach contained
“a worm and debris of beetles.”
“Not common. Has not been observed during the
summer by me, though Mr. Henry Young has found it
breeding near Greensboro. Three specimens were taken
by me last fall.” (1891b).
When the Doctor published the foregoing, he must
have forgotten his note of June 3, 1888, which follows:
“Saw yellow-throated vireo (Vireo flavifrons). These
birds were in a gum thicket in an old field. I examined
one carefully with a field- glass and saw distinctly the
yellow loral stripe and circumorbital ring of yellow, also
the yellow extending over chin, throat and breast; and the
white wing bars on median and greater coverts.”
No. 570. Male. oro.
No. 661. Mate ao dane a, tae. wo
No. 906. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 27, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 1046. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 20, 18938. W. C. Avery. =
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 105
160. LANIVIREO SOLITARIUS ALTICOLA (Brewster).
MOUNTAIN VIREO.
“One example was secured during the migration this
fall, the first and only one observed by me.” (1891b).
No. 783. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 23, 1890. W. C. Avery.
161. VIREO GRISEUS GRISEUS (Boddaert).
WHITE-EYED VIREO.
The first record of this species was No. 12 of Dr. Av-
ery’s old series, an adult male taken at Greensboro, June
8, 1876. The stomach contained “debris of insects and
matter which resembled vegetable matter.” Four days
later he recorded another male, and wrote: “I have not
yet learned to distinguish this bird from the preceding
(Vireosylva olivacea) by his notes. He rarely leaves
the lofty tops of the forest trees. He is small but he
does not ‘roost low’.”
This note is a palpable error and is included merely to
show that the Doctor was just beginning the study of
birds in 1876.
The following is found under date of June 17, 1876:
“This is a noisy little bird, and although smaller than
the red-eye, his song is much louder. It is very difficult
to find the red-eye on account of the feebleness of its
note. Concealed among the dense foliage it sings unseen
for hours. I yesterday heard for the first time, to - know
it, the song of Vireo noveboracensis, white-eyed vireo.”
The following description of No. 31 (old series) taken
next day indicates that the Doctor had been studying
his “Coues”’:
“Upper mandible blackish ; tip of lower mandible white,
bordered posteriorly by a dark, sagittiform portion
pointing anteriorly in gonys, and extending outwards and
backwards to mandibular tomium, sides of under man-
dible extending back from gonys proper leaden blue.”
“Abundant. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1891b).
No. 195. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 7, 1889. W.C. Avery.
No. 551. Male. Greensboro. July 22, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 607. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 24, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 608. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 24, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 633. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 2, 1890. W. C. Avery.
106 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
No. 648. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 4, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 735. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 6, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 769. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 18, 1890. W. C. Avery.
162. MNIOTILTA VARIA (Linneus).
BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER.
“Not common as a summer resident. Abundant in
the autumn migration.” (1891b).
No. 545. Male-hornot. Greensboro. July 21, 1890. W. C.
Avery.
No. 593. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 21, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 1070. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 21, 1893. W. C. Avery.
163. PROTONOTARIA CITREA (Boddaert).
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER.
The following note is Dr. Avery’s first record of this
species:
“The day (7th May, 1887) was quite cool in the morn-
ing, but the thermometer rose towards evening. I was
standing near the pond fed by the large Cypress Slough
well when I heard the song of a bird which I at first
believed to be that of the indigo-bird. After searching
for sometime for the author of the pleasing notes that
kept resounding through the woods, I saw a prothonotary
fly into a tree near the edge of the pond. It was not
long before he began to sing and by creeping up I could
see his bill vibrate as the notes welled from his throat.
I watched him for sometime and to make assurance surer
still I shot No. 15, to identify him beyond the question
of a doubt.”
The stomach of this specimen, taken near Greensboro,
contained insects, as did that of another taken May 21,
1887, near the same place.
“Common. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1891b).
No. 15 (?). Male. Greensboro. April 5, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 1060. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 25, 1893. W. C. Avery.
164. HELINAIA SWAINSONI (Audubon).
SWAINSON’S WARBLER.
“On the 6th of September, while collecting about four
miles southwest of Greensboro, Alabama, I took a speci-
men of Swainson’s warbler. Ag far as I know, this is
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 107
the first recorded instance of the capture of this warbler
in Alabama.” (1890b).
“On September 6, last, I took the first specimen of this
warbler, and the only one that I ever saw. In April of
1878 three specimens of this rare warbler were met
with by Mr. N. C. Brown, at Coosada, Elmore county,
this State, near the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa
rivers. He secured two of these warblers. The one
captured by me on September 6, last, is then the third
specimen taken in this State, and the fourth observed.
It was doubless migrating, as the locality where it was
shot could hardly have been the summer habitat of Swain-
son’s warbler. About eleven o’clock on that day, as I
was walking along the edge of a stream of water flowing
from an artesian well, and in a grove of hardwood trees,
a number of birds drinking and bathing in this stream
flew up from the water. Among them I observed a
curious looking little bird that seemed to watch me in-
tently from the crotch of a sapling where he was seated
motionless and silent. Without a moment’s hesitation I
shot the bird, which proved to be Swainson’s warbler.”
(1891b).
No. 652. Female-juv. Greensboro. Sept. 6, 1890. W.C. Avery.
165. HELMITHEROS VERMIVORUS( Gmelin).
WorM-EATING WARBLER.
“Observed during the autumn migrations only. The
first was cbserved last year on August 9, the last on Sep-
tember 19. It cannot be called a common bird, as during
the period between these two dates, though I made almost
daily observations, I never met, on one day, with more
than three specimens of this warbler.” (1891b).
No. 198. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 5, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 213. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 18, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 600. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 23, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 609. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 25, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 610. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 25, 1890. W. C. Avery.
166. VERMIVORA CHRYSOPTERA (Linneus).
GOLDEN-WINGED WABRLER.
“Observed, like the preceding species, only during the
autumn. First seen this year on August 11, last on
October 4. Not common.” (1891b).
108 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
No. 203. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 11, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 204. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 11, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 205. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 11, 1889. W.C. Avery.
No. 562. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 11, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 729. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 4, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 898. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 21, 1891. W.‘C. Avery.
167. VERMIVORA PEREGRINA (Wilson).
TENNESSEE WARBLER.
“Only one specimen, and that my first, has been taken
near Millwood in the Warrior River bottom, on October
4 last.” (1891b).
No. 728. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 4, 1890. W.C. Avery.
No. 1092. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 18, 1893. W. C. Avery.
168. COMPSOTHLYPIS AMERICANA AMERICANA
(Linnzus).
PARULA WARBLER.
“Common during spring and autumn migrations. A
few remain all the summer and breed perhaps, though I
have no other evidence of this than that the Parula
warbler is a summer resident of Hale County.” (1891b).
A couple of years after the publication of the fore-
going the Doctor secured all the evidence that he wanted,
as testified by the following extended notes taken from
his juurnal for 1898:
“April 9th. Today while making observations on the
nest of the yellow-throated warbler found on the 4th, a
little bird was seen gathering material from a stump
near the water-oak, the nesting site of D. dominica No.
2.
“The field glass revealed a female parula warbler.
She flew about seventy yards and perched for a moment
in a black gum; a second flight took her to the top of a
sweet gum; she descended immediately to a pendent
bunch of Tillandsia, disappeared in the moss, made two
or three flights from the tree, always returning to the
same place on the tree and entering the same bunch of
moss. There could be no doubt as to what she was doing,
and I had my first ocular demonstration of the fact that
the parula warbler breeds in Hale County, Alabama,
though its occurrence here in mid-summer had seemed
to me sufficient evidence that it nests in this county.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 109
“The busy little architect was observed sometime at her
occupation. She did not always fly in the same direction
in search of material, nor did she always light directly
on the bunch of moss; she frequently lighted on the top
of the sweet gum and descended to her nest. This nest
is suspended in the streaming moss, at least two feet un-
der the limb. The moss is woven together, and the nest
contains some spider web, as Asbury, who climbed to it,
has informed me. Much pleasure is anticipated in tak-
ing a full set of this bird’s eggs, hitherto unknown to
me.
“This little warbler returns from his winter home to-
wards the latter part of March and the first of April. A.
specimen was taken March 26, 1892; the label contains
this observation: ‘Male in breeding plumages; testes
much enlarged.’ This is my earliest record of the arrival
of Compsothlypis americana; my latest is September
19th, though the latter date is probably not that of the
latest occurrence of this bird in Hale County. Some in-
dividuals remain with us till the first of October.
“April 10. Another parula was observed today gath-
ering material from a stump on the edge of a field. For-
tunately, though she flew at least a hundred and fifty
yards into the woods, with the assistance of Asbury her
nest was discovered. When she had collected from the
stump what she needed and had begun her flight to-
wards her nest, I announced the fact to Asbury who was
stationed at least a hundred yards within the woods on
the edge of an opening across which she had to fly. So
rapid was her flight and so thick the woods when she
passed beyond the opening that her destination could not
be exactly determined. A certain gum tree covered with
gray moss appeared to be the most likely place to find
her, but though we watched some time in the morning
our little warbler escaped our observation. In the after-
noon, however, about four. o’clock, we returned and
found that she was building in the gum tree. Her nest
could be seen through the Tillandsia just under a limb
about fifteen feet from the ground.
“Another female parula which seemed to be building
was seen today but she could not be traced to her nest.
110 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
“April 12. Parula still building in West Jones’ woods
in the gum tree.
“April 23. The parula warbler’s nest discovered on
the 10th was examined this morning and found to con-
tain four eggs. On being frightened from the nest she
seemed much distressed, flying within a few feet of the
tree and chirping loudly for so small a bird. She was
examined with a powerful field glass, making identifica-
tion positive. This parula was seen building her nest
on the 12th, two days after it was found; allowing two
more days for its completion, I conclude that she has laid
her set of four eggs in nine or ten days.
“April 24th. The parula warbler’s nest discovered to
be building on the 10th was taken today and contained
four slightly incubated eggs.
“Nest in a sweet gum, 20 ft. from the ground, and on
a horizontal limb four feet from the body of the tree.
“The nest had a hole or entrance into the bunch of
moss just above its rim; it is suspended in the moss
without other support than the moss itself.
“May 10th. This nest of the parula was in an elm
tree, forty-five feet from the ground and fifteen feet
from the body of the tree. It was found by Asbury on
the 28th of April. He saw the female carrying material
to build her nest. It was taken just 12 days after the
bird was seen building. This bird is probably the same
parula that was building first on April 10th, and whose
nest was taken on the 23rd, just thirteen days from the
time she was first seen building her nest.
“Five days then elapsed from the taking of her nest
till the 28th, when she was again found building, and
from the 28th of April to the 10th of May, when the
second nest was taken, there had passed just twelve days
or not two weeks. Seventeen days, or not much over two
weeks, transpired between the taking of these two nests
of the parula, built I believe by the same bird. From
the time the first nest was first seen building ’till the
taking the second nest, there passed just thirty days
or one month. Then this bird built two nests and laid
two sets of eggs in thirty days or one month’s time. In
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 111
fact in somewhat less than a month, for incubation had
begun when the second set was collected.”
No. 209. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 11, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 569. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 12, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 574. Sex (?). Greensboro. Aug. 14,1890. C. S. Brimley.
No. 665. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 9, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 690. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 19, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 850. Female. Greensboro. May 28, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 910. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 3, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 988. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 26, 1892. W. C. Avery.
No. .....« Female. No data.
169. DENDROICA ASSTIVA AESTIVA (Gmelin).
YELLOW WARBLER.
“Spring and autumn migrant. Not common.” (1891c).
No. 80 (7). Female. Greensboro. Aug. 10, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 449. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 12, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 471. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 21, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 558. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 11, 1890. W. C. Avery.
170. DENDROICA CORONATA (Linnzus).
MYRTLE WARBLER.
“Yellow-rumped Warbler.”
Recording his first specimen of this species, taken
Jan. 14, 1878, at Greensboro, the Doctor writes: “Stom-
ach contained debris of cedar berries. Abundant here in
the winter and found frequently in company with blue-
birds.”
“Common. Winter resident.” (1891c).
No. 376. Female. Greensboro. Feb. 21,1890. W.C. Avery.
No, 397. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 5, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 4138. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 13, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 427. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 15, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 484. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 26, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 485. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 26, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 773. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 20, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 776. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 21, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 781. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 22, 1890. W.C. Avery.
No. 785. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 23, 1890. W.C. Avery.
No. 786. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 23, 1890. W.C. Avery.
171. DENDROICA MAGNOLIA (Wilson).
MAGNOLIA WARBLER.
“Has not been observed in the spring. First seen
this fall on the 9th of September, last observed on the
19th of October.” (1891c).
112 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
No. 698. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 23, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 933 (?). Female. Greensboro. Oct. 2, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 1073. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 27, 1893. W. C. Avery.
No. 1079. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 8, 18938. W. C. Avery.
No. 1081 (?). Female. Greensboro. Sept. 17, 1893. W. C.
‘Avery.
No. ...... Male. No data.
172. DENDROICA CERULEA (Wilson).
CERULEAN WARBLER.
“Rare. My first acquaintance with this warbler was
on May 10, 1887, when I took a pair in the Warrior River
bottom, twelve miles southwest of Greensboro. These
were the only specimens met with, ’till this fall, when C.
S. Brimley took three two miles west of Greensboro,
‘some time between August 9 and 17. I do not recall
the exact date. One of these specimens was an adult
male, and the others were one male and one female, both
young and in fall plumage.” (1891c).
A male taken two miles west of Greensboro, March 26,
1890, was recorded as No. 431 in the Doctor’s catalogue,
but unfortunately it is no longer in the collection.
No. 16. Male-adult. Greensboro. May 10, 1887. W. C. Avery.
No. 17. Female-adult. Greensboro. May 10, 1887. W. C. Avery.
173. DENDROICA PENSLYVANICA (Linnezus).
‘CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER.
“Not common. A spring and autumn migrant. First
observed, this year, during the fall migration, on August
29. October 14 last.” (1891c).
No. 486. Female. Greensboro. May 4, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 619. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 29, 1890. W. GC. Avery.
No. 715. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 30, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 730. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 4, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 903. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 25, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 1077. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 4, 1893. W. C. Avery.
No. ...... Female. No data.
174. DENDROICA CASTANEA (Wilson),
BAY-BREASTED WARBLER,
The Doctor took a single individual of this, one of
the rarer warblers in Alabama, but his note books contain
only the bare catalogue entry of the specimen.
No. 1055. Female. Greensboro. May 8, 1898. W. C. Avery.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 1138
175. DENDROICA STRIATA (J. R. Forster).
BLACK-POLL WARBLER,
“One individual of this species, the first and only one,
was observed eight miles south of Greensboro, May 5,
1889.” (1891c).
The Doctor collected the following specimen subse-
quently to the publication of this note.
No. 1047. Male. Greensboro. April 23, 1893. W. C. Avery.
176. DENDROICA FUSCA (Muller).
BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER.
The following specimen, the only one of the species
taken by the Doctor, elicited no further note from him
than the bare record in his catalogue.
No. 1054. Female. Greensboro. May 3, 1898. W.C. Avery.
177. DENDROICA DOMINICA DOMINICA (Linneus).
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER.
It is interesting to know that specimen No. 1 of Dr.
Avery’s second series was an adult male of this species
taken July 6, 1886, near Greensboro. He writes in his
catalogue :
“This bird is quite common in this locality, though
captured by me today for the first time. I saw several
other individuals at the time of shooting this specimen.
They were flitting about in the pine tree with some pine
warblers. The yellow-throated warbler must breed here
though I have never found the nest.”
On the reverse side of label No. 1 was written: “Con-
‘tents of stomach small beetles and Lepidoptera.”
A specimen taken June 25, 1888, was presented to Dr.
A. K. Fisher of Washington, D. C.
“Common. Summer residerit. Breeds. A nest of this
warbler was found by me last spring on May 4. The nest
was in a sweet gum tree (Liquidambar styraciflua), thir-
ty-five feet from the ground, and was entirely concealed
in a bunch of gray moss (Tillandsia usneoides). The old
‘bird was seen feeding her young, three in number. The
nest contained, besides the young birds, one addled egg.”
(1891c). é
114 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
Though the foregoing is. the only note on the yellow-
throated warbler published by the Doctor, he afterwards
recorded rather extended observations on the nesting of
the species. These original notes follow:
“April 2, 1893. No. 1. Asbury McShan found a yel-
-low-throated warbler building in a sweet gum tree not
far from the Greensboro station, and just over .the path,
in a pendant bunch of gray moss about forty-five feet
from the ground. She could be plainly seen with a field
glass through the moss whenever she brought material
to the nest.
“On the third and fourth she was occupied morning
and evening at her work. At six o’clock she was work-
ing on the third; and later still she could be seen ’till
almost night at her labor.
“The male was heard singing some distance from the
scene of his mate’s constant occupation, for many hours;
and he seemed quite indifferent to what she was doing,
though perhaps she listened to his song attentively, and
found relief in the sweet music of her charmer.
“She flew generally to the limb from which the moss
hung and ran down till she reached the bunch when she
fluttered like a butterfly before the opening on the side
of the moss and then vanished in the waving epiphyte,
soon to emerge and to dart so swiftly forth that the eye
could scarcely follow her as she wound her aerial journey
now through the tree tops, and now suddenly descending
and skimming along the ground to seek rootlets or straw
or vegetable down for her cosy nest. I saw her once tear
the lining from an old nest of last year—a brown thrash-
er’s I believe.
“What instinct compels these birds thus to conceal
their nests in this pendent moss? Is it the inherited
memory of hundreds of ancestors that have built in vain
upon the bare branches till they have sought concealment
and safety in their rocking cradles upon the tallest trees?
Has the cunning serpent or the jay robbed them of their
treasures till the instinct of concealment is common to
these denizens of the lofty forest trees?
“April 4, 1893. No. 2. Asbury found a nest of D.
dominica this afternoon. It is in a bunch of Tillandsia
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 115
usnecides (‘gray moss’), suspended from a bough of the
water oak (Quercus aquatica). This nest is about fifteen
feet from the ground. The male was heard singing
about a hundred yards from the tree in which his mate
had begun nidification. After some search for his quiet
partner, she was found on a sweet gum (Liquidambar
styraciflua). She flew from this into a water oak.
There also was another bird. I turned my field glass up-
on both; the identity of the yellow-throated warbler was
positive. Asbury was enjoined to watch her, while the
other bird was examined and found to be V. flavifrons.
While this bird was examined by me, Asbury whispered
to me, as he sank on his knees to the ground, ‘Sit down,
Doctor.’ I did so, and at the same time the yellow-
throated warbler was seen flitting about a streamer of
gray moss. She lingered a few seconds around it, entered
it, emerged suddenly, and flew away. She soon returned,
however, with a straw in her mouth. Again she entered
the moss, again quickly came forth, but this time she was
gone ten minutes, or more perhaps. While we were
thinking of approaching the moss to examine closely the
site of her secret, she returned and disappeared, with the
material gathered, by the opening which she had before
entered. There could be no doubt as to what she was
doing. Another and another time she came and went,
and the field glass revealed the outline of the nest and
the movements of the busy builder could be seen within,
as she moulded the material and wove it into her swinging
domicile.
“The male was nowhere to be seen or heard though not
long before he was making the woods ring with his cheer-
ful notes. This song is louder and far more musical than
that of the pine warbler, in fact the efforts of the latter
cannot be called music.
“The yellow-throated warbler is a summer resident of
Hale County. He arrives from his winter home from
the first to the twelfth of March. The latter date was
that of the first song of this bird heard by me this season.
It seems now—the 4th of April—to be building, as the
observations made by me this spring lead me to believe.
116 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
“It seems to be from three weeks to a month later at
nidification than the pine warbler, a resident.
“April 10, 1898. No. 3. Late this afternoon, as the
sun was setting, quite a number of yellow-throated war-
blers were seen in some pines near a ‘branch’ on the
edge of a field. I have never before seen so many indi-
viduals of this species together. They were waiched
closely and one of them was seen flying to a bunch of
moss on a sweet gum tree (Liquidambar). She soon dart-
ed out from the moss, and swift as an arrow, glided along
the ground into the field. Returning to the same limb on
the gum tree, she could be seen on her almost completed
nest, partially concealed by the moss but much more eas-
ily detected than Nos. 1 and 2 of the same species, already
recorded. The nest lay on the limb, the moss forming
a canopy above it, but not hiding it from the aye as the
bird turned herself around in her cup-shaped fabric,
spending several minutes in giving the final touches to
her work—for she seemed to be lining it.
“April 18. ° This morning in attempting to take the
nest of D. dominica about fifty feet from the ground,
recorded above as No. 1, Asbury broke the eggs. About
twelve days had elapsed from the completion of the nest
when the attempt was made to take it. The broken shells
disclosed small embryos.
“The nest was built on a limb in the moss and was al-
most completely concealed. The outside material of the
nest is strips of bark and a light colored or grayish sub-
stance resembling spider webs. Inside of this are fine
straws interwoven, the whole lined with cow hair and a
few horse hairs, and feathers of the robin (Merula mi-
gratoria). :
“External width of nest 2.70 inches; internal width
1.50 inches; external depth 3.00 inches; internal depth
— inches. The nest appears large for the size of the
ird.
“No. 2. The nest of Asbury’s finding in the water oak
was cut down today and though it was probably complet-
ed by the 9th, not an egg was yet laid. Supposing it was
completed on or before the 9th at least ten or eleven days
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 117
have elapsed since it was finished. Asa rule not less than
eighteen days should be allowed from the time the nest
is done till it is taken.
“April 18, 1898. No. 4. The nest in the pine tree
proved to have a set of five eggs slightly incubated. It
was built on a pine limb, and so comcealed as to be found
only by seeing the old bird take the nest. This was
twenty-five feet from the ground and seven and a half
feet from the axis of the tree.
“External width of nest 2.90 inches; internal width
1.65 inches; external depth 3.00 inches; internal depth
1.70 inches. Material: strips of bark and straw on the
outside, attached to the limb of the pine by a substance
resembling spider web and giving the nest a grayish ap-
pearance externally; inside of nest lined with hairs, ap-
parently of the cow, and with feathers.
“April 20, 1898. No. 5. A yellow-throated warbler
was discovered building her nest this afternoon in a sweet
gum. The nest is completely concealed in a bunch of
moss and is at least fifty-five or sixty feet from the
ground, and on the end of a limb. The male and female
were observed feeding together; they visited several
bunches of moss; at last they both flew high‘up to a moss
covered branch and disappeared in the moss; the male
then left his companion, and she was observed many times
to dart to the earth and return to the bunch of moss. It
was evident after she had many times flown to and from
the moss that she was building.
“April 24, 1898. No. 3. No. three’s nest (D. domin-
ica) was taken this afternoon. It contained four slightly
incubated eggs. Nest was on the horizontal limb of a
sweet gum, 26 ft. from the ground and 9 ft. from the
body of the tree.
“The parent remained on the nest till she was shaken
from it by the jarring of a pole on the limb. This nest
was found on the evening of the 10th; it was taken on the
24th, just fourteen days from the time it was first dis-
covered. The bird was last seen building on the 12th;
she was then lining the nest, as I saw her carrying a
large feather in her bill.
118 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
“April 25, 1893. No. 5 was seen building to-day, the
fifth day since she was discovered carrying material for
a nest.
“April 27, 1893. No. 6 (D. dominica). Another nest
of the yellow-throated warbler was found this morning.
She was seen entering a bunch of moss, and the nest was
thus located. Pellets of silk of cocoons and the web or
tents of certain larve were gathered; the bird returning
every five or ten minutes with a wad of something white
in her mouth. She was found gathering this white sub-
stance from under the bark of pine trees. She pecked
from a small hole in the side of a pine as much of this
white substance as she could hold in her bill at one time,
and made a second visit to the same spot from which she
extracted as much building material a second time. She
was constructing her nest in the morning at 9 o’clock,
and on returning four hours after I found her still busily
employed.
“No. 7. At Millwood a nest of D. dominica was found
on May 6th. The nest was on a limb ninety feet from
the ground, and three feet from the axis of the tree.
Three pairs of yellow-throated warblers were seen, and.a
young one just out of the nest.
“May 8, 1893 Nest No. 5 was examined today by
‘Asbury and found empty, although eighteen days had
elapsed since the bird was seen building. This was in a
bunch of Tillandsia about fifty feet from the ground, and
four feet from the trunk of the tree.
“May 8, 1893. No. 6 was also examined by Asbury
and found to have the old bird apparently sitting. This
nest was building on the 27th; only eleven days have
passed since D. dominica No. 6 was found.
“May 10, 1893. No. 6 was taken this morning; bird
seen building on the 27th of April; set complete. Bird
was allowed in this case thirteen days to build nest and
lay her set of eggs. This nest was concealed in bunch of
Tillandsia usneoides, thirty-five feet from the ground and
eleven feet from trunk of tree. The nest was supported
not only by the gray moss but also by the end of the limb
upon which grew the moss. It was very neatly and com-
pactly built.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 119
e
“May 14, 1898. Took nest No. 5 this morning; it con-
tained bits of egg shells. The nest was found building
on the 20th of April and examined on the 8th of May—
eighteen days from the first day the bird was seen
building. The eggs must have been destroyed by a jay
or in some unaccountable way, for they could hardly
have hatched and the young have left the nest in less than
three weeks.
No. 142. Female. Greensboro. May 20, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 430. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 26, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 870. Sex (?). Anniston. June 28, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 1059. Female. Greensboro. May 6, 1898. W.C. Avery.
No. 1062. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 4, 1893. W. C. Avery.
178. DENDROICA VIRENS (Gmelin).
BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER.
“Not common. Spring and autumn migrant. Arrives
later than any warbler, except the myrtle and palm war-
blers in the fall. First seen this fall, October 16, last
met with October 24. On October 23, a cold day, I ob-
served, in the town of Greensboro, four of these war-
blers busily searching the leaves of a shade tree for
insects. They were so gentle that one might stand with
his face within two or three feet of them, as they hopped
about on the lowest branches of the tree just over the edge
of the sidewalk.” (1891c).
No. 497. Male. Greensboro. May 4, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 498. (?) Female. Greensboro. May 4, 1890. W. C.
No. 499. Female. Greensboro. May 4, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 1072. Sex (7). Greensboro. Sept. 27,1898. W.C. Avery.
No. 1078. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 8, 1898. W. C. Avery.
No. 1083 (?). Male. Greensboro. Oct. 10, 18938. W.C. Avery.
No. 1084. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 10, 1898. W. C. Avery.
No. 1085. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 10, 1898. W. C. Avery.
No. 1098. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 18, 1893. W. C. Avery.
179. DENDROICA VIGORSI (Audubon).
PINE WARBLER.
“Abundant. Resident. Breeds.” (1891c).
The first recorded capture of this bird was on Jan. 10,
1878, when specimen No. 39 (old series) was collected
at Greensboro. Mar. 18, 1888, Dr. Avery “found for
the first time nest of D. pinus, on a horizontal limb of a
120 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
” &
pine about fifteen feet from the ground; saw female pine
creeper fly into the tree with material for her nest.”
April 1, 1888, a set of three eggs was collected, near
Greensboro, from a nest on a horizontal limb of a pine,
twenty feet from the ground.
April 29, 1891, the Doctor observed a pine warbler
feeding its young.
The following nesting notes are taken from the Doc-
tor’s original journal:
“March 24, 1893. Took a nest of a pine warbler, on
the horizontal branch of a pine tree (pinus mitis) at 9
feet 10 inches from the axis of the tree, and 13 feet 41%
inches from the ground. The bird was discovered build-
ing her nest on the 9th of March. It was completed about
the 12th. The last egg was laid on the 24th. The nest
was attached to and in the fork of a horizontal branch.
It was built of pine needles and strips of bark, and lined
with feathers and hair. This bird had built her nest by
the 12th; she was seen building it for three or four days.
She began nidification on the 8th (or about that time)
and the nest was finished in about four days.
“To-day, the 4th of April (1893), while making obser-
vations on the yellow-throated warbler whose nest was
found on the 2nd, and also preparing to have Asbury
climb a pine to take a nest of D. pinus, both parents ap-
peared on the scene; one, the male I believe, with a worm,
which he could be seen distinctly serving to his nestlings.
It seems to me that this nest must have been built the
first week in March for the young to have been hatched
as early as the fourth of April. Of course operations
for taking the nest were suspended; ladder and rope and
saw were carried home. This nest of ‘pinus’ is thirty
feet from the ground and fifteen feet from the body of
the tree, on a horizontal branch. The sites of the other
two pine warblers’ nests found this season are similar to
that of the one just described. They are, judging from
the eye, respectively fifteen and twenty-five feet from the
ground.”
Pine warblers were recorded as common near Perdido,
Sept. 26, 1892.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 121
No. 8. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 8, 1886. W. C. Avery.
No. 2938. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 9, 1886. W. C. Avery.
ING. ese Male im. Greensboro. Nov. 29, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 329. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 23, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 733. (7). Male. Greensboro. Mar. 25, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 588. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 19, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 784. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 23, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 802. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 1, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 983 (?). Female. Greensboro. Aug. 17, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 787 (?). Male. Greensboro. . Oct. 2, 1898. W. C. Avery.
180. DENDROICA PALMARUM PALMARUM (Gmelin).
PALM WARBLER.
“Common. Spring migrant. A few have been ob-
served in the fall of previous years; none seen this fall.
First met with last year in the spririg migration, on
April 6, last on May 6.” (1891c).
April 23, 1887, recording two specimens of this war-
bler, Dr. Avery writes: “First of the species I have ever
collected. Shot three in Millwood swamp on edge of
pond. The first one shot—by a singular coincidence—
fell within an inch of a large moccasin, which might
have collected me had I not seen him sooner. As it was
I collected him and the bird also.”
No. 448. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 12, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 463. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 18, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 468. Female. Greensboro. Apr. 21, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 469. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 21, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 470. Female. Greensboro. Apr. 21, 1890. W. C.-Avery.
No. 484. Female. Greensboro. Apr. 27, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 485. Female. Greensboro. Apr. 27, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 486. Female. Greensboro. Apr. 28, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 487. Female. Greensboro. Apr. 28, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 498. Female. Greensboro. Apr. .30, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 494. Female. Greensboro. Apr. 30, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 495. Female. Greensboro. Apr. 30, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 503. Female. Greensboro. May 6, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 1062. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 15, 18938. W. C. Avery.
No. 1095. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 35, 1893. W. C. Avery.
181. DENDROICA PALMARUM HYPOCHRYSEA (Ridgway).
YELLOW PALM WARBLER.
“Only one specimen of this form has come under my
observation, and that occurred April 21 last; the usual
form here is typical palmarum, or a form intermediate
between this one and Dendroica palmarum.” (1891c).
122 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
All three of the specimens taken on April 21, 1890, are
referable to subspecies palmarum, but it is quite probable
that both forms occur during migrations in Hale County.
182. DENDROICA DISCOLOR (Vieillot).
PRAIRIE WARBLER.
“Common. Summer resident.. Breeds.” (1891c).
May 1, 1889, Dr. Avery shot an incubating female to
properly identify a nest with eggs. A month later he
writes: “Found five nests of the prairie warbler on the
1st of June; all empty but one which had two eggs in it.
These nests were all in young sweet gums and from
about two or three to six feet from the ground.”
No. 444. Male. Greensboro. April 6, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 450. Male. Greensboro. April 12, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 464. Sex (?). Greensboro. Apr. 18, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 598. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 22, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 615. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 25, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 888. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 11, 1891. W. C. Avery.
_No. 894. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 15, 1891. W. C. Avery.
183. SEIURUS AUROCAPILLUS (Linnezus).
OVEN-BIRD.
“Met with during autumn migration. Not common.”
(1891c).
“The 11th of October (1890) was the first day that I
had met with the oven-bird (S. aurocapillus) with the
exception of two specimens previously collected by me.
This bird has the same mode of locomotion as the tit-
larks: walking instead of hopping. It was curious to see
it progressing as it did—lighting on the ground and run-
ning off like a partridge. The oven-birds were met with
on the live oak ridge running east to the Cypress Slough.”
(Original notes).
No. 48. No data.
No. 338. No data.
No. 589. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 21, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 672. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 16, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 744. Female. Greensboro. Ott. 11, 1890. W. C. Avery,
No. 745.. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 11, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 746. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 11, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 763. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 18, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 770. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 19, 1890. W. C: Avery.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 123
184. SEIURUS NOVEBORACENSIS NOVEBORACENSIS
(Gmelin).
WATER-THRUSH.
“Observed in autumn migration. Rare.” (1891c).
No. 688. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 19, 1890. W. C. Avery.
185. SEIURUS NOVEBORACENSIS NOTABILIS (Ridgway).
GRINNELL’S WATER-THRUSH.
The two Hale County specimens listed below are re-
ferable to this form.
No. 991. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 3, 1892. W. C. Avery.
No. 1061. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 25, 1898. W. C. Avery.
186. SEIURUS MOTACILLA (Vieillot).
LOUISIANA WATER-THRUSH.
“Rare. A specimen. in my collection was taken on
June 30; another captured in April gave evidence that
the bird was breeding. That taken in June being well
within the breeding season, cannot be considered a mi-
grant, while the functional activity of the ovary of the
latter example proved that it was a breeding female.”
(1891c).
No. 44 (?). Female. Greensboro. No other data.
187. OPORORNIS FORMOSUS (Wilson).
KENTUCKY WARBLER.
“Common. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1891c).
“April 10, 1893. The Kentucky warbler was heard
singing yesterday and again today. His monotonous
‘Tweedle! Tweedle! Tweedle!’ proclaim his arrival and
also his intention of rearing a family at some early pe-
riod. This warbler is common in Hale County but his re-
tired habits make it not an easy task to study his manner
of nidification. He is very shy, affecting the dense cover
and undergrowth bordering some stream of water, and
rarely leaving the ground to fly into the trees ’till he is
either seeking a mate or wishes to exhibit to his admiring
companion that he is what his name indicates: Formosa
or beautiful. Then his ‘Tweedle! Tweedle! Tweedle!’ re-
sounds overhead, as he flies from tree to tree. He re-
turns from winter quarters about the first week in April
124 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
and departs for the tropics, I believe, before the first of
October.
“On June 4th, 1889, I took a nest of formosa on a
shady, steep hillside, at the foot of a small sassafras (S.
officinale). The set contained four eggs; incubation
slight.
“My latest record of G. formosa is September the 12th;
my observations lead me to believe that it does not tarry
long after this date.” (Original notes).
No. 547. Female-hornot. Greensboro. July 21, 1890. W. C.
Avery.
No. 613. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 25, 1890. W. C. Avery.
188. GEOTHLYPIS TRICHAS IGNOTA (Chapman).
FLORIDA YELLOW-THROAT.
The first mention of this species is the record of a male
taken June 17, 1876, at Greensboro, whose “stomach con-
tained debris of insects.” The following was appended:
“This little bird seems to abound in the thickets about
marshes and streams. Its song is so similar to that of
the house wren (Troglodytes aedon, the singing trog-
lodyte) that it requires a practised ear to distinguish be-
tween them.” Another bit of evidence that the Doctor
was young at the work in ’76. :
A couple of early records are Feb. 15, 1887, when the
Doctor heard the notes of a yellow-throat, and Mar. 20th,
when an adult male was seen. A female was taken on
Mar. 11, 1890.
May 24, 1888, a set of three eggs was collected near
Greensboro. “Incubation of three or four days. Nest
was concealed on a blackberry vine, and supported about
three or four inches from the ground, in thick briers and
weeds.”
In April, 1891, the Doctor writes in his journal: “Nest
of Geothlypis trichas was found on the 23rd; it contained
only one egg; an egg was laid every day till the set (four)
was produced. Nest on the ground near a bunch of
broom grass (Andropogon virginica) .”
“Common. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1891c).
No. 406. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 11, 1890. W
No. 657. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 6, 1890. W. C. oo
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 125
No. 921. Male im. Greensboro. Sept. 10, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 1048. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 15, 1898. W. C. Avery.
189. ICTERIA VIRENS VIRENS (Linneus).
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT.
No. 8 (old series) of Dr. Avery’s collection was an adult
male of this species taken May 27, 1876, near Content-
ment, 114 miles southwest of Greensboro. The stomach
contained blackberry seed and debris of insects. After
recording the specimen he writes: “This bird is a sum-
mer visitant, appearing in April and disappearing with
cool weather in the fall.
“He is a noisy bird; generally found in cool, low,
marshy places, where sometimes leaving his dark. haunts,
he perches upon a tall tree and utters a succession of
strange notes such as ‘baw-tate-tate-tate-chuck’ and then
a whistle. These are but a few of the strange sounds
with which he enlivens his shady haunts.
“He doubtless breeds here, though I have never seen his
nest nor found his young.”
Writing in 1888, the Doctor says: “I was waked from
profound sleep by the fluttering of a bird in my room
on the morning of April 21 at three o’clock. I lighted
my lamp and caught the bewildered bird, No. 55 of my
collection.” The stomach of this specimen contained
insects.
May 21, 1888, a set of four eggs was taken near Greens-
boro. “Incubation advanced. Nest in plum tree (Prunus
chicasa Michxz.), two feet from the ground. Measure-
ments of eggs: No. 1, .85 by .67; No. 2, .81 by .66; No.
38, .82 by .65; No. 4, .80 by .67; average .82 by .67. Sent
to Capt. Charles Bendire.”
“Common. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1891c).
The chat was taken by Dr. Avery near the mouth of
Perdido Bay on his visit to Baldwin County, Sept. 16th
to October 2nd, 1892.
No. 55. Male. Greensboro, Avr. 21. 1888. W. C. Avery.
No, 602. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 23, 1290. W. C. Avery.
No. 1039. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 8, 1893. W. C. Avery.
126 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
190. WILSONIA CITRINA (Boddaert).
HOoopED WARBLER.
“Common. Observed during spring and autumn mi-
gration. One specimen was taken on June 30 at Millwood,
on the Warrior River. It may be inferred from this
fact that this warbler breeds in Hale County.” ( 1891c).
One specimen of this species was taken on September
17th, 1892, on Bear Point, Baldwin County.
No. 557. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 11, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 563. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 12, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 624. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 30, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 626. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 30, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 627. Female. Greensboro. Aug. 30, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 902. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 25, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 1000 (?). Male. Greensboro. May 6, 1893. W.C. Avery.
No. 1041. Female. Greensboro. Apr. 15, 1893. W. C. Avery.
No. 1074. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 30, 1893. W. C. Avery.
191. WILSONIA CANADENSIS. (Linneus).
CANADA WARBLER.
“One specimen only taken on August 29 last.” (1891c).
No. 618. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 29, 1890. W. C. Avery.
192. SETOPHAGA RUTICILLA (Linneus).
REDSTART,
“Abundant in the river bottom. Summer resident.
Breeds. (1891c))
No. 683. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 17, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 708. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 26, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 787. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 7, 1890. W. C. Avery.
193. ANTHUS RUBESCENS (Tunstall).
IPIT.
“Common. Winter resident.” (1891c).
No. 341. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 4, 1880. W. C. Avery.
194. MIMUS POLYGLOTTOS POLYGLOTTOS (Linnzus).
MOCKINGBIRD.
“Abundant. Resident. Breeds. Much has been said
about the difference in excellence of the song of this
bird. The mature old males sing best; while it re-
quires perhaps two or three seasons for the younger
males to attain the full development of their vocal powers.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 127
One has but to hear the feeble efforts at song of the
young males of the first season to perceive the difference.
Several years ago there was an adult male, however,
that made the most discordant sounds; his song, if that
can be called song, which was a repetition for hours at a
time of the same monotonous noise, such as ‘chay! chay!
chay! chay!’ prolonged indefinitely in the same key, was
the only music he ever produced. I often asked myself:
‘Is that bird an idiot, or is his musical apparatus defec-
tive’?” (1891c).
A set of four eggs of the mocking-bird was taken from
a hawthorn, about three feet from the ground, near
Greensboro, April 25, 1888. The eggs measured: .91 by
72, .89 by .71, .94 by .70, and .95 by .71.
Young mockingbirds one-third grown were recorded on
the 28th of April, 1891, in the Doctor’s journal.
Among the Doctor’s Baldwin County notes, Sept. 16th
to Oct. 2nd, 1892, is the following: “Mockingbirds were
abundant; there were many seen; near Pensacola, in fact
in the incorporated limits of the town, hundreds were
seen feeding on pokeberries.”
It is an interesting fact that the label of the unnum-
bered specimen cited below bears this note: “Collected by
C. hudsonius.”
No. ....... Male. juv. Greensboro. Sept. 17, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 315. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 18, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 320. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 20, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 528. Female. Greensboro. June 2, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 1086. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 10, 18938. W. C. Avery.
No. 1110. Female. Greensboro. Dec. 30, 1898. W. C. Avery.
No. 1111. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 5, 1894. W. C. Avery.
The last named specimen was the last bird collected
by Dr. Avery. It is significant of his activity as an ornith-
ologist that this specimen was taken just six days be-
fore his death.
195. DUMETELLA CAROLINENSIS (Linnezus).
CATBIRD.
This species is entirely omitted from Dr. Avery’s list,
“Birds Observed in Alabama,” though a number of speci-
mens fell to his gun. Besides his Hale County records,
128 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
he noted that catbirds were abundant in Baldwin County,
Sept. 16th to Oct. 2, 1892.
No. 21. Male. Greensboro. May 18, 1887. W. C. Avery.
No. 283. No data.
No. 294. No data.
No. 664. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 9, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 1075. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 3, 1893. W.C. Avery.
196. TOXOSTOMA RUFUM (Linneus).
BROWN THRASHER. ,
“Common. Resident. Breeds.” (1891c).
The Baldwin County notes for Sept. 16th to Oct. 2,
1892, include the following: “Brown thrashers were seen
near the lagoon on the Gulf Coast on Sept. 26th.”
No. 525. Male. Greensboro. May 381, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 553. Male-hornot. Greensboro. July 28, 1890. W. C.
Avery.
No. 673. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 16, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 833. Male. Greensboro. May 4, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 1100. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 26, 1893. W. C. Avery.
No. 1101. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 26, 18938. W. C. Avery.
197. THRYOTHORUS LUDOVICIANUS LUDOVICIANUS
(Latham).
CAROLINA WREN.
“Abundant. Resident. Breeds.” (1891c).
Under date of June 3, 1876, Dr. Avery enters specimen
No. 5, an adult male of this species, in his journal, and
writes:
“A common bird in Alabama, where he is found during
the whole year. His song is not varied, but loud and
musical. When a rain has refreshed the parched earth,
and the sunshine plays upon the green trees and herbage,
his song may often be heard, as if he too rejoiced with
all nature.”
The stomach of a specimen taken June 1, 1889, con-
tained a “chinch bug and other insects.”
The Carolina wren was recorded as common in Baldwin
County, Sept. 16th to Oct. 2, 1892.
t . Female.
Ne 2ae) Hemele Guests, Whe geeky. Tee hag:
No. 322. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 20, 1889. W. :
No. 757. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 16, 1890. W. cC. paat
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 129
No. 883. Male. Anniston. July 8, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 884. Female. Anniston. July 8, 1891. W. C. Avery.
198. THRYOMANES BEWICKI BEWICKI (Audubon).
BEWICK’sS WREN.
“Not common. Winter resident.” (1891c).
The earliest fall arrival of the species recorded is Sept.
17, 1891.
No. 243. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 12, 1889. W.C. Avery. .
No. 282. Female. Greensboro. Nov. 30, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 338. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 8, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 791. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 25, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 794. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 25, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 1068. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 21, 1893. W. C. Avery.
No. 1080. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 9, 1893. W. C. Avery.
No. 1081. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 9, 1893. W. C. Avery.
No. 1088. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 14, 18938. W. C. Avery.
No. 1091. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 16, 1893. W. C. Avery.
No. 1103. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 27, 1893. W. C. Avery.
199. TROGLODYTES Z DON AXDON (Vieillot).
House WREN.
Under date of Sept. 8, 1886, Dr. Avery records a house
wren, but this record is rather doubtful because he omit-
ted it from his “Birds Observed in Alabama.” Again,
April 6, 1893, he notes in his journal: “A very small
wren was seen in a rose hedge. It was not the winter
wren nor Carolina nor Bewicks’ hence it must have
been Troglodytes aedon.”’ However, in 1893, a specimen
was taken at Greensboro and is still in the collection.
No. 1022. Male. Greensboro. 1893. W. C. Avery.
200. CERTHIA FAMILIARIS AMERICANA (Bonaparte).
BROWN CREEPER.
“Not common. Winter resident.” (1891c).
No. 308. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 11, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 348. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 4, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 775. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 21, 1890. W. C. Avery.
201. SITTA CAROLINENSIS ATKINSI (Scott).
FLORIDA WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH.
“Not common. Resident. Breeds.” (1891c).
No. 418. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 15, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 890. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 11, 1890. W. C. Avery.
5—AB
130 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
202. SITTA CANADENSIS (Linnzus).
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH.
“Migrant. In my collection is one example taken
October 4, 1888, the only one I have ever met with.”
(1891c).
The red-breasted nuthatch is not a regular migrant
in Alabama, but should more properly be classed as a
straggler.
No. 938. Male (adult) Greensboro. Oct. 4, 1888. W. C. Avery.
203. SITTA PUSILLA (Latham).
BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH.
“Common. Resident. Breeds.” (1891c).
May 1, 1888, a set of five eggs was taken two miles
west of Greensboro. “Nest was in a post, about five feet
from the ground. The parent when exposed by having
the excavation, in which she was sitting, laid open to the
bottom, did not move ’till the hand was extended to take
her from the nest. The entrance to the nest was a cir-
cular hole about two inches in diameter; the cavity being
about ten inches deep and three or four inches wide, the
hole at the bottom being extended laterally and excavated
so as to receive the nest. This was of cotton and hair,
lined with the samare of maple or ash.” Eggs measured:
.59 by .45, .56 by .45, .56 x .44, .58 by .47, and .56 by .45.
May 2, 1888, a set of four eggs was taken near the
same locality. Incubation just begun. ‘Nest was about
four feet from the ground in a dead pine stump; bird
sat on nest till I broke away outside shell and exposed her
to view.” Eggs measured: .62 by .48, .60 by .48, .65 by
A7, and .63 by .47.
The Doctor records seeing brown-headed nuthatches in
Baldwin County, Oct. 2, 1892.
No. 222. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 22, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 423. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 15, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 424. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 15, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 641. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 4, 1890. W
No. 885. Male. Anniston. July 1, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 965. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 23, 1891. W. C. Avery.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 131
204. BAZOLOPHUS BICOLOR (Linnezus).
TUFTED TITMOUSE.
“Common. Resident. Breeds.” (1891c).
Several recorded in Baldwin County, Sept. 16th to Oct.
2, 1892.
No. 342. Female. Greensboro. Jan. 4, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 419. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 15, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 778. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 21, 1890. W. C. Avery.
205. PENTHESTES CAROLINENSIS CAROLINENSIS
(Audubon).
CAROLINA CHICKADEE.
“Common. Resident. Breeds.” (1891c).
Recorded in Baldwin County, Sept. 30, 1892.
No. 277. Female. Greensboro. Nov. 23,1889. W.C. Avery.
No. 300. Female. Greensboro. Dec. 9, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 302. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 10, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 426. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 15, 1890. W. C. Avery.
206. REGULUS SATRAPA SATRAPA (Lichtenstein).
GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET.
“Common. Winter resident.” (1891c).
No. 264. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 9, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 336. Female. Greensboro. Jan. 3, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No, 429. Sex (?). Mar. 20, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 799. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 27, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. ...... Odd specimen—No data.
No. ..... Odd specimen—No data.
207. REGULUS CALENDULA CALENDULA (Linnzus).
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET.
“Common. Winter resident.” (1891c).
No. 816, cited below, was singing when shot. Unfor-
tunately for Alabamians, however, the ruby-crown does
not render its song in full volume while within the State.
It is one of the most remarkable of North American
songsters.
No. 104. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 6, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 105. Female. Greensboro. Apr. 6, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 249. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 26, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 771. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 19, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 816. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 22, 1891. W. C. Avery.
132 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
208. POLIOPTILA CH RULEA CAERULEA (Linnzus).
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER.
“Abundant. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1891c).
The gnatcatcher was first recorded under date of June
3, 1876, when an adult male was taken at Greensboro.
Part of the entry follows: “This bird is found in warm
weather. The nest, like that of the hummingbird, is
beautifully constructed, woven around and to the sides of
the branches so as to appear like an excrescence.”
The following interesting record of the Doctor’s early
struggle with ornithology is taken from his “Oological
Register” under date of May 14, 1876: “This nest (gnat-
catcher) is that of the smallest bird in this country ex-
cept the hummingbird. When I was a boy there was a
smaller bird than the builder of nest No. 3. It has dis-
appeared. It exists in this region, at least, no more.
It was so small that the smallest sparrow compared to it
was large. My recollection of it is that it had a small
yellow spot upon the occiput and was of a leaden color on
the belly, while the back was of a greenish tinge. It has
been many years since I saw it, perhaps twenty-five. It
hopped about upon the trees and especially upon the
small pines, examining minutely every leaf for its food.
It was so gentle that I remember once when a boy that
for want of another missile that I took my cap from my
head and struck one dead from a bush.”
It is quite patent that the gentle bird was a golden-
crowned kinglet, but it is surprising that one whose ob-
servational powers were so keen as to fix a fairly accur-
ate description in his mind for twenty-five years should
so long overlook a common winter visitant.
May 4, 1888, a set of five eggs was collected eight
miles south of Greensboro. The nest was in a sweet
gum, fifteen feet from the ground. Three of the eggs
were broken; the remaining two measured: .56 by .49
and .58 by .48.
April 4, 1893, while making observations on the nest-
ing of the yellow-throated warbler Dr. Avery discovered
another nest of the gnatcatcher. He writes: “The wheezy,
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 133
squeaking calls of two blue-gray gnatcatchers were heard
in the water oak, and one of the birds flew to the ground
and gathered material for a nest from the side of a de-
cayed stump within ten feet of where we sat. A few
minutes’ search was rewarded by the discovery of the
nest upon the horizontal branch of an elm not more than
a hundred feet from the water oak. The beautiful, lich-
en covered cup was glued to the surface of the branch so
tightly that no wind could move it, frail though it was,
from the spot where the skillful architect had placed it.”
The species was recorded on Perdido Bay, Sept. 16th
to Oct. 2, 1892. —
No. 231. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 26, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 567. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 12, 1890. W. C. Avery.
209. HYLOCICHLA MUSTELINA (Gmelin).
Woop THRUSH.
“Swamp Sparrow”
“Common. Summer resident. Breeds.” (1891c).
June 26, 1875, Dr. Avery wrote in French in his jour-
nal: “I found today the nest of a bird which is called in
English ‘swamp sparrow.’ In the morning they (the
two birds) began the nest and finished it in the after-
noon of the same day: I did not think that it was possible
that a bird could construct its nest so soon.” (The wood
thrush is commonly known to the people of certain rural
sections of Alabama as “swamp sparrow’).
April 26, 1888, a set of four eggs was taken at Greens-
boro; incubation just begun. The nest was in the top of a
small shell-bark hickory, about ten feet from the ground.
The eggs measured: 1.05 by .76, 1.03 by .74, 1.01 by .72,
and .97 by .71. This set was sent to Capt. Charles
Bendire.
No. 44. Male. Greensboro. Apr. 4, 1888. W. C. Avery.
No. 542. Male. Greensboro. July 16, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 711. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 29, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 712. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 29, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 717. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 30, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 875. Male Anniston. July 3, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 937. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 25, 1891. W. C. Avery.
134 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
210. HYLOCICHLA FUSCESCENS FUSCESCENS (Stephens).
VEERY. WILSON’S THRUSH.
“My first record of this thrush for the autumn migra-
tion of last year is September 9, my last is September
25. Between these dates it was frequently seen, and
though I was out, on an average, four days in the week
till the first of November, no specimen was met with after
September 25.” (1891c).
A specimen was taken on Bear Point, Perdido Bay,
Sept. 17, 1892.
No. 636. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 3, 1890. W.C. Avery.
No. 662. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 9, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 667. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 11, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 675. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 16, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 680 (?). Greensboro. Sept. 15, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 689. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 19, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 694. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 22, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 695. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 22, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 700. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 28, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 704. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 25, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 905. Male. Greensboro. Aug. 26, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 918. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 10, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 929. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 23, 1891. W. C. Avery.
211. HYLOCICHLA ALICIA ALICL£ (Baird).
GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH.
Apparently the Doctor did not distinguish this, the
typical subspecies, from Bicknell’s thrush for two of
the three specimens mentioned under the latter form in
his “Birds Observed in Alabama” are really referable to
aliciae.
No. 703. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 25, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No, 724, Male. Greensboro. Oct. 2, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 725. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 2, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 739. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 7, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 762, Female. Greensboro. Oct. 17, 1890. W.C. Avery.
No. 772, Male. Greensboro. Oct. 20, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 916. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 10, 1891. W.C. Avery.
No. 930. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 23, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 931. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 23, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 939. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 26, 1891. W. C. Avery.
212. HYLOCICHLA ALICL& BICKNELLI (Ridgway).
BICKNELL’s THRUSH.
“One was taken on September 17. The next record is
September 25, the last October 20. These thrushes were
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 135
frequently seen from the first to the twentieth of October,
the date of my last record.” (1891c).
No. 687. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 17, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 719. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 1, 1890. W..C. Avery.
No. 928. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 19, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 936. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 25, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 1067. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 20, 1893. W. C. Avery.
213. HYLOCICHLA USTULATA SWAINSONI (Tschudi).
OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH.
“Was observed from the twentieth of September till
the first week in October.- This species with the two pre-
ceeding fed mostly upon the berries of the Black Gum
(Nyssa multiflora) ; and could be seen at all times of
the day flying to and from these trees. The specimens
obtained were so fat that it was with difficulty that a
good skin could be made from them. How these birds
could migrate for a thousand miles perhaps, and cross
the sea, as some of them do, carrying so much dead
weight, is difficult to imagine. And yet they do fly
without trouble. It may be that this extra adipose ma-
terial is a supply stored up for their journey, without
which they might not accomplish it.” (1891c).
No, 223. Sex (?). Greensboro. Sept. 27, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 686. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 17, 1890. W. C. fvery.
No. 714. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 30, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 716. Male. Greensboro. Sept. 30, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 720. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 1, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 721. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 1, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 726. Female. Greensboro. Oct. 2, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 750. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 13, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 985. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 25, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 938. Female. Greensboro. Sept. 26, 1891. W. C. Avery.
No. 1056. Male. Greensboro. May 8, 1898. W. C. Averv.
214. HYLOCICHLA GUTTATA PALLASI (Cabanis).
HERMIT THRUSH.
“Not common. Winter resident. First arrival re-
corded this fall is on October 24.” (1891c).
The stomachs of three specimens, taken Jan. 22, 1878,
April 4, 1888, and April 5, 1888, respectively, contained
beetles.
No. 233. No data.
No. 273, Female. Greensboro. Nov. 14, 1889. W. C. Avery.
136 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
No. 325. Male. Greensboro. Dec. 21, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 356. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 25, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 789. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 24, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 796. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 25, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 804. Male. Greensboro. Nov. 5, 1890. W. C. Avery.
215. PLANESTICUS MIGRATORIUS ACHRUSTERUS
(Batchelder).
SOUTHERN ROBIN.
“Common. Winter resident. First appeared in this
locality this fall, on October 19. Two pairs of robins
nested the past season in the yard of John L. Cobbs, state
treasurer, in the city of Montgomery. The young were
reared, and they remained with their parents in the yard
of Mr. Cobbs all the summer and were still there in
October, as was reported to me on inquiring. This is
the first instance known to me of the robins nesting so
far south. If these birds are not shot this winter, they
may remain to breed again next year; and we may have
the interesting spectacle of a colony of robins in a south-
ern city.” (1891c). This colony did not materialize, how-
ever, and the record remains unique.
No. 408. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 11, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 412. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 13, 1890. W. A. Cobbs.
No. 787. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 23, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 815. Female. Greensboro. Mar. 20, 1891. W. C. Avery.
216. SIALIA SIALIS SIALIS (Linneus).
BLUEBIRD. :
“Common. Resident. Breeds.” (1891c).
Recorded in pine woods on Perdido Bay, Sept. 26, 1892.
No. 244. Male. .Greensboro. Oct. 12, 1889. W. C. Avery.
No. 357. Male. Greensboro. Jan. 25, 1890. W.C. Avery.
No. 409. Male. Greensboro. Mar. 11, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 461. Female. Greensboro. Apr. 14, 1890. W. C. Avery.
No. 722. Male. Greensboro. Oct. 1, 1890. W. C. Avery.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM CUSHMAN AVERY,
1884.
1886a.
1887.
1890a.
M. D.
(Letter to Editor on bird migration.)
<American Field, Vol. XXI, No. 23, June 7,
p. 545.
Migration of the Coot.
<Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. XI, No. 7,
July, p. 107.
. Domestication of the Wild Turkey.
<American Field, Vol. XXVI, No. 15, Oct.
9, p. 343.
Wiles of the Peregrine Falcon.
<Orn. and Ool., Vol. XII, No. 5, May, pp.
74-75.
King Rail in Louisiana (misprint for Alabama).
<Orn. and Ool., Vol. XIII, No. 5, May, p. 80.
Observations on the Grasshopper Sparrow in Hale
County, Alabama.
<Orn. and Ool., Vol. XIV, No. 8, August, p.
122.
. Chondestes grammacus.
<Am. Field, Vol. XXXII, No. 9, August 31,
p. 200.
Notes. (Records instance of male Bob White incu-
bating at Greensboro, Ala.)
<Am. Field, Vol. XXXII, No. 10, Sept. 7, p.
223.
The Woodcock.
<Am. Field, Vol. XXXIII, No. 25, June 21,
p. 584.
. Swainson’s Warbler in Hale County, Alabama.
<Orn. and Ool., Vol. XV, No. 10, October, p.
157.
138 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
c. Number of Eggs in a Set of the Cardinal.
<Orn. and Ool., Vol. XV, No. 12, December,
p. 185.
Birds Observed in Alabama.
d. No. 1<Am. Field, Vol. XXXIV, No. 25, Dec. 20,
p. 584.
e. No. 2.<Am. Field, Vol. XXXIV, No. 26, Dec. 27,
p. 607.
1891a. No. 3.<Am. Field, Vol. XXXV, No. 1, Jan. 3, p. 8.
b. No. 4.<Am. Field, Vol. XXXV, No. 2, Jan. 10, p.
82.
c. No. 5.<Am. Field, Vol. XXXV, No. 3, Jan. 17, p.
55.
1898a. Natural History (Records of Pelecanus erythror-
hynchos at Livingston and Pelecanus occiden-
talis near Fort Morgan, Ala.)
. <Am. Field, Vol. XL, No. 1, July 1, p. 7.
b. (Rapidity of flight of the Duck Hawk).
<Orn. and Ool., Vol. XVIII, No. 10, October.
p. 144.
INDEX OF SCIENTIFIC AND COMMON NAMES.
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION
*
Accipiter cooperi; Bonaparte.
velox, Wilson .....
Actitis macularia, Linn... :
Agelaius pheeniceus pheniceus, Linn... 71
predatorius, Wilson 71
Aix sponsa, Linn , 24
Aluco pratincola, Bonaparte. .cecccccnnnm . 57
Ammodrammus savannarum australis,
Maynard
Certhia familiaris americana, Bona-
parte. 129
Ceryle aleyon, Linn 60
Chemepelia passerina terrestris, Chap-
man
Chetura pelagica, Linn.
Chat, yellow-breasted
Chickadee, Canada .....
Chondestes grammacus, Say. . 83
Anas platyrhynchos, Linn...
rubripes, Brewster...
Anhinga anhinga, Linn...
Anthus rub cns, Tunstall
Antrostomus caroli Gmel 64
vociferus vociferus, Wilson 65
Archilochus colubris, Linn.
Ardea herodias, Linn
Asio flammeus, Pontoppidan
wilsonianus, Lesson... 57
Astragalinus tristis tristis, Linn............. - 19
Baeolophus bicolor, Linn. .....-_... —-131
Baldpate 23
Bartramia longicauda, Bechstein ._... . 85
Bee-Bird
martin -
Bittern
Blackbird, Red-winged .
Rusty .....
Bluebird
BU
Blue Jay, Florida.
Bobolink
Bob-white z 36
Bombycilla cedrorum, Vieillot. —.100
Botaurus lentiginosus, Montagu.___. 26
Branta canadensis canadensis, Linn 25
Bubo virginianus virginianus, Gmel. 59
Bullbat , 66
Bunting, black-throated 2 cenmmnon . 96
indigo 95
Butcher-bird
Buteo borealis borealis, Gmel.
lineatus alleni, Ridgway.
lineatus, Gme
platypterus, Vieillot
Butorides virescens virescens,
Buzzard, turkey
Calidris leucophza, Pallas.........
Campephilus principalis, Linn.
Cardinal :
Cardinalis cardinalis cardinalis, Linn... 93
Carpodacus purpureus purpureus, Gmel. 79
Catbird 12
Catharista urubu, Vieillot........
Cathartes aura septemtrionalis, Wied... 46
Catoptrophorus semipalmatus, Gmel...... 35
Cedarbird 100
Cedar waxwing .......—
Centurus carolinus, Linn
Chordeiles virginianus chapmani, Coues 66
virginianus,
Gmel. 65
wn 64
luteus, Bangs .. 64
Colinus virginianus virginianus, Linn... 36
Compsothlypis americana americana,
Linn. 108
Conuropsis carolinensis, Linn.............. 59
Coot 29
Cormorant 22
Corvus brachyrhynchos paulus, Howell... 70
Coturnicops noveboracensis, Gmel...........
Cowbird :
Crane, big blue.
white
whooping
Creeper, brown .
Crow, blackbird
earrion
rain
southern 70
Cuckoo, yellow-billed . 59
Curlew, long-billed .. 36
Cyanocitta cristata . 1
Dafila acuta, Linn 24
Darter, big blue 48
little blue
eastanea, Wilson
cerulea, Wilson.
coronata, Linn.
discolor, Vieillot..
dominica dominiea,
fusea, Muller.
magnolia, Wi
palmarum hypochrysea,
Ridgway
pennsylvaniea, Linn.
striata, J. R. Forster..
vigoral, Audubon.
virens, Gmel. ......
Dickcissel
Didapper Sich fae
Dolichonyx oryzivorus, Linn..
Dove, ground
mourning
140 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
is, Vieillot -.....-.-—— eViGL. Helodromas solitarius solitarius, Wilson 35
a Leland pHhe cece, Linn... 61 | Herodias egretta, Gmel... 265
villosus- auduboni;- Swainson... 60 Heron, black-crowned night... 27
Duck, black 3 PCat: DWE]: serericersaccncmanicinsimimagceniinitiios ae
: green
eer eee haeie lac oe
aramer yellow-crowned night... 27
wood Hirundo erythrogastra, 1 aa
i i ANN. ee rnsneenennene L2T Hummingbird, ruby-throated —. 2
Dumetella: <emiehaeneiey 102 Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis, sit
z 1.
Eagle, bald 51 Ome): ae eae ;
i i i 5 eevee — 45 Hylocichla alicie alicie, Baird. 134
Eee ee 26 aliciee bicknelli, Ridgway 184
e snowy 26 fuscescens fuscescens, Ste-
Egretta candidissima candidissima, phens - : 184
Gel. petiole guttata pallasi, Cabaniss._...135
Elanoides forficatus, mustellina, Gmel....___.133
Empidonax flaviventris, W. ustulata swainsoni, Tschudi.135
Baird , fe
Empidonax virescens, Vieillot.... Ibis, _ wood : : 25
Ereunetes pusillus, Linn. ..... Ieteria virens virens, Tah, oo ne 125
Euphagus ecarolinus, Muller Icterus gabula, Linn. Siete St Bit See ae, YD
, Spurilis, Dinter owe ey YD
Faleo columbarius columbarius, Linn... 56 Indigo bird 95
peregrinus anatum, Bonaparte... 52 i
sparverius sparverius, Linn... 56 | Jaybird .. 10
Finch, purple 79 | Jorea - : 3 92
Flicker 64 Junco hyemalis hyemalis, Linn.._.. 87
northern . . 64 slate-colored ___.__.__. fa eee 87
Florida cxerulea, . 26 .
Flycatcher, Arcadian . 69 | Killdeer _ 36
crested .. 68 | Kingbird 67
yellow-bellied . 68 Kingfisher, belted 200 _.. 60
Fly-up-the-creek _.........
Fulica americana, Gme
Gallinago delicata, Ord...
Gavai immer, Brennich ..
Geothlypis triches ignota, Chapman
Gnateatcher, blue-gray ......
Godwit, marbled 34
Goldfinch
Goose, Canada
Grackle, boat-tailed
bronzed. ......
purple
Grebe, pied-billed once 21
Greenhead
Grosbeak, blue
rose-breasted
Grus americana, Linn......
Guiraca czxrulea cerulea, Linn.
Gull, laughing .
Hal'wetus leucocephalus leucocephalus,
Linn. 51
Hawk, broad-winged ecccesecscsecsesnnsmunetne
chicken
red-shouldered
red-tailed ....
sharp-shinne
sparrow
Helinaia swainsoni, Audubon.......
Helmitheros vermivorus, Gmel...
Kinglet, golden-crowned
ruby-crowned ...
Kite, swallow-tailed 20 ee a GT
Lanius ludovicianus ludovicianus, Linn.101
Lanivireo flavifrons, Vieillot...........104
solitarius alticola, Brewster_105
Lark, horned 69
PNOM LL ccorasasainenceiysrrdicmrpcamnnsmimunmy “ED
prairie 96
prairie horned. 70
Larus atricilla, Linn 21
Limosa fedoa, Linn. 00 84
Log-cock 62
Lophodytes cucullatus, Linn. .W.. 23
Mallard 23
black 23
Mareca americana, Gmel. —
Marila aflinis, Eyton...
americana, Eyton.
marila, Linn
Martin, purple
Meadowlark
southern oo sia ee
Megaquiscalus major major, Vieillot_.. 78
Melanerpes erythrocephalus, Linn... 62
Meleagris galloparvo silvestris, Vieillot 41
Melospiza georgiana, Latham ............. eos OL
melodia melodia, Wilson _.. 91
Merganser, hooded
Mimus polyglottos polyglottos, Linn....126
Minotilta varia, L
inn. —. Eeiiectbeesemretaey Lt)
Mocking-bird 126
Molothrus ater ater, Boddert_..._. 71
Myoteria americana, Linn... —- 25
Myiarchus crinitus, Linn. ——. 68
Myiochanes virens, Linn, 68
AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 141
Nettion carolinense, Gmel..
Nigger OOS necreneeee veeeceneeen
Nighthawk
Flerida
Nuthatch, brown-headed
red-breasted
Florida white
Numenius americanus, Bechstein
‘Nyotanassa violacea, Linn.....-—-—~ 24
Nycticorax nycticorax nzvius, Boodzert 27
Octocoris alpestris alpestris, Linn... 69
alpestris praticola, Henshaw... 70
Oporernis formosus, Wilson... 12
Plover, black-bellied _22.---mwnnnen——= 86
: upland
Podilymbus podiceps, Linn....... =
Polioptila caerulea caerulea, Linn.
Pocecetes gramin:us gramineus, Gmel
Porzana carolina, Linn..
Progne subis subis, Linn.
Protonotaria citrea, Boddert.
Quail
Querquedula discors, Linn.
Quiscalus quiscula wneus, Ridgwa
quiscula quiscula, Linn..
3
, " 2
Oriole, Baltimore 73} Rail, one et
orchard .. Rallus elegans, AUdUbON Ween - 27
Osprey | ~ a Redbird
Otus asio asio, Linn...... SUMIMET: ocedtera cae armas
asio naevius, Gmel... Redhead
Oven-bird Red-start
Owl, barn Red-wing, Florida ...
barred a 58 Regulus calendula calendula, Linn 131
Florida barre ) SSS satrapa satrapa, Lichenstei 131
eee ha 1 2B Robin, Southern ....
ee * ed ee eee Rhynchops nigra
screech cae Sanderlin
rea 33
short-eared are eet itr 57 Sandpiper, least 33
Oxyechus vociferus, Linn.......____.__.. 36 pectoral 32
semipalmat 33
Pandion haliztus carolinensis, Gmel.._. 57 salitary 35
Paroquet, Carolina, Linn... — 59 spotted 35
Passerculus sandwichensis savanna, white-rumped
Wilson 80 Sapsucker, yellow-bellied
Passer domesticus, Linn... wwe TD Sayornis pheebe, Latham
Passerella iliaca iliaca, Merrem.____.. 91 Seal
Passerherbulus henslowi henslowi, Au- Seiurus aurocapillus, Linn...
dubon d 83 motacilla, Vieillot .. ot
Passerina cyanea, Linn. —............ —— 95 noveboracensis notabilis, Ridg-
eep 33 way
Peetweet 35 Seiurus noveboracensis noveboracensis,
Pelican, brown 22 Gmel.
white 22, Setophaga ruticilla, Limm..wn 126
Pelecanus erythrorhynchos, Gmel. —..... 22 Shearwater 22
occidentalis, Linn. ____. nam 22 Shirt-tail 62
Penthestes carolinensis carolinensis, Shoveller 24
Audub 131 Shrike, Loggerhead ooo eeennnennecen 101
Petrochelidon lunifrons lunifrons, Say.. 99 Sialia sialis sialis, Linn. 136
Peucea exstivalis bachmani, Audubon... 87 Sitta canadensis, Linn 130
Pewee, wood : 68 carolinensis atkinsi, Scott.......-129
Phalacrocorax auritus, Lesson_______. 22 pusilla, Latham 130
Philochela minor, Gmel,___________—. 30 Skimmer, black
Phieotomus pileatus pileatus, Linn... 62 Snipe
Pheebe 68 Wilson’s
Pigeon, 45 | Sora
Pine, Siskin 80 Sparrow, Bachman’s
Pintail 24
Pipilo erythrophthalmus alleni, Coues.. 92
canaster, How-
ell 92
Pipilo erythrophthalmus erythrophthal- 5
mus, Linn, 2°
Pipit 126
Piranga erythromelas, Vieillot —...... 97
rubra rubra, Linn......_____. 97
Pisobia fusicollis, Vieillot_. cian nin, OD
maculata, Vieillot____——___ 82
minutilla, Vieillot_. 33
Planesticus migratorius achrusterus,
Batchelder 186
Henslow’s
lark
AVATAR, aici ssimtmsissaninstnictcns 80
song
swamp
vesper ......
white-throated
Spatula clypeata, Linn...
142 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA
Spinus pinus, Wilson 80 Vulture, black 46
Spixa americana, Gmel............—-- _ 96 turkey 46
Spizella passerina passerina, Bechstein... 86
pusilla pusilla, Wilson.
Squatarola squatarola, Linn..______ 36
Stelgidopteryx serripennis, Audubon...._100
Sterna antillarum, Lesson ..... secon, 2
maxima, Boddert. 21
Strix varia alleni, Ridgway... 58
varia, Barton... Saoeae BS.
Sturnella magna argutula, Bangs ....... 72
magna, Linn._-....._.. 72
Swallow, barn 100
cliff 99
TOUGH WIN Cec ceceeec nee eect 100
Swift, chimney 66
Tanager, scarlet .. Faas eed oes OT
summer ...
Teal, blue-winged .
green-winged
Tern, black 21
least 21
royal 21
Thrasher, brown 128
Thrush, Bicknell’s —._.___.____134
gray-cheeked
hermit
O]IVE-DACK CM nee neenernnrrenennenene 135
Wilson’s 184
wood 133
Thryomanes bewicki bewicki, Audubon_129
Thryothorus ludovicianus ludovicianus,
Latham 128
Titmouse, tufted
Totanus fiavipes, Gmel.........
melanoleucus, Gme
Towhee
Alabama .
white-eyed
Toxostoma rufum, Linn.
Troglodytes zdon zxdon, Vieillot...
Tyrannus tyrannus, Linn. ........_.
Turkey, water 22
wild ts 41
Veery
Vermivora chrysoptera, Linn...
peregrina, Wilson
Vireo griseus griseus, Bodzrt....
mountain ...
red-eyed
white-eyed
Warbler, bay-breasted ..
black and wh
blackburnian
black-poll. 2.2 tte
black-throated green._._.____.119
Canada 126
cerulean
chestnut-sided ...
golden-winged —_.
hooded
Kentucky —W___.. 123
magnolia __oww ww... ees) bf
myrtle
palm
parula
pine
prairie
prothonotary _..
Swainson’s
'Fennessee accuse LOB!
Worm-eating _......-_..._._10T
yellow 11L
yellow-rumped LD.
yellow-throated 118
Water-thrush . 123
Grinnell’s —___..._.__ 128
Louisiana. na ssscmcansescand 2B
Waxwing, cedar 100
Whip-poor-will 65
Widow, Chuck-Will’s 000A
Willet e 85
Wilsonia canadensis, Linn 126
eitrina, Boddert._. 126
Woodcock 30
Woodpecker, ivory-billed 2. . 60
pileated WW.
red-bellied __.
Wren, Bewick’s 129
Carolina 128
house 129
Yellow hammer
Yellow-legs ..
Yellow-legs, greater _........
Yellow-threat, Florida
Zamelodia ludoviciana, Linn...
an 194
yellow-throated 00... 2
Vireosylva olivacea, Linn. .......
Zenaidura macroura carolinensis, Linn 45
Zonotrichia albicollis, Gmel..____. 85
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