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GORINEELE
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
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LABORATORY
OF ORNITHOLOGY
LIBRARY
Gift of
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LABORATORY OF ORNITHOLOGY
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
ITHACA, NEW YORK
/9 70)
DATE DUE
CHAPTERS
ON THE
NATURAL HISTORY
OF THE
UNTPED STATES
BY
R. W. SHUFELDT, M.D.
CAPTAIN, MEDICAL DEPARTMENT, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED).
ASSOCIATE IN ZOOLOGY, SMITHSONIAN
INSTITUTION.
Author of « The Osteology of Arctic and Subarctic Water Birds,” «The Myology
of the Raven,” “ Lectures on Biology,” «The Anatomy
of Heloderma,” Ete., Ete.
STUDER BROTHERS, Publishers,
156 Fifth Avenue, New York.
Issued under the auspices of
THE NATURAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA,
NEW YORK, U.S. A.
1897
Coryrient, 187
By JACOB H, STUDER
To
My LEARNED AND ESTEEMED FRIEND
THEODORE NICHOLAS GILL
I pepicate rHis Book,
NOT ONLY
AS A SLIGHT TOKEN OF MY PERSONAL REGARD,
BUT ALSO
To EXPRESS MY PROFOUND APPRECIATION
OF
His genius, and for the power and
influence his many works
have had in
advancing the best interests of General Biology.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER.
I.
Il.
III.
TVs
Vabhe
VIII.
XVII.
XVIII.
CONTENTS.
Methods of Study of Natural History
Classification of Animals
Some Interesting Insects, with Notes on the Class (Insecta)
Crayfish and Crabs (Crustacea)
Sawfish, Rays, Sharks, and Their Allies, with Notes on Deep-
sea Fishes (EHlasmobranchii, ete.)
Sea Horses and Eels (Hippocampide: Anguillide)
Frogs, Toads, Newts, and other Amphibians (A mphibia)
Some Observations on Lizards (Lacertilia) .
Protective Coloration in Snakes, with other Notes about Them
(Ophidia)
Turtles and Tortoises (Chelonia)
Alligators and Crocodiles (Crocodilia)
Grebes, Loons, and Auks (Pygopodes : Alem)
Gulls and Their Allies (Longipennes) .
Pelicans and Their Relatives (Steganopodes)
Meadow-larks and Partridges (genus Sturnella: Perdicine)
American Vultures. (Superfamily Cathartoidea.) (Family
Cathartide. )
Some of the Owls of the United States (Striges)
The Carolina Paroquet and other Notes
The United States Cuckoos (Family Cuculide)
Woodpeckers : Photographically and Pterylographically con-
sidered (Pict)
PAGE.
to
29
64
82
91
108
146
156
164
183
195
204
‘@}
5
CHAPTER
XXII.
XXIT.
XXIII.
XXIV.
XXV.
XXVI.
XXVIT.
XXVIII.
XXIX.
CONTENTS
The Cedar Birds: with Notes on Where Birds Lay Their
Eges (Ampelide: Turdus: Vireo: etc.)
The American Warblers and Sparrows (Mniotiltida and Fringil-
lide)
The Yellow-breasted Chat ; Cat-birds; and the Oven-bird
(Ieteria virens ; Galeoscoptes carolinensis ; and Siurus
auricapillus)
The Common Opossum and Its Kin (Didelphys virginiana)
Whales and Manatees (Cetacea: Sirenia)
The Flying Squirrel and Its Relatives (Family Sciuride)
The Deer Mouse, with Notes on other Rodents (Peromyscus leu-
copus: Rodentia)
Bats and Their Habits (Chiroptera)
Museums and Their Uses: with some Observations on Tax-
idermy
PAGE
291
eo
nay
“1
442
ILLUSTRATIONS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Portrait of Author (1894) : . : ; Frontispiece
Fig. 1. Spider Carrying Her Young in a Silken Ball (Dolomedes tene-
brosus, Hentz). From a photograph by the Author : 39
Fig. 2. The Whip-tailed Scorpion (Vhelyphonus giganteus). Natural
size. From life, by the Author ‘ ; ; 41
Fig. 3. A Typical Dragon-Hy (Libellula trimaculata): g natural size.
From a photograph of living specimen by the Author 45
Fig. 4. The Praying Mantis. Drawn from life by the Author 50
Fig. 5. The Violet Land Crab. Drawn by the Author — . : 61
Fig. 6. Sawfish (P. pectinatus). Side view é : : 5 65
Fig. 7. Sawtish (P. pectinatus). Ventral view ‘ : : 65
Fig. 8. Torpedo (Vorpedo occidentalis) 2 : : E 69
Fig. 9. Barndoor Skate (Raia levis) A ; : : 69
Fig. 10. Sting Ray (Trygon sabina) : : ‘ : ; 69
Fig. 11. The White Shark (Carcharias) : : : ; 71
Fig. 12, Hammerhead Shark (Zygena malleus) . 75
Fig. 13. Chlamydoselachus anguineus 75
Fig. 14. The Torchtish (Linophryne lucifer) 77
Fig. 15. Neobythites sleatiticus : ; : ; : 79
Fig. 16. Odontostomas atratus — . : ‘ y : ; 79
Fig. 17. Bathypercis platyrhynchus 79
Fig. 18. Physiculus argyropastus : : : : : 79
Fig. 19. The Sea-horse (Hippocampus heptagonus ‘ ‘ 83
Fig. 20. Phylopteryx eques : 5 : : : : 34
Fig. 21. Fry of Sea-horse : : : 3 4 85
Fig. 22. The Common Eel (Anguilla vulgaris) —. ; : 2 88
Fig. 23. Life-size head of Murwnopsis tridaetylus _ . : : 92
Fig. 24. The Tiger Salamander ‘ ; : : ; 97
Fig. 25. Common Bullfrog. From photograph by the Author , 101
Fig. 26. Tree-toads (Hyla versicolor) : : : : . 108
Fig. 27. Anolis principalis —. : 5 : 5 d 111
Fig. 28. Gila Monsters (Heloderma suspectum) . ; : eT
Fig. 29. Side view of the Head of a Heloderma — . : : 119
Fig. 30. Superior view of a Heloderma : : : 21
Fig. 31. Ventral view of a Heloderma 4 : ; ‘ 123
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
as
Fig.
Fig. :
Fig.
Fig. ¢
Fig.
5
Fig. :
Fig. |
5
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
g-
Fig.
Fig. ¢
Fig.
61.
62.
63.
. 64,
g. 65.
66.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus collaris)
Sceloporus undulatus
Summer Snake (Cyclophis vernalis), in Smilax Vine
Young of Water Snake (Natrizx sipedon)
The Blotched King Snake (Lampropeltis rhombomaculata)
Floor of the Mouth of Bullsnake (P. s. bellona)
Left lateral view of the head of Bullsnake
Young Box Tortoise (Cistudo carolina)
Shell of Testudo pardalis. Upper or dorsal aspect
Shell of Testudo pardalis. Lower or ventral aspect
The Carapace of a Young Hawk’s-bill Turtle (Caretta imbricata)
Head of Crocodile
The Gavial
The Horned Grebe : : : ‘
Right lateral aspect of the Head of the Black-throated Diver
(Urinator arcticus)
Whiskered Auklet
The Great Auk (Plautus impennis)
Ross’s Gull (Rhodostethia rosea)
Trudeaw’s Tern
The Long-tailed Jaeger
The Black Skimmer
The Brown Pelican
Nest of Meadow-lark containing Two Young (Sturnella magna)
The Meadow-lark
The Massena Partridge ;
Head of the Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) .
Young Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
The American Long-eared Owl (Asio wilsonianus)
The Long-eared Owl (A. wilsonianus). From a photograph by
the Author .
Nestling of Barred Owl ;
Head of Young Barred Owl (Syrnium nebulosum)
The Carolina Paroquet (Conurus carolinensis)
The Yellow-billed Cuckoo (C. americanus)
Photograph of a Live Specimen of Downy Woodpecker
(Dryobates pubescens)
Vertical Section of Tree, showing Nest of Golden-winged
Woodpecker, containing Six Young
PAGE
126
127
131
1Bo
139
142
143
149
152
152
1538
157
162
165
Fig. 67.
Fig. 68.
Fig. 69.
Fig. 70.
Fig. 71.
Fig. 72.
Fig. 73.
Fig. 74.
Fig. 75.
Fig. 76.
Fig. 77
Fig. 78.
Fig. 79.
Fig. 81.
Fig. 82
Fig. 83
Fig. 84.
Fig. 85.
Fie. 86.
Fig. 87
Fig. 88,
Fig. 89.
Fig. 90.
Fig. 91.
Fig. 92
Fig. 93.
Fig. 94.
Fig. 95.
Fig. 96.
Fig. 97
Fig. 98.
Fig. 99.
Fig. 100
Fig. 101
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Nestling Golden-winged Woodpecker
Pterylosis of Harris’s Woodpecker. Lateral view
Pterylosis of Harris’s Woodpecker. Dorsal and ventral views
Pterylosis of Red-naped Woodpecker. Ventral view
Pterylosis of Red-naped Woodpecker. Dorsal view
Cedar Waxwing (Ampelis cedrorum). Photograph from life .
15
PAGE
Cedar Bird (A mpelis cedrorum). Photograph from living specimen 295
A Pair of Cedar Birds (Ampelis cedrorum. Adult g and 9
Nest of Wood Thrush (Turdus mustelinus)
Young Wood Thrush (Turdus mustelinus)
Nest and Young of Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceous)
Nest and Young of the Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)
Black-poll Warbler (Dendroica striata) g. From life
Nest and Young of the Yellow Warbler (Dendroica wstiva).
Taken, natural size, in situ, from nature by the Author
Nest and Three Young of the Prairie Warbler
Young Chipping Sparrows (Spizella socialis)
A Pair of Crossbills
Nest and Young of Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens)
Nest and Young of Catbird (Galeoscoptes carolinensis).
A Pair of Young Catbirds
The Oven-bird (Siurus auricapillus). Natural size
Nest of the Oven-bird (Siurus auricapillus)
Nest of Furnarius
Vertical Section of the Nest of Furnarius
Young of American Opossum (D. virginiana)
Young of American Opossum (D. virginiana). Right lateral view 371
Common Dolphin (D. delphis)
Skunk Porpoise (Lagenorhynchus gubernator)
The Blacktish (Globiocephalus melas) : ; .
The Grampus (Grampus griseus)
The Herring-hog (Phoceena communis)
The Sperm Whale
The Bowhead Whale
The Narwhal
The Sperm Whale
Skull of African Manatee (Manatus senegalensis)
Fig. 103.
Fig. 104.
Fig. 105,
Fig. 106,
Fig. 107.
Fig. 108,
Fig. 109.
Fig. 110.
Fig. 111.
Fig. 112.
Fig. 113.
Fig. 114.
Fig. 115.
Fig. 116.
Fig. 117.
Fig, 118.
Fig 119.
Fig. 120,
Fig. 121,
Fig. 122.
Fig, 123,
Fig. 124.
Fig. 125,
Fig. 126,
Fig. 127.
Fig. 128.
Fig. 129,
Fig. 130.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Front View of the Head of the American Manatee. Lips di-
varicated) : :
Front View of the Head of the American Manatee. Lips
contracted ;
South American Manatees. Attitudes of swimming
South American Manatees in Act of Feeding
The Flying Squirrel (Sciuroptems v. volueella)
The Gila Chipmunk
Life-size Head of a Specimen of Abert’s Squirrel
True’s Pition Mouse. Life size from nature ,
The Deer Mouse (P. leucopus). From life
The Jumping Mouse 3 : “
Section of the Skull of a Beaver (Castor fiber)
Side View of the Skull of a Beaver (after Huxley)
Side View of Skull of Muskrat (Liber zibethicus) .
Bats in an Old Tree-stump
Serotine Bat
Serotine Bat. Front view
Ornithological Hall of the Smithsonian Institution
Model of Sunfish, ready to receive the skin
Anterior View of Mounted Sunfish
Mounted Specimen of a Sunfish
Group of Jackals
Model of Jackal
Model of Jackal
Mounted Specimen of Fox
Model of Young Bear p
Mounted Specimen of Young Polar Bear
Mounted Specimen of the European Pine Marten
Rhea Americana
PAGE
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
N offering to my readers the Chapters on Nat-
ural History found in the present volume, it is
not with the intention of placing before them
anything having the form of a systematic
treatise upon the subject, but rather a series
of nature stories selected at random by their
author. During the past ten or twelve years
or more I have contributed to the various
popular-science magazines of this country
accounts and descriptions of many of our bet-
ter-knowh mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, and
insects, and it is from these that the present
chapters have been largely borrowed. In
nearly every case, however, they have been extensively revised,
auginented, and in a few instances new illustrations added to
them. YOUNG
Nesr anp THRE
81
Fic.
OF THE UNITED STATES 329
the birds are not much bigger than young humming-birds, but
they grow rapidly, and, at about the time they were ready to quit
the nest I made a photograph of both, taking it of natural size.
(See Fig. 81.) Upon examining the structure of this nest I find
it to be composed of the following materials: inside it is some-
what thickly lined with the very finest kinds of grass, vegetable
fibers, and the white hair of some animal,—the three being beau-
tifuly interwoven in such a way as to give a smooth and even
surface. This lining is completely blended with the outer struc-
ture of the nest, in which latter much of the same material is
used, but to this part of the structure the birds had added bits
of white string, feathers, rather coarser grasses, scraps of cot-
ton, and tiny pieces of wool, and similar materials. The weav-
ing is extremely intricate and close, and the nest below is built
around little limbs of the fork that supports it. In form it is
deeper than it is broad, being somewhat sub-ellipsoidal in general
contour. They do not vary much, though one that my son found
had a good deal of cotton in its composition.
Some of these warblers are very beautiful birds, as, for exam-
ple, the Prothonotary (P. citrea), the Magnolia (D. maculosa),
the Cerulean warbler (D. cerulea), the Blackburnian (D. black-
burnie), and others; some are rare, as Swainson’s or Kirtland’s
(H. swainsonii and D. kirtlandi); others again are extremely
plain in plumage and seclusive in habit. They are, however, all
deserving of our closest study, and any one adding reliable data
to the known chapters in the history of any of them will be doing
ornithological science a distinct service and benefit.
Passing next to the family Fringillide, we find it to be repre-
sented in the United States avifauna by a large and varied col-
lection or assemblage of birds, of which the Grosbeaks, the Bunt-
ings, the Towhees, the Finches of different species and subspe-
cies, the Sparrows, the Snowbirds and others, are all characteris-
tic examples. The study of this large and extensive group of
forms is extremely interesting and important, especially when
we come to consider their number, their habits, their wide geo-
graphical range, their morphology, and their economic relation
to man. But it is not my intention to enter upon any of these
subjects in the present connection, as even a general considera-
tion of them would far exceed the limitations of our space. It is
my desire simply to bring before my readers certain comparative
data by means of which I hope to make clear to them the growth
330 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY
of American ornithology along certain lines during the past cen-
tury. This is the reason why I select a large and familiar group
of birds (of the suborder Passeres) to illustrate what I have in
view, for nearly everyone in the land knows the more common
representatives of this tribe; as, for instance, the American Gold
finch, the Chipping sparrow (see Figure), the Snowbirds, the
Chewinks (Pipilo), and others.
Not long ago the American Ornithologists’ Union published a
second edition of its Check-List of North American Birds, and in
it is given the scientific and English name of every species and
subspecies of bird of this country. The first edition of this work
appeared over ten years ago, and the present writer has com-
pared the two volumes in such a manner, in addition to other
data, as to show the number of new birds made known to science
and named in the last one. These results were duly published in
The American Naturalist, of Philadelphia, of last year (1896). But
these show only the number of new species and subspecies of
birds discovered in this country during the past ten or twelve
years, whereas it can be shown that the widening of our knowl-
edge in similar fields during the past century has been simply
wondertul.
Let us start from the time of Wilson, for example, and his
name, that of ‘the American ornithologist,” as he has been
fondly called, is known to all of us. Alexander Wilson was born
in 1766, and died in 1813, so the most of his ornithological work
was performed about a century ago, and it is proposed here to
compare, in a general way, the number of Fringillida@ (Sparrows,
etc.) known to Wilson, with the number named in the A. O. U.
Check-List. With such a selected example as this before us, it
will not be difficult for those who are more or less interested in
American ornithology to gain some idea of what the entire ex-
tension of our knowledge has been in these fields.
T have before me what I take to be an alphabetical list of the
birds of this country as they were known to Wilson, and quite
apart from the synopsis of Dr. Brewer that subsequently ap-
peared in some of the later editions of the former’s work. The
first birds to be dealt with in this list are the Buntings, and these,
as have the majority of birds since Wilson’s time, have all had
their scientific, or classical names, changed for them. Of this,
little or nothing will be said here, and only to an extent in paren-
theses as will indicate to the modern student of the science, the
Fie. 82. Youne Cuiprine Sparrows (Spizella socialis).
Three days out of the nest, waiting to be fed. Photographed natural size, from life, by the Author,
from specimens captured and presented to him by Miss Alfhild D. Lowum.
OF THE UNITED STATES 333
genus dealt with in comparison, the one in the A. O. U. List being
used. Wilson knew of but eight birds that he called buntings,
the iirst of these being the Bay-winged bunting, now called the
Vesper sparrow (Poocetes), and to it two subspecies have been
added since his time. The Black-throated bunting (2), now
widely known as the Dickcissel (Spica), still remains the sole
representative of its genus. The Cow bunting, as well as the
Rice bunting of this author, are members of the family Icteride,
so this reduces his list of these birds to six. Next, of the genus
Passerina, Wilson knew of the Painted bunting (P. ciris), still
so called (3), and the Indigo bird (P. cyanea), our Indigo bunt-
ing. Two other beautiful species and a subspecies have been
here added since his time. One Snow bunting (4) was known to
Wilson, our Snowfake (Plectrophenax), and the genus has been
increased by another species and a subspecies; and while he
knew of but the one Towhee (Pipilo) (5), we now recognize no
less than four species of this familiar bird, and eight subspecies.
Equally remarkable is the record for the White-crowned bunt-
ing (6), our White-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia), of which he
knew but the one species, while the genus now contains four spe-
cies and two subspecies, the only other one of it known to him
being the White-throated Sparrow (Z. albicollis).
Wilson knew both species of those very interesting birds
known as crossbills (Loxvia), to which is now to be added the
Mexican crossbill (LD. ¢. stricklandi), and the American crossbill
has been reduced to a subspecies (L. curvirostra minor Curvi-
rostra americana). These birds are so remarkable, meriting as
they do a special description, that I shall at the close of the pres-
ent chapter, give a special account of them.
Of the genus Spinus, Wilson knew of but one little common
Yellowbird, or Goldfinch, and the Pine siskin, or, as he called it,
the Pine finch, while we have since d‘scovered or added to the
avifauna no less than three other goldfinches with their three
subspecies. Our well-known Purple finch (Carpodacus) was, of
course, familiar to him, but the genus now contains, in addition,
two other species and two subspecies.
Wilson also described the Savanna finch, the Seaside finch,
and the Sharp-tailed finch, all of which he retained in the genus
Fringilla. These birds are now placed in the genus Ammodramus,
and including those just mentioned, it contains no less than ten
species and eleven subspecies. But even still more interesting
334 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY
is the fact that he placed all the grosbeaks known to him in the
genus Lowia; these were the Blue grosbeak, the Cardinal, the
Pine, and the Rose-breasted. At the present time an Evening
grosbeak is known to us, with its subspecies (Coceothraustes) ;
the Pine grosbeak still remains unique (Pinicola); three sub-
species of the Cardinal grosbeak have been discovered (Cardi-
nalis), and an entire new related genus (Pyrrhuloria), contain-
ing the Texas cardinal with its two subspecies; the Rose-breast-
ed grosbeak is now associated in the genus Habia with the beau-
tiful western form, the Black-headed grosbeak, the existence of
which Wilson never even had a suspicion. The Blue-headed
grosbeak is also in a separate genus (Guiraca) with its western
subspecies. He knew only of one Redpoll, our well-known little
type of the north (Acanthis linaria), and to this genus has been
added another species and four subspecies.
When we come to the Sparrows, we find that our modern list
has been enormously increased since the early part of this cen-
tury, for Wilson mentions but eight Sparrows, every one of
which he retains in the genus F'ringilla, along, as has been point-
ed out above, with some of his finches. The genus Spizella con-
tains seven species and three subspecies, and it is in this that
we find the Chipping sparrow, the Tree sparrow, and the Field
sparrow, the only ones known to Wilson. He knew, also, the
Fox sparrow (Passerella), calling it the Fox-colored sparrow,
and we have found since his day three subspecies of this beauti-
ful bird.
It is curious to note here that Wilson called the male of our
Savanna sparrow (Ammodramus s. savanna) a finch, while the
female of the same bird he called a sparrow; he, however, recog-
nized the fact that it was one and the same species.
Everyone knows the Song sparrow (JJecelospiza fasciata), and it
alone was known to Wilson. In these days, however, this genus
contains no less than four additional species, together with ten
subspecies. Of these, Wilson only knew, besides the Song spar-
row (already mentioned), the Swamp sparrow (J/. georgiana
Fringilla palustris). He was familiar with the White-throated
sparrow of the genus Zouotrichia, already referred to above; as
he was with the Yellow-winged sparrow, now called by many
the Grasshopper sparrow of the genus Ammodramus, also men-
tioned in a former paragraph.
Finally, Wilson knew of but one Snowbird, his Fringilla hud-
OF THE UNITED STATES 300
sonia, the form now called, in the A. O. U. Check-List, the Slate-
colored junco (Junco hyemalis), to which genus has since been
added no less than seven additional species and seven subspe-
cies. Many of the modern genera of the family Fringillide were
totally unknown to Wilson as, for example, Leucosticte, Rhyncho-
phanes, Chondestes, Amphispiza, Euetheia, and Calamospiza, and
of course the forms that represent them.
In summing up, then, it will be seen that Wilson knew of but
thirty species of birds that belong to the family Fringillide,
while in our Check-List of 1895 the same family is represented by
no fewer than eighty-nine species and seventy-four subspecies—
163 birds in all. A large part of this augmentation has been
due to the activity of modern ornithologists collecting west of
the Mississippi river, over areas which, to Wilson, were totally
unknown.
In other lands than the United States, the fringilline or finch-
group includes an enormous number of specific and subspecific
forms, famous among these we find the Weaver-birds of Africa;
the European Haw-finch or Common Grosbeak of Europe; the
Common Sparrow, which has been so successfully introduced
into this country; the foreign Linnets, the Common Goldfinch of
Europe, the Canary, the European Ortalan, the Bullfinch, the
Java Sparrow, and a perfect host of others.
As stated above, I shall now give a brief account of the species
of crossbills found in this country. These birds average about
the size of an English sparrow (Passer domesticus), but they pre-
sent a character no less unique than the crossing of their bills.—
a feature not at present known to exist in any other species of
the entire class Aves. Both the upper and lower bills are suberes-
centie in form, the margins being sharp, and the apices ex-
tremely acute. Passing from base to apex, the lower bill is grad-
ually curved to one side, the upper mandible having a correspond-
ing curve to the opposite side, and both present a decided curva-
ture of their own. This arrangement admits of the mandibles
crossing each other near their middle thirds, and in this crossing
the point of the lower jaw turns out to the right side. I have met
with about one specimen in fifteen where the crossing takes place
in the other direction. The peculiar conformation of the beak
of these birds is not confined only to their horny sheaths, but
the asymmetry is still more profound, being entered into by the
osseous mandibles of the skull, while certain muscles of the head,
336 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY
the ligaments, and other parts, exhibit a corresponding and pro-
portionate distortion.
By this contrivance the bird has the power of forcibly pressing
apart the firm leaflets of the cones of various pine trees, and by a
dexterous use of the tongue, whipping into its mouth the seeds
concealed in the deeper recesses. These seeds form the principal
food of the crossbills, though they, in a similar manner, obtain
seeds from the “ cones” of the tulip-tree or poplar. Apples are
also split open in this manner, the birds being very fond of the
seeds of this fruit. I have, in Nebraska, seen these birds feed-
ing upon the seeds of the sunflower, in the winter time.
In my drawing illustrating this chapter, I have shown a pair
of American crossbills (Loxia curvirostra minor), the male bird
being in the act of parting the horny leaflets of a pine cone.
While drawing this bird, I had a specimen before me that I shot
near Washington, D. C., a number of years ago, and it shows
several traces of albinism, the top of the head being nearly en-
tirely white. Crossbills are finches, but they are very curious
kinds of finches, having many habits not exhibited by other mem-
bers of the same family. Wilson used the word Curvirostra for
the genus containing these birds, but Gesner applied the term
Loria (Greek, loros oblique), and this appellation was continued
by Linné, and is now the term used. by the vast majority of or-
nithologists the world over. We have three species of them in
this country, viz.: the American crossbill, mentioned above; the
Mexican crossbill (ZL. ¢. stricklandi), and the \White-winged
crossbill (Loria leweoptera).
As arule they are boreal birds, being confined to the northern
parts of the eastern United States, except the Mexican cross-
bill, which is said to be found in the mountains of Wyoming and
Colorado, west to the Sierra Nevada, and south through New
Mexico and beyond our boundaries. In the winter-time the other
two species also come south, especially the American crossbill,
which has been taken occasionally in the southern states. The
type of the genus, or the Common crossbill, is found in the Old
World (Loxia curvirostra), where three other forms of the genus
also occur— two of them so closely resembling the common
bird that their specific validity has been often questioned. The
first of these, of large stature, the Parrot crossbill, L. pityopsit-
tacus, comes occasionally to Great Britain, presumably from
Scandinavia, where it is known to breed. The second, L. himalay-
OF THE UNITED STATES 337
ana, which is a good deal smaller, is known only from the Hima-
laya Mountains. The third, the Two-barred crossbill, L. teniop-
tera, is very distinct, and its proper home seems to be the most
northern forests of the Russian Empire, but it has occasionally
occurred in Western Europe and even in England.” (A. New-
ton.)
Adult males of the American crossbill are of a more or less
bright reddish brick color, with dusky wings and tail. Females
are of a plain olive, often tinged with gray or yellow, and gener-
Fie. 838. A Parr OF CROSSBILLS.
ally dashed with darker markings; the latter aie aiways present
in the young birds, the grayish-green in them being lighter than
it is in the female. Male Mexican crossbills are more brilliant
than the males of the common one. A male of the white-winged
species will measure from 6 to 6 1-2 inches in length, and is a
more graceful bird than the others. It has black wings and tail,
the body being of a rich purplish carmine,—dusky on the back.
Two broad white bands are seen upon either wing, a character
that at once distinguishes this species, and which gives it its
338 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY
name. About twenty-five years ago I shot several males and
females of this white-winged species near Stamford, Connecti-
cut, in August, and found them common in central New York
in the winter-time. Females of this variety are also olive-green-
ish, light-yelowish upon their under parts. Common crossbills
are interesting cage-pets, but their bright red tints of plumage
frequently, indeed always, I believe, change to a variety of shades
of yellowish-red, greenish-yellow, or dull orange. These tints
are also found sometimes in adult males in a state of nature.
The cause for these changes is not as yet known to us, but the
food they eat in a state of confinement may have something to do
with it.
Marked variation in size of the individuals is also to be noticed,
and their beaks likewise vary greatly in this particular, while in
the white-winged species the latter are not so distinctly crossed.
Buffon, the great French naturalist, always contended that this
crossing was a deformity, and never changed his opinion, and
be it added here, probably never saw a flock of them engaged in
extracting the seeds from pine-cones. Beyond all doubt, this ar-
rangement has been produced by gradual development in time;
and in time, too, the descendants of other species may also pos-
sess it—for examples, both siskins and goldfinches constantly
feed upon the seeds in pine cones, thrusting their sharp beaks,
in the case of the siskins, far in to reach the seeds. A little cross-
ing of the bills would insure their survivance with greater cer-
tainty, no doubt.
Wilson, who left us a very excellent account of the American
crossbill, says that in the winter they appear in large flocks in
Pennsylvania where they feed * on the seeds of the hemlock and
white pine, have a loud, sharp, and not unmusical note; chatter
as they fly; alight, during the prevalence of deep snows, before
the door of the hunter, and around the house, picking off the clay
with which the logs are plastered, and searching in corners where
urine, or any substance of a saline quality had been thrown. At
such times they are so tame as only to settle on the roof of the
cabin when disturbed, and a moment after descend to feed as be-
fore. They are then easily caught in traps; and they will fre-
quently permit one to approach so near as to knock them down
with a stick.”
When kept in cages they have many interesting habits, some
of which, as holding sinall cones in their claws while feeding,
OF THE UNITED STATES 339
and using their bills when climbing along the wires, remind us
of some of the smaller parrots. Collectors for bird dealers often
capture crossbills during snowstorms, with a hair-noose at the
end of a short pole. They are thus taken on the cones while
feeding.
Sometimes thousands of crossbills will suddenly appear in
districts where conifers abound, and after attracting the atten-
tion of everyone in the neighborhood, will as suddenly disappear,
perhaps after a stay of less than twenty-four hours. Such a
flight of the American crossbill I observed here near Washing-
ton, D. C., last season, during the latter part of November (1896).
Next day all of them appeared to have taken their departure.
Occasionally, in New York, I saw both species in the same flock,
both being extremely noisy, timid, and restless.
These birds breed in the pine forests of the north, the western
form further south than the other two species. The season
chosen is either in winter, or very early spring. Ridgway, in de-
scribing the nidification of the American crossbill, says ‘ nest
rather a flat structure, in coniferous trees, composed externally
of spruce twigs, shreds of soft bark, etc., lined with horse-hair,
fine rootlets, etc., cavity about 2.50 across by 1.25 deep, external
diameter about 4.00. Eggs usually four, .75 by .57, pale greenish,
spotted with various shades of brown, mixed with purplish-gray.”
Crossbills, in common with so many other animals, have given
rise to their special myths. Therefore, we find those who aver
that this bird received its crossbill and its blood-tinted plumage
“in recognition of the pity it bestowed on the suffering Saviour
at the crucifixion.” (!) It has been hinted that even Buffon was
not altogether averse to this explanation of these two charac-
teristics of the males of this genus, quite ignoring the fact that
the females show no red in their plumage. Pathologically, crows
(and other Corvide) often exhibit a crossing of the mandible as
do some other species of birds.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, CAT-BIRDS, AND THE OVEN-BIRD.
(Icteria virens, Galeoscoptes carolinensis, and Siurus auricapillus.)
= ]N the pesent chapter it is my intention to notice one of
| the most remarkable of all the passerine birds in the
avifauna of the United States. Its vernacular name
has, ever since the discovery of the species, been the
Yellow-breasted chat, and so far as at present known:‘to me, it
has, with but few exceptions, passed under no other. But in the
hands of the classifiers of birds, and those who christen them
with their technical or scientific names, the fate of this species
has been very different.
Gmelin, Latham, and Pennant, with their followers, arrayed
it with the flycatchers; Desmarest had it among the tanagers;
Sparrman and others placed it with the cedar birds, while Lin-
neus, Buffon, and Brisson believed it was a thrush. The
Prince of Musignano took Wilson to task for presuming to think
that it could be one of the manakins, and Vieillot adopted its
present genus, Jcteria, for it. This generic appellation, together
with the specific one of virens, is recognized by the American
Ornithologists’ Union, and in the Check List of North American
Birds, the Yellow-breasted chat, with its western subspecific rep-
resentative, the long-tailed chat, are made to stand between two
genera of warblers, but just why it would be difficult to say.
The bird’s exact position in the system will probably not be
known, however, until its anatomical structure has been care-
fully studied, and this compared with that of many other species
of suspected alliance. Even this side of the history of the Yellow-
breasted chat would incline us to believe we had under considera-
tion one of the ornithological puzzlers, apart from anything else;
but its affinities are no more problematical than are the habits
of this singular species unique.
Probably few of those who read what I am writing here have
ever seen a Yellow-breasted chat, and it is said of Mr. Catesby,
who was the first to figure this species, that he was never able to
shoot one of them, and finally employed an Indian for the pur-
pose, and even the latter did not succeed until all his skill had
been put to the test. Doubtless this story is a little overdrawn,
OF THE UNITED STATES 34]
or else Catesby did not collect as well as he wrote; and no one
has ever questioned the influence of Mark Catesby’s writings.
To those accustomed, however, to the collection of all kinds of
birds, difficulty is experienced in the case of the present species
only from the habit it has of keeping concealed, and that its
notes are frequently ventriloquistic in character. Securing spec-
imens of them in plenty has never given me much trouble, either
during the vernal or autumnal migrations. Few, though, have
fallen to my gun, as to destroy the life of one of those splendid
fellows gives me quite as severe a pang and feeling of remorse as
it does to shoot a mockingbird.
Wilson, in describing this species, has said that the Yellow-
breasted chat “is seven inches long, and nine inches in extent;
the whole upper parts are of a rich and deep olive green, except
the tips of the wings and interior vanes of the wing and tail
feathers, which are dusky brown; the whole throat and breast
are of a most brilliant yellow, which also lines the inside of the
wings and spreads on the sides immediately below; the belly and
vent are white; the front [forehead] slate colored, or dull cin-
ereous; lores black; from the nostril a line of white extends to
the upper part of the eye, which it nearly encircles; another
spot of white is placed at the base of the lower mandible; the bill
is strong, slightly curved, sharply ridged on top, compressed,
overhanging a little at the tip, not notched, pointed, and alto-
gether black; . . . legs and feet light blue, hind claw rather
the strongest, the two exterior toes united to the second joint.”
Very little difference distinguishes the sexes, and the above
description is accurate for a number of specimens of this species
I have in my private collections. When you catch a glimpse of
one of the birds in the thicket, you are at once struck by the mar-
velous brilliancy of the yellow of its breast; and if the specimen
be secured, this is even enhanced by a closer examination. It is
surely a rich, pure, and gorgeous shade of that color, verging as
it does upon a clear orange in tone.
In the neighborhood of Washington the male chats begin to
arrive from the south about the last part of April, the females
following in afew days. They depart very early, and it is a rare
thing to see one after the first week in September. I remember
that in southern New England they used to come early in May,
and leave again in August, thus making their stay only a few
months.
342 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY
If upon any fine spring morning in the country, where the Yel-
low-breasted chat is found, one chances to pass in his rambles
into some thicket of hazel bushes, or into the dense undergrowth
of brambles, smilax, and wild grape vines, his ears may be sud-
denly saluted with the grotesque notes of this bird, as he scolds
you from the heart of his haunts for the intrusion. You listen,
and peer into the thicket with the hope of catching sight of the
singular performer, but, for a while at least, all your efforts in
this direction are in vain. Although apparently very near at
hand comes the anxious and angry repetitions of a series of pecu-
har whistling notes, the flame-breasted scamp is not to be seen.
These notes pass to a hoarse and guttural squawking as they
appear to gradually vanish in the distance, and become slower
and slower in their utterance. Suddenly, however, and perhaps
directly over your head, in the most remarkable manner, they
break out again in a loud and perfect jumble of alternate, rapid
and slow, cat-mewings and puppy-barkings, intermixed with a
selection of other notes quite defying the powers of description.
Now they are upon this hand, and now upon that, high pitched
and low pitched, until you verily believe the thicket is truly be-
witched and full of unseen sprites. In your despair at being
unable of even catching a glimpse of the author of this extraordi-
nary tirade, you take on to imitate him. This has a telling effect
almost immediately, and in many cases, so to speak, draws him
out, for, for the time putting aside his wonderful powers of ven-
triloquism, and his scoldings taking on a greater degree of ve-
hemence, he at last launches into the air above his retreat, and
with cawing notes uttered in varied key, he with jerky flight
appears in full view. After ascending some thirty feet or more,
he essays to again descend to the brush. This he does with slow
flapping wings and dangling legs, in manner indulged in by no
other bird known to me. If you persist in your imitations he may
follow you along from copse to copse for a quarter of a mile or
more, joined, sooner or later, perhaps, by others of the same spe-
cies. Wilson has very truly remarked: “ If the weather be mild
and serene, with clear moonlight, he continues gabbling in the
same strange dialect, with very little intermission, during the
whole night, as if disputing with his own echoes, but probably
with a design of inviting passing females to his retreat; for, when
the season is further advanced, they are seldom heard during the
night.”
Fie. 84. Nesr anpb YOUNG OF YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT.
From a photograph from life by the Author, and reduced about one-third.
OF THE UNITED STATES 345
Some time in May these birds build in the thick undergrowth,
near the ground, a light and tasteful nest. They usually lay four
eggs of a creamy white color, speckled all over with fine light
brown spots. Considerable variation is seen, both in form and
color of these eggs, and I have found specimens that were nearly
round in contour, and the markings very sparse.
Early last June, near Washington, in a low dogwood bush
that grew in the thickest kind of a bramble, I discovered one of
these nests containing five young. The former was a very pretty
structure, and rested most lightly upon the slender twigs of the
chosen bush. In a few days I succeeded in making an excellent
photograph of it, at a time it contained two young, ready to leave
the place of their birth. This has been reproduced to illustrate
the present account, and it gives an excellent idea of the nest
of this species.
The young are a dull olive green all over, being lighter and
ashy beneath, and the nest I found to be outwardly composed of
a layer of very dry dead leaves, followed by a layer of dry grasses
and very slender slivers of grapevine bark, to be finally lined
with tender, hair-like straws of various kinds. In form it is semi-
globular, and quite deep. Contrary to the report usually made
by ornithologists, the old birds made no particular disturbance
while the examination was being made of either the nest or their
young, but simply flipped about from bush to bush, uttering now
and then a low, angry, chuckling note.
Often I have found these nests in the smilax vines, or black-
berry, or even in a low cedar tree, but never above ten feet from
the ground. This is quite in keeping with the habits of the bird,
for he is essentially a thicket lover, and it is only through some
chance that he is ever seen in the forest or out afield, neither of
which haunts are normally frequented by him.
Passing to another family of the passerine birds, namely, the
family Troglodytide, we find a group, in so far as this country
is concerned, containing the Wrens, the Thrashers, the Mocking-
birds, and the Catbird, and of all of these forms none are more
deserving of our study and regard than the often-neglected and
abused Catbirds. Now Alexander Wilson was a very close ob-
server of birds, and at the time when he wrote, our feathered fa-
vorites in this country had no equal as a describer of their habits
and their characters. In my opinion, the description of the Cat-
bird given us by this most charming of ornithological writers is
346 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY
an unrivaled chapter upon the life history of this species, and
stands to-day as the most complete account, apart from its anat-
omy, upon record. He seems to have overlooked nothing in all
that goes to make up the history of this, to me, one of the loveli-
est representatives of the entire group of birds in America.
During the months of May, June, and July of the summer just
past, there were an unusual number of catbirds bred in the vicin-
ity of the City of Washington, D.C. Without special search for
them, as many as fifty nests of this species must have been seen
by me during the period mentioned. As usual, the birds built in
the brier and bramble thickets, in the dense vine of the honey-
suckle, in the hedge-rows of the osage orange, or in the saplings
of the scrub oaks or other trees found in this section of the coun-
try.
Last summer a pair of catbirds built a fine nest in the honey-
suckle that grows over my porch, close to the dining-room win-
dow, and reared five young ones; but I regret to say they did not
repeat the performance this year, although the same pair appar-
ently returned and inspected the site of their former home, and
then for some reason or other changed base, and built in a thick
honeysuckle vine at the foot of the garden. Here they met with
dire misfortune, however, for when their eggs were about half
incubated, a huge black snake came along one day and devoured
them. The pair, assisted by a friend or two of the same species,
made it lively for his snakeship for a few moments, in an open
space in the garden, but it could be nothing more than by way
of retaliation, for the damage had been done then, and the reptile
made good his escape through the grass and leaves beneath the
thick brush beyond the fence.
When June came about I selected for study a particularly
pretty nest of a pair of these birds, with the intention of making
photographs of it and of the young it contained. They had laid
four eggs when the nest was first discovered, and they were, as
usual, of a uniform greenish-blue color, and unspotted. Later,
one of these eggs disappeared, and but three of the birds were
hatched out.
Nearly every day I visited the small oak sapling in the piece
of woods where the pair had built, and one morning toward the
latter part of the month it became evident that my brood in gray
meant very soon to quit the premises. The moment had arrived
for the capture, but this, owing to the denseness of the shrubbery,
“souqny ayy Aq azTT Morz YAvasogoyd v uot “FLLY-otlo ynoqe paonpay
‘LI AAVAT OL GANVAAAG DNAOT OMT, ONINIVINO,) Ciswau2jeiD9 xopdoosoopn 4) ) GMIMLV) IO LSAN ZR “OL
: OF THE UNITED STATES 349
concerned, for one of their number made good its escape in the
high grass near by. Both the others, however, were promptly
secured in safety, and together with the fork containing the nest,
were shortly afterward carried to my home. Here in due course,
sun, wind, and time permitting, I made two or three wonderfully
successful photographic pictures of my little prisoners and the
nest in which they had been bred and reared.
Two of the best of these results are reproduced in the present
connection, and are confidently offered to the reader as fine fac-
similes of the originals. Beneath these pictures their legends
give nearly all the information that is required in regard to them.
In fact they speak for themselves. When we come to take into
consideration the fact that a brood of birds had been reared in
it, the nest was a wonderfully clean and compact affair, and this
is usually the case in this species. Internally this nest was lined
with fine black rootlets of some plant, and of a kind, apparently,
that is invariably chosen for this purpose by the Catbird. The
middle layer of this nest is more or less firm and compact, being
composed of a fine grass, good big bits of newspaper and brown
paper, of a few pine needles, leaves, and strippings of the fibrous
bark of the grapevine. Externally, numerous twigs of various
lengths, and from various plants and trees, loosely woven to-
gether, complete the structure.
Having secured a photograph to my liking, the inmates were
next induced to stand together upon a rather slenderish pine
twig, when, by an absolutely instantaneous snap, I secured a life-
size picture of the pair at my first trial. (See Fig. 86.)
With care, young Catbirds are easily reared from the nestling
stage, and soon become accustomed to a commodious cage. They
are good bathers, drink plenty of water, and thrive well upon
prepared food, berries in season, and meal worms. One of the
best cage pets I ever saw among birds was an individual of this
species, raised from the nest, and most assuredly he was a very
charming songster. How well Wilson describes what has been
the experience of many an ornithologist when he writes:
“In passing through the woods in summer, I have sometimes
amused myself with imitating the violent chirping or squeaking
of young birds, in order to observe what different species were
around me; for such sounds at such a season, in the woods, are
no less alarming to the feathered tenants of the bushes than the
350 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY
cry of fire or murder in the streets is to the inhabitants of a large
and populous city.
“On such occasions of alarm and consternation, the Catbird is
the first to make his appearance; not singly, but sometimes a half
dozen at a time, flying from different quarters to the spot. At
this time, those who are disposed to play with his feelings may
almost throw him into fits, his emotion and agitation are so great
at the distressful cries of what he supposes to be his suffering
young. Other birds are variously affected, but none show symp-
toms of such extreme suffering. He hurries backward and for-
ward, with hanging wings and open mouth, calling out louder
and faster, and actually screaming with distress, till he appears
hoarse with his exertions. He attempts no offensive means, but
he bewails—he implores—in the most pathetic terms with which
nature has supplied him, and with an agony of feeling which is
truly affecting. Every feathered neighbor within hearing has-
tens to the place, to learn the cause of the alarm, peeping about
with looks of consternation and sympathy. But their own power-
ful parental duties and domestic concerns soon oblige each to
withdraw. At any other season the most perfect imitations have
no effect whatever on him.”
In this last statement the present writer can hardly agree with
the learned Wilson, for at this time, the very last days of Sep-
tember, when only a few of the summer stragglers are left in the
north, including a handful of Catbirds, I have seen individuals
of the latter exhibit not a little curiosity, at least, when I have
vigorously imitated the squeaks given vent to by a young bird
that has just been seized upon. They will come some little dis-
tance to ascertain the cause of the disturbance, and, upon arriv-
ing in the neighborhood, will, in a listless manner withal, ac-
companied by barely audible and querulous notes, and by slow,
lateral movements of the tail, give evidence at least of interest
in the supposed trouble. But, as Wilson well remarks, identi-
cally the same notes produced in the breeding season will drive
every Catbird within hearing nearly out of its senses.
At other times this bird possesses a song, and a series of pecu-
liar notes and semi-imitations quite as full of pathos and interest
as are those of some of the very best of our avian performers.
He has the greatest confidence in man, and if studied in the way
he ought to be, exhibits an hundred and one most interesting
traits, and a character peculiar to itself, that under all cireum-
Fra. 86. A Parr or Youne Carpirps.
Life size and the same ones seen in Fig. 85.
From a photograph of the living specimens by the Author.
OF THE UNITED STATES 353
stances can but charm the true lover of nature and captivate
anyone in sympathy with rural life and associations.
Fortunately, this is the case with many, while on the other
hand, farmers and farmers’ sons have, for over a century past in
this country, treated this lovely species with the utmost con-
tempt, prejudice, and persecution. Thousands of the birds have
sacrificed their gentle lives and fallen to the guns of these har-
dened, ignorant, and thoughtless people. Why? Simply because
the Catbirds help themselves to a little fruit in season, and the
boys are directed to watch the trees and strawberry beds, and
shoot all Catbirds on sight.
This is a particularly disagreeable duty, and calculated to
foster the aforesaid prejudice, and pass it down from one genera-
tion to another. Add to this the farmer’s illiberality and the
sense of injury at the loss of half a peck of fruit, and the story is
complete. Such feelings are never entertained by the generous
and broad-minded among us; for notwithstanding the cat-like
mewing of this bird, the plainness of its plumage, its marked fa-
miliarity—and familiarity, they say, breeds contempt—people
thus endowed possess only interest and admiration for the quaint
and modest little Quaker among the host of the feathered tribes.
Not far removed from the family Troglodytide is the family
Mniotiltide, containing our great host of American warblers, and
in this group has been placed the genus Siwrus, containing the
Oven-bird and water thrushes. Strictly speaking, we have but
one bird in the avifauna of the United States to which the name
Oven-bird has been applied, and it likewise has been called the
Golden-crowned thrush by some writers, notwithstanding the
fact that it has neither a golden crown nor is it a thrush. It
gained the name of Oven-bird from the form of nest it builds, al-
though our Dipper of the West (Cinelus) likewise constructs an
oven nest, with a side entrance, as well as Siwrus, and the two
species are in a way related.
Those who have paid any attention to the birds of eastern
North America are perfectly familiar with our Oven-bird, and it
has, too, been taken by collectors in Alaska. It comes to us just
So soon as spring has thoroughly opened, and it is usually heard
a few times before one catches sight of it. As Wilson has said,
“Tt has no song, but a shrill, energetic twitter, formed by the
rapid reiteration of two notes, peche, peche, peche, for a quarter
of a minute at a time.”
354 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY
A littie later in the season the number of individuals increases,
and there is no trouble in finding them almost anywhere in the
heavily shaded parts of the forest, for it is to such localities that
the bird confines itself. Most of its time it spends upon the
ground, sedately walking—not hopping—about among the dry
fallen leaves of the previous year, where it searches for the in-
sects that constitute its principal food. Ever and anon it will fly
up into a tree, or into the underbrush, and give vent to its monot-
onous notes, which may be heard at a considerable distance
away. This may be during the very middle of the day, when, as
a rule, the notes of all other songsters are hushed, so it can be
the more appreciated, relieving as it does the otherwise silent
forest. Often, when upon the horizontal branch of a tree, it will
walk along it, with lateral movements of its tail, in precisely the
same manner as it assumes when upon the ground.
The Oven-bird has an average length of about six inches, with
a coloration of plumage that reminds one of some of the smaller
thrushes. The top of its head (adult male), has a broad longi-
tudinal stripe of orange-rufous, bounded upon either side by a
narrower one of blackish. These latter start from the nostrils,
and are carried backward to the neck. Either eye is surrounded
by a pale whitish ring, bounded in front by a semicircular one
of dusky. A small black stripe likewise bounds the white throat
upon either side. Above, the bird is greenish olive, while below
it is pure white, with the breast and sides streaked with blackish
feathers. Its feet and lower bill are of a pale horn-color, while
the superior mandible is darker.
In my son’s collection I find a number of specimens of this
species collected by him and myself near Washington, D. C., and
it is from an adult male of these that I have made the above
brief description. We have also taken the young—most rest-
less and nervous little fellows—that I failed to obtain any pho-
tographic pictures of, although several attempts were made.
Owing to the careful manner in which it is concealed, it is by no
means a common occurrence to find a nest of the Oven-bird, and I
believe I have never found more than four of them altogether
in my life. Near my home in Takoma, however, this spring
(1897), my son and I met with a very beautiful example of the
nest of Siwrus, it being situated as usual upon the ground, and
on a side hill of gentle slope. It was in the timber-land, com-
posed of scattered poplars, oaks, and chestnuts, with a sparse
undergrowth of a variety of shrubs and young trees.
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OF THE UNITED STATES 357
I never knew of but one case where this bird built upon level
ground, and where there was not an abundance of dead leaves
about. My observations, however, have been confined to New
England, and south to southern Maryland. Then, too, the side
entrance to this nest faced nearly north, while, I am given to un-
derstand, they usually build so as to have this opening face the
south.
The presence of the nest was first suspected by my son, by his
seeing the female spring up suddenly only a foot or so in front
of him, and run like a mouse over the ground and then disappear
in the underbrush. After a search of several minutes I found the
nest, and it certainly was one of the most skillfully concealed
structures of the kind one could imagine. Built flush with the
level of the ground, the nest itself was composed of dry leaves,
fine dry grass, a few pine needles, and sparsely lined with horse-
hair. Dry leaves and fine dry grass were also used to construct
a dome that completely arched over the nest proper, the former
having been built around the stem of a small maple about a foot
high, that had every appearance of having sprouted out of the
top of the arch. But what made the deception still more perfect
was the fact that the entire affair was built beneath some large
chestnut leaves and pine needles, that still remained attached to
some small dead limbs on the ground. In short, the whole nest
with its dome was in complete harmony with the little low
plants, moss, dead leaves, and twigs that surrounded it all about.
It contained five eggs, almost incubated. These were nearly uni-
form both in size and color; one of them I find measuring about
-80 by .60, being white and meagerly speckled over with pale red-
dish brown, but chiefly in a broad, well-defined band near the
larger end. showing superficial muscles: ready to receive the skin. Prepared by H, H. ter Meer, Jr,
ports a meager and widely scattered growth of cactus and agave.
The rock masses in the scene are modeled upon cardboard by the
use of Mr. ter Meer’s own composition; while the forms of these
bowlders were obtained from photographs of similar scenes in
North Africa, kindly loaned for the purpose by Mr. Krause, con-
servator to the Geological Museum of Leyden; and from the same
source was likewise obtained a sufficient quantity of the sand of
the desert from such a place as to insure the selection of the
(spy yo orad) saaqy 104 ‘sussayy ayy Aq paqunoy}
WWOaASD]Y NAGAATT AHL NI STVMOVE? AO doOUr) “EGL COIW
OF THE UNITED STATES 459
proper color to paint the rock masses after their modeling had
been completed.
The female in this group of Jackals has been placed in a very
natural attitude, it being one of attention, complacently regard-
ing as she is her frolicsome progeny, two or three of which are
engaged in assisting in the despoliation of the victimized fowl.
The male Jackal is equally good, if not better, than the mate, for
the pose is more difficult to reproduce, yet it has been admirably
accomplished.
In making the model over which the skin is subsequently fixed,
the same principle and the same material is followed and used as
was described in the case of the Sunfish. But in the mammal, a
Fie. 125. Mopren or Jackar, @ (Canis aureus).
Companion to Fig. 124, by Mr. ter Meer, Jr.
much higher degree of skill is demanded, inasmuch as the super-
ficial muscles require very accurate knowledge and treatment.
Now in both these old Jackals all the chief muscles of the ex-
ternal layer were reproduced in the models, as will be seen in
Figs. 124 and 125. These muscles I have carefully examined in
the photographs, and find that they have been reproduced with
marked fidelity to nature; they are excellent.
This is the only way that perfection can be attained: We must
obtain the best possible photographs of the living animal in as
many attitudes as desired; we must take all necessary measure-
ments before the skin is removed; we must take afterward casts
of the carcass and make other photographs, and take plenty more
460 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY
measurements; we must make accurate records of the coloration
of all skin and other parts as they appeared in life; and finally,
in every step of the mounting we must keep nature in our eye,
so that the hands faithfully reproduce all that the mind sees and
our knowledge appreciates. Faultlessly reproduce nature, and
in a manner that the methods employed result in rendering the
work practically permanent, unchangeable, and indestructible
by the ordinary action of time, pests, and climatic influences.
When you can do this, fame soon follows.
Another good piece is the Fox shown in Fig. 126. It is a very
neat and natural piece of work, and does the artist credit.
How often it is that some sportsman loses a favorite dog, and
would love to have him prepared by the hands of the taxidermist
Fig.4126. Mounrep Sprecmen oF Fox ( Canis vulpes).
By H. H. ter Meer, Jr., in the Leyden Museum of Holland,
in some natural, restful, and yet characteristic attitude, so that
some nook in the gun room might harbor the hero of other days,
and recall hours spent together afield in seasons long gone by.
What are the results and the outcome of such a wish in the vast
najority of instances? Terrible. Stiff, awkward, and scarcely
recognizable. ‘ Poor old fellow!” you say, as it is brought home,
and the first desire that siezes upon you is that the hideous phan-
tom of your old favorite be hastily and forever now removed from
sight. You cannot bear to look upon those senseless eyes and
that distorted form. Yet did you but possess a good photograph
of the animal, and the dead companion were prepared after the
methods employed at the Leyden Museum, how different the re-
sult would be; you would know your friend whenever your eye
OF THE UNITED STATES 461
fell upon it, and instead of continually wishing it out of your
sight, you would, ever and anon, just for old times’ sake, feel like
patting it on the head, with the wish that you had the power to
restore it to life.
A Jackal has always reminded me of our well-known Coyote
(Canis latrans), with a strong dash of the fox and dog in it; in-
deed, not. a few of our naturalist friends in Europe are of the
opinion that several of the partly domesticated breeds of dogs
in northern Africa and in Asia are derived from the common
Jackal (Canis aureus). Canine in anatomical structure, it is also
largely canine in external appearance; and in the region they in-
habit there are several well-marked varieties of them. Accord-
ing to a good authority at hand, the Jackal resembles any of the
roxy types of dogs “in dentition, in the roundness of its eye
pupils, in its period of gestation, and to a large extent also in
its habits, while, like the dog, it is subject to hydrophobia. It
grows to a height of 15 inches at the shoulders, and to a length
of about two feet, exclusive of its bushy, fox-like tail. Its fur is
of a grayish yellow color, darker on the back and lighter colored
beneath. An excresence consisting of a horny cone, half an inch
in length, and concealed by a tuft of hair, is, according to Emer-
son Tennant, sometimes found on the head of the Jackal. The
Singhalese aver that it is only found on the leader of the pack,
and they esteem it as an invaluable talisman.”
Gregarious by nature, rapacious, cunning, and thieving, these
animals are a perfect pest to man throughout the country where
they occur. Poultry suffer especially, though the pack will not
hesitate to attack the larger quadrupeds or make prey of the
smaller varieties. They hunt chiefly at night, hiding in the
jungle during the daytime. A pack may consist of as many as
250 individuals; so when a raid is instituted upon the farmyard
by such a canine battalion, flock and fowl usually suffer pretty
severely. In the absence of fresh food a Jackal will eat carrion,
and so they score at least one point in their favor by becoming at
times useful scavengers. When carrion and live stock are both
absent, these fellows quickly take to grapes and other small
fruits, and so the vineyards and orchards suffer instead of the
farmyards and sheep pens. A hyena-like cry, peculiar and pierc-
ing, is possessed by this animal, and when a whole pack opens in
chorus at night the effect is more or less blood-curdling and
alarming. Captain Beechey notices it as having something
462 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY
rather appalling when heard for the first time at night, and he
remarks that as they usually come in packs, the first shriek
which is uttered is always the signal for a general chorus. ‘ We
hardly know,” continued the captain, “a sound which partakes
less of harmony than that which is at present in question; and,
indeed, the sudden burst of the answering, long-protracted
scream, succeeding immediately to the opening note, is scarcely
less impressive than the roll of the thunder clap immediately
after a flash of lightning. The effect of this music is very much
increased when the first note is heard in the distance—a circum-
stance which often occurs—and the answering yell bursts out
from several points at once, within a few yards or feet of the
place where the auditors are sleeping.”
People residing in India often find pretty good sport in hunting
jackals with foxhounds and greyhounds; and, as the animal is
endowed with no mean amount of cunning, he is not far behind
the average fox in the chase. It is said that their bite is more
than severe, and that if run down they will feign death in order
to escape being taken. When domesticated, in habits and much
else they remind one of certain breeds of dogs, wagging their
tails when called, or crouching upon the ground when rebuked.
Like foxes, the jackals have a peculiar, not to say offensive,
odor about them, due to the secretion of a gland at the base of
the tail. In domesticated individuals this feature is not nearly
so apparent as in the wild animals.
Jackals have been charged with the crime of grave-robbing,
and especially the shallow graves of soldiers on the field after
battle, but how much truth there may be in this accusation the
present writer is unable to say. In the case of the coyote of the
west, however, I know it to be true, for years ago, when stationed
as post surgeon at a far western post, there were hung one even-
ing near the fort two notorious “ road-agents ” (stage-robbers),
and they were awarded shallow graves under the cottonwood-
tree where they met their fate. A few days after I was collecting
birds in the neighborhood, and stepping over to this place of
burial, I observed a spacious burrow leading down to either body.
Three or four coyotes stood off at no great distance watching my
movements, and there can hardly be any doubt but that they
were the authors of the desecration.
Recently I have read a senseless discussion in reference to
Samson, who, it is claimed in ancient literature, placed firebrands
OF THE UNITED STATES 463
between the tails of three hundred foxes, in order that the ani-
mals thus dealt with might set fire to the grain-fields of the
Philistines. It was not the absolute impossibility of such an
occurrence ever having taken place, but the narrator desired to
have his readers inform him whether it was the more likely that
the animals referred to in the account were Jackals (Canis
aureus) or the common foxes of that region (Canis vulpes). He
is careful to point out, is this disputant, that near Joppa, about
(raza, and in Galilee, that the Jackals are far more abundant
than the foxes. Speaking of foxes, there are quite a number of
them in our United States fauna. For example there is the com-
mon Red Fox (Vulpes f. fulrus), a larger and a banudsomer ani-
mal than the common fox of Europe, shown in Figure 126 of the
present chapter, and with somewhat different habits.
We also have in Arctic America and northern United States
the Silver or Black Fox (V. f. argentatus), and the Cross Fox (V.
f. decussatus), while contined in the Arctic regions we have the
Arctic Fox (V. lagopus). In suitable localities in the west one
meets with the kit or Swift Fox (V. velox), and the Prairie Fox
(V. macrurus), while on the Californian coast occurs the Coast
Gray Fox, belonging to a different genus (Urocyon v. littoralis).
This genus also contains another species of general distribution
in this country southward as far as Costa Rica; I refer to the
Gray Fox (U. virginianus). Doubtless there are other varieties
that have been found, or are yet to reward the researches of the
explorer. Coyotes are more closely related to the wolves (Canis
latrans), as the common gray wolf of North America (C. lupus
griseo-albus). What has been written about foxes would cer-
tainly fill many goodly volumes, and these cunning animals
surely deserve to have their exploits thus preserved. There are
about thirty or thirty-five species of Vulpes known, and by no
means a few good subspecies.
All of these animals of which I have been writing about here
belong to the very interesting group of dog-like forms, constitut-
ing the family Canid@. Asa whole this group or section has been
termed by naturalists the Cynoidea, it being one of the divisions
of the true order of the carnivora. To it belong all the breeds
of the common domestic dogs, the origin of which is still a mat-
ter of doubt in the minds of mammalogists. Then it includes the
fine series of wolves and foxes of various parts of the world as
well as certain types of small and elegant fox-like animals of
464 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY
Africa, that develop enormous ears, and are endowed with ex-
traordinary powers of hearing. The Fennec and the Otocyon
are good examples of these last-named genera. We have much to
learn about them yet. The Dingo of Australia, a fox-like dog,
occurs both wild and in a semi-domesticated state as a companion
of the aboriginal people of that land.
Many naturalists and anatomists have devoted themselves to
the history of this group, and the researches of the palzontolo-
gists in various parts of the world have been rewarded by find-
ing the fossil remains of different species of the Canide, and not
a few of their extinct allies.
Among unskilled and thoughtless taxidermists the opinion is
more or less prevalent that in the case of mounting any large
mammal endowed with a heavy coat of hair—a long and thick
pelage in other words—it becomes unnecessary in manufacturing
the model to take any pains in reproducing the superficial mus-
cles as they occur in life. This is undoubtedly a great mistake,
and is doubtless best exhibited in such a group of animals as we
see in the bears. If a taxidermist, in making his model for a bear,
makes the body and limbs round and smooth, and utterly ignores
the sulci and elevations created thereon by the various groups of
muscles of the external muscular layer, he deceives himself; and
when the animal’s skin is placed over such a model and adjusted
with the view of having the specimen appear life-like, it will be
found to be quite impossible and the result far from a natural
appearance, and consequently to that degree unsatisfactory. In
Fig. 127 is shown a reproduction of the photograph of the model
that was made for a Polar bear and used in its mounting. It will
be seen that considerable pains were taken in carving out the
superficial muscles as they are developed in life, and the great
advantage gained thereby is at once apparent in the finished
specimen here shown in Fig. 128.
The large tendon in each hinder limb, the muscles of the
thighs, of the shoulders, and the fore part of the neck, as sculpt
in the model, have all had their influence in giving character to
the finished piece, and the general result and effect are most ad-
mirable.
As I have remarked, the Polar bear shown in Fig. 128 is but a
young animal, and the subadult specimens of this species are
larger than the adults of some other kinds; indeed, a full grown
Polar bear is snid to exceed in size the largest Grizzly. Records
OF THE UNITED STATES 465
are not hard to find of their having attained a length of 9 feet
and a weight of 1,600 pounds. It is claimed by some that in the
case of this species the female alone hibernates, and that the
male may be seen abroad at all seasons. Owing to the fact that
this bear is an arctic variety, the sportsmen of the country but
rarely have the opportunity of hunting it; and consequently we
must turn to the accounts left us by the famous explorers of
those frigid regions in order to gain any knowledge of the habits
of this species. Sabine, Cartwright, Lyon, Sir John Ross, Sir
Edward Perry, Franklin, Richardson, Dr. Kane, and a host of
more recent explorers have made the habits and geographical
range of Thalassarctos well known to us; and these narratives
are of a nature sufficiently exciting to arouse the enthusiasm of
Fic. 127. Fintsnev Mopeu ror Younc Pouar BEAR
(Thalassarctos maritimus).
one who perhaps has become more or less satiated by the untold
numbers of black bears and grizzlies he has slain.
A peculiar character seen in the Polar bear is.that this species
has a good growth of fine hair upon the soles of its feet. It is a
remarkable nice provision, for it not only keeps the animal’s
pedal extremities warm while tramping over the ice, but it also
renders the slipping about upon the same footing far less likely.
There are some splendid bear pits here in the National Zodlogi-
cal Gardens of Washington, D. C., and among the various species
of bears confined therein we also find two or three fine examples
of the Polar. Their habits in confinement are very interesting
and well deserving of close study, and this study has been
466 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY
bestowed upon them in many of the zodlogical gardens of the
world.
Speaking of zodlogical gardens and Polar bears reminds me
of an instance that fell within my own experience a good many
years ago. Dr. W. A. Conklin was, at the time referred to, the
superintendent of the gardens of Central Park in New York City,
and he was doing the writer the honor of showing him the ani-
mals under his charge, as well as the general arrangement of his
then much cramped institution. We were standing in front of
the bars that confined the Polar bears to their pit; an old male
of the species within his prison stood close to us, and he was
yawning most heavily. A young city Arab about fifteen years
old, lustily smoking a cigarette, had strolled up and stood next
to me in front of the bars. As the bear gave his perhaps final
deep yawn it appeared to be too much for this depraved son of
the streets, who, with a precision equaled only by the brutality
of the act, tossed the lighted end of his finished cigarette down
the gaping throat of the ursine representative of the boreal re-
gions of the earth. The animal, smarting under the sudden and
intense pain, first snapped his powerful jaws together, the pecu-
liar noise created thereby attracting not only the attention of Dr.
Conklin, but also that of all the spectators standing nearby. But
this was not all, for the now infuriated bear rose to his full
height upon his hind legs and gave vent to a roar that seems to
me ought to have been distinctly heard by another entirely dif-
ferent kind of bear, or bears, down in their Wall street dens. Dr.
Conklin quickly turned to me, to ascertain if I knew what in the
world could be the matter with the fellow, when, with equal
promptitude, the nature of the case was pointed out to him.
Without a word of warning he pounced upon the culprit, and
begging me to accompany him, he was, with many a hearty shake
and admonition, ushered into the presence of the park police
court, where a stiff fine was very soon imposed upon the fiendish
perpetrator of the deed. As we passed away from the pit I
turned back, and noticed the outlandish capers of the poor bear
as he smarted under the sudden pain to which he had been in-
flicted.
With respect to the small carnivora, we find a well-mounted
piece of the Pine Marten (J/ustela martes. Linn.) that I am per-
mitted to present in Fig. 126, it being the reproduction of a photo-
graph of a specimen of that animal mounted by Mr. ter Meer, Jr.
umasnqy uapse'T arya UL Mou pur cap “ey 107 yy Aq poardarg
NTLUET] LED UL SOPIIDSSD IVY, ) UVA UVIOGd YNNIOD AO NAWIOGdG GiINOOT “SEL “OLY
OF THE UNITED STATES 469
This appears to be a very accurate piece of work, and if one will
compare it with the figure of this species that illustrates the ar-
ticle Marten in the ninth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica
(Vol. XV., p. 577), it will at once be appreciated that there are
some striking points of difference. These differences refer es-
pecially to the snout and the tail; the former being too acute in
the aforesaid drawing, and the latter not near full and bushy
enough. I find this to be the case with respect to other well-
known figures as compared with the Leyden Museum specimen.
Here is an instance, then, wherein the camera triumphs over the
unaided eye of the artist in portraying objects of this kind. And
the more this instrument is scientifically used in this direction,
so much the better will it be for the interests of pictorial zoélogy.
According to Sir William H. Flower, the Martens constitute a
small but well-defined section of the family JMJustelide, belonging
to theArctoid or Bear-like division of the order Carnivora. The
Pine Marten is one of the best known species of this group, and is
found in various localities throughout northern Europe and Asia.
It is hardly to be distinguished from the North American Sable,
or Marten (J. americana), of the fur countries of this continent.
A closely related form, both in structure and habits, is the Beech
Marten (I. foina) of the more boreal districts of the Old World,
Sweden and Norway excepted. In eastern Siberia the true Sable
exists (I. zibellina) ; while in Japan we have still another species,
the IW. melampus of science. MM. flavigula occurs in some parts of
the Himalayas, Ceylon, Java, and the Malay Peninsula. Lastly,in
the more northern parts of the United States and British Ameri-
ca, we meet with the famous Pekan, or Fisher, sometimes called
Pennant’s Marten; quite a remarkable animal.
Be it remembered, then, that out of the genus Mustela we have
at least two well-recognized species of Martens in the United
States, viz., the American Sable (JJ. americana), and the Pekan
(WM. pennanti). With us the family Mustelide also contains the
otters, the skunks, the badgers, the wolverine, the mink, the
ferrets, the ermine, or stoat (Putorius erminea), and the wea-
sels. A quite extensive literature has been devoted to the Mus-
telide, that is full of interest even for the general reader, but my
space limits will not admit of my touching upon the natural his-
tory and geographical distribution of these animals in the pres-
ent connection. In passing I am compelled to remark, however,
that I have been greatly surprised at the inaccuracy of many of
470 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY
the figures of the representatives of this group throughout the
works devoted to their biology, and that zoélogical photographer
who gives his attention to making serviceable photographie il-
lustrations, from life, of any of these animals, will indeed not
have squandered his time, nor misplaced his labor, for biological
science will have been distinctly benefited thereby.
In mounting a specimen like the South American Ostrich, bet-
ter known as the Rhea (Rhea americana), the same plan is fol-
lowed, and requires no detailed description here after what has
already been set forth above.
Existing Ostrich-birds form a distinct division of the Class
Aves, and include such forms as the true ostriches of Africa; the
Fic. 129. Mounted SpECIMEN OF THE EUROPEAN PINE MARTEN
(AL martes).
Property of the Leyden Museum, and prepared by H. H. ter Meer, Jr,
cassowaries, emeu, and the rheas; while the extinct types
known to us are the moas and the roc. Some authors include
the kiwis and tinamous in this group, but from such a view the
present writer departs. Of the genus Rhea we have three species
in South America, inhabiting different regions, the precise limits
of which have not as yet been distinctly defined. There are the
Nandu (R&R. americana) (Fig. 130); the Patagonian rhea, or Petise
(R. darwini) ; and the Long-billed rhea (R. macrorhyncha). New-
ton in the Dictionary of Birds remarks: * On the * pampas’? PR.
americana is said to associate with herds of deer (Cariacus cam-
pestris), and R. darivini to be the constant companion of guana-
cos (Lama huanacus); just as in Africa the ostrich seeks the so-
OF THE UNITED STATES 471
ciety of zebras and antelopes. As for R. macrorhyncha, it was
found by Forbes (/bis, 1881, pp. 360, 361) to inhabit the dry and
‘sertoes’ of northeastern Brazil, a discovery the more in-
teresting since it was in that part of the country that Marcgrave
and Piso became acquainted with a bird of this kind, though the
existence of any species of Rhea in the district had been long
overlooked by or unknown to succeeding travelers.” (Part IIL.,
p. 788.)
The Nandu is not nearly so big as an African ostrich, and it,
open
among numerous other characters, is further distinguished from
*
perce.”
Fig. 130. Raea AMERICANA.
Collection of the Leyden Museum in Holland. Mounted by H. H. ter Meer, Sr.
it by the structure of its plumage, the fact that it has three toes
upon each foot instead of only two, and by the head being nearly
completely feathered. Its plumes have none of the beauty of
those of the true ostrich, which is doubtless a very fortunate cir-
cumstance for the bird, as man can only find use for them in the
manufacture of light dusting-brooms. Although not of recent
date, some of the best natural history accounts of the Nandu are
to be found in Mr. Darwin’s famous work, The Voyage of the
Beagle, while not a few other authors have given descriptions of
472 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY
the exciting hunts for these great birds of the plains, and how
the lasso and bolas are used in their capture by the horsemen
pursuing them. With the wind in their favor, however, and set-
ting their wings as sails, the Nandu in the race soon leaves a
horseman astern. Consequently the huntsmen are obliged to
partially surround them, several riders usually forming the hunt-
ing party. These birds, although slow, are by no means bad
swimmers, and take to the water most readily. Frequently, too,
they will feed upon small fish, though roots and grass compose
their ordinary diet. Darwin noticed that they would squat down
and conceal themselves in the tall rushes of the river-banks and
remain in such a situation until closely approached by the one
who observed them; and this eminent writer says the ‘ inhabit-
ants of the country readily distinguish, even at a distance, the
cock bird from the hen. The former is larger and darker colored,
and has a bigger head. The ostrich, I believe the cock, emits a
singular, deep-toned, hissing note. When first I heard it, stand-
ing in the midst of some sand-hillocks, I thought it was made by
some wild beast, for it is a sound that one cannot tell whence it
comes, or from how far distant.”
In a foot note to these remarks he adds, “A Gaucho assured
me that he had once seen a snow-white or albino variety,and that
it was a most beautiful bird.” A nest of this species is a mere
shallow excavation, containing on the average from twenty to
thirty eggs; the male alone incubates and cares for the brood.
Many additional eggs are dropped by the hen over the pampas
that are never hatched. The cock is a close sifter, allowing him-
self almost to be ridden over before taking himself off; several
hens are said to lay in the same nest, and as many as fifty eggs
have been found in one. Azara says eighty. Cock birds are dan-
gerous when in charge of the brood, and will even attempt to kick
aman off a horse.
Among British ornithologists the best published accounts of
the three species of Rhea are given by Darwin, Sclater, Newton,
Harting, Forbes, and Cunningham. Sir Richard Owen, Prof.
Huxley, and Dr. Gadow have written much upon their anatomy;
while travelers of other nationalities, as Azara, Prince Max of
Weid, and Prof. Burmeister, have left us many interesting de-
scriptions of their habits and general natural history.
THD END.
PAGE
As
Abbott, C. C., cited on Cr 5
Abbott, Jos. De B., j 46, 47
PAT CLOW Aiaimecuss rt aehcnterantevarsieneusteCnG eres 404
dischua:
habits of the g¢
heros
grandis
Agaphelus gibbosus
Agrionidze
Agrions, eggs of .. ¢
Alaus ocelata, common name for 105
Alc, as a suborder of birds 174
birds representing the 174
Alcide, affinities of ... 167
Alcock, A., work with deep : 79
Alle alle, where found .............. 17
Allen, Harrison, on Bats 432
Alligator:
WOridh. 2. serie
habits of
origin of name
spectacled ....
Alligators
as dis
tinguished from Crocodiles 1. 156
Amber, Fossil Spiders in sieuennems 3
Amber, Insects preserved in 21
Ambergris, nature of bee PN iets 379
Amblystoma tegrinum ... 96
Amblystomas ... Die eenrc weet nue . OG,
American Crossbills, in. confinement .... 3838
myths about 339
Ampelis phoenicopterus ... : 292
Ampelidae, origin of English names for
SPCCLESHOL Sivecses sirens eva .297, 298
the family . pa et
Amphibia, animals rrouped ‘under m3 91
Amphibians, a group of the quathosto-
mata 26
Amphios 25
where Classified 26
Amphiuma means .....+. Bale 91
MAINACARLIUNUE wastes site sicicheret es ees LOU)
Anatomy:
defined ........ Rae etapa Tne on OE
developmental | Soh
Fossil
topographical
Ancistrodon
Angel-fish ...
Anguillidae, 1
ature <
Animal, zodlogical meaning “of
Animals:
classification of ...... 21
multi-celled SB eV Rar kes Beevers 25
Anis, a genus of Cuckoo 268
Anolidac, a genus of Lizards 109
Anolis principalis ...... ol 6
Annulosa, groups of .
Anomaluria, the family ....
Antelopes and Ostriches ...
Ants, protective mimicry in
Anura
Apodes
Arachnida
amount of li
a hog S
ou W) Le
PAGE
a class of invertebrates ........... 20
oup containing the Spiders .... 28
Ar fii i OU ene cudletdie ten raietats coe siege te aes 44
of the invertebrata ‘ ane pee Als
PAT UHC UI BLA Mie teconeyetene er axe 44
Asclepias incarnata, in Test of ‘Yellow
Warbler REN ee ya roe at 32
Asio, the gen eka tetera are 233
Astacidac, A revision of the .. 44
Astacus, a genus of Craytishes 44
AISPidONEChES” FOTOG® acco.ws.c.sicece ees Sere ss oa 154
spinifer 154
Assapaus, a ni ime for F lying Sauirre! 399
Audubon on Crayfish avietetreureiee 1S
on Loons and Divers ...........-.. 174
Auk:
characters.0F the’ 22.4605 44 :c02. 52
habits of .. 5
Razor-billed
Auk, the Great
Auklet:
Least and Rhinoceros ............
BV HU SCTE daeaerncescucrstnsts er eects sce 5
MUKVE TS BS CMUS Oli ere cud eects elaine seteer
Auks, systematic position of .....
Axolotls, history of
Azara on Ostriches
Badger
Baker, 8 rouel, on Crocodile
Balacna, species of the genus .
Balacnidae, the family
Balacnoptera, the species of ‘the
Balanoglossus
where ¢
Bandicoots
Bat:
Hoary, h
Pale
Red
Serotine
Batoidci
Bats:
anatomy of
books about
distribution of .
hibernation of .
Long-eared
Leat-nosed) cic cinco
methods of capturing .............
protective resemblance TiN oyeeeone CRIS
superstitions about .............. 486
various names for ...... 006 3s os, 48D
Beaver, teeth of .......... 424
Beddard, cited on Snakes 33
BOWGCUS A. cole seine ancien siete ourone -. 404
Bendire, on the eggs of Sturnella ...... 210
Berardius bairdii 375
ogy, definition of the science of .... 21
, a group of the quathostomata.
Black and White Warbler, nest of
Blackfishes : eter
Black-poll Warbler
life history of
Blind Angler
INDEX
Blotched King
Blowin Vipers so seseecee se
Bob-white, another name for Partrids
LBottle-nose Whales
sowhead Whale
Box Tortoise crores 5
Brandt, on the Natatores .
Brit, a whale food
Bubo virginianus:
habits of
varieties
suffon, on the
Bufe vulgaris,
Bullfrog, external charac ters of
Bullor Bimieesnalkey snes cease
Bundy, W. F., cited on Crayfishes
Bureau, Louis, on bill of Auks
Burrowing Owls, habits of
Buzzards:
habit
fey uty ef ote acepeeenen ceicaeensenioece ht
‘Dill of the Crossbill”
aecounts of .
powers of
Turkey
C.
Cachales Wal UVC aeevenepeichst-heteyeunc soe eae arate rs 384
California Gray
Squirrel
Callipepia, TG ESI Senter errr nD
Cambarus
Qe TEUMMS) Ob Ova Se ecysteas eaiewee cecseiens 44
DGrtONtt TODWSEO .... 2 wee een nee 45
COUCHES SAs amuy oo Saw Pace bk Gaon 45
Canidae:
Dea TT Veer eysercissnera cransee erie sate OF
fossil ave E 464
Canis, species of . 463
é ytien, Cral 49
on
C Ean jas glaucus
Curctta imbricata
Carolina paroquet:
distribution of
eges of
Catbird:
breeding near Washington ........ 3846
MES UNOL OR Seece tree ise aceon .
photographing the
rearing the
Wilson's account of the
Cathartes, various species of
Cayman and Caiman
Cedar Birds, life
Ccphalodiscus
histo
place in the system for
Cepphus:
genus of guillemots. ..2.....-..... 78
grylle Seer ae reise ieeastence te eee me Co
Ceratiids Prayer aeronsteeatae tee Tortie nec 78
Cetacea:
bibliog
the order
Cetaceans tamilies ‘of
Chameleon, American
Chaparral cock
Chelonia:
number
InMOhWail, Saoemaaxocodeorcous mela
characters of
Classification of
Chiekarees
Chipmunks
Eastern States sp cies ”
Chironectes, the genus .......
Chiroptera, the order ie
Chlamydosclachus anguineus
Chocropus castanotis
Chordata, defined
Cinclus, &
PAGE
c ‘istudo carolina .148, 149
itication:
artificial
groups eraploye a in,
natural
structural re
what based
Claus, Dr., i
Cc lio boreal 8,
‘nblances in
Coccyzus, Vi Ss
Coelenterata, where ae
Colaptes auratus, Dest
Colinus, Vi
Colugo aS
Colymbidac,
Conuru Rar OUnels
extinction of
ROO CMS ON oe aryt arer oteet scolar eee eee Nee eros
nidification of
Proressor, on epig
work ou OCrayfishes
Coral Snake (£lups)
Cormorants, species of
States
Count De
Coursus
protec Cc
of
Cope,
Geer, cited
rocodiles
Cow Blackbird, breeding, habits of
Coyotes, related to foxes
Crab:
Hermit, or 8 50
Oyster ... roselare pets Chelate ene em Le
Cra be 5
ling
rh iddler Bigeeon ee
how they ‘differ ‘from Cray ish
Japanese
Jonah a
Yellow shore
mud
pea
Purple shore
racer
robber
rock
spider
stone ..
Violet land-
where classed
Cramp Vish
Craniata:
defined eicheacrs ots
first division of .
second division of
Crayfish:
Barton’s, near Washington, D.C
chimneys of
food of
Huxley's
in winter
method of buildin
their chimneys. 47
number of species in the United
States pee r-teee sh toneie ease tone eh emo
where classed ..... 44
Work upon in the
NGUS CUI -eestcer sete rere eee ee 45
Crocodile
INISCOR Ys Olimacitscrealatteereiceee eee O Lams
Osea TL INCORN TLC OR at creas ere eery ene eee 16:
Crocadilia:
strveture and ch:
OUNGen GOL face ee
Crocodilus acutus: aly
Crossbil
variation in the crossing of the bills
OMUParcnn AeA OIA rath icin ty suae ck ots
ct ers of ee
description of
Orotaphytus collaris
Crotalus caudisona
Crotaphaga ani
sulcirostris
Crustacca:
a class of the Invertebrata ........ 27
containing Crays and Crabs ...... 44
Cuckoo, Black-billed:
life history of
Californian
great spotte a
iberian in Alaska
group
as a
nidification o
Cucullos
Cuculus canorus:
habits of
c. telephonus in A aska
Cavier, on Elf Tadpole O¢
Cyclostomata, a division of the Craniata. 26
Cynoidea, the gr 463
Cyrtonyx, the genus 216
D.
Daddy-long-legs, classed with the Arach-
MU 4 : : 28
Dampier, 198
Darwin:
on the Black Skimmer
on the genus Purnariw
on ostriches
Duasyuridae, the fam
Deep-sea_ fishes, V
Bay of Bengal
Delphinapterus, spec
Delphinidae, the family
Delphinus, species of the
Dendroica discolor, nest of .
Denticete, the suborder
evelopment, defined .....
Devilfishes, capture of
Devil’s Darning-needles
Didclphidac
anat: omy, of
Didclphys, the genu
DTN Ome uensts yarn sees
Diplex berenice
rubicundula
Diver, Black-throatec
plumages of
Dogtish:
eges of.
feeding on crabs.
various epecics of.
Dogs, domestic
Dolomedes tened
Dovekie, history of “ies
Douglass’s horned toad.
Dragon-flies .... 5
duration of life in.
fossil forms of
how to study
NO Weap CLAS SLL CU tyenetoremsvenctens shetsncteucietisrsa=
PTAC O Litet mates a yialapercnN oe Ua onoyaT- valet
literature on .....
metamorphosis of .
number dese eietetseegtonsteaekeneas
present knowledge of
reproduction of
uses of to man.
Drummond, on snakes
Dryobates pubesceus
Ducks, nesting of....
Dugongs, place in the 393
Duplicidentata, the eaporice See efeeierlerss 405
Dyer, work cited. Sauce. 2b
B.
Eagles, related to Harpagorius.......... 444
PAGE
Eehinodermata, im Classification. ....... 26
hel, Congo .. eae Eso.
Hels, breeding. establishment: :
at Commachio 89
electric ........
habits of
myths about
os, of bird ;
Electric Rays 3
TIES OWIS: iets enue
Hmballonuridae, the fami
iKmbryology, in classific
90
tion
Ermine Eres tactouton cn ota et oWotatvotete Cheated 469
Huropean cue oo, breeding habits of.... 3810
DPxtinetion of \Birds:..% ness. uce. aes LOU
Be
Faxon, Walter, on the Astacide. coe as 44
Feather tracts, defined and named. 290
Irennec
Ferrets ...
Finches and. Sp: ULOWS:
number known to Wilson ......830,
foreign forms of
Fisher
TFishes:
a group of the a 26
MEE D SCO Mir wmcieranatepcuase fae Ren
Vire-flies, luminous powers 0 28
Flamingocs, niditication o 309
Flower, Sir William Henry:
on bats .... 428
on the whales 378
on the opossums. 368
Flying Foxes ...... 43
Flying Lemurs 404
Flying Squirrels
as pets .. 400
character 400
life-history of 400
traits of .... ere Eerste 403
Forbes, S. A., cited on Cray fishes 45,
Hox:
taxidermy of 460
Arcti 463
463
} 463
Kit or Swift. 463
Silver or Black 463
Fratercula, eggs of. 309
VWringillide, the family ............. 317, 329
LOSS CeEMeralObaa eer en ase aay carer te 100
Purnarius rufus:
general description of.............
Newton on
nest of .
other authors ‘on.
a.
Galeopithecidae, the family.............. 404
GallsvoricinOfy we cwaa. erie sets 28
Gannets, various species of.... 5 .. 199
Garman, work cited........... : ere 74
Gavial 160
Generic groups in taxonomy.... 24
FEDIUS, CeHMed Vc. c cise sce 24
Geococcyr californiary 267
Giant sperm whale... s. .2d0e..e. sess 384
Gila:
Chipman. peer te ste cneaets ss
monster
Gill, Dr. Theodore, work cited
Glass-snake, description of
Glancidium, ‘the genus ....
Globiocephalus, species of the ‘genu
Glow-worm B00
Guathostomata,
Craniata ..
Goose fish ...
Grampus, species of the
Grampuses, markings of.
Great Horned Owl in Alabama.
the
genus..
PAGE
Great Northern Diver, habits of..... 170, 173
Grebe, Horned:
MAIC SHO Leicercrevsjecrentsuesretedetere
various names for....
Grebes, various species of...
Grizzly bear, size of
Ground Squirrels
Grymmacomys, of Burmeis
Guillemot:
Bevel epteneresercnostcie ection oie sett tar eaters
description of
GUILIFSIROSSiSitaiais se actovatectcnstste ai shetetels svete
Gulls:
habits of .. Parone hcteesr et come LOU
Gum Copal, insects “preserved LIeiassevenciets 27
Giinther:
on Lizards ....... ee LOS
on the use of ribs of snakes >
MMOLLOM teretorasy= tens 1438
work cited 67, 100
74
quoted on deey rks. . dione
Gypagus papa, in hace as b ticrasenaoerstsaets 222
ie
EiQvicone; ethers enuSirasntoietereiiedciereleristecrs 393
Halitherium, its relations lips
Hamsters .
Hares, spe
Harpagornis,
Hay, W. P., Rirea on C
Heliornis, valline characte
FAlcloderma suspectum
femiurus, the subgenus........
Ve ronS Mestis Of aeicretclale chenstbs/arereneletate ers
Herring Hogs
Hesperornithidae,
Hesperornis regali:
related to Loons..... preter
Hesperornoidea, superfamily “of. tichobekeus ie ctoes
HAippocampidae . 2... . eee eee ee cenes
Hippcampus. species of.............065 s
Histology:
GANG Cerri oy etederer tetra cperrre teeta 22
developmental ee 23
Hagen, H. A., cited on Os 45
Hagtfishes, place i eee eG
Hornbills, breeding Labics of ters 309
Horne dem on dst cmcsmiecteinctre eycievelere cr sieys 109
Horse-stingers ... 84
Humming-birds, nests of.............6% 310
Hurley:
cited on Crayfish
on taxonomy ..
work cited 6 eyes cure
Hydrochelidon, a genus of Terns........ 188
Hyla versicolor:
description of
photographing ...
Hyperoodon rastratus
Ibis, White,
Ichthyopsida
Ichthyornis, as
Icteria vircus,
Ande Oraysishaceme oes es
ated to HynonoDs Ce oem,
life-history of... .3840, 342, 344
ne -310,
Indigo bunting, nest of 315
Insectivora .. 367
Insecta, a Class of invertebrate 27
Insects:
GH AN CRM OIE yer seer sere cieren er ensiorer 27
duration of life in. 27
economic importance 27
HOSS yoosecnestcrss 27
fertilizing plants 27
group of the Annulosa 44
luminous powers of... 28
literature on
main characters of...
number of species of
number of species d
parasitism in 28
period of existence affected by tem-
DELATM LCM or lac ci-telemocieterlerastet ete 27
preserved in gum copal.. eet
preserved in amber..............6. 27
Invertebrata:
place in the system of the........ 25
the nikin ecom sonra we srerot-tsterefeerete cats 27
J.
TACULAH LIS S'S mOleces tere eateie ariierenor aeleteimionen 158
Jaegers:
ISU WESTE Ol menerenrescPener weit taco Nererroits eieiere 190
SDCGLOSHOee ayy art aieeneyenar Melenstelit al yeasttet ar 189
Jackals:
INGOTS CLE. 6 oceanic ormbooo on mon Hoan OOD 461
UTA GG ey ene rev apeyereteynisusie uevers) plavevauersy cvs 462
relations of 461
axidermy of 456
SHAD DiS eee em eee Dek eoee 425
Jamaica, Crabs of re eee
Jellyfish, eaten by Sunfish.............. 452
Jordan, D. S:, worls cited)... s3c-.c a. 87
June bugs, eaten by pbats.............. 440
K.
RAND UI Sater ey here cetrstonetorerctotc Renee clotted never erekete veces
Kangaroos
Killer Whales
Ki food of.
bs
King er
Kinglets. nests of 313
King Penguin, nidi 306
ime BS aSeS) eucmesrcnetonsie tensioner re 137
King Vultur een in Arizona. 222
KOGEG MOF GOUGCDS® acteiicinensiehaietctcher tetole 376
I
Lagenorhynchus, species of the genus....
GAG OMON DIV er cre nratstine o) ratetena TePeeleLoleten
Lagomyidae, the family .
Lagomys princcps ¥ aie
Lama hudnacus and ie fieaeee eee eee
Lampreys:
me for Sirens.
classification of
Lampropeltis
Lancelet
Lapland Lemmir
migrations of.
Leporidae a 425
Lepus cunic ulus. cere, ©AZD
Leucorhamphus BONCLIS ne eae eee 374
Libellula:
Sosnowiec ser 37
trimaculata, named by 35
quadrimaculata .....6 35
Libellulidac ....... 34
Limulus . 44
Linneeus, his cla 428
Little Chief Hare 426
Living specimmens, methods of study 16
Lizards:
Hab LtS RIM Cap ELV ITY: crc y-tereyspveretstere serene 126
methods of capture 125
photographing .......... 125
various species and gener 129
Lockwood, on young sea-horses........ 85
Longipennes:
affinities of ..... 167
classification of 183
Loons:
as related to Grebes.............. 167
ancestry (of ene. 167
species of .. 170
Liophiids) ...07.. 78
Lophius piscatoria 78
Lophobranchii ... Shei Heo
Lowia curvirostra minor...-.+..ss. esse ee 836
ce. stricklandi
leucoptera .....
pityopsittacus
taenioptera ..... ae
Lycosidaec, a family of spiders..........
M.
Macroclemmys temminckii
Macropodidac, the famil
Macrotis, the
Mammals, a
mata nee
Manatees, Ame
history of
species
J young of
Manatees, how
Manatus, the
Mancatias
Urano:
Mangrove
tory | of . Prnieae
Man-o’-War Bird
Mantidac, where classified. ............. 3
Mantis:
AUStralian MOVM Of. . verre nee os are cca 3
African species of..............00. 3
external char TSE Oller sey srelereystenatere 41
LOO MOR mea crenata sever saree 42
LOMMORC mo temeynceete ers eere ec eiccarerereaeels 40
Nabitsnoiee awe sees eee 39
AMIN STORY) aisssrer cee elavsee css oreccceee iat one 39
meaning of name: ...2.. 556-00 sce e 39
Other mames POM. vess. sc c.scelse seo 39
protective mimicry in............. 42
religiosa ... 39
TR hibieweconaeenecenonars: 41
worsbi by Hottentots.......... 41
Ma vine mute Sie renin sn cryae spouse reterspets eloters 151
INSITE OUSP ease eee ee chatter ler ounce ates 405
Marsupialia, the ‘group Ria rane ue Aer atery ra cows 364
Marsupials, 372
Marten:
DCCC Mpc ecepetere ois ercncirensnecesestenetessesr os 469
Pennant’s . 469
pine .. 469
sable . 469
Material, quantity necess 18
Meadow-larks:
ASH PALME MOLLCS mentee tetsusctctetterrtcreetet 204
WA DIUSROL Me eerste tere racer 205
Megalestris, the genus ...............4.. 189
Megapodes, nidification of.............. 309
Megaptera, species of the genu 376
EU scOuss deseripulons of various species -
247
8 376
Metachirus, the Does eect 367
Metathcria, the subclassimcc tec ccnse us O64
Metazoa:
ClaSSificationy: Oi. seni re see erie ove 25
defined ..... 25
invertebrate 25
Mice:
fj UAT rere tense Nency teesreteratsvamenea vats 421, 423
SUN SUM ONO fegentner ter espedel tereectmecreicteiansiere 420
Micourcus, opossums of the group ...... 368
Micro-chiroptera, the suborder........... 432
Micropallas, a genus of owls............ 249
IMGCTICR sarees teeer ste ie petetenl iret ete ct 399
Migrations of bird 317
MIiiiin Tesora testes crew stot oreieveatleron sro ete 469
Mites, a group of the Arachnida......... 2
Mivart, St. George, work cited....... 100, 102
M’Lachlan:
cited on dragon-flies.............. 38
cited on the relations of insects to
OGME A CIASSES Mere ckcrnsteus cesnesoeke eis) or
Mniotiltidaec, the family ......
Mola rotunda. taxidermy of
Mollusca, in classification .............+
PAGB
Monodon Monoceros......cccevccceceenceeeeeees 375
Monotremes, Eg OL nerves ol sete .. 3806
Monteiro’s Angola, cited on Mant ae 3
Morphology, defined ....... neue,
Mosquito Hawk see eee
Mouse, Deer ....... 415, 419
Mud-dauber eee spiders......... 33
Mureenas .. OO
Muraenidae, spe 1s of. .89, 90
Muracnopsis tridac Us 2 91
Muridae, the family 22... 0. 2ces cs seewee 423
Murrelets, SDCCLOSMOLU semen teenie ssn sets 177
Museums:
ATI MUCK aay cueyene ot slcuevelaterteteheey stare 442
of anatomy .... we. 442
of the future , 445
origin and growth Of .....ssscseee 442
Varlouskimds (O65 (0122 sce etc e cleleiare 442
Mustela:
CIN CTACOMG Hercers sia, shed scone et ovsus elise (ersyeveuses is 469
POULC scr dtaysestarat seey-torsts .. 469
flavigula ........ .. 469
melampus .... .. 469
martes .... 469
gibellina .. 469
Mustelidae, the family... 469
Myriapods, group of the Annul 44
Myriopoda, a Class of the Invertebr 27
Myrmecobius, the genus .......--0.+000- 372
Mysticete, the suborder..............0005 376
Myths:
UDO WIE DAES otrs met syevave acer elararnpn te avers) eieie 31
about jackals . 462
Myxine, a genus of the 26
INZ
NalcO On OI) Gia vital eee csp eats totay shee se rcenie as 160, 162
eharacters and habits. al OL
Nandu 470, 471
Narwhal, description and 383
ING UULOVES mer ante tiatae (aly veered atsratuin\leer ietet aus 164
Native Devil ......... 372
Rabbits! aac ccs eos neo te
INGUUG TSUDCHON: sas coeieustseciers aestevteneeh oy son 3)
Naturalist:
ALIMAMEM CALL WM Of ioe cies sere ere i ave 17
DOOKS AOri ecwecncten erste 17
education of young . 19
qualifications for ...... 15
former education of young 2 20)
Neobythites steatiticus ...........-0-008- 80
Nests of Birds:
characters of ..................306, 309
conventional form of.. . 3810
difficult to draw..... -- 3802
some unknown -. 314
Neuroptera, order Of... 2... 5.00002 ce008 34
Newton, Alfred:
ON MB ALL OtSimaace terse oo roeiene orsistnciere 259
on habits of Loons. 170
on the affinities of Pygopod 167
Nighthawks, used as food. 204
Noddies, habits of.... 189
Non-chordata, defined .. 25
Nordenskjéld, on the S 393
Nyctata acadica .........-.....- .. 246
Nyctinomus, habits of the genus ....... 432
oO.
Odonata, 10f FWWitby:: <5 ccs ce ee cee ores 34
Ophibolus rhombomaculatus . Tee lon
Ophidiidae ..........6.+4 ee eOO
ODWISOAURUS roe = crateveneial a eiciere 10 ayeisolene sy lorie 109
Opossum:
Crab-eating 367
habits of, in co 369
Lord Derby’s 367
Three-striped . tea 368
VOUM PHO Leases aeie heer ciieicieercioheot 370
Opossums:
POSSI Pea encsiesic ster cies siren te Geererarere 873
INDEX
PAGE
systematic position of............. 364
Orca, species of the genus.............. 375
Orcortyz, the genus. P15
Ornithologie al Hall of Smithsonian.. .445, 447
charac fas of
SIZ CEO LE yevercey sdaneatere rete:
systematic position of
Vernacular names of.
Orthoptera, contains the Mantidie...... 3
Oscines, defined ......... Reet peo Lt
Ostrich
oA EIGAM Mears istoretats Aatkctene onset nee on erene he 47]
Souths Ameni¢am) 1 skye scien cciclss 00
WY LUE CLAM sea ere esis tie cover aiayanceaterensvetenep=es 472
Otocyon Mee aNsheenrere oes 464
Oven-bird, description of 354
Owl:
3arn, natural history of ..........
Loug-eared
Owls:
species of
great gray
Pacas
Packard, A.
on eels ae
cited on dragon
on ¢helonia .......
ASHESMeeteriort
commotion in snakes
Palwontology, science of , eae
Parasitism, 1 IMSCCUS: < o..s atc c ya
Parrot, Vhick-billed:
Notes on its being a_ bird
United States
Parrots, breeding habits of.....
Ss, as a group
, the suborder
ina Cyaned, photographing nest, of.
Pelican:
3rown,
White eee ne
Pelicans, various spec € of, and their
INNATE ses Rawr hoo oe uGbmmO dion LS
Pennant’s Marten
Perameles, the genus
Peramelidae, the family.............
Peromyscus leucopus
of the
gescupuen Oe errs Lire elo:
n, in cle fication. ;
; of, rese mbling those of cuck-
eae
Pigeons, breeding habi
Pigmy sverm whales
UP UGAISIR ey acaeenacictksiensiere
Pine Marten .
Pityophis sayi “bellona,
glottis 3
Phaéton ernacnlar names for
Phalangistidae, the family
Phascogale, the genus
Phascolomyidac, the family..............
Phocoena, species of the genus of .......
Photography:
of birds
WAG GL Sian cteitepegeccustetiegete ousbedeUereusioeesotise ss
Phrynosoma, genus of lizards............
Phyllopteryx, protective mimicry in.
Physalus, species of the genus......
y.
Plagiostomata .......045-
Phalungistidac, the famil
Plastron .... 5
Pliny, his Classification “of ba ‘.
Podicipoidea, superfamily of............ 164
Poey, Don Felipe, work cited.... 7
Polar bear, taxidermy of
Porcupines ... é
where cl:
se, Common,
ie Warbler,
ing Mantis
is pectinatus . Boe ae COs emer orem ete)
Proccllariidae, Huxle y lomithies eaaee es
Prodeclphinus cuphr: OSUNC
Protective:
coloration in snakes............... 130
mimicry in snake
Protective C
LTB VES ers. oe
in Hi: ulequin ‘snake
Prothonotary warbler, nest
Protozoa:
defined
how cl: As
Where classified
nest of. . O24,
ined eee
eges of
Prteromys z 3 2 by savelnus terabepee
PUCT OMY S MUUUUUAUS Ss ohatarer Moeeteiste st risen enetee teria opee
Pterylography :
methods of studying...............
ot woodpeckers .
terms einployed in, 281,
Puffing pigs gid miderenee ate lets
Putlins, specie and habits of.
Putinan, F. W., cited on ere
Pygmy owls Sosa
Pygopodes BM biG a
Quail:
Bilaeleronr HOOl sacle tteryseterer senate 216
Massena, or Partridge.
Quail and Partridge,
how dis tingu ished. 214
Rabbit
Ranzania a une aia é
Rattle of rattlesnake.
Rattlesnakes
Rays and Skates, families 6
Rear Hors
bemeficial to MAN... 2... ccciewecoees 8
COOSHOL ey tereoneraceedelaa tereeetore tetekenoreiets 39
WILY) SO} MAMIE. 5 ce ccae one mickeneiste seine 39:
ted-eyed Vireo, nest and young of... 311
Reptiles, a gronp of the Gnathostomata... 26
Reptilia:
animals referred to..
animals representing
Rhabdopleura, place in the
Rhachianectes glaweus :
Rhea:
americana
darwini :
macrorh yncha-
Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha:
Evidence as to its being a bird of
the Winited “Statesecss acs eesee 258.
Rhytina stelleri:
described by Flower............... 391
discovery of, by Steller .......... 391
Road-runner, distribution of. ee 2G
Rodendia, general consideration of. 405.
Rodents as flesh-eaters................. 411
TROMSSCUTEMDE tare petety otebeueretessterstorete ererenrences 431
Rynchops nigra, osteology of............ 184
Ss.
Sable, North American. z 469
Saint “Hilaire, work cited..........+++:- 368
Salamand
@escription OL Ls... .e nen. ce eens |) OF
WAG CMSHADOUIGN ve crocs cere te reenter 95-
INDEX
PAGE
SPOUCCC Baa ect areys ai sialevsneieiclsaperon Menai 99
SUMEOD SUM Smee ree Cheaters chenetiifies nO.
Saw fish:
capture of
saw of
Saw-whet Ow
Necloporus
Seiuridae,
Nei us:
family O99,
ROSSON gate emcee hae On er eer eS
the genus Sc ess ste 410
volans .. 309
Selater, on the ly gopodes 164
Scorpions, a group of the Arachnida. ... 28
Scotiaptox cinerea:
ald harGeotieseceess ne oor uaansyac uns na ans
c. lapponica
Sereech Owls, species of.
Sea Cows
Sea horse:
deseription of
young of .
Shakespe are on toad- iny ths
Shark:
fossil
Hammerhe
man-eating
Sharks:
compared with Rays
various species of... nae
Shufeldt, R. W., work cited....
Nibbaldius, specie s of the genus ects
Nimplicidentata, the suborder...........
Niphostoma
Sircdon, the genus
Niren, three-toed hes
Sirenia, the order............-.
Siurus auricapillus, its affinities........
Sirus:
nest stove
inyths in
song of
Six-lined lizard
Skate, barndoor
Skates and Ray
Skimmer, Black juror ots
Skua, origin of the ‘Tame...
Skuas and Jaegers, syste matic ‘posit ion
OL Nc
Skunks
Smith, 8.
Snake Acton Pen ame cye ey ete tatias (sesh cones Tear 34
Snakes:
general characters of.
teeth of brava chgske
in history
photographing 3
Snapping turtles, habits of
Sotatia pallida oe aie
Species, morpholog ily
Spe otylo, the genus. .
Spermaceti ie
Spermophiles .
Npermophilus, the ge nus
Sperm whates, spec ics 0
Nphuyrapicus v. nue Tialis,
Olen paar
Spiders
as ‘a group of insects.
characters and habits a7:
Ciibyah\n se acme a auiatciotdsn cc crRioe
dvinking water ons
enemies of
2804, 3h
B habits of
: ‘pterylo
fossil ...- See Ga uee nie ceweun suspen cD
group of the Annwlosd......... eee. dd
how they spin.
plan of web of. a
poisonous bites of... ee aes
prote etive mimicry iM... -.6.. 635.
yarious kinds of
Spinnerets of spiders. ................5- 29
PAGE
SOME OS A Nui erertetartses eres mayan mee atv en eetotas Da}
SOTO GN GAN inte ees carrer cet OENA PMO MET Ou INTO eA 70
Squirrels:
ALS OTIS eet renee eos chat ets eaca teeta ee 410, 412
AVIZONG eeieneseosenne es 410) 412, 413
Vox 4
GRITET ar een tye Rett een cohen
hed wee seer
Stagnomantis car olin Bray ey Mcveute usreh eeu
Star fish, classification of.............. 26
Steganopodes, the gvoup...........2..... 198
Nteno:
COMPDECSSUS. aeannanes Seana ence sole
TUSCUS sees Mane ee eae os Rote SOILS
Ntercorarius, the genus, ie . 189
Stigmata in lar dragon- tlic 30
Sting-rays, characters of 70
LO Siberia aceasta 469
Storks, nests of........ S cechensteaceit 310
Ntrigidae, western forms of............. 249
Nturnella magna:
meaning of the name.............. 205
neglecta and other species......... 205
TLGSIET OM Mites seueeus ee eemaencat eta re Une OO,
Sula:
bassand, Characters of .. 199
cuanops and other species 200
Sunfish:
how mounted, . :.2c5ecc2ceqseanssne 400)
its characters 45:
species of 455
Sarnia ulula ooo... Seat eye ass Meeeaceree eo)
u. caparoch, natural history of 2... 245
Swainson on name of Oven-bird......... 858
Swamp milkweed in nest of Yellow
Warbler .. ; shee OS
Swifts and Swallows, nests of... ... . 314
NSyngnathidac, deseviption of............. 82
Syrniin nebulosum:
photographs! Of 23. ccc. cec ees etn 240)
TRAC ULCILUmcmeearciee cite ener eae eee aot O)
n. occidentale 240
Taguans ..
Tailor bird, nest of.
Tapock, the opos sun
Tarr, Ralph &.,
Tasinanian Wolf
Taxidermy :
at the Leyden Muscuin. .
models in
of H. H.
Scientific
Taxonomy:
defined DyedoteResesueieyceade cial eVetans hres
ANE UTE ete ote detecacuaiecera me sre Ae ya8 eee
Teeth of rodent
Tennant, work
Vern:
Black
Roseate
Trudeau's
Terns:
habits and characters of.
number of species know h.
Least, distribution of
Testudo pardalis .. eaeeoner
Thalassarctos, literature on... ..
Thelyphonus giganteus
Thomas, Oldtield, on opo
Thylacine
Thylacinus ¢ nor pheatus
Titmice, nests of.
Toad, Surinam
‘Toads:
history of
genera of
voice or gans 0
Torch fish, description ‘of
Torpedo, capture of
called.
cited on cray
fer Meer, Jr.
cited. ...
MMS wiretete rete cartecots
INDEX
PAGE
-148, 151
151
Tortoises, structure of shell in......
Yortoise-shell, how obtained
Traps for small mamiials.
Tree-toads, species of.
Trichechidac, the fi vmily
Trilobites, fossil crust:
GUO Ure cost Rcteas epstcn tte at:
Troglodytidae, the family
Tropic birds, species and habits of
Tunic eocnereren
E COUN erete hares
cle
Turner, ie ;
Tur siops, spec Jes of the ge mus.
Turtl
as ‘distingnished from terrapins.... 148
species of .. Su ehig Sespe a eres LOA
Typhlopsaras shufeldti customs ouerextheceuaesiesehe se Gio 7S
(Gi:
Uhler, cited on dragon-flies............. BD
Unicorn, origin of the myth of the B83
Unios, eaten by muskrats. sea 411
Uria, the genu 5 174
troile, habits o 181
lomvia, and other 181
Urinator, genus and species 169
Urinatoroidea, the Superts unily 164
Urocyon, specie SrOL. Rarer 465,
Urodcla, United St: ites 91
Vv.
Vegetable morphologist defined. Sense eed
Vermes, Classification of. PAs acta pnts 26
Vertebrata:
as defined by Cuvier.
characters of
classification 0
defined and el
phylum of ...
Vespertilionidac, the family
Vinigaroon
Vulpes:
EVE CMU Ss certs tes toohetsersesreiomecerrnen ec kOO
number KNOW MW 2 si. 6 cc sten soe vere 468
Nal] (EUs Ope TO Weert neha terete elietade eaarceletoies remeny
Vultures:
AS a group.
photographing
SPCCIGS Ole maces neers en ie eae
W.
Warblers:
nests of eye
number of known.
rare and beautiful BUCe ies of.
varions babits of. Bere Naer
ter fleas ener sseie
r-ousel, nest ‘ote
er Thrushes, species of.
Wax-wings:
as a name for Cedar Birds........ 292
PAGI
JEXalchnalighok pcmm oo oME So eowDomeOR.
IWICHSC] SH Asin ciessuctaeteach eset ane et tereuaue erawe 469
Weaver-birds, nests of. . ole
Webster, cited on Australian Mantis.... 43
Whales
Classification of Botox
general character of...
Whale-bone whales .........
Whip-tailed Scorpion...................
White, Dr, on mouth parts of Bull
snake ....
Wilson, Ale
number of United States
IMO WD LOI. ete wate
on Cross bills.........
Wiolverin@) 23 aces:
Wolves, their
Woodehucks
Woodpecker:
Golden-winged, nest of.
Harris’s, pterylosis of ...
Red-naped, pterylosis of
Wood Rats eae
Wood Thrush:
description of
nest of .
young
Worms, ¢] : :
SWiTOMS WACStS Ole ayee clos eects ce conorsicts oeetenene
birds
3G
Yaunihium strumariun:
as a food of the Carolina I’ ORG Us
photogr: aphing COnOrus ON os... eee
Xavier, St. Francis, cited on Mantis....
Ms
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-breasted Chat
nest and young of.
notes of .
Wilson’s ace ‘count
Yellow Warbler,
Young Flicke
Young Vultures
of
Zapus hudsonius
lite history ,
Zebra Wolf or Opos
Zepras and Ostriches.
Zeuglodon, systematic
Ziphiidae, the amily
Ziphius, species of the ¢
ZoMogical Gardens, be: :
Aoovlogical photography of mammal
Zygacna malleus. dats rence eo
Ay godactyle feet as character s
SUMCHCION) AI BTS yr pecrcencetery ates einen
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